This is an introduction into AKB48. AKB48 is the top female idol group in Japan at the moment and I hope this helps new fans or curious viewers. If you are interested in further 'reading', I recommend this post.
AKB48 is the flagship group produced by Yasushi Akimoto. He writes the majority if not all their lyrics. He also contributes to their other projects, like their drama Majisuka Gakuen. Fun Facts: He is a professor and vice president of Kyoto University of Art and Design. He has written lyrics for various artists, but he is well known for producing popular '80s idol group Onyanko Club. (He married a member of the group.) The group was founded in 2005. The name is short for Akihabara where their theatre is located, within the Don Quijote store. The concept is 'idols you can meet' so they perform on a daily basis. The small-venue frequent concerts are also probably a result from the fact that most artists profit from concerts over CD sales. At first they performed to spotty attendance, however it is now difficult to get tickets to their theatre performances. (I applied a month and a half ahead of time for an overseas ticket and didn't get one.) AKB48 was originally only meant to have 48 members, and they did for some time. However the number has increased since then for various reasons (see Team 4 and Trainee Team). The teams were originally formed based on auditions (first set became Team A, second round became Team K, and so on). After the three main auditions, and some exceptions, if a member graduated or left the group a trainee would take her spot. Recently AKB48 underwent a shuffle where members changed teams. I believe this was to even out the popular members among teams as well as other things.
The Teams and Sister Groups
Team A
Team A is known as the typical idol team. This team has some of the original aces. Maeda Atsuko is considered the face of AKB48. There is Takahashi Minami, known as the voice and leader of AKB48. (She is also the official Team A captain.) Other long-time popular members are airhead Kojima Haruna and model Shinoda Mariko.
Team K
Team K was originally known for their chemistry and strength as a team. Fans were upset when the teams were shuffled mainly because it broke up Team K. Team K is known for their unusual idol image and strong dance ability. Therefore during the shuffle, the stronger dancers like original Team A member Itano Tomomi were transferred here. Team K's captain is Akimoto Sayaka. Popular original members besides their captain are handsome-idol Miyazawa Sae and second most popular member of AKB48 Oshima Yuko.
Team B
Team B was originally the least well known team of AKB48 because they had few members that appeared regularly in singles. Although, they were popular among their devoted Japanese fans which caused one of their stage songs to be voted the most popular in 2009. Team B is known as the cute idol team. Original popular members are cyborg-idol Watanabe Mayu plus reaction queen and captain of Team B Kashiwagi Yuki. Their stages (theatre concerts) are still popular. Out of all the news stages of 2010 a Team B song got voted the highest which is why it was included on AKB48's first album.
Team 4 and the Trainee Team
Even after AKB48 had 48 members they continued to hold auditions. Those who pass the auditions are added onto the Trainee Team (kenkyuusei or research students). They can be cut and have to undergo tests to show improvement. Lately there has been a build up of worthy trainees that Akimoto promoted. The problem is that there are no spots open, incorporating them into the current stages would be difficult, and no one wishes current members to graduate. Therefore Akimoto formed Team 4 which has ten promoted members. Before the trainees would perform as substitutes if a member couldn't make a performance or as back up dancers. Now they have a unit (four or less members that perform a song) at the beginning of stages and they also perform their own version of Team B's stage (each team has their own concert set that they perform).
SKE48
SKE48 is AKB48's first sister group which is based in Nagoya. They debuted in 2008 and now have all three teams (Team S, Team KII, and Team E). Their singles have seen increases in sales so they are now under Avex (who also release music from artists like Hamasaki Ayumi and Koda Kumi). Because of AKB48's sky rocketing popularity, and the fact that seeing has become more difficult, some fans have considered moving over to SKE48. For further reading please see this post.
SDN48
SDN48 is called AKB48's older sister group because they require the members to be over the age of 18. They do not base their costumes on school uniforms and also have a sexier image. SDN stands saturday night, which is also when they perform in the same theatre as AKB48. Graduated AKB48 members have transferred to SDN48. Kayo Noro, Ex-AKB48 Team K captain, is the captain of SDN48. Out of all the sister groups, SDN48 is the only one with a foreign member thus far. They have yet to split into teams, instead they perform based on their generation.
NMB48
NMB48 is the newest sister group, based in Namba, Osaka. There is only Team N so far, but they do have two generations of trainees. They debuted in 2010.
Upcoming Groups
There will be a sister group in Taiwan and HKT48 based in Hakata, Fukuoka, Japan. There are occasionally rumors about future sister groups, like AKB48 staff poking around in Hokkaido.
I may make this a series, but I will be stopping at this point. If there are any topics you wish me to go over let me know.
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