After the disappointment of last year's High School Graduation mook, I thought to myself, "I wish they made next year's one more diverse", especially when the said mook only had 2 Sakamichi and 3 48G. Boy I was wrong.
Here's the lineup courtesy of AKB48 Memo's twitter:
Sakamichi 48G H!P
Junior High School (2002 line)
Hamagishi Hiyori (Keyakizaka46 Hiragana Keyaki 2nd gen (overall 3rd gen))
Kosaka Nao (same as Hamagishi)
Kanemura Miku (same as Hamagishi)
Ito Riria (Nogizaka46 3rd gen)
Yamamoto Ayaka (NMB48 Team N 5th gen)
Iwata Hina (STU48 1st gen)
Funaki Musubu (Angerme 6th gen/Country Girls 2nd gen)
Sakamichi: 4
48G: 2
H!P: 1
High School (1999 line)
Sato Masaki (Morning Musume '18 10th gen)
Kamikokuryo Moe (Angerme 4th gen)
Kobayashi Yui (Keyakizaka46 Kanji Keyaki 1st gen)
Sasaki Mirei (Keyakizaka46 Hiragana Keyaki 1st gen (overall 2nd gen))
Watanabe Miho (Keyakizaka46 Hiragana Keyaki 2nd gen (overall 3rd gen))
Yamashita Mizuki (Nogizaka46 3rd gen)
Ozono Momoko (Nogizaka46 3rd gen)
Sakamichi: 5
H!P: 2
I can't help but feel 46 groups are rather overpushed. The management behind the mook publication needs to be told that there are other idols out there, waiting for an opportunity. Are Sakamichi groups the only idol groups the general public knows? Apparently yes. And it's sad. The general public thinks that Keyakizaka is unrivaled among those debuted 2015 or later, but that's not the case for fans who follow multiple groups.
Hopefully, next year, a more diverse lineup should be decided, especially when Sakamichi's 2000 line is currently limited, and only 1 2003 line (Iwamoto Renka). This should be other idols' chance of getting in, especially when the best idols from the 2000 line are mostly not from Akimoto's groups.
Rant over.
The 48-Group in general has too much control over the media in general. I like some of those group but I don't think they deserve the attention they receive half the time. They take away too much spotlight from other idol groups and even take away sponsors from the local-idols whenever there's a new "48" group.