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[RenaiHunter]

Senbatsu

Team A: Shimazaki Haruka (center), Kojima Haruna, Iriyama Anna, Yokoyama Yui
Team K: Mukaichi Mion
Team B: Kashiwagi Yuki, Watanabe Mayu, Kato Rena, Kizaki Yuria
Team 4: Okada Nana, Kawamoto Saya, Kojima Mako, Komiyama Haruka, Takahashi Juri
Team 8: Oguri Yui
Team S: Matsui Jurina
Team N: Yamamoto Sayaka
Team H: Kodama Haruka, Sashihara Rino
Team KIV: Miyawaki Sakura
Team TII: Matsuoka Hana
Team NIII: Nakai Rika

First AKB senbatsu of: Komiyama Haruka, Oguri Yui, Matsuoka Hana and Nakai Rika

 

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[RenaiHunter]

I'm very pissed off at Yuria being included after her huge drop and Tomu not being included despite being in Top 16 for 2nd consecutive year.

 

I'm very pissed at Dasu and Rie not included as well.

[☆RisaReinaSayu☆]

Well, this whole year has just been skip the a-side(s) central for AKB. Poor Tomu. I might feel a bit better if she ends up centering a b-side.

[Krusha]

If I were to complain about something regarding this lineup, it would be that Yuirii is again excluded from the good company. 

 

"Hard work and effort always pays off" is bullshit political speak, and girls that really believe in this are probably too naive for their own good, and will be disappointed many more times to come. Yes, it's this conversation again and I'll keep it short. There's many girls who work hard, and obviously they cannot all get into senbatsu. But if anybody right now deserves it, it's Yuirii. She is the undisputed Queen of the Theater, and she's a master of handshake events as well. But I guess to Akimoto, neither the theater nor handshake events matter anymore (as evident in the lack of theater stages, years after they were first announced). So what's the point then for these girls, if their two main arenas won't reward you properly, if you have done the work? 

 

It's a complete waste. 

 

And instead we see girls like Paruru get the god damn center position. 

 

At least there's girls like Naachan, Miion, Sayaya, and Kojimako in the lineup. 

 

As for the non-AKB48 girls, I don't really care so much (anymore) about this (with regards to AKB singles, in the sense that they will be there whether you like it or not). But I am astounded at the level of push Hanachan has received. It's not too long ago that I read Akimoto thinking out loud that she could maybe be an AKB48 group center in the future.

 

PS: Please don't read this post thinking I'm upset or angry, I'm not.

[RenaiHunter]

I'm not mad about Paruru center, but I wish she would look at it as a sign to start putting more effort. 

 

As for Hana, as I've said in the HKT single thread, I'm super irritated by her push. What did she do to deserve it? I hate the whole random pushing of girls out of nowhere. And it's not like HKT is in a desperate need of promotion and fresh girls. They have so much popular young faces.

SKE and NMB are declining, but management doesn't care about them. Sayanee and Jurina will center everything until they graduate (there are Rara and Uha in SKE, but they are not doing very good, while NMB's future centers don't get promoted enough). After they graduate both groups will probably start selling in the numbers of Morning Musume.

I don't know what's running in AkiP's head, but it's not good. He is leading AKB to it's doom. It reminds me of H!P's big downfall.

 

Yuria keeps getting pushed, but instead of fans the numbers of her haters increases instead.

[Krusha]

OK so let me explain Hanachan: As you may or may not have noticed, usually in the 48 groups, whenever a new generation joins - this is also from 1st gen as well - there's always a couple girls that sticks out naturally. With the 2nd generation draft girls in HKT48, all three girls were and are unique and interesting, but it was Hanachan that had luck with TV shows, managing to make a name for herself. Something that is often overlooked, is the effect TV shows has on girls.

 

For example, Goto found Hanachan to be very interesting, and so he shouted her nickname on the TV show he hosts. That a host does this was pretty hilarious and both Sasshii and him laughed over this. Fans found it funny too, and then as small memes usually are repeated, this happened again a few times. Hanachan of course being aware of this utilized it well by playing to it. She's got an extrovert happy personality and knows and understands TV well and how to act behind a camera. This is very helpful to her. This functioned as the little snowball that runs off the side of a mountain, and becomes a huge ball of snow rolling down the hill. 

 

Now this isn't the only reason why she's popular (the meme thing) but it's part of it, because it helped people notice her. She's popular in handshake events too, she's pretty, extrovert, well-spoken, and so on. These are all good factors for being a push candidate. And the push she has received, and it's working. 

 

So, every generation will have someone be pushed regardless of how many other fresh faces a group has. 

 

What's great about HKT48 is that they are still open to letting other girls get senbatsu chance (see Yuriya and Yuutan as recent examples for this).

 

You should not be irritated at all about Hanachan. Be irritated about Paruru and Annin instead. That makes more sense.

[RenaiHunter]

I don't know if you saw Paru's thread, but there is a headline about her graduating (still not confirmed). It's the same newspaper which announced Rena's graduation before her.

 

So if it's really her last single I wouldn't be mad.

[Krusha]

If she does graduate, that explains why they're giving her center position. But it doesn't excuse her behavior over the years, and her complete not giving a shit attitude from A to Z. If she graduates however, it opens up the spot for one more member. Hopefully management makes the right choice, though hoping for this is absolutely hysterical.

[RenaiHunter]

Well it's true she has bad behavior, but her fans kept supporting her despite it. "YASS Paruru Queen doesn't need to do idol stuff to be relevant" is what I hear often from Paru fans. They kept buying her goods and even tho she gave cold reactions on hs events and sometimes didn't show up people kept buying her handshake tickets. They keep insisting Paruru loves her fans very much and is not a bad idol. If she keeps making money then management will try milking all that they can from her. It's not entirely Paruru's fault if her fans blindly support her for everything.

 

I personally am neutral to Paruru. I don't dislike her and I don't like her either, completely neutral. So I don't want to take sides on her case.

[msmairtan]

honestly they need to stop trying to make yuria happen

[Krusha]

They're sort of obligated to do so. She was a front girl in SKE48, and to remove her from SKE48 and bring her to AKB48 without that level of promotion is probably something that would implode in the face of management. So, they "gave her" the same treatment in AKB48. Of course this is pretty shitty considering Maachun actually had a shot at singles in NMB48, and likewise so with Chori in HKT48 - though perhaps it was still difficult for them in their respective groups. But now it's impossible in AKB48 for them.

[minaeshi]

Completely fine with Paruru getting the center position. It's overdue for a girl who was marketed to be the next acchan for years. They should have given her the center way back with kibouteki refrain and kimi wa melody.  I'm only upset about these few things. 

 

Yuria drops into oblivion in ssk yet still gets in senbatsu. Tomu ranks higher than the general manager of the group, and doesn't make senbatsu. 

SKE, NMB and NGT have 1 member representing the group, HKT has...4? why? why does HKT need 4? they could ave switched out Haruppi and Hana for Tomu and i don't know, naanya or hiwatan? or any other future akb girl? i don't see why management loves to push hkt girls all the time and then wonder why akb new gen girls keep complaining about kennins and sister group members. 

Hana hasn't even made a splash with HKT fans and they're already pushing her into AKB? again, Why? why not push Rara of Yuuri instead? 

 

oh well. i hope paruru kills it with this center position. 

[☆RisaReinaSayu☆]

Now that I've had a day or so to think about this Senbatsu I'm going to collect my thoughts and post them in the form of a short list.
1) Why did they use 22nin Senbatsu instead of 26nin Senbatsu if there is only 1 center? They could've easily included Muto Tomu as another representative for Team K, and an extra representative for SKE, NMB, & NGT. That would've made a lot of people less upset while allowing for a front line of Jurina, Sayanee, Paruru, Sakura, & new prospect from NGT Nakai Rika.
2) I don't understand why Kizaki Yuria hasn't graduated. Wasn't her goal to eventually be transferred to AKB and pursue external acting opportunities? She's kind of taking her time to pull the trigger on that decision is all I'm saying. Or am I mistaking her for someone else.
3) Kato Rena has been growing on me little by little for some time now, but I fear for the day management stops holding her hand and lets her sink or swim.
 

[RenaiHunter]

2) I don't understand why Kizaki Yuria hasn't graduated. Wasn't her goal to eventually be transferred to AKB and pursue external acting opportunities? She's kind of taking her time to pull the trigger on that decision is all I'm saying. Or am I mistaking her for someone else.

I don't think she has been working on her acting dream (correct me if I'm wrong) or even thinking about graduating in the next few years. I think Yuria just feels comfortable being spoiled by management and receiving this nice treatment without working hard for it.
 
But all this push is not helping her at all in my opinion, if they keep giving her rewards without her working hard for them then she won't do ok on her own. (if her extra push stops eventually she might completely fall off the radar) And I don't think it appeals to fans, but rather push them away from her. Honestly looking at her I can't see a successful entertainer after her graduation.
 
I don't know what's Rena's case, but I feel like if they stop pushing her so hard she will else sink or just float around and be overshadowed by almost everyone. Same for Anna.

[RenaiHunter]

46th single lineup in priority rows:

 

Needless to say how unhappy I am for Yuria's spot. The only row I'm ok with is 1st row. And I'm happy Kojiharu was put there.

 

But they even shafted Rena for Yuria... Rena who got lots of management love and actually managed to maintain good ranking and popularity.

And Komiharu & Sayaya's spots also seem very unfair. There should have been Oguri, Hana or Rika.

[minaeshi]

Okay, if they swapped Sayanee and Yukirin, and Yuria with either Kojimako or Renacchi, this would have been perfect. 

[RenaiHunter]

Tano Yuka's comment on 46th single senbatsu:

I don't always like her honesty, but this time I'd like to applaud her for it. I'm going to believe she is talking about girls like Yuria.

 

She also apparently unfollowed a bunch of 48 members on twitter that she isn't very close with.

[Blu-Cherri]

I guess dropping out of the election has given her some extra confidence to say her mind more clearly(less to lose sort of thing). I'm glad someone said something honestly. 

My guess with Yuria is management feel responsible for her drop? They moved her so they have to fix it but I just don't think they're going about this right.

[Krusha]

There's a number of girls in senbatsu that should've been removed and replaced with other girls (not just one), and this isn't a case of "Krusha is mad because some of the girls he likes aren't in senbatsu", but more that "Krusha is annoyed at seeing Japanese fans rave about certain girls that are working their asses off, are contributing a lot, and fans respond super-well to them, but management doesn't give a flying shit, with the result that both fans and girls lose hope." 

 

How does this ensure growth, interest, etc? I just really want to know what their thought process is like. Are they so bent over having to pick up the soap of management/agency companies that they cannot dare be a little more original? I am honestly not excited at all about senbatsu the past few years. 

 

If I am, it's because of the inclusion of a couple of girls. But that's about it. And it's not enough. Senbatsu should be so inclusive that even top girls should never feel safe about being in senbatsu. When it's like this, nobody can just sit down and coast at less than half speed, but instead they have to convince at every arena all the time. 

 

Anyways +1 to Tanochan for her comments, and I say this regardless of what girls she's referring to, because it's 100% the truth.

[☆RisaReinaSayu☆]

With only four singles a year now and so many of the Senbatsu locks busy with external activities one really does have to wonder why there isn't more experimentation with Senbatsu. Even if it was only once a year they should definitely try out a Senbatsu of the rising stars in the group and maybe even use that single's Senbatsu to push rising stars from the sister groups. It doesn't always have to be Jurina for SKE and Sayanee for NMB and Sakura for HKT. I have this feeling Tano Yuka will graduate before such experimentation is ever even seriously considered let alone done.

An excellent example of someone who should've been dropped from Senbatsu lately is Takamina. Think of how many sales Kuchibiru ni Be My Baby could've accumulated if Takamina had been relegated to just b-sides between her graduation announcement and her graduation. Or how much more special it would've been to see her in Kimi wa Melody after having the chance to miss her. I mean really a decade plus long tenure in the group and Senbatsu for every single that didn't have Senbatsu decided by Janken.

No matter how great a member you've been, no matter how much you've paid your dues, no matter your contributions, or what you represent within the group; there's no reason you shouldn't acknowledge that its time to pass the torch and immediately do just that. A year and then some is way too long a stretch of time to pass the torch. What kills me more is that it seems the same thing is going to happen with Kojiharu. Kojiharu, a woman who has looked like she could care less about being included in Senbatsu for years now. At least with Takamina you could feel that no matter what it was she was doing as a member of the group it always meant the world to her.

I'd throw some shade at Annin, because she doesn't do handshake events anymore and her election track record isn't stellar, nor does it hold up well compared to other girls, who despite doing better than her election wise are still on the bench, but I can more than understand why she doesn't want to do handshake events anymore and the election never guaranteed anyone regular appearances in Senbatsu in the past so 'why would it do so now?' comes into play. Still if it's clear she won't do so well at elections and she won't do handshake events they can more than afford to bench her and keep her in reserve. She seemed interested enough in getting into a good university and completing her higher education circa Mae Shika Mukanee that she was excluded from that single's Senbatsu, what's stopping her from wanting to graduate to focus on them sooner rather than later, and thus leave management to scramble for a replacement for her in the near future anyway?

There are some girls who've just plain been babied the entirety of their Senbatsu runs too. Minegishi Minami was never as popular with the fans as other Senbatsu staples from Original Team A, but was always included over girls who were more popular than she was anyway (some might even say she was able to stay relevant and thus maintain the stretch of popularity she did have purely because she was being included in Senbatsu regularly). They weren't even willing to let her properly sink or swim after her scandal (shaving her head was a clear and extreme way to show she was sorry and her demotion was the proper thing to do from management's end, but then they gave her the platform with which to rise to where she had been and beyond instead of letting her find one herself, by having her captain Team 4 which gave her an Akimoto Sayaka reminiscent effect "the hardworking captain of the team who works for every opportunity she gets double or even triple time" except that for Minegishi it's fake as she always did have management in her pocket and it was even them who put her in this sympathetic position to begin with).

Kizaki Yuria was favored in SKE pretty much from day one and that somehow automatically meant favor in AKB after her transfer despite there being several girls who could've used the spot she got as a Senbatsu regular already waiting. And it hasn't even been very clearly why they're pushing her, SKE 3rd gen needed some representatives in their Senbatsu and she was chosen as one of those representatives, she continued to represent despite other SKE girls faring better than she did with the fans both in handshake events and in their election track record; and when it comes to Kodama Haruka management just won't let us forget she exists throwing her at us every chance they get even when Sakura clearly rose above her and Mio/Meru leaving very little reason to push her so much and so hard. Let her get over naturally and give someone else a try for crying out loud.