In the previous post, I mentioned that many idols outside of Korea are starting to disband, but on the other hand, there are some Idols that are trying to get close to Korean Idols. One of them is AKB48.
AKB48 is a Japanese idol girl group named after the Akihabara area in Tokyo, where the group’s theater is located. The group is one of the highest-earning musical performers in Japan, and they have been characterized as a social phenomenon. As of June 2018, the group has sold over 56 million records, including over 6 million albums, in the span of 12 years. They are the highest selling musical act in Japan in terms of single sold, and 35 latest singles have topped the Oricon weekly single chart (Japan’s billboard), with thirty singles selling over a million copies each.
As you can see from this data, they have been doing successfully with their original style, so why did they decide to change their way, which they have done for more than 10 years, and try to get close to Korean Idols?
The answer is, “Because they realized that their mainstream audience will be deprived by the Korean Idols.”
This year’s June, a project called “Produce 48” started in Korea. Produce 48 is a reality competition television show where the public “produces” a girl group by voting for members out of the pool of 96 contestants from Korea and Japan. The show was a collaboration between the Mnet series “Produce 101” and AKB48. The winning 12 contestants, with no nationality caps, as voted only by Korean viewers, will promote as a group for two and a half year.
When this program started, everyone in Japan was shocked, including me. The first episode was documenting the individual’s skills, and the difference was significant. When the Korean where performing, you could hear high keys and cool dance movement, but on the other hand, everyone could barely hear or look at the Japanese performance. After the first episode, on twitter there were many negative opinions towards AKB48, and many mentioned that they can not be satisfied by AKB48’s performance anymore.
AKB48 performance before Produce 48 ↓
AKB48 performance after Produce 48↓
This is what made AKB48 to change their style that they have continued for 10 years. As you can see from the two videos above, the style of songs, level of their performance, many element of AKB48 changed. I am still surprised of how much Korea influenced our Idol culture, but also am excited how other Idol group are going to change too. If Japanese Idol get the same skills as the Koreans, because they have the best winsomeness, they can become the best Idol in Asia, or in the world.