A lot of things happened last week in MNL48. After the Top 48 became official members of MNL48 (and the Challengers officially became Kenkyuusei (trainees), a host of activities were next on the agenda: the formation of teams, the election of team captains, another election for the group captain, the deactivation of the members’ social media accounts, and their supposed transfer to the MNL48 “mansion” where the girls are expected to live for some time. “Supposed” because some members are apparently still in the wild.
But before all that, the girls were presented to the press on Monday, April 30, 2018. Unlike the previous press conferences with Team 8 (of which www.back2gaming.com was in attendance), it seems that the press were given free-reign with regards to which questions they were to ask the girls who got their first taste of how tense-filled press-confrerences can actually be.
Despite www.back2gaming.com not being invited this time, there are a host of other people who were and they’ve had videos of the event uploaded. You can see how the girls sometimes struggled with having to answer tricky questions from veteran reporters who are experts in dealing with celebrities. It is a sign of how “raw” the girls still are and how much they should mentally prepare themselves next time.
In this same press-conference, the Top 16 came with new uniforms to set the media senbatsu apart from the rest of the group. To date, the girls have three sets of unifroms: the uniform provided as applicants, the uniform they wore during the general election, and this new design.
Last week was also the last time the newly minted members are able to connect with their friends and supporters via social media. As is standard among the 48 Groups, the girls’ personal accounts are deactivated and official (and highly monitored) ones will be set up. I would imagine that it was a difficult time for some of them especially those who used those accounts as a way of connecting with family and friends, but it comes with the job. One of the last ones to deactivate was Ash who even hosted her last Showroom live. I was fortunate enough to have been able to witness this Showroom after missing most of her others due to my work schedule, and she even showcased her rap skills to boot! I was stupid enough not to record her rapping (which I dubbed “Ash’s 20 Bars of Fury”), and so I’m left with these poor-quality screen-caps.
You may ask: what’s all the reason for the clamp down on the members’ social media accounts? There could well be a different official reason, but based on what I know about the culture, it is because contact with these girls are either monetized (meaning you pay directly for following their blogs or social media accounts), or incentivized like the hand-shake tickets you get for buying specific versions of the group’s singles/albums. That’s also part of the reason why the members are now being discouraged to have selfies with their fans (as opposed to the “free selfie” policy they had during the campaign period). A fan would hardly take the trouble to buy merchandise for cheki events if they could just walk to the girl and ask a selfie for free.
Lastly, I believe that part of what makes an idol ‘marketable’ is her image, and having full control of her SNS accounts is to maintain that image and prevent any controversial or irresponsible posts. Many an idol’s career has ended throughout the years either because of skeletons in their closet that they didn’t lock very well, an outright defiance of the rules by creating “secret accounts” for communicating with “fans” (usually, boys), and just being a normal human being and posting comments any tired and frustrated human being would.
This setting will be hard not only to the members themselves but to their family and friends as well. The system neatly plucks them from the crowd, isolates them from the fandom, and ensures that there would be a buffer zone between them at all times. Some people left on the outside will eventually feel bitter that they’ve lost their previous connection with these girls and replaced by something more “business-like”. I can’t say that there wouldn’t be any members who’d try to circumvent the system and keep contact with their old friends. But they’re doing so at their own risk.
Moving on, the group’s next major activity was the creation of the teams and the election of their captains. Unlike the other 48 Groups, each team’s members get to elect their own captain. I believe that part of this is because unlike the other 48 Groups, the captain’s duties and obligations are well defined. Because MNL48 has decided on taking 48 girls plus trainees, there’s a real need for a responsible captain to take control and to ensure that the girls would both toe the line on management’s decisions, as well as keep the team together by boosting their morale and make sure the team works as one.
The teams are as follows:
Team M-II
Team N-IV
Team L
Kenkyuusei Captain: Arol
Barely a minute after Kay was elected captain of Team L last Saturday, the election for the group Captain began. The member elected to this position will be the counterpart to AKB48 Group’s General Manager Yui Yokoyama among other pretty heavy obligations. Alice was elected by a whopping 31 votes owing to her vast idol experience as a former member of Kawaii5 as well as her popularity among the girls.
Lastly, the girls moved into the MNL48 “mansion” (or at least, that’s what the VTR in “It’s Showtime” last Saturday showed). It should be noted (with some relief) that this “mansion” isn’t the PBB House and likely won’t have cameras in it (for the meantime, at least). But it’s also not a “mansion” in the usual sense. It’s actually an apartment complex. According to Admin Youko of FilWota48, the word “mansion” in Japanese terms means “apartment complex”. The girls seem to be divided per team, although I obviously can’t confirm that since I haven’t been there and stalking isn’t part of my modus operandi.
There’s not much details about the girls’ activities and to what extent they are being cloistered, but we can at least expect them to undergo a battery of lessons aimed at making them a true professional idol. After all, the 48 Group has certain standards to maintain.
In contrast to the chaotic last month of the audition, things are pretty peaceful in MNL48. The girls are working their way into idol-shape, the management is probably figuring out what to do next, and the fans are left to discuss about which single they want the group in, what kind of music videos should they produce, and how MNL48 will turn out. But one thing’s for sure, the girls are still far from the 48 standard and this period is a crucial time for them as their “transition” goes full swing and the girls suddenly realize the hard work that will be demanded of them. They need our support.
Finally, I was informed while writing this blog that ABS-CBN has started striking down videos of MNL48 events in You Tube. Obviously any footage after the girls became official members is now the property of HHE/ABS-CBN and may be subject to copyright terms. Hopefully my videos of both the handshake event and the General Election won’t be affected. In the future, camera usage will be strictly regulated, if not outright prohibited, so I guess we would just have to be prepared for this and follow the stated rules and regulations to avoid any untoward incidents like confiscated cameras, broken hearts, and incessant cursing of HHE/ABS-CBN for enforcing their rights.
This won’t be the last “restriction” we’ll see. Anyone who follows idols knows that the industry has lots and lots of rules and codes of conduct, both written and unwritten. The best way for all of us to enjoy them is to make sure we follow the rules and respect our boundaries.
Heads up! The MNL48 app is about to transition into the Fanclub App. Coming soon…
