AKB0048 Wikia

In the beginning of the 21st century, a world war breaks out over interplanetary travel tech. The environment is pretty much destroyed so mankind leaves Earth and starts Star Calender 00. Entertainment and songs become heavily regulated and eventually banned due to their power to move people, but a brave idol group puts on guerrilla performances in the name of a famous act from earlier times that sang to Earth's bitter end, AKB48. The illegal revival group's name is... AKB0048.

AKB48 (read "A.K.B. Forty-eight") is a Japanese idol girl group. As of November 2013, the group has 89 members. The girls range in age from early teens to mid-20s. Produced by Yasushi Akimoto, it is one of the highest-earning musical acts in the world, with 2012 record sales of over US$226 million in Japan. It has achieved such popularity in Japan that it has been characterized as a social phenomenon.


As of January 2013, the group's eighteen latest singles topped the Oricon Weekly Singles Chart. In 2010, "Beginner" and "Heavy Rotation" placed, respectively, first and second in the list of Japan's best selling singles for that year. In 2011 and 2012, AKB48's singles occupied the top five spots of the Oricon Yearly Singles Chart. As of May 2013, the group has sold over 21.85 million CDs, and it holds the record for most singles sold in Japan by a female group with its 2013 single "Sayonara Crawl", which sold for more than 1.87 million copies.


AKB48 
is named after Akihabara (Akiba for short), the area in Tokyo where the group's theater is located. The idea of AKB48's producer Yasushi Akimoto was to create a girl group that, unlike a regular pop group, which gives occasional concerts and that is mostly seen on TV, would have its own theater and perform there on a daily basis; the fans would always be able to go and see the girls live. AKB48 still performs at the theater daily, with tickets distributed by lottery. Akimoto has also expanded the AKB48 concept to several sister groups throughout Japan, and all over Asia


Concept AKB48 Theater in Akihabara, Tokyo AKB48 was founded based on the "idols you can meet" concept.The group's producer Yasushi Akimoto decided to create an idol group that, unlike a regular idol group that gives occasional concerts and that is mostly seen on TV, would have its own theater and perform there on a daily basis; the fans would always be able to go and see the girls live. AKB48 performs at the theater daily; because of demand, tickets are now distributed only via a lottery. The AKB48 Theater is located in the Don Quijote store in Akihabara, Tokyo.


The group is split into several "teams": Team A, Team K, Team B and Team 4. Having several teams not only allows the group to reduce the load on its members, since a daily concert at the theater is given by only one team, but also gives AKB48 opportunity to perform in several places and even countries simultaneously. Each of the teams also has a unique image. According to member Misaki Iwasa, Team A represents freedom, Team B is very idol-like with cutesy costumes, while Team K has a strong and powerful image.
 According to an early press release, the group intended to have 16 members on each of three teams to make a total member count of 48 but had varied the member count over time, and had as many as 92.A number of aspiring members (so-called trainees or kenkyūsei (研究生)) learn the group's songs and are appointed as understudies for the main members, so that a replacement is always available. In addition to singing performances, members are heavily promoted throughout the Japanese mass media.The group regularly holds "handshake events", where fans get a chance to shake hands with the group's members.


AKB48 and its sister groups significantly boost their record sales by the addition of special gimmicks to the CD, including collectible pictures, handshake lottery tickets, and voting vouchers for the annual general election, for which it was reported that fans may buy hundreds and thousands of copies to boost their favorite member's ranking.


Membership AKB48 holds the Guinness World Record for the Largest Pop Group. As of November 7, 2013, the group consists of 89 girls, divided among several teams: Team A with 19 members, Team K with 20 members, Team B with 22 members, and Team 4 with 16 members. There are 10 aspiring members who are grouped as kenkyūsei (研究生?, trainees).There are AKB48 members who have been transferred to overseas sister groups, and ones who hold concurrent positions with AKB48's sister groups.


AKB48 members are girls whose age ranges from early teens to 20-plus. They are selected from auditions that are held regularly in Japan. Members of the group are not allowed to have boyfriends, and must be "well-behaved." If they "misbehave", they may be punished or expelled from the group. It's an old rule that many idol groups follow including groups from Hello!Project. The member lineup often changes as when girls get older, they "graduate" from the group, and are replaced by members promoted from the trainees. Monica Hesse of The Washington Post describes the AKB48 audition process as "rolling American Idol-esque".


The group has publicized special events for choosing the promotional and recording lineup for some of its singles. In 2009, the concept of sōsenkyo (総選挙?, "general elections") was introduced. To obtain a ballot, voters have to buy the group's latest "election single." The members who receive the most votes will get to participate in the recording of AKB48's next single, and are heavily promoted. The top vote getter earns the right to be the center performer during the group's live performances. Votes cast for the 2011 election exceeded 1 million, and the single "Everyday, Katyusha", that contained a voting ticket for the election, set a new Japanese all-time record for weekly sales of a CD single. The 2012 election had almost 1.4 million votes, and the 2013 election had 2.6 million votes.


Another selection method, AKB48's rock-paper-scissors tournaments, was introduced in 2010 for the group's 19th single "Chance no Junban". Members of AKB48 and its sister groups compete against each other in the knockout tournament in order to be part of the recording and promotional lineup for AKB48's next single. The participants dress up in various costumes.