[News] AKB48 Team Reforms: "regular" and "under" member system

[SomethingWild]

We already talked about this in the postwhoring thread, but there is a bit more official information.

Official AKB48 blog post: http://ameblo.jp/akihabara48/entry-10791721812.html
Tokyo Hive:  http://www.tokyohive.com/2011/02/statement-on-official-blog-of-akb48-denies-rumors-about-layoffs/


Translation by lovecoffee:

① Question: "Is it true that you will dispose of 8 members from the current number of 56 team members?"
Starting from the basic principle, we have no intention of "dismissing" anyone, not even one member, unless they provoke problems so big they would require "dismissing" at all costs.

This year, even from last year, I have often mentioned on this blog that we want to "go back to our starting point".
The "starting point" AKB48 is aiming to get back to is "Idols you can meet".

At the moment, like you all know, the media senbatsu members have drastically less chances of appearing in theatre shows, and the theatre is mostly for Kenkyuusei shows and SDN48 shows. Of course, thanks to Kenkyuusei and SDN having so many shows, we are growing up with big vigour, but we are not able to arrange the Team shows that should be at the core of "AKB48 Theatre".
As a result, the attendance request for those Team shows we perform once in a while is over 100 requests per seat, and there are too many people who have never attended a theatre show.

In order to improve the current situation we have no other choice but reform the teams, and this time, from the 72 members AKB48 is made of, including Kenkyuusei, we will chose 16 members per team and they will perform as "regular members" from now on at the theatre.
The members who don't make it to the regular teams will be "under (substitute) members"
The kenkyuusei members will be kenkyuusei just like they are now, and will continue improving themselves aiming to be a regular member one day.
Also, it will be possible for Kenkyuusei to be promoted to under team.

We will change to this system and arrange theatre shows with a good balance between all the teams, and I think that this way it will be possible that
"we go back to our starting point" which is "idols you can meet" who work hard and sweat everyday at the theatre.
Moreover, since being a regular member won't be a permanent position, I believe this will increase friendly competition between the girls that will make them grow up.

At the moment, the environment AKB48 is operating in has changed so much it can't absolutely be compared to the time when the theatre had just opened, and things that weren't obvious before happened, while we were more and more in danger of things that were obvious before becoming impossible.

So from now on we will do our utmost best in order to be able to show to all the fans a situation where girls for whom AKB is the most important thing "are always doing their best efforts to chase their dreams", polishing the feeling they felt when they first stood on a stage.
AKB48 will keep running, so please keep watching warmly over us.

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Thanks to toddvanzetti for summarizing the above in a clear diagram:

[Datalanche]

First of all, thank goodness that an official announcement has been made. The rumor mill was spinning so fast that it could have uprooted from the ground and went into orbit.

Me personally, I'm not really affected by this news. The only thing it will affect for me is the on demand shows, which honestly my interest in has declined extremely. I'm more into watching Team Kenkyuusei perform than any other at this point, and even that's getting kind of old. When we have so many great magazine spreads, TV shows, dramas, movies, and appearances happening, a crummy wmv file of a dimly lit theater is just not high on my priority list. The HD broadcasts help this some, but still. And yeah, perhaps I have "turned my back" some on the roots of this group, but I just honestly enjoy this modern AKB48 more. It's not to say I dislike the stage shows, I'm just content with watching a couple on occasion.

My big qualm with this is the whole "unders" concept. I really resisted a past rumor similar to this because I don't think it's fair. All they are really doing is making them a specialized kenkyuusei. So basically they have to learn the entire stage, work their butt off to get noticed, gain popularity, but when Acchan's schedule permits her to perform, then the under basically gets shafted. To me, this isn't right at all. However, I understand their reasoning to do this. There's just no way for them to keep doing the theater shows without this kind of method. Here's another problem I see: the last "row" of senbatsu is forever changing. What happens if girl x drops out of media senbatsu. Does under x have to learn a whole new spot? What about if the under girl becomes more popular than the girl she subs for? All I can say is I'm really glad I'm not an AKB48 manager right now. This is a logistics nightmare. I think in the long run this plan might end up defective.

Still, despite some lingering questions and fear of what this is going to do to the theater shows, I mostly shrug it off because my main enjoyment from this group is their TV work and singles. I just feel bad because some of these kenkyuusei have superb talent, and now they have to work even harder/get even luckier to be seen.

[clockface]

Anyone here old enough to remember when CAPCOM started doing their vs games? X-men vs Street Fighter, etc? This shuffle feels exactly like that except you can't use Ryu, Ken, Spiderman, Wolverine and it's only available in the arcades, unless you download a rom and emulator.

The idea of a undergirls type team is still exciting but what will happen to the teams? There will be so much chopping and changing within the theater group and under members even without the top members to choose from. This is sure to corrode team identities. Is this the beginning of the end of the team concept?

[Datalanche]

There will be so much chopping and changing within the theater group and under members even without the top members to choose from. This is sure to corrode team identities. Is this the beginning of the end of the team concept?

Interesting notion. It does feel like a bit of an identity crisis for AKB48. Their mainstream media appeal versus their "theater idol group" roots.  They clearly conflict with one another. I think the management is trying hard to keep their roots alive because for the fanbase that buys fucktons of merchandise, this is their entire appeal. I've had an inkling that down the road they might go back to the Himawari-gumi approach, but that dissolves a lot of those roots too, so I think it probably won't happen. I can't see them getting THAT much bigger. They already own the market.

[SomethingWild]

I just feel bad because some of these kenkyuusei have superb talent, and now they have to work even harder/get even luckier to be seen.

Even though this will probably happen in some cases. I think it'll work out fine. If you observe a girl during rehearsals, concerts and tapings, it's pretty easy to figure out her strengths and weaknesses.

This 'kenkyuusei can only promote to under positions' rule will also stop the shameless pushing of certain members, which could also be a good thing.

This is sure to corrode team identities.

This already happened during the previous team shuffles imo. I wouldn't know how to describe the new teams one word. Especially B.

[tdizo]

I'm new to the whole system for AKB48. The diagram helped a lot. Hahah. But seriously, with so many members in each group, including the unders, its going to be crazy trying to remember names.