Alright it's that time again

Some quick notes

-This time Saya is exempted as she has sold out 400 slots.

-6th gen are all added to the unders

-Rika will be graduating,thus only selling 15 slot

-Ume being exempted and graduating,will only be selling via real meet and greet

Drop your senbatsu prediction for the next single!

I am hoping its a summer single, so center choice is either nagi, miku or sakutan.

I hope they increase the slot to 18 members so we can have more 6ki joining. I can see yada and setoguchi entering, and probably morihira and okoshi if they increase the slot

No sold out yet for 6ki. 54 slots drop comparing to last single (113/300).

1. Synchronicity: Mai > Ume > ?

2. Girls Rule: Mai > Mizuki > Miku

3. Hadashi de Summer: Asuka > KawaSaku

4. Jikochuu de Ikou: Asuka > EnSaku

Who will inherit Synchronicity after Ume?

It will be about time soon that the next single senbatsu lineup is announced… while waiting, I have a rather wishful prediction with 18 member selection.

front row - about time we have all 5ki in front row!

second row - staple fukujin (endo kakki ume), the new gens (yada + setoguchi) and idk if management will be considering renka again… since she is still strong with meguri? otherwise, i would put her back row if she does return senbatsu!

third row - staple 5ki for our vice captain shokichi and young ace aya! returning ioki and tomisato because they deserve it. I really want tamura and hayashi back to senbatsu hence sacrificing yumiki… but lets be real. Management would not want both variety members (yumiki and okamoto) out, so i still think yumiki might be in… if she is in, then hayashi will be out.

if this is a 16-member lineup, and being realistic:

3rd row - yumiki, shokichi, mao, aya, tsutsui

2nd row - mayu/renka, setoguchi, kakki, endo, yada, ume

1st row - kawasaki, aruno, nagi, terepan, miku

I used this for the formation: https://n46sim.com/new.php

let me know your prediction or hope for the next single lineup!

I have not been able to access Stage48 forum recently, so I thought I would want to bring the thread here instead!

Discuss your 2026 hopes, fear and prediction for Nogizaka46! I will start:

Hopes - ioki, mayutan and hayashi back to senbatsu - endo or kakki center (which most likely will be their final…) - 5ki stay front member (betting on nagi, terepan, sakumiku) - song quality remained or improved, and general public interest increased - a catchy summer song, a nogizaka-esque song like synchronicity/hodoukyou/same numbers for either spring or winter single, and any genre for the remaining single - kaibe enter senbatsu. Loving her vocals and she prob can sound prominent in their title track

Fear - endo or/and kakki announce graduation - hayashi stays under until graduation - song quality drops…

Prediction - ioki back to senbatsu - 16 senbatsu formation might stay for a while, unless 6ki integrated to under which means we can have more senbatsu members - ume, endo, kakki graduate… - endo or kakki solo center (honestly 2026 feels like the last 4ki center. Same to 3ki last center by mizuki in 2024) - nagi solo center - mitsuki or yada solo center. Or another W-Center

being oshi of endo kakki at this point of time is just like sitting at the edge because their age is where most prominent members would graduate… and they have hit 7 years tenor in the group 🥹 it would be great if they could stay longer of course!

Drop your thoughts below!

Okay so title is a bit clickbaity. I was into AKB48 around 2014-2015 and binged AKBingo in the same fashion, but gradually lost interest around Kokoro no Placard as my favs were all gone. I did know Nogizaka46 as a sister group then, member wise I knew Ikoma and Maiyan, but nothing more than that.

Then early this month pics of AKB48 20th Anniversary Concert were all over my social feed, I got the urge to watch Idol contents again, and since Nogizaka had their variety show from the beginning I figured it was a good idea to watch them from debut. From the title you can probably see I got hooked. Right now I'm at ep 290 of NogiChuu and to be honest I don't have the confidence I can continue for much longer, so here's some my thoughts on the shows as well as the group from 2011-2021 (where I'm at) in no paticular order.

• MC: Bananaman are goated.

• When it gets good: The show needed Manatsu, and even then it only got consistenty good around after 6th single campaign, with introduction of many staple themes Horror stories, insider stories from families, romance delusions, non-senbatsu members appearing on the show..., IMO that's when the show found its identity, with it basically NogiChuu 0.5.

• Senbatsu announments: I hate those and would watch all at double speed since I feel bad watching it every time. Though the one when they changed 5fukujin to 10fukujin was pretty funny since all of them figured out second row getting called fukujin or not was just arbitrary and didn't matter.

• Member episodes at the beginning of NogiChuu: Hit or miss, but the good ones were extremely funny, sad to see they stopped doing it.

• Missed potentials: The Himetan hotspring episode is no 1, the premise was 10/10, delivery was meh, understandably they were still idols. Another missed opportunity is again related hotspring incident, this time the call back to it in ep 255, the storytelling was perfect but got barely any screen time, I felt like no one on the sets remember it anymore.

• Favorite moments: There's a lot but I'll just list some of the ones that I can remember on top of my head: Asuka's valentime rejections, Wakatsuki's Hashi-kun, Matsumura's gift to Himura, Himura's Influencer arc, Manatsu's trial, Himura's shopping episodes and HK3, Shinuchi's drama, Mizuki and Asuka dynamics, Riria's stunt episode.

• Newer gens: I didn't care for 3rd gen when they were introduced but I gradually warmed up to them, but for 4th gen, as of ep 291 (start of 2021) with most 1st and 2nd gen going away (or stop actively paticipating) none of them interests me yet (maybe Mayu), it's getting kinda hard to continue watching.

And since I think a new fan willing to grind through old contents is pretty rare, if you're curious about my perspective on anything related to the shows, songs, members,... I'll try my best to answer them.

Prior to ume’s gradcon, I was wondering how they would perform Hodoukyou. My personal wish was to have Ume danced Saku’s solo part, or center some parts of the chorus.

To my surprise, they performed the song as a duo!! I was really mesmerized. I got more than what I wished for. They really nailed the performance. Hodoukyou is my all time favourite nogi song, so to see them performing it with the recent outfit was just too much to handle lol

Let me know your thoughts on this performance!

Day 2 was as emotional as I thought it would be but it was so much more than that as well, it had everything other than a surprise Yama appearance. :(

The setlist was completely different from Day 1 (other than Synchronicity which was the only song she did on both days- I wonder why?)

Once again they started with the black costume which I thought really suited 何度目の青空か?  Then came 走れ！Bicycle and 太陽 Knock which are crowd favourites- my favourite songs at any show are usually the ones where they go round the arena to the stands, as it is so nice to see everyone having fun even if I'm not there in person.

Throughout the night there were many VTR segments but I think only the first (message to members) and last (message from her parents) were the "real" Kubo... the rest consisted of mini dramas, interestingly enough, of situations faced by her character and how she dealt with them.

価値あるもの- this was so beautifully done, I will miss seeing Kubo, Sakuchan and Kakki together...

人は夢を二度見る - Everyone knows this song will be done at some point tonight, but will THAT person show up? Sadly, no... and she looks a little lonely by herself at the end, and there was no last Kuboshita.

狼に口笛を- Costume change to winter coats - and this song was so cute with the arena shoutouts (although Shiori refused to do a kimegao... lol) and the members all doing gao handsigns

Time Limit 片思い - Back to regular costumes, I loved Kubo's red dress! And the ending where she patted Yada's head was just too cute!! Kubo's last 6gen song and it was so so good.

4番目の光 - The 4gen song. That message from 4gen members at the end..🥲

Against - Somehow I always associate this song with Actually... so she just had to do it tonight

Anastasia - OK this was kind of a surprising choice as it's one of those I haven't heard for a while, but definitely a good choice- seeing the whole group on stage doing formations at the end was a sight to behold

三番目の風 - With the 4gen song done of course she had to do the 3gen song as well!! And call me biased but 3gen rocks.

きっかけ - Sometimes I forget that Shiori can not only sing, dance but she can also play the piano so well. Reminds me of when she played Tegami during bunkasai...

最後のTight Hug - After yesterday, I fully expected her to do Ikuchan songs tonight and she didn't disappoint!!  What's more, she followed it up with dankeschon during the encore! I couldn't ask for more.

僕が手を叩く方へ - Kubo center song which was guaranteed to make an appearance but she did kept us waiting. That group hug at the end... 🥺

To the encore segment - Kubo appeared in an elegant white dress - and finally she did 夢の匂い... beautifully done, and I don't think there were too many dry eyes left, and especially not after hearing what Kubo's parents had to say in their messages during the VTR.

乃木坂の詩 - it was a sight to behold during the bridge with the whole arena waving purple lightsticks and the members literally glowing purple on stage with the lighting !

And surprisingly, that was NOT the last song.

思い出ファースト- Kubo had a last farewell walk round the arena with everyone and then a fee messages later that was it. She turned her back and walked out of a door at the back of the stage, with only her silhouette visible at the end.  Maybe it's not as dramatic as Yama's exit (I won't forget that rising moon), but it's a fitting one.

Personally, it's the end of an era for me too as my beloved Nogi "Big 3" of Kubo Shiori, Saito Asuka and Ikuta Erika have now all graduated.

Although I only discovered Reddit for a few months, I started closely following Nogizaka since 2018 so I am more attached to some of the seniors. I don't think I can be attached to any member as much as these 3 again, but well guess I will have to try!

Nao & Hina 27/30

Mirine is leading in 6ki

I think she's kind of...lacking presence. At first, I liked her; she seemed charismatic. The story behind the name "Christie" is also interesting, but I feel that over the years she faded and was sidelined. She only participated in one senbatsu (and that only happened because of Mizuki's graduation). She doesn't have much involvement in showbiz, and despite that, she's still in the group (being the oldest currently). I'd like to know if she has any special motivation or if it's just love for the group. Despite all that, I like her because she has a peaceful and caring personality.

Full top 10:

1. Nagi Inoue (5th gen) — 58 votes

2. Sakura Endo (4th gen) — 53

3. Miku Ichinose (5th gen) — 48

4. Ayame Tsutsui (4th gen) — 38

5. Aya Ogawa (5th gen) — 36

6. Haruka Kaki (4th gen) — 35

7. Mayu Tamura (4th gen) — 34

8. Teresa Ikeda (5th gen) — 33 (tie)

9. Iroha Okuda (5th gen) — 33 (tie)

10. Renka Iwamoto (3rd gen) — 32

5th gen takes 5 out of 10 spots.

Share your spotify wrapped if nogi is in one of your top listening! In my case, I became a fan in mid-late 2024, so Hodoukyou was the first song released after I became a fan, and it holds a special place in my heart for so many reasons: 1. My first comeback with them 2. Very touching lyrics which resonate with events happening in my life 3. Endo’s performance proving why she is the current ace of Nogi

Nogi is my top artist two years in a row now! Last year’s #1 was Kimi ni Shikarareta and this year goes to Hodoukyou!

My top 5 except Yuiri’s grad song literally songs from Nogi with both Endo and Kakki center lol. Cant help that they are both my fav members and their center songs are also amazing!

Sold out members

Rika

All 5th gen except Hina,Nao and Iroha

I was listening to Ikuta Erika's Bitter Candy Tour and the 2nd verse of "Dakara ne" starts with 「カーテンの」but I recall hearing the same word with the same melody. Turns out it was from "Naimononedari" and it's the first line even but one semitone down.

Dakara ne
Naimononedari

11 members (excluding those graduating) completely sold-out in 1st round. Fukujin for next single?

Sold out member

Renka,ume

Saku,kaki and Mayu

Everyone in 5th gen except Satsuki,Nao ,Aya,Iroha

What other songs have different choreography in their MVs compared to their live performances? I can only think of Itsunohinikaanoutao of 5ki, the first chorus in the MV is different from the live performances.

Last application for 05/10 this week.

Iroha, Yada and Mirine sold out.

6 consecutive sold out for 5ki.

Other are not possible to sold out as application for 04/12 has ended.

Day 1 was fun and not too many tears shed luckily. (that would be tomorrow)

Some thoughts:

• The black dress they came out in from the start is so beautiful! It's already one of my favourite costumes I think.

• Kubo had one song each with every gen but nothing beats the 3gen chemistry imo.

• The acoustic solo at the start of 言霊砲!!!🤯 Mind blown!

• Synchronicity and the start of red dress Kubo! She let the usual members take the center position for the next few songs and that was nice to see, although I would liked to have her center for every song ...

• Kakki and her Kubokubokubokubokuboshiori made a comeback during 好きというのはロックだぜ!! I would have loved an extended version but good enough!

• The first big performance of Biriyani was wonderfully done!! Setoguchi/Yada were great

• The flashback montage played at the back during 未来の答え 🥲  Next few songs were all Kubo

• Shocked that she did 歳月の轍 which was Ikuchan's solo graduation song 🥲 I did not think I would hear it again at another  graduation!

• During the MC portion Yumiki talked about how she would associate gyoza with Shiori because of her gyoza parties - well I think so would I especially after having Kubo Shiori gyozas at this summer's Nogicafe 😂

• Last song ひと夏の長さより...  was so beautiful and especially meaningful for me as it was the favourite song of another chika idol (now retired) I knew, I would think of her every time I hear this song.

What did you guys think of Day 1?

At today's 41st Single Under Live Day 1, 6th gen's Yuuna Suzuki asked Haruka Kuromi during the MC segment: "The 6th gen wants to join the Kuromi-kai too — if you were picking, who would you choose?"

Kuromi said she honestly wants to pick all of them. She also added that it's different from when the 5th gen joined: "With the 5th gen, I was the one who reached out first. But the 6th gen came to me on their own before I even had the chance." So she said she'd decide based on how much eye contact they make with her during the show — "Lock eyes with me lots and you're in!"

As for fans — she was asked about this on NHK's Rajirā! before. The condition isn't money, just "liking Kuromin." Though she admitted she once considered a 963 yen membership fee — because 963 = ku(9)-ro(6)-mi(3).

MV at 00:00 JST https://youtu.be/GuKqBjTvTCw

Audio if you want listen now:

https://b23.tv/o7rR5B3

04/12 & 04/19 application has ended so mitsuki has sold out the remaining one.

Still 4 0/30 for 6ki.