AKB48 Group and Sakamichi Series 2017 End of Year Special

Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to my first ever AKB48/Sakamichi End of the Year Special Post. where i'm going to talk about the best moment that has happen in 2017 for the AKB48 group and the Sakamichi series. there are going to be a lot to talk about, everything from songs to music videos to group and members, i'm going to go through them all. for this, i'm going to merge the 48 and the Sakamichi together, so there won't be a 48 segment or 46 segment, i'm going to look at it overall, put them into one big list. so without further ado, let's get on with the show, starting with

WTF Moment of the Year
This is the title given to the moment/moments by the 48 or sakamichi group in 2017 that will make you go W.T.F. there are a few moment that fit this category, there's the Mayu's graduation announcement, the utter disaster of the Sousenkyo and the 'problem' of Keyakizaka46's center Hirate Yurina. but really there is only one moment that makes you go WTF in the whole of 2017, and that is
Sutou Ririka announces marriage after getting 20th place in the Sousenkyo.

this moment is so shocking and so random that it actually made me and my friend that was watching the SSK together with me go absolutely nuts. we were so shocked and dumbfounded with the announcement that it made me have to get up and get out of the room altogether. because, its just so sudden and random, nobody and i really do mean nobody in the entire world would have expecting that to happen. this announcement is so shocking that it made Mayu's graduation announcement looks like a second page news.

Collaboration of the Year
2017 has been a year where the 48 and 46 group is doing a few collaboration with other musician for a release. Sasshi collaborated with Morning Musume, Sayanee collaborating with Inagaki Junichi and a few other. this title is given to the best collaboration song made in 2017, and that title goes to
RADIO FISH ft Nakamoto Himeka (Nogizaka46) for the song LAST NUMBER

This is a very good and in a way very touching collaboration. as we know, Himetan is graduating from Nogizaka46 at the end of the year, and not just that, she's also going to retire from the entertainment industry due to health issue. and RADIO FISH, who did a radio show together with Himetan, ask her to do a collaboration song together. and from that, a song was born. and what a song it is, LAST NUMBER is an incredible song, its a song about parting, about good bye, which is very touching considering Himetan is going to leave. the song itself is very good, Himetan Vocal is beautiful, and it suits the R&B/Hip-Hop style of the song. its a beautiful send of to one of the most beloved member in Nogizaka46.

Promising member for 2018
This is the title that is given to a member that have the best promise going into next year. a girl with a lot of potential and attention to be successful in the coming year, and the first member to get this title is
Ogino Yuka from NGT48

Yes, Ogino Yuka, the member who get 5th place in the Sousenkyo is the most promising member going into 2018. she have gained quite a lot of attention after getting 1st place in the 2017 Sousenkyo preliminaries, and she gained more after she got 5th place at the actual event. since then she have been spotted in a quite a few show, she got sign to a new agency, and she got to center NGT's 2nd single (which is not a bad song). incredible, considering that she have failed to get into AKB for like a million time before Yukirin and Riechan pick her at the 2nd Draft Kaigi.
and to honor Ogiyuka for her achievement, i'm going to rename this particular title to The Ogino Yuka Award.

Choreography of the Year
This is the title given to (as the name suggest) a choreography of a song that i think is the best all year. there are a lot of great choreography this year, especially on the 46 side of the pond, Influencer, Eccentric, Fukyouwaon, all of them are incredible. but one that stood out more than all of them is
Keyakizaka46 with Getsuyoubi no Asa, Skirt wo Kiratera

The choreography for this song is just insane, it has a lot of things that made this choreo great. from the start where they're all sitting on the floor, to Techi laying down on the floor alone, to Techi being throw all over the place like a pinball, to just the individual dance skill of the members. its something amazing to actually watch, TAKAHIRO sensei really knows what he's doing with these girls.

Album of the Year
This title is given to the best album release by the 48/46 group this year. for this particular title, i'm not going to do this every year, i'm only doing it this year because everybody is releasing an album. AKB has one, NMB has one, SKE has one, Nogizaka and Keyakizaka each has one, and HKT also going to have one soon, so there are a few to choose for this title. and the one who gets it is
Keyakizaka46 with Mashiro Mono wa Yogoshitaku Naru

This album is probably the best album out of any 48/46 group album that have been release before and maybe even since. the quality and variety of songs they have in this album is amazing, they got something for everyone, rock song, country song, EDM song, Blues song, Orthodox idol song, Jazz, R&B, you name it, it has them all and every single one of them is a very good song. incredible, especially since this is Keyakizaka's 1st ever album.

Single of the Year
Not to be confused with Song of the Year (that's coming up later), this title is given to the best overall single release by a group. taking into consideration the main song, the coupling songs, the MV's, the covers, pretty much everything about that single. and the 2017 single of the year is
Influencer by Nogizaka46

yes, in my opinion Influencer is the best single released in 2017. it has the best A-side song release this year with Influencer, some of the best coupling song with Another Ghost, Fuusen wa Ikiteiru, and of course Igai BREAK. the MV's are all visually stunning, and the covers are beautiful. and just a bonus, the individual PV is also pretty good. actually this title could have gone to AKB's Shoot Sign if the main song isn't so crap, because that single also got some very impressive songs in it.

Music Video of the Year
This title is given to the best music video released by the 48/46 group in 2017. there are a lot of great MV released this year, whether it be visually stunning or just have a great story to it. and the 2017 Music Video of the year is
Sekai wa Doko Made Aozora na no Ka?

This MV is beautiful, the story is beautiful, and the song itself is beautiful. its a 12 minutes long mini drama telling a story about a young girl who had a dream of being an idol, but the people around her say that she should give up on that dream because its impossible. but, the girl doesn't give up and she managed to become an idol. its a very good story, and its also beautifully shot. in a way, it does looks and feel Nogizaka-ish, especially with that final shot, but considering NGT and Nogi is both under Sony, i think they can get away with it. regardless, its still an incredible MV.

Song of the Year
Now this is the one that everyone is waiting for, the best song release in 2017. so let's just skip the chit-chat and go straight to it. the 2017 Song of the year is
1-Gyou Dake to Airmail and Natsu no Hana wa Himawari Dake Janai by Keyakizaka46 from their 1st album Mashiro Mono wa Yogoshitaku Naru

I can't choose between this 2, i just can't. so i decided to include them both as a double winner. 1-Gyou Dake to Airmail is the Yuichanzu's 4th song, and its beautiful, i love it. the country ballad style sounded great, easy listening, the vocal is beautiful, the harmony is spot on, this song is just perfect, i can listen to it all day. this song is the top candidate to become Keyakizaka46's best song ever, taking the spot from another Yuichanzu song Bob Dylan wa Kaesanai from Keyaki's 2nd single Sekai ni wa Aishikanai. Natsu no Hana wa Himawari Dake Janai is Imaizumi Yui's first ever solo song, i mean what can you say about her. Imaizumi's voice is just incredible, its very very beautiful and she has a lot of emotion and passion in her voice. and the song, well its pretty much perfect really, it has a great ballad arrangement (sounds kinda like a Chicago song), and it has a beautiful voice to complement it.

Group of the Year
This title is given to the group that has the best run in 2017. the title is pretty much tells itself so let's just get to it. the 2017 Group of the year is
Nogizaka46

Nogizaka has a stellar year in 2017, just look at what they do this year, they got they're own film, they do concert at the Jingu twice, they play in the Tokyo dome. and not just the group itself, individually they also done some great stuff, Ikuta Erika being the main character in a lot of Musical stage, Nishino Nanase is maining a movie, Saito Asuka is also going to main a movie, Shiraishi mai got that record breaking photobook, Takayama Kazumi and Akimoto Manatsu starting to become a household name in variety, and of course, there are lot's and lot's of photobooks release this year by the Nogizaka member, and i barely scratch the surface of what they do this year. a lot of the member have their own radio show, their own TV show, and even their own newspaper column.

Member of the Year
Title is given to a member that have the best run in 2017. again the title pretty much tells itself. and the 2017 Member of the year is
Ikuta Erika from Nogizaka46

This girl is just something else. i think Ikuchan is the busiest member in the whole 48/46 group not name Sashihara Rino and certainly more talented . i mean, this girl is just so talented, she has a great voice, great acting skill, she manages to main quite a few musical plays in 2017, got to appear in a few variety show, and she's having her own solo concert, in MTV. i mean, what more can you ask?

Oshi of the year
This title is given to a certain member that caught my attention the most this year, it doesn't have to be a very popular member or got a lot more exposure from last year, its just a member that manages to get my attention whether its by her skill or character or even just her appearance. a few member actually caught my eye this year, some of them are NMB48's Ota Yuuri, NGT48's Ogino Yuka, Team 8's Sato Shiori, and Keyakizaka46's Kato Shiho. but one member caught my eye more than all of them, and that is
Nogizaka46's Hori Miona

I never really become a Miona fan, i never really know her before actually, but one episode of Nogizaka Koujichuu pretty much change it all, and that is episode 100 (or 101 depending on how you count it) where they do the introduction of the 3rd gen, and that scream by Miona when she got scare by Shitara-san is just priceless. and after that i just get into her a lot more, a lot of Nogidoko and Nogichuu episode really help me know her better, like the episode where Miona and Hoshino Minami go on a trip to Gifu(Nogidoko episode 164), the episode where they do a special with the 2nd gen (Nogichuu episode 31, that belly roll though), and a lot more episode really. i just love her character where she just pretty much say everything in her head. in any case, i love her.

And that ladies and gentlemen, is the last of them. that is what i think is the best thing that happen within the 48 and 46 group in 2017. what do you guys think? do you agree or disagree with the list, let me know. also, i don't really have a name yet for this end of year post, so if you got any idea of what i should call this segment, please do tell me. this is going to be my last post of the year, but don't worry, i already have a few idea for a new post for early next year, so you can look forward to that. but until then



This is Delta
Over and Out