Japan’s most famous girl band AKB48 are back with the second part of their documentary ‘AKB48 Show must go on’.
The new movie which opens on Friday 27 January in Japan follows the group of singers as their grow from unknown performers into megastars.
Over 1000 hours of footage was shot of the J-pop group, the first half of the documentary, which was filmed during 2010 and 2011.
The movie offers a glimpse into the girls’ struggle and growth that is behind their success and ever-growing popularity.
Five years ago they started as a small Akihabara idol group with only seven people showing up to their shows.
Now, they’ve topped Japan’s music chart with the top two best-selling singles of the year in 2010 as well as another two singles ranking in the top ten.
AK-Who?
If you are new to Japan AKB48 is an all-female idol group formed in December 2005 by Yasushi Akimoto, one of Japan’s most respected producers.
‘AKB’ stands for A-Ki-ha-Bara (also referred to as Akiba), the Tokyo district known as the center of Japan’s otaku pop culture.
With the concept “idols you can always meet”, AKB48 performs almost everyday at their own theater in Akihabara.
One unique aspect of AKB48 is that they are divided into teams. When AKB48 debuted in 2005, originally there were only 24 girls. Now there are 16 girls each on Team A, Team K, and Team B, who are the core members of the group.
In addition to them, there are trainees who are aspiring members. Members total to around 60 girls as some graduate and some new members come in.
Another interesting concept about the group in the recent years is that they hold general elections to determine the members who will participate in the recording of AKB48’s upcoming single.
Fans vote for their favorites and the girl ranked number one performs as the center of the group.
Movie: AKB48 – Show must go on (Show must go on 少女たちは傷つきながら、夢…)
Release date: January 27
Official site: www.2011-akb48.jp
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