AKB48 Coming to NYC Sept. 27!

[Madara]

Sun. Sept. 27, 5PM at Webster Hall. Here's the link for more info:



http://www.newyork-tokyo.com/wp/category/music/





I've been asked to cover the event. Anyone else here going?



I don't know much about them. Anything in particular I need to know?



Thanks.

[Kaworu]

You need to go to google and watch the following performances.



Bird - Team A 4th Stage

Temodemo no namida - Team B 3rd Stage

Oshibe to Meshibe to yoru no chou chou - Team K4th Stage



And watch the following PV's



Bingo!

Seifuku wo Jama wo suru

Keibetsu Shiteita Aijou

and Sakura no Hanabiratachi 2008 Version



Lucky you who will probably get to talk to them in person. Please if you meet Takahashi Minami tell her her biggest fan is in Colombia. Please please!!!

[Madara]

[quote name='Kaworu' post='68748' date='Sep 11 2009, 10:03 AM']You need to go to google and watch the following performances.



Bird - Team A 4th Stage

Temodemo no namida - Team B 3rd Stage

Oshibe to Meshibe to yoru no chou chou - Team K4th Stage



And watch the following PV's



Bingo!

Seifuku wo Jama wo suru

Keibetsu Shiteita Aijou

and Sakura no Hanabiratachi 2008 Version



Lucky you who will probably get to talk to them in person. Please if you meet Takahashi Minami tell her her biggest fan is in Colombia. Please please!!![/quote]





Thanks for these valuable suggestions.

[strawberryjam]

Have fun, Madara! I'm a big fan of AKB48 and really wanted to come, but I already went to see them in Paris in July so I guess I shouldn't be too greedy. <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... pyeyes.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':eek:' />



They also finally announced which girls are going and it's mainly front girls vs. the nobodies that came in Paris. I hope you start liking AKB48!



In Paris, they sang some of their songs in English and one song with a French chorus, so I'm sure you'll hear at least the English songs. Word of warning though, they love lip syncing which I think is bad... but I've liked them enough to get past that. <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... unsure.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':unsure:' /> To be fair, they have a theater in which a lot of the girls perform daily.





And, this is Maeda Atsuko, nicknamed Acchan. She is the front girl of front girls. If you get her signature, it will be worth $100+. <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... /crazy.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':crazy:' />

[EmEl]

[quote name='strawberryjam' post='68775' date='Sep 11 2009, 10:45 AM']They also finally announced which girls are going and it's mainly front girls vs. the nobodies that came in Paris. I hope you start liking AKB48![/quote]



So which girls are going? I'm kinda curious, even though I won't be able to make it.

[strawberryjam]

Mostly Team A girls.



Itano Tomomi, Kitahara Rie, Kojima Haruna, Satoh Amina, Takajo Aki, Takahashi Minami,

Fujie Reina, Maeda Atsuko, Minegishi Minami, Miyazaki Miho, Akimoto Sayaka, Ono Erena

Oshima Yuko, Miyazawa Sae, Iwasa Misaki, Satoh Sumire





I would probably be like, "OH YEAH I AM SOOOOO GOING!" if Moeno or Sasshi went again, but they're not. And most of these girls will require me making a new impression on them.



Also see: Sumire is going to be there.

[EmEl]

Dawww, I actually know who 80% of those girls are, and I'm gonna miss it. I was secretly selfishly hoping it was a bunch of girls I didn't know.



Hey, Madara, Kojima Haruna's favorite artist is Morning Musume, so you could probably stalk her and try to share your fandom with her without offending her <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... /laugh.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':eek:' /> Also, Minegishi was all excited about putting Buono!, Berryz, and Guardians4 on her iPod, so really I think you'll fit right in with these girls.



Hey, Sato Sumire is the girl from the 8th generation Morning Musume auditions, right? You should try to talk to her to get her to say, "Look at me now, jerkfaces!"

[Madara]

I copied and pasted this from a press release I got via e-mail. The 14 members and two trainees who will perform at the New York concert are listed below. I've been told they've already arrived in NYC.





AKB48 consists of 66 members divided into groups - A, K, B, and Trainee. For the upcoming U.S. Debut concert in NYC, 16 members will form a special group and come to NY.



You can check out all the members on the AKB48 official website. Make sure to get ready to meet them at the concert.



Also, for more updates on AKB48, please visit: http://www.newyork-tokyo.com/wp/akb48



AKB48 Members



Tomomi Itano

Rie Kitahara

Haruna Kojima

Amina Sato

Aki Takajo

Minami Takahashi

Reina Fujie

Atsuko Maeda

Minami Minegishi

Miho Miyazaki

Sayaka Akimoto

Erena Ono

Yuko Oshima

Sae Miyazawa



AKB48 Trainee



Misaki Iwasa

Sumire Sato



Note: Participating members may or may not change

[Hana]

Yup, they're here. They've been blogging about it (there was some obsession over a squirrel a few of them saw in a park <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... /laugh.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':hahaha:' />).

[nihonjin_berryz]

They are coming the same day as Brown Eyed Girls. Man would love to go but I'm already committed to BEG.

[anpanman]

OMG there is no cute girl in this group. <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... hatthe.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':dammit:' />

[EmEl]

There are a lot of cute girls in this group. It's not like they all look like Fujie or Kitahara.

[Special Needs Tricycle]

[quote name='EmEl' post='69383' date='Sep 26 2009, 12:02 AM']There are a lot of cute girls in this group. It's not like they all look like Fujie or Kitahara.[/quote]

Stop lying to yourself!!!

[anpanman]

[quote name='EmEl' post='69383' date='Sep 26 2009, 05:02 AM']There are a lot of cute girls in this group. It's not like they all look like Fujie or Kitahara.[/quote]

Who are they?

To my eyes, they are just a bunch of average-looking Japanese school girls.

I don't see any miracle like Kusumi or Michishige in them.

[Special Needs Tricycle]

[quote name='anpanman' post='69387' date='Sep 26 2009, 02:03 AM']I don't see any miracle like Kusumi or Michishige in them.[/quote]

This comment is going to start a shitfest and I love it.

[Melon]

[quote name='Special Needs Tricycle' post='69388' date='Sep 26 2009, 01:25 AM'][quote name='anpanman' post='69387' date='Sep 26 2009, 02:03 AM']I don't see any miracle like Kusumi or Michishige in them.[/quote]

This comment is going to start a shitfest and I love it.

[/quote]



It has to be a troll. He (she?) calls out two of the members that are known to have a huge absolutely love and absolutely hate fanbase. And the MM v AKB48 argument is old and tired.

[Special Needs Tricycle]

I really wish that guy said that back when the creepy AKB people posted here.



e for clarification: Not that they're all creepy.

[neshcom]

[quote name='anpanman' post='69387' date='Sep 26 2009, 02:03 AM'][quote name='EmEl' post='69383' date='Sep 26 2009, 05:02 AM']There are a lot of cute girls in this group. It's not like they all look like Fujie or Kitahara.[/quote]

Who are they?

To my eyes, they are just a bunch of average-looking Japanese school girls.

I don't see any miracle like Kusumi or Michishige in them.

[/quote]

<img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... /crazy.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':dammit:' />

[EmEl]

The only thing I was trying to say was that at least it's not like New York is being inflicted with SKE48-caliber girls and are actually getting some of the pretty AKB girls.

[Cyrene]

[quote name='anpanman' post='69387' date='Sep 25 2009, 11:03 PM'][quote name='EmEl' post='69383' date='Sep 26 2009, 05:02 AM']There are a lot of cute girls in this group. It's not like they all look like Fujie or Kitahara.[/quote]

Who are they?

To my eyes, they are just a bunch of average-looking Japanese school girls.

I don't see any miracle like Kusumi or Michishige in them.

[/quote]





EXCUSE YOU ACCHAN IS GORGEOUS AND WONDERFUL AND IS MADE OF SUNSHINE AND RAINBOWS. <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... dammit.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':dammit:' /> <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... dammit.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':P' /> <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... dammit.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':D' />



......The others are pretty boring. *ducks*

[Special Needs Tricycle]

Atsuko is really cute and she used to be my favorite until I watched that episode of Music Fighter where they appeared with Idoling and she acted like a bitch and talked like someone was pinching her nose. <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... #>/sad.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':dammit:' />



They better move up that cute-ass half white girl in Kenkyuusei. Girl is a diamond in a pool of shit.

[AEUGNewtype]

I wish I could make it out to this, but scheduling and finances are too crazy right now. I don't really particularly like the group, though I love about 7 or 8 of their songs (including sub-groups) and if my avatar didn't clearly demonstrate already, Kojima is <3 and I love her to death, and some of the other girls are extremely cute as well, but my best hope at this point is to hope that they come back at some point in the future. I don't know how likely this is since I don't entirely understand to a great extent exactly what the purpose behind this whole concert is. Obviously some exposure is wanted, but I don't have much more information on why its happening, who is making it happen, etc. It sucks to miss this, because even though I'm not terribly familiar or interested with the group, I know which ones are the popular ones, and this list is pretty much all-encompassing on that front.

[Madara]

A quick report on the first day.



I went yesterday and caught the Q&A and then the concert preview. Today’s the big concert—at a different venue from the Javits Center, where the NY Anime Festival is.



Six girls appeared for the Q&A and it was obvious they’d picked the most charismatic and mature of the 16 that are here. Three of them are quite beautiful in person (Minami Takahashi, Sayaka Akimoto, Atsuko Maeda), a fourth comes close (Yuko Oshima) and the other two are sweet, demure, and charming as well (Haruna Kojima and Sae Miyazawa). The questions were all softball and elicited no particular revelations other than that one of them (Yuko) wants to have a baby within the next ten years. Which is something, I guess. I was pressed into duty by Taeko, the woman conducting the Q&A and who was acting as the group’s New York handler (in much the same way that Yaz acted as MM’s handler at AX), to ask the first question, one which she supplied me. (“What made you decide to audition for AKB48?”) The girls arrived 15 minutes late, so the whole thing lasted about 45 min.



There was no big fanbase for the group there. The room wasn’t even full. (And it was a much, much smaller room than the one used for the MM Q&A at AX.) There were two American girls who were clearly the biggest fans of AKB48 in the room. And I tried to interview them both right after the Q&A. I was taking my time getting my recorder set up when a Japanese TV crew came over and hijacked them for an interview. Finally, I went with them to a quieter area to interview them. When I mentioned MM-BBS, one of them said, “You’re the guy in the banner picture!” That was nice. One had come from upstate New York and one from New Orleans. Both had started out as Hello! Project fans and now like AKB48 more and gave good reasons why, all things I had been unaware of. I’ll do a longer account on my blog.



The Kinokuniya booth in the dealers’ room was selling AKB48 CDs, but all were singles, so I didn’t buy any. I did buy their “Set List” CD, a collection of their singles, earlier in the week at Kinokuniya’s store on Sixth Ave. in order to research the group. I didn’t notice any other booths in the dealers’ room with any AKB48 material. Or any J-pop material for that matter.



The concert preview took place on a small stage set up in the back of the dealers’ room, all within view and earshot of various other activities going on nearby. There were no seats, so we had to stand for it. Twelve of the girls came out and did five songs and dances, all lip-sync’d, in 16 min. and then left. Not much, if you ask me. They’d been scheduled for a half-hour. Still, it makes me look forward to the concert (which I have to start getting ready to leave for).



Sayaka Akimoto speaks a little English and was clearly the designated spokes-idol for the group at both events. She has intense good looks and clearly wants to be a star, displaying a hunger for it that I’ve never noticed among any H!P performers. It’ll be interesting to see where she goes in all of this.



I took some pictures, but can’t upload them until I get to my office on Monday.



I could have gotten a brief interview with some of the members, but I didn't ask the right person. The person I did ask said I had to settle for the Q&A. Yet a blogger I sat next to at the Q&A said he and another blogger had a brief sitdown that morning with four of the girls and got to ask them three questions. I'm a little miffed that I wasn't more persistent.

[EmEl]

[quote name='Madara' post='69434' date='Sep 27 2009, 11:21 AM']When I mentioned MM-BBS, one of them said, “You’re the guy in the banner picture!”[/quote]

<img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... >/rofl.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':lol:' />

[quote name='Madara' post='69434' date='Sep 27 2009, 11:21 AM']and one from New Orleans.[/quote]

What the hell, why didn't she take me with her? <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... dammit.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':pouty:' />

[Madara]

I went to the AKB48 Concert at Webster Hall in Manhattan yesterday. It started late and there was some mix-up about where press could sit. But I found a seat by the rail on the balcony overlooking the stage. I was sitting with some friends who are new to J-pop. I don’t know how I would have fared if I’d had to stand through it all, like the crowd on the floor facing the stage. Not a big venue and not a big crowd. (200? 250? Something like that.)



The concert was quite enjoyable. It lasted 96 min. and that included two encores. 17 songs total. Lots of dance numbers. Very much like the H!P model if you ask me, but with more girls. There were some smaller units doing some songs. The one break with J-pop tradition and the one that pleased the crowd most was a hard rock song done by Sayaka, Yuko and two others. They were dressed in sexy scanty black outfits covered by long faux leather coats and really rocked out and the crowd went wild. Most of the rest of the concert was standard girl group J-pop, which is fine with me. A lot of the songs seemed to be lip-sync’d. They sang a few of their recognizable hits, including “Sakura no Hanabiratachi.”



Lots of nice costume changes. Short plaid skirts tended to dominate.



Eight of the girls performed one number in animal costumes (panda, lion, bear, zebra, etc.). Which made the Webster Hall rule of keeping out everyone under 18 pretty odd. One father with two small children was mighty pissed at being barred, esp. after a Japanese TV crew had interviewed the two kids.



Eight of the sixteen AKB48 girls there really stood out, i.e. I could recognize them as I watched them perform: Sayaka Akimoto, Atsuko Maeda, Minami Takahashi, Minami Minegishi, Yuko Oshima, Haruna Kojima, Sae Miyazawa and Tomomi Itano. All 16 spoke English in their intro’s, but some clearly needed prompting and had to consult their hands, where obviously something was written. Sayaka made the most valiant effort to communicate with the crowd consistently in English throughout the show and the crowd loved her for it. This girl could be a star—if they’d let her. Atsuko, Yuko and Takamina weren’t bad at their English either.



A Japanese TV crew interviewed me outside afterwards. Generic questions.



I’ll do a longer entry on my blog.

[Madara]

The first set of pix, from Saturday's events, are now up on my blog. I'll do the concert entry later this week.



Here's a preview of the concert pix:

[strawberryjam]

Thanks for the report, Madara.



I really wish I went and it sounded fun. Too bad it didn't sound like a lot of people went. Around ~7,000 people came to their concert in Paris so I am surprised because they didn't even ship any popular girls there save a few. Now, I wish I was support the girls in NYC even though I like the underdog girls way more.



By the way, Madara, AKB only has one album, that Set List thing you bought already. They have stages which are songs they perform in their stage, but they are arguably harder to get. The first few from each team are still available on Yesasia, but since then, it's been difficult to get their merchandise. Fans have been attributing this a dispute between their former record company Defstar.



Out of all the girls in AKB, I have the most respect for Sayaka. You can really tell she tries her best and she has her fans in mind too.



Oh yeah, did they end up singing any songs in English?



P.S. THERE ARE LOTS OF PRETTY GIRLS IN AKB. ALL OF YOU CAN SHOVE IT.







Myao is one of the most adorable things I've seen.

[EmEl]

Thanks for the report, Madara. I think the lack of presence of fans was not just due to lack of support (although it might be true that they're still a new group to many Americans), but it was also terribly advertised by NYAF. They didn't confirm it until barely a month before it, even though the event was reported in the Japanese news since the beginning of July. But with no confirmation, I'm sure many fans couldn't make it. I don't know who's fault it is since I thought I read that NYAF couldn't confirm it until a certain time. But it's either Japanese corporations being idiotic as always, or conventions being terribly organized as always.



I was also put off by the fact that there was some lottery system of whether you could get a ticket or not, and you didn't know until after you bought the convention pass. And I know I don't have the money to waste to just be unlucky. It turns out that the small crowd probably would have made it a non-issue, but I certainly didn't know it at the time.



How big is Webster Hall? You say it's not big, but I wonder how many people they expected.

[nickorp]

NYAF is only about 3 or 4 years old. JE is about 10 years older and probably the biggest japanese entertainment/anime con in europe(continental europe?). Webster Hall says they can fit 1500 in the floor and balcony. The venue was definitely much better than a convention hall.



Anyways, in my short short short review, concert itself and the venue was better than MM having their concert in the exhibit hall at AX. However, there's no doubt that AX did a better job at promoting since they had secured MM much earlier. Also, H!P has been around for a very long time and has a very well established fanbase. The thing with booking a guest like that is that NYAF would have had to shell out money to pay for the setup at Javits which is probably why the concert at Webster Hall was not just a NYAF event. The event was presented by NYAF but billed as "AKB48 LIVE sponsored by SKY Perfect!HD" and local event media organized by Tokyo New York.



As for the guy with the kids, I doubt the kids were fans of AKB48. He was yelling with the bouncer/security guy saying it was ridiculous that they made his kids wait. I think those kids were about 4 or 5 years old. Plus, he was holding on to the new bikini magazine of the AKB girls. I highly doubt he bought the magazine for his 4-5 year old kids. Plus, the websites and emails clearly said that it was 18+ age.



I just got home a few hours ago from NYC. need some rest.

[Madara]

[quote name='korp' post='69525' date='Sep 29 2009, 05:04 PM']NYAF is only about 3 or 4 years old. JE is about 10 years older and probably the biggest japanese entertainment/anime con in europe(continental europe?). Webster Hall says they can fit 1500 in the floor and balcony. The venue was definitely much better than a convention hall.



Anyways, in my short short short review, concert itself and the venue was better than MM having their concert in the exhibit hall at AX.[/quote]



Well, we can agree to disagree on that point.



As for Webster Hall fitting 1500...that would only be if they packed 'em in like sardines on both levels and if the fire marshals weren't looking. I wouldn't want to be in a situation like that. I don't know how I would have fared if I'd had to stand on the floor for 2+hours for the concert. At least at AX, I only stood for an hour during the concert part and got to sit during the fan music video awards part, which was about 25 min. At my age, that counts for something. Luckily at Webster Hall, I had a good angle from where I sat in the balcony, but there was very little room along the rail for more than a couple of dozen people on the whole balcony. If I'd had to stand behind the people sitting by the rail, I wouldn't have been able to see much. And the Japanese staff were telling us we'd have to move if "V.I.P."'s showed up. Luckily they didn't.



Oh and, yes, Strawberryjam, they did sing a couple of songs in English. They sounded pretty good to me. I wonder how many of the songs were lip-sync'd, though.



P.S. Here's a shot of the floor during the concert:







And that's most of the crowd.