AKB48

If you’re keeping up with AKB48’s activities at the moment your own Oshi probably has graduated, as has mine and most other people i have seen who are still supporting AKB. So what is the plan?

Are DH and fans just going to move on to the group Out Of 48 will produce? Maybe even allot of international fans and some Japanese idol followers will end up moving onto the group Produce 101 Japan The Girls will produce though i am aware it is not the same and will never be the same as 48G

What do you think will happen? What are you planning to do? Does anyone know what is actually going on

Does any lost media (such as songs, merch, or even obscure members) exist within the fandom? I'm curious to see if there's any, and I haven't quite heard of anything really considered lost that's related to AKB48. Maybe other than this mobile card game I've found, as I even broke the region lock on my phone to attempt tp download it to no avail. Anything you can think of?

What is Teppen?

Teppen is a popular variety TV show airing in Japan. At Teppen, celebrities from all fields compete in different skills outside of their main profession. The most famous Teppen competition is the piano contest, in which celebrities play a song of their choosing on piano and are scored out of 100 by a group of judges. This competition is hosted yearly to semi-yearly, usually with 5-10 celebrities competing. Many celebrities, inside and outside of the music field, have competed over the years, including a few AKB48 members.

What is AKB48?

AKB48 is a large Japanese idol group founded in 2005 by producer Akimoto Yasushi. They the Japanese music charts of the 2010s, having 37 of the top 50 selling songs of the decade, including #1-#16. AKB48 is based in Akihabara, and has sister groups throughout Japan, such as HKT48 in Hakata, Fukuoka. Between the main group and the sister groups, they have hundreds of members at any one time. One such member was Matsui Sakiko.

Who is Matsui Sakiko?

(born 1990) joined AKB48 in 2009 as part of the 7th generation. She grew up playing piano, and became AKB’s resident piano girl, often playing during concerts. As a member, she attended and then graduated from Tokyo College of Music, specializing in piano. She was never a particularly popular member, having never been picked for the lineup (senbatsu) of an AKB48 single (though she did join the senbatsu one time due to the yearly rock-paper-scissors tournament, but that’s a story for another time.)

1st-9th Teppen

Sakiko joined the Teppen piano competition for the first time in 2012. This was Teppen’s 3rd piano competition, the first two having been won by Sayuri (born 1969), a comedian famous for her piano skills, who was considered the queen of the contest. Sakiko managed to score 86 points, which won her the competition. This caught the eye of Akimoto Yasushi, AKB48’s producer, who allowed Sakiko to release a solo album, mostly of piano renditions of AKB songs.

Sakiko and Sayuri would join the 5th Teppen* in 2013. This time, Sayuri retook her crown, with Sakiko receiving 2nd place. They would meet again at the 7th Teppen in 2014, this time reversing their fortunes: Sakiko the champion and Sayuri the runner-up. A rivalry quickly ensued, and Teppen created a special one-off competition just between Sakiko and Sayuri at the 9th Teppen later that same year. Sayuri was the victor.

*There was no piano competition at the 4th, 6th, and 8th Teppen.

However, another member had entered the fray: HKT48’s Moriyasu Madoka.

Who is Moriyasu Madoka?

(born 1997) joined HKT48 in 2011 with their 1st generation. She was immediately popular, and selected for the senbatsu for nearly every HKT48 single. She was also known for her piano skills. She had participated in piano competitions throughout her childhood, placing 9th in a nation-wide junior high school competition. However, as a popular member, she was extremely busy and wasn’t practicing piano consistently. She participated for the first time in the 7th Teppen and did very well, receiving 87 points. She hadn’t seriously played piano in two-and-a-half years at that point. After the competition, she announced that she would start practicing again and would be back.

The 10th Teppen

Six celebrities entered the 10th Teppen in early 2015. The last three scheduled to perform were Madoka, Sakiko, and Sayuri, in that order. The high score when it came to Madoka’s turn was 84. Madoka performed a rendition of Kubota Saki’s 70s hit “Ihojin”, impressing the crowd. One of the guests yelled out, “You’ve already won, haven’t you!” Madoka received 91 points, enough to take the top spot at the time. Next was Sakiko. She performed “Let it Go” from Frozen. To her surprise, she got 94 points, passing Madoka. She said that, listening to Madoka’s performance backstage, she was about to give up emotionally. Last was Sayuri. She performed “A Cruel Angel's Thesis”, the opening song for Neon Genesis Evangelion. Sayuri got 95 points, making her the champion once again.

Madoka’s performance starts at 1:25, Sakiko’s at 5:35, and Sayuri’s at 10:00.

(I am a total layman when it comes to piano, so I would appreciate insight from anyone more musically-inclined! I tried not to give my opinion or analysis earlier, but as a layman, I thought Madoka’s performance was clearly the most impressive.)

Aftermath

There was a huge amount of controversy after the episode aired. Many believed that Madoka easily should have won. There were accusations that the judges rigged it to further the Sakiko vs Sayuri storyline. The station received dozens of complaints questioning their scoring criteria. Music producer Fukada Yasuhiko objected to the scoring, saying that if Madoka got a 94, then Sakiko and Sayuri should’ve gotten an 83 and 80, respectively. He even suggested this result will have negative effects for children learning piano. The station responded that there was no evidence of rigging and stated "the performance is judged comprehensively based on the difficulty level of the arrangement, the expressiveness of the pieces, such as whether the pieces are played with passion, and the accuracy of the pieces, such as whether there are any mistakes."

Following Years

Teppen continued with their piano competition. Madoka, Sakiko, and Sayuri all entered in the 11th Teppen in late 2015. This time, Madoka got 1st place, with Sakiko tying for 2nd.

Sakiko graduated from AKB48 in 2015, and Madoka graduated from HKT48 in 2021. Both of them continued to participate in Teppen, before and after graduation. Sakiko won the 13th, 14th, 19th, and 20th Teppen competitions. Madoka never received 1st place again, nor did Sayuri. However, Madoka, like Sakiko, did release a solo album of piano music in 2020. Both Sakiko and Madoka are active in the entertainment industry and as pianists.

how do i get into akb48 cause theres so many members and i am so bad at remembering names and stuff idk how you guys do it help 🙏🙏

It is announced during her Showroom and Youtube Live.So much pain. She also said she may graduate from AKB48 but she will continue her music career and continue posting vids on her YT. She also said she will not participate in Janken tournament.