An election I can actually get behind. (AKB48 senbatsu election 2012)

The day is upon us, where Japan is seeing record breaking sales numbers and AKB48 invades everything (more than usual that is). That is the day the AKB48 senbatsu election began with the release of AKB48’s summer single. This year the single is Manatsu no Sounds Good, and will most likely be AKB48’s highest selling single as not only is it the election single but it is the last single the group’s Ace, Maeda Atsuko, will participate in. Already it has sold about 1.2 million copies  (and 2 million copies were shipped for the release) and while the numbers will most likely drop the single will have a longevity that other AKB48 singles do not have because of the election tied to it.

For those who do not know, the AKB48 senbatsu election is held yearly and for every copy of the single a fan buys they can make a vote for a girl. This is in hopes that the girl will make it into the senbatsu, which are the selected girls that participate in the title tracks for singles, go on the music shows to perform, and do other media related things in connection of a AKB48 single release. Which considering AKB48 singles tend to sell over a million copies is a pretty big thing. Of course the AKB48 girls are not the only ones that are eligible to gain a spot in the AKB senbatsu, the members of their sister groups SKE48, NMB48 and HKT48 can also be voted for in the election.

There have been some changes this year to accommodate the amount of members in these groups. The break down used to be the top 12 were the senbatsu and 13-40 could be Undergirls, which is a group that usually get a B-side song/PV on AKB48 singles and could be considered understudies in case one of the senbatsu members cannot fulfill their duties. This year the senbatsu will be the top 16 girls and there are three groups of 16 members each after them, Undergirls, Next Girls and Future Girls that will be for those who place in the 17-64 positions. One can only assume that those three groups will all work like the Undergirls group and be mainly for the B-sides of future singles.

Since NMB48 is in this I will definitely be keeping watch of how things go. I was happy that Yamamoto Sayaka ended up in the Undergirls group last year, as NMB48 had really just started out so there was worry none of them would place. This year things look good for her so far with the first day votes already out and she is in 18^th place with fellow NMB48 member, Watanabe Miyuki right behind her. There are three other NMB48 members placing so far, Ogasawara Mayu (31st), Fukumoto Aina (54) and Yamada Nana (42), all from Team N.

I will be getting a copy of Manatsu no Sounds Good so I can put in a vote. I was worried that pre-ordering it with NYC’s Haina might delay it too much but in the end I had to wait for a copy of Manatsu no Sounds Good to come in to complete my order before it was sent out today. It takes about a week to get my orders from CDJapan with Airmail so I should be able to vote before the election ends. Of course I only have one vote, so I have a bit of a dilemma with who to vote for.

Last year I voted for Yamada Nana, as it felt like a complete no brainer to me as she was easily my favorite girl of the group. Since then though I have really taken a liking to Yamaguchi Yuuki (Yuppi) and was originally planning on voting for her even though she has yet to take the place of Nana as my favorite. While Nana is in the top 64 from the first day votes she is pretty low. I really want to see her place this year so I now want to vote for her as well. I think the best course of action in the end would be to wait to see what the latest voting results will be when I finally get my copy of the single. If Nana has dropped in places then I will vote for her, but if she stays at her current rank or rises then I will go ahead and vote for Yuppi like I originally planned to.

Maybe next year I will be able to afford two election CDs and I can vote for both of them and save myself this trouble.

In any case I am rather excited for all this as I am sure all fans of AKB48 and their sister groups are. But thankfully it only happens once a year as I do not think it would feel as grand as it does as an annual event.

Introducing ... NMB48

As I mentioned before I will begin introducing the few girl groups I follow on this blog. It will be only one a month and the group that gets to start it all off is NMB48.

As things stand now NMB48 is my favorite girl group. I gained interest in the group when I first heard about it being formed, as it was the first AKS group that was formed after I began paying some attention to AKB48. My interest was solidified though when I learned that Nakayama Nana, the older sister of Nakayama Yuma, was one of the girls trying out for the group under the stage name Yamada Nana. So with the Johnny’s connection in place NMB48 became the AKS group of choice for me.

The set up for AKS groups can seem daunting at first, if just because of the sheer numbers of girls. This was one reason I was initially interested in NMB48 as it could be an AKS group I could follow from the beginning when there would not be so many girls in the group. It also made it easier to understand the make up of a group like AKB48.

Basically each AKS main group, i.e. AKB48, SKE48, etc… routinely have auditions for new girls to join. For NMB48 so far it has been yearly but it is not always so. After the girls are picked they become KenKyuuSei (KKS) and assigned a generation, the girls selected from the first auditions are the 1st generation KKS, the girls from the second are 2nd generation KKS and so on. At some point teams of 16 girls are formed. Each team gets its name from a letter in the name of the group, so far NMB48 has a Team N and a Team M for example. The teams usually remain static until a girl must leave, which in Japanese girl group terms is graduating from the group. There have been a few of that with NMB48, but mainly KKS and the two team members that graduated had health issues that prevented them from being active members anymore.

Another concept I picked up from NMB48 is that each team will have a leader and an ace. The leaders so far are Yamamoto Sayaka for Team N and Shimada Rena for Team M. The ace is basically the girl that gets the most attention and is often the center. Some might argue that Sayaka also is the Team N ace but usually most concede that Watanabe Miyuki holds that role. For Team M it is much more obvious that Jo Erika is the ace for that team as she was heavily promoted before Team M was even formed.

So what is the point of all these teams and what do you do with a group with so many members you may ask? Well simply you have them perform live “stages”, which are kinda like concerts but are tailored to involve sixteen members, or one team. These stages are meant to be performed daily at the theater the girls are based in. When AKB48 was not nearly as well known the theater aspect seemed to be more balanced as Akimoto Yasushi, the brain behind everything, had a pretty good schedule for writing stages for the teams. Since there are so many releases now and he still writes all, though he has been considering finally bringing in other lyricists, the rate that a new stage comes out has decreased dramatically. So the AKB48 sister groups have to use the stages from the older groups until they eventually get their own stage. So far the NMB48 teams have done stages from AKB48 but Team N should be getting their own original stage soon at least.

There are also plenty of other things that the girls are kept busy with. From have them appear on TV programs, in magazines and of course release CDs. And since NMB48 is under the Yoshimoto talent agency, who specialize in comedians, NMB48 have comedy elements to them, kinda like Kanjani8 is with Johnny’s & Associates.

I have found following the shows that the girls are on is one of the best ways to get to know them. Most of the programs rotate girls for their appearances so it does give you the chance to know more than the just the most popular girls and you can only follow one or two programs and get to see most of the girls.

I really did not expect to follow NMB48 so much, but as Nana is one of the top girls it was easy to get to see and know some of the other members by following her. Though mostly at this point my interest is with the Team N members there are definitely members of Team M that interest me. But if I have to choose favorites, other that Nana of course, Yamamoto Sayaka, Shiroma Miru and Yamaguchi Yuuki of Team N and Yogi Keila of Team M are at the top of my list. Though I do have my eye on some other girls, like Fukumoto Aina of Team N, Shimada Rena and Mita Mao of Team M, 1st generation KKS Ota Ayaka, and Yabushita Shu of the 3rd generation KKS.

So far the group has released four singles and a few have appeared on AKB48 singles, especially Sayaka. I hope that they will do well with the upcoming AKB48 general elections, as I really would love to see these girls do well as to me they are pretty entertaining and the kind of idols I would have no problem watching on variety programs, even those about eating food, as they have that Osakan knack of being able to make things interesting more often than not.

Right now probably the best way to get an introduction to the members of NMB48 is to check out their videos for the upcoming AKB senbatsu election. Each girl made up a pitch that lasts about one minute for why they should be voted into the AKB senbatsu (the group of girls that are a part of the AKB48 CDs, represent the group in the media, etc…). So it gives you a quick introduction to each current member of the group, and some of them are pretty entertaining. NMB48 also has an official Youtube channel where they upload their music videos and other various videos to watch. So checking that out is a good way to get to know the group a bit better and you never have to worry about hunting for their PVs as they are all there, in full even, to view. You can also visit their official home page to learn more about the groups, which it is good for looking up the names to the faces.

Honestly I would have never thought I would ever become a fan of any AKS group, but NMB48 won me over. And I hope others give them a try as well.