Starting Over? AKB48 Celebrates 11th Anniversary With Special Theater Live!

| 48 / 46 Group | Posted by Kai Okudara on Dec.09.2016

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AKB48 commemorated their 11th anniversary, their first under the leadership of 2nd generation General Manager Yui Yokoyama, with a fully-loaded special performance at the AKB48 Theater on December 8, 2016. With almost every member of the group taking the stage, it was an evening that shined with the power of AKB48 as another strip of pink tape was wrapped around the pillars of the humble theater on the 8th floor of Don Quihote in Akihabara.

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Following a greeting from Yokoyama, who asked the fans to take in everything that the “AKB48 of now” had to offer, the performance began with “Overture” and AKB48’s finger-snapping 46th single “High Tension”. Opening a door to the future of the group, the newly-selected 16th generation kenkyuusei took the stage for the classics “Aitakatta” and “Seifuku wo Jama Suru” as well as “Mirai no Tobira”.

In addition to a selection of unit songs which included “Nagisa no CHERRY”, “BLUE ROSE”, “Glass no I LOVE YOU”, “Kuroi Tenshi”, “Heart Gata Virus”, and “Tsundere!”, Teams A, K, B, 4, and 8 raced through the history of AKB48 in reverse order of seniority with several of their classic theater songs.

With every member (except for the elementary and middle school-aged members due to Japanese labor laws) packed onto the small stage of the theater, the “AKB48 of now” crossed over into their 12th year with “First Rabbit” and “Sakura no Hanabiratachi”. General Manager Yokoyama expressed her heartfelt thanks to the fans for making the success of AKB48 possible, listing several of the highlights of 2016 such as each of their 4 singles selling over a million copies each in the weeks they were released, and their return to the NHK Kouhaku Uta Gassen. At the same time, she shared that she felt that they were still only just getting started, asking the fans to continue supporting them into the future as she promised that they would “return to their starting point” and be working hard at “sweating more than ever before”.

Congratulations to AKB48 on their 11th anniversary!

Participating Members

AKB48 Team A
Anna Iriyama, Shizuka Oya, Nana Owada, Natsuki Kojima, Haruna Kojima, Yukari Sasaki, Haruka Shimazaki, Miru Shiroma, Kayoko Takita, Megu Taniguchi, Chiyori Nakanishi, Mariko Nakamura, Yui Hiwatashi, Miho Miyazaki, Sakura Miyawaki, Yui Yokoyama

AKB48 Team K
Moe Aigasa, Maria Abe, Manami Ichikawa, Haruka Kodama, Ayana Shinozaki, Haruka Shimada, Hinana Shimoguchi, Mariya Suzuki, Yuka Tano, Chisato Nakata, Nana Fujita, Minami Minegishi, Mion Mukaichi, Tomu Muto, Shinobu Mogi, Ami Yumoto, Satone Kubo, Nao Nomura

AKB48 Team B
Ayano Umeta, Ryoka Oshima, Yuki Kashiwagi, Rena Kato, Moe Goto, Miyu Takeuchi, Makiho Tatsuya, Miku Tanabe, Seina Fukuoka, Chia-Ling Ma, Nako Yabuki, Aeri Yokoshima, Mayu Watanabe, Kira Takahashi, Nishikawa Rei, Ayu Yamabe

AKB48 Team 4
Miyabi Ino, Rina Izuta, Saho Iwatate, Rio Okawa, Miyu Omori, Ayaka Okada, Nana Okada, Saya Kawamoto, Ryoha Kitagawa, Mako Kojima, Haruka Komiyama, Kiara Sato, Nagisa Shibuya, Juri Takahashi, Mio Tomonaga, Miki Nishino, Rena Nozawa, Yuiri Murayama, Eri Chiba

AKB48 Team 8
Nagisa Sakaguchi, Akari Sato, Kasumi Mogi, Rin Okabe, Maria Shimizu, Ayane Takahashi, Nanase Yoshikawa, Yui Oguri, Erina Oda, Shiori Sato, Ayaka Hidaritomo, Nao Ota, Nanami Yamada, Ikumi Nakano, Natsuki Hirose, Rena Fukuchi

AKB48 Kenkyuusei
Nanami Asai, Kaori Inagaki, Izuki Umemoto, Haruka Kurosu, Minami Sato, Nagisa Shoji, Kurumi Suzuki, Manaka Taguchi, Misaki Taya, Ayami Nagatomo, Nanami Noguchi, Nanami Harima, Mai Honma, Ayaka Maeda, Saki Michieda, Orin Muto, Kana Yasuda, Mizuki Yamauchi, Suzuha Yamane

Set List
00 Overture
01 High Tension
02 Aitakatta
03 Nagisa no CHERRY
04 BLUE ROSE
05 Glass no I LOVE YOU
06 Kuroi Tenshi
07 Heart Gata Virus
08 Tsundere!
09 Seifuku ga Jama wo Suru
10 Mirai no Tobira
11 Yume he no Route
12 47 no Suteki na Machi he
13 Kangaeru Hito
14 LOVE Shugyo
15 Shonichi
16 Koi wo Suru to Baka wo Miru
17 Oneesan no Hitorigoto
18 Kaiyugyo no Capacity
19 M.T. ni Sasagu
20 Lavender Field
21 First Rabbit
22 Sakura no Hanabiratachi