Title: International
Universe: Kamen Rider Black RX, Sekai Ninja Sen Jiraiya
Series: Season One | The Mutiny (1, 2, 3) | The Power Stealer | White Light (1, 2, 1+2) | Zedd's Monster Mash | Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers: The Movie
Character(s): Minami Kotaro, Dr Smith
Rating: U
Warnings: N/A
Summary: It had been three years since the Crisis invasion and two months since the collapse of the Institute of Super Science, their remaining Level 3 Cyborg Soldiers all but breaking him with their tenacity, the terrified face of Reiko as she had been held in the containment tube behind their hulking shapes, his armour falling from him as he had finally bested them.
Length: 659 words
Author's Notes: external link .



( International )

Teasers and early performances for the sixty-sixth single, oh my pumpkin!, have been popping up all over the place, including the suggestion of a full Team SH version! I have no idea why a single released in summer and billed as an AKB anniversary project is so seemingly autumnal, but I also won't complain as I'm really excited for the song!

I started thinking about the two Shanghai groups again late last year, having mostly tried to ignore what was happening with SNH48 since they went rogue, and, whilst being a fan of Shen Ying from the successive Team SH, also trying my hardest not to get involved too much with the drama surrounding these groups. However, in order to properly talk about where we are now, we need to at least address some of that since the last time we really spoke of SNH48.



Gui ChuChu debuted as part of Team SH's second generation trainees in August 2019 and was promoted into the generation proper several months later in October with the full debut of her peers. As a group, Team SH was first hinted at in 2017 in a blog post following a year and a half of silence on the matter of SNH48's going rogue and their increasing popularity. In 2018, auditions were held for the first generation, and by December of that year, the first digital single was released, a cover of LOVE TRIP, its video featuring the members sight-seeing in Tokyo, standing outside famous locations, specifically standing outside the AKB theatre as a way of fostering the idea that they were not necessarily just a sister group but an extension of AKB48 itself. It's messy in its clear intent, its attempt to take back ownership of the idea of a mainland Chinese branch of the "AKB franchise" but it is not entirely without appeal. Because the girls being introduced to an audience who are already fans of AKB are framed in the same way as fans—looking up at idols and gathering strength from this—there is a sense that we are one and the same, that Team SH are us.

Into all this, ChuChu and the second generation debuted, Team SH having been sent back to Shanghai to tell everyone that they were "the real AKB sister group in China" whilst never once mentioning SNH48 or commenting on the activities of their predecessors, the promotion for which has grown increasingly risqué. By 2020, weathering the storm of covid, the group's fourth EP, the lead song being a cover of Kaze wa Fuiteiru, was released with ChuChu sharing a Wcentre alongside first generation member, Liu Nian, who, a year later, was suspended and demoted back to trainee status with all the flare of an NGT member, and eventually fired. I tried looking around for details for what happened here, with a lot of AKB sites reluctant to mention it, but apparently it was more to do with career ambitions than the usual business, which... I can understand. It's hard not to eventually become frustrated when your boss is in "another office."

From Kaze wa Fuiteiru, and despite regulations changing in China in terms of the kind of popularity contests that general elections represent, ChuChu has found herself regularly in the senbatsu for Team SH's singles, though her only other time at the forefront of the group until now was another Wcentre, a cover of Ponytail to Shushu alongside third generation member, Qiu DiEr, who debuted in 2020 with her peers. oh my pumpkin! changes that! Realistically, I feel that despite the hype of members of the sister groups being in the senbatsu for the new single, they will no doubt be mostly confined to the back rows, promotion built on the novelty of their inclusion despite only getting one line at best in the song. Not all is lost however! On the same day as the Japanese release debuts, both Team SH and Team TP are releasing versions of the song with their respective members as centre. More on Team TP soon, but it's worth noting that the B side for the SH release is a cover of the recently released NGT single, Otona Ressha, which I bought both versions of but, ah, haven't listened to yet as my CD player broke.

AKB48 Team SH have a weird history, not quite AKB but not entirely a sister group, and yet this latest move with ChuChu in the senbatsu for a proper AKB release seems designed at further building their fanbase in Japan and strengthening their ties. I hope that whatever happens next, we get to see many more of these collaborations!