Why the world needs AKB48

Akihiro Makino, far left, assembles his AKB48 members Thursday morning, including leader Minami Takahashi, far right, before they delivered a sledgehammer concert at the Nokia Theater in Los Angeles. (Photo by G.A. Carroll)

AKB48, the Tokyo-based, idol-music supergroup which Thursday unleashed a mammoth concert on U.S. soil at Anime Expo 2010 in Los Angeles, has injected a desperately needed shot of energy into this country.

The only problem is gaining access to this phenomenon. It's not easy, but there's also a lot of rationale for tightly controlling the burgeoning market generated by these Japanese stars.

For example, the group -- consisting of more than 60 members, 16 of which performed in a historic concert in the Nokia Theater in L.A. as part of the Anime Expo 2010 convention -- spends most of its time in its own 200-seat theater, the Don Quijote Hotel, where three groups rotate performances each night.

"We own our own theater," said Akihiro Makino, CEO of Look Up Corp. and AKB48's coordinator on this trip. "That's how we are able to rehearse and perform all the time and polish up our delivery."

Indeed, getting into an AKB48 show is one of the toughest tickets in the world. An elaborate e-mail lottery controls distribution. Fans flew in from Japan to L.A. just to see the concert.

"They [fans] just can't get in otherwise [in Japan]," said a Japanese tourist who flew out for the sole shot at seeing the concert. AKB48 chooses to deal with a small market and continually milk it, rather than risk widespread distribution of the AKB48 trade name, a practice which has its own hazards of piracy and abuse.

Still, one wonders what the deal was that precluded AKB48 from shipping in cases of DVDs and CDs to AX 2010, where no doubt millions of dollars' worth of product would have been sold to very excited fans.

AKB48 merchandise isn't cheap, and it's not easily found, inside or outside of Japan. A couple rare boxfulls of AKB48's latest CD went for $60 per CD (ouch!) in the autograph line Friday -- a massive snakelike human chain from which only a precious few people managed to get any autographs at all.

AKB48 is protective of its performers. Only four of the 16 girls showed for a pre-convention briefing Wednesday at the Westin Bonaventure Hotel in L.A., and only eight of the 16 made it to a post-concert Q&A forum Friday.

The big guns of this group -- who have been associated with the company since its inception in 1995 -- flew back to Tokyo right after Thursday's show. That group included longtime fan favorite Minami Takahashi, considered the best "front girl" in the world.

AX 2010 officials had no answer as to why no AKB48 merchandise was available on the otherwise gigantic industry sales floor during the convention.

It was a multimillion-dollar mistake, both for AX 2010 and AKB48. An opportunity missed.

Fans around the world are starving for an act like this. It is worth every cent it takes to get there, and to buy CDs and DVDs that should have been made available. AKB48's stunning, carefully synchronized choreography and bombastic songs have drawn international acclaim.

And now, if we could only see and hear them more often.

This is Rad signing off -- for now.