AKB48 Makes Team Changes, SKE48, NMB48 Transfers To AKB48

Day two of the AKB48 Saitama Super Arena concert series brought a number of news stories.

The first being roster changes.
Matsui Jurina has transferred from SKE48 to AKB48 Team K

Watanabe Miyuki has transferred from NMB48 to AKB48 Team B

These transfers are listed a temporary and both girls will remain members of their respective groups.

AKB48 Team 4 has now become complete with the promotions of the following girls
Kato Rena
Kawaei Rina
Iwate Karen
Tano Yuuka
Takahashi Juri

SKE48 Just Miss 500,000 In First Week Sales

SKE48`S single “Kataomoi Finally” sold 496,000 copies in its first week .This is the first time that the group has passed the 400,000 mark in sales.
The results also makes the single the highest selling AKB48 sister unit single.

Pushing members forward (QWC #1)

Hello readers of Pure Idol heart!
As Gaki has already said, I'm Candy, one of the new writers for PIH. I'm finally making my introduction!
I like H!P a lot, and am interested in other idol groups and foreign music. I have been reading Pure Idol Heart for about a year now.

I want to start a new segment on here. It's called Questions with Candy or QWC for short! Meika suggested the name for me and I agree that it's cute. OWQ is basically me questioning and discussing idol culture. There are so many things in idol culture that we dislike sometimes, but their aren't that many occasions to talk about these things freely. I write out my opinion on the situation, and then I encourage everybody to comment and add their opinion!
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Today, in my first QWC, I'm going to be talking about being in the spotlight, or pushing forward.

Do you follow a group where there's always this one girl who get's all of the lines, all of the screen time, all of the attention? And you think to yourself: Why is she being shown the most, it's annoying!

Pushing somebody forward is when a member in a group receives extra lines, extra screen time, and extra attention, more so than the other members. The reasons for it could be endless. They may be a tad bit more talented than the rest of the members. They may be prettier or cuter, or they might be the most popular in the group.
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Examples of being pushed forward

•  Tamura Meimi from the recent S/mileage audition is being pushed forward immensely. She revived a duet with Dawa and several more lines and screen time than the other new members in Please Mini skirt Postwoman!
• Sayashi Riho from the recent Morning Musume auditions has been pushed forward too much. She received several lines in Momosu's Only You single while the other new members received none. On the 12 smart album, she receives a duet with Reina and in Kono Chikyuu and Kare to Issho, (I shortened the titles) she receives twice as much attention than the other 9th gen members.

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It's different than being a front girl. A front girl or front girls is when a select few members or even just one member get's all of the lines and attention. Front girls are usually selected from the very start where as being pushed forward happens almost randomly and at any time.

Examples of front girls

• Matsui Rena and Matsui Jurina from SKE are front girls. Right from their debut single Tsuyoki Monoyo, and in every SKE48 single up until now, the Matsui's have been dominating the lead spots in SKE and sometimes even in the AKB senbatsu.
• Maeda Atsuko from AKB has been AKB's front girl right from the beginning. Maeda has her own solo career and continues to be the most popular AKB member.
• Suzuki Airi from C-ute has always dominated C-ute, mainly with Maimi. And when Erika and Kanna left, Airi fully took over (even though she's not captain) she is considered the face of C-ute.

Almost all idol groups do this! Even in groups like S/mileage (4 nin), Idolong!!!, and BRIGHT, where all of the girls eccentrically get the same number of lines and screen time, there's still some unfairness, even if it's only by a small amount.

As you can tell from my tone, I absolutely hate when girls are pushed forward because of these reasons. I want everybody to be equal, to have equal screen time and lines. Like in the SKE48 picture above. It's unfair that Jurina and Rena are at the front, where everybody can see them while the other members are in the back and look small. I don't see how it benefits anyone either. The most popular girl isn't everybody's favorite member.


So here's my question for you!
Do you guys like when management pushes a girl forward?



Please comment!

All the 48 Groups Partners With Google

All the 48 Groups Partners With Google

AKB48 and their sister units are launching a new global partnership with Google and their Google+ program. By using Google+ the members of AKB48 and their sister units will be able to interact with overseas fans in a way that no other idol group has attempted before.

This new project will see the  members of the 48 family of groups joining Google+ for a new outreach to their foreign fans .All members aged 18 and over will be using Google+ while the members under 18 will be using a program called “AKB48 Heyakko” . By joining this partnership with Google the groups will now reach out to fans in the following languages English, Chinese, Thai, Indonesian,  Korean and more.

This project will also see AKB48 live streaming concerts and hangout chats.

The members seem to be pretty active so far with a number of events and postings already taken place .
As far as how much activity fans will have with the groups ,Google released the following information.
AKB48 will be using Hangouts on Air to broadcast their concerts. They'll be regularly scheduled Hangouts to interact with their fans. Each of the members will have their own profile, and  will have a +Page.

Examples of how the girls are using the service here is Yukirin`s account
https://plus.google.com/109547251260290757268/posts

Under 18 aged members
https://plus.google.com/u/0/106758056094193397775/posts

Member accounts
http://www.google.com/intl/ja/+/project48/

LOL almost forgot the press conference

SKE48 Crosses 500,000

SKE48 Crosses 500,000

When does little sister become the little dog barking at the heels of the big dog on the porch? When you sale 500,000 singles in a week, which is what SKE48 has done.
At Makuhari Messe in Chiba in front of 10,000 fans the group informed their supporters of this historic moment in their young history. The group next target is to get an invite to Kouhaku Uta Gassen.

With this group still young in years, so we should settle in for more highs from this group.
Congratulations SKE48, you’re no longer the little sisters of AKB48, but a growing force in the genre.

Idols on MJ

Idols on MJ

Perfume brings together the most powerful idol agencies and groups together on one show and the chaos level is high as the groups get out of control. Whatever your idol unit is, this is a must watch show for all idol fans.
For Musume fans, from the looks of things the future faces of the group are going to be Ayumi, Riho, and KY

http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XMzIwMjAyNTI4.html

SKE48 New Single PVs

SKE48 New Single PVs

SKE48 has released all three videos that comes with their new single “Okie Dokie”

“Okie Dokie” features a little bit of everything, cheerleaders, simulated rain and nonstop action .The outfits and PV are bright and colorful and projections for this single is to be their biggest seller yet. Which is good news for a group that has officially transferred to AKS management, the company that oversees AKB48.


SKE48 7th オキドキ PV by shinsaway

PV two is for is for the coupling track “Bazooka-hou Hassha!”
The start of this PV is right out of a wotas mind with the members being dolls in a game. They then come alive in a mix of costume styles and cutaway segments.


SKE48 バズーカ砲発射！（白組） by shinsaway

The last PV is for the coupling track “Hohoemi no Positive Thinking”
This is a simple PV with the girls in creek bed in a forest [This shot indoors by the way on a sound stage]


SKE48 微笑みのポジティブシンキング by shinsaway

All three are great videos with different modern, fresh song styles, costumes and settings show the time, money and dedication involved to create a great set of promotional videos.

SKE48 no Magical Radio #2

SKE48 no Magical Radio #2
Week two of SKE48 new variety show “no Magical Radio” has aired .Week two follows the same setup as the first episode and likely every episode will be the same format.


111019sakaeradioshow by iiiat

SKE48 Land National TV Show

SKE48 Land National TV Show

Starting in October SKE48 will join their sisters AKB48 and NMB48 with a television show on NTV giving the network four 48 related programs.

SKE48`s new program is called "SKE48 no Magical Radio” and will feature double Matsui [Jurina & Rena] along with Takayanagi Akane as hosts in what is being described as a variety show within a drama.

"SKE48 no Magical Radio” concept is the following.

Takayanagi  is a radio host of a fictional Nagoya station ,who suddenly finds herself having to bring in a co-host in a bid for higher ratings .Jurina will play a former child actress who is forced to be Akane`s new co-host  .Rena is the hard charging program director .

Other cast members include Audrey’s Wakabayashi Masayasu as the radio station's scriptwriter and famed actor Sato Jiro as station producer.

The remaining members of SKE48 will serve as assistant directors; program sponsors company executives and other related celebrity characters.

Now I know your about to say Gaki this sounds more like a drama then a pie in the face idol game show . Ah, here is the beauty of this concept. There is no script; the members have to ad-lib the entire show based on some very basic role-play instructions.

Cast comments

Jurina- “Being one of the younger girls in the group, I think there are a lot of similarities between my real self and my role. Through this show, I want people to feel like, ‘Ah~ so that’s the kind of girl Jurina really is!’

Akane-“I was surprised that it seems to be more like a regular drama than I imagined. There is a lot of pressure, but also a lot of joy, since it always has been my dream to become an actress. I’d like to show you my real personality as well as a new side of Takayanagi.”

Rena-“There’s going to be three main characters, but the other members are also going to appear on the show. I think it is a wonderful show, because even fans of regular dramas will be able to enjoy it. I have never tried ad-libbing before, but I hope we will be able to fill the show it lots of fun content. I can’t wait to start the recording!”

The show will debut on Oct 11 at 1:59 am JST, before settling in on Tuesdays at 1:29am JST

SKE48 Become Nations #2 Idol Unit

SKE48 Become Nations #2 Idol Unit

History has been made by yet another 48 family unit.SKE48 new single “Pareo wa Emerald entered the Oricon Weekly charts at #1 with sales of 379,000. When you add these total sales to their recent single “Banzai Venus” SKE48 has now officially become the #2 national idol unit  .NMB48 by the way is number 3 as they have a total debut sales figure of 218,000.

Maeda Atsuko remains the number one AKB48 soloist as “Flower” sold 177,000 copies.

In related news SKE48 as you are already aware the double Matsui`s will be on the AKB48 “Flying Get” single as Senbatsu members.

The question now is, is the fan base of the 48`s strong enough to push SKE 48 and AKB48 over 1 million in sales at the same time. If SKE48 continues on the pace they are on, this is a real possibility.


[PV] SKE48 - Paleo wa Emerald (パレオはエメラルド) by wonderful-life1989