NMB48 Senbatsu Revealed

    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)