[Translation] [2013] ayu loses sales record to AKB48 (Article)

[Trinu]

Ayu had ir hard? Ayu had to go to the street at night and hand around flyers to see them tossed on the floor? Ayu was called the "panty-showing show"? Ayu had to combine the ordinary life of a high-schooler and the idol one even if nobody went to see you perform?

C'mon, compared to the first gens of AKB, Ayu had everything handed over to her when she was discovered at karaoke.

I love Ayu too, but I don't like how people talk about AKB as a "group of lolitas prancing around with fake smiles". It shows how little attention some people have put to them and how much they want to criticize for the sake of it.

So I'm just gonna leave a couple of their lyrics here so you can read them...

http://stage48.net/studio48/mokugekisha.html
http://stage48.net/studio48/yumenokane.html
http://stage48.net/studio48/imcrying.html
http://stage48.net/studio48/inochinotsukaimichi.html
http://stage48.net/studio48/suifuwaa...umewomiru.html
http://stage48.net/studio48/inochinoimi.html

... and now say "They're just a bunch of girls in bikinis singing non-sense".

Also, the AKB system is designed to stay relevant for years to come. Some wotas might graduate the fandom, but others will come and there will always be people who'll buy the singles to shake their favourite's hands.

And seeing how well received the new gens are, you can expect other 8 years of AKB topping the charts (and opening the Tokyo Olympics, if everything goes well).