What is Draft Member in AKB48 Group?
Understanding the meaning of Member Draft in AKB48 Group and the meaning of these terms. In the world of 48 Family, of course, you are already familiar with the phrase “Draft Member”, this often happens when a member is promoted or graduated, usually these words appear.
Initially, the Draft Team Member was only used by AKB48 and its sister groups in Japan. None of their overseas sister groups have used this concept yet. But AKB48 Team SH Shanghai came first.
Preceding JKT48 which was formed in 2011, now Team SH has announced the draft of the first generation Kenkyuusei members. Making them the first overseas sister group of AKB48 to own it, the management also immediately announced the names of the members.
AKB48 Draft Member Kenkyuusei is a member of a group selected based on the overall Team captain choice in an idol group at 48G which was first opened at the 2022 AKB48 Group Kaigi Draft.
The audition that was held had a different concept from the usual member recruitment. Where the contestants in the audition will be directly selected by the Team Captain to enter a specific team.
All Draft Kenkyuusei Members will usually appear only for the team they represent and who selects them at the audition and will be separated from the Kenkyuusei (Trainee) position.
Initially when this system was created, all members transported from the Kenkyuusei Draft Team could become regular members of the core team. However, it was changed in 2022 to require Draft members to only appear for the team that chose them.
During the recruitment process, all prospective candidates cannot choose which team to join. Because they can only join when the team captain chooses them to join.
Example: There is a participant named Zara, she wants to join Team K but it turns out that the captain of Team A appointed Zara to join, so Zara is forced to become a Draft Member for Team A. But Zara will be given the option to refuse or accept the offer.
In the case where Zara is chosen by two or more captains at once, a draw will be made to determine which team Zara joins in. The main purpose of the Kenkyuusei Draft Member is actually to provide an opportunity for a team to find talents that are less than the current team.
We congratulate Team SH (Shanghai) for being the first overseas AKB48 sister group to use the concept of Draft Member Kenkyuusei, don’t know if other groups will follow suit in the future.
