Possibility of another sister group based in Hokkaido?

Source : social network 755. It was said with Aki-p real account. (NB : he said his oshimen was Tani Marika)

#755 (translation courtesy of Tkmn_world on twitter)
Fan: Around when will Hokkaido be part of 48G?
AkiP: Management says it's spring next year...



No official statement, but Aki-p is someone serious and i don't think he's trolling. But nothing is sure; it could be anything as Hokkaido is already "related" to the 48 group with her team 8 representant for example. What he said can lead to any interpretation possible...

Still. We all know what this fan meant when asking Aki-p this question. Is it a follow-up of management first hint with SPR48? Do you guys remember? Even though we all thought it was a troll, Aki-p is once again putting oil on fire on that matter. He did Kyushu, why stop here?

 

It's a nice possibility!

Although I think there is no need for another sister group (because people here love to complain about sister groups taking over akb), it would be nice to have another sister group in the fray~ They could call it HKD48 xD

 

I would take anything he says regarding that with a grain of salt seeing as how he likes to make a lot of promises that never materialize.

 

About the ressources, i'm not worried about management finding hidden pearl in the north of japan,

but what i'm concerned is the potential local fanbase? I mean, is there any? It was already quite hard to figure out if Namba, a land of comedian, would support a sister group of AKB?

Osaka date was the only dome that wasn't sold out in 2013.

I think SPR48 is very risky at this point. Also, if they really want to launch a hokkaido group in long term, the handshake schedule will be a hell of a mindf**ck.

 

I think Sapporo didn't sell out either? Same with a couple of dates in Tokyo Dome.

I like the idea of the north getting its own sister group, tbh. Everything is from Tokyo to the south and it feels like there's something missing up there.
But I don't know how profitable it might be? Its population isn't as big as other areas (5 million in the whole island?) and they would need to attract the other regions too (Sendai, Akita, Aomori...). Dunno, maybe ferrys are cheaper than trains there?

If there were enough fans to almost fill in the Sapporo Dome, I say go for it, but a concert on an specific date is one thing and performances in a theatre almost daily is another. Maybe just perform on weekends? lol

Oh, well. This is probably just AkiP trolling, so whatever.

 

Not against a Hokkaido48 made up of like 20 members (no teams, just Hokkaido48).
HKD48 - Team HII, Team KV and Team D would just be very strange. What happened to talk about Sapporo48?

 

SNH have just launched team HII so HKD would be H3. If they did SPR then if they added a second team it would be Team P, but it wouldn't have quite the same connotations in Japan

I get the feeling that Aki-P is just yanking peoples chains. From a financial point of view another Kanto area team would make more sense, Yokohama48 perhaps.....yes yes I know it'll never happen, I'm just joking.

 

It has people talking. Sounds like its making the rounds on news stuff in Japan. It's also going to be SPR48 if this happens.

Yahoo Japan http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20140906-00000015-nksports-ent

From the sounds of it. This is all rumors. Nothing is offical.

 

Slightly off topic but if someone has 755 I'd like to ask them to ask him about TPE48 XD

Just totally curious since that's practically dead group...

 

I think because they just chose to focus on SNH instead, thereby scrapping the plans for TPE48

 

umm
edit: urg nvm I just realized this was the same article released in 2013 when the rumors started coming out..

 

Yeah, it's important to be realistic about these things. AKS probably has to find some corporation to partner up with to support their local management and whatnot, so I wouldn't expect it too soon. Not only that, but he responded with this on 755 today, stating that when he said next Spring, he meant "Management asked me if I wanted to make a theater in Sapporo with next Spring as a potential goal and I responded with 'Sure'" and that he wonders if they even have a location scouted out yet for a potential theater.

Spoiler

 

I think this is another case of "I'll believe it when I see it." Remember that many tabloids in Japan love to blow things out of proportion too.

 

I think Aki-P has a lot of existing promises to keep before he should turn his eye to starting a new 48G. This is also keeping in mind that the 48G in its entirety isn't a growing group anymore. I don't know if another group based in what is a (comparatively) smaller part of the country is going to be necessarily a successful move or not.

Still waiting for the new Team S stage Aki-P!

 

LOL I'm sorry. Team D!? My immature self is looking at this and thinking "Captain of Team D!"

I'm open to seeing another 48 spawn...HKT48 is beginning to settle a bit. Don't think it's totally the perfect time to create another new group now. Like they still have Team 8, Team (Part-Time Girls), and leftover KKS to look at. I'm falling so behind in AKB48 that I feel i'm still stuck on Pokemon Red/Blue while management is already on Pokemon X / Y. Giving some time for the current girls to marinate instead of recruiting schools of girls is my opinion of a better movement for AKB48. It's still interesting right now, the average age of girls is still considerably under 21, and yeah hold your horses!

I'm seeing the opportunity though. To reach a goal of a "Japan48" it would be nice to gather districts from every region. Kind of like Miss America for USA does it. I thought by now with AKB/SKE/NMB/HKT/Nogi/ Team8 (and overseas) it does account for a diverse group of girls. Maybe expansion with more theaters will make AKB branding very accessible.


Can someone just ask him what are his thoughts of starting up SDN48 instead? Cause i'm pretty sure fans (include me) can buy into that again.

 

Well, if I recall correctly, didn't Akimoto-sensei announce his graduation at the Tokyo Dome concert? In that case, could this maybe be one more last effort before his retirement from the 48 Groups?

 

Johnny's groups are small so the investment costs are comparably low. 48G on the other hand needs Toyota to sponsor Team 8 so it says alot about how much resources they have.

Also, Johnny's groups don't have a graduation system(and 90% of them don't even get married) so it helps to keep the longevity of the group. 48G as you can see, is similar to MoMusume. Attention has always been placed on the pioneer generations and if the younger ones don't make their mark before the seniors graduate then people are just going to stop paying attention.

And we can't ignore the eco-system that Johnny's work in. Junior groups can appear in their senpai's drama/variety shows to gain popularity and this really helps because the senior's programs have a wide reach and high ratings. We can see the 48group attempting this with AKB48 Show! but the impact is minimal cos it's just cross-promoting within the fandom.

In all, i feel that this SPR48 should just be a KIV project until they build a stronger foundation to guarantee the longevity of this group. There is this term called brand dilution, which means when a brand is used past it's optimal point, it starts to lose value.

 

This rumour again? That was FAKE, guys.

 

SPR48? That's freakin far. Never thought Aki-p would start a sister group on Hokkaido That's a lot of work and a lot of risk. I don't even think idols are as well known there compare to the other parts of Japan. I agree that Aki-P has a lot more existing problems to solve before creating a new group. Even if he does make SPR48 how the hell will he boost its popularity... It's too secluded from the majority of wotas. Are there even regular tv shows that is based on Hokkaido? Well, it's still not officially confirmed so I guess we just gotta wait how it would turn out.


if the video does not show watch the video here

 

Geez... No need to throw me under the bus... I'm in medical school, which doesn't allow me much time to crosscheck every Japanese news site out there, you know :/

Maybe he's thinking that this new group will solve his problems? lol

That video is pretty recent too!