AKB Scandals Thread

[randompasserby]

Well certainly for ***48 empire at least...
I got the impression that they think they can get away with everything lately (the latest are parading a mentally-stricken looking young girl on the internet and Kasai's fiasco) they could use a nice cold splash of reality to their face.
Though I can't help but think they're still gonna come out on top of the whole thing in the end.... and I hate it.

[DSQueenie]

For the record I was not calling Taylor Swift a Drunken Whore, if fact I think that term is stupid and should die. Drinking is fine (for the record I have hollow legs and will drink and any and all challengers under the table) and so is being in relationships.

I was using her as an example of someone who you only need to reference their name an you know what the person is talking about (that she is in a lot of relationships). I have no problem with Taylor Swift, in fact I like her, but she is the exception that proves the rule. Women get judged more harshly when it comes to relationships and it's even more harsh in Japan and I include non Idols in this equation.

Side Note: This was on the front page of the Guardian website so it made it in the news paper most likely.

[Daisuki Daiiyo]

Apparently Minegishi still attended a handshake event on the 2nd, and apologized to fans there. They were all supportive of her though, and many of them requested to AKB management that they take the bald apology video down, so it was taken down the night of the 2nd. Minegishi says that she didn't shave her head out of apology, but because she wants to start fresh and wants people to be able to trust her again.

Link: http://www.tokyohive.com/2013/02/minegi ... discussion

It seems like they have managed to spin this positively? Everybody is feeling for her, and so she'll probably rank highly in elections. That aside, I found it pretty tactless to put up a shame video and handle this so publicly, but I guess it all worked out good for Miichan in the end.

[Zunu]

That's good. I don't dislike her.

[Rm88]

This has made me lurk around in some forums, and I'm reading stuff that I don't like. I just learned about the SKE48 theatre manager saying "I'll commit seppuku if I were to have inappropriate relationships with the members" because the fans thought he was too good looking for the job. The no-boyfriend rule applies for all idols, but maybe because of the huge popularity AKB has gotten a bit too weird

[DSQueenie]

I think the phrase used was "I'll do what ever it takes to prove I will not have inappropriate relationships with SKE" rather than seppuku.

[Rm88]

I got it from here, I copy-pasted what he supposedly said
http://sakaeandfrog.tumblr.com/post/415 ... ppuku-if-i

[Daisuki Daiiyo]

Some comments from Japanese fans

Spoiler: show

Comments from 2ch.net:

Mura (Imo):
Isn’t this culture of accepting an apology if someone shaves off their hair a bit weird? Especially when there are some people nowadays who do it themselves for the sake of fashion.


Exotic Short-hair (Kanagawa):
Wow, that really is close-cropped w Still, she’s minging.


Mura (Imo):
Akimoto (AKB48 manager): ‘doing something like this would save her from her criticism (with a smirk)’


Snow Lepoard (Iwate):
Close-cropped, hilarious www This has set a good precedent, let’s find out all the scandals and make JKC48.


Turkish Van (Tokyo):
Ha, sacked or not sacked, surely she’d have her hair cut this much.
Nothing left if not in AKB.


Scottish Fold (Yamaguchi):
YouTube is international, a Japanese shame to the world.
It’s just like a girl being a hostage of terrorists and apologizing or something.


Kuro ashi neko(Tochigi):
It’s abuse of human rights not to allow them to have their own romantic relationships I reckon?
They still can’t moan, otherwise they’d be sacked.
Total power harassment preying on the weak, sick eugh.
Fingers crossed Akimoto is going to be punished!


Wildcat (Niwa):
Is this what she gets in return for a quick shag?


Comments from Itai News:

Siam (Kinoko)：
Gross wwwwwww Turns me off.


Kodokodo (Yawaraka Ginkou)：
The physical punishment at Sakuranomiya high school has been such a big thing in papers and now she’s shaved her head?(゜д゜)


Jaguar (Yawaraka Ginkou)：
Close-cropped hair now? SO timely, well setup, AKB is such a business.


Himalayan (Kantou・Koushin'etsu)：
Straight after the Judo thing at high school? That’d give the world the strong impression that Japan ignores women’s human rights w.


Kuro ashi neko (Tochigi)：
Let’s spread this around the world and see how they feel about it. Westerners would definitely find it weird.


Munchkin (Tokyo)：
She’s 20, she only shagged a guy, she didn’t have to shave her head. Surely she’d have kept shagging him if it hadn’t been revealed by the media.


Andean cat (Tokyo)：
Awful. It’s just abuse, isn’t it? Does this make her fans any happy?


Hyou (Xinjiang Uygur Territory)：
It suits her. Better looking now.


Spain Lynx (Ibaraki)：
What about telly? Can she still make appearances?


Kiji Tora (Tokyo)：
They’re more like a religious organisation now w


Black (Chiba)：
It’s going way too far to make her do this.


Suna Neko (Kyoto)：
This is a human rights matter now. The Japanese media is bloody useless and I don’t suppose they can’t recognise what they’ve done or atone for it until they get forced to by external pressure.

I believe the translator is British, which explains all of the British slang incorporated into the translations I think most of it is pretty common knowledge though, the only one that it took me a minute to decipher was Minger/Minging - which is unattractive (I think anyway. It's been a while since I've seen Skins lol).

But it seems that some fans feel that this was taking it a bit far as well. We have to also take into consideration the translators possible bias, and that they could have just plucked comments that suited their POV.

[Daisuki Daiiyo]

More stuff y'all!

Some comments from comedy duo Ninety-Nine's radio show.
[youtube]2EkCUe1CzE4[/youtube]
ナイナイ岡村隆史 AKB48峯岸みなみ丸刈りでお泊り騒動謝罪について語る1/2

Spoiler: show

- back when i went to the EXILE building, i was greeted by the lovely kids of GENERATIONS (oka)
- imo, minegishi going bald was well done; the fans were REALLY shocked it seems, doesn't seem they like this (oka)
- since akimoto said there's no actual no-dating rule in the first place, then who's the one telling minegishi to demote to kks? the theater manager? someone else in the back? i don't know 'cuz i'm an old man; if it were Onyanko, i'd have known though
- there's ones who were sent off to Hakata, ones who were forced to leave, and now ones who shaved their heads
- is shaving your head really such a bad thing?
- since this time resulted in someone going bald, what'll happen if there's a next time?! it's not like comedians shave their head in repentence
- but yet to have to do something to this extent, the stayover still wasn't prevented
- maybe they were thinking that they wouldn't be paparazzi'd
----level 2 earthquake news----
- even though she shaved her head herself, i don't think there was a need for it (yabe)
- there was no need to shave her head in the first place; b/c that happened, the fans will just unnecessarily rise up against akimoto-sensei (oka)
- so akb really has the no-dating rule now.. though they normally say they do on tv and we tease them saying otherwise
- the public interaction b/n sashihara and minegishi will be more interesting now; picking on one another
----more earthquake related stuff----
- honestly, i didn't think this kind of thing would happen to minegishi of all people (oka)
- there's probably members thinking "wtf you doing? don't go bald! wtf are we supposed to do now?"
- for the meantime, she isn't leaving, just starting from scratch as kks; even though she didn't do anything wrong (oka)
- what's so wrong with staying over at a friend's place that you would have to shave your head? (oka)
- what's the cutoff for 'staying over'? of course sleeping there would count, but what about just being there for 8 hours while awake?
--reference to past Okamura scandal ("how long did you stay over in your case?" "until middday" "that's more than 12 hours!" "around 13 hours.." "that's definitely considered staying over!")--
- but fans support them on the basis that they are not going out and finding love
- is it possible that there are fans that believe idols don't poop?
- times have changed, we (as old men) don't understand these things anymore; we can only tell you to keep trying your best
- why was there a need to do an apology about this with her head shaven on youtube?
- i don't get why they showed it (oka)
- conversely, are we just being played with?! look, we've been talking about this for more than 18minutes! (oka)

source: http://pastebin.com/XCiDPewQ , translation by jafeijai @ JPHiP

I love Okamura. Always coming in as the voice of reason on these idol incidents. Its like when Kago came back with that awkward as hell photobook where she did the shots of her orgasm face, and Okamura was like "Look at your life, look at your choices." Obviously, I am paraphrasing here.

Letter from the Theater Manager from his google+

Spoiler: show

Tomonobu Togasaki (English page)8:39 AM - Public
We have received many opinions and questions from the fans regarding the video of Minegishi's apology. I would like to add further explanations since the management hasn't fully expressed their explanation to your questions.

□ Why did you have to stream a video like this?

When we were in a hurry preparing for the streaming and we have received a report that Minegishi really wants to apologize personally with her hair shaved. We felt how strong her will and feeling towards AKB48 was, so we decided to stream the video as we planned.

□ Was it necessary to shave her hair?

It wouldn't be necessary even if you ask if it was necessary or not. It was just that Minegishi really wanted to convey how strong her feeling was.

□ Did anybody stop her from shaving her hair?

I heard that when she came out from the make up room, she had already shaved her hair. It seems that the staff beside her did stop her. However, I heard that she said that people might think of her as a fool, but she really wanted to put her reflection into action, so she cut her bangs using scissors without losing control over herself.

□ Isn't it unfair that the punishment for each of the members who had scandals were different?

It would be better if we can establish the same rule. However, we are experiencing a dilemma because it is difficult to conceive a common rule since each member is under a different situation.
For example, a member had been warned many times, but did not listen to anyone and created a scandal.
There was also a member who wanted to pursue her dreams and was about to plan on graduating when a scandal about her was exposed.
There was also a member whose past was discovered.
There was also a member whose scandal was not exposed, but still had a huge rule violation.
Please do understand that we have to make decisions with consideration to many circumstances.

□ There was a photo of Minegishi, which has been uploaded on the internet, where she looked like she was having fun with the first generation members. Did she really reflect on her actions?

Before the rehearsals of the theater performance of Team B, I saw Minegishi who came to apologize with an exhausted expression on her face, so I can say that she has reflected on her actions. At the same time, it seemed like she was trying her best not to make people around her feel worried. I think that is the reason why the members of the same generation as her were encouraging Minegishi who was feeling depressed.

We, the managing team, would like to support the members who are trying their best to pursue their dreams by having continuous discussion with them.

Tomonobu Togasaki
AKB Group Theater General Manager

source: https://plus.google.com/116244092830131 ... nyCV5JQ5CV , JPHiP

And then, as Ninety-Nine said, Akimoto isn't necessarily the one who decides the demotions? If that's true, I wonder if it's Togasaki then? Or if the girl decides her own path, which would explain the non-linear punishments being dealt out (Sayaka's demotion, but Sasshi's transfer, while other girls quit (Masuda), and that one girl got fired but then got put back into Watariouka (Ayaka something or other?))

[randompasserby]

I'm seeing chatter on 2ch's MM thread about Kashiwagi Yuki too... Is it true ?