1290 replies to this topic

[satchan]

If existing members do NOT take part
1) The whole idea of the election may chance .. now instead of fight for your oshimen .. it may be fighting for a purpose you find most meaningful ..
2) It would be a huge talking point ... making everything more interesting ...
3) Not taking part may not be bad as you may get people attention by not taking part ...

 

The members not taking part may in fact see a boost, but I wonder about its sustainability. Like it or not, I think the election is the ultimate in exposure and opportunity, next to management getting about 15 primetime TV specials dedicated to you i.e. Paruru. Passing up on that if you're someone who CAN make the election would be a mistake in my opinion.

 

But for a lot of members, it might be a risk worth taking if they're smart enough to figure out a way to make it work in their advantage. Kind of like going overseas for Mariyannu, I think it'd have a member who's unpopular in hopes that other unpopular girls don't follow the same trend. It could work, but it could easily backfire and have absolutely no effect.

 

As for #1, I can only speak for myself, but if my oshimen isn't involved, I'm not going to vote. I'm fairly certain she will be so that certainly won't be a problem for me, but I think "fighting for a purpose" is meaningless if your oshimen isn't that purpose. This isn't Request Hour where I can make a stand for SDN48 one year and Team 4 the next. I have no place voting for Ricchan in place of my oshimen as much as I like her and want to see her make the election this year. That should be Ricchan oshis' fight, not mine.

[Ugly-chan]

Wait but.. if graudated members can be candidates, and, say, they actually rank in Senbatsu (like Maeda), don't Senbatsu members appear in all the side A songs, and have all this extra publicity, etc, but under the AKB48 name..? So then, why even have them graduate in the first place..? I don't get what would happen if they get in
And I'm wondering how Minegishi will fair given her demotion and her scandal in general. If she makes it into Senbatsu, surely they should let her back in to be a regular member..?

[Tsurugi_Ken]

Aside from her official rank as kenkyuusei, Minegishi's been doing almost exactly the same things she's been doing before her scandal, like showing up for tours, doing TV shows and performing on-stage. She didn't really get a cooldown of sorts at all, which really irks some people, including me.

 

Anyways, I think for this year's election Akimoto Yasushi might have been influenced a bit by Hello Project's recurring theme of bringing back their golden age members and other graduates and such. Seems like an odd time to bring out something like this, and I doubt that girls that've already graduated minus Maeda Atsuko will be able to receive much support anyway (maybe this is a test by him for the girls that want to get back in there, as well as to see whether it's possible to bring back members from ages past that still have some fight left in them). Seems like a very interesting idea to me. I don't think that 3 months is enough to rally support for a former member, especially since most of their fans (minus the die-hards) have switched over to new oshi, but Akimoto does like these sort of unexpected or surprising things happening. It goes with his thinking of "not having a planning book".

[Ares13]

^
^
^ ... ya .. I have been subscribing to the oshimen theory all the time ...but this time its different and its also different from request hour ...
In the past .. senbatsu election is like a report card of the members ..it reflect the result of what they have put in for the year and also it allow them to know their standing in the organisation ..that's why its meaningful and reason for all the tears flowing..
But this time .. not everyone is taking part .. it has become optional .. so the old reasoning are totally gone ...
It is not like request hour because of the same reason .. its optional now ...
Honestly .. I still haven't figure it out .. i got absolutely no idea what you call this and what theory or reasoning to go by .. I think I need time to figure it out ..

^ .. LOL ..I was not gonna talk about H!P but I actually had H!P in mind ...
I actually do think that the decline of H!P is because they held on to old graduated members .. leading to people not moving on ..
and as graduated members ..their exposure diminish .. and so will the interest resulting in them losing the fan for good ...
I came out with this idea because during request hour .. there is more than enough reason for Acchan to appear but she didn't ..which made me question why not ... I think they can do it but they didn't ...
Honestly .. I do not think Acchan is going to take part .. and do not think the popular ex-member is going to have a try at it ..
I think this whole idea behind this is for graduating members to take part as they may not want everyone to follow Acchan example of not taking part just because you are graduating ...
But that's what I think .. I would be totally wrong if Acchan & a few others do come back and make the whole thing a big success ...

[TheFicusWithSuperPowers]

Personally I think that overseas girls will have a little boost because some fans(which may have them as the runner-up oshimen or somewhere there) will be crazy to vote them because they want them back in AKB48.....

Miichan will may get a boost, as fans might be against No Dating Rule, so voting her would be a manifest.... (which myself I am supporting, it's the own personal life and the agency should have no words against it)
And probably that graduating girl(if they will still take part in the election) will get a boost too....

 

Those are only my opinions....

 

Girls who will probably have a boost this year/rise the rank(have been ranked in previous election)

• Tomochin
• Sae-chan(hope to be a big boost)
• Paruru
• Tomomiichan
• Akicha
• Harugon

 

Girls who will probably drop their rank a little bit

​Here I don't really have someone to name. But I think that probably Sasshi will fall as she's not in AKB48 anymore this either making fans vote her like crazy or dropping her popularity. And maybe Yuuko, I mean Aki-P promotes new girls a lot. Mayuyu is going to be the new rival. Paruru will be slowly reaching top rankings(personally hope not). Yukirin will probably keep her current ranking, I don't really see her at top or even losing her good ranking.

 

Girls who will probably get finally ranked/rank higher

• Renacchi
• Haruppi (not sure if she was ranked)
• Annin
• Anya
• Renacchi
• Sakura (not sure if she was ranked before)

Anyway, probably HKT, NMB and former Team 4 will rank up.....

[Krusha]

Not that I care to start that here, but their personal lives becoming public are no longer personal. Especially so if they're idols. They know what they are doing. If they don't like it, go find something else to do.

 

At any rate, I thought about something which may very well affect this before it has even begun: 

 

We know that many of the graduated girls cannot and have not joined in RH performances the past few years, solely because of different contracts / agencies / companies - and as we can also see, have their faces censored on shows like AKBINGO! etc. 

What sense does it make that these girls now all of a sudden can participate in the election? 

 

So, I think a lot of these girls will not be part of it, due to exactly this issue.

[Ares13]

^ ..oh ... A point that I just remembered .. And it will sound like I am contradicting myself ..but I am kind of in a mess of thought ..
I think Aki-P may have just did something that no one thought of .. His simple solution of getting pass all the legal issue .. A application form to participate in a contest of sort .. Simple but brilliant to me ...

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Anyway .. One must know that you can vote for a member but not against a member ..
Except for a small case of direct rivalry .. But I doubt much people would vote for a member just because hatred for her rival ..

I would think all that fans are very forgiving if its their oshimen .. So I don't think scandal or wrongdoing will hurt them .. It's more like they wouldn't grow as fast as the other members that is clean whom may catch up with them ..
But given the lack of growth in AKB and the advancing sister group .. I would think ...all the senbatsu member that is now part of or in the sister group will actually fly faster than the rest .. So I expect raise for Sasshi, Yui, Rie .. But the problem is Sasshi last result is so high up .. It may well looked like a decline ..

[TheFicusWithSuperPowers]

^^ Unfair. Well, IDK what's up with all those things........ but it's unfair.

[Ares13]

^ oh ... You talking about personal life ..?
Honestly I agree with Krusha .. In life for all profession .. There is a different between responsibility and personal freedom ..
It's like a bus driver who have all the personal right to get himself drunk but if he crashes the bus and kill everyone in it .. It's no longer a personal thing ..
Similarly for idols .. They have responsibility to their fans, to the rest of the members, the organsation .. An example to their followers and juniors .. So they got to exercise constraint..

[gryzze]

The 31st single (which has a voting ticket) can be ordered now from the various shops.

HMV: http://www.hmv.co.jp...cle/1303260037/

[Krusha]

Great, thank you gryzze. Just PO'ed all 6 versions

[hitoyou]

I'm begging that they will try to move on with the newer genereations and I think that this is their true intention. Because none of the graduated members will announce their candidancy and why would they... All of them left because they felt like they had better things to do. When old fans realizes that all hope is gone they change oshimen or leave the fandom, either way, AKB gain from this in a longer perspective. Less whining from old fans with graduated oshimen and more focus on the new. 

I thought that the overseas transfers were a part of this renewal as JKT and SNH won't be allowed to participate, however, I'm not convinced that any of the overseas girls will participate anyways.

 

It is, none the less, a nice media stunt

 

What good would come out of this if an unpopular member declined candidancy? She only shows that she gave up and that management and fans also should give up on her too. If a popular member did the same... either way, expect a graduation announcement in the near future. Yuko's decision will be very interesting.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Krusha]

I do believe that there's some media stunt involved here. It creates a lot of interest, buzz, hype etc. Will Yuko opt out? Will Acchan come back? Will other grads come back? What about ... etc. and a lot of this. So there'll be news about it etc.

 

Marketing 101.

[gryzze]

Yeah I think so too. I wouldn't be surprised if they already convinced a former member to apply.

[hitoyou]

The only graduated members that could possibly enter the contest... Nonti. She got recent and epic Ariyoshi moments.

Ok one more, Cindy too with her WH7 connection.

[Krusha]

Apparently Yonechan has stated she will not do it.

[Nao-kun]

Honestly .. I do not think Acchan is going to take part .. and do not think the popular ex-member is going to have a try at it ..
I think this whole idea behind this is for graduating members to take part as they may not want everyone to follow Acchan example of not taking part just because you are graduating ...

 

Theoretically speaking some fans who are still upset about Acchan departure could no longer blame AKB management for anything if Acchan declined to participate, it would be like Acchan telling them to move on instead of the company. So maybe just a fancy divert blame move coupled with suing the publicity. 

 

Not really a fan of the candidacy thing tbh, almost hoping any girl who doesn't take part will have to answer some serious questions about her future in the ***48 family.

[Morning Death]

If existing members do NOT take part
1) The whole idea of the election may chance .. now instead of fight for your oshimen .. it may be fighting for a purpose you find most meaningful ..
2) It would be a huge talking point ... making everything more interesting ...
3) Not taking part may not be bad as you may get people attention by not taking part ...

 

but if my oshimen isn't involved, I'm not going to vote.

 

Dude, you hit the spot with this one. This could seriously backfire when it comes to fans with a kamioshi who are not interested to vote for another member. I know there are fans who will simply vote for another member they like, but what if there are some fans that abstain from voting altogether. This could prove to be a mistake, sales could lower even more if we don't have those loyal fans buying multiple copies. I bet Akimoto saw a heavier reason to go this route, we will see.

 

I really don't like this candidacy thing.

 

Also, I remember members saying they don't like senbatsu elections. On the top of my head, Oshima. What will fans think if she indeed participates now that it became a voluntary thingy? She changed her mind?

 

What about Nakanishi Rina? I am not so sure of how many years she actually spent in AKB to qualify but if she does have those four years, could she submit a candidacy? lol

 

Copy pasting from some Status Update comments I did outside the forum:

 

I guess this candidacy system is trying to make things friendlier for members. But I specially see a possible effort to prevent more backlash after Minegishi ends up going down the ranks after such a scandal. Maybe. If now it is an optional matter, Minegishi and only her would be responsible to face a possible shame after being rejected by some fans. You could almost see the headlines in the tabloids before this announcement: "Minegishi drops senbatsu after scandal", or something.

 

Expect some comments from Minegishi saying something like "I feel I am not ready to be part of this election and I will work harder so that in the future people will feel like they want to support Minegishi."

 

I think this is a great idea for members that would like to return. But I think this kind of gives space for some popular members to come into the group casually, there are aspects of AKB that some members don't like and graduate, but at least, with the election, they can come into AKB and appear in a single. Could be like an AKB part time job. There are things I don't like about this though.

[Ares13]

^ I don't think Nakanishi Rina made qualification ..because I saw some fans on twitter crying foul about it ...

For me .. the only interesting question about members not participating is Takamina ..
Ya ..It may cause sales to drop .. but technically she is transiting from member to management ..
this maybe another step for her to complete her slow path to graduation ...

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oh the theater version would have voting tickets ?
I believe that previously there isn't .. ?
So voting is going to get cheaper ..?

[Morning Death]

^ I don't think Nakanishi Rina made qualification ..because I saw some fans on twitter crying foul about it ...

For me .. the only interesting question about members not participating is Takamina ..
Ya ..It may cause sales to drop .. but technically she is transiting from member to management ..
this maybe another step for her to complete her slow path to graduation ...
 

 

I didn't expect to see that. Even if she would qualify I doubt management would allow it.

 

I don't take the transition to management that seriously because we could end up not getting anything beyond what Takamina has gotten at the moment but I do think that abstaining from voting indeed fits her image as leader and how she steps back so that other members can shine.