Acchan – Hana no Kimi CM

A 1 minute trailer for Acchan’s new drama Hana no Kimi has been uploaded on Youtube. There’s only a brief glimpse of Yukirin in the CM. I’ll probably watch it if only to see if it lives up to the previous drama version that was screened in 2007. Check out the CM below.

NMB48 – Zetsumetsu Kurokami Shoujo PV

NMB48 have just unveiled the PV for their debut single “Zetsumetsu Kurokami Shoujo”. It features the girls in school uniform, traditional Japanese clothing and black stomach revealing outfits. The link for the PV is below.

What does everybody think of the PV? I think it’s great.

http://vimeo.com/25792200

SKE48 – PV Previews of 2 B-Side Tracks

Previews of 2 b-side tracks from SKE48’s new single Pareo wa Emerald have been uploaded on their official Youtube channel.

The first by the “White Group” is “Tokimeki no Ashiato”.

The 2nd track is by the “Red Group” which is called “Papa wa Kirai”.

Although I like both tracks, I prefer the Red Group song as it’s led by Rena and it has a bit more tempo to it than the White Group’s song.

Nogizaka46 – New Information Revealed

Although I still have suspicions about this new “official rival idol group” to challenge AKB48, yesterday saw news that Nogizaka46 has now been confirmed as true. Open auditions for the idol group will start on July 20th. The auditions are open to any female in the 12-24 age range and even overseas people can apply.

Aki-P and Sony will hand pick the members of the group’s 1st generation. An explanation about the group’s name has also been revealed. Nogizaka comes from the location where the last auditions will take place – the “SME Nogizaka Building” and the 46 idea is “although there are less members than AKB48, they will not lose”! A rather lame explanation for the 46 part of the name I think.

The first auditions take place on July 20th with the second auditions taking place in 7 cities across Japan (Sapporo, Sendai, Tokyo, Nagoya, Osaka, Fukuoka, and Okinawa) on August 6th and 7th. The final round of auditions will occur on August 20th and 21st. The 1st generation of Nogizaka46 will have 20 members and Sony hope they’ll be starting in October. Those that succesfully pass the auditions can look forward to appearing on various variety shows and have a CD debut through Sony Records.

Nogizaka46 even have a website of their own: http://www.nogizaka46.com/

What do you guys think about all this? What is the reasoning behind Aki-P’s decision to create a rival group? Has he given up now on HKT48 or are they still going ahead? Is this a new trick to fool the fans once more? I’m sure we’ll find out in the coming weeks.

Nogizaka46 – Aki-P’s Supposed Rival Group For AKB48

There are various rumours floating about that Aki-P is going to unleash yet another idol group but this time not under the AKB family. The press have latched on that Aki-P is masterminding a rival group to challenge AKB48 for Sony Music which has been called Nogizaka46. Apparently there will be auditions over the Summer for the idol group. Nogizaka46′ name is a reference to Sony’s headquarters which is in Nogizaka, Minato Ward in Tokyo.

There’s no confirmation or anything yet about this new group but this week’s new Weekly Playboy magazine is supposed to shed new light on the information. It could well be another publicity stunt by Aki-P just like the Aimi Eguchi one. Could it be a CG idol group? I’ll have more on this when news comes out.

SKE48 – Pareo wa Emerald Covers & Tracklisting

SKE48’s new single Pareo wa Emerald drops in the shops on July 27th and the covers/tracklisting has been revealed for the 4 versions of the single.

TYPE A

CD

01. Pareo wa Emerald
02. Tokimeki no Ashiato (White Team)
03. Tsumiki no Jikan
04. Pareo wa Emerald off vocal
05. Tokimeki no Ashiato off vocal
06. Tsumiki no Jikan off vocal

DVD

01. Pareo wa Emerald music video
02. Tokimeki no Ashiato (White Team) music video
03. Bonus Footage “Matsui Jurina no Kiseki” documentary movie

First Press Limited Edition comes with a 12 page booklet, a handshake event ticket and one random trading card out of 16 possible.

TYPE B

CD

01. Pareo wa Emerald
02. PAPA wa Kirai (Red Team)
03. Tsumiki no Jikan
04. Pareo wa Emerald off vocal
05. PAPA wa Kirai off vocal
06. Tsumiki no Jikan off vocal

DVD

01. Pareo wa Emerald music video
02. PAPA wa Kirai (Red Team) music video
03. Bonus Footage “Matsui Rena no Kiseki” documentary movie

First Press Limited Edition comes with a 12 page booklet, a handshake event ticket and one random trading card out of 16 possible.

TYPE C

CD

01. Pareo wa Emerald
02. Hanabi wa Owaranai (Selection 8)
03. Tsumiki no Jikan
04. Pareo wa Emerald off vocal
05. Hanabi wa Owaranai off vocal
06. Tsumiki no Jikan off vocal

DVD

01. Pareo wa Emerald music video
02. Bonus Footage “SKE48 Kouhaku Taikou Suieitaikai” special movie

First Press Limited Edition comes with a 12 page booklet, a handshake event ticket and one random trading card out of 16 possible.

THEATER VERSION

01. Pareo wa Emerald
02. Tokimeki no Ashiato (White Team)
03. PAPA wa Kirai (Red Team)
04. SKE48 6th single medley
05. Pareo wa Emerald off vocal
06. Tokimeki no Ashiato off vocal
07. PAPA wa Kirai off vocal

And here’s a small preview of the PV for Pareo wa Emerald which was filmed on location in Hawaii.

AKB48 PSP Dating Simulation Game Gets A Sequel

Last December, AKB48 released their dating simulation game AKB 1/48 Idol to Koishitara… which proved to be a big seller. Now there’s going to be a sequel released on October 4th called AKB 1/48 Idol to Guam de Koishitara…and yesterday saw Yuko, Sasshi, Yui, Takamina, Mayuyu, Chiyuu and Moeno meeting the press to discuss the upcoming game.

There’ll be 3 versions of the game released: a regular edition, a limited edition with bonus footage and a First Press edition with some goodies and bonus footage. If I recall correctly, there was a bit of a ruckus in stores when the first game was released in December with fans fighting each other to get a hold of the First Press editions. Let’s hope that kind of stupidity never happens again but it probably will.

The objective of the new game won’t change but the location will as you’ll try to gain the affection of your favorite AKB48 member not in Tokyo but in Guam where they recorded scenes for the game. There’ll be plenty of swimsuit footage to please the fans.

Will you buy the game when it comes out?

Acchan Hits No.1 In The Oricon Charts

Acchan will top the Oricon Charts this week as her debut single Flower sold 177,000 copies but more significantly she also becomes the biggest selling female artist of the year beating even Tomochin who shifted 163,000 copies during her 1st week. Acchan has also sold more than any AKB48 sub-unit.

The last female singer to hit the top spot on her debut was none other than Japan’s 2nd most hated female Erika Sawajiri 5 years ago. Additionally Acchan also becomes the first female from a group to score a no.1 hit since Maki Goto and that was just over 10 years ago.

Congratulations Acchan on your achievement.

NMB48 Cause Chaotic Scenes In Osaka Shopping District

Last Saturday saw NMB48 become “directors and shop owners for a day” at Osaka’s Shinsaibashi-suji shopping district. However, their surprise visit to the area caused chaotic scenes as once word had spread they were in the area, over 1000 fans flocked to see and surround them. The huge crowd jostled the idols which could have turned ugly and dangerous but thankfully no harm ever came to the girls.

The visit during early afternoon is all part of the idol group’s campaign Shinsaibashi ni, koi!! (‘Visit/Fall in love with Shinsaibashi!!’) encouraging people to head to the area. 6 NMB48 members dropped by the district. 3 become directors and 3 became shop owners for the afternoon. The girls were welcomed by everybody but as I said before, the scenes that greeted the girls once fans knew they were in Shinsaibashi could have caused an accident as fans ignored requests by security to keep back. They pushed through crowds to get a better look at their idols and to take photos of them. It was the 6 girls’ intention to have a walkaround the shopping district but that was deemed impossible due to the crowds so they only visited a couple of stores.

Organisers of the event quickly rallied 100 security personnel to try and make the situation better but fans continued to grab and touch their idols through barriers. The girls however smiled through all the uproar and chaos. I don’t think they expected such a reception!!

More AKB48 Members Added To Hana no Kimi Cast

Not content with having Acchan as the lead and Yukirin as her rival, 3 more AKB48 members have been added to the cast of the upcoming drama Hana no Kimi. The three that have been added are from Team 4 and they are Fresh Lemon, Mina Oba and Mariya Nagao. They’ll play the roles of students at the all-girls St Blossom High School. I wonder if anymore AKB48 members are going to be added to the cast soon?