@Yoshinator54
Your brother is not into girl groups !!!
But doesn't he think Japanese girls are super kawaii like us ?
Remember my motto, "You can never have too many cute Japanese girls" !

I know this is the AKB thread but NMB48 are a sister group, I love their 5th single, we know the Japanese love schoolgirls and cats and in this PV they have put the two together !
Anyone know who the girl is at the begining ?
I don't really know NMB48.
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tonymiller wrote:@Yoshinator54

I know this is the AKB thread but NMB48 are a sister group, I love their 5th single, we know the Japanese love schoolgirls and cats and in this PV they have put the two together !
Anyone know who the girl is at the begining ?
I don't really know NMB48.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

i think it's watanabe miyuki / milky from team N she is the one who get in Under Girls along with kuumin and akicha and the others at 'Nante Bohemian' CMIIW
i just know only 2 members in NMB , Yamamoto Sayaka (Sayanee) and Watanbe Miyuki (Milky)

after acchan leaved i'm getting addicted to SKE48 though . . . especially for Yagami Kumi their single of 'Banzai Venus' , ' 1234 yoroshiku' , 'aishiteraburu' , and ' Kataomoi,Finally' is really catchy songs . . . and now i will wait the 'kiss datte hidarikiki' to be released . . .

@reinkoku
Thanks for the info, Milky, I like that !
Another Watanabe, that name is like Smith in Japan...hehe.

For years I have concentrated on AKB but now I am listening to the other 48's.
SKE48 and NMB48 have improved a lot, even HKT48 has Sasshi and Lovetan now !
And you know my opinion of JKT48...hehe.

tonymiller wrote:@Yoshinator54
Your brother is not into girl groups !!!
But doesn't he think Japanese girls are super kawaii like us ?
Remember my motto, "You can never have too many cute Japanese girls" !

@tony - nice quote!

@topic I started listening to SKE around the same time I found AKB. Its actually a kind of weird story. I knew about AKB since 2009, but didn't really bother to listen to them, because I thought I was too "cool" to listen to Idol groups (I was kinda like a punk rock kind of guy) lol. But around the same time I found SCANDAL, I was listening to Tomochin's song "Dear J" on youtube without knowing she was from AKB48. Around that week, I saw the video to SKE's "Kataomoi Finally". At that point, I decided Idol groups weren't that bad. Then on the side bar, was "Heavy Rotation"...which I watched. I have no idea why, but Takamina caught my eye, and ever since she's been my oshimen.
It's really weird going back to the AKB48 videos that I watched when I knew nothing about them, because back then, they were just a bunch of Japanese girls singing, but now I can tell who everyone is.
Also the first week of watching AKB PVs I had trouble telling Yuko and Takamina apart. haha. After a while of figuring out who most of the girls in AKB were, I went back to SKE and figured out who everyone is.

Also, Majisuka Gakuen season 3 is getting much better. I don't really know if it is because of the storyline or because I searched up some of the girls in the show to figure out who they were.

Sorry for writing so much lol. I'm pretty sure you guys have better stories.

Here are my Top 3 AKB48 songs
1. ヘビーローテーション (Heavy Rotation)
2. RIVER
3. 飛べないアゲハチョウ (Tobenai Agehachou) this is sung by the Under Girls right? - correct me if I'm wrong.

Favorite Sub Group
no3b ( ノースリーブス) - No Sleeves

My Top 5 AKB48 favorite members
5. Shinoda Mariko
4. I'm still choosing between Oshima Yuko and Itano Tomomi
3. Minegishi Minami
2. Takahashi Minami

My NUMBER 1 AKB48 favorite member
Kojima Haruna
KO-JI-HA-RU [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

It depends on the results of senbatsu souseknyo (if we talking about singles of course).
check it [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Aaaah, So that's what Senbatsu Sousenkyo is for... now I know. Thanks man!

Uhm!, how about the reshuffle thingy? how does it go?
What will happen if a girl from Team A transfers to Team B? cause I read that they did a reshuffling.
Is it a good thing or a bad thing to happen? Is it a sign of the end of their career? I hope not.
Oh no! Harunyan is going to be transfered to Team B... NOOOOOOOOO [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
AAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!!!! [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]


@yoshinator54

what is oshimen? ehehehehe I'm just curious.

Goldenarms wrote:@yoshinator54
what is oshimen? ehehehehe I'm just curious.

Oshimen or "Oshi" for short is who you choose to support. There are a few kinds:
Kami Oshi - who you support the most (almost like a goddess status)
Oshi - someone you support
Ni Oshi - someone you support 2nd most
San Oshi - someone you support 3rd most
and so on.

If you don't have an oshimen, because you like everyone in AKB, you are considered a "DD" which is "Daredemo Daisuki" which translates to Liking everyone.

also, you probably noticed fans cheering the same thing in AKB's live videos. That is called a "wotagei" which is like a cheer or chant, done by "wotas" which are the fans. The chants are called "MIXes"
MIX 1: Yosh iku zoh!!! Tiger, Fire, Cyber, Fiber, Diver, Viber, Jya Jya!!! (this is chanted during the beginning of the song usually during the instrumentals)
MIX 2: Moh iccho iku zoh!!! Torah, Hii, Jinzou, Sen-ii, Ama, Shindou, Kasentobijokyo!!! (This is chanted during the second instrumental)
MIX 3: Moh iccho iku zoh!!! Chape, Ape, Kara, Kira, Rara, Tusuke, Myahottusuke!!! (This one is not used very often, but it is used during the 3rd instrumental, which not many AKB songs have)
Some songs have extra cheers.
Here's an example of a wotagei cheer pattern for Heavy Rotation. The cheer is in pink letters.

Spoiler:

@yoshinator54
Aaaah, I see... so Kojiharu is my Kami Oshi [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Fan chant eeeh!, just like in K-Pop.
NISUUUU!!!

thanks for that info man

well , perhaps i should wrote my opinion here too

my top 3 AKB48 songs :
1 . Namida Surprise! (this song has made me love AKB48 and love at first sight to Kami-Oshi Atsuko Maeda )
2. Flying Get
3. Heavy Rotation

and for my oshimen it should be like this :
Atsuko Maeda (acchan) = Forever all 48 family oshi nobodies could replace her
Watanabe Mayu (mayuyu) = AKB48 oshi
Yagami Kumi (kuumin) = SKE48 oshi

and for goldenarms , i see taht you're oshimen-ing haruna kojima , then you must have same taste like mateo

My top 3 :
"Maybe"
"Ponytail to Shushu"
"Sakura no Hanabiratachi"

As an AKB fan I am happy this thread has come back to life again !

@Goldenarms
You were asking about reshuffle ?
The last big reshuffle was in 2009 but I am sure you know there has just been another one.
AKB48 is run as a business and has made lots of money for Japan.
Yasushi Akimoto runs it as a business and wants to get the most from each girl, he also wants to
help them become popular and more famous as well, that is why changes are made.

Sometimes it is a punishment like when Sasshi ( Rino Sashihara ) was moved to HKT48 for
breaking the rules by having a boyfriend.
Girls get very fond of their Team and their team members and there are often tears when they are
moved !

But a Japanese friend said we have to understand the Japanese concept of duty ( giri )
Each girl is unimportant, only the good of the Team and AKB matters.

@tonymiller
Yes she is Mirukii, look at my avatar ^^
@reinkoku

their single of 'Banzai Venus' , ' 1234 yoroshiku' , 'aishiteraburu' , and ' Kataomoi,Finally' is really catchy songs . .

Yes, these are great songs, but you should check out songs from stages, my favorite SKE's song is 'Ame no Pianist' from team S 2nd stage ; )
@up
He was Sasshi friend, not her boyfriend. Don't believe what the newspaper writes because shukan bunshun is the worst newspaper in Japan.
@topic
My favorite 3 songs by AKB:
1. Enjou Rosen by Akicha and Sasshi .wow.
2. Everyday Kachuusha
3. Sakura no kini narou

Apparently Inuzuka Asana of SKE accidentally sent a message that was possibly meant for her boyfriend to a mobile phone service which allows fans to read her messages. She is now suspended from all activities until further notice....
The message goes like this:

Spoiler:

but she keeps denying it and keeps saying that it was not a boyfriend and it was a girl.
Source: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Tokyohive just published an interesting article about AKB

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Basically Sasshi was a guest on Odoru! Sanma Goten!! and when Sanma asked her how long she plans to be in the entertainment industry she replied by saying that she "will be 20 years old in two years, and maybe by then they (AKB48) would be done". She went on to say that she expects AKB's popularity to go down and for the number of TV shows they are on to decrease.

Apparently the fans aren't particularly happy about this, as you would expect and have started calling her "Negative Sashihara". As much as i love AKB, it seems like Sasshi is just being realistic. AKB's popularity isn't going to last forever.

BTW that article is from May 2011.

*sigh* yeah,eventually, I think the founding members will graduate one by one as they are getting older. I don't know if it will happen in 2 years. I think it will decrease in popularity and remain at a constant level, kinda like Morning Musume when they got popular in the late 90's/ early 2000's and kinda declined in popularity. I mean Acchan just graduated and I think popularity might go down a little bit.
...but who knows? Only time can tell.

Also, new and fresh idol groups keep popping up here and there, which may drown out AKB's popularity.

It's really sad to think about, but I think I will still listen to AKB as long as they keep making music and I will continue following AKB members if they decide to continue in the entertainment industry.

Ah you're right, thanks for pointing that out. It was on the first page when i went on the site, somehow it must have got mixed up, or perhaps i occidentally went on an old page without realising it.

I agree with what you said about Morning Musume. Even if AKB do lose popularity i don't think they will fade away completely, just remain in a similar state to MM.

It's inevitable that a groups popularity will decline once they have been around long enough, i don't think it's anything to worry about, just something to think about for the extreme AKB fans who seem to think they are invincible.

Mmmm, I have been an AKB fan since 2005 and I think they have plenty of life left in them
but for how long I would not like to say, even Yasushi Akimoto does not know that.
But remember their sister groups SKE48, NMB48 and even HKT48 are getting more
popular all the time and members can be moved about like chess pieces, Morning Musume
only have 10 members to play with.

I agree that they still have life in them, but I feel like once the founding members are gone, it would be weird, you know? Like similar to a band. Lets say, if a singer, a guitarist, and a drummer formed a band, and got the bassist later. But then a few years later, the singer, guitarist, and drummer decided to quit the band, but the bassist decided to stay and replaced the singer, guitarist, and drummer and continue using the same band name. I think you would lose some fans there.

Similar to a situation with a band I like - Paramore. In Paramore, the guitarist and drummer (who were also brothers) were two of the founding members of the band, but then they decided to quit, due to a conflict in the band. Now Paramore is down one guitarist, and tours with a touring drummer. They have lost quite a few fans over this.

Also with the band Sublime (A 3 piece band). The singer/ guitarist died from a heroin overdose, and the band broke up afterwards. Just recently, the bassist and drummer got back together and reformed Sublime, but with a new singer, who sounds like the old singer. Apparently old Sublime fans were quite angry at this. But there were a few fans who were ok with it. The music sounds quite different though.

I would be one of those people who would be ok with AKB losing and gaining members, but I think many fans would be disappointed or upset.

I guess it really depends on what Aki-P decides to do with AKB it can either fail or succeed.

I don't really know where I'm going with this so I'm just gonna stop here. hehehe.

On a sidenote, I haven't heard any Morning Musume songs since 1999 (I was around 7 years old at that time) lol. I know they have new members and stuff, but I haven't really bothered to listen to them at all. Althought I have listened to other groups of Hello! Project....Maybe I should get on that.

sorry for writing so much again. I need to stop hahaha.

I think one of the main reason Morning Musume lost popularity is because people didn't recognise any of the members any more. AKB has already lost the majority of the first few generations and within a few years i expect they will lose the rest.

I think AKB are always going to have a substantial male fan base, but once Maeda has gone i expect girls to start losing interest, especially once people like Shinoda Mariko and Itano Tomomi leave as well. I also expect both of these members to leave soon as they have their own careers and fan bases now, and Mariko is already past the age you would expect for an idol.

@yoshinator54 I never really used to be a fan of Morning Musume's music but some of their latest stuff is actually pretty good, although it still has a kind of low budget synthesized feel to it.
I would definitely recommend checking out the recently released "Wakuteka Take a Chance" rehearsal video on their Youtube page. You may also want to check out MM's appearances on Black Variety (KuroBara) to get a feel for the members.

@KappaAlphalota
I agree with you about 'Morning Musume', I adore Reina Tanaka and like a lot of their stuff, but
only the name is orginal since 1997.

But I disagree with you over AKB, compared to many idol groups they still have a hard core of original members, if they can replace them with strong characters I think they have a chance.
That is why Akimoto is introducing new girls in 'Majisuka Gakuen 3 ', he wants people to get to know
and like new girls.

I started watching "Mendol ~Ikemen Idol~" with the girls from no3b, and this show is by far one of the weirdest AKB shows that I have ever seen hahaha.

@tonymiller
I recently started watching back the old 0ji 59fun and the majority of the members featured are now gone, for example Kayo Noro and Megumi Ohori were 2 of the main 'characters' featured not just on this show but in interviews. Obviously their graduations were inevitable because of their ages, but now with all the transfers like Rie Kitahara, Sae Miyazawa, Aika Ota and of course Rino Sashihara, it seems like they are losing a lot of their most memorable members.

I like what Akimoto is doing with the Majisuka Gakuen series and it should help make the fans more familiar with the newer members. But let's face it, the acting isn't exactly the best so i doubt many non-fans are likely to give it much of a chance.

Most Japanese girls i know are only really interested in AKB because they are already popular and because the members are seen as fashion icons. Once Mariko and Tomomi Itano leave (which will inevitably happen within the next few years) they will lose these fans, as it will be unlikely that Akimoto can raise new members to fill their shoes modelling wise.

Obviously this is all just my opinion, just putting it out there. I love a lot of the new members so i plan on sticking with AKB for the foreseeable future regardless.

I forgot which video it was, but I just saw a YouTube comment that said "AKB became famous because of JKT" I just had to laugh. Sure AKB gained some fans from JKT fans, but that person had it backwards. lol

Mmmm, I have nothing against JKT48 but I dont remember them being about in 2005 !

Guys, do you know what AKB48 show is this from ?

Spoiler:

off topic:
Sorry, but i can't help it. I need to post this and share it with you guys.
Mii-chan looks super kawaii in this picture.

Spoiler:

@goldenarms - Those 2 pictures you posted are from a show called "Mendol ~Ikemen Idol~" which has no3b trio in it. The theme song is "Relax" by no3b, and the ending theme is "Oogoe Diamond" by AKB48. The show also features "3 Seconds" by Persona/ no3b and "Christmas Present" by Persona/ no3b.
That's the show I started watching pretty recently. At first I thought it was a weird show, but I started liking it. Now I finished it and I thought it was pretty good even though it was pretty cheesy lol. There was a total of 12 episodes. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did
Here's the first episode:

Spoiler:

@topic - Well, its been a few days after the graduation and it doesn't seem like Acchan will be joining Nogizaka 46 any time soon. I searched for rumors of it on google, but the only place where I've seen this rumor is on SH. Anyway, here's an Acchan update: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

@Yoshinator54

I have all my fingers crossed that you are right about Acchan.
I saw the stuff about Acchan joining Nogizaka46 on a facebook fanpage and I really hope
it is wrong.

A Japanese newspaper said she wants to go and study in New York.....no London !

@Goldenarms
Thanks for the picture of my new oshi Miichan....happy sigh