The No Dating Rule and its effects on the modern idol world

@kinakomochi The love ban on idol groups didn't start with AKB, and wotas have generally no interest on 2D entertainment in general (even things like AKB49 and AKB0048 received very little attention from fans, also suffice it to say many Airin and Mayuyu wotas used to be absolutely lost with how to deal with their anime obsession), so the theory has some glaring flaws.

If the relationship ban is just a matter of image and nothing else as you claim, then you have to admit it's a matter of image that involves the entire Japanese society, which also includes situations that have absolutely nothing to share with the typical idol niche.

Consider these additional examples: last December NHK and TBS simultaneously fired two of their newscasters and removed their profiles from their respective homepages after news of extramarital affairs surfaced on a certain weekly tabloid. (Feel free to compare this case with how Nogizaka dealt -- or rather did not deal -- with Sayuri's scandal) Some months before, Nippon TV one-sidedly rejected the job application of another announcer lady after they found out she worked for a short time in a host club, claiming as a reason that the station required a "high degree of uprightness and cleanness" from their announcers (later she had to drag the matter to court because the management just wouldn't budge).

Now the question: why would three TV stations be so concerned with the sexual conduct of their employees and even go to such lengths, when their job is basically reading out the news of the day in a deadpan voice? Note we're talking about professional newscasters all working for national television, so the card of "obsessed fans wanting the girls pure and for themselves" cannot be played this time: it's not the TV station's intentions to make the announcers (including one male announcer!) the object of platonic romance. What the audience expects from them is just proper enunciation.

Isn't it obvious that behind these restrictions on employee's sex lives there's more to it than just fantasies of "innocence and teasing"?

 

I think it's all about the image, but personal affairs permeate your public persona in a way that can affect you more in the japanese society from what I gather from the examples you gave and also what happened with Yaguchi Mari who fell off the face of the earth. That certainly wouldn't have happened in the western entertainment industry.

 

My apologies. I should have organized my post better.
I didn't mean to say it was founded entirely on the eroge concepts, for that would be denying other major influences. (ie. Onyanko Club)
When I meant "high likely," I meant in terms of probability. For I'm not even sure if Akimoto took the concept of virginity from eroge. But based on the parallels, I'm guessing he probably did. I don't know to what extent though.

I can't say anything about the degree of influence eroge + Akiba had on AKB because I don't really know much about it. (Though I don't think it is small)
This is because I don't watch anime and I never been to Kanto (Though I did watch anime 4 years ago. Also tried few eroge )

I too don't think AKB is meant to to be some live-action eroge.
There are many differences between them.
Hence, when I describe AKB, I often use words like: hybrid, fantasy, otherworldly, etc. I find AKB a bridge between pure fantasy and reality. (ie. Maid cafe is another example of a hybrid)

Indeed, for most people, figures and cartoons lack realism, as there is no feedback (ie. no matter how much you talk to it, it will never respond)
Whereas the AKB girls, will give feedback. (ie. If you compliment her, she'll saying something.) This is already different from cartoons.
I don't know to what extent anime wota are idol wota though. There seems to be some hostility between the two groups sometimes.

Though I can stop here, I'm going to continue a bit more. For if I stopped here, it feels like I'm implying that "girls responding/reacting" is all there is to this.
(There is so much depth behind this group, that even 1000 page dissertation won't be enough.)

The implications of the ability to give feedback is vital because it gives the chance for the fan's personal existence to be recognized.
Naturally, most people want to be recognized as an individual. It feeds our ego. (Especially if she remembers you) This is achieved through handshakes, high-fives, 755, etc

Even though this could be achieved by just exchanging words, AKB uses physical contact.
This is brilliant because physiologically, physical contact helps with bonding.
Not just this, there is another implication.
Consider that physical contact in Japan is not very common, especially between the opposite sex. Now, if she can't date anyone, then the fan becomes the most intimate male figure in her life. Since success is rank dependent, not substance**, sharing #1 place with thousands of others is not bothersome. Especially because most fans know that they can't (or can't be bothered to) get anywhere close to top 10, in a free for all race for the girl.
Of course, a scandal upsets this sharing of #1 place. Thus, its impact.
This is even further amplified because non-negligible number of wotas have below average self-esteem due to stigmatization of their hobbies. Thus, anything that pushes them down on the social ladder will not be met favorably.

**: What this mean is that for example, people prefer to make $5 when everyone is making $3, opposed to making $10 when everyone is making $12. (assuming same purchasing power)

 

Right back at ya!

I agree that the terms are given beforehand and very well known to them...yet this is about a business model, something that is the same in every country: it's built for profit on the basis of how they can do so within it's own influence on culture. The attitudes of the East and West are different, but the motivation is all the same. Culture doesn't make all the rules, although I understand the reasoning with culture, I realize that angle pretty well now, and it's helped me realize that this can be acceptable from a Japanese context.

If there are idol groups that can function without the love-ban, then you would have to assume it's not the only appeal idols have, but I know that the fans just want to feel close to their favorite members. It is part of the experience after all! But even if these girls don't truly need the rule personally, it helps AKB become successful it seems. We can all agree on that I'm guessing.

I think the more fans like their favorite AKB members, the more they empathize with them in reality. This is my own opinion, but members like Rino, Minegishi, and now Yuki show that fans start to value these girls personally the more they get to know them. There has to be some human nature involved in this, if not the willingness to abandon the rule to protect the girls as people they care about. There's something powerful there, and while it can justify that we could move beyond the rule, it also shows that it's not all the group is built on of course.

Where we're at right now is a nice medium with the zero punishment guideline, let the girls' fans decide if they're able to come back. I feel that perhaps dating in it's most innocent form should still be a choice if they want that. I'm mainly concerned with them having a choice more than being able to date really (although they are connected). The conditions for their work are difficult to define since being an idol is a pretty unique concept in itself, but a scandal shouldn't be about having a boyfriend or being in a relationship. It really depends how much a Japanese wota will start to accept the more they are a fan of idols, and how well the idols themselves can keep the relationship.

 

As before... the appeal of the rule, as it stands... is that it still works and brings in profit. There are plenty of Japanese fans who conform to it and accept it, not even close to the minority in number.

The conflict lies here: in the 10 yrs since AKB's founding, is the present RKJ still applicable to the fanbase that supports them? Yes and no.

Changes in society, are going to influence the fanbase. And Japan is notorious for selectively vehement opposition to foreign influence, and embracing it -- whenever each serves their needs (no different from any other country, really). But Japan's slowness to adapt and come to the point of acceptance for these changes, this 'stickiness', is something I've observed with my own family and their trials in other industries and professions, like tort and advertising. Lots of reasons for this 'stickiness' I won't belabor the point describing... but it's there, and if it does overcome 'stickiness'... it will affect esp casual fans' opinions and actions -- as they have less to lose in changing their devotions to the idols than wota.

Conformity in Japan will happen with people of working age and above -- so basically, when you're old enough to work. Prior to that, there have been demonstrations throughout Japan's post-war history protesting gov't iniquity by college students esp... so conformity is very prevalent, but not to that degree. However, when the subject of 'shigoto' comes into play... each industry has their own standards, but one thing is very clear -- conformity and hierarchy are far more formalized than in the West. As such, fans will be accustomed to these standards in their own lives, and would feel an industry that does not prize high standards over individual freedoms, would not be appropriate in Japan. Thusly, the Sword of Damacles of the pre-Miichan RKJ.

Didn't say it started with AKB... I said that there was already a precedent in place (coming off the peak of H!P's fame), which AKB just preserved all the way through 2013 and Miichan's scandal. And eroge's-->AKB concept, I'll share my thoughts with below...

Because in that part of the enta industry (of which ana are an integral part)... there isn't any cause to use sexual tension as a tool (among other traditional idol techniques) to bring in patrons nearly as often, quite the opposite -- subscribers pay for TV in Japan anyway... so even the slightest iniquity among those who are pumped into living rooms for families to view with children and grandchildren, will result in outrage, esp when you consider how much more elderly there are per capita in Japan than here. Yes they occasionally do venture into the same niche as idoldom (such as photobooks for some of the more attractive ones)... but it remains that these women (and men to a lesser extent) must maintain spotless fidelity in order to sate public opinion. Not negotiable, even in 2015.

I don't feel it matters how banal their actual jobs are (which tbh, include meeting extremely difficult enunciation standards, as well as good ol' fashioned audition gauntlets and the usual nepotism, then long years being kouhai to a senpai before being vetted into more lucrative positions -- so it's not a cakewalk)... but because the requirement for perfection in the ana trade is so high, so are applied the standards to their private lives -- right or wrong. That is that industry... idoldom is idoldom -- related but not meaningfully enough for comparison in the way you've expressed. Apples and oranges... but nice lateral thinking, there were points I hadn't considered for sure.

Iyaiyaiya -- oh, that's not what I was implying at all -- not a 1:1, or even founding relationship, but strong influence that Aki-P could've taken inspiration from in his concepts to take advantage of shortcomings in not only eroge, but other fan aspects related to marketing his Original Girls (remember, he was marketing to strangers in Akiba at the time... so he needed to make it attractive to that demographic... so I too, do not underestimate this relationship). If that's what you meant in the original critiqued post... then I retract my criticism of it... we were thinking similarly, no easy life from a lottery jackpot

And in another response (I am quickly losing myself in this flood of intelligent, thoughtful, and calm responses *check palm lines to see if I'm dreaming* ), I did mention that the major draw of idols is that you get to see them develop right in front of your eyes, as a theatre regular. That cannot be replicated in eroge... perhaps recently, but certainly not at the time. It took time for the appeal of this concept to catch on... but when it did, it easily exceeded the aging and inflexible H!P machine... and in came less and less hardcore fans.

I liken this to motorcycling -- when I began to ride, no one rode sportbikes, and I was alone in my devotion to them no matter how many naysayers tried to convince me to ride "something more sensible". So in that vein I had to learn to ride my much-more-difficult-to-master sportbike much better than they did, just to avoid proving them right. But once sportbikes became comparatively easy to ride and care for... all of a sudden my insurance rates shot up into the stratosphere -- because they became a fashion accessory to those who couldn't care less about the discipline of riding... more than a legitimate, respectable sport that requires dedication to master. But there's no doubt that the factories didn't care one bit, because they sold far more sportbikes to punter and poseurs than to us track/street perfectionists and racers... and it's these analogues in idol fandom, that are pressing for change in the RKJ, tbh... those who can see the ideal, but not necessarily how to implement that ideal into a workable alternative to the RKJ.

Whew! Great discussion, S48ers! Keep it going!

 

I would find it amusing if the casuals who are less invested than the wota themselves were the ones who were most affected by these changes. I'll certainly agree Miichan's incident did start the change in policy with how viral it went. These events along with Rino's story of becoming a top idol under breaking the rule, is still a bit contradictory to the sanctity of the rule itself, in my opinion.

With Rino you have to wonder: she broke the rule, isn't that the worst offense of all? Doesn't that already determine her fate? She was moved instead of kicked out, before Miichan's scandal, and seemed to continue gaining popularity, especially with the general public in her outside jobs regardless. You could argue she was 'punished', but it seems breaking the rule doesn't put you in much trouble from a casual point of view. Miichan was demoted, but her rank in the elections is pretty consistent with her typical vote counts, she was surpassed the same year by more popular NMB and SKE girls, and Paruru. I don't think management's adherence to the rule reflects an adherence to the general public, except in the attitude they enforce it with for themselves, and that could be attributed to an idol's appeal in feeling closer with wota more than anything.

Maybe in the end the rule's still necessary to the quality of the idol, the potential they carry for their fans, if you were to look at how directly they can link themselves in this way. Also, with this kind of a fragile element to the relationship, it would probably be a huge mistake to make a direct and sudden change to the rules. I agree that change itself is something that will certainly take time.

I have said before I understand that fans accept the rule, which is the same as supporting it I suppose. I don't think they're against it, just not as serious in enforcing it with the majority of them. Or else even minor infractions would have to be seen as punishable from even their point of view, not just management's. It could be a culture conflict, or maybe idols are something where people may put their current social values aside for ideals. Or feel influenced to from outside Japanese life in general...considering idol life is also one that is not only carried through reality, but the imaginary as well.

As for what I said about conformity, I didn't mean to say they aren't opinionated, just more dutiful to their own personal responsibilities. The youth of Japan certainly do have a history of that age characteristic: http://time.com/3494584/teenage-wasteland-portraits-of-japanese-youth-in-revolt-1964/. Kinoshita Momoka even said some rather amusing things in a Takamina interview a while back, where she wants to make enough money to become a NEET she said, lol. Becoming an adult does affect how demonstrative people are, but there are plenty of older ones who speak out in the United States/West, which I could admit has more to do with a culture built by personal freedoms as a result.

 

I don't find it difficult to grasp at all...

When the breaking point for change does happen in Japan... they are rather more pragmatic about it, and sentiment will shift quickly from 'zettai shinai' (no way I'm doing this) to 'shouganai' (can't be helped), esp if the typical individual conforms to the Three-Man Rule -- where if three people around you share your opinion, it becomes the truth -- since Japan is far more group-oriented socially and professionally than in the West. In the case of this sort of change... in any group devoted to a cause affected by the change, it's the fair-weather ones that'll switch first, then on down the devotion scale until you have the staunchest adherents (the hardline 'wotas') of the cause. Logical to me...

No, you're confusing 'violating RKJ' with 'means automatically being kicked out', when it comes to Sasshi, who obviously was an exception. You cannot umbrella-apply Sasshi's case to all idols... because to be blunt, all idols are not Sasshi... which got her the (then rare) exception.

Pre-Miichan, dismissal for fraternization was still a possibility with most 48GP idols... Sasshi was an exception to the dismissal punishment, because Aki-P saw her potential dovetailing in another agenda involving HKT. She still was punished for being caught violating the RKJ... and knew that, at that time (pre-Miichan 2013 incident)... that if she failed to perform up to expectations down in Fukuoka, that dismissal was still on the table -- incentive to perform and do what she and Ozaki ended up pulling off, as proven by HKT's 2015 SSK showing.

Post-Miichan, and esp post-double-Milky... even lower-ranking idols *may* even be spared the Yonezawa/Kikuchi default fate. This is a large departure from a formerly unambiguous policy... but the exception became the rule only after Miichan's international sensation and external pushback to Aki-P, personally and professionally. Fan-based punishment became a further dilution of the RKJ after Milky's two scandals, and now plays a prominent role in Yukirin's.

Yes, agree...

Not sure of the point being conveyed here... but I'll address the 'minor infractions to fans' thought -- they are punishable. Does every perceived iniquity result in a majority movement in the fanbase, to boycott or otherwise seek apology or acknowledgement from the idol? Of course not -- there are always those more sensitive who will leave an idol because a simple misunderstanding... but those types in any social dynamic rarely sway the majority anyway. If the majority isn't affected by what a minority thinks is an infraction... then majority rules and the minority usually acquiesces and moves on. But given compelling evidence, the level-headed may be overpowered by both majority aggressors in the ranks and anti without... which can make things quite uncomfortable for the idol, esp if she's not actually done anything alleged.

And yes, tbh any work in Japan, since the prevailing tradition is work > personal freedoms... will trade self-ideals for group ideals in order to progress in that society. It isn't a relic of idoldom at all, but all vocation in Japan.

Yes, agree.

 

I meant 'amusing' by how it would fit our expectations of the current situation, my bad. I agree with your point though, it does start with the casual base in the end doesn't it? Even if the ones most influenced by idols, the wota, are those who understand them best.

Even if she is the rare exception, we have not seen anyone truly fall from grace since her scandal yet, have we? On a wota level I mean...they're usually pretty supportive, or maybe forgiving is the correct way to look at it. Regardless, we do have to treat her as the rare exception I suppose, since none of these scandals so far are damaging enough (or challenging enough for the wota to overcome yet).

I think in the more abstract parts I was aiming for how being a wota is not only a social experience, but creates an individual one where concern for the idol could be applied more personally.

Another way to put it, I feel fans are more passive to idols in their judgement than with each other...as a bias for the girls perhaps? People can behave under different conditions in any culture in my opinion. Although, I have no evidence of that, but could wota show more bias towards something they like than what they normally believe? It's something observable in everything in general I think. Everyone goes outside the rules, or stretches them when they like something enough.

 

Ahhh -- gotcha and yep. Casuals and regular people who vote with one or two tickets outnumber the wota pretty convincingly... but wota balance influence in their favor by organizing rallies, executing plans for fundraising, and inspiring other wota + casual fans in their own campaigns in line with their oshi's campaign -- on top of the power oshis spending thousands of dollars in SSK -- they don't have to have numbers to sway opinion, and by way of leadership, usually represent the calm, veteran voices in crises like Yukirin's.

No, that was my point -- the RKJ's enforcement was softened specifically for Sasshi, by not making her confess to her fans and being dismissed weeks later, as had been orthodox for years. She still had to operate under the assumption that that usual response to the RKJ by mgmt could be enforced at any time, so it was still old-school RKJ Lite, if you will. But after Miichan there was a sea change if you violated the RKJ, where mgmt began to shift responsibility for punishment to the fans (at least publicly, who knows what mgmt does behind closed doors; she did get demoted, which is old-school but then again, she's still employed, just had to work harder to get back her status through SSK for fans. and time-served as Team 4 cadre for mgmt -- unheard of leniency for Yonezawa Rumi / Hirajima Natsumi). Miichan's situation I don't feel was as influenced by Sasshi's treatment, as much as the aftermath of her 'bouzu' incident created its own dialogue -- and what a dialogue -- about the way RKJ was enforced.

It's both, I think -- esp in the Yukirin case, we're seeing the results yea or nay. Wota are wota because the Way affords them a cause to belong to... and since they throw themselves into this cause as passionately as they do, when their idols betray them by dating, they take it personally. It's what the Japanese call 'keiyaku kuihan' (契約違反) or breach of contract. I do this, you do that, it's understood, we have a frame of reference for expectations. Wota may be angry and upset when a scandal breaks, esp when evidence seems conclusive... but I feel with the huge rise of anti, now that 48GP is so popular... I think an idol's wota today resists joining outright calls to anti in response, as they can't be distinguished from empty psychotically hate-motivated anti, who know no boundaries to their cruelty... so in reality, it could be more the external, random-degenerate-hater anti that are doing the punishing now... and the wota, betrayed though they were, feel they're the only ones left in a position to defend their oshi.

Thus the landscape of enforcing an RKJ, continues to evolve. But revoking it? No, not an alternative. It's still needed to give perspective, even if the usual punishments are long a part of history -- and for old-school punishments to be expressed if/when it ever becomes necessary... like that 25 mph speed limit no one obeys, at 40+... but doesn't change that you can be legally pulled over at any time.

 

The wota are certainly the group's greatest support during times of need, as are the wota's more borderline members being their greatest enemies. It's the duality of being passionate. Casual fans are certainly invested enough to be swayed, so it's hard to say what kind of affect scandals or otherwise would have without the wota there to represent the fandom in general.

I agree with the softness of Rino's punishment. The part of it I'm most concentrated on would be how openly let off the hook she was without complaint. There were probably Antis because of it, but the fandom was pretty accepting of whatever management wanted to do about it (it's not as if everyone didn't notice, we all saw what happened). I suppose because Miichan was demoted, her scandal was treated more seriously as a result...so changes weren't really in place yet, as you said. If anything, she can be thanked for leniency given to other idols...with management finding out there isn't as much complaints coming back so far as a result. Still, Rino's treatment does show that some idols can command a certain bias or exemption from the rules at least, which is important to note.

I suppose you could call the bias for each member a sort of measuring of what kind of fans they have, or how good of a relationship they have with each other. if a large enough group of people start to show hate, wota will recognize their relationship again it seems. So the group dynamic in Japan certainly has an interesting way of working itself out if that were true.

 

Ah I see where you were getting at.
My post's meaning was in the most general sense: That is there are some connections.
I didn't think much of it, until you brought it up. Then it got me to think more carefully and made me realize that this isn't something that I should summarize in a sentence or two.
Thus, if my original statement was not ambiguous, it was at the very least, undermining in some ways.
No wonder my profs keeps telling me to write better lmao

In regards to eroge, I agree. With the current technology, eroge can do it to an extent, but its capacity is small in comparison to seeing real girls in live action.
Watching them and growing together; it really makes you feel close to them. Especially if you can relate to them. Unlike movies though, because this happens in real time, I'm guessing its impact should be much stronger. Thus, I can understand why some fans, who went to theatres often, can spend $500+ and still root for a girl after a scandal, drop in popularity, after 4 years, etc.
I guess this is similar to why amateur local sports team have fans.

 

an article about "Renai Kinshi" in AKB.
"Should idol's love ban be protected?"
http://realsound.jp/2015/06/post-3615.html

it cites AkiP, who said numerous times that "there is no love ban rule. fans ask him why the penalties are different for different members and he says that's because there is no rule in the first place". on the other radio show with Bakusho Mondai he also said that this is simply an "implicit rule and he never said to any member that he forbids to date". but since they are idols it somehow implies that from old times. "that if you are working your hardest, you don't have the time to fool around".

this explains why management actions are so different. when there is scandal with top or simply promising members that bring money, AkiP tries to make an "interesting punishment", like he said in the latest radio show about Yukirin's scandal. if he can't think of any, then they just ignore it and leave it to fans' judgement. unpopular girls or those who started relationships because they have lost interest in group and were okay with graduating are most likely graduated on their own account, to avoid dealing with hate.

that's all, long story short - it's up to fans to decide weather to continue supporting their faves or not. that's the only real punishment there could be.

 

Hmmm... sound more like footwork, than revealing a misinterpreted truth to me...

If this were true, then any graduation post-scandal where the idol was required to apologize publicly, would make no sense -- why, when the decision was made to graduate anyway, was Hirajima Natsumi made to apologize? She didn't have to endure any fan punishment in response if she didn't apologize, she was already gone. Why couldn't mgmt just do a public announcement to drop her, like they did to the bulk of Eighth Generation?

I think Aki-P's wording is carefully chosen, and uses the grey area in the matter to claim lack of basis for debate in the first place -- the debater's playbook. The standard definitely took a turn after Miichan's scandal (which he didn't have to make more interesting, obviously... but that same interest backfired, I think -- Milky never got an interesting punishment either of her scandals, nor did Aanya), so to claim it was this way all along... has a whiff of desperation about it.

 

I think it's just anyone's individual decision. everyone acts differently. some shave head, some don't. she probably decided to apologize just in case of some crazy haters, who would bother her even after graduation. just a theory, of course, but I don't find her apology in any contradiction with Yasusu's words.
and as I said, if they can't think of anything interesting, then they'll just ignore it. they simply calculate the pros and cons of every possible action and make the most profitable or less damaging move. and yeah, in most cases it's easier for them to get rid of not very popular troublesome members than to deal with haters backlash; or ignore it in hope that the member is more valuable than troubles from haters and that she won't lose many fans. which is actually true in most of the cases, despite the massive hating (which is probably done by absolute active minority) members keep the majority of their fanbases and even get new supporters.

ps: another reason for many graduation after scandals in early days could be that there was simply no precedent or example of big scandals of top members, so they assumed that the only way is to graduate according to "old idol codex".

 

@fatrain The translation on that AllThingsJPop article is awkward as heck. Basically what Yasusu was trying to say in the radio show (transcript here) is that he used to deal with unexpected events only when a spectacle could be made out of it (not an "interesting punishment"), but since AKB has gotten big and it's no longer an extension of underground idols, the wow factor for these things has worn off. Considering Yasusu has said multiple times he likes creating surprise drama for the audience, and how he likes disrupting the pre-established harmony (予定調和) because things going too much smoothly eventually kill the audience's interest, it's really nothing new.　(By the way, he's been saying all of this for years, you might want to look at these selected quotes from one of his old lectures)
Yasusu is basically like a Vegas magician who does the trick of sawing a woman in half, but there's always some sop among the spectators who believes he's actually hacking her into pieces and rushes to the police screaming murder. Trust me, I've seen my fair deal of latter-day Savonarolas accusing Akimoto of all sorts of nefariousnesses just because they couldn't handle their emotional confusion.

The Hirajima Natsumi example that @kinakomochi brought up is actually a perfect example of Akimoto's way of running the show, actually. You have Nacchan leaving (possibly also on her own accord), then making a comeback in Mayuyu's single for a one-on-one talk with some semi-controversial content, then you see her joining the sousenkyo as part of the veteran graduated members and be the only one of them to successfully rank in. For those who care, it's a human drama with its own twists and turns. This is the sort of direction that Akimoto had intended for AKB as a whole from the start.

 

I understood the same after listening the show. dunno, maybe "interesting punishment" is not the right choice of words, but I thought the meaning is clear.

 

Then it is footwork.

By 'footwork', you can imagine actual footwork by a boxer -- he's creating a moving target. Aki-P is complementing his public statements with consistent, but also opposing actions behind the scenes, if exp with Japanese business practice and my own years in leadership positions were any indicator. I'd laugh out loud if any aspect of AKS somehow required transparency to do business at Aki-P's level -- the whole house of cards would come down in a day.

However that does conflict sometimes in the case of scandals, when the public (& esp the fanbase) don't want politician-style rhetoric. But tbh... running a business as big as 48GP cannot tolerate anything less than a skilled politician... who can hustle.

 

I think, the bottom line why I even posted that article and was trying to say, is that it's completely up to AkiP/management to decide what to do with their employees. sometimes they kick members out, sometimes they don't if the pros are greater. and it's up to fans to decide weather to support them further or not, but they can't actually demand for punishments, graduations, apologies and whatnot. EVEN IF there is a love ban rule in contracts (which is very doubtful after AkiP's words and from legal point of view) it is still between employer and employee and employer decides what to do.
sorry, if that was confusing, I wasn't answering to the previous discussion ^^;

 

Yuya Tegoshi. Member of NEWS. Considered by many to be a Casanova with the ladies. And also... AKB Group killer?

It all started in 2010, when Haruna Kojima "accidentally" tweeted his name to the public. Apparently, she meant to send a text message to her friend in response to the friend showing Kojima a video where he looked "cool". She "accidentally" started typing on Twitter, and hit "send" instead of "delete". Since Kojima is made out to be a stupid person, people accepted this reasoning and the whole Tegoshi-Kojima affair went away.


Fast forward to 2013, when Tehoshi was caught kissing SKE48 member Kito Momona at a bar late at night. She was 19 years old at the time. While the curfew ban was lifted from her when turning 18, the legal drinking age is 20. Unlike other past incidents, this one appeared to be CATASTROPHIC.

Breaking love ban rule? Check. Kissing caught on camera? Check. Underage drinking? Check. A member ALREADY PUNISHED once before after getting demoted to Kenkyuusei for undisclosed reasons a few years back? Check. Not even Sayuringo from Nogizaka46 had gone this far. At least she was at the legal age limit for drinking, had no idea her partner was married with a child, and was only on her first strike. Kito was in HUGE trouble, as this could lead to Tegoshi getting ARRESTED.

What happened? Nothing. Neither parties' managements spoke on the matter. Since there wasn't "definite" proof that it was actually Kito (although fans recognized her clothing, her face wasn't shown), it led to both parties being safe from persecution. Kito Momona graduated from SKE48 a year later and just this month, debuted in a porno. "Was she really innocent???" That may forever be kept a secret, but I think we know the answer...

It's 2015. Yuki Kashiwagi received second place in the Sousenkyo election, her highest rank ever. Not long after that, controversial magazine Shukan Bunshun posted an article that showed two pictures of Yuki and Tegoshi up close, giving each other hugs. This magazine already made two popular members, Rino Sashihara and Minami Minegishi, suffer harsh criticism and trauma after their scandals were exposed. Tegoshi was let off the hook the first two times, while Shukan was successful with their shocking news of a big AKB member two times...so third time's the charm?

This time, there are no excuses. Yuki was clearly seen with Tegoshi, the timetable for this scandal was said to be from 2012-2013, when Tegoshi was involved with his scandal with Kito Momona, and also when Yukirin was involved on her first scandal. (At that time, she went to a bar for karaoke and stayed there until 5 in the morning. She was there with two male guys and a female pornstar. As she had also attended with Minami Minegishi, who had just recently got caught in a scandal of her own, People were expecting the worst. However, while their management admitted to them partying, they also denied that they were aware of who would show up. People eventually began to believe this, as this was in a public place after all.) This current scandal is different. It has become big enough that even Akimoto had something to say on the matter. As for the management? NOTHING. ABSOLOUTELY NOTHING.

Yet again, both parties have issued no comment, and yet again, Tegoshi is walking away from this unscathed. Despite this, there is massive fan outrage over what is happening. Even Tegoshi fans are upset at him, as he is ruining the careers of idols who are bound to their no love contract. Something about Tegoshi and his management leads me to believe that they are pulling the strings somewhere. How is it that Shukan Bunshun hasn't posted any further information like they did with Sayuringo, even though they promised to do so? How is it that Tegoshi has remained quiet about all this? Why are AKB members breaking their love ban rule and getting away with it? No one can say for sure, but he has done enough damage to the reputation of many that he can be considered the kryptonite of AKB48. Anyone agrees with me?

 

"Was she really innocent???" That may forever be kept a secret, but I think we know the answer...

......Are you serious with this? It wasn't even the first time got into scandal. She got caught dating twice before tegoshi thing and 2nd time got pic of her sleeping next to a guy in a bed. She was already screwed before Tegoshi really...I'm surprise they only demoted her after all of that and underage drinking lel.....

Anyway Tegoshi just need to cage his d*ck. He doesn't just get romantically link to 48G but other celebs including Kyary who was rumored to be 2 timing her bf from Sekai no owari at the time with him lol......