Arashi being whooped by AKB48?
A friend of mine told me a few days back that Arashi should watch out because they're being whooped by AKB48. This was surprising for me the first time I heard it because I wasn't even aware of who AKB48 was then.
So, I googled them. Impressive theater group, I have to say, but I honestly feel that my friend's commented perception is skewed. AKB48 is doing exceptionally well with their music. I've seen a couple of their videos and am duly impressed. I mean, these girls ARE entertaining. Which shouldn't be surprising, because (1) they're entertainers, and (2) their songs are earworms. They're a pretty impressive bunch. The sheer number of them is enough to make you really take a second look. Look at that entire girls school in a field trip. Plus the fact that they are topping the charts. Saying that they're whopping Arashi, though, is just incorrect. It does not even make sense to compare 48 girls relatively young in the industry (relatively young, literally) to five veteran idols.
For one, Arashi has been around for 11 years. Let me repeat that, ELEVEN years. AKB48 has been in the industry for roughly five years. Last year was the first year that a single from them reached #1 Oricon. This is the first year that a single they released sold over 500,000 copies in a week. It took them 16 singles to do that. Arashi did both with their first single. Remember the song "Arashi"? It debuted at #1 with 557,430 copies sold on the first week. My friend also told me earlier that Arashi is on a decline. I was surprised with that comment. Given that I don't really get to update myself with news like these regularly (real-life interrupts a lot), I had to check if they really are on a decline. This is Arashi we're talking about. I didn't regularly get to follow them (again, real-life), but this is Arashi we're talking about! This is personal. Well, according to Wikipedia, Hatenai Sora sold 572,000 copies in it's first week. Apart from that, Arashi had six singles released this year, all of them hitting number one. So, what the hell do you mean by a decline, anyway?!?
I honestly think that AKB48 is pretty good in their own right. Lovely girls, really. A little too cheesy for my taste sometimes, but otherwise entertaining. These darlings, however, are in a totally different league from what Arashi is. And, at the end of the day, who do you think gets the bigger bacon? The larger paycheck shared by 48 people? Or the relatively lower one shared by five guys? Seriously.
AKB48 image from tokyohive
Arashi image from gaiaonline
So, I googled them. Impressive theater group, I have to say, but I honestly feel that my friend's commented perception is skewed. AKB48 is doing exceptionally well with their music. I've seen a couple of their videos and am duly impressed. I mean, these girls ARE entertaining. Which shouldn't be surprising, because (1) they're entertainers, and (2) their songs are earworms. They're a pretty impressive bunch. The sheer number of them is enough to make you really take a second look. Look at that entire girls school in a field trip. Plus the fact that they are topping the charts. Saying that they're whopping Arashi, though, is just incorrect. It does not even make sense to compare 48 girls relatively young in the industry (relatively young, literally) to five veteran idols.
For one, Arashi has been around for 11 years. Let me repeat that, ELEVEN years. AKB48 has been in the industry for roughly five years. Last year was the first year that a single from them reached #1 Oricon. This is the first year that a single they released sold over 500,000 copies in a week. It took them 16 singles to do that. Arashi did both with their first single. Remember the song "Arashi"? It debuted at #1 with 557,430 copies sold on the first week. My friend also told me earlier that Arashi is on a decline. I was surprised with that comment. Given that I don't really get to update myself with news like these regularly (real-life interrupts a lot), I had to check if they really are on a decline. This is Arashi we're talking about. I didn't regularly get to follow them (again, real-life), but this is Arashi we're talking about! This is personal. Well, according to Wikipedia, Hatenai Sora sold 572,000 copies in it's first week. Apart from that, Arashi had six singles released this year, all of them hitting number one. So, what the hell do you mean by a decline, anyway?!?
I honestly think that AKB48 is pretty good in their own right. Lovely girls, really. A little too cheesy for my taste sometimes, but otherwise entertaining. These darlings, however, are in a totally different league from what Arashi is. And, at the end of the day, who do you think gets the bigger bacon? The larger paycheck shared by 48 people? Or the relatively lower one shared by five guys? Seriously.
AKB48 image from tokyohive
Arashi image from gaiaonline