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SDN48

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AKB48's less subtle sister group


It is well known fact that most idols have short lived careers. The media is always on the lookout for fresh new faces and there is no shortage of aspiring candidates. By adulthood, most female idols are considered aged and have to find new things to move on to. Akimoto Yasushi seems to have found a solution around this problem, with the creation of his third “48″ group, SDN48 (Saturday Night 48).

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SKE48

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Nagoya's own 48 girl group


The insane success of pop idol group AKB48 has sparked the interest and envy of many. For the past few years, founder Yasushi Akimoto has been receiving offers from other countries vying for a piece of the action. It was reported this January that the list of countries hoping to license the rights to the concept included Italy, China, Thailand and (gasp) Singapore. It will probably take years before we see the emergence of SGP48 or PRC48 but the title of first AKB48 spin-off has already gone to the Nagoya based SKE48.

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Top AKB48 Members 2010

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Two weeks since AKB48 released Ponytail to Shushu. The final votes for the 2010 AKB48 Senbatsu election are in and the numbers tallied. Presented are the member rankings for this year that were announced only hours ago. The results will surprise!

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Top 10 AKB48 Members

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Personal Judging. Unofficial.


With a group of 48 members, it is really difficult for non-fans to tell apart one AKB48 girl from the next. Based off a public poll conducted late last year, this is a listing of the most popular members. A summary of each idol will hopefully help new viewers identify some of the members in the future.

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AKB48 Members, Team B

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AKB48′s new Team B debuts at the theater today on the 21st of May. Team B was most affected by the recent reshuffle, with only 3 original members remaining after the change (Watanabe Mayu, Kashiwagi Yuki and Hirajima Natsumi). Here’s an introduction to the members of the brand new Team B.

The old Team B was the last of AKB48′s three teams formed and has been known previously for being the overall youngest and most energetic team. With many of the team’s focal members leaving for the other groups, it is still unknown if the new Team B will preserve this image.

33. Watanabe Mayu (Mayuyu)

Coming in at #4 on last year’s popularity election, Watanabe Mayu is Team B’s most popular member. A title she has held on to firmly for the past 3 years.

Watanabe Mayu was first introduced as one of the lead girls in AKB48′s 6th single Bingo!, three months after the formation of Team B. Since then, she has been featured prominently in all singles.

At only 16, Mayuyu (as fans call her) is actually one of AKB48′s youngest members. Fortunately for Watanabe, she isn’t depicted in a childish manner like the other junior members. Instead, she is known for her ever cheery personality.

Historically, Watanabe was famous for her knack for getting injured. She broke her leg only one month after joining AKB48. Watanabe returned after 2 months, only to injure her right arm this time. Instead of questioning her motor skills, fans found Mayu’s frailty endearing. Watanabe’s photographs skyrocketed in price, out valuing even Maeda Atsuko’s.

Watanabe is part of the Production Ogi company. She is known for being friends with the other Production Ogi girls in AKB48 like Hirajima Natsumi and Minegishi Minami. Mayu is particularly close to former teammate Oota Aika and even cried during Oota’s transfer to Team A. She shares a blog with Oota here.

34. Kashiwagi Yuki (Yukirin)
 Kashiwagi Yuki first applied for the auditions to find AKB48′s Team A and was shortlisted for an interview. However, she did not make the long trip from Kagoshima to Tokyo for the interview (Kagoshima is at the southern end of Japan’s southernmost island).

During the formation of Team K, Yuki applied again but failed the auditions. She then participated in Morning Musume’s 8th generation auditions and was one of the final 25 girls chosen. Mitsui Aika was chosen to join Morning Musume instead though. Determined not to give up, Kashiwagi Yuki joined the auditions for AKB48′s final team and passed. She debut in April 2007 as Team B’s captain.

As captain, Yuki often shares center stage with Watanabe Mayu. She is one of Team B’s strongest singers but is incredibly stiff when it comes to dancing.

During last year’s elections, Kashiwagi ranked #9 on the popularity charts. During last April though, Yuki finally found herself a spot at Watanabe Entertainment, the same agency that handles otaku queen Nakagawa Shoko. With the additional coverage she received in the past year, we can foresee Kashiwagi placing at a much better position in this year’s elections.

Ever since joining Watanabe Entertainment, Yuki has been appearing rather frequently in gravure shots for magazines. Last September, she released her first photobook to resounding success, coming in at #1 on the annual TBS Rankings.

You can follow Yuki’s daily adventures at here blog here.

35. Kasai Tomomi (Tomo)
Former Team K’s Kasai Tomomi is staple member featured in AKB48′s singles. As the group’s 10th most popular member, Kasai is surely one of the most valuable additions to Team B this year.

Kasai stands out among other members for her sultry eyes. A mention of her droopy eyes as her charm point is actually part of her introduction at the start of each concert. As one of the lead singers in Team K, Kasai played and continues to play an active role in concerts. She sings with one of the highest pitched squeaks. Like many of the girls in AKB48, Kasai is able to play a musical instruments. She plays the Taiko. Kasai is also known for being a self confessed train otaku.

Kasai Tomomi is AKB’s other famous Tomomi. Both Kasai and Itano Tomomis signed to the impressive Hori Pro agency back in 2007. They are also part of the company’s futsal team, Xanadu loves NHC. Xanadu is known for being one of the top celebrity futsal teams. Xanadu players wear a modified jersey of Japan’s leading baseball team, Tokyo’s Yomiuri Giants as the team is lead by former star pitcher Miyamoto Kazutomo.

Kasai wears the number 48 jersey in Xanadu. Here’s a link to her Xanadu blog.

36. Oku Manami (Maachan)
 The creepy moving doll is known as Oku Manami. At only 15 years of age, the half Japanese, half Italian Oku is AKB48′s youngest member. More surprisingly is that Oku actually joined AKB48 during the formation of Team K back in 2006 when she was only 11.

Despite a 10 year age gap, Oku is known for being closest with AKB48′s oldest members Shinoda Mariko and Noro Kayo (who is now SDN48′s captain). She seems to get along well with former teammate Ono Erena as well, who was the member closest to her age after Masuyama Kayano left. Though she is friendly in person, Oku has been known to be rather reserved on stage. This results in her staring rather creepily at the audience. Only recently is she slowly getting more comfortable with performances.

Oku shares a blog with some of the other office48 girls here.

37. Ishida Haruka (Harukyan)
Ono Erena lookalike Ishida Haruka, is one of the training members promoted into AKB48 this year. Ishida joined the 5th generation research team in 2008 and has been training for over two years. As such she is one of the the slowest girls ever to be promoted into AKB48. Ishida is known for being an idol and anime otaku. She also practiced judo in elementary and middle school. Ishida shares the same birthday as ex-teammate Tanabe Miku.

38. Kitahara Rie (Rie)
 
Kitahara is one of AKB48′s members that seem to be rising in popularity quickly. Like Ishida, she joined as a 5th generation research student but was promoted to Team A in 2008 after only 4 months of training. During last year’s popularity elections, she placed at #13 and has been featured in all following singles.

Kitahara Rie is close friends with Team A’s Takajo Aki and the two often be seen fooling in candid videos from the official AKB48 site. Kitahara enjoys playing the piano, skiing and the English language. She has acquired impressive qualifications for all three hobbies.

Kitahara has a no nonsense attitude when it comes to food and is known for being rather unpleasant whenever she is hungry. She once got mad when her lunch was given to another research student by mistake. She sometimes eats other people’s leftover food.

Despite her popularity, Rie was one of the girls that had yet to find a talent agency. This month though she signed up with Ohta Pro, the company responsible for promoting AKB’s most popular girls, Maeda Atsuko and Oshima Yuko. Her personal blog can be found here.

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AKB Members, Team K

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AKB48′s Team K was introduced during the group’s 3rd single back in 2006. Historically, Team K was blessed with a more mature lineup when compared to Team A. As a result, AKB’s new gang was sexier, spunkier and just more cool. All of this praise, coming from a Team A fan. This post will provide an introduction to the members in the new Team K.

Team K has benefited the most from the recent change in members. The team retains most of its core girls, while welcoming many popular new faces. Many of Team K’s current members rank favorably in last year’s elections. In fact, after the shuffle the majority of girls performing in singles now belong to Team K. Here’s a run through of the AKB48 members in the newly formed Team K.

17. Oshima Yuko (Yuuko)
As the only other contender for the #1 spot, Oshima Yuko is Team K’s equivalent to Maeda Atsuko. At 22 years old, Oshima is one of AKB48′s older members. She is best known for her cheery personality, dimply smile and prominent squirrel teeth.

Yuko began her career as an gravure idol at the age of 13. She was part of the failed idol group Doll’s Vox back in 2005 before becoming one of the founding members of AKB48′s Team K in 2006. Since the formation of Team K, Yuko has been placed at the forefront of singles together with Maeda and Takahashi. She is currently the second most popular member after Maeda.

No stranger to show business, Oshima Yuko is one of the most natural girls on stage. She seems to truly enjoy her job, pulling off her performances with a certain playfulness. Off stage, Yuko comes across as a genuinely fun person to be around. It is her unique personality that makes her a favorite among fans.

Oshima Yuko’s blog can be found here on Ameba.

18. Akimoto Sayaka (Sayaka)
The half Filipino, half Japanese Akimoto Sayaka is Team K’s captain. As one of the tallest girls, the boyish Akimoto is known for her intimidating built. This is further emphasized by her black belt in Aikido, which she has been practicing since grade school.

Akimoto Sayaka’s popularity has fluctuated over the years. Together with Miyazawa Sae and Nakanishi Rina, Sayaka was as part of Chocolove, a temporary subgroup created in 2007. The group didn’t kick off and was quickly scrapped after two failed singles. As captain, Akimoto Sayaka is a staple during Team K’s stage performances. Akimoto appears for AKB’s more energetic singles but is given little screen time in promo videos. She is also is left out from the group’s ballad singles.

Despite her scary appearance and fact that she is one of the group’s older members, Akimoto Sayaka rarely acts her age. She often performs silly slapstick gags on stage that put her #12 on the popularity charts.

Akimoto Sayaka is part of the office48 agency. A talent group that was created to hold some of the staple Team K members. Outside of AKB48, Sayaka has found some success in modeling for magazines and acting in theater productions.

Her blog can be found here.

19. Itano Tomomi (Tomochin)
 Itano Tomomi is one AKB48′s original members from Team A. While not featured as prominently as the lead singers, Itano has been featured at the front lineup for all singles to date.

Even though she is older than even Maeda, Itano’s childlike looks caused her to be marketed initially as one of the kid members together with Oku Manami and Ono Erena. During this time, Itano saw only moderate popularity.

In 2007, it was finally apparent that the childish stage persona simple did not fit Itano’s real life spunky personality. During Team A’s 4th stage, a new sexy Tomochin was born. Itano’s popularity soared after the image change.

Together with the other popular Tomomi, Kasai Tomomi, Itano is managed by the Hori Pro label. Hori Pro is perhaps the most prestigious agency that any of the AKB48 girls are currently signed to. The company is responsible for many A-list talents like actress Ayase Haruka and singing legend Wada Akiko.

Hori Pro takes an active role in promoting its talents and Itano owes part of her success to the efforts of the group. When not performing with AKB48, Itano and Kasai play for Hori Pro’s futsal team, Xanadu loves NHC. Itano’s Xanadu blog can be found here.

20. Ono Erena (Erepyon)
17 year old Ono Erena is another founding Team K member that has been featured in all singles since her debut. After the introduction of Team B, Erena was promoted to a center position in singles together with Watanabe Mayu. While Watanabe Mayu enjoys a huge following, Erena comes in at #11, barely missing a spot among the Top 10 AKB48 Members.

As one of the group’s younger members during its conception, Ono Erena was part of the Honegumi (Bone Group) subgroup together with Itano Tomomi, Oku Manami and the graduated Masuyama Kayano. The ridiculously themed side project was created in 2007 to perform the theme song for a children’s TV program. This promotion did more harm than good when it was introduced as part of Team K’s 3rd stage. The song traumatized AKB48′s audiences (who are all teenagers and adults) thus damaging the participating members’ popularity.

With the introduction of much younger girls, Ono Erena is now relieved of being one of AKB’s junior members. For all her childishness, (the rather well endowed) Erena is still one of the girls consistently featured in gravure shots (gasp). Her career seems to be finally taking pace and she is set to star a leading role in the art film Sankaku that will open next month. Ono Erena will appropriately play a jailbait character in the show.

Ono Erena is also part of the Ohta Pro list of talents. Her personal blog can be found over here.

21. Kikuchi Ayaka (Ayarin)
 Up until she was fired from AKB48, Kikuchi Ayaka was a participating member of Team B. As one of the original members of Team B, Kikuchi even saw popularity on par with Team B’s cover girl, Watanabe Mayu. Back in 2008 however, Kikuchi found herself amidst a scandal after she was found to be dating one of the fans. She was immediately released from AKB.

After dumping her boyfriend (who was silly enough to release a photo of them together on his blog, causing the scandal), Kikuchi took part in the next auditions and restarted as a training student. After more than a year as an assistant, Kikuchi was promoted back into AKB48 during the recent restructure. Whether Kikuchi Ayaka regains her former glory as one of the A-Side girls is a fate left up to this year’s upcoming elections.

In February, Kikuchi returned to join her Team B friends as part of Production Ogi’s Watarirouka Hashiritai. Their combined blog can be found here.

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AKB48 Members, Team A

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The members of AKB48 consists of 48 girls spread among Teams A, K and B. In an idol group with 48 members, it’s difficult to make out who is who in AKB48. It doesn’t help that the list of members changes frequently. This is the first in a trilogy of posts that will help identify all the different members of AKB48.

Many prominent members have left the group in the past couple of years and for a while now, the group consisted of less than 48 members. Finally, in March this year, there was a large reshuffle between the 3 teams of AKB48. As a result, many members new members unfamiliar to myself were introduced into the teams.

1. Maeda Atsuko (Acchan)

If the concept of AKB48 had to be summed up into one girl, it would be Maeda Atsuko.

To comprehend what sets Maeda Atsuko and the other AKB48 girls apart from other talents you will need anunderstanding of Japan’s show business and the system behind AKB48. In a country where idols are a dime a dozen, the girls fight a constant battle to vie for the attention of fans.

AKB48 as a company, does only the minimal to promote the girls as a whole. Individual girls have to rely on their popularity to find their own talent agencies. Unpopular members are easily let go, and replacements are easily found from the thousands of girls dreaming of fame. The harsh reality of this industry, keep the girls’ humility in check. A stark contrast to the diva complexes of Western stars.

Prior to AKB48, idols in Japan were always held by unrealistic standards. AKB48 founder Akimoto Yasushi saw the potential for down to earth idols, a concept foreign to Japanese. With AKB48 he introduced the concept of idols you can meet.

As Japan’s sweetheart, Maeda Atsuko is the personification of this concept. For all her talent, she is perfectly normal and it is this normalcy that makes Maeda Atsuko the cover face of AKB48. Though in reality somewhat of a dork, on stage Maeda emits confidence with her crafty smile. The fans love her, and she knows it.

Since the start of AKB48 in 2005, Maeda Atsuko has been the poster child of Team A. Thanks to her popularity, Maeda Atsuko remains the most prominent member in AKB48′s singles. She also ranks #1 on the list if Top 10 AKB48 Members. But it is her hard work and vocal talent that allows her to retain her spot.

Maeda Atsuko’s blog can be found here. Her blog is often ranked among the top 3 most female blogs on Ameba.

2. Takahashi Minami (Takamina)

AKB48 as a whole has no clear leader, instead each team has an appointed Captain that takes up certain leadership duties. Often, the captain is one of the lead members in the team. For Team A, the duty falls to Takahashi Minami who despite measuring at only 148cm, is one of AKB48′s strongest vocalists.

Part of AKB48′s charm, is how different each girl is from one another. Despite her looks, Takahashi Minami was one of AKB48′s younger members when they first started (today she is only 19). As the dire opposite to Maeda’s girl next door demeanor, Takahashi is rough, clumsy and rather boyish. This is apparent from her stage performances, though in recent years she has improved slightly.

What she lacks in coordination, Takahashi Minami makes up for with pure vocal power. Through the group’s history, Takahashi has maintained a lead singing role in all of AKB48′s singles. While Maeda Atsuko often leads in falsetto, Takahashi provides most of each song’s bass. And it is for this reason that Takamina is one of the group’s most popular members.

Outside of her singing career, Takamina is well known for her interest in drawing. Takahashi Minami’s personal blog is available only to Fan Club members, but she currently shares another public blog together with Kojima Haruna and Minegishi Minami here.

3. Shinoda Mariko (Mariko-sama)

Shinoda Mariko’s entry to AKB48 is a unique case. Unlike the other members who were selected through auditions, Mariko was voted into AKB48 by fans. Originally a waitress at the cafe next to the group’s theater on the 8th floor of the Don Quijote building, Mariko was unable to participate in auditions due to her job schedule. She shared this story with customers, who eventually decided to petition her inclusion into the group.

At 24 years of age, Shinoda Mariko is AKB48’s oldest member. While other “aged” members have been forced to leave the group, Mariko’s “cool” personality puts her among the group’s leading members. Mariko is also AKB48′s tallest member.

Shinoda Mariko joined the group during their second single, Skirt Hirari. Initially, she wasn’t a key member of the group (she can only be seen for a split second as a backup dancer in the video). However, due to her fast rising popularity, she displaced Narita Risa’s position at the front by the time the group released their third single.

Outside of AKB48, Shinoda Mariko has started a successful modeling career. She often appears in fashion magazines for teenage girls and most recently even graced the catwalks of the Tokyo Girls Collection Spring/Summer 2010. Unsurprisingly, Shinoda Mariko has become a favorite of female fans.

In fact, recent popularity polls on Mixi (a social network system in Japan along the likes of Facebook that operates through mobile) has Mariko even outranking Maeda Atsuko. This puts Mariko as a contender for the top spot in this year’s upcoming member elections.

Mariko’s blog can be found here.

4. Takajo Aki (Akicha)

Takajo Aki is one of AKB48′s newer members. She deserves special mention as the fastest training member to have been promoted into AKB48.

Other than the 3 main teams, AKB48 also operates a group of research students known as AKB48 SEED. AKB48 SEED consists of trainees hoping to debut with AKB48. They serve as assistants and backup dancers to the main girls from AKB. Many of these girls never do find their way into the main teams, and others take up to a year of training before getting promoted.

The first thing that I noticed was Takajo Aki’s striking resemblance to Morning Musume’s Michishige Sayumi. The similarities end there though for unlike Michishige, Takajo actually possesses a decent singing voice and an adept dancer. Due to her talent and immense popularity, Takajo was placed into AKB48′s Team A after training for only 2 months.

Takajo is definitely one member worth paying attention to. She seems to be rising up the ranks at speeds unheard of for new members. She was even one of the 12 girls selected to appear on the cover for AKB48′s new album, Kamikyokutachi.

Takajo’s blog is currently hosted at her talent agency, Watanabe Pro.

5. Kojima Haruna (Harunyan)

One of the founding members of Team A, Kojima Haruna is a consistently popular member from AKB48. Though not as prominent as Maeda Atsuko or Takahashi Minami, Haruna is often given quite a bit of screen time during PVs.

Back when the group first started, everyone was looking ungroomed and awkward but Kojima Haruna was one of the few members who stood out for her more conventional idol looks. Retaining the same hairstyle since since their debut, Harunyan has the most unchanging image of all the girls.

At 22 years old, Kojima Haruna is the next oldest member to Mariko Shinoda. However, she is often regarded as one of the most air-headed girls in the group. Haruna’s defining features include her large ears, nasal voice and preference for confined spaces.

Outside of AKB48, she is the most active actress among the group having appeared in 9 dramas to date. She plays small roles in the popular dramas and takes the lead in more obscure shows.

Like Takahashi Minami, Kojima is part of the Production Ogi company whose members’ Ameba blogs have been recently taken down and her personal blog is only open to Fan Club members. Her shared blog can be found here.

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AKB48

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Akihabara based idol syndicate takes on the world

AKB48 - Baby! Baby! Baby! photoshot

I came across AKB48 (Akihabara48) when they were featured in the documentary, Japanorama in 2006, during the height of our Morning Musume addiction. While initially skeptical about this new competition, I was gradually won over by their catchy pop tunes and professional music videos. By the time the AKB48 released their 4th single Bingo!, I had already been totally converted. This is an introduction to the group that had displaced Morning Musume’s place in my heart.

The name AKB48 is a combination of the birthplace, Akihabara and the fact that they have exactly 48 members. While they spend most of the time in 3 separate teams of 16, they occasionally gather in full force to intimidating result. The sheer number of members often comes as a shock to first time viewers of AKB48.

AKB48
AKB48 was envisioned by founder Akimoto Yasushi in 2005. In the 1980s, Akimoto was the creator of (what would become the inspiration for Morning Musume) the first all female Japanese pop idol group, Onyanko Club. Self declared Otaku Akimoto has had only success in his career as a producer. As a famous lyricist, he is also partially responsible for the popular duo Kinki Kids’ Guinness record of 28th consecutive #1 singles.

With Producer Akimoto. "Usa-chan Peace!"
After a series of auditions from July, the 20 strong AKB48 was formed in December 2005. They debuted with their first indie single “Sakura no Hanabiratachi” early the following year, but it was only in October 2006 that they manage to sign with a record label. Their first official single “Aitakatta” sold 17,000 copies and reached #12 on the Oricon charts.

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