Just when you thought this what is the continuing point of this CGI Idol drama could not get any stranger, it got stranger.
When you go to AKB48`s theater there is a wall of member framed photos for you to admire .Well it seems that there was a “break in” at the theater and only one item was taken .Would you care to guess what was “stolen” ?
If you guessed it was Eguchi Aimi`s photo then your a winner .That’s right, the “thief” did not go after the entire collection, he went after the one member who is not real.
The management of AKB48 issued the following statement.
“We could easily make a new photo. It just does not have any meaning if that is done. Until now, not one wall-mounted picture has been stolen, that’s ‘proof’ that the theater and fans have such a strong relationship,”
AKB48 theater officials are not planning to press charges and only ask that in their words the “regret stricken fan, simply return the photo” and all will be forgiven.
Given that this has made the mainstream media, leaves a few things to consider.
If this is a real life thief how must the living members of AKB48 feel today, knowing that, a CGI idol is worth more to steal then you. If this was an in-house media event ,the question is why continue to promote a CGI Idol ,when you have an entire roster of living idols promoting tons of goods everyday. I mean the girls are coming out with a bra campaign; you are in the media spotlight dozens of times everyday.
Say, what you want about AKB48, this crazy CGI Idol madness, Akimoto knows how to do one thing better then every other idol company. That is make units the biggest names in history. He has taken Onyanko Club and now AKB48 to levels other groups have not been and it`s safe to say any future project will be more of the same.
What ever the outcome of this story Eguchi Aimi has given AKB48 a few more days of free press coverage and that is worth many more times then a wall photo.
CG Idol Eguchi Aimi, made her “Realife” AKB48 debut on July 24 by taking the stage as part of AKB48`s three night 90,000 fan ‘Yossha~Ikuzo~! In Seibu Dome’ concert series.
Eguchi took the stage in person with several members of AKB48 to start her career by performing her CM song “Ice no Kuchizuke”, leaving fans to wonder, “Hey wait a minute Aimi-chan is a CGI idol, what gives here”.
At the end of the concert, Takahashi Minami addressed the crowd about their newest member. Takahashi said, “I have to expose the truth about this, Aimi-chan is really kenkyuusei member Sasaki Yukari. To accomplish her role today Yukari put on prosthetic make up to make herself into Eguchi Aimi”
Takahashi concluded the announcement by saying “Please continue to take care of Aimi-chan and AKB48.”
Gaki has been covering a series of posts regarding Eguchi Aimi, whom is dubbed as the face of AKB48 in what they call a "perfect idol". The response from the public, some loved it, while some cried "FAKE!". (presumably...)
But "virtual idols" are not new in Japan entertainment.
Since the beginning of time, mankind seek perfection in whatever subject they find. Idols are no exception. People have a vision of what a perfect "something" in their mind, and in the case of Japanese idols, some have decided to showcase in what they think is a perfect idol.
First Generation - Anime
Way back in the early 1980's, the hit mecha anime Super Dimensional Fortress Macross have shown their version of what they think is a perfect idol - Lynn Minmay.
Lynn Minmay is a civilian aboard the Macross spaceship whose raw talent was discovered and then further groomed her to not only be a pop idol, but a symbol of hope and peace while humanity fights off invading aliens such as the Zentradi. Macross portrayed Minmay as a young teen struggling to come to terms with her insecurity, doubts on love relationships and her pop stardom - just like any other ordinary teen. Singer Iijima Mari sung Minmay's songs and she is associated with the anime character ever since. So, in my mind Lynn Minmay is the earliest successful form of a virtual idol - albeit in the form of anime character.
From the mid 80's onwards other "acts" have tried to emulate the success of Minmay, notably Megazone 23's Tokimatsu Eve and Takanaka Yui. Although not as famous as Minmay, the idea of anime virtual idol stuck and evolved over the years.
Yui Takanaka in Megazone 23
Second Attempt - 3D
Almost 10 years later in year 1996, technology has improved and people began too look for something as close to realism as possible. It is also a time where 3D animation got a big boom. That's where Kyoko Date and Terai Yuki come in.
Produced by Hori Puro talent agency, Kyoko Date was first conceptualized to be a dating simulation game character, but somehow decided to market her as a "real" talent under the agency, even produced a song for her. Unfortunately, Kyoko's popularity lasted only a few months, however all the publicity invested in her has increased HoriPuro's company image. There were future versions created in 2002 and another one in 2007 (active in Second Life).
Another 3D virtual idol picked up where Kyoto left off. Terai Yuki was originally an character in manga artist Kutsugi Kenichi's manga "Libido" but later was 3D-modeled. At that time, her bio states that she is 17 years old, 3 sizes 89-59-85, 166 cm tall, loves jazz and idolizes Sarah Vaughan. Her birthdate is set at 9th September 2000 however, meaning that she is a time traveller who came from the futuristic world of the year 2017.
Terai was well received by the masses, that in between 1999 to 2001 she is seen TV commercials, photobooks, PV, singles (produced with Avex), DVDs, magazines, games, softwares, banners etc. Although her popularity waned after that, I believe it has paved the way for virtual idol-ling in 3D-model characters, such as Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball.
Terai Yuki - Fly away alone
(If you are wondering why both of them have short hair? Because long hair is more difficult to animate in realistic 3D)
Third Wave - Hybrid
Again, fast forward 10 years later round about 2007, another virtual idol craze has emerged from the hometown of the otakus, Akibahara culture, Moe maid cafes and pure kawaii-ness - Hatsune Miku. Hatsune is a female character used as a persona to market Vocaloid speech synthesizer, a software designed to simulate vocal speech and song. One may use Vocaloid to replace back-singers if skilled enough. Apparently someone thought otherwise and decided to animate Hatsune Miku, and with sampling audio from singer/voice actress Fujita Saki, a new virtual star is born.
Unlike her predecessors, Hatsune Miku appeared in both mediums - anime and 3D. Even so far as to create a hologram concert with real live backing bands and all.
Hatsune Miku - Triple Baka
3D & Hologram - Ai Kotoba
So... what next?
So about Eguchi Aimi, fact of the matter that her case could just be a one-off PR project for Glico, because I don't know if it will evolve to ANIMATING Eguchi in a manner that she will be able to sing and dance.
Although Hatsune Miku and the Vocaloids are still quite popular, there seems to be some kind of buzz going on with the emergence of "perfect idol" Eguchi Aimi. A question of morality? Or fear of a possible outcome?
From the pattern there seems to be about a 10-year gap between each virtual idol big break. But it is 2011 after all, and technology has leapt to great heights and there seems to be a possibility that about half a decade later, "real" idols will have to challenge virtual idols on the Oricon charts...
But consider this ->
At a time which where it is possible to "touch" a hologram like Hatsune Miku, and there are people with the notion to marry their digital girlfriends... Will we be seeing idol handshake events in _hologram_ in the future...?
I leave you with ELISA's rendition of Iijima Mari / Lynn Minmay's, the first virtual idol's most memorable song "Do you remember Love?", as we the idol fans continue to seek perfection in song and dance from our favourite idols... be it virtual or otherwise.
After milking this so-called drama for a few days , the truth that we all knew ahead of time was revealed.
What truth shall that be? -Eguchi Aimi was a CGI Idol. Big shock right, lol.
Now on to the more important news of the day, just who is Eguchi Aimi?
Aimi`s hair and body belong to Oshima Yuko ,her online is Takahashi Minami ,her eyes is Maeda Atsuko ,her eyebrows are from the Cyborg idol Watanabe Mayu . Her nose is Itano Tomomi`s, her mouth is Shinoda Mariko`s and "Dr" Akimoto removed 12th gen`s Sasaki Yukari`s voice and made it Aimi`s.
Now as to her member bio, well that is true; you see it is the bio for Glico's company profile.
Here is the good part, instead of cursing "Dr" Akimoto for playing with your hearts by creating this Frankenstein Idol. Instead head over to the home page at the end of this post and you can create your own idol.
That is right; you can take parts of 47 AKB48 members and create your own CGI 48 Idol.
The Eguchi Aimi Saga Continues Is She Real After All?
Well ,well ,well , is she real or is she not ? That my friends depend on whom you believe. First, the media asked the real camp- Glico if she was real ,and the answer was "Sorry we can’t comment”. AKS the management company for AKB48 has gone as far as saying, “She’s real! She didn’t take the 12th generation auditions, so we had to quickly accept her (into generation 12.5)”. An entire bio has also been created on her and some cover story of her being first accepted into NMB48.
Now the fake camp . What happens when you let idols blog , well they talk .
Kikuchi Ayaka before management discovered it and deleted the post wrote Eguchi Aimi-san is cute . She’s just too pretty! Lol lol lol she is in the 12.5 generation~ I also did a shoot! I wonder when a part of my face will be used (hehe)”
Oshima Yuko , may have let it slip as far back as February ,when she posted a photo with dots on her face and the words “The shoot has finished. It took a long time, but I was by myself so I was able to stay nonchalant. In addition, in the end I turned out looking like this.
Looks like AKS and Glico ,has more miles they want to milk out of their new creation . Is she real as they claim or is she CGI as the members of AKB48 claim?
The real answer we already know , but the marketing of the controversy will guarantee that AKB48 will get maximum media coverage when Hello!Project is preparing for the release of Morning Musume`s single . A bit of chance or back room strategy by the idol, super power?
What happens, when your the Queens of the female Idol genre, and frankly just don`t have a lot of time to push yourself to every network in the country?
Answer- you create the new “it girl” for AKB48.
Please welcome AKB48 newest member and rising star Eguchi Aimi.
Aimi is currently one of the fastest rising members of AKB48, reaching magazine and a lead in a promotional ad before doing her first video or theater live.
So what makes Aimi so special that she may challenge for the center position in the next Senbatsu? , you see Aimi is not real. Just like Dr. Frankenstein, when he had a few free days on his hand, went wild and created his own creation. "Dr". Akimoto has taken bits and pieces of his AKB girls and created the “perfect” idol. After all, if you are going to create the perfect Idol, you already have the perfect idol franchise to take parts from.
AKB48 producer Akimoto Yasushi who created Aimi , describes her as the reason AKB48 was created to “meet the heroine of the new age”."Dr".Akimoto`s creation has wasted no time in gaining media popularity by landing a magazine cover and the lead in the Glico candy promotion, of which she was created for.
The possibilities are now endless for AKB48 ; will we see an entire CGI unit? what about CGI auditions? , Will Aimi be allowed in the Senbatsu or even in PV`s? On the other hand, just maybe Watanabe Mayu is really the mastermind behind AKB48 and we will see Cyborg AKB.
Say what you want to about AKB48 , be it for or against this group ,but one thing is for sure ,when it comes to promotions and keeping their franchise name in the media , no other female idol group does it as well as AKB48 .
So until we get Cyborg AKB doing “Ponytail to Shushu II” here is Eguchi Aimi`s debut.
AKB48 Tops H!P Idol Golden Era Record + New Member
The current Queens of Idol genre AKB48 after breaking singles record after singles record , have now broke an album record that will likely stir the emotions of two veteran idol camps.
AKB48`s album “Koko ni Ita Koto” has sold a very impressive 602,000 copies in a single week. By doing so AKB48 has broken Morning Musume`s 11 year hold for first week album sales by a female group ,when Morning Musume sold 578,000 copies [863,000 + overall] in one week with “3rd-LOVE Paradise" .
AKB48 also managed to defeat EXILE for the highest sales for an album to date this year.
Incase your wondering if this is just another marketing trick ? ,it is not ,this album does not include any promotional tickets .Now the question is will this album manage to break their record for weeks on Oricon at 62 weeks set when they released “Kamikyokutachi”.
On the singles front their single “Everyday, Kachuusha” is about to cross the 1,500,000 ,after three week sales of 1,499,000.
AKB48 has also announced a new member Eguchi Aimi who is quickly rising up the ranks and has endorsements already lined up . In case you have not heard, Aimi is a CGI Idol for an AKB48 endorsement campaign.
