I knew this thread would be fun lol
Quote:
Originally Posted by oaristos
AKB48 is marketed mostly as a fetish for older men who are interested in really young-looking girls whose record label swears are all virgins. That's why having a boyfriend, drinking, and partying is completely forbidden for them). There's something lacking in the life of those old men and they fill the gap inside them with an obsession for a girl band that lacks any real talent or skill (at least for music).
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Sure, that's why this year, after one girl announced she was getting MARRIED, the producer asked her to stay in the group.
That's why Sashihara Rino, after a scandal, ranked 1st in their election FOUR times (three in a row).
Your last sentence is such a low blow that it'sjust wrong.
Someone could say there must be something lacking in the life of some kids who write thousands of posts in an online forum.
Quote:
Originally Posted by himawariii6
Yes, I went to check on stage48 and AKB48+sister groups+sakamichi (Nogizaka46 and Keyakizaka46)+graduated members of all of that = 1206 members.
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You make it sound as if those 1000 girls are doing handshakes to get these sales.
The Sakamichi are completely separated from AKB, and even between them they don't share events.
AKB is the only one that uses the sister groups (the other 48) in their events, which would amount to 300 members.
As for gimmicks, let's not pretend Ayu didn't release A BEST 2 BLACK/WHITE.
Or that she didn't release two mini albums (LOVE and again) to mash them up in a GASP full length album!
Please.
I do agree that comparing the sales is BS, tbf.
Ayu got most of these sales back in the 00s (she's just added like 500k to her total in the last 5 years), while AKB sells more events than music itself.
For AKB's management Oricon is just another gimmick. Free publicity, basically.
Same reason the million streak is so important for them, because they gets articles and clicks.
Still, to say they didn't have any impact in the industry is a fallacy.
2010 - 2013 was basically about them.
Songs like Heavy Rotation, Everyday Katyusha or Koisuru Fortune Cookie were proper hits that stayed in the charts for months.
They did dome concerts and dome tours around the country, etcetera.
Had it not been for AKB, Morning Musume (and the rest of the Hello! Project) wouldn't have resurfaced again, and same goes for the whole idol industry.
Had it not been for that idol boom, magazines like OVERTURE or UPDATE girls wouldn't have been born (which are more about fashion than flashing boobs, mind you).
Their importance goes beyond creepy otakus unable to get laid.
So yeah, they had an impact and they were popular.
Are they as popular now? Hell no. They even can't admit it, but it shows whenever they do a concert and you compare it to what they used to do back in the day.
But don't Ayu's sales reflect exactly the same? That her peak is gone?