So, you're new to AKB48? Saw their PV somewhere and want to know more about them?
But... how can I get into them when there are over a 100 girls in the group?! And what is that all these sub groups and stages
...and they have over 200 songs?! How will I learn them all
Well, the most important thing is to
take it slow! It'll be all the more fun if you gradually discover new members and cool performances.
If you want to get to know their
music you can check out their "Setlist" album, which features most of their singles. However, these songs are generally not considered to be their best works. The better songs are in the so-called "stages" in which each Team performs a series of different songs. Each Team has had several stages; a stage is replaced by a new stage after a certain amount of time.
As for getting to know the
members, I'd recommend watching their shows. They have a LOT of
shows, but the best one is called 'AKBingo!', which could give you an insight in the girls and give you a change to learn their names, faces and charm points. Their other shows are called "Shukan AKB", "AKB Nemousu terebi", "SKE48 Gakuen" and "AKB48+10" (ended). All of which have threads here with info on them. In addition, some of these have direct downloads in the
Multimedia Section (50 posts required to access). The Stage Albums and singles are also available here.
If you have ANY
questions, on members, performances, history, whatever: feel free to ask them in the
Question Thread.
Finally, to find your way around this forum, the
Index Thread provides a nice overview of what there is to discuss and what the members/groups are up to.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Feel free to suggest things to be added to this introduction., it's only a start to help the newer fans get into AKB48
This thread may turn into a FAQ sooner or later