The word “Idol” gets used a lot without the actual definition of what it means. People just assume its some singer that everyone likes—well, not “everyone” likes them just because the press says so.

An Idol is a singer, an actor, a model…an entertainer—most of the time the word is associated with a pretty female; however, it’s used with males too.

Let’s take a look at what Idol means to ME.

In the photo below, you might be able to call this line up a good part of the popularity generation?  Left to right; Jurina, Mariko, Tomomi, Yuko, Mayu, Atsuko, Minami and Haruna.

In 2005 a rough singing and dancing group called Akihabara48 was formed in Japan. In the form of a classic stage show or chorus line, these first generation girls performed for a little audience and most likely got paid in a bowl of rice.

As The Akihabara48 girls presented themselves more to the public they became bigger and bigger and began expanding to separate stage units—broken up by teams “A” “K” and “B”—with “4” and “8” following later.

I wouldn’t call myself an all-time master of knowledge on Akihabara48, but I know what I need to know and as a collector, I’ve been obsessed with them for longer than I let on to people. I’m not a Lolicon (someone who likes young girls) I’m not a pedophile; but I do appreciate a females singing voice, especially if it’s good and the song is done well—and, although I can only pick out a few words per song, I still enjoy the music, the visual performance and I even have my favorite girls—properly, they happen to be the older ones.  In the photo below, the first three have left the group.  Left to right: Mariko, Yuko, Atsuko, Minami and Haruna.

I have a lot to show—not show off—a collector collects for their own enjoyment, not to be showy; but to share. So now begins part one…

CD’s

A rare selection of AKB48 Compact Disks; all of them are singles with only a few songs and then Karaoke versions of the same songs; after the vocal. Some are the Theater Version; meaning that they come from the Akihabara48 Theater. These disks are simply the singles and they feature the basic songs more-so than the tunes that are solo sung. However, some albums do have a different selection.

I’d like to bring your attention to the center row starting with the Single “UZA” which features my favorite song—the title song, “UZA”—may be short for yakUZA—but that is for another part! On the right is a fun song called “Give Me Five” I have a solo version sung by Yuko Oshima one of my favorites; however, this version is just the regular group song. Both UZA and Give Me Five are available, however, the rest are not so easy to get a hold of. In the middle is Sakura no Hanabiratachi which translates to Cherry Blossom Petals. This is the first CD single there ever was—now granted, not many people would find the appeal of a group of teen girls and some women with dead eyes and minimal visual distinction; but I find it fun to pick out who each of them are now—this disk was released in 2006 and is still available on Amazon for a lot of money, I’ve seen it for between $40 and $200 dollars—I didn’t pay that, and it’s new-new. Still wrapped in its film with descriptive stickers and a QR code? {A quick note about the QR code. It was invented in Japan in 1994 for the Auto Industry, now you can find it on just about every product out there}. Its amazing that there is a QR code on this independent CD from 2006—I don’t know if it still works or not because I have no way of reading it, but when I am able, I’ll leave a comment below.

I’m very fond of this old CD, it means a lot to me and is probably the crown of my collection. However, there is more; surrounding the three in the center are the original 2006-2007 with just two missing if I’m correct. The most well-known is called Aitakatta
which is in the lower right corner in two versions, one being the Theater Version and the other having a DVD along with the CD.

In the forth row down, center is a landmark album called “Oogoe Diamond” it features on the cover and back; Jurina Matsui whom at the time was 11 years old; she’s looks older than that—but isn’t! She was a member of a sister group called SKE48 and was part of the AKB48 album; gee, I wonder why…? Eleven years old and more popular than the first generation…This single/DVD was from 2008.

Next up, in the second row down, disks 2 and 3 are a sub-group called “Chocolove” these CD’s are great because they feature only three of the girls and the music has a sound that is more my taste without the chorus line. Included with each is a DVD that is Region ALL—and they were fun to watch!
Chocolove featured some very popular members including Sayaka Akimoto, Sae Miyazawa and Rico Yamaguchi—uh! I MEAN!!! Rina Nakanishi…whoops!!! Rico is a porn star who looks just like Rina…what am I thinking! Failed joke? There are only 2 albums from Chocolove and I have them both—and where Miyazawa and Akimoto remained with AKB, Rina became an AV (Adult Video) star, Rico…she made a lot of DVD’s too and did one with her own sister…man, is that raunchy! Anyhow, alls fun when it comes to a group obsessed with keeping up a good image—they might want to stop being Diz-ney; unsafe territory.

The remaining CD’s are; BINGO in two versions (lower left—well duh!) In the upper right are Seifuku ga Jama wo Suru in two versions, the Limited Edition of Keibetsu Shiteita Aijou—bottom row, center and Boku no Taiyou—upper left, the 60’s MOD albums. All are just great to have and I really like to have the oldest pieces I can get—that’s what a “crazy” collector does.

With that, I’ll end part one of our journey through AKB48 and the crap I own and continue to buy…Oh, I don’t mean crap exactly, I really love all of it! If you can’t make a little fun of something you love, you should find a different interest.

Next Time…More CD’s and what they are all about; and there will even be another piece of media that I’m on the edge of my seat with wanting to talk about!

CLICK ALL PHOTOS TO OPEN THE VIEWER AND ENLARGE FOR DETAIL!!

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