AKB48 has expanded in recent years. They have sister groups to the west of Japan in Nagoya, Osaka, Fukuoka, and an upcoming sister group in Niigata. But Yasushi Akimoto decided to change things a little and bring a group billed as a “rival group” to expand the 48G brand. Enter Nogizaka46: the first rival group of AKB48 that does things a little more differently than AKB48 and their sister groups. Nogizaka46 got their name from the SME Nogizaka building which is what houses Sony Music Japan’s office. The number “46” was a direct challenge against AKB48 and their sister groups, because the number signifies that even with fewer members than AKB48, they will not lose. Their logo is of a triangle which measures 46 degrees. Nogizaka46 is also known for having more conservative gravure photos that are not too revealing, as opposed to AKB48 who often favor bikini gravure. There are instances where this trend is broken (such as in Nogizaka46’s first photobook, Nogizaka Ha) but overall the gravure stays conservative. When the first members were announced, some of them had an intended rival member from AKB48 to continue the “official rival” trend of the group. Hashimoto Nanami’s rival was Sashihara Rino, Ichiki Rena’s rival was Maeda Atsuko, Akimoto Manatsu’s rival was Kojima Haruna, and so on. The first generation had a total of 36 members making a debut, and a senbatsu that included members such as Ikoma Rina, Hoshino Minami, Ikuta Erika, Shiraishi Mai, and so on. Their first single, “Guru Guru Curtain” was released in February with Ikoma Rina at center. She would represent the center position for a number of singles, including “Hashire! Bicycle”, “Seifuku no Mannequin”, “Oide Shampoo”, and “Kimi no Na wa Kibou”. It was not until the 6th single in “Girl’s Rule” where management decided to switch Ikoma Rina out of the center spot and offer it to other members of the group, such as Shiraishi Mai, who became the center of “Girl’s Rule”. Since then, other members, such as Ikuta Erika, Nishino Nanase, and Hori Miona, have been selected at center. Speaking of Hori Miona, she, along with 13 other members, made their debut with the group in May 2013 as the 2nd generation “kenkyuusei”. Miona was the first to get promoted to a regular member, with other members (such as Kitano Hinako and Shinuchi Mai) promoted along the way. It was not until the 3rd Anniversary Live where all of the 2nd generation members were promoted to regular member status. Regarding the concerts, Nogizaka46 had their first tour in August of 2012, with their first duo of concerts in Osaka and Nagoya. It was at the Nagoya show where they announced the arrival of 16nin no Principal, a musical consisting of all members. In February 2013, Nogizaka46 threw a concert for their first anniversary. It was held at Makuhari Messe. Their second tour expanded not just to Namba and Nagoya, but also in places such as Hokkaido, Tokyo and Fukuoka. Nogizaka46 also had a Christmas-themed concert at the Nippon Budokan titled the “Nogizaka46 Merry X’mas Show”. Outside of these, Nogizaka46 also has mini lives, which at times may only have undergirl members who do not make senbatsu. Nogizaka46 has always separated itself between AKB48 and their sister groups, always clearly establishing themselves as the “rival” group. But in February 2014, a couple of announcements changed the face of the group. During the AKB48 Group Daisokaku Matsuri, it was announced that SKE48’s very own Matsui Rena would be the first member to receive a concurrency (kennin) with Nogizaka46. Likewise, Ikoma Rina was also selected to have a kennin with AKB48 on Team B. This not only devastated the other members once the announcement was made, but it changed the face of the group forever, as the term “rival group” was all the more questionable. But it all worked out for Ikomachan, as she and her fellow Nogizaka46 teammates helped her out at the time of the 2014 AKB48 Sousenkyo election, where Ikoma Rina made senbatsu at 14th place. Likewise, Ikoma Rina has never missed an AKB48 senbatsu lineup since her kennin has been announced, and Matsui Rena has never missed a Nogizaka46 senbatsu lineup since she became a member of the group. The announcement of the concurrent members in Rena and Ikomachan was one of the most controversial moments of Nogizaka46. The group itself is not without its other controversies. For starters, the video for “Oide Shampoo” was frowned upon for a section of choreography where the idols can be seen lifting their skirts so as to reveal their petticoats. Likewise, the choreography as a whole was considered too sexually suggestive for an idol group. Some members have also had their fair share of controversies. Matsumura Sayuri was caught up in a scandal that involved dates with a married man. There is a strict “no dating” policy that Nogizaka46 holds, and Sayuringo essentially broke this policy. This was the first time Nogizaka46 faced such controversy, but Sayuringo apologized on a radio show and most of her actions were forgiven. The only real punishment she received was an appearance at the back row of senbatsu for the upcoming 11th single. Her controversy however, was not the worst the group had to endure. Yamato Rina was also caught in a scandal with a man, also breaking the “no dating” policy. It was made worse when she had another scandal where she was caught drinking under the legal age in Japan. The consequences of her actions went as follows: she had her group birthday celebration cancelled (all members of Nogizaka46 get some sort of birthday celebration during handshakes or similar events), she was not allowed to participate in concerts (such as the Merry X’Mas Show 2014), and the day after her 20th birthday, her contract was terminated and she was essentially fired from the group. It was Yamato Rina’s actions that arguably caused Nogizaka46 to get snubbed out of the NHK Kouhaku lineup. But amidst all the turmoil that hit Nogizaka46 late in 2014, this group is still holding strong. They have experienced nothing but increases in sales from the 1st single to the 10th single. Two members already have solo photobooks out with one of them a model for the fashion magazine Ray since 2013. One member is a piano virtuoso who even represented Tokyo in a national competition. Several members were even members of other J-Pop groups before joining Nogizaka46, such as CHIMO, SPLASH and Seishun Joshi Gakuen. Basically, there is plenty to love about Nogizaka46. Whether it is their style of doing things that rivals that of AKB48, whether it is the mix of powerful ballads for singles (such as “Kidzuitara Kataomoi” or “Nandome no Aozora Ka?”), or whether it is a certain member that sparkles in the spotlight, Nogizaka46 is a fantastic J-Pop group that everyone will enjoy. I should know, since they are my primary J-Pop group as of now. I heard about this group because I ran into photos of a very attractive lady named Shiraishi Mai on Tumblr. I wanted to find a little bit more about her, and then I found out that she was a part of the group Nogizaka46. Because the other group I followed was about to disband (Ebisu Muscats), I needed another J-Pop group around that could succeed the Muscats. Keep in mind that I was anti-AKB48 at the time (most of the pure Ebisu Muscats fans were), and when I found out that Nogizaka46 was the “rival group” of AKB48, I got hooked. I then found out about the various members and their list of songs to give a listen to. While the first Nogizaka46 song I listened to was “Oide Shampoo” because of the controversy surrounding it, that song was not my all-time favorite Nogizaka46 song. This was, because it makes me want to go running for some reason. Eventually I found a favorite member. After soul searching and some difficult decisions, it was clear to me that Wada Maaya had to be my Nogizaka46 oshimen. I selected her because she was…different from the rest of the Nogizaka46 members. She had that little sister vibe, she was courageous on her journey to become an idol, and she has a funny side that was found on Nogizaka46’s TV Show, “Nogizakatte, Doko?” She is by no means as popular as a Shiraishi Mai or an Ikuta Erika, but she has a niche of fans that like her fair share of antics. Remember that episode of NogiDoko where she became the #1 Baka member of Nogizaka46? If you haven’t seen that episode you should check it out, because Wada Maaya will make you laugh at least once! That’s something to be proud of. That girl always makes me smile whenever she has the spotlight. Since it’s so rare for her to get the spotlight, it makes those moments easy to treasure. One thing I want to bring up is the idea of the “rival group”. Ever since the big shuffle that sent Ikoma Rina to AKB48 and Matsui Rena to Nogizaka46 both as kennin members, the line has been blurred to determine whether or not this is another sister group or still a rival group. Honestly, I see it as both a sister group and rival group. I see it more like an intercity rival that you can interact with through member transfers and concurrencies. The best example I can give you is the Chicago Cubs and Chicago White Sox: two intercity rivals that can still make trades for players should the opportunity rise. That is essentially how I see Nogizaka46. They can compete against AKB48, but if someone from AKB48 or a sister group would transfer to Nogizaka46, it would not be as surprising as it was a year ago. Besides, Nogizaka46 just had another interaction with AKB48. There is this subunit of AKB48’s Kojima Haruna and some Nogizaka46 members, such as Ikoma Rina, Saito Yuuri and Nagashima Seira. Try to guess who I was excited to see in this video: But I still love Nogizaka46 and still love how they were able to succeed the Ebisu Muscats as my favorite J-Pop group. Their CD came out not too long ago and there are some amazing non-single tracks to give a listen to (such as Ikuta Erika’s solo piano ballad). Their new single, “Inochi wa Utsukushii” is a very powerful sounding single that puts piano scales at the right moments. This group is still holding strong and look poised to take NHK Kouhaku 2015 by storm. I am excited for what the future holds for this group of amazing idols!
-Nathan (L4verra) As AKB48 revealed the cover photos for their “Green Flash” single, and as SKE48 takes out the big guns at center for their senbatsu lineup, NMB48 is in the news giving one of their marquee members a final sendoff at center. There is also Yamamoto Sayaka’s new photobook out which may give you high blood pressure or nosebleeds just by looking at some of the photos, but that is a story for another day. Yes, Yamada Nana is your center for the next NMB48 single! After her song with Yamamoto Sayaka, “Tomodachi”, made 2nd place during the last Request Hour, she gets one more send off at center, the 5th of NMB48’s history to ever center a single. The other four past centers were Yamamoto Sayaka, Watanabe Miyuki, Shiroma Miru and Yagura Fuuko, all of whom make this senbatsu lineup. Like with every senbatsu, someone new makes the lineup to round out the 23-girl roster. Congratulations to Sutou Ririka and Ota Yuuri for making the senbatsu lineup for the first time! But someone else makes senbatsu for the first time, and this member is pretty popular among some of my friends back at the AKB48 SoCal Fan Club. Kusaka Konomi makes senbatsu for the first time! Let me get some of my friends to explain who Konomin is (shout out to Tenkei and Boy from basugasubakuhatsu!): As for kennin members who did not make it, as expected, Takayanagi Akane does not make senbatsu. This is most likely a response to SKE48 releasing their single the same day as NMB48 (which is why Yamada Nana and Watanabe Miyuki fail to make SKE48’s senbatsu). Unfortunately, for you HKT48 fans, your favorite Russian/Japanese idol fails to make the lineup. No Murashige Anna this time around…this is the 2nd time she gets snubbed from an NMB48 senbatsu. It sucks because she is my HKT48 oshi, but that too is a story for another day. Here are the other members who make senbatsu. You have the kennin members either based from AKB48 (such as Kashiwagi Yuki), members who have a kennin with AKB48 based from NMB48 (such as Shibuya Nagisa and Kotani Riho), members permanently transferred from AKB48 to NMB48 (such as Fujie Reina, Ichikawa Miori and Umeda Ayaka), you have the mainstay members who very likely do not fall out of senbatsu (such as Yoshida Akari and Jonishi Kei), and you have the up and coming members who make senbatsu once and never fall out of it (like Nishimura Aika). In terms of NMB48, there’s a podcast that makes the group more accessible to people outside of Japan, called Takoyaki Party. Shout out to Osaka Joe and DJ Soymilk from the AKB48 SoCal Fan Club who have done an amazing job with NMB48-based podcasts! So there you have it. NMB48’s senbatsu looks like a fantastic way to give one of their most famous members, Yamada Nana, a perfect sendoff. The title of the single is “Don’t Look Back!” Here is a sneak peek: Excited?
-Nathan (L4verra) Let’s start with the bad news first before we get to the good part. We touched earlier on SKE48 graduations and how they seem to be happening in waves. Throw in Kobayashi Ami’s name among those graduating because her graduation announcement came right before we published the article…that’s just really bad timing on our part. With that said, best wishes to Kobayashi Ami, who will graduate in March. You were one of the smartest SKE48 girls we ever knew… Now for the good news: SKE48 has announced their senbatsu for their upcoming single which is to be released the same day as NMB48’s latest single. And look who’s back to lead the lineup: These two are your centers once again. Both of them made the senbatsu lineup for Green Flash, and here they are again leading the lineup for SKE48’s new single. Welcome back WMatsui! Other than Jurina and Rena centering an SKE48 single once again, the other members of this 21-member senbatsu consist of both mainstay members and a few new ones. As for the new members, three of them make the senbatsu lineup for the first time: Ego Yuna, Isohara Kyoka, and Goudo Saki punch their ticket into senbatsu for the first time. Congrats! There were also other surprises as well. Unfortunately, Watanabe Miyuki does not make the senbatsu lineup. There’s still NMB48 for her, which is a guaranteed senbatsu spot if not double center with Yamamoto Sayaka. Besides, NMB48 does release their single the same day as SKE48, so a rivalry has to commence somehow, right? There was yet another surprise senbatsu announcement: your favorite forever-17-year-old kenkyuusei made the lineup. Yes, Matsumura Kaori makes the senbatsu lineup. After nearly making it last year during sousenkyo, Kaotan gets another chance to shine in senbatsu since "Kiss Datte Hidarikiki".
Here is the full lineup: Center: Matsui Jurina, Matsui Rena Senbatsu: Azuma Rion, Ego Yuna, Furuhata Nao, Futamura Haruka, Goudo Saki, Isohara Kyoka, Kimoto Kanon, Kitagawa Ryoha, Matsumura Kaori, Miyamae Ami, Miyazawa Sae, Oba Mina, Oya Masana, Sato Sumire, Shibata Aya, Souda Sarina, Suda Akari, Takayanagi Akane, Tani Marika Who do you think got snubbed out? -Nathan (L4verra) Recently, AKB48’s Morikawa Ayaka announced graduation to pursue a career in modeling. Nogizaka46’s Hatanaka Seira announced graduation as well. You can kind of notice that there has been a wave of graduation announcements left, right and center. Perhaps not as frequently with AKB48 and Nogizaka46, but graduation announcements have affected other groups in the 48G family. Let us start with the good news. NMB48 gets rid of all of their kenkyuusei…but in the best way imaginable. NMB48 just revamped their roster by adding in all of the kenkyuusei to teams N, M and BII. The original Team M center, Jo Eriko, after graduating from NMB48 and returning as a kenkyuusei, makes it to Yamamoto Sayaka’s Team N roster. Also, Uno Mizuki, who made an appearance on the AKB48 Janken single, “Kimi wo Hohoemi wo Yume ni Miru”, gets promoted to Team M. NMB48, alongside AKB48, are the only two groups in the 48 family (including JKT48, SNH48 and Nogizaka46) who do not have any kenkyuusei. However, two members of NMB48 have already announced graduation a while back: Team M’s Murakami Ayaka and Yamada Nana. The addition of the kenkyuusei to the three NMB teams help aid the upcoming loss of Nana and Ayaka, but the graduation wave affects some groups more than others. The bad news is that graduation announcements have affected one group more so than the others: SKE48. Just look at this list of members who announced graduation: Nakanishi Yuka, Sato Mieko, Abiru Riho, Furukawa Airi, Iwanaga Tsugumi, Ogino Risa, Sasaki Yuka and Yamada Nana (who has a kennin with SKE48). Some graduation announcements affect more of the members and fans than others. Furukawa Airi’s graduation is the hardest hitting so far, given how she is the leader and one of the main forces behind Team KII. But never forget how Nakanishi Yuka and Sato Mieko helped SKE48. Yes, SKE48 is having its 7th generation members named soon, but there is a sense that more members of SKE48 may graduate soon as well. Perhaps during the Sousenkyo election, where we saw Shinoda Mariko announce graduation from AKB48 in 2013, and where we saw Kojima Haruna fake a graduation announcement out in 2014. Someone will probably announce graduation this June. The question is, who? SKE48 is not exactly making things easy for their fans when THIS is the trailer for their upcoming documentary. It is titled “Idol’s Tears”. Given the many graduations and graduation announcements the group has experienced, someone is going to cry their eyes out. I know I might. It also does not help that Kizaki Yuria is there since she, well, got transferred permanently to AKB48… But SKE48 still has a fantastic roster. Of course the W-Matsui duo of Jurina and Rena are still here, and Shibata Aya, Suda Akari, Takayanagi Akane, Oya Masana, and for you kenkyuusei fans, Matsumura Kaori, are all still here. At least 3 of them will probably make Sousenkyo senbatsu, since 4 (almost 5) did last year. Don’t forget some of the other up and coming 6th gen members that may capture your heart such as Kumazaki Haruka and Kitagawa Ryoha, and don’t forget transferred members, such as the dorky Tani Marika! These are some of my favorite SKE48 members, especially Marika.
So there is definitely hope for SKE48 to climb back up again from graduation announcement after graduation announcement. The 7th generation members could be what the 9th generation was to AKB48 and really set the tone for the future of the group. Heck, SKE48 has two members from AKB48’s 9th generation and one of them is co-Team KII captain. But anything can happen, and all we can hope for as fans, is the best. But as we publish this, we just got another one. Kobayashi Ami has announced her graduation as well... -Nathan (L4verra) |
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February 2024
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