30 replies to this topic

[pink-ku]

Takamina more likely goes into management if she graduates.

Akicha, I think she will be always welcome in JKT.

[☆RisaReinaSayu☆]

A lot of graduations are coming soon. The only reason they even stopped being announced was b/c of the dome tour. Girls who want to graduate were probably told to wait to announce it until after the dome tour. The October single might even come with a graduation song for a batch of girls like SKE's Choco no Dorei did. I'm actually excited about more graduations rather than sad. AKB's just too over crowded right now and some of the members who are not 9th gen+ really need to face the facts and go do something more practical with their lives while they still can.

When I read the translation of Kana's letter to Sayaka I thought 'It won't even be three days after Sayaka's graduation before Kana announces her own and the date will probably be set for within a month from announcement.' so if she at least doesn't announce graduation in September I'll be super surprised. She may have been exaggerating by saying she never thought the day would come where she wasn't following Sayaka but I got the idea she's too dependent on Sayaka to function well within AKB after she's gone.

Then again this is true for Team K in general IMHO. The kohai are ridiculously reliant on Sayaka. Yuko is pretty reliant on her as well. Yuko may be captain by title but Sayaka is captain by spirit. Yuko is a senbatsu regular who can't always devote herself to her team b/c of other responsibilities and her more extensive workload. She also hasn't been able to stop turning to Sayaka for help since she became captain and its been almost a year. On top of all that people in the film industry are just waiting for the chance to get their hands on Yuko and she wants to act more. One of these days Yuko's gonna go "F this I'm out!" and just withdraw if Aki-p and co don't allow her to graduate and pursue the acting career she so craves full time.

For Takamina and Kojiharu both are losing popularity fast and should seize the day while they still can. Not to mention they will feel rather out of place soon if they don't already with only each other to turn to and Miichan to watch over.

[Tony Oguri]

Maybe a little off-topic, but it was learned several years ago to start following the Kenkyuusei (and put some of these fine ladies into your top 10 list).  A year later, you'll have new favorites from the new girls just joining.  IMO, it's cool that Acchan, Kasai, Mariko, etc. graduated.  It's cool that Kojima Haruna and Takahashi Minami may graduate soon.  What's super frustrating is when girls like Jo Eriko and Yagami Kumi leave in their prime.  Those are upsets.  Graduations that conclude a "full" career are splendid.

[☆RisaReinaSayu☆]

^Graduations are painful if you like the girl(s) in question no matter how long they've been in the group and how much they've done within it. But yeah some are definitely more upsetting than others. For me I could never allow myself to pick a favorite among the kenkyuusei b/c they're not a sure thing. The girl I come to favor may never get promoted to full member at all. I do enjoy watching Kenkyuusei LODs sometimes though. Sometimes they put more effort into their performances than the actual teams.

[pink-ku]

Those who wonder about Kana letter to Sayaka:

 

http://sasuga-kashir...yakas-bday-show

 

 

Kana looks like will be next to graduate.

[kantutanTayo14]

But is Takamina still "the glue that holds AKB together"?

Dunno if it's still applicable but there was a time where AKB48 continue existing without her is just unfathomable

She was simply all Aki-p's eggs in that one singular AKB48 basket

[satchan]

Kenkyuusei or promoted members, it only matters that I like the girl. You're taking your chances that she won't be around much longer no matter which route you choose. You can become a fan of a bright, charming KKS, but if you become a big fan of someone like Saeed-Yokota Erena...well, crap. You can follow a girl who does appear to be a part of the group for a long time like Komori Yui, but...crap. Or you can become a new fan of Kojiharu and she announces tomorrow. Any day can be the last day with your favorite idols and though you can make educated guesses on who's likely to stay longer, but there's certainly no system without its flaws. Like who you like and hope you have them for as long as possible, I say. That includes Kojiharu as much as Komiharu.

[☆RisaReinaSayu☆]

^That is all very true. Just easier to let myself fall in love with a full member than a kenkyuusei I suppose. I'm glad for those who don't have such trouble.

@kantutanTayo Is there even really an AKB for Takamina to hold together at the moment? The group is really unstable at the moment. The teams can't settle on a member roster for long with girls leaving and being added frequently and that's just subject to continue after the dome tour is over. They are not performing any new stages which would allow the next generation of teams to come into their own. The transitional period may not end in time for Takamina to still be around to hold a solid incarnation of the group together.

[Ares13]

Honestly .. it seem that graduation has little or no effect on the 48 groups ..
if you total up all 48 group sales .. its actually increasing ...

To me with G+ .. now every girl has a good chance ...
Fan in general can't keep to the same girl 100% .. they do move their attention to other girls ..

Furthermore .. graduation is just a painful once or twice ...
when you survive 2-4 graduation of the girl you like or oshimen in a huge 48 groups ..
You get very used to it ...

For some strange reason .. people I know who are Acchan fans .. actually didn't quit ..
they support 48 group even more as they pick a range of girls to support in replacement to Acchan ..
It has become a scary multiplying effect ...

The newer girls are now moving up ...
the number 1 girl that won the senbatsu election is not a original A K B first 3 gen member ..

For some reason .. 48 group can replace all their popular old members in time without decline but they got to do it slowly and systematically ..

it has becoming something of a trend ..
and I think fans somewhere behind their mind hope that their oshimen would leave so that they can be free select another girl or a bunch of girls..
They gain freedom from the traditional oshimen rules ..which is getting boring ...

it seem to me .. after a while ..it seem graduation is not factor for decline but holding on to old members too long is ...
Even MM is having soaring sales and popularity when they finally got rid of they really old members which was thought to be irreplaceable ...
People want refreshing stuff ... its either you give it to them or they will move on to the competitors ...

It don't make sense as it goes against what we know and believe about graduation but its happening the reverse way ..

SKE48 had a massive graduation with 3 of their top 8 girls gone and a bunch of former senbatsu ..
and the next single they sold pass half a million and score a double no.1 ..
Does it make sense at all ?

anyway.. to select a KKS or full members ??? .. hmm .. soon we have draft members too ...lol

[Angels&Demons]

^The graduations may not have much effect on the success sales wise but that's b/c they always have a new gimmick to implant to keep sales from dropping too much or even make them increase. For people following them religiously chasing every thing they do and release graduations do have an effect. The dynamics change drastically as more and more girls leave and get promoted and more kenkyuusei are selected. AKB circa 2007-2009 prior to the first team shuffle was very different from AKB circa 2010-2012 after said shuffle, not unlike how AKB is very different right now. Their theater ethics change, the members on their shows change either slightly or drastically, etc etc. The only thing that has ever stayed semi constant throughout all the years is Senbatsu as they just phase in less than a handful of members to replace graduated Senbatsu regulars. And graduations don't get easy to deal with for every single fan.

SKE's latest single had more handshake slots per member as I recall and the competition they faced in their 2nd week was not particularly tough. They are also still quite some sales away from Choco no Dorei's present total. And people who don't quit being fans of the group when their favorite member leaves are people who are fans of the group first something that's not the case for majority of any idol group's fanbase. But that's easily dealt with by way of gimmicks and mass promotion of up and coming members who the fans loyal to the group first and their oshi second and of course the newer fans have shown increasing interest in.

If you honestly believe the 9th-11th gen has anything to do with Momusu's current success you're an idiot. It's b/c of the change in their single structure which now includes edition exclusive b-sides and handshake tickets.

[Benritonga]

well,this year massive graduation will continue..

in this 3 months we have sato amina, oshima yuuko, nonaka misato(AKB48),sato seira,mukaida manatsu,matsumoto rina (SKE48),umehara mako,shimada rena(NMB48),cindy gulla,octi sevpin(JKT48)..

so,i'm glad i still can see the end of this era,its sad,but if 48 management did not make any serious and massive movement,the era will end shortly...