Hey, Heiwa speaking!
I'll talk about the reorganized Teams hot topic :P
I know Ange already informed you about the situation but I came here to do a kind of different thing XD
I want to show you more or less what I think about this new Aki-P strategy.
Even though as fans of the original AKB formation we are a bit angry and sad, I think the way of thinking of the management isn't crazy after all because if we analyze thoughtfully, this will have benefits for every Team regarding popularity and the members that will attract more people to the theater. Because as you know, this is a money issue :P
First, we have the old Team A, that was composed mostly by very popular girls:
Acchan, Mariko, Takamina, Haruna, Itano, and Miichan, who always had participated in every AKB single from the very beginning and that have kept (mostly) they huge popularity.
The Team has also
Sato Yukari, who due to her PB sales, increased her fans number, and was chosen as a senbatsu.
Then, new girls arrived to the Team:
Kitarie and Myao, that always had the A fans fondness, who made them very popular almost from their first day. This also made possible they could be part of singles.
Amina is a special case, because she was chosen as a senbatsu thanks to her loyal (and rich) fans. We also have
Akicha, who was chosen as an undergirl and is loved by many fans as the other new members. Lastly, we have
Chisato, that was about to become an undergirl (according to the election), and
Reinyan, whose election ranking is unknown, but that was part of a couple of singles, so that means she also brings some people to the theater. As you can see, Team A was loaded of popular girls, thus unbalancing the Team itself and the whole group.
The NEW Team A would have the following "hierarchy":
We still se a lot of popular and flagship A members but the new members have adjusted the balance a bit. So we have:
6 senbatsu, 4 undergirls plus 3 other girls from other old Teams, and 4 Research Students.Let's analyze Team K now (T____T me cries, but I have to be cold to tell this theory).
The old Team K distinguished always for having its own and unique hallmark (can't…be… objective… u.u) but if we face the sorry truth, it didn't have many popular girls, not at least as Team A.
The first in mind is
Yuko, who has always been the most popular one and has participated in every single from the beginning. Same as
Tomomi (U.U),
Erepyon and Sae, who have always been loved by the fans. Then there is
Sayaka, that was - from her first day - a flagship member together with the girls I told before, but somewhere in the past some of her fans seemed to forget her and this made she were left out of some singles. However, her optimism and impetus made her to steal hearts from all over the world, being chosen again as a senbatsu.
Then we have
Asuka, who joined Team K and immediately turned popular and loved. She even was a senbatsu in 10nen Zakura but then was left out, returning to the last single with the 21 rank. Another case is
Meetan, who never was popular until 2008, when she stole the hearts of many fans due to AKBINGO (called differently back then) and thanks to her sympathy, bravery and hallmark. This allowed her to be chosen to be in the Baby! Baby! Baby! single. Then Akimoto made her suffer with her solo single sale, threatening her exit from the group if she didn't manage to sell a certain number of copies. However, Meetan managed to do it and kept being a member of this amazing Team K, although she didn't appeared in the next singles. But she was chosen an undergirl thanks to the elections.
We also have many members who appeared a few times in singles:
Natsumi (Aitakatta, Sakura 2008 and also undergirl),
Yuka (Keibetsu, Seifuku, Bingo! and undergirl),
Kana (Seifuku and Keibetsu),
Nacchi (Keibetsu),
Macchan (Bingo)
Umechan (Aitakatta y BBB), and
Nonti (Aitakatta). Lastly, the new Team K face,
Chikano Rina, who is very cute but, let's face it, never became popular.
NEW Team K "hierarchy" as follows:
6 senbatsus, 1 undergirl (with the majority of votes) plus 6 members of old Teams, 3 Research Students and a special case: "The Aayarin Strike" (as I call her). As you know, she was a Team B member, she was fired because she had a boyfriend and then came back as a RS and now she managed to enter a Team, this time, to the best of them!
To finish, we have the least popular and valued Team: B.
Even though they have very loyal fans that defend them to death, we all know there are just a few girls in this Team who really shine.
First,
Mayuyu, who was always a non-stop senbatsu, and was in many occasions the only B member to be in a single. Then we have
Yukirin, that was gaining popularity little by little as at first she was in Bingo! only. However, she was chosen later for BBB and since then no one has been able to stop her. She even was chosen as senbatsu for the last single ranking at 10.
After Ayarin was fired, her substitute in B3 was
Sasshi, who replaced Ayarin so well that she won over the fans respect and was chosen as a senbatsu from Oogoe Diamond. In the past election she was only chosen as an undergirl, though. Then we have
Aika, who is part of a unit and has been raising fans that made her a senbatsu for first time in this last single (I'm so happy for her ^^).
Then appears
Cindy (old Team A), who never was popular, but called herself the "leader of Team B" and many people liked her way to be. Thanks to her interesting advertisement in the senbatsu election videos, people rewarded her choosing her as a senbatsu for first time ever.
Then we have some girls who were chosen undergirls:
Yonechan and
Haruka, who have never been senbatsu, and
Nacchan (old A, too), who was senbatsu twice and is also member of a unit. Team B has also
Moeno and Harugon, who couldn't be undergirls but have always had the support of Team B fans. We also have two members that have always been in the B shadows:
Nakayan and
Tanamin, very talented girls but not really popular, who haven't had big roles in AKB48. Finally, two new girls who haven't had the chances to show their talent:
Kohara and
Nakatsuka.
NEW Team B "hierarchy":
6 senbatsu, 2 undergirls plus 4 old Teams members, and 4 RS (one was chosen senbatsu in a single).
As you see, the conclusion is that all this is a strategy to balance the Teams because every one has 6 popular members now. This will eventually attract more people to the theater, since they will want to see them all, or that's what the management thinks at least. We just have to wait and see. Will this be the best? Will we get used to it? Time will tell…
Now I'm gonna go to listen to Dong Bang Shinki and watch the last stages of the REAL TEAK K.
