Music / AKB48

The logo of the group, because getting a photo of all the girls would be... quite hard.

Always grateful! Composed, polite, and precise! AKB! 48!

AKB48 is an idol girl group, founded in 2005. Despite the name, the group usually has way more than 48 members at any point in time, with even more members scattered in its many sister groups and units.

A brainchild of idol group master producer Yasushi Akimoto, AKB48 was created on the concept of "idols you can meet". It holds daily performances in its theater in Akihabara, Tokyo, with different teams of the group taking turns performing stages-a set list of songs. It also holds regular meet-and-greets with fans. Special events are held each year: the Senbatsu Elections, where fans choose their favourite members; the Janken Tournament, where the girls take part in rock-paper-scissors games to get into the Christmas' single senbatsu; the Request Hour, where fans choose their favourite songs; and the Draft Tournament, where the captains for all the teams choose between a group of new girls who aren't even trainees.

As a very large musical act which emphasizes group identity over individual ones, AKB48's membership is rather fluid, and the girls regularly exit the group for various reasons. Before they exit, they usually hold farewell performances or "graduation ceremonies", although there are those who choose to exit without fanfare, which includes those who are fired by the management. In addition to regular members, there are also trainees (kenkyuusei), understudies who only occasionally perform in the theatre. As of 2023, the group, including trainees, consists of 58 members. It used to divide its members into teams (Team A, K, B, 4, and 8), each consisting of roughly 20 members and led by a captain. However, this team system was abolished in August 2023, replaced by a more streamlined generational system that divides members based on seniority.

On a related note, AKB48 has produced a total of sixteen sister groups, eleven of which are active and affiliated with the main group, one is active but no longer affiliated, while the remaining four have been disbanded. They are collectively called the "AKB48 Group". While the team system has been abolished in AKB48, not all of the sister groups have done so. They are as follow:

AKB48 Group

Based in Japan:

• SKE48: Formed in 2008 and based in Nagoya, it is 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 the relationship between Rena Matsui and Jurina Matsui (not related) becoming a big selling point. The acronym "SKE" refers to Sakae, an area in Nagoya where the group's theater is located. It currently has 64 members.
• NMB48: Formed in 2010 and based in Osaka, it is composed of Team N, Team M and Team BII. Has a Hotter and Sexier style in many of its songs, with many of its members focusing in comedy skits and wackier personalities than the other group's members. The acronym "NMB" refers to Namba, an area in Osaka where the group's theater is located. It currently has 56 members.
• HKT48: Formed in 2011 and based in Fukuoka, it is composed of Team H and Team KIV. Focused on a cutesy, kawaiiko style in its earlier years. The acronym "HKT" refers to Fukuoka's Hakata ward. It currently has 38 members.
• NGT48: Formed in 2015 and based in Niigata. Rather than teams, its subunits are based on generations, after management dissolved the team system in 2019, following a scandal surrounding member Maho Yamaguchi being assaulted in 2018. It currently has 23 members.
• STU48: Formed in 2017, it was formerly based in a Cool Ship that wandered the waters that bathe the Setouchi region. The ship has since been decommissioned, and the group now tours the Setouchi region with no fixed venue. Like NGT48, it has no team system. Its image focuses on a cooler, fancier style similar to that of Nogizaka46 and its sister groups, and it's very involved in tourism promotion of the area. It currently has 48 members.

Based overseas:

• JKT48: Formed in 2011 and based in Jakarta (Indonesia). The project's first group outside of Japan. It used to follow the team system, but has abolished it. It currently has 41 members.
• BNK48: Formed in 2017 and based in Bangkok (Thailand), it is composed of Team BIII and Team NV. It currently has 44 members.
  • CGM48: Formed in 2019 and based in Chiang Mai (Thailand). BNK's first sister group, and the first instance of an overseas group forming a sister group of its own. It currently has 29 members.
• MNL48: Formed in 2018 and based in Manila (Philippines). It used to follow the team system, but has abolished it. It currently has 23 members.
• AKB48 Team SH: Formed in 2018 and based in Shanghai (China). It was created after the original Chinese group SNH48 left the AKB project. It currently has 56 members.
• AKB48 Team TP: Formed in 2018 and based in Taipei (Taiwan), it is composed of Unit Tic Tac Toe and Unit Peek A Boo. A retooling of the never-realized TPE48 project. It currently has 28 members.

Defunct:

• SDN48: Formed in 2009. Focusing on a Hotter and Sexier image, it was composed of adult graduated members from AKB and new members. Most of its songs focused on life of the night and Intercourse with You, and thus it performed at the AKB Theater at night with only an adult audience being allowed to attend. The group's acronym, SDN, stood for "Saturday Night". It was disbanded in 2012.
• SNH48: Formed in 2012 and based in Shanghai (China). It left the AKB48 Group over contractual reasons in 2016, and has since spawned its own franchise in China with its own sister groups based in Chinese cities.
• SGO48: Formed in 2018 and based in Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam). It was disbanded in 2021 due to the COVID-19 Pandemic.
• DEL48: Formed in 2019 and based in New Delhi (India). Although its membership was finalized, the group's debut was suspended due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. It was officially disbanded in 2022.
• MUB48: Formed in 2019 and based in Mumbai (India). Previously known as MUM48, but was changed due to its similarity to the English word "mum". Unlike DEL48, it never had the chance to select its members before it was suspended due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, then disbanded in 2022.

The group's official "rival" is Nogizaka46, also produced by Yasushi Akimoto, which has spawned its own sister groups, collectively called the Sakamichi Series. Former members have occasionally formed acts together, which some refer to as "daughter groups", such as =LOVE and ≠ME produced by Rino Sashihara and Honey Popcorn produced by Yua Mikami (a.k.a. former SKE48 member Momona Kito). Finally, there was OJS48, a "sister group" formed in 2010 that was composed of... middle-aged men^* The group's full name, Ojii-san 48 ("Grandpa 48") should've made it obvious. While considered more of a publicity stunt than anything, it did release a single before disbanding, though its members now work as security staff for the AKB48 Group.

In 2018, members of AKB48 and its sister groups participated in the reality series Produce48, and an AKB Team 8 member (Hitomi Honda) and two HKT48 members (Sakura Miyawaki and Nako Yabuki) were eventually selected to join the Korean-Japanese group IZ*ONE for 2.5 years. That group has also collaborated with the 48 and 46 groups, and its activities in Japan are managed by AKB48's former management.

The franchise doesn't limit itself to music. It has spawned mobile games, frequent commercial collaborations and even three Dating Sim games published by Bandai Namco released for PlayStation consoles. One notable mobile game, released during the height of COVID-19 Pandemic, was AKB48 WORLD when you can be part of the group FOR REAL!!^note albeit, as part of managing the activities of the group 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 after a major management change at AKB. However, the game officially ended services in December of 2023. Aside from that, it has its own anime, which is set in the future & directed by Shoji Kawamori, and a 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 Case Closed fame, which has been adapted into a 5-part live-action commercial series for Glico Fruit Ice. In the live-action TV side, there are Majisuka Gakuen, the group's longest and most popular drama series, and Mendol Ikemen, that features the members of no3b. And of course, the Long Runner Variety Show AKBingo! and its spiritual successor AKB48 Goodbye Mr. Mouri.

In 2020, all AKB48 events were halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It planned to resume after the safety measures were implemented, but the capital's ongoing state of emergencies made it impossible. Also, the handshake events were suspended indefinitely. In 2022, Team 8 announced that it would be winding down its activities the following year and go on hiatus indefinitely, while its members would continue their activities as part of the other four teams. In 2023, alongside a move to Universal Music Group, AKB48 returned its handshake events. Also that same year, the group announced that it would replace the original team system with a new generational system. These changes were followed by a large number of graduations, reducing the member count (excluding trainees) to less than 48 for the first time in many years.

Compare and contrast to Nanabun no nijyuuni, another musical project by Yasushi Akimoto.

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

A to D

• A Cappella: "Dreamin' Girls" from Himawari-gumi's 1st Stage is sung this way. Also, during the 2012 Kouhaku several members performed an 'a cappella' version of "Oogoe Diamond".
• Action Girl: Everyone in the "Flying Get", "Show fight!", and "Bokutachi wa Tatakawanai" PVs.
  • And of course, Majisuka Gakuen
  • Brought to a new level with Tofu Pro Wrestling, where they had actual live events featuring members as pro wrestlers.
• Adults Are Useless: Implied in the lyrics to "Keibetsu Shiteita Aijou".
• Affectionate Parody: The PV for "Everyday, Katyusha" can be seen as one, with scenes echoing previous PVs such as "Iiwake Maybe", "Oogoe Diamond", "Ponytail to Chouchou", "Heavy Rotation" and "10nen Zakura".
• Afraid of Needles: Their annual vaccination day was made into a documentary and a few members were shown to be terrified of needles. In particular, Arizona-born Rina Hirata had to be held down by other members every year and one time Rino Sashihara hummed "The Star-Spangled Banner" to distract her from the needle. They call her "The Legend of Injection".
• All Elections Are Serious Business: 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. Of course, most of the members also take the event seriously, and several mental breakdown incidents have happened through the years, both by those who ranked in and out. Because of this, some fans see it as a good thing that no Election has been held after 2018.
• Always Female: All the members are female. Subverted in the manga AKB49 – Renai Kinshi Jourei, which is about a Wholesome Crossdresser teenager joining the group to look after his Love Interest.
• Animal Theme Naming: The "Chu!" subunits are named after small animals: Tentoumu Chu (tentoumushi/ladybug), Dendenmu Chu (dendenmushi/snail), and the unofficial Kabutomu Chu (kabutomushi/rhino beetle).
• Anime Theme Song: Several.
  • They performed one of Crayon Shin-chan's openings (later the sub-unit Watarirouka Hashiritai performed another one), Deltora Quest second opening and Dragon Ball Z Kai second ending.
  • Former sub-unit Chocolove from AKB48 performed The Skull Man's ending, and no3b performed Beelzebub first ending and Birdy the Mighty second season ending.
  • French Kiss also performed Sket Dance first opening theme.
  • And of course, the songs used in their official anime AKB0048 also apply.
  • There's also the ICE OVA, where a group of selected members performed the songs and voiced characters.
• Anti-Love Song: "Romance, Irane", though it's rather perky!
• Arc Words: Idol work is tough, and Minami Takahashi's famous words, "Hard work will always be rewarded" (努力は必ず報われる, doryoku ha kanarazu mukuwareru), is often quoted by members when their hard work bears fruit. A more pragmatic variant of the phrase, also by Takamina, is "We never know whether our hard work will be rewarded, but without hard work, nothing will ever happen."
• Artificial Human:
  • Aimi Eguchi, a CG idol created to promote Glico's Ice no Mi product. The fans found out she was created off the other members' looks.◊
  • In a Shout-Out to Mayu Watanabe's CG persona, Mayuyu in AKB0048 is a gynoid. However, she wasn't voiced by her real counterpart, since the real Mayuyu voiced the main character.
• Ascended Extra: Anyone who isn't a regular senbatsu member who manages to participate in singles, due to the Janken Tournaments or being pushed by the management.
  • For example, Mayumi Uchida and Haruka Ishida in "Chance no Junban", Reina Fujie and Marina Kobayashi in "Ue Kara Mariko" and Mika Komori in "Namida Surprise!".
  • The sub-unit DiVA has become a separate act from AKB and were active until their disbandment in November 2014.
• Asian Airhead: Quite a number of members have displayed shades of this to varying degress over the years. During the Covid lockdown they even had a short lived Youtube series featuring arguably the 3 most airheaded members of Team 8
• Audience Participation Song:
  • Like in most female idol groups, fans perform the wotagei fan dance and yell standardized calls and chants ("mixes").
  • Before any concert performance of "Koisuru Fortune Cookie", either a video will play or the members will teach the audience how to dance along the song. "Halloween Night" also has a tutorial video on YouTube.
  • Team 8 fans have come up with a mix unique to that team, which they chant during "47 no Suteki na Machi he".
    Hai, seno! Iitai koto ga arundayo (Right, let's go! I have something to say)
    Yappari [insert oshimen] ga kawaiiyo (Certainly [insert each person's oshimen's name here] is cute)
    Sukisuki daisuki yappari suki (I like her, I really like her indeed)
    Yatto mitsuketa ohimesama (I have finally found my princess)
    Ore ga umaretekita riyuu (The reason I was born)
    Sore wa [insert oshimen] ni deautame (is to meet with [insert oshimen])
    Ore to isshoni jinsei ayumou (Let's walk together through life)
    Sekaide ichiban aishiteru (In this world, I love you the most)
    AISHITERU! (I LOVE YOU!)
• Auto-Tune: Used very sparingly, but some songs like "UZA", Mariko Shinoda's "Plastic no Kuchibiru" or Mayu Watanabe's "Hikaru Monotachi" do have it.
• Babies Make Everything Better: There was an official online service where fans can combine their own faces with their favorite member's to predict what their hypothetical babies would look like.
• Bad Girl Song: Almost 90% of SDN's songs.
• Bait-and-Switch Lesbians: An implied theme, as the girls cannot have boyfriends and most of the romantic scenes in the PVs are played by the members themselves.
• Beach Episode: The PVs for "BINGO!", "Ponytail to Chouchou", "Everyday, Katyusha", "Manatsu no Sounds good!", "Sayonara Crawl", "Nusumareta Kuchibiru", "Labrador Retriever" and "Summer Side" all take place at the beach.
  • Also the AKB 1/49 Idol to Guam de Koishitara... dating sim.
• Beauty, Brains, and Brawn:
  • The 14th generation's Three Musketeers were the girly Mako Kojima, serious Nana Okada, and energetic Miki Nishino.
  • The subunit AnRiRe were the feminine Rena Kato, smart Anna Iriyama, and sporty Rina Kawaei.
• Bloodier and Gorier: The group's drama, Majisuka Gakuen. For a drama based on an idol group, one would think that it'll be something light and happy, right? Definitely wrong.
  • Also the regular music video for "Manatsu no Sounds good!".
  • The mini-series Crows Blood is definitely NOT for the faint of heart.
• Book Ends: Atsuko Maeda's first single participation in AKB48 was the group's debut single, "Sakura no Hanabiratachi". A week before Maeda's graduation from the group six years later, AKB48 released an album on which she recorded a solo, more melancholy reprise of the same song. "Sakura no Hanabiratachi" was also the final song performed during her graduation performance.
  • The girls usually have their graduation performance at the theater, the place where they all start out.
• Bread, Eggs, Milk, Squick: Their first five singles were about cherry blossom petals, fluttering skirts, the longing to meet someone, implied underage prostitution, and bullying and suicide. Enjoy!
• Brother–Sister Incest: "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 kiss on stage. Actual sisters that have performed this song include Moeka and SKE48's Yukina Yahagi, although they didn't kiss but simply hugged.
• The Bus Came Back: The group's graduates occasionally appear in their newer music videos, such as "Kibouteki Refrain" (which features all the centers from the group's founding until 2014), "Kimi wa Melody" (10th anniversary of the group), and "Hanareteite mo" (COVID-19 Pandemic charity song).
• Call-Back: the PV of "Kuchibiru ni Be My Baby" have a shot at lighthouse that was featured in "Aitakatta",their first major single, and train station that was featured in "Yuuhi wo Miteiru ka?".
  • The MV of "Sustainable" also revisit some of their older singles. There is scene that resembles "Aitakatta" complete with the uniform and ended with the scene of Akari Suda, Nana Okada, and Jurina Matsui opening a time capsule ten years into the future, reminiscing "10nen Zakura"
• Cannot Tell a Joke: Minami Takahashi. Made worse by her always hyping up the joke before telling it.
• Catchphrase: "Always grateful! Composed, polite, and precise! AKB! 48!" (いつも！感謝！冷静、丁寧、正確に！AKB！48！) or variations thereof.
  • Team K: "Let's go, Team K! Clang, clang, clang! RESET!" (チームKいくぞ！ジャンジャンジャン RESET！)
  • Team B: "We're Brave girls! Break it down! Team B!" (We're Brave girls！ ブチ壊せ！AKBチームB！)
  • Team 4: "We're cute! We can do it! All's well that ends well!" (私はかわいい！　私はできる！　終わりよければすべてよし！)
  • Team 8: "Start your engines! Vroom vroom vroom! AKB Team 8!" (エンジンかけましょ！ブンブンブン！AKB！チーム８！)
• Cat Girl: Part of the Music Video for "Heavy Rotation".
• Celibate Hero: As per the rules of the group, the girls have to be this, as Minegishi found out the hard way.
• Chase Scene: The "Kibouteki Refrain" PV features past and current (as of 2014) centers on a MacGuffin Escort Mission, running across town and passing a satchel of golden microphones (and its decoys) to one another while being chased by Mooks, almost literally Passing the Torch of being the face of the group in real-life chronological order.
• Cherry Blossoms: A lot of their songs are about this; "Sakura no Hanabiratachi", "10nen Zakura", "Sakura no Shiori", and "Sakura no ki ni Narou" just to name a few!
• Christmas Songs: One for each Janken single: "Yoyaku Shita Christmas", "Noel no Yoru" and "Totteoki Christmas".
  • "Anata to Christmas Eve" from Team A 1st Stage also counts.
• Color-Coded for Your Convenience: Team A is pink, Team K is green, Team B is blue and Team 4 is yellow. Team 8 used grey for a bit, but now is officially dark blue.
  • Each group also has its own color: AKB is pink, SKE is yellow, HKT is black, NGT is white (the logo letters use red instead of the usual white), JKT is red, and STU is light blue with white horizontal stripes. NMB's color is... leopard print (but they go with dark brown when they have to color something). Former group SDN used silver.
  • SNH is blue, but they've separated from the 48 Group.
  • In the YuuNaaMogiOn YouTube Channel, Yuiri Murayama is red, Nana Okada is mint green, Shinobu Mogi is blue, and Mion Mukaichi is pink.
• Corporate-Sponsored Superhero: Team 8 is sponsored by Toyota. They have their own website with Toyota branding, sing about the Prius, and did a reality show where they learned to drive in Toyota cars. They even did voice work for Toyota satnav units, which can automatically change the navigation voice according to which prefecture you're in. This doesn't prevent them from having very dedicated fans, who spend millions of yen to follow them to concerts all over Japan in addition to the usual merchandise and handshake events.
• Costume Porn: They even released a costume catalog book in 2017 detailing around a thousand different costumes.
  • The MV for "Jiwaru Days" has 3450 costumes arranged as backdrop.
• Cover Version: Watarirouka Hashiritai's "Valentine Kiss".
  • Before Teams K and B received their own stages, they performed existing stages. Teams A, K and B currently perform revivals of one of their own stages, with Team 4's current stage being a revival of Team B's "Idol no Yoake".
  • The previous waiting stages had a mixture of songs from older stages and different teams.
  • Happens quite often in concerts-songs that do not require major members to perform are often given to other girls.
  • All the teams are currently covering older stages until new stages are ready.
• Creator Thumbprint: New members who are appointed lead singers of this group and the 46 groups (as opposed to given the role due to their experience and fanbase built over years, or through the Elections) tend to sport a short bob haircut, which lead fans to believe that it's producer Yasushi Akimoto's preference and dub it the "center bob".
  • AKB: Atsuko Maeda, Moeka Yahagi
  • Nogizaka: Rina Ikoma, Aruno Nakanishi
  • Keyakizaka: Yurina Hirate
  • Hiragana Keyakizaka: Mirei Sasaki (for their first and only album)
  • Sakurazaka: Hikaru Morita
• Crossover: In recent years, girls from sister groups also take part in AKB singles, with the more prominent girls being SKE's Jurina Matsui and Rena Matsui, along with NMB's Sayaka Yamamoto and Miyuki Watanabe.
  • The General Election and Janken Tournament can also be seen as this, with sister group members being allowed to participate alongside AKB members.
  • The AKBIdoling!! unit was a one-shot crossover unit between AKB and Idoling!! members.
  • Tentoumu Chu! and Dendenmu Chu! consist of members of multiple groups.
  • There's also SakamichiAKB and IZ4846.
• Darker and Edgier
  • The PV for "Beginner" was apparently supposed to be much more violent than the standard idol fare PVs but was not used in the end, though the dance shots were kept and the shots of the members getting violently killed off in a technological atmosphere complete with blood and shots of them being crushed under various devices were fortunately cut out. But for you nightmare fetishists, here's a CM of the original ...AND the original itself!
  • Some of their older songs are darker and edgier as well, such as Keibetsu Shiteita Aijou and Seifuku ga Jama wo Suru. Definitely not your usual idol group.
  • The dance-emphasized "UZA", which has a music video themed around a gothic haunted house.
  • "Bokutachi wa Tatakawanai", a pacifist anthem where the girls fight against futuristic enemies.
• Deadpan Snarker: Haruka Shimazaki, for whom the term "salty interaction" (shiou taiou) was coined to refer to her seemingly unenthusiastic attitude toward fans. Rather than being apathetic, though, she was just unwilling to feign a Genki Girl persona, and gladly poked fun at her own reputation on many occasions.[1][2][3]
• Does This Remind You of Anything?: Hrm, let's see a group of idols under management of one guy complete with subgroups and soloists? You must mean Hello! Project! Although, Hello! Project/Morning Musume was inspired by the 80s idol group Onyanko Club, which was created by Yasushi Akimoto, the producer of AKB48.
  • "Koisuru Fortune Cookie" is jokingly called "KFC" by the fans. It doesn't help that the outfit for the song is inspired in the waitress outfits from the 60's.
• Door-Closes Ending: The PVs for "Kaze wa Fuiteiru" and "UZA".
• Dual-Meaning Chorus: Some of the songs allude to something about the center performer, especially if it's her first time as center.
  • "Eien Pressure" ("Eternal Pressure") and "High Tension" alludes to Haruka Shimazaki's timidness and low tension (excitement). In the MV for the latter, she mostly triggers everyone else into high tension with her Badass Fingersnap, while she herself stays relatively cool.
    When you gaze at me, I feel pressured...
  • Mayumi Uchida and the other performers of "Chance no Junban" are selected via rock-paper-scissors, a game of chance.
  • "Ue Kara Mariko" ("Mariko from Above"), besides being titled after Mariko Shinoda, alludes to her being one of the oldest and tallest members, as well as her strict and domineering character.
  • "Teacher Teacher", about a high school girl wanting a Teacher/Student Romance, is centered by Yui Oguri, one of the few AKB top members in 2018 who were actually still in high school (all the other front-line performers in the song choreography are adults). In fact, it's the first major song centered by a high school student since "Kimi wa Melody" in 2016.

E to H

• Earn Your Title: Yuiri Murayama puts performing in the Akihabara theater above all else and has had the most theater appearances for several years in a row, which earned her the title Theater no Megami (Theater Goddess, named after one of their songs).
• Embarrassing Nickname:
  • Sayaka Akimoto is called "Akigori" for her gorilla impressions and muscular body. Maria Shimizu is also often compared to gorillas.
  • Karin Shiobara was given the nickname Nikuko (abara 肋 is "ribs", which is a kind of niku 肉 or "meat", and ko 子 is "child") by Yui Oguri. It caught on, much to Karinrin's displeasure.
• End of an Age:
  • The closing scene of the MV for "Mata Aeru Hi Made", showing 21 chairs each with a lighted candle, each one symbolizing a member of the 1st generation. With the graduation of the final 1st gen member Minami Minegishi. 14 years after their debut, this is truly the end of an era.
  • The official ending of the Team system, as well as the graduation announcement by Yuki Kashiwagi, the last of the original members, in October 2023 meant that the AKB 48 as that everyone has known for its entire existence is officially ending and moving into a new era.
• Engrish:
  • Since English words are approximated in katakana in most of their songs, the pronunciation and number of syllables can be different than in normal English and may become unrecognizable to native speakers. For example, ponytail became six syllables (po-ni-i-te-i-ru) in "Ponytail to Shushu", placard became five syllables (pu-ra-ka-a-do) in "Kokoro no Placard", refrain became four syllables (ri-fu-re-in) in "Kibouteki Refrain", diamond becomes da-i-a-mo-n-do in "Oogoe Diamond", and pressure became three syllables (pu-re-sha) in "Eien Pressure".
  • In the variety show Yamapi no Kiss Eigo, Minami Minegishi was somehow convinced by the song title "Juujun na Slave" that "slave" means "superior person" and proudly proclaimed that her manager and AKB48 were slaves.
    • When the group were in New York, she struck up a conversation with a middle-aged American man while queuing to enter the Statue of Liberty.
      I'm Japanizu. Yeah! Tokyo! I libu in Tokyo! ... Yeah... I like shurimpu. I don't like tomato.
• Expository Hairstyle Change:
  • Mayu Watanabe's collaboration with Nogizaka46 (Mayuzaka46) in 2012, "Twin Tail wa Mou Shinai" ("I Won't Wear Twin Tails Anymore") is about a girl who stopped wearing twintails in order to look more grown up, which she actually did in real life (she turned 18 that year).
  • Nana Okada started having short hair in late 2015 or early 2016, which was later revealed to also be the time she suffered from stress and an eating disorder. She became a Senbatsu regular in 2016 and started to cultivate her ikemen character, which is well-received by both fellow members and fans.
  • Ayane Takahashi used to list her long hair as a Charm Point, but cut it short when she turned 20. This was alluded to in Majimuri Gakuen.
• Fanservice: Many music videos feature them dancing in bikinis. Members of the group appear in gravure photoshoots pretty much every week. Although for what it's worth, members younger than 18 (16 before 2017; the age limit was allegedly raised to avoid criticism near the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games) are not allowed to appear in anything more revealing than tanktop and shorts and wear one-piece swimsuits when the older members wear bikinis.
• Fanservice Faux Fight: "Heavy Rotation" features the girls pillow fighting in their underwear.
  A (male) participant in The Fine Brothers' "Teens React to J-Pop": This is exactly what every guy thinks a girls' sleepover is like!
  Another (female) participant immediately after: For the record, this is not what sleepovers are like.
• Foreign Exchange Student: The MV for "New Ship" is about them welcoming a new exchange student, played by JKT member Melody Nurramdhani Laksani (also the first time an overseas sister group member performed in an AKB song).
  "Kalian ngomong apa... saya nggak ngerti..." ("What are you all saying... I don't understand...")
• Former Child Star: Among others, Yuko Oshima, Mion Mukaichi, and Yuiri Murayama. All of them seem to have averted the pitfalls of this trope.
• Four-Girl Ensemble: Not Yet and DiVA.
  • Watarirouka Hashiritai, prior to being rebranding as Watarirouka Hashiritai 7.
  • Also present occasionally during stages, with songs like "Arashi no Yoru ni wa" from B5 having four singers.
• Friendly Rivalry:
  • Described in the Team K song "Itoshiki Rival"
    I don't know when it was
    The people around us
    Began calling you my rival
    And I became aware of it
    We were able to live strong
    Because we competed with each other
    If you should happen to disappear
    What would I do?
    Beloved rival
    • This most likely reflected on the friendly rivalry between Jurina and Sayanee, who's respective groups also were considered rivals, and the two of them had concurrent positions in Team K at the same time.
  • They have performed a number of collaborations and member exchanges with their official rival group, Nogizaka46, and that group's Rina Ikoma even participated in the Senbatsu Elections in 2014 and got 14th place. AKB members often admit that they listen to Nogizaka's music and that their members are cute.
    • In 2021, the group announced a series with the 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).
• Fun with Acronyms:
  • Anna Iriyama, Rina Kawaei and Rena Kato form the unit AnRiRe.
  • The group's former management company AKS (now a holding company called Vernalossom, while AKB's management is handled by DH) was short for its three founders' names: Akimoto, Kubota, and Shiba.
  • Yuiri Murayama, Nana Okada, Shinobu Mogi, and Mion Mukaichi run the YuuNaaMogiOn Channel on YouTube.
  • The unit name IxR stands for "Idol Reality", inspired by xR, the broad acronym for Augmented Reality and virtual reality.
• Gender-Blender Name: Shinobu Mogi prefers to go on Last-Name Basis because of this, and even her close friends call her Mogi-san. Maybe also to maintain One-Steve Limit, since there are costume maker Shinobu Kayano (female) and former AKBingo! producer Shinobu Mori (male).
• Genre Roulette: The PV for "Gingham Check" switches between a cop show, horror scenes, a Kaiju attack and dance shots between two girl bands.
• Girls with Guns:
  • The MV for the Surf Rock-influenced Majisuka Gakuen 5 theme song "Yankee Machine Gun" aptly features the performers wielding various small arms.
  • The live performance of "Wink no Juudan" ("Wink Bullet") also has the girls wielding guns.
• Gotta Catch Them All: Team 8's ultimate goal is to perform in all The 47 Prefectures, with each prefecture's rep being the center performer in her hometown. Consequently, all of them are prepared to become center when the time comes.
• Gratuitous English: "S-U-G-A-R, jump into your racing car, say Sugar Rush! Say Sugar Rush!"^note The film itself is called Sugar Rush in Japan, allegedly because they're worried the original title's context would be Lost in Translation.
  • "I want you! I need you! I love you!" followed by "I feel you! I touch you! I hold you!" in 'Heavy Rotation'.
  • Without the subtitles, Acchan's pronunciation of "vowel" in Satsujin Jiken would be incomprehensible.
  • Lampshaded in the lyrics of "High Tension" (in Japan, "tension" means "excitement", and they're aware that it's not the case elsewhere).
    "Tension-sion-sion... MAX! Heat up-up-up... Doesn't matter if our English is wrong!"
  • "Akai Pin Heel to Professor", my goodness.
  • SDN's "I'm sure." has several verses in English about Intercourse with You.
    Are you ready to do it?
    Anytime!
    Let's have a good time
    No doubt
  • Many subunit names are also in weird English, such as No Sleeve and Not Yet. TinTlip uses strange capitalization for "tint lip" (which means either "tinted lip" or "lip tint", i.e. liquid lip coloring).
• Great Balls of Fire!: When "UZA" or "RIVER" are performed in a concert.
  • Also featured in the "Flying Get" PV.
• Greatest Hits Album: SET LIST ~Greatest Songs 2006-2007~ includes all singles from debut to "Yuuhi wo Miteiru ka?" and Kami-kyokutachi includes all songs from "Oogoe Diamond" to "Sakura no Shiori" (and also contains two songs that weren't released before).
• Halloween Episode: 2015's elections single is called "Halloween Night". It was released on August, presumably so people have time to practice the dance for Halloween (there are tutorial videos for that too).
• Happy Birthday to You!: Incorporated in the song "Namida Surprise!".
• Harem Seeker: The Ambiguously Bi Nana Okada is one. A magazine printed a "harem chart" detailing her relationship with other members and she was granted a harem photoshoot after winning a competition in 2018.
  Naachan: Since I ranked first in this event, having a harem became possible.
  • She's also one half of several portmanteau names: YuuNaa, NaaMegu, NaaYumi, NaaMako, etc.
  • In a January 2019 event in Bangkok where AKB and its sister groups from six countries were gathered, members of the Manila group MNL48 got into a (pretend) fight over which one of them Naachan loves the most, and were also starstruck when Naachan came over to their table during dinner. She also made new admirers out of members from every represented country.
  • In early 2020, a Crossover between AKB Nemousu and STU Imousu has members of both groups compete over Naachan, who's a member of both groups.
    Naachan, delighted: So... how are you going to fight over me?
• #HashtagForLaughs: The song "#Sukinanda".
  Hasshutag, sukinanda!
• Heads or Tails?: Nana Okada's solo song "Coin Toss" is about flipping a coin to decide whether to do a Love Confession.
• Heal It with Water: "Monica, Yoake Da" is a Music for Courage for the titular depressed girl, symbolized in the MV by the performers splashing water around with their dancing.
• A Hero to His Hometown: Since they're required to live in their home prefectures, Team 8 members often get local jobs and some are regarded as local celebrities.
  • Rin Okabe, the Ibaraki tourism ambassador, is triggered whenever her home prefecture is made fun of in TV shows, especially about the fact that it was voted the least appealing prefecture for several years in a row.
  • Despite her constant misreading of cue cards and stilted MC-ing, Nanase Yoshikawa won't be replaced as host of Kanto Hakusho, since it's produced by Chiba TV. To be fair, she does have an interesting chemistry with her co-host, Taku Suzuki, and the one time she's in danger of being replaced, she successfully defended her position.
• Hotter and Sexier: The basis of SDN48, which is where AKB48 girls (e.g. Megumi "Meetan" Ohori) went once they turned into an Old Maid. However, all the members graduated from this group in February 2012 and it was disolved, but the sub-unit DiVA still follows this theme with songs and outfits more similar to K-Pop groups.
  • NMB originally followed this trope too, although not as agressively as SDN.
• Human Aliens: The girls in Watarirouka Hashiritai's PV "Shonen Yo Uso O Tsuke" are these.
• Humiliation Conga: The kind of punishment the girls had to go through when they failed to complete the moe contest...
  • Muchaburi Dodgeball. Nuff said.

I to M

• I Just Want to Be Normal: Atsuko Maeda was strongly opposed to being appointed the group's center at first, as she didn't want to stand out among her comrades. As we know, she eventually came to accept that role.
• Important Haircut: Nana Okada cut her hair short in 2016, not long before her hiatus which she later revealed to be caused by stress and an eating disorder. She also entered the Senbatsu for the first time that year and has kept her hair short ever since, and admitted that it helps distinguish her from the other members, most of whom have long hair.
• Iconic Outfit:
  • The school-uniform inspired costume from the "Iiwake Maybe" PV, to the point where Atsuko Maeda's celebrity impersonator Kintaro wears a similar outfit in all her public appearances.
  • Minami Takahashi's iconic accessory is her hair bow. She also usually wears cross accessories, although these are more subtle.
• In My Language, That Sounds Like...: There's a very good reason why Spanish-speaking fans prefers to spell the name of the band with either the intended spelling of it^note as Akiba 48, in Spanish as Akiba Cuarenta y Ocho, being Akiba the Japanese shorthand for Akihabara, or spelling the initials using English phonetics, since pronouncing the band's name with each letter separately in Spanish (As "Ah-Kah-Beh 48") sounds exactly as the Spanish word Acabé, who is the Spanish for both I'm (already) finished (something) or I (already) killed (someone)^note As Acabé (con) 48 (I killed 48 people). Even worse if you take out the letter "B" and sustract a number and it sounds like the Russian machine gun AK-47
• In-Series Nickname: All the senbatsu members for "Heart Ereki" got special Western names (e.g. Kojiharu got Michelle, Takamina got Linda, etc.), except Rina Kawaei, who got... Kawaey.
• Intercourse with You: SDN's "Kodoku na Runner". Many of their songs could be an example, but this is the most explicit one.
• In the Name of the Moon: To be more easily remembered by fans, many members came up with a greeting they always use in performances. Some require the participation of other members and the audience to work. Notably averted by the so-called Eternal Ace, Atsuko Maeda.
  Mayu Watanabe: Receiving everyone's gaze, Mayuyu! ("Minna no mesen wo itadaki... Mayuyu!" Likely a wordplay on itadakimasu)
  Saho Iwatate: Voice check time! (Yahhoo!) You're too ear-ly! Tee-hee! ... Yahhoo! (Yahhoo!) Sahho! (Sahho!)
  Shizuka Ooya: 1, 2, 3, Shiichan! (Ichi, ni, san, Shiichan!)
• Joshikousei: What the girls are in many of their PVs. A lot of them are teenagers and therefore real high school students.
• Kawaii Ko: Watarirouka Hashiritai is practically made of this.
  • Several members have this as her gimmick, such as Saho Iwatate.
• Kid Detective: Tentoumu Chu!'s mini-series Joshikokeisatsu ("High School Girl Police").
• Kimono Is Traditional: As seen in PVs such as "Sakura no Shiori" and "Kodoku na Hoshizora".
  • Pretty much a given when it's any sort of New Year special or a Coming-of-Age concert.
  • Sakasazaka, nuff said.
• Legacy Character: In the anime AKB0048, the original Kami 8's names become titles that can be held by current members.
• List Song: Team B's "Wasshoi! B" from B3, "Team B Oshi" from B5 and "B Garden" from the single "Labrador Retriever" lists the members' nicknames.^note They're all outdated, though.
  • "Yasai Sisters" lists a good number of vegetable names in Japanese.
  • "16nin Shimai no Uta" from Team K's 4th Stage lists the Team K members' names and a fact about each member.
  • Team 8's signature song, "47 no suteki na machi e", ends with each of the 47 members calling out her home prefecture.
• Location Theme Naming: Each group is named after its home base, ranging from areas in a city (Akihabara, Sakae, Namba), cities (Jakarta, Bangkok), to group of prefectures (Setouchi Region).
• Loophole Abuse: While the group's controversial dating ban is well-known and well-enforced, quasi-romantic relationships between members are not frowned upon and often earn the fans' approval.
• Love Is a Crime: The dating ban is long assumed to be a rule, especially in the aftermath of Minegishi's scandal. However, this was subverted in episode 19 of Sayonara, Mouri-san, where Minegishi, of all people, clarified that there is no actual ban on dating, just that everyone is expected to focus on being an idol and not waste time on romance. Episode 37 even features a fortune teller who makes predictions on the members' love life in 2023.
• Mascot: Team 8's mascot is a bee named Eito-kun, created by that team's very own Rin Okabe. In addition to being shaped like the number 8, "bee" (蜂) and "eight" (八) are both pronounced hachi.
• Mean Boss: General Manager Yui Yokoyama often plays this version of herself in comedy sketches, where she demeans her juniors and is envious of their achievements, and constantly reminds everyone that she's the General Manager and sometimes refuses to answer to anything other than her title.
  In the 2018 The W comedy routine: You know, Oguri-chan, lately you've been full of yourself. Is it because you've been an AKB center? I've been in this group for 10 years and I'm the General Manager, but I've never once been a center! And I'm signed with Ohta Pro too!
• Meaningful Echo: The first song to be performed in the AKB Theater was "PARTY ga Hajimaru yo" by Team A. Nearly 6 years later, it was also the very first song to be performed in the group's first Tokyo Dome Concert in 2012 after years of hard work.
  • Most of the girls sing "Sakura no Hanabiratachi", AKB's last single, when they graduate.
• Mondegreen Gag: Around the release of 58th single "Nemohamo Rumor" in August 2021, 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 (🍐).
• Multiple Demographic Appeal: While their songs are mostly about young love and lives of teenage girls, the group have sizable number of fans from all age groups, genders, and nationalities. However, they're notorious for having lots of middle-aged male fans (who can afford to spend the most on merchandise and events), which inevitably raises some Moral Guardian eyebrows. After all, the group does a lot of things with its hundreds of members (group performance, solo performance, handshake events, dramas, musicals, ads, movies, photobooks, talk shows, variety shows, travel shows... you get the idea), so even people who don't initially like their music could get into them.
• Mundane Made Awesome: The annual Janken (Rock–Paper–Scissors) Tournament, which determines which members will enter the Janken Senbatsu and participate in the next single (the logic being that luck is an important factor in an idol's career). Like the Senbatsu Elections, it's held at a large venue with thousands of audience and broadcast live. The members can form teams or go solo, and many appear in cosplay of varying extravagance. A clip from the last "duel" of the 2016 tournament, which features Miku Tanabe crying in joy when she won the tournament and would become the center of a single after years of obscurity, became viral and was covered by the Western media.
• Music for Courage
  • The inspirational lyrics to "RIVER".
  Just before your very eyes
  A river is flowing
  Broadly, such a great river
  Darkly, deeply, even so
  The current is fast, even so
  Do not be scared, OK?
  Do not wander off
  That’s right, the opposite side is there
  So have more belief in yourself.
  • Also, the lyrics for "Beginner". There's an official English version, performed by their sister group JKT48.
  We can't do anything
  We cannot succeed
  You know why that is?
  It is because we are still young
  
  We can't do anything
  Can't do it instantly
  And that is why we have
  opportunity on our side!

N to R

• Naughty Nurse Outfit: The MV for "Ambulance" features the girls wearing semi-transparent nurse uniforms.
• Non-Appearing Title: For example, "Ponytail to Chouchou" and "Honest Man". "Sustainable" doesn't appear in the lyrics, but is sang by backup singers in a prerecorded track. The title of Majimuri Gakuen theme song "Yuri wo Sakaseru ka" only appears in the second chorus, which is rarely performed.
• Nonindicative Name: The original plan was to have Teams A, K, and B with 16 members each, but with the addition of trainees, Team 4, and Team 8 (itself having 47 members at most), as of May 2022 the group has 84 members.
  • Some sources claim that the name wasn't originally referring to the member count, but to the old management company, office48.
• Non-Uniform Uniform: Especially for the main songs, the costumes for each song generally share a certain theme, but customized to emphasize each member's characteristic.
• The Notable Numeral:
  • 48 is a subversion, since they did not start with and almost never have exactly 48 members.
  • Kami 7, members who have reached the top 7 ranks in the elections. When talking about the original Kami 7, sometimes extended to Kami 8 to include Yuki Kashiwagi, who was #8 in the second election (the #8 in the first election, Amina Sato, dropped to #18 the next year) and has always been in the top 7 since the third one.
• Officially Shortened Title: The 34th single title, "Suzukake no Ki no Michi de 'Kimi no Hohoemi o Yume ni Miru' to Itte Shimattara Bokutachi no Kankei wa Dou Kawatte Shimau no ka, Bokunari ni Nan-nichi ka Kangaeta Ue de no Yaya Kihazukashii Ketsuron no Youna Mono" ^note "Sort of a little bit embarrassing conclusion I came up to after thinking for days about how our relationship would change if while walking along a road of plane trees I said to you, 'I dream of your smile'", is usually shortened to "Suzukake Nanchara" ("Plane Tree Something...") when spoken in concerts and other occasions.
• One-Steve Limit: Averted, with eight girls named Haruka: Nakagawa, Katayama, Ishida, Kohara, Shimazaki, Shimada, Komiyama and Kurosu.
  • Also, let's not forget the two Miyus, Minamis, and Mariyas!
  • At one point, there were four Tomomis: Itano, Kasai, and Nakatsuka, and Ohe. All four have graduated, starting with Ohe and ending with Itano.
  • There has been at least six Ayakas: Umeda, Morikawa, Kikuchi, Okada, Maeda and Hidaritomo.
  • There has been at least seven Rinas: Nakanishi, Kozuka, Chikano, Izuta, Kawaei, Hirata and Okada. On top of that, Nogizaka 46's Ikoma had a short concurrency with the group, and there are an additional three from the short term project Baito AKB
  • There has been at least six Yukis: Usami, Kashiwagi, Matsuoka, Harumoto, Ota and Hirata
  • There has been at least four Yuis: Oguri, Hiwatashi, and, as if things aren't already confusing enough, the other two have the same surname Yokoyama.
  • For this reason, members almost always need to be referred to by their official nicknames in order to identify who is being talked about.
• One-Woman Song: "Ue Kara Mariko", after its center Mariko Shinoda.
  • The JKT version of "Kimi wa Melody" becomes one since the center happens to be named Melody Nurramdhani Laksani.
  • Subverted in "Everyday Katyusha" since katyusha is what the Japanese call headbands.
  • The coupling song "Monica, Yoake da".
• Ordinary High-School Student: According to producer Yasushi Akimoto, ordinary, inexperienced girls are more favored to join the group since they're more "authentic", and following their journey from unpolished newbies into seasoned entertainers is a major appeal for many fans.
  • The Imperiled AKB48's Great Counterattack variety show comments that Nogizaka46, in contrast to this, is a group that doesn't allow average-looking girls.
  • It was said that if Nogizaka members were the prettiest girls in class, AKB members would be the fifth prettiest ones.
• Parody Commercial: Shown at the end of Watarirouka Hashiritai's "Hetappi Wink" PV.
• Passing the Torch:
  • Some aces of the group unofficially appointed their own successors before graduating, such as Mion Mukaichi as Yuko Oshima's successor and Yui Oguri as Mayu Watanabe's. Other promising new members were also pushed as successors to the other original Kami 7 members, which many fans criticized since it drew unnecessary comparisons and made it that much harder for the members to stand on their own.
  • General Manager Minami Takahashi personally chose Yui Yokoyama to succeed her, and showed her the ropes for a year before she graduated. Yuihan later appointed Mion Mukaichi as her successor.
  • In the MV for "Mata Aeru Hi Made", Minami Minegishi's graduation song, she literally lights the candles held by former members of Minegishi Team 4 (half of whom are holding prominent positions in the group at the time), and they in turn light countless other candles.
• The Peeping Tom: The MV for "Heavy Rotation" begins with the camera going through a keyhole into the girls' Slumber Party, and going out in the end. It's implied that Yuko Oshima, the center performer, is aware of the voyeur.
• Pretty in Mink: In a Christmas video, one of the girls wears a white fur jacket in the "story" part, and in the "performance" part, all the girls wear short Happy Holidays Dresses covered with red fur puffballs.
• Private Detective: With quite a few Sherlock Homage.
  • In the manga AKB48 Satsujin Jiken, written by none other than 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. 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, which actually happened around the same time in real life, although it was reformed with new members a year later.
  • The MV for "Soredemo Kanojo wa" has Yuiri Murayama, also in Sherlock Holmes costume, as one investigating a murder at a hotel with the other fifteen performers as suspects. Turns out the victim isn't dead after all, so nobody is arrested.
• Product Placement: Some of their PVs are entirely designed for promotional campaigns (for example, the whole Aimi Eguchi project was part of a Glico campaign) Lately they've focused even more on this, developing team projects with several companies (sweets company Papico with Otona AKB, Toyota with Team 8 and Baito AKB with part-time job company Baitoru).
  • DEL48's management have close ties with Nike and the members are often seen wearing that brand.
• Property of Love: The song "Juujun na Slave" ("Obedient Slave") is a very straight example.
• Proud to Be a Geek: In her 2018 Sousenkyo speech, Nana Okada invoked this to great applause.
  To all AKB48 Group otakus... Everyone! Please let me say one thing: Please live your otaku lives with pride! ... Many of us AKB48 Group members lack confidence in ourselves and we need your support and love. So please be proud of being an otaku!
• Pun-Based Title: "17 (Ii na) Kenkyuujou", the programme focused on the 17th gen. "Ii na" is a shortened form of 17, and is also what is said when expressing a liking to something.
• Real Name as an Alias: Some (current and former) Team 8 members use their real names translated to another language, mostly English, as Twitter handles, such as Yui Oguri (tokyo8marron), Shiori Sato (bookmarker_23), Sato Nanami (773_sevensea_satonanami), and Yuri Yokomichi (sideroad_lily).
• Real-Person Fic: Lots of AKB fans write AKB fanfiction (See Most Fanfic Writers Are Fans). Some are based off music videos while others are completely different realities (See Alternate Universe Fic).
  • AKB49 – Renai Kinshi Jourei and AKB48 Satsujin Jiken are official examples.
  • One example for this is Tentomu chu!! desu~, which mixes in some real AKB events with the Magical Girl trope.
• Redemption Quest: If not outright forced to graduate or resign (i.e. leave without proper farewell to fans), members caught in a scandal are often given a challenging task to redeem themselves.
  • Rino Sashihara was sent off to Hakata, Fukuoka to help establish HKT as both member and theater manager, and arguably did quite a good job. She also won the Elections four times while at it and became the most recognizable face of the entire 48 Group, often being asked for comments on various idol industry issues thanks to her candidness (in contrast to management's corporate speak) and her wide-ranging experience as idol otaku, idol, theater manager, talk show host, idol producer, and chairwoman of Tokyo Idol Festival.
  • Minami Minegishi, after previously demoted to trainee status, was promoted to captain of the new Team 4, which members were all newly promoted trainees (technically including herself). The new members are understandably wary at first about having a disgraced senior as captain, not least since she's initially seen as playing favorites. Members who started out under her captaincy, which include Haruka Komiyama (Team K captain), Saho Iwatate (Team B captain), Yuiri Murayama (Team 4 captain), Nana Okada (AKB ace and former STU48 captain), and Mion Mukaichi (third General Manager), are called the "Minegishi Children", or Mine-chil for short, and Naachan still calls her Mii-san (instead of Miichan) out of respect.^* (and because her pet dog is also called Miichan.) Miichan's graduation song, "Mata Aeru Hi Made", is performed by the seven remaining Minegishi Team 4 founding members, plus Komi and Miion.^* Leaving out Kiara Sato, who joined the team with Komi and Miion.
• Refusal of the Call: Yuiri Murayama used to decline most outside jobs, even the coveted appearances in the group's main songs, to prioritize performing in the AKB Theater, until she realized that they're a good opportunity to get people interested to come there.
• Re-release the Song: "Sakura no Hanabiratachi 2008" was a remade version of the group's original single, "Sakura no Hanabiratachi".
• Ripped from the Headlines: Perhaps unintentionally, the MV for "Shitsuren, Arigatou" released in March 2020, half of which depicts the performers hanging out in their own rooms, is somewhat reminiscent of the self-quarantine practiced by millions around the world at the time due to the COVID-19 pandemic. There are still the requisite group dancing scenes, though, and everybody was sprawling over each other on a huge floor mattress at the end.
• Rock–Paper–Scissors: Since 2010, the lineup for singles released in December have been decided by this.
  • It was also incorporated in the PV for "Ue Kara Mariko", which is one of those singles.
• Roger Rabbit Effect: The subunit AKB48 Surreal are five AKB members and a virtual idol named Surry.

S

• Sailor Fuku: Worn in their drama Majisuka Gakuen and some PVs.
  • Also in the PVs for "Majisuka Rock 'n' Roll" and "Majijo Teppen Blues" where the girls act as the same characters from the above drama.
• Sampling:
  • "Oogoe Diamond" incorporates the hook from the The Magnificent Seven theme, also known as the Marlboro Man song, after the chorus.
  • As mentioned earlier, "Namida Surprise", itself about a birthday, has "Happy Birthday to You!" in the middle.
• Scenery Censor: Taken to an extreme level of hilarity in the intro to "Ponytail to Shushu".
• Scenery Porn: The MV for "#Sukinanda" shows off the Okinawa scenery.
  • Most of their music videos have pretty good production values and some are basically short movies.
• School Uniforms are the New Black: Combined with Impossibly Cool Clothes. The members usually wear a lot of uniform-themed costumes in concerts and PVs.
• School Festival: The PV for "Oogoe Diamond" takes place during a school festival, with the members performing the titular song.
• Self-Deprecation: Their TV shows in the 2020s have titles like Surpassed by Nogizaka and AKB48, Saikin Kiita? ("Have you heard about AKB48 Lately?"). There are also segments in Sayonara, Mouri-san which pokes fun at the group's frequent lipsyncing, as well as those where members who have never been on the senbatsu (title song lineup) discuss the disparity in treatment and work between them and the senbatsu members.
• Sexy Santa Dress: Worn in some videos, and in promos for certain companies, like Coke and 7-11.
• Sibling Team:
  • Team K's Tomu and Orin Muto are biological sisters. They participated in 2018 Janken Tournament as the Muto Sisters team. However in 2022, Tomu announced that she would be graduating next year.
    • While the Mutos are the first sisters to be in the same group at the same time in Japan, it has happened several times in the overseas groups.
  • Kiara Sato's sister Airi joined the group in 2022 (and was selected for the 60th single's main lineup only three months after joining, while Kiara has never been given the opportunity). Their cordial relationship is often compared to the constantly bickering Mutos. But Kiara later announced that she would be graduating in September of 2023.
  • Moeka Yahagi and SKE48's Yukina Yahagi performed "Oshimeshi" in an episode of AKB48 Show.
  • Airi Rissen and STU48's Momoka Rissen occasionally appear on live streams together.
  • Nana Okada brought along her sister, Rina (who is not an idol or public figure, and not to be confused with the Team K member of the same name), to cosplay with her as Ram and Rem from Re:Zero for the 2016 Janken. She also shows up occasionally in Naachan's Showroom sessions and they once did a session with SKE's Jurina Matsui.
• Signature Headgear:
  • Minami Takahashi used to always wear a bow.
  • Mizuki Yamauchi also wears ribbons.
  • The song "Everyday Katyusha" is about a girl who wears a katyusha, or headband, everyday.
  • "Ponytail to Shushu" performances always have the girls in ponytails. Those with short hair wear ponytailed wigs.
• Significant Birth Date: It's often said that Minami Takahashi passed the audition in 2005 because her birthday is April 8 (4/8). Yui Yokoyama, her successor as General Manager, shares her birthday with AKB's anniversary on December 8.
• Significant Name Shift: In Kanto Hakusho Bachikoi!, Ayane Takahashi figures out that she's host Taku Suzuki's favorite member because he has unconsciously switched from calling her "Takahashi" to "Ayane-chan".
• Silly Love Songs: They have a few, despite trying most of the time not to. An example is "Aitakatta".
• Singer Namedrop: The song "AKB48" from Team A's 1st stage has this in the chorus.
  • "Pioneer" from Team's 6th stage, "Team B Oshi" from Team B's 5th stage, "Korogaru Ishi ni Nare" from Team K's 2nd stage and "RESET" from Team K's 6th stage have the members mention their team's name several times.
  • "RIVER" starts out with a loud shout of "AKBEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE... FOR-TY EIGHT!" by Minami Takahashi (in the original version).
  • "Overture" is played before every live performance and half of it is simply repeating the group's name. Each sister group also has its own version.
• Slut-Shaming: In January 2013, Minami Minegishi was caught leaving the house of Alan Shirahama, a member of the J-Pop boy-bands EXILE and Generations. Since the girls of AKB48 are contractually forbidden from having romantic relationships,^note Depending on who you ask, this is either to keep them focused on work or to preserve the fans' fantasies of having a "pure" relationship with their idol. In any case, many have pointed out that this may technically be illegal. she was demoted to a trainee member status. Minami all-but shaved her head - a symbol of contrition in Japanese culture - and uploaded a video of herself tearfully apologizing for her "thoughtless behavior" and begging for her fans' forgiveness. In August of 2013, she was reinstated as a full member and appointed the captain of Team 4 until her graduation in 2021.
  • In an elaborate Mecha Iketeru prank spanning several days, the scenario is that Minami Takahashi was caught in a scandal and will graduate from the group, and she reveals in the climax that she also shaved her head (actually she wore rubber scalp). Earlier, Tomu Muto also mentioned that she didn't want Takamina to do it, implying that it had become the expected thing to do. Minegishi is mildly offended at both.
  • Even her loving juniors YuuNaa poked fun at this. In the Snow White parody skit in their duo concert, where Minegishi plays the Evil Queen, the talking mirror (or rather, the talking LED screen) says that Princess Ringo (Yuiri) is the most beautiful because of that one time Minegishi cut her hair really short.
• Spin-Off: The subunits no3b and Not Yet are technically this, since they haven't officially disbanded even though most of the members have graduated.
• Strawberry Shorthand: In "Sayonara Crawl", the girls appear eating strawberries.
  • The group's 15th generation associate themselves with the strawberry, since the Japanese word is a homophone for "one-five".
• Sugar Bowl: Some of their PVs, such as "Heavy Rotation" or "Sugar Rush".

T to Z

• Talky Bookends: Many of the group's PVs have these, such as "Eien Pressure" and "So Long!".
• Take That!: When the group won the prestigious Japan Records Awards' Grand Prix in 2011, many people criticized them, because a group who didn't play any instruments (even less an idol group!) couldn't become that important. The group's answer? GIVE ME FIVE!, where all the senbatsu members played instruments. For real. Some of them already knew how to play their instrument (such as Yuko Oshima, who played the bass in high school), but others had to train for weeks before recording the single. By the way, they were trained by Gacharic Spin members.
• Teacher/Student Romance: The lyrics for "Dear My Teacher" and "Teacher Teacher".
• The Teetotaler: 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. She has also revealed that she had been an alcoholic since 2017 until her graduation announcement. As it turned out, the concert was delayed due to COVID-19 so she remained dry for much longer than expected, and her first YouTube video after graduating was her breaking her 539-day streak, accompanied by Miki Nishino.
• That Syncing Feeling: In AKB48 Goodbye Mr. Mouri episode 14, Soshina goes so far as to say lipsyncing is pretty much synonymous with this group. Apparently Justified as there are only so many wireless mic frequencies, that not everyone in lineups with more than five people can hold real mics. However, they claim that performances in the AKB Theater are always live singing.
• Thematic Theme Tune: They did the song for the Fictional Video Game in Wreck-It Ralph, Sugar Rush.
• Theme Music Power-Up: "Overture", the opening song played before the girls enter the stage to hype up both the fans and the performers. The only AKB song not performed by the idols, but by one DJ Taz. Each sister group has its own version.
• Toros y Flamenco: Featured in Team K's 2nd Stage's Cinderella wa Damasarenai.
• Trademark Favorite Food:
  • Mayu Watanabe is so obsessed with karaage that it became her Twitter handle (@karaage_mayu).
  • Haruka Shimazaki, SKE's Rena Matsui and a few others used to be in the Melonpan Alliance.
  • Miori Ichikawa loves lemons (and wanted to become one), and has been Hiroshima's Lemon Ambassador since 2014.
  • Saho Iwatate likes to eat insects and is also a train station lunch box (ekiben) connoisseur.
  • Nana Okada likes chocomint snacks (and adopted mint green as her unofficial image color).
  • Yui Oguri can't stop praising Country Ma'am cookies and was invited to tour their factory and attend their 35th anniversary event.
• Training Montage: "Shonichi" is a training montage in lyrical form, describing the various allegedly Based on a True Story hardships the original Team B members went through before they could stand on the stage.
• Translated Cover Version: Though not officially released, the group did perform a pretty good English version of "Oogoe Diamond" in New York.
  • JKT48 (sister group based in Jakarta, Indonesia) does AKB's songs translated into Indonesian. However, the music videos produced for each are significantly differentーcompare "Heavy Rotation" as done by AKB48 and JKT48.
  • JKT48 has also done a cover of "Koisuru Fortune Cookie" in English (good English, to boot). Currently, they have also done English covers of "Beginner", "Gingham Check", "Halloween Night", "Mae Shika Mukanee", "Manatsu no Sounds Good", "Kokoro no Placard", "Pareo wa Emerald", "Kibouteki Refrain", "Kaze wa Fuiteru", and "Love Trip".
  • SNH sings AKB's songs but in Chinese.
• Tsundere: The song "Tsundere!" from Team A 5th stage revolves around this trope. The narrators of "Iiwake Maybe" and "Tenshi no Shippo" also could be ones.
• Variety Show: The long-runner "AKBingo!", "AKB Shukan" and "Nemousu Terebi" are the most notable examples.
• Video Full of Film Clips: "Majisuka Rock 'n' Roll" has some of this, with clips coming from drama Majisuka Gakuen.
  • "Yankee Soul", too.
• Visual Novel: There's a series of visual novels where the romance ban is lifted and the player can romance one of the members while rejecting the rest, with currently three installments.
• Vlog Series: In January 2020, several members started their own YouTube channels, mostly containing Slice of Life. Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, this initiative was later expanded into an entirely new brand, OUC48 (from the Japanese word for home, o-uchi おうち/お家), in which the idols perform various activities on YouTube to "keep Japan's spirit up from home".
• Wham Episode: The team shuffles, in which all the team line-ups are reformed to provide a new environment and dynamic for the members, especially when several graduations take place. Team shuffles are usually announced onstage with no warning, thus surprising both the fans and the members.
  • The 2014 shuffle took this further and involved the sister groups, so the event was announced beforehand. All teams across AKB and its three sister groups were reshuffled, causing general Mind Screw for fans who had to readjust to new line-ups, positions, and transfers everywhere.

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