Japanese idol group AKB48 will join its six sister groups, including MNL48, in their first-ever joint concert to be held at the Impact Arena in Bangkok, Thailand on January 27, 2019.
The concert, titled AKB48 Group Asia Festival 2019, is presented by Chinese game publisher Shanda Games and will showcase AKB48 together with MNL48, Indonesia’s JKT48, Thailand’s BNK48, Taiwan’s AKB48 Team TP, China’s AKB48 Team SH and Vietnam’s SGO48.
Each group will have ten of its members performing in the concert, except for BNK48 which will have 16 members. AKB48 will be represented by Yui Yokoyama, Juri Takahashi, Nana Okada, Mion Mukaichi, Yui Ogiri, Miu Shitao, Rin Okabe, Narumi Kuranoo, Satone Kubo and Megu Taniguchi.
MNL48 for its part is fielding its Senbatsu members Abby, Brei, Coleen, Faith, Gabb, Jem, Mari, Rans, Sela and Sheki for the concert, which will be the group’s first overseas performance.
The event is divided into two parts. The first part will include various activities such as High-5 event with all the groups, mini-performances by each group, Dress-Like-AKB booth, costume museum, food stalls and more.
The second part will be the joint concert by AKB48 and its overseas sister groups which will start at 07:00pm Bangkok time.
According to the event website, tickets for the event will cost from 1,800 to 4,000 Thai baht (around 2,900 to 6,500 Philippine pesos) and is currently sold online through the EventPop website.
For more information and other details, you may visit the official event website at akb48asiafes.com.
You can watch the full announcement broadcast on this video:
AKB48 was formed in 2005 as “idols you can meet”, which regularly hosts events, where fans can interact with its members, including taking pictures or shaking hands.
Since then, they have been one of the most successful girl groups in the world, and releasing several singles and albums which are being sold in millions worldwide.
The idol group currently holds the Guinness Book of World Records for Largest Pop Group, which was set in March 2013.
The idol group has expanded to several sister groups in Japan, which are SKE48 (Sakae, Nagoya), NMB48 (Namba, Osaka), HKT48 (Hakata, Fukuoka), and NGT48 (Niigata).
Their first overseas expansion was JKT48, which is based in Indonesia’s capital of Jakarta, in 2011. Shanghai-based SNH48 was followed the following year, but the AKB48 Group had suspended (and eventually ended) its partnership in June 2016 due to a contract violation and remove its references on their website.
The group has now expanded to several East Asian countries since 2016, which are BNK48 based in Bangkok, MNL48 based in Manila, AKB48 Team SH based in Shanghai, AKB48 Team TP (formerly known as TPE48) based in Taipei, and SGO48 based in Saigon.
The group will soon launch MUM48, which is an idol group based in Mumbai, India.
Written by Shin Jalothot (@OreWaShinJei on Twitter) and Edited by Jan Lorenz Baliwagan (@PBNKapamilya on Twitter)
