History Music / AKB48

* {{Mondegreen}}: Invoked near the release of 58th single "Nemohamo Rumor" in August 2021, when Tottori Prefecture's pear ambassador sent boxes of pears to the group, since that song's English hook "Nothing, nothing, nothing" sounds like ''nashi'' (梨 pear). The group itself subsequently associates the song with the pear emoji (🍐).

** Minami Takahashi's iconic accessory is her hair bow. She also usually wears CreepyCoolCrosses accessories, although these are more subtle.

* ''Music/SKE48'': The first sister group, based in Nagoya and founded in 2008. Composed of Team S, Team KII and Team E. It distinguishes its style from AKB's by focusing on a more summery and flirty vibe in its songs, with [[RomanticTwoGirlFriendship the relationship between Rena Matsui and Jurina Matsui (not related)]] becoming a big selling point.

* RomanticTwoGirlFriendship:
** Implied between Atsuko Maeda and Jurina Matsui in the "Sakura no Ki ni Narou" PV.
** Yuiri Murayama and Nana Okada's relationship is the most high profile of these, and other members and fans alike talk about them as if they're an actual couple. They even got to do a duo concert with a skit where they get married.

*** In 2021, the group announced a series with the working title "Surpassed by Nogizaka, The Imperiled [=AKB48=]'s Great Counterattack" (乃木坂に越されました 〜崖っぷち[=AKB48=]の大逆襲).

** Brought UpToEleven with Tofu Pro Wrestling, where they had actual live events featuring members as pro wrestlers.

** "Akai Pin Heel to Professor", '''[[UpToEleven my goodness.]]'''

** The 2014 shuffle took this UpToEleven and involved the sister groups, so the event was announced beforehand. ''All'' teams across AKB and its three sister groups were reshuffled, causing general MindScrew for fans who had to readjust to new line-ups, positions, and transfers everywhere.

* ''[=DEL48=]'': Formed in 2019, based in New Delhi (India). Cancelled due to the COVID-19 Pamdmic.

* AllElectionsAreSeriousBusiness: The group's annual Senbatsu General Elections, which determines which members will participate in their mid-year single. The ballot comes with the previous single's CD and fans are encouraged to vote multiple times for their favorite members, so many of them acquire dozens of copies of that single just for the ballots and discard the [=CDs=], causing littering problems across Japan (there are other ways to vote, but this seems to be the most feasible method to cast multiple votes). More industrious fans have devised automatic CD case opening tools to speed up the process and others hold global fundraising campaigns to purchase the ballots. The results announcements are day-long events held in a different city every year, attended by thousands of fans and broadcast live on national TV and online.

* {{Mondegreen}}: Invoked near the release of 58th single "Nemohamo Rumor" in August 2021, when Tottori Prefecture's pear ambassador sent boxes of pears to the group, since that song's English hook "Nothing, nothing, nothing" sounds like ''nashi'' (梨 pear).

* GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff: This happens a lot, in South-East Asia and China the popularity is ENDLESS!! (CD's, video games, Mobile games etc..) Even in South America (minus Brazil) and the Dominican Republic, since Annin went to Mexico to work at a soap-opera for ''Creator/{{Televisa}}''.

In 2018, members of the group and its sister groups participated in the reality series ''Series/Produce48'', and an AKB Team 8 member (Hitomi Honda) and two Music/HKT48 members (Sakura Miyawaki and Nako Yabuki) were eventually selected to join the Korean-Japanese group Music/{{IZONE}} for 2.5 years. That group has also collaborated with the 48 and 46 groups, and their activities in Japan are managed by AKB's management.

In 2020, all AKB events were halted due to the ''UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic'' and months later after the safety measures were implemented... they resumed however, the capital's ongoing state of emergencies are making it impossible. Also, the handshake events were suspended indefinitely. So one year later, they announced a mobile game called ''[=AKB48=] WORLD'' when you can be part of the group FOR REAL!![[note]]albeit, as part of managing the activities of the group[[/note]] It's not the group's first management game, though, since there was also the short-lived ''[=AKB48=] Cherry Bay Blaze'' for the Chinese market, launched in late 2019 and was shuttered in January 2021.

In 2020, all AKB events were halted due to the ''UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic'' and months later after the safety measures were implemented... they resumed however, the capital's ongoing state of emergencies are making it impossible. Also, the handshake events were suspended indefinitely. So one year later, they announced a mobile game called ''[=AKB48=] WORLD'' when you can be part of the group FOR REAL!![[note]]albeit, as part of managing the activities of the group[[/note]] It's not the group's first management game, though, since there was also the short-lived ''[=AKB48=] Cherry Bay Blaze'' for the Chinese market, launched in late 2019 and shut down in January 2021.

Also has an [[Anime/AKB0048 anime]], which is set in the future & directed by Creator/ShojiKawamori, and a [[Manga/AKB49RenaiKinshiJourei manga]], set more or less in the present day. There's also the mystery manga series ''[=AKB48=] Satsujin Jiken'' (''[=AKB48=] Murder Mystery'') written by Gosho Aoyama of ''Manga/DetectiveConan'' fame, which has been adapted into a 5-part live-action commercial series for Glico Fruit Ice.

** In the manga ''[=AKB48=] Satsujin Jiken'', written by none other than [[Manga/DetectiveConan Gosho Aoyama]], Atsuko Maeda becomes one after her graduation and is faced with a murder case during her last job with AKB. Her office is pretty much the Mouri Detective Agency and she wears the stereotypical Sherlock Holmes getup. The manga is later adapted into a commercial mini-series for Glico. [[spoiler:By the way, the murderer is Mina Oba, captain of Team 4 who was suspended due a scandal in real life, which may or may not have to do with her being the culprit. She killed the aces of the other teams to give her own team an edge, and she also killed her own team member, Rena Kato, because she tried to stop this plan. Team 4 is then disbanded, [[RealLifeWritesThePlot which actually happened around the same time in real life]], although it was reformed with new members a year later.]]

!!Here from World-Famous Akibahara, these tropes have come down to perform for you! Are you ready? [[PunctuatedForEmphasis ARE! YOU! READY?!]]

In 2020, all AKB events were halted due to the ''UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic'' and months later after the safety measures were implemented…they resumed however, the capital's ongoing state of emergencies are making it impossible. Also, the handshake events were suspended indefinitely. So one year later, they announced a mobile game called [=AKB48=] WORLD when you can be part of the group FOR REAL!![[note]]albeit, as part of managing the activities of the group[[/note]] The mobile game will release in late-2021.

* ''[=MUB48=]'': (Previously known as [=MUM48=] but changed it after the possible British word of "mum") Formed in 2019, based in Mumbai (India). Canceled due to the COVID-19 Pandemic.

* GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff: This happens a lot, in South-East Asia and China the popularity is ENDLESS!! (CD's, video games, Mobile games etc..) Even in South America (minus Brazil) and the Dominican Republic, since Annin went to Mexico to work at a soap-opera for ''Creator/Televisa''.

The franchise doesn't limit itself to music, and it also spawns mobile games, frequent commercial collaborations and even three DatingSim games released for PlayStation consoles.

** ''[=CMG48=]'': Formed in 2019, based in Thailand. BNK's first sister group, and the first instance of an overseas group forming a sister group of its own.

* ''[=DEL48=]'': Formed in 2019, based in New Delhi (India).
* ''[=MUM48=]'': Formed in 2019, based in Mumbai (India).

In 2020, all AKB events were halted due to the ''UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic'' and months later after the safety measures were implemented…they resumed however, the capital's ongoing state of emergencies are making it impossible. So one year later, they announced a mobile game called AKB48 WORLD when you can be part of the group FOR REAL!![[note]]albeit, as part of managing the activities of the group[[/note]] The mobile game will release in late-2021.

[[quoteright:254:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/AKB48_Logo_1118.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:254:The logo of the group, because getting a photo of all the girls would be... [[LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters quite hard]].]]

The franchise doesn't limit itself to music, and it also spawns mobile games, frequent commercial collaborations and even three DatingSim games released for Sony consoles.

!!These tropes have come down for you! Are you ready? [[PunctuatedForEmphasis ARE! YOU! READY?!]]

** The group's former management company AKS (now a holding company called Vernalossom, while AKB's management is handled by DH, one of its subsidiaries) was short for its three founders' names: '''A'''kimoto, '''K'''ubota, and '''S'''hiba.

* BrotherSisterIncest: "Oshibe to Meshibe to Yoru no Chou Chou" ("The Stamen, The Pistil, and The Evening Butterfly"), or "Oshimeshi", is about a secret relationship between sisters. Usually, the two performers will [[FanService kiss on stage]].

* TheTeetotaler: After announcing her graduation on December 2019, Minami Minegishi vowed to stay off alcohol until her graduation concert to stay in peak condition, and tweeted every day how many days she's been booze-free. As it turned out, the concert was delayed due to COVID-19, and as of January 2021 she's still going strong. She has also revealed that she had been an alcoholic since 2017 until her graduation announcement.

*** In 2021, the group announced a series with the working title "Surpassed by Nogizaka, The Imperiled [=AKB48=]'s Great Counterattack" (乃木坂に越されました 〜崖っぷちAKB48の大逆襲).

The group's official rivals are Music/Nogizaka46, which has also spawned several sister groups. There are also groups produced by former members, which some refer to as the "daughter groups", such as =LOVE and ≠ME produced by Rino Sashihara and Music/HoneyPopcorn produced by Yua Mikami (a.k.a. former Music/SKE48 member Momona Kito).

The group's official rivals are Music/Nogizaka46, which has also spawned several sister groups.

* ExpositoryHairstyles: The original Kami 7 all had different hairstyles that fit their personae, such as the [[GirlishPigtails twintailed]] classic idol Mayu Watanabe; the dyed and permed GyaruGirl Tomomi Itano; the [[BoyishShortHair bobbed]] and outspoken Mariko Shinoda; and Minami Takahashi who wore a bow to look both cuter and taller. You could basically tell them apart just from their silhouettes.
** Nana Okada lamented that the 48 Group of her generation have mostly averted this and look very similar to each other with their straight [[LongHairIsFeminine long hair]], and admitted that she keeps her hair short and changes the color regularly to stand out.

* VampireMusical: Yes, they did one, and it was ''Theatre/AKBKagekidanInfinity''