Watarirouka Hashiritai 7 – Kibou Sanmyaku 1st Day Sales

Watarirouka Hashiritai 7’s 9th single ‘Kibou Sanmyaku’ sold 55,423 on it’s first day and whilst that’s their best first day sales so far, an increase of 10k over Valentine Kiss – the chances of them achieving a no.1 hit at the end of the week looks slim as they’ve got KAT-TUN and Tohoshinki ahead of them. It’s unfortunate that WH7 has gone head to head with KAT-TUN on several occasions and lost out on the top spot. The best they can achieve come next week is no.3.

Still I like the single very much and bought it yesterday at Shinjuku’s Tower Records which came with a bonus Christmas group shot as an extra.

AKB48 On The Red Team Once More For 62nd Kohaku Uta Gassen

The list of performers for this year’s New Year’s extravaganza that is Kohaku Uta Gassen has been announced and as was widely expected considering they’re supporters of the event – AKB48 have been invited once more to join the Red Team. This will be the 4th time for them to appear in the event.

However, 2 teams that are likely to be disappointed not to have been invited seperately are SKE48 and NMB48 who have enjoyed considerable success this year. I can see them appearing with AKB48 to be perfectly honest so all is not lost.

The White Team have triumphed over the last couple of years so with cute child actress/singer Mana Ashida, 2 Korean groups (KARA/Girls Generation) and AKB48 on the Red Team, can they overturn the odds and get the win this year. We’ll find out on December 31st.

The full list of participants are as follows:

RED TEAM

AKB48
Ayumi Hamasaki
Koda Kumi
Perfume
Akiko Wada
Kana Nishino
Mana Ashida
Aiko
KARA
Girls Generation
Ikimonogakari
Ayaka
Nana Mizuki
Angela Aki
Shiina Ringo
Fuyumi Sakamoto
Ayaka Hirahara
Kaori Mizumori
Sayuri Ishikawa
Ayako Fuji
Miyuki Kawanaka
Seiko Matsuda
Yumi Matsutoya
Yoshimi Tendo
Rimi Natsukawa
Sayaka Kanda
Natsuko Godai
Sachiko Kobayashi

WHITE TEAM

Arashi
EXILE
Masaharu Fukuyama
SMAP
AAA
FUNKY MONKEY BABYS
NYC
flumpool
TOKIO
L’Arc~en~Ciel
Porno Graffitti
Ken Hirai
Yuzu
Tohoshinki
Masafumi Akikawa
Kiyoshi Hikawa
Go Hiromi
Hideaki Tokunaga
Fuku Suzuki
Shinichi Mori
Hiroshi Itsuki
Masao Sen
Inawashirokos
Takashi Hosokawa
Saburo Kitajima
Toshiyuki Nishida
Tsuyoshi Nagauchi

French Kiss Finally Achieve Their First Ever No.1

It’s been a long time coming but 4 singles down the line, French Kiss have finally achieved their first ever no.1 hit on the Oricon Chart. Their latest song ‘Saisho no Mail’ managed to shift 134,000 copies during it’s first week on release and capture pole position on the chart. Sales for French Kiss has been steadily increasing since their debut and this song managed to sell an extra 22k on top of what they achieved with ‘Kakkowarui I Love You!’ during it’s first week.

French Kiss become the 4th AKB48 sub-unit after WH7, Not yet and Team Dragon to achieve a no.1 hit. High time for DiVA to get a no.1 single too.

Congratulations to Yukirin, Mocchi and Akicha.

Fan Power To Decide On Suspended NMB48 Members Return

The return date of 2 suspended NMB48 members will be decided by the fans it was announced yesterday. From yesterday until the 3rd December, fans who are members of the NMB48 Ticket Center will be able to vote if Shiori Matsuda and Rena Shimada can return immediately to active duty or not. If you remember – Shiori suspended herself whilst Rena’s past caught up with her in a kissing purikura photo with her ex-boyfriend and both have been out of NMB48 since September. The result of this important vote will be announced at the December 7th Team N show. It’s not the end of the world for both if the fans decide that they’re not ready to return yet. There will be regular voting until the fans overturn their decision and welcome them back. Even if they do return, they won’t be able to perform on stage straight away. What’s a little bit strange is there’s nothing about the other suspended member Akari Yoshida. Why has she been left out? Is she not coming back?

Why does NMB48 management want to wash their hands of responsibility with these two girls and let the fans decide? It’s a big decision to let fan power hold the fate of the girls in their hands. Then again it’s not like the fans are holding their careers in their hands and can actually fire them.

Lightning Strikes Twice – Rena’s Kareha no Station Tops SKE48 Request Hour Best 50 For A 2nd Time

Last year Rena Matsui topped SKE48’s Request Hour Setlist Best 30 2010 with her brilliant solo song Kareha no Station and with the selection this year going up to Best 50 you would have thought it would have been highly unlikely for a song to remain at no.1 for the 2nd successive year but that’s what happened at the end of this year’s SKE48 Request Hour Setlist Best 50. The fans decided that Rena deserved to be no.1 once more and I couldn’t be more delighted for her. You’ve got to admit that the song is fantastic and yes, some of you might say that there are more deserving SKE48 songs that should have topped the countdown but not for me. I wish I could have seen her beaming face as the announcement for the no.1 song was made.

The Best 50 countdown went like this:

50 Pajama Drive
49 Pinocchio Gun
48 Utaou yo, Bokutachi no Kouka
47 Seifuku no ME
46 Tsuyokimono yo
45 Seishun wa Hazukashii
44 Chime wa Love Song
43 Nakama no Uta
42 Dareka no Sei ni wa Shinai
41 Lamune no Yomikata
40 Cosmos no Kioku
39 Kagami no Naka Jean da Arc
38 Onna no Ko no Dairokkan
37 Namida no Shounan
36 Anata to Christmas Eve
35 Ame no Pianist
34 Kizashi
33 Hohoemi no Positive Thinking
32 Hanabi wa Owaranai
31 Usotsuki na Dachou
30 Bazooka Hou Hassha!
29 Te wo Tsunaginagara
28 Junjou Shugi
27 Ai no Kazu
26 Nice to Meet You
25 TWO ROSES
24 Tokimeki no ashiato
23 Temodemo no namida
22 Shoujo wa manatsu ni nani wo suru?
21 Kodoku na ballerina
20 Choko no yukue
19 Aozora kataomoi
18 Glory Days
17 Wimbledon ni tsurete itte
16 Tenshi no shippo
15 Hazumisaki
14 Cross
13 Manazashi sayonara
12 Koi wo kataru shijin ni narenakute
11 Mangekyou
10 1! 2! 3! 4! Yoroshiku!
9 Banzai Venus
8 Gomen ne, SUMMER
7 Okami to pride
6 Finland Miracle
5 Omoide ijou
4 Oki Doki
3 Pareo wa emerald
2 Omatase Set list
1 Kareha no Station

And here’s the winning song for all of you to enjoy:

HKT48 Make A Successful Debut At Their Theater

Yesterday saw the youngest 000 group finally make their long awaited debut at their theater in Fukuoka. They performed SKE48’s S2 stage in front of 300 people. 16 members took part in their inuguration performance and from what I’ve read their debut went down very well indeed with the fans in attendance. How long is it going to be until Aki-P decides to give them their first single? I don’t think we won’t have to wait that long – first quarter of 2012 is my guess.

 

Team Songs From AKB48’s Upcoming 24th Single

All 4 team songs from the upcoming AKB48 single ‘Ue kara Mariko’ has been uploaded onto Youtube for your listening pleasure.

They’re all quite good songs but if I had to go for my own personal favorite it would have to be Team K’s Zero-sum Taiyou closely followed by Team B’s Yobisute Fantasy.

Which one do you prefer?

Team A – Rinjin wa Kizutsukai

Team K – Zero-sum Taiyou

Team B – Yobisute Fantasy

Team 4 – Hashire! Penguin

Acchan Wins Special Beauty Award/Role In New Drama Series

It’s been quite an eventful few days for Acchan recently. On the 22nd November she attended the VOCE BEAUTY AWARDS 2011 Best Cosmetics Grand Prix where she promptly won a gong for being the “BEST BEAUTY OF THE YEAR 2011”. This award is new and is given to somebody who has been talked about and had a big influence in the beauty industry this year. Whilst I think Acchan is a very pretty girl, out of all the members in AKB48 I would have given it to Yukirin or even Umechan who has really blossomed into a stunning woman this year. Then again I’m sure everybody has an opinion on who they think should have won this award.

After the disaster ratings wise that was Hana Zakari no Kimi-tachi e ~Ikemen Paradise, Acchan has been given a supporting role in a new drama alongside Yamapi. Starting in January 2012 on TBS, Saikou no Jinsei no Owarikata ~Ending Planner~ fucuses on a funeral service shop in one of Tokyo’s backstreets. With Yamapi in the lead male role and Nana Eikura as the leading female in the family based drama, this is bound to be a ratings winner. Acchan will play Yamapi’s sister. I think it’s a wise move by TV execs to give her a supporting role rather than the lead. I’m not sure if her confidence took a knock after her last drama as everybody expected it to do well but that failed to materialise. Hopefully this role in the new drama will further develop her acting skills. Acchan will no doubt get a leading part in another drama series in the future.

Updates (or lack of)

You’ve probably noticed during this month that I’ve hardly been updating this blog. The reason for that is I’ve lost my enthusiasm for reporting AKB48 news especially since other bloggers are doing a far better job than I am anyway. Seeing as I’m in Japan for a couple of weeks I’ll take the time out to think about whether I should continue or not. Whatever happens I’ll report back on this blog soon. Watch this space.

Sasshi & Yukirin Fall Ill With The Flu/Minarun’s Return

Several AKB48 members could not attend the handshake event at Mukuhari Messe in Chiba today due to illness with what is suspected to be a case of flu.

Yukirin was taken to hospital yesterday for treatment and Sasshi announced on her blog that she was staying at home in case she passed on her germs to other members. Chiyuu is another member who’s had to cancel her handshake slot today as well. We know that she’s got an ongoing problem so that’s understandable.

I hope all of them get well soon. Now then on to more happier news. Minarun made a surprise appearance today at the handshake event to state that she will be coming back in 2012 to Team 4. She gave a speech apologising for her actions and she even thought of quitting AKB48 during her suspension but thank God she didn’t. The rest of Team 4 left their positions where they were shaking hands to join Minarun. It’s obvious the bond between Minarun and her Team 4 friends is a strong one and they’ve missed her a lot. The crowd applauded loudly when she finished her speech. Togasaki also stated that she was returning next year at the AKB48 Theater. I’m really happy that there’s now a confirmation for her return. It’ll be good to have her back.