The votes are in. The stage is set at the HARD OFF ECO Stadium Niigata. Fans sit in anticipation, soon to be joined by the girls vying for the elusive Senbatsu. It’s AKB48 Sousenkyo time. The AKB48 45th Single Senbatsu Sousenkyo ~Bokutachi wa Dare ni Tsuiteikeba ii~ (45thシングル 選抜総選挙~僕たちは誰について行けばいい?~) was held on June 18th, 2016. This was the 8th annual AKB48 Group members election, where fans vote for their favorite members. Fans could cast their votes through anyone of 20 different methods (including buying the 44th single, "Tubasa wa Iranai”). Out of the 271 girls who entered themselves into the running, 80 will participate on the single as one of 5 groupings which were distributed as follows: 1st-16th place: Senbatsu (A-side or main song) 17th-32nd place: Undergirls (B-side 1) 33rd-48th place: Next Girls (B-side 2) 49th-65th place: Future Girls (B-side 3) 65th-80th place: Upcoming Girls (B-side 4) (results and more after the break) So how did I come up with the idea of a Franchise Four? Well...I didn’t. During this year’s MLB All-Star Game, the Franchise Four of every team was revealed. The Franchise Four are the four best players of respective teams, and when you think of these players, you think of the franchise. For example, the San Francisco Giants have Barry Bonds, Willie Mays, Willie McCovey and Buster Posey as their Franchise Four. Other sports fans tried to find their Franchise Four for teams in other sports, such as the NFL and NBA. But as both a sports fan and a fan of the 48 groups, who would be in the Franchise Four of AKB48 and their current sister groups? AKB48 and their sister groups have had their history throughout the years, and many, many members have came and went. But every group has those four members who set the foundation for their respective franchises. This article points out who I might think make the Franchise Four for 5 groups in particular: AKB48, SKE48, NMB48, HKT48, and Nogizaka46. I won’t include groups such as SDN48, JKT48 or SNH48, as I am not too familiar with any of those groups. So if you are a fan of those respective groups, I am sorry. As for the newly announced NGT48 and Keyakizaka46, I cannot include a Franchise Four for any of those groups since they are both brand new and we don’t know a lot about all of the members and who would stand out (though Kitahara Rie would be a lock for NGT48’s Franchise Four). Also, keep in mind this is an opinion piece, so if you don’t feel right with my selections, my apologies in advance. Without further ado, here are my Franchise Four picks for AKB48 and their sister groups. AKB48: Maeda Atsuko, Oshima Yuko, Takahashi Minami, Watanabe Mayu Maeda Atsuko and Oshima Yuko are locks for the Franchise Four if you ask any AKB48 fan. Both of them won Sousenkyo elections and were center selections for countless AKB48 singles before they graduated. Takahashi Minami is also a lock because of just how much work she put in to bring AKB48 to where it is now. If there was a heart and soul of the AKB48 franchise, it’s Takamina. As for the last spot, this decision was somewhat difficult but having Watanabe Mayu as the fourth member of the AKB48 Franchise Four makes sense. The idol cyborg herself was the 3rd member of AKB48 to win Sousenkyo and has never ranked less than 5th on the election. Once Takamina graduates, the face of the franchise may belong to Mayuyu. There were a lot of members who had the chance to make the AKB48 Franchise Four: Shinoda Mariko, Kojima Haruna, Itano Tomomi, Matsui Jurina, Shimazaki Haruka, Miyazawa Sae, Akimoto Sayaka, and especially Kashiwagi Yuki. Overall, the four members I selected seem about right, unless someone plans to edge Mayuyu in the next three or four years. SKE48: Matsui Jurina, Matsui Rena, Suda Akari, Takayanagi Akane Obviously the WMatsui duo of Matsui Jurina and Matsui Rena are a lock for the Franchise Four. These two members are the faces of the SKE48 franchise, which makes Rena’s graduation all that more painful…but hopefully the SKE48 franchise does well with Jurina as the lead. Either way, both have to be included on the SKE48 Franchise Four. I had to go with Suda Akari as a member of the Franchise Four for a few reasons. She is the first SKE48 member to make Sousenkyo senbatsu without the surname Matsui. Now that Rena is graduating, she’s the new face of Team E. And yes, I will point out that she did drop a little bit during this year’s Sousenkyo, but when I think of SKE48, usually Akarin’s name comes up. Same thing goes with Takayanagi Akane, who I am selecting as the fourth member of the Franchise Four. She made Sousenkyo senbatsu this year and has always ranked pretty high during elections. Plus, she was also granted a kennin with NMB48, which means management probably wants to push you. Honestly, deciding the last two spots for the SKE48 Franchise Four was challenging. There were so many other members who I could have selected for the last two spots: Kizaki Yuria, Oya Masana, Shibata Aya, Matsumura Kaori and Furukawa Airi just to name a few. Like AKB48, someone new could climb up the ranks and possibly make it on here. NMB48: Yamamoto Sayaka, Watanabe Miyuki, Yamada Nana, Shiroma Miru It was really easy to select three members for the NMB48 Franchise Four. Obviously, just like the WMatsui duo, Yamamoto Sayaka and Watanabe Miyuki are obvious choices. Both have centered several songs, both sell out handshake tickets like mad, and both have made Sousenkyo senbatsu. As for Yamada Nana, she was always the 3rd most popular member of NMB48 (at least according to Sousenkyo votes) before she graduated, which means she will make this list. She was also allowed her very own single in “Don’t Look Back”, so that helps her case. The last spot could be anybody: Jonishi Kei, Sutou Ririka, Kinoshita Momoka, Yagura Fuuko, Shibuya Nagisa, or even Jo Eriko. But I am selecting Shiroma Miru as the last member of the Franchise Four. The only reason why I am picking Shiroma Miru over everyone else is because she is getting pushed like crazy from management. All the gravure, the AKB48 kennin, and the center position for “Rashikunai” help her case. Her push hasn’t stopped yet, and NMB48 management may rely on her should Sayanee or Milky graduate (let’s hope that doesn’t happen soon!). That last spot is wide open for anybody, but as of now, I believe Shiroma Miru takes the spot. HKT48: Sashihara Rino, Miyawaki Sakura, Kodama Haruka, Tomonaga Mio Even though HKT48 has been around for a little over 4 years, there is already a solidified Franchise Four. You can’t go wrong with selecting Sashihara Rino, Miyawaki Sakura and Kodama Haruka as three members of the HKT48 Franchise Four. Look at the handshake numbers and Sousenkyo vote numbers for proof. As for the last spot, I was kind of torn between Tomonaga Mio and Tashima Meru. I went with Mio since she has the management push (she is also a member of AKB48 Team 4) and has been center for several HKT48 singles. You could say the same thing about Tashima Meru, since she too has a management push. But I am going to lean with Mio for now, unless Meru surprises us in the next few years. If this were a Franchise Five, both Mio and Meru would be here. But since this is the Franchise Four, one member got the short end of the stick. Sorry Meru… Nogizaka46: Ikoma Rina, Shiraishi Mai, Nishino Nanase, Ikuta Erika
No real challenge here. When you think of Nogizaka46, these four ladies come to mind. Every single member here has been center for at least one single and every member here has handshake results that sell out quickly (no idea about Ikoma Rina however). Even if I do have second thoughts about putting someone else here, like Hashimoto Nanami, Sakurai Reika, Hori Miona or Hoshino Minami, I don’t think any of them can edge this Franchise Four. There’s really nothing wrong with this selection. In closing, those are my selections for the Franchise Four of AKB48 and its sister/rival groups. I will admit that I am more knowledgeable with some groups over others, such as Nogizaka46 over SKE48. Thus, my picks may be a little problematic. If you disagree with my selections and have a more suitable Franchise Four, let me know in the comments below. -Nathan (L4Verra) AKB48 shuffles their lineup…again. This year we did not see the silly shuffles of past years such as “Nishino Nanase to Team A”, “Matsumura Kaori to Team H” or “Matsui Jurina to Nogizaka46”. Nothing like that happened this time around. Rather than repeat those questionable decisions, we instead see several members lose their concurrencies, gain new ones to AKB48, or get sent to other AKB48 teams. Keep this in mind: This is more of an opinion piece on the shuffle and who has been affected. This piece may go over certain members who got moved and certain members who are no longer part of AKB48. It may read as a bit scattered and unorganized, but this is coming from someone who can only name like, half of the main AKB48 lineup, and that is not including Team 8 or Baito AKB members. Let me use what I know! Let’s start with the kennin members. Several concurrencies ended with the spring shuffle, from Yagura Fuuko and Kotani Riho ending their tenures with AKB48, Takayanagi Akane and Kashiwagi Yuki ending their tenures with NMB48, to Tanaka Natsumi and Watanabe Miyuki ending their tenures with SKE48. That’s not all though, the concurrencies that caused the most controversy ended as well. Ikoma Rina is no longer a part of AKB48, and Matsui Rena is no longer a part of Nogizaka46. This one-year experiment came to a close, and now Nogizaka46 can continue their work without the connections to the 48 groups (though Kojima Haruna may have something to say about that). Here are some of the new members announced to AKB48 as kennin members. Welcome back Watanabe Miyuki, as she is granted a second stint with Team B. Yabuki Nako is also a part of AKB48 now, which was a surprising choice given how neither Tanaka Miku nor Tashima Meru had their chance with AKB48. Nako gets the kennin first, and if her concurrency remains successful, perhaps Miku and Meru will have their chance too. Team A gets Shiroma Miru as a kennin member. I had a bit of a feeling that she would get a kennin with AKB48 given how much gravure and media exposure she has had in the past year, and giving her a senbatsu spot on “Kibouteki Refrain” reinforced that thought. Unfortunately, she acts as a replacement to Yagura Fuuko’s spot on Team A. Miru is getting pushed tremendously and Fuuko is starting to lose some of her spotlight because of it. It is unfortunate to see that because I honestly feel really bad for Fuuko. She could have been sent to Team 4, but instead she lost her kennin altogether. Sadly, that is how management sees things. As a Shiroma Miru oshi (given how Yamagishi Natsumi is long gone), I am really stoked for Miru and what she’ll do during her tenure with Team A. This may mean more gravure and perhaps an AKB48 single senbatsu spot or two. Also, this could mean that Miru may rank as high as undergirls this year for sousenkyo, but that’s a story for another day. Kitagawa Ryoha gets a kennin with Team 4. After becoming center for “12-gatsu no Kangaroo” alongside Miyamae Ami, she gains a concurrency with Team 4. It is likely that she may be the next face of SKE48 should Matsui Rena graduate (and that has been hinted at; Rena is not participating in sousenkyo this year). Just like Tashima Meru and Tanaka Miku, perhaps Miyamae Ami may be a part of AKB48 someday. There are other kennins that honestly make no sense. Nakano Ikumi, Yamada Nanami and Sakaguchi Nagisa are kennin members with Team K, Team A and Team B respectively. What makes no sense is that these three members are all part of AKB48’s Team 8. This sparks the idea that Team 8 seems more like a separate entity among AKB48, and is a sister group in the disguise of another team. If anything, sending all of Team 8 to Niigata would have been a better option, rather than making them seem more separated than they already are. Team 8 could very likely have been NGT48 in disguise! Speaking of Niigata… Here are two members who have been revealed for NGT48. Kitahara Rie has been transferred from AKB48 to NGT48 and will serve as the captain of the franchise. Kashiwagi Yuki will now be a kennin member with NGT48 since her concurrency with NMB48 ended. Sending Kitarie up to Niigata will spark possibilities for her, since she has not make senbatsu since Labrador Retriever. She could take the Sashihara Rino route and become the face of the franchise along many up and coming members. As for Yukirin, giving her a kennin with NGT48 makes no sense. She won’t exactly be there all the time, but at least she’ll be there in the NGT48 senbatsu right? Yukirin does not need to have a kennin to keep her fans, her popularity, her senbatsu spots, and her sousenkyo votes; she’s done that with AKB48 for years now. The only thing I can see with NGT48 would possibly be a somewhat older idol group, which hasn’t been done since SDN48 or the Ebisu Muscats. I have no idea what is in store for NGT48, but that is an educated guess given how Kitahara Rie and Kashiwagi Yuki turn 24 this year. Or, Kitarie and Yukirin may have to babysit a bunch of 12-14 year old Niigata idols like Sasshi did with HKT48 for a few years. Again, there’s no telling what will happen with this group. We can only sit back and relax. Yokoyama Team A Now let’s get to the newly shuffled teams. Team A remains largely unchained with a few welcome additions to help bolster the lineup, such as Miyazaki Miho, Owada Nana, Ogasawara Mayu and Hirata Rina. I always saw the Team A lineup as the most balanced, with a mix of up and coming members, early generation members, and a few kennin members. However, Team A just got a new captain. Your newly appointed AKB48 General Manager, Yokoyama Yui, has become the captain of Team A. Team A now has both Yokoyama Yui and Shimazaki Haruka in the same lineup, so you 9th gen fans and/or YuiParu fans can now rejoice. Team A looks like it will be one of the strongest lineups among AKB48. That can’t be said for the next team, which didn’t solve the problem it had last year. Minegishi Team K Team K now has my AKB48 oshi in Minegishi Minami as captain to replace Yokoyama Yui. Muto Tomu joins Team K to bring her back with Tano Yuuka. Mukaichi Mion also joins Miichan from Team 4 to Team K. That’s all fine and dandy, but the same problem that affected Team K still affects it now, albeit worse than last year. Yamamoto Sayaka and Matsui Jurina are still the faces of this team. Don’t get me wrong; I love Sayanee and Jurina. But they are the faces of NMB48 and SKE48 respectively. They become the faces of Team K simply because they are kennin members, which means AKB48-based members of this team lose senbatsu spots, especially if the senbatsu is the traditional 16 members. The four faces of Team K who aren’t kennin members are Miichan, Mion, Tanochan and Tomu. They all made senbatsu for the upcoming “Bokutachi wa Tatakawanai” single, so there’s hope for non-kennin Team K members. But ask yourself this: for the upcoming election, do any of these four have a shot to crack the Top 16? It pains me to say that because this team has my oshi (she ranked pretty high last year at Undergirls and looks like a dark horse for senbatsu this year). But there was only one AKB48-based Team K member who cracked the Top 16 during the sousenkyo last year. She’s with Team A now. Kizaki Team B Gone are the days of Kuramochi Asuka as captain of Team B. Straight out of Team 4, Kizaki Yuria has been appointed as the new Team B captain. New members of Team B also include Iwasa Misaki, Tatsuya Makiho and Kato Rena, among others. The team overall feels relatively the same, with Watanabe Mayu and Kashiwagi Yuki still as the faces of the team. The new kennin members seem like great additions as well. However, maybe this was me, but I somewhat got used to Ikoma Rina on the AKB48 lineup, especially on Team B where she blossomed. As a Nogizaka46 fan, yes I was surprised with the shuffle to send her there. I got used to seeing her in AKB48, seeing her make the sousenkyo senbatsu and seeing her team up with Watanabe Mayu during some concert performances. It is going to be different without her, and I know that she learned an awful lot during her year on Team B. She’ll make senbatsu on Nogizaka46 and that’ll be a lock unless she graduates, but gone are the days of Ikoma Rina at center, especially when Nishino Nanase, Ikuta Erika, Shiraishi Mai, and maybe Hashimoto Nanami look primed to be the upcoming centers for singles. I think this is me saying thank you Ikoma Rina for everything you did on Team B. Keep rocking the Nogizaka46 lineup! Takahashi Team 4
Let me say this about Team 4 before I get on with the new additions. I always saw this team as a farm system for AKB48. In sports like baseball and basketball, a farm system is a team that is meant to give experience to younger members so that they could move on to higher levels. The kenkyuusei system technically does this, but that’s supposed to train members to be regular members of AKB48. Team 4 trained members to become the next faces of the entire AKB48 franchise. Think of the members who were a part of Team 4 before the spring shuffle. Kizaki Yuria. Mukaichi Mion. Kato Rena. Think of the members who were and still are a part of the team. Komiyama Haruka. Nishino Miki. Okada Nana. At least one of them will be the next face of the franchise come 2017 or later. With Minegishi Minami as the leader, it seems like she was the senior member the younger members could look up to for guidance on how to navigate AKB48. This made for one of the most powerful lineups on AKB48, with up and coming idols, a motherly 1st gen leader, and the fan support to back them up. Heck, Team 4’s “Seijun Philosophy” was also the #1 track during Request Hour 2014! This time around, Minegishi Minami has moved to Team K and the lineup is now led by Takahashi Juri. I’m going to be honest, but I have absolutely no idea how this lineup will turn out. I don’t know that much about Takahashi Juri, but I do know that she has fan support and I’m guessing her fans will love seeing her lead at captain. I have no idea what her leadership qualities are like, but she has a year to prove herself. Perhaps this lineup will surprise a lot of people this year? Also, Team 4 may be missing an idol to represent the entire team. Team A has Yokoyama Yui, Shimazaki Haruka, Takahashi Minami and Kojima Haruna. Team K has Yamamoto Sayaka and Matsui Jurina. Team B has Watanabe Mayu and Kashiwagi Yuki. Heck, Team 8 has Nakano Ikumi. With Team 4, the face of the franchise looks like someone transferred from another team. This looks like it can be Kojima Mako’s team when all is said and done, since she too is an upcoming member who will represent the entire franchise in the near future. Maybe the same can be said for Kawamoto Saya, who made senbatsu for both “Kibouteki Refrain” and “Bokutachi wa Tatakawanai”. Perhaps she can be the next face of the team if she plays her cards right. Who knows? There you have it for the new teams. Again, this was meant to be an opinion piece on the members who got switched out. What were your thoughts on the shuffle? Did your favorite member get shuffled to another team? Let us know in the comments below. -Nathan (L4verra) |
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