25 Days Of Christmas Countdown Day #14: Top 48G Members (Year End Edition 2016)

Graduation announcements have gotten crazy the past couple of days! Shu, Naanya, AND Nishino?! What the heck 48G?! They're not even the semi-popular members that you'd be expecting to announce either. But I admit I do really like graduations. I love the unexpectedness of some of them like Nishino's today & I love seeing the changes in the groups after certain members leave. It's just a super fun system to me because I don't get attached to the girls.

Unlike my first half of the year edition, I'm going to *attempt* to do SNH, BEJ, & GNZ too but I'm pretty much just going to be ranking faces as I don't know the girls too well. Keyaki I have a slightly better idea of my ranking since they've released more material & NGT I'm still unsure about because they won't release their first single. Just like my past lists, no members who graduated in 2016 or who have announced their graduations are included in my lists. I also have taken up using the nicknames I know for certain girls when I'm just talking about them. It's just easier than writing their full names so I'm sorry if people have no clue who I'm talking about lol. I keep full names in the list itself though.

AKB48

-From my list just in May two of the girls [Naanya & Aigasa] have announced their grads. That's been very recent too so I had a bit of trouble coming up with two new girls because I haven't had a lot of time to think about it. It's also too bad that Paruru is graduating at the end of the year because she's really grown on me this year. As for the girls on my list, I think Miichan will definitely be announcing after Kojiharu's grad. I also think Mayuyu will announce next year as well. Yukirin is a maybe, but I don't think it'll be next year. I'm hoping Kira gets promoted early this year & I'm genuinely surprised that Kiara has stuck around as long as she has. I don't really have a clue if she'll stick around next year or graduate.

#1: Minami Minegishi (-)

#2: Nana Okada (+1)

#3: Mayu Watanabe (-1)

#4: Mion Mukaichi (+1)

#5: Hijiri Tanikawa (-1)

#6: Yuki Kashiwagi (+2)

#7: Kira Takahashi (-)

#8: Kiara Sato (+2)

#9: Juri Takahashi (NEW)

#10: Saya Kawamoto (NEW)

SKE48

-My SKE list fared better than AKB lol. I only lost Aya from May. Her graduation shocked me. I wasn't expecting it this soon & I also expected Suda to go before Shibata. There's a part of me that wants Jurina to announce next year just because of the shock factor, but I don't believe that will happen at all. She's way too eager to hit #1 on the Sousenkyo and if Sasshi, Mayuyu, & Yukirin choose to not enter, she's got an incredible chance at making it. I don't think my list will fare as well come next May. I fully expect Nao, Kaori, Akari, & Natsuki to annouce their graduations. With Natsuki.....does anyone else think she looks like Musubu Funaki? Looking at her profile pic with her haircut makes her look like they could be sisters it's so weird.

#1: Rara Goto (-)

#2: Jurina Matsui (+2)

#3: Kaori Matsumura (+2)

#4: Nao Furuhata (-1)

#5: Oka Suenaga (+4)

#6: Akari Suda (+1)

#7: Natsuki Takatsuka (+1)

#8: Ruka Kitano (-2)

#9: Marika Tani (+1)

#10: Airi Mizuno (NEW)

NMB48

-I'm still a little shocked about Shu's announcement. That was very unexpected. Out of my list, I don't really know who may announce next year. I do think that Sayaka will, but I don't think she'll leave until 2018. We might lose Ayaka, Rurina, & Narumi next year, but I can't even guess.

#1: Sayaka Yamamoto (-)

#2: Ririka Suto (+1)

#3: Fuuko Yagura (+2)

#4: Rina Yamao (-2)

#5: Konomi Kusaka (+2)

#6: Miru Shiroma (-)

#7: Ayaka Morita (+3)

#8: Rurina Nishizawa (+1)

#9: Kanae Iso (-1)

#10: Narumi Koga (NEW)

HKT48

-Chihiro's graduation was another surprising one. I hadn't expected any of the HKT captains to leave for a few more years. I don't really see anyone on my list who's at risk of leaving next year. Unless Meru gets tired of being shafted and quits but I really hope that doesn't happen.

#1: Meru Tashima (-)

#2: Nako Yabuki (-)

#3: Sakura Miyawaki (+1)

#4: Haruka Ueno (+2)

#5: Haruka Kodama (+4)

#6: Emiri Yamashita (-1)

#7: Nao Ueki (+1)

#8: Yui Kojina (-1)

#9: Aoi Motomura (+1)

#10: Haruka Wakatabe (NEW)

NGT48

-I still feel like I know nothing about the girls. They really need to release a first single so I can see how they fit into the group because I just have no clue outside of what they look like. It's not like I'm going to waste the time to watch stages with songs I've heard a bazillion times and my Japanese isn't anywhere near good enough to understand MCs. As for graduations next year, I doubt there will be any. The only way I see someone leaving NGT is if they get a second gen too soon or if a scandal happens. But hey, I've been surprised so far this month with crazy out there announcements so who knows.

#1: Yuka Ogino (-)

#2: Rika Nakai (+1)

#3: Reina Seiji (+1)

#4: Ayaka Mizusawa (NEW)

#5: Anju Sato (NEW)

#6: Minami Kato (-4)

#7: Marina Nishigata (+1)

#8: Yuria Otaki (-2)

#9: Miharu Nara (NEW)

#10: Hinata Honma (-)

Nogizaka46

-I feel like there's going to be a mass grad from Nogi this upcoming year. They haven't really lost too many in their existence and they're coming up on 6(!) years in the group. No one from my May list left this year and the lack of graduations for so many years has made my list pretty stable compared to the rest of the groups. I think from my list, Maaya is definite to graduate. Poor girl is so unpopular. We might be in for a surprise and Minami or Mai might leave. I think both Rina & Erika will be sticking around for a while.

#1: Rina Ikoma (-)

#2: Minami Hoshino (-)

#3: Maaya Wada (-)

#4: Mai Shiraishi (-)

#5: Karin Ito (+1)

#6: Manatsu Akimoto (-1)

#7: Asuka Saito (NEW)

#8: Erika Ikuta (+1)

#9: Reika Sakurai (NEW)

#10: Rena Yamakazi (NEW)

Keyakizaka46

-I think I've been able to establish that Imaizumi is definitely my favorite. Techi is super cool too though and does make a great center. I predict that there will be exactly one grad next year. I don't know from whom, but still. I imagine they'll be much like Nogi and have very sparse graduations for a few years.

#1: Yui Imaizumi (-)

#2: Yurina Hirate (+3)

#3: Nanako Nagasawa (NEW)

#4: Risa Watanabe (NEW)

#5: Neru Nagahama (+4)

#6: Nijika Ishimori (+1)

#7: Manaka Shida (-4)

#8: Yui Kobayashi (-2)

#9: Rina Uemura (NEW)

#10: Yuuka Sugai (NEW)

SNH48

-And here's where the members don't matter and pictures tell a 1000 words lol. As I've just begun to have any interest in SNH & their sister groups, I have no clue really who each girl is. So my rankings are going to be changing drastically at least for the next year while I learn more about them.

#1: Jingyi Ju

#2: Guanhui Chen

#3: Yuge Zhang

#4: Rui Sun

#5: Qingyang Li

#6: Jiaying Chen

#7: Xiaoyin Kong

#8: Beiting Qian

#9: Yanwen Wu

#10: Han Mo

BEJ48

#1: Shiyan Li

#2: Yan Wen

#3: Bowen Hu

#4: Shan Sun

#5: Yifan Yang

#6: Xinyi Ren

#7: Zi Li

#8: Shanshan Su

#9: Mingjun Yan

#10: Lei Fang

GNZ48

#1: Jingyuan Zuo

#2: Hanyue Luo

#3: Qianqian Liu

#4: Lifei Liu

#5: Yuqi Chen

#6: Yanping Nong

#7: Leilei Xie

#8: Huijing Chen

#9: Qiongyu Zhang

#10: Nanxi Chen

All I want for Christmas is for 48G & China48 to stop making new groups lol. I can't keep up & I'm only really interested in the music. I can't imagine how difficult it is for people who actually try and follow the girls. It's insanity.

Top 48G Members [First Half 2016 Edition]

December's Ranking: Click Here

It really pains me to say this, but in contrast to H!P this year, 48G's music has been utterly fantastic. Not so much AKB, but the sister/"rival" groups. They've had a lot of impressive songs come out this year so far. They've also seemed actually interesting this year. I find myself checking up on news about them more often than usual. I think it's because the big older members are finally starting to leave (like how Takamina FINALLY got the heck out of the group. That was the single most pointless graduation drag out I've ever seen) and new members are beginning to fill the ranks. It's a fun transition time.

AKB48

-It's actually kind of sad how AKB manages to be so mediocre compared to their sister groups. Kimi wa Melody was an ok song, and had some fantastic B-sides, but the B-sides weren't even by AKB except for La La La (which was boring as crap). And Tsubasa wa Iranai & it's B-sides is AKB's management really phoning it in. I applaud them for resisting going back to bikini singles, but gosh can we at least have something with some energy? And if that preview for that new song is actually the Sousenkyou single then I'm giving up on any A-side being good this year from AKB.

#1: Minami Minegishi

#2: Mayu Watanabe

#3: Nana Okada

#4: Hijiri Tanikawa

#5: Mion Mukaichi

#6: Nana Owada

#7: Kira Takahashi

#8: Yuki Kashiwagi

#9: Moe Aigasa

#10: Kiara Sato

SKE48

-I honestly expected SKE to not catch my attention as much after Rena graduated, but really they've been more interesting than most groups. Rara is totally adorable and I'm glad that she's getting the push she's getting. Musically, SKE has released one of their best songs ever this year with Chicken Line. While most of the B-sides to the single were pretty standard pop fare, Is That Your Secret was really great too. I hope they get an album/original stage this year. It's been too long since both.

#1: Rara Goto

#2: Aya Shibata

#3: Nao Furuhata

#4: Jurina Matsui

#5: Kaori Matsumura

#6: Ruka Kitano

#7: Akari Suda

#8: Natsuki Takatsuka

#9: Oka Suenaga

#10: Marika Tani

NMB48

-NMB had some great title tracks last year, but this year's Amagami Hime wasn't really up to par with songs like Must Be Now & Don't Look Back. It's good, but not that good. The B-sides were also rather disappointing. I'm hoping that their next singles this year are better. With NMB, I feel like they're really beginning that major transition phase that SKE seems to be starting to come out of. The phase where older members & popular members are wanting to move on & pass the baton to younger girls. With Miyuki leaving (and in my opinion I believe Sayaka will be gone by the end of next year too), they will have to make the transition to new gen sooner rather than later. They are doing better on that front than SKE did when they began the transition though.

#1: Sayaka Yamamoto

#2: Rina Yamao

#3: Ririka Suto

#4: Shu Yabushita

#5: Fuuko Yagura

#6: Miru Shiroma

#7: Konomi Kusaka

#8: Kanae Iso

#9: Rurina Nishizawa

#10: Ayaka Morita

HKT48

-I've all but given up hope that HKT will ever release good A-sides ever again. Or B-sides for that matter really. However, their B-side on Kimi wa Melody was incredible. Make Noise is the best thing they've ever done. They should totally do that style on an A-side just to shake stuff up because of how boring they usually are.

#1: Meru Tashima

#2: Nako Yabuki

#3: Chihiro Anai

#4: Sakura Miyawaki

#5: Emiri Yamashita

#6: Haruka Ueno

#7: Yui Kojina

#8: Nao Ueki

#9: Haruka Kodama

#10: Aoi Motomura

NGT48

-Well, they haven't really done anything yet so I don't have a whole lot of thoughts on them. Their B-side releases for AKB are pretty boring though. And I really really don't like Moeka. She feels like such a poor choice for center over the amount of girls they have who could pull it off much better. I still can't really rank them with any certainty because they haven't released a single yet.

#1: Yuka Ogino

#2: Minami Kato

#3: Rika Nakai

#4: Reina Seiji

#5: Nanako Nishimura

#6: Yuria Otaki

#7: Mau Takahashi

#8: Marina Nishigata

#9: Rie Kitahara

#10: Hinata Honma

Nogizaka46

-Honestly, Nogi releases music more boring than HKT. They really do. However, as a group they seem to have much more personality. Although Nogi's music borders from bland to blander, they have managed to release one of the best Japanese songs of all time this year. No I'm not kidding when I say that. Harukanaru Bhutan is probably my favorite song to ever come out of the 48Gs, and at this point it's very very close to becoming my favorite Japanese song of all time. The composition and production of that song is just absolutely gorgeous. The alternating between the guitar & the traditional instruments before that last chorus is just a beautiful piece of music. So powerful. When they have songs as good as that in their arsenal, why the heck are they constantly releasing snoozefests? I can't remember how any of their A-sides go as far back as Natsu no Free & Easy because they're all the same flavor of boring.

#1: Rina Ikoma

#2: Minami Hoshino

#3: Maaya Wada

#4: Mai Shiraishi

#5: Manatsu Akimoto

#6: Karin Ito

#7: Marika Ito

#8: Nanase Nishino

#9: Erika Ikuta

#10: Himeka Nakamoto

Keyakizaka46

-I was so incredibly surprised by their debut single. It was so different for the usual 48G stuff! This is what they need desperately. Curveballs. It seems like the Japanese public loved the Silent Majority concept too so that should provide incentive for them to comeback with another great song. I'm still not 100% on my ranking, but my top girls are more or less decided.

#1: Yui Imaizumi

#2: Miyu Suzumoto

#3: Manaka Shida

#4: Aoi Harada

#5: Yurina Hirate

#6: Yui Kobayashi

#7: Nijika Ishimori

#8: Mizuho Haba

#9: Neru Nagahama

#10: Nanami Yonetani

So here's my thoughts, agree, disagree?

25 Days Of Christmas Countdown Day #14: Top 48G Members (Year End Edition)

Ahhh I realize I didn't post this yesterday sorry! I had it typed up & ready to go but then I got very distracted by Dragon Age Inquisition.....lol. So I did a version of this earlier this year [Old Ranking From May Link], and this is my updated version for 48G. For NGT48 & Keyakizaka46, the members I have listed are more like first impressions from photos since they haven't really done anything lol. Like last time, it includes no members who have announced their graduations. I may also have a couple little comments for some members.

So before we get into the member lists, I just want to state some impressions on 48G as a whole this year. The music released this year by the groups was much higher quality than last year in my opinion. AKB in particular had pretty good A-sides and some fantastic B-sides. SKE & NMB were wonderful as well. HKT, unfortunately, I believe suffers from the sheer amount of groups/releases that need to be done. Absolutely nothing they did stood out to me this year. Nothing Nogizaka released really made an impression on me either, but I think that their music quality in general is pretty high, even though I don't quite care for the style. When it comes to the groups themselves, I think this year is establishing a turning point for them. First of all, there are SO MANY new girls incoming. At this point the groups are becoming so over-saturated they really need to stop with all of the new members/new groups. Also, if they're going to add all of these new girls, can they PLEASE do something with them? They (especially those running AKB) are playing it way too safe with Senbatsu choices and pushes. The new gen girls are being completely cast aside for the old. You'd think management would learn from Morning Musume about the importance of establishing newer members in the public eye, but apparently they haven't. They can't rely on Atsuko & Yuko to keep them relevant forever or the future AKB will be cursed with old gens maintaining relevance to the public, while new girls can't get a foothold. I sincerely hope that after the mess of a single they're planning for March that they make a real transition to the new gens. Give new girls variety show slots, give them subunits to show their unique talents, give them maybe an internet web series for viral marketing, give them photobooks, make them visible. Of course the shadow of the old AKB will always be there, but if they don't try and get new girls into the public eye, they will become exactly where Morning Musume is at right now. Handshakes will not hold them forever and the cracks in the system are starting to show.

Well that was kinda depressing lol. Onto the ranking! Just like the first time I did this, I can't explain why I like certain girls over others. Also besides approximately my top 3, most other positions are completely fluid so expect huge changes from last time lol.

AKB48

-My top 5 remained somewhat the same, but my bottom ranks totally changed (no thanks in part to Mitsuki graduating T-T)

#1: Minami Minegishi

-She'll always be my favorite in all the 48Gs.

#2: Misaki Iwasa

-Her solo single this year helped her to move up in ranks

#3: Nana Okada

-Why is she NOT senbatsu yet?! It's such a tragedy.

#4: Mayu Watanabe

-I was never a fan of Mayuyu. I thought she was one of those flavor of the month idols who just tried to be cutesy all the time for attention. This year I just became so impressed with her starting from her reaction to placing third in the election.

#5: Hijiri Tanikawa

#6: Yuka Tano

#7: Yuki Kashiwagi

#8: Ayana Shinozaki

#9: Kiara Sato

#10: Kira Takahashi

She's completely new, but there's something that says to me "I'm gonna be a star!" when I see her.

SKE48

#1: Aya Shibata

#2: Rara Goto

-To me, she has the idol aura. I think she's a new Sayaka in the making. Hopefully fans don't dislike her push and make her more like Rina Ikoma.

#3: Jurina Matsui

#4: Kaori Matsumura

#5: Madoka Umemoto

#6: Akari Suda

#7: Nao Furuhata

#8: Ruka Kitano

#9: Kyoka Isohara

#10: Ami Miyamae

NMB48

#1: Sayaka Yamamoto

#2: Rina Yamao

#3: Shu Yabushita

#4: Fuuko Yagura

#5: Kanae Iso

#6: Ayaka Umeda

#7: Konomi Kusaka

#8: Ririka Suto

#9: Nagisa Shibuya

#10: Miyuki Watanabe

HKT48

#1: Meru Tashima

#2: Chihiro Anai

#3: Sakura Miyawaki

#4: Haruka Ueno

#5: Yui Kojina

#6: Haruka Kodama

#7: Emiri Yamashita

#8: Anna Murashige

#9: Nako Yabuki

#10: Miku Tanaka

NGT48

#1: Yuka Ogino

#2: Minami Kato

#3: Yuria Otaki

#4: Reina Seiji

#5: Noe Yamada

#6: Ayaka Mizusawa

#7: Marina Nishigata

#8: Maho Yamaguchi

#9: Rie Kitahara

#10: Nanako Nishimura

Nogizaka46

#1: Rina Ikoma

-I really wish that she was popular. I love her and she makes a fantastic center.

#2: Minami Hoshino

#3: Maaya Wada

#4: Mai Shiraishi

#5: Nanase Nishino

#6: Iori Sagara

#7: Sayuri Matsumura

#8: Manatsu Akimoto

#9: Marika Ito

#10: Yumi Wakatsuki

Keyakizaka46

#1: Fuyuka Saito

#2: Yui Imaizumi

#3: Miyu Suzumoto

#4: Aoi Harada

#5: Manaka Shida

#6: Yui Kobayashi

#7: Nijika Ishimori

#8: Yuuka Sugai

#9: Nanami Yonetani

#10: Nanako Nagasawa

So that's my list! Who are your favorite 48G members?

48G Ranking May 2015

Since I just did one on Hello! Project I think it's only fair to do one on the 48s as well. I won't do this as detailed as the H!P one. To be honest I couldn't even tell you why I like certain girls from 48G except for my top ones. I'm only going to list my top ten of each group...if I ranked everyone this post would be 3 pages long xD. I'm not counting kennins during the group rankings. If a kennin ranks it would would be with her main group. The list also will not include any girls who have announced their graduations.

AKB48

#1. Minami Minegishi [Team K]

#2. Nana Okada [Team 4]

#3. Misaki Iwasa [Team B]

#4. Hijiri Tanikawa [Team 8]

#5. Yuki Kashiwagi [Team B]

#6. Mitsuki Maeda [Team 4]

#7. Anna Iriyama [Team A]

#8. Mariya Nagao [Team K]

#9. Nana Fujita [Team K]

#10. Moe Aigasa [Team K]

SKE48

#1. Rena Matsui [Team E]

#2. Aya Shibata [Team E]

#3. Jurina Matsui [Team S]

#4. Ruka Kitano [Team KII]

#5. Nao Furuhata [Team KII]

#6. Madoka Umemoto [Team E]

#7. Akari Suda [Team E]

#8. Marika Tani [Team E]

#9. Rika Tsuzuki [Team S]

#10. Ami Miyamae [Team S]

NMB48

#1. Sayaka Yamamoto [Team N]

#2. Rina Yamao [Team N]

#3. Shu Yabushita [Team BII]

#4. Fuuko Yagura [Team M]

#5. Konomi Kusaka [Team BII]

#6. Yuuka Kato [Team N]

#7. Narumi Koga [Team N]

#8. Kanako Kadowaki [Team BII]

#9. Miyuki Watanabe [Team BII]

#10. Rurina Nishizawa [Team N]

HKT48

#1. Nako Yabuki [Team H]

#2. Chihiro Anai [Team H]

#3. Haruka Ueno [Team H]

#4. Haruka Wakatabe [Team H]

#5. Anna Murashige [Team KIV]

#6. Meru Tashima [Team H]

#7. Miku Tanaka [Team H]

#8. Mao Yamamoto [Team H]

#9. Emili Yamashita [Kenkyuusei]

#10. Aoi Motomura [Team KIV]

Nogizaka46

#1. Minami Hoshino

#2. Rina Ikoma

#3. Maaya Wada

#4. Iori Sagara

#5. Marika Ito

#6. Kazumi Takayama

#7. Nanase Nishino

#8. Misa Eto

#9. Mai Shiraishi

#10. Sayuri Inoue

And that's it! I don't follow JKT or SNH at all so I didn't include them. Post your own rankings if you'd like!