So many thoughts... here we go.
And please, suffix everything I say with IMO, because that's all it is.
Team A- To have Takamina as captain again is a bit of a step backwards. She's already the soukantoku. I think that has more than enough responsibility on her. It strikes me as if staff has no faith in the newer generation girls. In 2014, this isn't a good sign.
- I guess it's nice that Haruna will get to graduate with the team she started in, but for her to not be captain of even subcaptain(whatever that is lol) makes it pretty clear she's checking out sometime soon-ish.
- Chori fully transferred over seems like it could be good or bad for her. She kinda wobbled in and out of HKT senbatsu, but I don't really see her making AKB's senbatsu simply because of all the established girls and flood of sister group members. Maybe this will work out in her favor as far as getting random variety work on Tokyo television? *shrug* I will miss her on Odekake though.
- Draft members are "promoted" already? Heh. Lovely, I'm sure they'll add a lot. Yeah, I'm a bit sour on the whole draft thing. It seems like a really un-thought out idea that has undermined girls who were already experienced and "in line" to get some love.
- Pretty strong kennin's in Team A now. Too bad they make pretty much no difference from the perspective of a foreign fan except for on demand shows. Maybe it'll work in their favor for the sousenkyo.
Team K- Just as Yuihan was gaining even more momentum and settling into Team A, they desperately try to increase Team K's relevance with her. I don't like it at all. It's such a forced initiative.
- Kojima Mako also picking up some of the slack. At least she can be an ace in this team most likely. There's not much competition.
- This push to make Moe the next Tomochin... they're even putting her in Tomo's old team. Sigh.
- Aside from Mako and Yui, this team is still kinda without "star power", aside from the kennin's. The one thing that could have been fixed with this reorganization and they totally dropped the ball on!
Team B- Mocchi as captain? Not what I think of when I think Team B at all, but she's pretty awesome so hopefully she'll do good. Plus it's not like the teams have much identity anymore. There's just a stereotype in my mind from years past.
- Ikoma Rina. lol. This totally sounds snobby but I wish they'd leave Nogizaka out of this. I liked the idea that they were separate and rivals of AKB48. So much for that marketing tagline.
- A few Team 4 girls moved here, and I think it could be a good thing. They fit the stereotypical Team B persona. Could be cool!
- Maachun getting moved here will probably be a good thing for her. She was starting to fall to the NMB wayside and it broke my heart. She's way too awesome a girl for that to happen. I hope she can get something going on here.
- I bet Takajo Aki is so happy that she doesn't have to go to Indonesia anymore.
- Happy to see Owada Nana promoted. She's cool.
- Looks like Nozawa Rena is here to stay. I hope she can find success. She's an interesting person, speaks English, is super cute.. I will be rooting for her.
- Mayuyu back at home plate. I don't think it'll make much difference, really. She has her level of popularity and it will probably stick no matter where she is.
Team 4- They sure messed with this team a lot for it being brand new.
- Kizaki Yuria transferring is huge news, and to me, good news. Now that she can't pull the kawaii teenager card for too much longer, she needs to reinvent herself. This is the perfect opportunity. Hopefully she'll approach it with an awesome attitude and continue to thrive for years to come. Aside from her obvious hotness, I really like her a lot in general. I hope she thrives.
- Lots of promotions here. I guess it makes sense for them to go into this team. I think it's kind of amusing that a few established members are now in the noob team, too. Seems really random and senseless.
Team S-When I read Sae was the Team S captain I laughed. I honestly though she will quit before this happens, but apparently she has already said that she accepts it. Interesting. She might as well since for one reason or another, she's done nothing with SNH48. If it's that much a pain in the ass to get her working there, just bring her back.
-There are screenshots going around of Karen basically saying "I ain't going anywhere" from a supposedly deleted Google+ post. I can kinda see why. She has done a ton of work within AKB48 for the disaster relief and such. Sure, she could continue her work here, but SKE48 would be a bit of a trade down for her in some ways.
-Natsumikan in Team S? O...kay. Random.
-Milky in Team S? O...kay. Random.
Team KII- Hopefully Airin will get some good attention out of this.
- Oba Mina fully transferred is good news. I think she works quite well in SKE48. Hopefully this will enhance the situation even further!
- Yamada Nana in KII? Random, but could be cool. This could play out nicely.
- Takashima Yurina fully moved. Wow. It's kind of a bummer to see her taken away from Team 4, but she always said she loved SKE48. I hope she reacts kindly to this, and that it's a good move for her. She's an awesome girl.
- KII has a lot of unknowns/untapped girls in it. Right now the team feels underpowered, but there's potential here. A lot of girls have a chance to learn from their senpai and start something awesome. Here's to hoping that happens.
Team E-Suda Akari is the captain? Awesome already.
-Sato Sumire's move here could be big for her. This could be GREAT new start. She was basically rotting in AKB48 aside from her modeling work. I hope she rises to SKE fame. This might be my favorite transfer of this whole event. I have a really good feeling about it.
-Tani Marika... You know, she's kind of like Rattrap from Beast Wars: Transformers. She can be loud, annoying, kinda dumb, and you sometimes just have to tell her to shut up, but she's so loveable and awesome at the same time. I think HKT's loss is SKE's gain here. With pretty much no one of the same chara to compete with(except Yakata Miki, oh my god epic duo is coming
), she might thrive and grow as an idol and entertainer. This could be a lot of fun.
Team N-NMB48 got the best shuffle results of all the groups. Their girls needed a good cycle to nuke the Team N monopoly and I think they did a pretty good job here.
-Kikuchi Ayaka getting moved to NMB48 can only be good. She was another of the forgotten middle members, so hopefully she can get some good work out of this. I'm sure not every moved member will become senbatsu of their new groups, but at least it gives them *some* chance of something.
-Ota Yuuri for future ace. She has the look for it, at least.
Team M - A bunch of middle girls and Yagura Fuuko. They certainly cleared the path for her to be Team M's ace, didn't they?
- My comments about Kikuchi Ayaka also apply to Fujie Reina. This move can only be good for her, neutral at worst.
- This team has a lot of girls with potential in it. Hopefully some new stars can shine.
Team BII- Wow, Umechan's new home. It's kinda funny that it's still a B-team.
I guess it can be a good thing. It feels like she kinda hit a wall in AKB48, so... alright. We'll see I guess. She doesn't fit the stereotypical BII image at all. This could be neat. Maybe she will get along with Takano Yui.
- Lemon has also gone full-NMB. I'm happy about that. She works in NMB amazingly well. It's shocking, magic!
- Takano Yui is a cool girl, I'm thinking she might stand out more in this new team.
Team H/KIV- Not much change in HKT since they just had a shuffle, but I think it's kind of nuts that Miku and Nako are already being promoted. I guess we gotta make room in the kenkyuusei for the next big star in the making that was born in 2005.
JKT48- Chikano Rina has nothing to lose and everything to gain. The question is, does she want it? Moving to another country that speaks a language you don't is not a small thing to do.
Nogizaka46-I love Matsui Rena, but when I read about her being kennin'd to Nogizaka46 I honestly cringed a bit. I really like Nogizaka being a more independent entity. It's not going to be bad, but I really don't like how they aren't an island unto themselves anymore. But eh... It could be fun. It probably will be fun. I just like Nogizaka46 being consistent.
StaffTogasaki got canned a bit, probably for his cannabis. Hopefully the people do well in their roles. I can't say much more than that, given my foreign fan status.
So overall, some interesting stuff going on here. Some things I like, and some things I don't. I had a lot of negative things to say about AKB48. I don't think the changes correct what was wrong with the group. Maybe the shuffle has happened too many times and the magic has worn off. The first shuffle was a total game changer. I was into it. The second AKB48 shuffle rocked my world at first. I thought what an amazing thing, AKB48 is reinvented! All that ended up happening was the teams lost their identity and became almost irrelevant to my personal fandom. It was a major bust to me. This third shuffle just feels like another incremental change to make the morning news. It feels like Team K gets a bandaid with Mako and Yui, and I was kind of hoping for more than that. The coolest thing to happen is Yuria's transfer. That will be epic to see, and I have a good feeling about it. SKE48 has some really interesting transferred members that could find new life in the group, but I also feel like the existing SKE girls just had their names drawn out of a hat to find their new place. NMB48 got a much needed refresh and I hope the group will have a healthier team dynamic now, although Team M has a lot of growing to do. Hopefully they rise to the challenge. I hope Ayarin and Reinyan find a new, prosperous career in NMB. They're great girls and it sucks that they got lost in the mix over the years. And Chikano Rina, take the offer or find a new path. This is your best chance, girl.
HKT got out with little harm done as expected, but the Nako and Miku promotions are a good segway into something else that bugs me about all this. I mean, here we are with a new shuffle, and unproven draft girls we've barely seen and kenkyuusei who debuted less than three months ago are now promoted members. Not only that, but so many of these teams will end their run without ever having done an original stage. That's borderline wrong to me considering what group we're talking about here. I'm all for a change-up. I think I've been one of the more pro-change fans over the years, but this is really getting a bit out of hand. The attention span AKS tends to have these days is starting to hurt the members. We are constantly moving on to the next amazing miracle girl and nothing ever gets seen through to the end. AKB48 is full of failed and abruptly ended pushes, but nevermind that, we have Kojima Mako and Nishino Miki and Okada Nana! I love those girls, but my gosh, let's see something through instead of looking for the next 2005-born member who will change the world... until 2006 comes along. I'm starting to think perhaps maybe my AKB48 fandom has peaked. It's not like I'm checking out anytime soon, but I feel like the group is starting to lose its identity for me. There's some really cool things I'm excited about from this super shuffle, but some of it just feels arbitrary and incremental.
Topic: [2014.02.24] AKB48 Group Dai Sokaku Matsuri (Read 31547 times)