NMB48 Geinin! The Movie: Owarai seishun gâruzu! (2013)

Popular Osaka-based, all-girls' idol group, NMB48 -- the third iteration of Yasushi Akimoto's highly successful AKB48 & 48 Family j-pop franchise billed as the largest pop-group in the world and heralded in Japan as "Idols you can meet" encompasses over half a dozen affiliated girl groups based in major cities throughout Japan and Asia with 300+ active female members (in addition to 300 "graduated" or retired members now ensconced in solo careers of their own) ranging in age from 11-28 -- has proven yet again that the 'triple threat', i.e., the idol who can sing, dance and now act -- is the veritable gamechanger and industry standard in the iffy world of Japanese idols and talento. Now, out with a movie of their own, NMB48 is out to prove their acting chops -- i.e., as long as they get to play themselves, or characters very much like themselves. For NMB48, whose ages ranged between 14-20 in this 2013 movie, that means delimiting themselves only to roles that they can pull offf convincingly with little or no effort, never mind imagination. And in the 48-Family group world, that means high school girls playing high school girls. Enter this movie, which translates to "NMB48 Entertainers! The Movie: high school comedy girls!"