Akimoto Yasushi talks about what goes on behind the scenes at AKB48 “The general election is serious，” “I didn’t expect people to vote by buying dozens of CDs，” and “It was ridiculed as the AKB business model and my efforts seemed like a waste．”
“Was AKB48’s general election real?” Akimoto Yasushi talks about the behind-the-scenes of the “national idol’s” historic event. It was the existence of the “general election” that pushed AKB48 to the status of “national idol.” So why did the general election come about? Also, was there any wrongdoing there? Interviewer Yasushi Akimoto approaches the creator, Yasushi Akimoto. (Omitted) –Yes, I am. They are an idol group that has caused a lot of excitement in the world, both in a good and bad way. I guess the reason AKB48 became a national idol group was because of the AKB48 General Election, right? I miss Akimoto. Fuji TV broadcast it live. –In a normal idol group, whether it’s girls or boys, you can’t talk about who’s popular within the group, right? It’s like a taboo… Akimoto: Because AKB48 had so many members, we first had to decide who would be selected to appear on TV shows. At first, I, as the producer, made the decisions in consultation with my staff and people from the record company, but every time the selected members for a new song were announced, the internet would go into uproar. At that time, 2channel was at its peak, so we would get comments like, “Is Akimoto Yasushi blind?”, “Why don’t they include XX-chan? (Or should they?)”, “The center will definitely be Maeda Atsuko, right?”, etc. every time, so we thought, “Well, let’s have a fan vote for the selected members”. –You’re criticizing this as “AKB marketing” because you included voting tickets with the CDs, right? Akimoto originally didn’t have voting tickets, and made it so that anyone could vote on the official online page. However, a bunch of curious bystanders, or “trolls,” who had no interest in AKB48, started appearing on the voting site and causing a mess, so AKB48’s IT manager at the time said, “After all, we should only make it available to AKB48 fans,” and that’s how it all started. –So, did you include a voting ticket with the CD? Akimoto: Everyone’s misunderstanding that, but it wasn’t just the CD that included a voting ticket. It was aimed at fans who support AKB48 in some way, such as fan club or mobile members, but most people think it’s only for CDs. –But then there were cases where people bought dozens, even hundreds, of CDs, took out the voting slips, and threw away the CDs themselves, right? Akimoto: That was unexpected. It’s true that fan club and mobile members can’t sign up for multiple accounts at once, but they can buy as many CDs as they want. I don’t remember exactly, but I think there was a limit on the number of CDs that could be purchased. –But how did it feel to be mocked as an AKB business? It seemed like all the effort of making different types of songs for the Akimoto couplings and making music videos for each coupling was a waste. –Even so, why did you continue releasing CDs with election voting tickets inside? Akimoto: By that time, AKB48 had already become too big, and record companies, management offices, TV stations, advertising agencies, and so on all had their own agendas. –What did the other members think? Akimoto: As expected, the more popular members started to dislike it halfway through. That’s why we made it a candidate-based system. Less well-known members would have rather seen the general election as their best chance. –To be honest, was the AKB48 general election serious? What does Akimoto mean by “serious”? –Was there any cheating, like changing the rankings? Akimoto: Of course. If we don’t do it seriously, we’ll be betraying our fans. He also gave strict instructions to his staff. That’s why we brought in a third party to monitor the situation to make sure no fraud was committed. Click the link for more details.
>>14 The people who were sponsors of AKB in the early days, like Shiba and Kubota, I have the impression that after Akimoto sucked every penny out of them, they were able to get jobs around Akimoto and make a living thanks to AKB’s popularity.
He still hasn’t learned his lesson, selling CDs with handshake tickets attached and causing trouble for Oricon; he is the one who put an end to Oricon.
Even now, they make people buy dozens of the same CD just so they can talk to their favorite idols at meet and greets (online talk events), which is disgusting. And what’s more, they even choose the members for the next single based on the results of those meet and greets, so it’s really dishonest.
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