AKB48 Team 4 gets revived, Minegishi Minami to become captain

A big announcement was made on August 24th during ‘AKB48 2013 Manatsu no Dome Tour ~Mada Mada, Yaranakyaikenai Koto ga Aru~‘ at Tokyo Dome. The old Team 4, which was disbanded back in October 2012, will be revived to house 16 research members who have all been promoted to become regular members.

It was also announced that Minegishi Minami, who was demoted to research student status after her scandal in February this year, will become the new captain of Team 4. After hearing these announcements, Iwatate Saho expressed, “I didn’t think that we would all get promoted at once. I have work even harder than before.” Nishino Miki added, “I didn’t think I would get promoted. The Kenkyuusei all worked hard together, so we all wished to get promoted together. I am very happy that our dream came true.”

New Team 4 Members:

Aigasa Moe / Iwatate Saho / Uchiyama Natsuki / Umeta Ayano / Okada Ayaka / Okada Nana / Kitazawa Saki / Kojima Mako / Shinozaki Ayana / Takashima Yurina / Nishino Miki / Hashimoto Hikari / Maeda Mitsuki / Mirayama Yuiri / Mogi Shinobu / Minegishi Minami (team captain)

Source

AKB48 ex-Team 4 revived in “Hashire Penguin” PV

If you followed the YouTube live broadcast of AKB48’s Request Hour Setlist 2013, you might recall that Team 4’s “Hashire Penguin” or “走れ！ペンギン” emerged tops as the most requested song among akb fans. I got to be honest, i don’t know too much about Team 4, only that incident of them being disbanded after a group shuffle last year. In some TV show, i think Shimazaki Haruka, who was originally from Team 4, blamed herself for the team’s collapse. These girls must have felt terrible after losing what was originally their home, so it must be very touching for them to see their original song voted to the top.

So the deal is, the winning song gets a PV, and this will be the bonus footage for AKB48’s Request Hour Setlist DVD. If you’re interested in purchasing the DVD, click on pic below.

 AKB48 Request Hour Setlist Best 100 2013 [Blu-ray] Special Blu-ray BOX Hashire! Penguin Ver.

Also, check out the Full PV!

Like the title “Run! Penguins!” suggests, the girls are decked out in penguin outfits for this PV. A first look at the girls left me quite surprised, because most of them are coined the next generation aces! With the likes of Shimazaki Haruka, Kato Rena, Kawaei Rina, Iriyama Anna, Tano Yuka, Lemon-chan, Abe Maria and so on….i’m now reallly curious as to why this team was disbanded. The most logical reason i can think of is the management’s strategy to inject fresh blood into the other teams in order to keep the group interesting.

Anyways, the song has a very cheerful tune, easy on the ears complemented by the girls’ bright smiles. The lyrics talk about striving for the center position in order to gain someone’s love. It is really an apt song for these girls, as they were the youngest members in AKB, so i guess their ambitions are naturally reflected in the lyrics. The dance itself mimics the wobbly movements of penguins, so one word – CUTE!

Underrated team or not, i’m glad they were given a PV of good quality. The closeups of the members were really nice as well so i guess the fans’ efforts to reviving these girls paid off!