AKB48 Yusatsu

THE RED ALBUM / THE BLUE ALBUM

AKB48 Yusatsu THE RED ALBUM / THE BLUE ALBUM was released last month on the 25th March. The two separate books contain hundreds of candid photographs that the AKB48 members have taken of each other over the last year. The books went up for sale only yesterday evening at the local Kinokuniya and we were sure to pick up our copies.

AKB48 Yusatsu THE RED ALBUM / THE BLUE ALBUM.

Behind.

The inner cover is a cool collage.

My first reaction was surprise at how tiny the books are in reality. They are less than half the size of a traditional mook. The reason being that most of the photos featured in the book were taken by the members’ mobile phones. You can tell who has poorer phones from the photos. Even when shrunk down to this smaller scale, many of the pictures are still blurry or pixelated.

By Yuko of course.

Sashiharassment.

Photos in the books were compiled from those taken by 30 different members (15 per book).

Kojiharu knows what sells.

Behind the scenes.

The RED ALBUM features pictures by (in alphabetical order) Kasai Tomomi, Kitahara Rie, Kuramochi Asuka, Sashihara Rino, Sato Amina, Sato Sumire, Takajo Aki, Takahashi Minami, Nitou Moeno, Maeda Atsuku, Maeda Ami, Minegishi Minami, Miyazaki Miho, Watanabe Mayu and SDN48′s Noro Kayo.

Gya.

Just chilling.

While the BLUE ALBUM has photos taken by Akimoto Sayaka, Itano Tomomi, Oshima Yuko, Ota Aika, Oku Manami, Kashiwagi Yuki, Kojima Haruna, Kobayashi Kana, Komori Mika, Shinoda Mariko, Nakagawa Haruka, Fujie Reina, Miyazawa Sae as well as SKE48′s Matsui Jurina and Matsui Rena.

Caught in the act.

Random candids.

Candid photos are always fun and probably more interesting than rampant bikini photos. Still, there’s plenty of fan service to be had in both books, as you can see here.

Intense.

Meh.

Each book comes with a random L sized photo print as a bonus gift. The pictures are unique from those shown in the book.

Random photos.

The original retail price for each book is 1200 yen ($18). Kinokuniya Singapore sells the books for $27.50 each. If you can afford a wait, you’d be better off purchasing them online. Even after factoring in shipping costs, it’d still likely work out to be cheaper if you combine orders with a friend or some other purchase.

Our main gripe about purchasing the books from Kinokuniya was that all of their stock had identical bonus photographs for each book. Thus killing our chance for a random surprise and the fun we would have had from trading amongst ourselves.

Killjoy.