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AKB48 Launches New Vietnam Sister Group SGO48
posted on by Rafael Antonio Pineda
AKS, the management company of the AKB48 idol group, announced on Thursday that the group will get a new international sister group based in Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam named SGO48. The group's name evokes Ho Chi Minh's former name Saigon, and the group's logo (seen right) evokes Vietnam's national flower, the lotus.
The group will begin scouting members and holding auditions in July, and AKS hopes to have the group debut later this year.
The group will be the seventh international sister group of AKB48, after AKB48 China, JKT48 (Jakarta), BNK48 (Bangkok), MNL48 (Manila), TPE48 (Taipei), and MUM48 (Mumbai).
AKB48 producer Yasushi Akimoto founded the AKB48 idol group in 2005, and its sixth and latest domestic sister group, STU48, launched in summer 2017. Akimoto also founded AKB48's "official rival group" Nogizaka46.
Recently, Akimoto founded the 22/7 "dimension crossing" idol group. The group has released two singles (the most recent shipped on April 11), both with CG music videos. That project also has a planned anime.
NTV and Akimoto also recently announced an an original anime project titled Kimi dake ni Motetainda (I Want to be Popular Just to You). The project will also hold auditions for male voice actors and performers this summer.
Sources: The Mainichi Shimbun's Mantan Web, Oricon News
