History Manga / AKB49RenaiKinshiJourei

* WolverinePublicity: Many members who are popular in real life but DemotedToExtra in the story are prominently featured on each volume's cover art. Examples include Miyawaki Sakura, Shimazaki Haruka (Paruru), Music/SKE48's Suda Akari, Kitahara Rie, and Sashihara Rino.

** At the very end of the series, [[spoiler:All 250 AKB fans who attended Minori's graduation concert become this for Minoru, having watched his farewell confessional and convinced to keep the memory and good will of Minori alive out of respect. Not a word gets out to tabloids (thanks to Miss Aphrodite and Raoul's help) or on the Internet, at least from what we see of the four months after Minori's graduation]].

* UnsettlingGenderReveal: [[spoiler:At the end of his farewell concert, Minoru decides to face the music and tell his fans the truth himself via recording. Lots of confusion and anger were to be had, but ultimately they all keep a lid on it out of respect.]]

* BookEnds: The story begins and ends with a guy commenting that AKB girls are unattractive.

* FantasyForbiddingFather: Hiroko's father strongly disapproved of her dreams to become an IdolSinger, [[spoiler:which led to a confrontation between him and Hiroko when he found out that she had joined [=AKB48=] and culminated in him estranging her. However, he decided to silently support her after seeing how happy she was on stage]]. [[spoiler:In the epilogue, he and his wife finally attend their concert in France]].

* FantasyForbiddingFather: Hiroko's father strongly disapproved of her dreams to become an IdolSinger, [[spoiler:which led to a confrontation between him and Hiroko when he found out that she had joined [=AKB48=] and culminated in him estranging her. However, he decided to silently support her after seeing how happy she was on stage.]]

* SurprisinglyGoodEnglish: Although she has visited the USA [[spoiler:and lived there for nine months as Aphrodite's protege]], Minori still feels unconfident about her English, until [[spoiler:Oscar-winning actor Raoul Goldman, who has a crush on Hiroko, tries to walk out in the middle of a talk show where she is interviewing him and force her to go on a date]], and Minori has to put him in his place, impressing Hiroko in the process.

** At the very end of the series, [[spoiler:some 250 AKB fans become this for Minoru, having watched his farewell confessional and convinced to keep the memory and good will of Minori alive out of respect. Not a word gets out to tabloids or on the Internet, at least from what we see of the four months after Minori's graduation]].

** [=AKB48=] Team K's intensity is visualized as a tornado and Music/SKE48's as a tsunami enveloping the theater ([=SKE48=] take pride in sweating much more than [=AKB48=] during their performances).

* TheMusical: Naturally, the manga became so popular and a musical adaption was made, which focused on the "X Day" arc. While some of the plot is changed and many famous members who appeared in the manga are only mentioned in the play, it had the members of [=AKB48=] cast as the characters, with Minoru being a CrosscastRole, and Hiroko being double casted with two different members playing her. Not only that, there was an SKE48 version of the play, which LATER got a revival!

* HeroicBSOD: Minoru suffered from one [[spoiler:in Chapter 31 when Hiroko collapsed due to fatigue]].

* BlandNameProduct: Played straight with references to [[Website/{{Google}} Coogle]] and [[Website/NicoNicoDouga Nuco Nuco Douga]]; averted with Website/YouTube and a straight up [[Music/{{Vocaloid}} Hatsune Miku]] cosplay. ''Uta-Sute'' (short for ''Uta Station'', ''uta'' meaning "song") is very similar to the real-life ''Music Station'', and Queen Records is a spoof of [=AKB48=]'s real-life label, King Records. Shukan Bunshun, the tabloid notorious for exposing Japanese celebrity scandals, becomes Shukan Houshun.

* {{Fauxreigner}}: [[spoiler:Ai Okabe]] started a music career in the US and took the stage name [[spoiler:Elena]] to avoid the racism often experienced by ethnic Asian aspiring artists (apparently TruthInTelevision). Turns out [[spoiler:her mother]] also did the same, and is known by the world as [[spoiler:Miss Aphrodite]].

* CoolBigSis: The default role of the regular members of [=AKB48=] towards the kenkyuusei, who will offer helpful advices on what it means and takes to be an idol whenever they appear.

* DemotedToExtra: Almost all real [=AKB48=] members important to the story are from the 1st to 3rd generations of each group, i.e. the original 3 teams. The rest are relegated to cameos or background characters, including the ''actual'' 5th Senbatsu Election center Sashihara Rino (5th gen); her real-life transfer to Music/HKT48 and eventual rise to the top of the Senbatsu don't happen in this universe.

* ADayInTheLimelight: A few chapters focuses on the main senbatsu members, and their [[CoolBigSis interactions]] with the kenkyuusei girls.

* RealLifeWritesThePlot: Among others, the Tokyo Dome team shuffle and some of the alleged scandals are based on actual events.

* FakeNationality: [[spoiler:Ai Okabe]] started a music career in the US and took the stage name [[spoiler:Elena]] to avoid the racism often experienced by ethnic Asian aspiring artists (apparently TruthInTelevision). Turns out [[spoiler:her mother]] also did the same, and is known by the world as [[spoiler:Miss Aphrodite]].

** Going to a foreign country such as the USA when ''you legally don't exist'' and [[spoiler:is taken there by force on a private plane]] would surely pose many problems, no matter how famous you are.

* ArtisticLicenseGeography: The scene where Minori breaks Maeda out from a locked shower room in the AKB Theater can't happen in real life, since (according to ''Series/AKBingo'') the theater doesn't have shower rooms.

In 2014, the manga was adapted into a musical stage play, with members of the AKB48 group as the main cast. The musical adapted the main story arc of the first five volumes of the manga, the "X Day" arc. Urayama Minoru/Urakawa Minori was portrayed by Miyazawa Sae, Yoshinaga Hiroko was double-casted and portrayed by both Kojima Mako and Owada Nana, and Okabe Ai was portrayed by Suda Akari.

One year later, in 2015, SKE48 performed their own version of the musical, now with Furuhata Nao as Minoru/Minori, Kitagawa Ryouha and Miyamae Ami double-cast as Hiroko, and Takayanagi Akane as Ai. The following year, yet again, SKE did a revival of the musical, updating the script and having an entirely new cast. The 2016 version had double-casted both Minoru/Minori and Hiroko, with Suda Akari as Minoru/Minori and Ego Yuna as Hiroko as one pair, and Azuma Rion as Minoru/Minori and Souda Sarina as Hiroko as another, and Sato Sumire portraying Ai.

* AllElectionsAreSeriousBusiness: The Senbatsu Elections, of course. Pretty much TruthInTelevision with fans buying dozens of [=CDs=], or even hundreds, to vote multiple times.[[labelnote:*]]Having that said, in real life some unranked members still manage to have decent careers (usually through variety shows or theater performances), and some Senbatsu members have been ignored by the management despite their rank. Senbatsu Election also only decides who will be included in ''one'' A-side single out of five or so released each year (the others are at the management's discretion), but having a good rank usually gets members more jobs, and vote count is an indicator (along with handshake event participants count) for the management of which members are really popular with the fans (or whose fans have deep pockets), allowing them to adjust their strategy accordingly.[[/labelnote]]

* AsHerself: Many 48 Group members appear in the story. Also featured are the franchise's creator, Akimoto Yasushi, Togasaki-san (then AKB theater manager) and Yuasa-san (SKE theater manager).

* AsHerself: Many 48 Group members appear in the story. Also featured are the franchise's creator, Akimoto Yasushi, Togasaki-san (then AKB theater manager) and Yuasa-san (then SKE theater manager).

* BigFancyHouse: Okabe house, Ria's apartment, and Hiroko's parents' house qualify, prompting Minoru to wonder if he's the only one living in a tiny apartment.

* LadykillerInLove: To prove his love for [[spoiler:Minori]], Raoul Goldman calls and breaks up with all his other girlfriends in front of her.

* SurprisinglyGoodEnglish: Although she has visited the USA [[spoiler:and lived there for nine months as Aphrodite's protege]], Minori still feels unconfident about her English, until [[spoiler:Oscar-winning actor Raoul Goldman, who has a crush on Hiroko, tries to walk out in the middle of a talk show where she is interviewing him and force her to go on a date]], and Minori has to put him in his place.

* MundaneMadeAwesome: Because this is a shonen manga, and depicting the idols' fierce competition only through singing and dancing is not cool enough.

** The third Senbatsu Election countdown is juxtaposed with scenes from the Uta-Sute music show the night before, where Minori and Hiroko gradually outperformed everyone else until the others stepped back and let them jointly take over the center position on stage. This is visualized as an epic FightScene between Minori and the reigning Senbatsu members where "she" literally [[KillTheGods slays the goddesses]], starting from the bottom ranks and ending with her taking down reigning center Oshima Yuko, with everybody wearing various battle outfits and weapons. Hiroko joins her shortly after, having won battles of her own, and they become [[GiantWoman towering giants]] in the audience's eyes. (Real-life idol performances don't involve competing to be in the center mid-routine as the positions were decided beforehand, but they're usually allowed to improvise a bit to attract attention from their positions.)

** Mayuyu is an anime and cosplay otaku as in real life, which is probably why she could come up with the notion that Minori might be a guy, and also why [[CassandraTruth everybody dismisses her suspicion as the result of an overactive imagination]].
** Ria is a manga and anime otaku. She manages to win the heart of a Team Nozomi hater who's an idol otaku through their similar levels of dedication toward their interests [[spoiler:(and jumping into a river to save him and his rare SKE collectible card)]].
* {{Paparazzi}}: Shukan Houshun is a notorious gossip tabloid. Hiroko almost gets into a scandal twice: first, when a picture of her with an older man [[spoiler:(actually her father)]] goes public, and second when [[spoiler:a photographer took a picture of her holding Minoru's hand (to stop him from going away and ask him a question, not because they're on a date)]].

* TheReveal: The members finally learn about Minori's true nature from [[spoiler:Masaki, Minoru's sister, who also brings copies of the compromising picture which will be published in Shukan Houshun, when they're preparing for Minori's graduation concert]].

* WeUsedToBeFriends: Invoked by Minori, who starts a fight with Hiroko on TV so that they'll be publicly recognized as rivals, forcing both of them to be more independent. Of course, they don't really hate each other, [[spoiler:and publicly reconcile on the Senbatsu Election stage after Hiroko breaks through to Kami 8]].

* OneSteveLimit: Real [=HKT48=] member Miyawaki Sakura is shown several times (and graces the cover of a volume) but seldom mentioned by name, while the fictional [=AKB48=] stage chief Sakura, who appeared first in the story, has a prominent supporting role.

* DemotedToExtra: Almost all real [=AKB48=] members important to the story are from the 1st to 3rd generations of each group, i.e. the original 3 teams. The rest are relegated to OneSceneWonder or background characters, including the ''actual'' 5th Senbatsu Election center Sashihara Rino (5th gen); her real-life transfer to Music/HKT48 and eventual rise to the top of the Senbatsu don't happen in this universe.

* OneSteveLimit: [=HKT48=]'s real-life member Miyawaki Sakura is shown several times (and graces the cover of a volume) but seldom mentioned by name, while the fictional [=AKB48=] stage chief Sakura, who appeared first in the story, has a prominent supporting role.

** Music/NMB48's Yamamoto Sayaka and Watanabe Miyuki offer Minori and Hiroko the opportunity to leave the "stagnating" AKB and kickstart a solo career with each of them, [[spoiler:as part of a prank]]. Naturally, they decline.

** Kijima quoted ''Literature/{{Moshidora}}'' in a speech he gave to Minoru and company after their initial introduction. When he was called out for that, he declared that he is a fan of ''Moshidora'' and is currently learning idol management from it, causing them to [[HilarityEnsues break out in laughter]], especially Hiroko. Incidentally, the live-action film adaptation of ''Moshidora'' starred Maeda.

** Okabe Ai not sweating even after hours of practice is possibly a reference to Watanabe Mayu, who was given the nickname [[RobotGirl CG (Cyborg Girl)]] for this trait.

** As mentioned above, she leads Gekoku Jou to victory in Appare, a celebrity quiz show, [[spoiler:which was rigged against them]]. She later goes on the show solo and wins again by a landslide, despite worrying about [[spoiler:Minori's sudden departure to the US]] the whole time.

* SurprisinglyGoodEnglish: Despite having gone to the USA [[spoiler:and living there for nine months as Aphrodite's protege]], Minori still feels inconfident about her English, until [[spoiler:Oscar-winning actor Raoul Goldman, who has a crush on Hiroko, tries to walk out in the middle of a talk show where she is interviewing him and force her to go on a date, and Minori has to put him in his place]].

* TheUnseen: Urena Inako, an enka singer, is often fondly mentioned by Kijima, who used to be her manager, but has yet to appear in person.