Idol Eyez at the AKB48 Theater! (Part 1)

Hi all. Sorry for the long delay between posts but life tends to get in the way some times. I am currently in Tokyo and was fortunate to see AKB48 Team K at the theater on 11/2/2010.

As you may know, AKB48 Theater management started a new system for overseas fans to have a better chance to see the various groups. The system is called “Super Enpou” and basically means “super long distance.” Previously, we had to apply through the regular “Enpou” system which is for anyone living outside the Tokyo area. The process was not easy for anyone who is not comfortable with Japanese or reading Kanji. The new system only requires a short email with your name, where you live, when you will be in Tokyo and what teams you’d like to see.

About 4 days before my trip I got an email saying I won a ticket for the Team K show on 11/2. So far this is the only show I’ve won even though I applied for all of the groups. I did list Team K first so that may be why they gave it as my preference.

Don Quixote in Akihabara with the AKB48 Theater on the 8th floor.

This is my first trip to Tokyo and, of course, my first show at the theater so I was a little worried about finding my way around. It turned out to be no problem as the Theater is right on the main drag in Akihabara, very close to the train station. It took me less than 30 minutes to find it from my hotel in Shinjuku. It is at the top of a “Don Quixote” store and the outside is plastered with AKB48, very hard to miss.

Don Quixote in Akihabara with the AKB48 Theater on the 8th floor.

The Keys to Heaven

Following the instructions in the email, I presented my passport at the information window and said “Super Enpou.”  The attendant checked my info with his list then gave me a ticket and wristband. He told me, in English, to come back to the information booth about 20 minutes before the show.

The place was already starting to fill up with fans so I stowed my bag in one of the coin lockers in the lobby. It was kind of strange to see the place in person after seeing it on video for so many years.

Fans looking at the member photos in the hallway to the theater.

I had time to kill so I wandered around “Electric Town” Akihabara for a while. It’s quite a sensory overload, especially once it gets dark.

AKB48 Theater at night

I heard the strains of Beginner and saw an electronics shop had the video on a loop on all of the TV sets.

Electronics store using AKB48 to draw customers.

The Door to Heaven

At the appointed time I went back upstairs to the info booth. A different guy was there and when I said “Super Enpou” he pointed to the lobby and said “go to front.” By this time the waiting area, hallway and lobby were jam packed with fans. I think he radioed ahead because the first guy I talked to waded through the line to meet me halfway. He put me up near the theater doors with the other “Super Enpou” for this show, a guy named Brad from Australia.

Shortly he announced on his megaphone that they would start letting people in. The first in were we overseas fans and we got some nice applause from the others who appreciate people coming so far to see the idols. We we led up to the very front row on the left side. The seats are about 1 meter from the stage. The stage itself is only about 40cm high at the front so I was going to get a very close view indeed! To the right of us was one of the infamous “pillars of death” that block the view for so many fans and a cameraman who was videotaping the show. From the Super Enpou seats you can easily see 100% of the stage. Cameras and cellphones are very strictly prohibited inside the theater so I don’t have any photos from inside. I’ll fill in with other eye candy.

I was worried that my fave member, Minegishi Minami would not be there for some reason but I overheard some of the other fans saying that Oshima Yuko was the only one not present tonight. I love Yuko and it was a shame to miss her but at least I have seen her perform in NYC so the sting was lessened.

Soon the lights dimmed and the “Zenza Girls” came out. Zenza girls are 4 random research students who do a song before the actual stage begins. It’s a chance to let the fans see the girls who are working hard to be the AKB48 members of the future. The Zenza Girls for my show were Yamauchi Suzuran, Kobayashi Marina and Nakamata Shiori.
.

Yamauchi Suzuran

Kobayashi Marina

Nakamata Shiori

After the very cute Zenza Girls song, the familiar bombast of the AKB48 Overture began and Team K appeared. There have been plenty of reviews of the K6 Stage online by much better reviewers so I will just comment on some of the other things that caught my attention.

First of all, my beloved Miichan was present and just as glowing as always. I was on the wrong end of the stage from where she normally seems to be positioned but she came my way plenty of times and even the far end of the stage is not very far away. The girls know about the Super Enpou program so I think they expect to see some foreigners in that spot of the theater. I got a little eye contact with Miichan when she ended a song crouching in front of me. She was so close I felt like she would be able to

notice me taking a peek at her thighs instead of her eyes. Not that she would really care I’m sure.

Minegishi Minami

Akimoto Sayaka was as beautiful as I remembered, not at all “mannish” in person. She really does look like she was chiseled by a master Sculptor.  Miyazawa Sae, Genking has always been one of my fave members and I always thought she was very cute. In the past year since I last saw her she has gone from cute to beautiful in my opinion. I think it’s a combination of her cool new hairstyle and that she is maturing into her grown up face.  Her nose is not as prominent in real life as it appears sometimes on TV and in photos. She really took my breath away with how stunning she is becoming.

Speaking of prominent noses, the job to take the place of the #1 most popular girl in all of AKB48, Oshima Yuko, fell to research student Takeuchi Miyu. She is a tiny, tiny girl with a rather large nose and a ton of energy. Talent-wise, she has to be at the top of the research student ranks even though she was recently bypassed for promotion by Yokoyama Yui. Miyu-chan got a rousing greeting from the fans when she introduced herself and she

definitely did a good job. I saw a brief problem when they did an on-stage costume change and Miyu could not completely get out of hers. Sayaka came to the rescue and got Miyu changed without missing a beat. Sayaka may no longer be the official captain of the team but I have no doubt she is still the one they all rely on. Another time Miyu missed her mark when changing positions causing a slight c

ollision with Ucchi, but it was nothing that really interfered with the show.  All-in-all I was very impressed with the little Miyu-chan.

Takeuchi Miyu

The aforementioned Yokoyama Yui did a fine job. She’s quite a cutie. Whenever I see her I am reminded of a bit she did on TV once where she farted in a hot tub. OK, it was probably just an air bubble under her towel but they made out like it was a stinker. She also got a rousing cheer from the crowd.

Surprisingly, the lightest reaction of the night was for Itano Tomomi, the most popular girl at the show going by the last senbatsu vote. I guess not many of her fans got in that night or something. I like Tomochin but every time I see her perform it seems as though she’s just going through the motions. She doesn’t seem to have the ability to look happy at every second like some of the others do. I’ve never seen her make a mistake and nobody else seems to notice this so maybe it’s just me.

To Be Continued….

My Votes are Cast!

I used the new ranker to make my own AKB/SKE ranking. The bottom  rows are basically girls I know nothing about not ones that I dislike. Try it out!

AKB48 & SKE48 Ranking
1	2	3
4	5	6
7	8	9
10	11	12
13	14	15
16	17	18
19	20	21
22	23	24
25	26	27
28	29	30
31	32	33
34	35	36
37	38	39
40	41	42
43	44	45
46	47	48
49	50	51
52	53	54
55	56	57
58	59	60
61	62	63
64	65	66
67	68	69
70	71	72
73	74	75
76	77	78

Idol Symmetry Pt. 2 – The Ace

Today, I take a look at the face of AKB48′s #1 most popular girl, Maeda “Acchan” Atsuko. Please read my last post to understand the theory of facial symmetry.

A lot of people seem confused by the popularity of Acchan. To me, she’s not really a standout beauty and her personality is a bit on the bland side. She seems to be well liked by the other girls and I really can’t recall anything truly negative about her.  She’s often called the “girl next door type” and I can’t argue with that. Let’s see what the mirror has to say.

First up, the original photo.

The face that keeps Aki-P in his designer suits.

Now here she is with the right side mirrored.

Hmm… Not a huge difference is it? In fact, if you show this image to someone without explaining it they may have a hard time spotting what is off about it.

Let’s look at the left side:

Once again, it looks a little different but not drastically so.

I think we can definitely say that Acchan has a very symmetrical face. Could this explain her huge popularity? I think it certainly could be a small factor, as studies have shown that people tend to be attracted to others who have very even features. It’s something to think about anyway!

I’ll apply this to more idols if there is any interest. In the meantime, thanks for reading my analysis and let me know what you think!

Idol Symmetry Pt. 1

You may have heard actors and models on TV talk about their “good side” before. As in “Only shoot me from the left, it’s my good side.”

Well, this is not mere vanity, it’s rooted in scientific fact. As a photographer who’s worked with female models a lot, I can tell you most people definitely have a good side. This is because, for almost everyone, the left and right halves of your face are not exactly the same. From Wikipedia:

“Symmetry, especially facial symmetry, is one of a number of aesthetic traits, including averageness and youthfulness, associated with health, physical attractiveness and beauty of a person or non-human animal according to the authors of Facial Attractiveness: Gillian Rhodes, Leslie A. Zebrowitz. It is also hypothesized as a factor in both interpersonal attraction and interpersonal chemistry.”

Basically, the goal of every organism on Earth is to reproduce and create healthy offspring and to do this you want to find a healthy mate. Asymmetry can imply a genetic or disease related problem, and that is not ideal at all. Some of the actors and models who are considered icons of beauty also possess very symmetric facial features. A trick we photographers can use to find someones “good side” is to take a headshot and flip each side of the face so it is perfectly symmetric. This can drastically change the way someone looks and, very often, creates a clear preference as to which side looks the best.

A photographer friend of mine calls this “The Killer and The Fool”, the Killer being the sexy side and the Fool being the unflattering one. Ideally, both sides are “Killers” but that is very rarely the case. Let’s apply this to some idols and see what we get! (Protip: if you do this yourself and mirror the whole photo, the hair will look weird and probably skew the results. I use my Photoshop wizardy to correct this.)

One of my favorite AKB48 girls is Miyazaki Miho, aka “Myao”. I think she is insanely cute and I love her ability to suddenly flare up with mock anger for comedic effects. She is known for keeping all the other girls entertained during their down time with her silly antics as well as being a huge fan of horror manga and films. I noticed from the start that she has a very asymmetric face, and I think it works for her but let’s see what the “Killer and Fool” do to her!

First up, the un-altered Myao:

Cute!

Now lets see her with her right side mirrored:

Pretty cute still I think, but then I like round cheeks. (She reminds me a bit of Takajyo Aki in this shot, I will have to do Akicha in a future study!)

Now with her left side mirrored:

Yikes! Who is this stranger? Certainly not ugly, but not my Myao anymore!

So we see she has a very asymmetric face but is able to pull it off in my opinion. I know some people who don’t care for her in the least so maybe they are more sensitive to symmetry? What do you think?

I hope you found this interesting and please let me know what you think. I’m interested in all opinions. Next up I will put AKB48′s “number one ace” to the test and see if I can divine the secret to her popularity!

The Eyes of Amina

Anyone who has talked to me much knows I will always say that it’s the eyes of a girl that first get my attention. After that, it’s personality followed by the usual physical things that guys notice. When I think of the eyes in AKB48, a couple of girls spring to my mind, but none have the soul-stealing orbs of  Sato Amina.

I don’t know her secret, but she has the biggest, darkest eyes I’ve ever encountered. Some speculate that she uses those circle contact lenses that girls wear to give themselves oversized “anime” pupils. I can’t say that she does or not, but if she wears them, she has never ever been caught with them off.

I was fortunate enough to see AKB48 when they came to New York City last Autumn. I am something of an enthusiastic amateur photographer, so I had my big pro-looking DSLR with me when they performed a “mini live” at the convention.

I was near the front and the stage was very low, if the lighting was better it would have been perfect photography conditions. I shot hundreds of pics and got a lot of good eye contact during the performance. I think the fact that I was tall, not asian and aiming a honking big lens at them helped me stand out a lot in that regard.

The girls may be conditioned to look into the camera lens, lord knows they’ve had millions of shots taken of them over the years. I noticed, when I reviewed my photos later, that pretty much every shot that had Sato Amina in it, had her looking right into my camera, and into my soul as well.

Amina looked really jet-lagged that morning but she still gave it her all at the mini-live, and looked recovered in time for the big show at Webster Hall the next day. Hopefully in the near future, I will get the chance to look into those marvelous eyes again and maybe recover my soul.

In the meantime, she is watching us from the top of my blog all day, every day.

Who is Kanakana?

I’ll admit I didn’t pay a lot of attention to SKE48 as it was being formed.  I had my hands full trying to remember everyone in AKB48 and I wasn’t too interested in some “inferior” spin-off group from Nagoya. When the SKE48 girls started showing up in AKB48 productions I still didn’t see the appeal. Matsui Jurina is cool and all but her sole skill seemed to be that she was only 11 years old. It didn’t help that SKE48 seemed to just be doing old AKB48 songs either.

Well, I’m glad to say my eyes were opened to just how great they have become. I think what really got me interested was when a certain extremely cute girl was used in the introduction to the “French Lesson” game on AKBINGO.

A Wild Kanako Appears!

My “moe” senses were activated! Who is this girl? I was quickly educated by my more knowledgeable friends and started looking for more information on this “Hiramatsu Kanako” character.

Hiramatsu Kanako

• Nickname: Kanakana, Kanachan
• Birthdate: November 14, 1991
• Birthplace: Aichi, Japan
• Height: 152.0 cm
• Bust: 78 cm
• Waist: 58 cm
• Hips: 85 cm
• Team: SKE48 Team S

That’s right, she’s 18 going on 13, tiny, and currently taking university courses!

Her character is 100 kawaii/cutsey/moe and she plays it to the max.

Nyan Nyan!

I am surprised by all the power in this small package as well. She is one of the most enthusiastic dancers in Team S, is a surprisingly fast runner and almost beat the reigning SKE arm wrestling champion, Deguchi Aki, at her own game!

"I'll destroy you!" *giggle*

And here she is doing some physical tests. She’s not #1 but you have to remember she is quite small.

The best part is her amazing fanservice at the beginning:

A Bunny Tail... kill me now!

She has an amazing smile, which she rarely shows of when posing for photos. I think she may be self conscious about her teeth, which are of the Japanese crooked fang variety, but I think they are cute.

This is her usual active hairstyle.

So anyways, that’s Kanakana and the more I see her, the more I love her. She has a big part in this month’s episode of  “SKE48 Gakuen” so check it out and see if you fall under her spell as well!

Welcome!

Welcome to my blog. This will be a place to ruminate on my favorite cute girls and share some nice photos.

First up is a girl I’ve followed since she was a gangly child. She’s grown up into a fine young lady and she doesn’t get the attention she deserves. I love it when I get to see a serious side of her as in the pic below.

I present, Sudo Maasa

Being an idol is SRS BZNS