New to AKB48? This is how to get started!

[SomethingWild]

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.

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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  

[jafeijai]

Methinks this should be pinned

[maliciel]

I could've sworn this was pinned..

[SomethingWild]

Well, initially I pinned it.. then I unpinned it.

When the AKBar expanded Masa pinned it again. I unpinned it again, because I'm not happy with it  it doesn't provide any real info and I'm too lazy atm to improve it.

If you guys have suggestion for improvements, go ahead 

[maliciel]

Yeah to be honest it was pretty underwhelming when I first looked at this thread to find some information.

Perhaps questions from the questions thread can be put into it to make a FAQ of sorts? I'll be glad to provide some questions, if so, especially since I still know jack shit about some parts of AKB. Lol

[maliciel]

Bumping for a chart I made! Since I was confused about the new teams too, so I decided to make one to recognize all the new people. Hope this helps!

Code: [Select]

Full list of girls in the chart. Note: NOT in the same order as in the chart. For copy & paste purposes.

Iwasa Misaki / 岩佐美咲 Haruka Katayama / 片山陽加 Kojima Haruna / 小嶋陽菜 Kuramochi Asuka / 倉持明日香  
Atsuko Maeda / 前田敦子 Haruka Nakagawa / 仲川遥香 Nakata Chisato / 中田ちさと Sayaka Nakaya / 仲谷明香
Natsumi Matsubara / 松原夏海 Aika Ota / 多田愛佳  Ooya Shizuka / 大家志津香 Sashihara Rino / 指原莉乃
Suzuki Mariya / 鈴木まりや Mariko Shinoda / 篠田麻里子 Takahashi Minami / 高橋みなみ Aki Takajyo / 高城亜樹
Akimoto Sayaka / 秋元才加 Reina Fujie / 藤江れいな Tomomi Itano / 板野友美 Kikuchi Ayaka / 菊地あやか
Matsui Sakiko / 松井咲子 Minami Minegishi / 峯岸みなみ Miyazawa Sae / 宮澤佐江 Tomomi Nakatsuka / 中塚智実
Moeno Nito / 仁藤萌乃  Nonaka Misato / 野中美郷 Ono Erena / 小野恵令奈 Oshima Yuko / 大島優子
Miku Tanabe / 田名部生来 Uchida Mayumi / 内田眞由美 Ayaka Umeda / 梅田彩佳 Rumi Yonezawa / 米沢瑠美
Rina Chikano / 近野莉菜 Haruka Ishida / 石田晴香 Natsumi Hirajima / 平嶋夏海 Kashiwagi Yuki / 柏木由紀
Tomomi Kasai / 河西智美 Kitahara Rie / 北原里英 Kana Kobayashi / 小林香菜 Komori Mika / 小森美果
Yuka Masuda / 増田有華 Miho Miyazaki / 宮崎美穂 Manami Oku / 奥真奈美 Sato Amina / 佐藤亜美菜
Sato Natsuki / 佐藤夏希 Sumire Sato / 佐藤すみれ Watanabe Mayu / 渡辺麻友 Maeda Ami / 前田亜美

[thatonezombie]

^ Genius work Mal.

[Yanki31Mina]

The whole posting a required amount to get to the download section is really frustrating.  I understand the point, but that doesn't mean I agree with it.

[BonKaca]

  great mal..

as for me (and hope that this method will helps you (new fans) to love them more)

first is i watched all the PVs, getting used to it, then started to watched the making of..
"Ok, bon, i could sing 5 til 7 of their song from the PVs, but how could i know the name of the cutest one, and the girl with the big boobie there?"

second, i searched for the picture like the one maliciel created.
"how do i remember more than 50 name, you must be kidding me"
you'll get used to it, just search for the name of the girl you like the most,

third, i'm starting to watched their show,
"oh great, there are so many of em, how do i choose which one i watch first"
AKBingo! will do

last, watch their concert !

but the most important thing is forum, the more you post, the more you'll know...
then by the time goes by, you'll become an AKB48 wota without being able to realize it 

 

[AshuraX]

I could only remember the faces of about 20 members (Some senbatsu members and runner-ups)
Others, I know the names but not their faces, trademarks, specialty, size, etc.
I also recommend watching AKB to xx and Nemousu TV.
It's better if you know Japanese, but listening to their names is good, too.