CONGRATULATIONS TO AKB48 ON THEIR FIRST PLATINUM SINGLE!!!! <3 <3 <3 There aren’t words to describe how proud I am of my girls! just… BAWWWW

Now, let’s review my favorite song of the single! And the one with the crappiest PV XD Here’s the amazing, the awesome, the hilariously yankii MAJISUKA ROCK ‘N ROLL!!! This single doesn’t feature all of AKB, well, they are all in the A-side, but not majorly, except for Acchan, and Kitahara Rie XD but Majisuka has Nakayan and Haachan! My favorite underdogs!!!

First, I’ll start by giving you a little background information. This song is the opening of AKB’s drama “Majisuka Gakuen” a campy full of LOL and WIN show about a girl who’s all autistic but goes berserker whenever someone says the word “Majisuka (seriously)” to her. This girl (played by Maeda Atsuko) was recently transfered to “Majisuka Academy” a school for yankis, in which a group of mighty girls called Rapappa call the shots. And Yuko is the leader! YAYNESS. It’s an amazing show, really. If only because it’s really funny to watch all the girls acting like yankiis and kicking the crap out of each other (in fights that look faker than anything Disney Channel has done in the last few years XD). 

Here, have a screencap of Rappappa

Left to right, Shibuya (Itano Tomomi “Tomochin”), Anime (Nakaya Sayaka “Nakayan”), Black (Kashiwagi Yuki “Yukirin”), Sado (Shinoda Mariko), half of the head of Jumbo (Tanabe Miku “Tanamin”) XD, Yuko (Oshima Yuko), Gekikara (Matsui Rena), Rice (Yonazawa Rumi “Yonechan”), Torigoya (Kojima Haruna “Kojiharu”), Showa (Katayama Haruka “Haachan”)

OK, so here comes the review!

So basically, this PV is all about the characters of the drama, as they involve in some sort of yankii party in one of the class rooms, confetti in the air and crazy dance steps included, of course XD

Acchan starts the party with her famous “If you can’t be serious, you can’t win!. Let’s go ROCK N ROLL” You know, Acchan’s character in the drama is a completely introvert girl who has no emotional range whatsoever XD The funny part is that most fans are sniggering because it’s pretty much like her. And then she goes into super saiyan mode and kicks everyone’s butts

This is a look at the Majisuka Academy sign thingy. The funny part is that they tried really hard to make this set look all run down and stuff, but some of the public schools back in my hometown looked totally like this XD

Here are three of the four Queens. The top 4 fighters of Rappappa, Kojima Haruna, Itano Tomomi, Matsui Rena. I absolutely ADORE how badass Tomochin looks with the heavy makeup and sassy attitude! I’ve found a new love!!! XD XD XD I’m so looking forward to her in K6!! Also, well, Haruna has been the same airhead she’s always been in the drama as well as in real life, and we haven’t seen Rena yet, but I really want to see how she’ll turn out because she’s a super polite and nice girl, so seeing her do a yankii will be interesting!

Sayaka looks particualrly gogeous in her yankii get up (more on this later) then tehre’s of course, Takamina, although I don’t really know where she stands in the story of Majisuka Academy, and Mayuyu, who is the creepiest character ever, but it’s absolutely amazing at it.

Team Hormone! Nito Moeno, Takajo Aki, Sashihara Rino, Kitahara Rie and Komori Mika. They are the best comedy relief ever!

And of course, the best character ever is Oshima Yuko, who plays the violence-happy, psycho leader of Rappappa <3 <3 <3 

The Rappappa headquarters!

Here’s Mariko, looking like she REALLY means business!

The kabuki sisters, Kuramochi Asuka and Kasai Tomomi. I must make a special mention to Tomomi who is one of the sweetest girls on Earth, but I still loved how she portrayed this character

Here’s a screencap of Acchan together with SAEMAN <3 <3 and Nachu LOL Nachu is so hilarious! Her character is kind of wimpy and annoying, but she does a good job at being funny nonetheless…

It’s the fearsomely MOE loli trio! Lovetan, Myao and Manamana!

IT’S PARTY TIME! You know, still, as you can probaly tell from this review turning into a review of Majisuka Academy instead XD I think that this pV was the worst because I’ve already seen the Majisuka opening a lot of times, and I’m familiar with it. But it’s still a nice concept, good for promotion, and fits the rock n roll music pretty well. This is my favorite song of the single, BTW. I love how upbeat it is! Gets me pumped up instantly!

Mayuyu’s character in the drama is a smart scheming creepy girl. It’s really scary at times LOL but she’s great at it!

Oh, Sayaka, you SEXY!!!

Scary Mariko is pretty scary O_O That’s the rest of the gang behind her, this is the climax part of the video, when all of Rappappa starts gathering along the corridor, starting from the weakest, until finally Yuko joins them and they face Acchan and Nachu

*RAWR* Yuko!

There’s a finale to the PV where Nachu and Acchan stare at their opponents, but they’re boring so they’re not included here XD

I recommend to all of you AKB fans to go and watch Majisuka Gakuen, it’s being subbed by Nihongogo, and it’s pretty funny and entertaining when you get past the predictable plot and lame acting by some of the girls XD

Also, buy Sakura ni Shiori! It’s an amazing single, and the cheeky Majisuka Rock n Roll is just another reason to pick it up!

Hi people! I really love the Sakura no Shiori single, you know. Not only do I find SakuShio to be one of the most beautiful songs Akimoto’s ever written, I also like to *gasp* sing along to it XD AND OMG SALES FIGURES JUST LOOK AT THAT!!! OVER 200000 ON THE FIRST DAY WOOOO!!!! That’s not something many artists can boast about right now, so I’m really happy fro my girls <3

But what I like the most about this is that AKB is covering all of its bases with this release. 

Want a pretty choir song? (well, most of you have already said DO NOT WANT but still…) have Sakura no Shiori

Want a cheeky pseudo rock number? There’s Majisuka Rock ‘n Roll for you

Want a remembrance of AKB back when its emo teen angst songs made it to the singles? Just take a look at Choose Me

Want bouncy ultra happy lolis? Go for Enkyori Poster

This efficient marketing strategy makes me a happy fan

So, to honor this amazing release (it is amazing in my mind XD) I’ll do a long assed screen cap chock full review for all of you guys!! Yay!!! Also, please remember to buy this single and support AKB48!

Sakura no Shiori “Bookmark of Cherry Blossoms”

So, the first 2 minutes or so, what we get are glimpses of the theater stuff hurrying to help the girls get ready for the shooting of the PV. My cousin actually thought that this PVs location was a store because of the tons of clothes and stuff XD

Those are the girl’s official AKB coats, as we got to see in the Junen Zakura Making Of. And that is the tiny AKB Theater in Don Quijote… Oh, the memories…

And the AKB48 Dressing Room gets a special appearance here too XD This isn’t the lamest thing I’ve written here, because I’m a super lame person, but I once had a dream that involved being in the AKB dressing room, and having to perform a group song next but I couldn’t fit in any of the girls costumes so I panicked XD LOL

And then we get a look at the dedicated staff members as they help the girls get into the really complicated hakamas. The girl in the screencap is Team K new member, Nonaka Misato <3

And then, finally, the actual PV starts, and we can see the girls in their hakamas and elaborate hairstyles basically hanging around, singing and looking pretty, while doing not much else XD

Sayaka love is a must <3 The PV alternates between takes of the girls hanging around looking cute in hakamas to being organized in some sort of circular formation and singing while doing the actual choreography in this dated school uniforms with wings

LOL Yuko looks like she’s about to sneeze or something XD But still, I took the screencap because it might be one of the few pics when we can see Haruna acting all flirty towards Yuko, since it’s usually Korisu harrassing her while she looks all “Geez, crazy, get off of me”

Everyone has already hyped about it, but this scene is very nice to look at. Acchan plucks a feather from Takamina’s wings and blows it in the air… While Jurina just stares XD Still, looks oddly relaxing or something

That’s Ueno 48, supposedly. The girls went to various landmarks of prominent Tokyo districts. I think Akimoto is trying to reinforce his “JAPAN48″ concept in a not so subliminal way with this kind of takes XD

Shinagawa 48! This time it’s just Mariko, Takamina, Tomochin, Haruna and Yuko fixing their bangs XD

Of course, you can sell 220000 copies in the first day if you learn how to pout like Tomochin XD She looks like an adorable duck in this pic right here XD

You know, I absolutely adore Yuko, but this is the most hideous hakama in the bunch. Like , seriously. It’s painfully plain, it looks washed out and it’s just… disgusting. Poor Yuko, she should’ve gotten a pretty colorful one with cute flowers like the other girls *shakes fist*

I like this screencap because Reina is like ULTRA HAPPY while the others are all like we live here in Tokyo so w/e. This is Asakusa48, BTW.

OMG Sae why are you so cute! <3 You know, I’ve come to the conclusion that Sae is the perfect girl you would want to have as your girlfriend (well, if you’re into girls that is XD) Maybe her PB title has been subliminally inducing me to think so?

Shibuya 48! Hmm… I can’t even write the word Shibuya anymore without thinking of Tomochin XD Anyhow, I really like the wings, even if people think that they’re tacky and stupid, I think that they are a cute touch!

I absolutely love Jurina’s hair feather thingies <3 Plus, you know that story on the tabloids about Shinoda Mariko being AKiP’s mistress? I think it’s gotta be Rie who has an affair with him or some important producer XD She’s ALL over the PV. Seriously. She’s in more shots than Acchan!! (BTW, that’s just meant as a joke, I love Rie and I’m glad that she’s getting a huge push)

That’s “Location Bus 48″ Or Loke Bus 48. It’s just a shot of Takamina and Tomochin sleeping and Rie (!!) playfully laying over them

Yoyogi 48 wandering around the famous Stadium. I think that the concept of this PV is so ridiculously simple that it’s endearing in its own way. It’s always cute to watch the girls interacting with each other, and the little hop hop hop dance they do before the bridges (I don’t know if you are getting what I’m saying at all XD Acchan and Yuko do it in their closeups…) is insanely adorable. I want a gif of that but I’m a computer retard so I’ll have to settle with what I have

And of course, mandatory Acchan take <3 She looks lovely all doubtful while she checks her cellphone. I love her red hakama, it makes her stand out a lot, and her simple but classy hairstyle really fit this kind of clothes and music

Ok, so expect to see Majisuka, choose me  and Enkyori Poster by friday, today got horribly late and I need to sleep I’ll just say one more thing about this song, it’s a really well made piece of music. If you still don’t believe it, listen to the off vocal track. It’s absolutely stunning! The strings are amazing, the piano is wonderful and I could go on. I’m happy that such a beautiful song came from my favorite idols <3

Also, yay for 200000 sales on first day! Next days will most likely exhibit a drop in sales XD However, I’m still incredibly proud of the girls who made it this far. It’s really been a long journey from the old AKB I grew to like, back when Team B didn’t even exist, to what they’ve become now. I’m happy to have been somehow part of the ride as a fan since the old days, back when people made fun of their poor sales and concert venues. What I like about following an idol group like this is to watch the girls grow, and finally adjust to really becoming idols. It’s very interesting, and it’s the first time it happens to me!

Matsui Jurina “The ace of SKE48″

Back when it was first announced that SKE48 would be formed in Nagoya, everyone was skeptical at best. When the release of the much anticipated “Oogoe Diamond” single came, and this weird little girl was featured ALONE in the cover, everyone flipped out. She was all over the PV, front and center, getting lots of line, and stealing the spot light from the ever leading Maeda Atsuko. People were mostly, raging. But everyone thought that this would just be a phase, a publicity stunt of Akimoto’s to promote the newly formed SKE48, and they lulled themselves into thinking that this anomaly would go away with the next single

But then lo and behold, Junen Zakura came around, and there was Jurina back in the center! XD The instant rage built up in many AKB wota’s hearts and the started claiming “Get her out of AKB PVs, she’s not even part of the group” and “She was just smacked there in the center for no reason at all!” and that’s pretty much where things still stand for many AKB fans. Jurina is still in the center, and she’s been featured prominently in all of AKB’s PVs after Oogoe. But I do think that she deserves her position in the center, so I’ll try to articulate a bit about that. The first easy comparison one might draw when thinking of Jurina is to Kusumi Koharu of MM, as both were deemed “aces” of their respective groups right after they joined. But reading an interview with Oshima Yuko, where she compared the Jurina situation to when Goto Maki joined Morning Musume, it seems more like that. She was a lot younger than her team mates, she was also placed in the center, and she pretty much pwned everyone else from there XD

I was surprised with her sudden center position at first, but not too much, because I try to keep in mind that there’s more of a business tint to the idol thing rather than an “artsy” approach. I knew that Akimoto needed to push SKE. Why choosing an 11 year old to do this was what left me puzzled at first, and some wacky theories exist around the internet, that claim that Jurina’s grandfather owns the Sunshine Sakae building where the SKE48 theater resides. But I don’t think that this is necessarily the reason why Matsui is the star of Team S, even if it turns out to be true. One has to watch her perform to understand, she’s incredibly talented! 

She might not be the best singer, but she’s good enough to stay on pitch and has a decent voice. however, it’s when she dances that she shines the most, it’s impossible not to look at her. She has a lot of stamina, and yet her steps are always precise, and at all times, there’s a huge smile on her face (which has made her haters call her The Joker XD) you can tell that she’s absolutely enjoying herself fully, and that makes her very appealing as an idol. Her very young age might also be a factor for her earning that position, because she’s simply a kid having fun, and I think that she stresses herself a lot less than the other girls in AKB about popularity and things like that.

And it’s also her youth that makes her refreshing among the other AKB girls, who are all savvy when it comes to show-business. Even though Jurina doesn’t generally perform any cam-whoring stunts, she just kind of exists there, as happy as always, simply enjoying herself on TV shows and the such, and her normal behavior sets her apart from the act of the AKB girls. Let’s look at an example of this, in AKBINGO they used to have a fast word game, much like Shiritori; one of the categories was “scary things” so at one point of the competition, one of the girls in Jurina’s team said something lame to win in that category because of the rush XD So when the hosts pointed this out, all of the girls in the group went “NO, LOOK BUT IT’S REALLY SCARY WAAAAH WAAAAH” but Jurina remained completely unfazed. When the guests asked her about this she replied “Well, I don’t think it’s scary at all”

In the end of the day, the fact that prominent members like Acchan or Yuko see her as an actual threat to their position in the group should give us all an idea of what Matsui Jurina is capable of. You all might keep hating on her all you want, she’s proved that she’s got the talent to back her front position and also outshine some of her seniors at times! She’s definitely serious about her job, or at least, as serious and dedicated as a 12 year old can be. I’m actually happy that Akimoto is capable of spotting talent like this, it shows that he really has a knack for idols

Really, I should be writing an entry about Onyanko Club because they so manage to make me ultra HAPPY whenever I listen to any of their songs! Their whiny voices and super sweet tunes are just instant K.O for me, I want to prance around in a school uniform and sing along while I bob my head stupidly… But I can’t write about them because I know next to nothing about them XD Except that they were pretty famous, sang pervy stuff sometimes, and one of them went and married Aki-P.

So, instead of that. I’ll try to have a little discussion about some of the most prominent aces of the 48 franchise. Granted, I’ll try to be as unbiased as I can, and while I don’t really hate any senbatsu, there are many that can be a bit grating for me :P 

Maeda Atsuko “The face of AKB48″ 

There’s so much that could be said about a girl as wildly popular as Acchan that even people who don’t know much about AKB recognize instantly, but incidentally, so little is said… People just leave it at “She’s a quiet demure girl so the japanese like that” but somehow I get a feeling that there’s a lot more underneath it. In a recent interview, Acchan said that she’s regarded as “a girl who’s never thinking about anything” and I think that it really shows. The reason why Acchan is popular it’s kind of strange when you consider other frontgirls in AKB or even outside of it. Take Takahashi Ai, for an example, she’s an easy comparison to Acchan (who isn’t liked by many western fans), because they are both quiet girls who people can even deem “boring” However, Aichan is clearly the most talented girl in MM right now, she’s the best singer, a great dancer and she is dazzling when performing live…

I’m no Acchan hater, I like her voice, and I think that she’s a good dancer and definitely holds her own, but honestly, talent wise, Masuda Yuka can outsing her ANY day. And 1/4 of Team K can dance much better than her. Then there’s the people who say that it’s easy to choose Acchan as a favorite because of her beauty. Acchan is a pretty girl, no doubt, but Shinoda Mariko is in a different league when you compare the two of them, and yet Atsuko is the quitessencial front girl. One can also say that japanese fans like a quiet, demure girl, which is the most popular theory for Acchan’s rise to fame, but this is only partly true, as Nakaya Sayaka, my favorite B member is rock bottom in the mixi popularity rankings while she’s a lovable, quiet and nice girl.

I recently read an interview with her that shed a little light on her center position. She said that she’s always been an introverted girl so much that even though she wanted to try for AKB48, she wasn’t even capable of telling her parents about her true wish until they came up to her and asked her if she wanted to go to the auditions. She also talked about how it was Natsu sensei who wanted her to be part of the frontgirls at first, because Akimoto hadn’t even noticed her, and how “Nagisa no Cherry” is a song that she really hated back in A2 because it made her backdancers mad because they had almost no lines while she was at the front. This is a lot of pressure, especially for a girl who isn’t naturally strong willed or driven at first impression

But that might be the reason why she’s at the front, more than anything else. She looks like the kind of girl who would break, but she’s competitive enough to work hard for her spot in the front, and for keeping it. She also mentioned that back when Oogoe was released and she had to share the center spot with Jurina, she had to step up her game because Akimoto started hinting that he might give the top position to Jurina if she didn’t get better and better. The reason why she has remained at the top is that her willpower has kept her there, it might appear as if she’s just thrown in there because Akimoto likes her, but make no mistake, Acchan knows her game better than that.

In all honesty, the reason why I like Acchan is that I can relate to her to a certain extent. She’s one of those characters that are endearing because they make you want to root for them. She’s an introvert, she’s not the best singer, she’s not the best dancer, yet she just wants to be in the center, and even though it might look like she doesn’t care at all (her bored expressions are priceless XD) if you have a chance to check out her blog entries, AKB is a really big part of her life, and she’s constantly thanking everyone who has supported her. She’s a funny case in that respect, in a group full of girls with a lot more spark and attitude and drive, what makes Acchan stand out is her slow but certain approach to popularity, by being herself and not creating a character like her fellow group members she comes across as a genuine girl, a flawed teenager full of doubts and fears, but one who’s honest enough to show herself  just like that.

All of this leads to the simplistic conclusion that in a group with the “girl next door” type as the main goal for its members, a girl like Acchan will naturally excel. But I liked trying to look a little bit more into her idol persona, whether I succeeded or not is a different story. I wanted to discuss Atsuko first because she’s the most complex one IMO, precisely because of her simplicity. I could write words and words and words about spirited camera hogging lovable girls like Sae, but with Acchan, there’s only so much you can say without repeating yourself XD. In any case, take this from me, Acchan will stay in the front for as long as AKB as we know it exists, so I respectfully advice all the haters to get used to her