(Group) The AKB48 Thread

[Amplifier]

Absolutely since the place seems pretty expensive. Like 10,000 yen for the private room? Shiiiet, better bring all your friends!

Looks like the AKBar has somewhere to burn a lotta time, during the AKBar48 in Tokyo 2012 Adventure

[YKT]

News report apparently aired 2011/9/30


AKB48 公式カフェ＆ショップオープン！見どころは？

[YKT]

AKB48 CAFE&SHOP crowds - all day...



all night (ok, evening)...

[YKT]

8 minutes+ news reports (upto 1080p HD Available) - click to view on YouTube:

聖地アキバにAKB48カフェ＆ショップオープン 110929

[YKT]

This just in 2011.10.02 11:52am, held today, members of AKB48 joined a campaign/promo at NHK Broadcasting Center in Shibuya, Tokyo - NAB Radio / NHK

Click to enlarge:



Sources:

http://life.oricon.co.jp/2002320/full/
http://www.nikkansports.com/entertainment/news/f-et-tp0-20111002-843878.html
http://www.daily.co.jp/newsflash/2011/10/02/0004519353.shtml which had this small pic




Video at the official NHK Site:

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/20111002/t10015983161000.html

[YKT]

“Waratte Iitomo” adds AKB48′s Sashihara Rino and Johnny’s Jrs. Nozawa Yuki, Sanada Yumi

Posted on October 1, 2011 by tokyograph
 
Fuji TV has announced several new cast members for its popular variety show “Waratte Iitomo!” The new regulars are AKB48 member Sashihara Rino (18), comedian Watanabe Naomi (23), and comedian Yamazaki Hironari. In addition, the “Iitomo Seinentai” will get its first Johnny's Jr. members, as both Nozawa Yuki (18) and Sanada Yuma (18) are joining the team.

This past week, comedy duo Audrey, model Sasaki Nozomi, actress Manda Hisako, and talento Yamaguchi Tomomitsu all graduated as cast members of “Waratte Iitomo!” With the start of the fall season, Sashihara, Watanabe, and Yamazaki will be filling in the vacancies.

Sashihara will be a regular on Wednesdays, while fellow AKB48 member Akimoto Sayaka will be moved from Wednesdays to Fridays. At the age of 18, Sashihara is now tied with actress Adachi Yumi (30) for the record of the youngest woman to become a regular member on the show.

Watanabe will join the lineup on Mondays. Yamazaki will appear on Thursdays.

Nozawa and Sanada will be known as the unit “noon boyz,” serving as the show’s 16th “Iitomo Seinentai,” who work as assistants on the show, including doing the usual opening dance.

All of the new members will start appearing on the show this week.

Sources:
Sankei Sports

http://www.tokyograph.com/news/waratte-iitomo-adds-akb48s-sashihara-rino-and-johnnys-jrs-nozawa-yuki-sanada-yumi

[Amplifier]

Back to the Cafe - This lady/model/tarento took a trip there, posted some pics thereof and comments:

http://ameblo.jp/asbs-yumi/entry-11033747117.html

[spec8]

^ This is the one Mayu was drawing, right?



Great skill!

[YKT]

^Yes, great find!  Thank you!

News report on the AKB48 Cafe & Shop uploaded 4 hours ago according to YouTube...click to view on YouTube:

AKB48 CAFE＆SHOP 秋葉原にオープン！

Found this so called ''top story'' at http://kotaku.com/5845955/ripping-off-your-biggest-fans

Ripping Off Your Biggest Fans, Idol-Style

 Japan is expensive. Tokyo and Osaka consistently rank among the most expensive cities in the world. With the strong yen, Japan is even pricier for foreign visitors. It's no steal for nerds, either. It's highway robbery.

Geek mecca Akihabara has a bevy of maid cafes to tempt otaku with cutesy food. Popular dishes include "rice omelets" or "hot cakes", which are usually somewhere between ¥700 to ¥1,000 (US$9 to $13) at Akihabara maid cafes—well, ones staffed by dudes dressed as anime chicks. At normal restaurants, you can get a rice omelet—which is rice, eggs, and ketchup—for around ¥500 ($6.50)

Portions, of course, aren't usually as generous as they are in the States.

AKB48, Japan's most popular idol group opened a pricey, new cafe in Akihabara last week. Rice omelets cost ¥1,480 ($19)—ditto for unappetizing pasta. The menu was drawn up by the AKB48 girls, something that costs patrons a premium.

The photos of the food don't look appetizing at all!

Anyone who's been to touristy theme restaurants in the U.S. or Europe can vouch for crazy high prices. The point usually isn't the food, but the experience.

The cafe has a private room or "secret base", which is covered in doodles and signatures by AKB48 members. Fans can also doodle in a designated space on the wall. The room has AKB48 DVDs and magazines available for perusal. It costs ¥10,000 ($130) to rent the room for two hours.


In the top photo, Tomomi Itano scribbles her signature on the private room's wall.

You'd probably be better off at a regular old maid cafe. Then again, you might not be a hardcore AKB48 fan, willing to shell out hundreds of dollars for stacks of CD singles for the group's handshaking events.

Apparently, around 200 people turned up when the cafe opened its doors.

Whether it be sports or idols, otaku fans are hardcore. They obsess and love things to bits. That shouldn't be a license to fleece them. Sadly, though, it is.
Culture Smash is a daily dose of things topical, interesting and sometimes even awesome—game related and beyond.

[YKT]

[haruhi16]

wait, need to buy tickets to fly over to tokyo and buy all the stuffs in that akb48 cafe shop <333

[Philosoranter]

I'm not familiar with the posting conventions in this forum, but I just wanted somewhere to squeal:

I'm going to the 06NOV 3:30 concert! (Boku no Taiyou, Team 4/Kenkyuusei)

I wonder if anyone here knows/remembers who I am...

[yic17]

MP3 ripped from high quality PVs. All extra parts edited out. Enjoy!!

AKB48 - Ue Kara Mariko: http://www.mediafire.com/?0b56e4ydz18a33h
Not Yet - Pera Pera Perao: http://www.mediafire.com/?4kbn7jl4yse7jxa
Warota7 - Kibou Sanmyaku: http://www.mediafire.com/?y7df4401nbaz425

[z3144228]

JR Yamatone line and JR Akibahara Station




http://news.walkerplus.com/2011/1201/2/

[YKT]

AKB48 breaks multiple records as best selling artist of 2011
Posted on December 18, 2011 by

Image from: Oricon

Oricon has released its sales rankings for 2011, and as expected, AKB48 holds the top 5 spots on the single charts. Their total sales – counting CDs, DVDs, and Blu-rays – add up to 16.28 billion yen and 8.911 million copies sold. The group has set a new record for ranking #1 in 7 of Oricon’s 16 categories, including achieving their first #1 in the Total Artist Sales ranking.

Just last week, AKB48 released their 5th single of the year, “Ue Kara Mariko.” All five have sold more than a million copies, making them the five best selling singles of 2011. Up until now, three artists had achieved the top 3 singles for the year (Pink Lady in 1978, Hikaru Genji in 1988, and Arashi in 2009), but AKB48 is the first to take the top 5.
Flying Get – 1,587,229
Everyday, Kachusha – 1,586,840
Kaze wa Fuiteiru – 1.419 million
Ue Kara Mariko – 1.199 million
Sakura no Ki ni Narou – 1.079 million

For singles released by a female group, “Flying Get” broke the previous record of 1.554 million copies, set by Pink Lady’s “UFO” in 1978.

AKB48 also now holds the record for most million-selling singles in a year, surpassing B'z and Mr.Children’s previous records of 4, set in 1995. They sold a total of 7.346 million singles, breaking Mr.Children’s record of 6.63 million (also set in 1995).

The 7 categories topped by AKB48 in Oricon’s yearly rankings are:
Total sales by artist (16.28 billion yen, new record for a female group)
Copies sold for a single (“Flying Get” – 1.587 million, new record for a female group)
Total sales for a single (“Everyday, Kachusha” – 2.15 billion yen)
Total sales by artist, for singles (9.59 billion yen)
Copies sold for a music Blu-ray (“AKB ga Ippai” – 148,000)
Total sales for a music Blu-ray (“AKB ga Ippai” – 1.01 billion yen)
Total sales by artist, for Blu-rays (1.01 billion yen)

Source:
Oricon

http://www.tokyograph.com/news/akb48-breaks-multiple-records-as-best-selling-artist-of-2011/

[SomethingWild]

Sorta related: Oricon Singles Chart 2011

30 out of the top 100 best selling singles in 2011 are AKB48 related! 

AKB48: 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, (2010 singles:) 52, 76, 92, 100
SKE48: 9, 11, 17
NMB48: 13, 18
Not yet: 22, 34, 35
Itano Tomomi: 27, 59
Maeda Atsuko: 33
French Kiss: 49, 51, 78
Wararirouka Hashiritai 7: 57, 73, 79
No Sleeves: 62, 69
DiVA: 88
SDN48: 95

Even AKB48's signles from last year still made it in 

Like expected, Flower had the better first week, but Dear J turned out to be the bigger hit.

[YKT]

Oricon announces 2011’s yearly ranking for “Artist Total Sales”!
by HPriest on December 19, 2011 at 7:02 am


Oricon has stamped the end of 2011 with the release of their yearly ranking for “Artist Total Sales”. The ranking is based on the gross total sales of CDs (both singles and albums), DVDs, and Blu-Ray Discs.

We’ve got the list of the ‘top 5′ artists with the highest record of sales down below!

-

01 – AKB48 # 16,282,000,000 Yen (approx. 209,126,008 USD)

02 – Arashi # 15,369,000,000 Yen (approx. 197,399,436 USD)

03 – EXILE # 5,603,000,000 Yen (approx. 71,964,932 USD)

04 – KARA # 4,926,000,000 Yen (approx. 63,269,544 USD)

05 – Shoujo Jidai # 4,049,000,000 Yen (approx. 52,005,356 USD)

Source: Oricon

http://www.tokyohive.com/2011/12/oricon-announces-2011s-yearly-ranking-for-artist-total-sales/

Single ranking
http://www.tokyohive.com/2011/12/oricon-announces-the-2011-yearly-single-ranking/

Album ranking
http://www.tokyohive.com/2011/12/oricon-announces-full-list-for-2011-yearly-album-ranking/

[SomethingWild]

More data thanks to HoneyRoastedPeanuts!

Stage performances by member in 2011:
01. Izuta Rina (Team KKS) - 179
02. Kojima Natsuki (Team KKS) - 170
03. Fujita Nana (Team KKS) - 169
04. Abe Maria (Team 4) - 167
05. Kobayashi Marina (Team KKS) - 165
06. Katou Rena (Team KKS) - 164
07. Kawaei Rina (Team KKS) - 157
08. Iriyama Anna (Team 4) - 155
09. Takeuchi Miyu (Team 4) - 147
10. Suzuki Shihori (Team B) - 142
11. Nakamata Shiori (Team 4) - 133
12. Morikawa Ayaka (Team KKS) - 124
13. Natori Wakana (Team KKS) - 115
14. Nagao Mariya (Team 4) - 110
15. Nakamura Mariko (Team 4) - 106
16. Ichikawa Miori (Team 4) - 105
17. Shimada Haruka (Team 4) - 103
18. Yamauchi Suzuran (Team 4) - 101
19. Suzuki Mariya (Team B) - 87
19. Chikano Rina (Team B) - 87
21. Ishida Haruka (Team B) - 81
22. Sato Natsuki (Team B) - 78
23. Tano Yuka (Team KKS) - 77
24. Shimazaki Haruka (Team 4) - 76
25. Kobayashi Kana (Team B) - 76
26. Iwata Karen (Team KKS) - 75
27. Miyazaki Miho (Team B) - 70
28. Saeed Yokota Erena (Team KKS) - 68
29. Sato Amina (Team B) - 65
29. Omori Miyu (Team KKS) - 65

and the members with the least amount:
66. Takajo Aki (Team A) - 24
66. Itano Tomomi (Team K) - 24
68. Kitahara Rie (Team B) - 23
69. Sashihara Rino (Team A) - 22
70. Takahashi Minami (Team A) - 21
70. Watanabe Mayu (Team B) - 21
72. Kashiwagi Yuki (Team B) - 19
73. Oshima Yuko (Team K) - 17
74. Kojima Haruna (Team A) - 9
75. Maeda Atsuko (Team A) - 9
76. Shinoda Mariko (Team A) - 7

  Damn, and I thought Rena's 20 was low.

I guess in a way not performing at the theater means you (options are not exhaustive or mutually exclusive):
1. are popular
2. are ready to move on to do other things (dorama, movie, variety, fashion, gravure, etc)

On the other hand, if we look at the number of performances by team:

Team B - 100
Team KKS - 94
Team K - 66,
Team A - 43
Team 4 - 35

Team B and the KKS have performed a lot more than the other teams. This could indicate that MaYuki could be among Acchan levels percentage wise. It also explains why some of these girls have done a lot more performances than others.

Props to all the kks and subs (and regulars) who are working hard at the theater

[SomethingWild]

Team 4 on the cover of the upcoming issue of BOMB:



Looks like Oba is back in the center.
Added Haruu and Paruru to appeal to a wide range of fans.
Plus Iriyama for upcoming ace?

[z3144228]

wanda solo CM

the rest

http://www.youtube.com/user/akb48media009