NMB48 Tour Locations Announced

As I reported in an earlier post, NMB48 will be going on tour in Osaka prefecture during April and May as a thank you for the local fans who have supported them and made them create history in the Oricon charts with their first 3 singles.

So these are the locations they’ll be heading to on the dates below:

April 19th – Kashiwara Riviere Hall
April 24th – Suita May Theater
April 25th – Sakai City Hall
May 2nd – Osaka ORIX Theater
May 3rd – Osaka ORIX Theater
May 16th – Takatsuki Modern Theater
May 27th – Kaizuka Cosmos Theater
May 29th – Kishiwada Nakari Hall
May 30th – Yao Prism Hall
May 31st – NHK Osaka Hall

For those looking forward perhaps to seeing the newly formed Team M there’s bad news on that as only Team N will be participating in these concerts. Still, it’s a nice gesture by the group to have a tour for the local fans who have helped made them into a national success.

Is Majisuka Gakuen 3 On It’s Way?

Were you one of those people that was disappointed by the rather lame ending to Majisuka Gakuen 2? I know I was and to think that the whole build up to the final episode ended in a love fest sucked big time. Last month somebody asked Aki-P if he was filming Maji 3 around August and October. His response was only if he had a completely new cast. Well that’s easily sorted out. I think the storyline with the original cast is dead and buried anyway so to bring new faces would be great. So out with AKB48 and SKE48 and in would come NMB48, HKT48 and Nogizaka46 perhaps as a rival school. It would be a chance for Aki-P to vindicate himself after Maji 2 as many criticised him for that and give us a fresh new story for us to enjoy. Perhaps he could ask the fans through Google+ what they would like to see in the story?

I expect an announcement to be made in the next couple of months. Fans have clamoured for a new season and I fully expect Aki-P to give us one so hopefully before the Summer they’ll be good news on that front. Stay tuned.

NMB48 Hotel Room Scandal Revisited! More Trouble Perhaps For Some Members?

Take this piece of news with a pinch of salt as nothing has been confirmed. It could be completely false. There’s a rumour flying around about the NMB48 hotel room scandal that took place in 2011. Last year a couple of members were suspended due to inviting some male fans into their hotel rooms and this latest rumour boils down to the same wotas that were involved in that. The rumour have even reached Aki-P’s ears who has asked the NMB48 manager to explain what the hell is going on with his charges. Fans tried to contact NMB48 management to explain the situation but they didn’t respond so they asked Aki-P instead. The last thing Aki-P wants is another scandal on his cards.

So let’s dig deeper and find out what this rumour are all about. Runa Fujita from the newly formed Team M recently said in her Google+ account “Um, can I call Kaito’s mom?”. She wasn’t meant to do that but before she could erase the message, those infamous 2channelers managed to grab a screenshot of the message. Now who is this Kaito person? A female friend, a relative perhaps. No, this is the name of the chief wota that was involved in the NMB48 hotel room scandal last year. Some details of what really went down in the scandal haven’t been disclosed but according to 2ch, some NMB48 members did different things hence why some members got more serious punishment than others. It is said that there are 6 members involved with these wotas, some in a proper relationship with them. Most met these guys in their hotel room, another met one outside a 7-11 store. Allegedly it was Nana Yamada that blabbed to management what was going on and once the scandal broke out, these wotas immediately set to attack Yamada on her blog and Google+ account with nasty comments. 2channelers hit back and attacked the wotas’ accounts. The wotas have threatened to disclose the secrets of these NMB48 members to the press. It has also created friction between Yamada and the accused members.

NMB48 management have replied back finally saying that this Kaito is a member of Fujita’s family and that fans shouldn’t listen to the 2ch troublemakers. Is this their attempt to ‘hush-hush’ the scandal and brush it under the carpet. This hasn’t satisfied the fans though and the reply back from NMB48 has only inflamed the situation even more. Right now who knows what will happen next? It could all die down in the next few days or it could explode into something far bigger which could see some NMB48 members being given the sack! Stay tuned.

Sayaka Finishes Her 2nd Tokyo Marathon

Sayaka Akimoto managed to complete her 2nd Tokyo marathon in a row yesterday and in the process knocking off nearly 75 mins from her previous best time. In 2011 she completed the gruelling course in 6 hours 53 mins and 53 seconds. This time she did it in 5 hours 39 mins and 34 seconds. Sayaka’s goal was always to do the course in under 6 hours so good on her for doing that. Sayaka’s charity this year was one that was chosen by her mother ‘Charity to Connect Lives’ – it provides medical supplies to poor families.

Many congratulations to Sayaka and watch her cross the finishing line in the clip below.

AKB48 To Become Suicide Prevention Spokespeople

Japan has unfortunately one of the highest suicide rates in the world. In fact over 30,000 people took their own lives in the country last year which is extremely sad and a lot of cases involve young people. If you’ve ever been to Japan and on the trains especially in Tokyo, you’ve probably seen on the train information TV screens that some services get delayed every single day due to an accident. 99% of the time this ‘accident’ is somebody committing suicide. Barriers have now appeared on some Tokyo station platforms to try and stop people from throwing themselves in front of trains. The Chuo Line is so notorious for suicides that Tokyoites have dubbed it the ‘Chuocide’ line.

In an attempt to halt the country’s depressing statistic, the government has asked AKB48 to become spokespeople for suicide prevention. The intention is if somebody can see some signs that a person might attempt suicide,  they will ask them to seek help. Perhaps AKB48 can reach out to a depressed person. Many fans say that when they feel sad, lonely and depressed just listening to an AKB48 song can cheer them up. If AKB48 can help people to change their minds about taking their lives then that’s a good thing isn’t it so I’m backing this scheme 100%.

Aki-P Confirms Sakiko Matsui Piano Album

I had a feeling that Sakiko Matsui would get a chance to record a piano album after wowing fans with her skills recently and that has now been confirmed by Aki-P himself in a post on Google+. No date has been set for the release only that it will come out sometime during the Summer.

So what can we expect on the album? Apparently some instrumentals of AKB48 songs, the Google Citizens theme song (whatever that is?) which will be African tribal/ethnic music styled track, the ggrks Theme Song (again I have no idea what ggrks means). If it’s something to do with Google+ then that’s possibly why I don’t anything about it. I don’t bother with Google+ at all. Another track confirmed for the album is Passion Theme song. We’ll get the full tracklisting I’m sure in due course.

Famed Japanese composer Hattori Takayuki of such anime as GTO, Nodame Cantabile and Martian Successor Nadesico will compose and arrange the tracks. The CD cover will be made by the newly formed AKB Art Club which has Haachan as the President where members of the club will submit their works of art which is scheduled to be shown at a AKB48 Art Exhibition in June (more details to follow).

I’m looking forward to this album. Having seen Sakiko perform on Youtube she is no doubt a very talented pianist.

 

Sasshi Becomes A Model!

Sasshi has joined fellow AKB48 member Tomomi Itano as becoming a model for the fashion brand Samantha Thavasa. On February 22nd, Sasshi appeared in a press conference where she stated that she was as surprised as anybody when the brand asked her to become their latest model.

As well as this Sasshi will also adorn the cover of the latest JJ magazine which comes out on February 28th. In addition, she’s teamed up with the magazine to promote a new brand called Honey Sassy which will sell 345 original purses that come in 3 different colours.

The last piece of news about Sasshi is about her debut solo single. It was previously stated that her song ‘Soredemo Sukidayo’ was coming out in March but not anymore. It’s been pushed back now to May 2nd which is Aki-P’s birthday.

Acchan Goes To Paris For Her New PB

Atsuko Maeda went to Paris, France during the Autumn on assignment for her new and 5th photobook which is named Bukiyou (Clumsy) which comes out on general release on March 16th.

Acchan persuaded the book publishers to take her to Paris to celebrate her turning into an adult and this PB as has been the trend in others featuring AKB48 members will feature a different Atsuko Maeda that we haven’t seen before – the normal and clumsy person that she is hence the title of the PB. Acchan roams all around Paris in her PB doing what any other tourist does in the city – walking around and taking in all the sights but the book publishers haven’t forgotten what makes PB’s so popular so we do get some sexy shots of her too. I hope she didn’t experience what a lot of Japanese people get in the city – The Paris Syndrome. The fantasy romantic image of the city from TV and books that they’ve dreamt of is burst once they see the reality of Paris.

Take a look at some preview shots from the PB below.

Give Me Five 1st Week Sales & AKB48 Sales Records Updated

During it’s first week of release, AKB48 managed to sell 1,287,000 copies of GIVE ME FIVE! to place it at no.4 in the all-time first week sales ranking. Due to the single hitting no.1, more of the sales records (they have 6) by female groups they currently hold have been updated and they now look like this:

Total Sales: 13,155,000 copies
They destroyed Morning Musume’s record which stood at 11,808,000 with sales for Ue Kara Mariko but have solidied their position and pushed further ahead with GIVE ME FIVE!. It’s going to be a long long time I reckon before anybody breaks this own.

First week total sales: 1,354,000 copies (Flying Get)
It’s true that they didn’t come close to breaking this record but just you wait until the next single comes out.

Singles that reached ‘million’: 7
Pink Lady held that record with 5 singles until Ue Kara Mariko.

Singles that reach ‘million’ consecutively: 6
So it’s now 6 million selling singles on the trot for AKB48 and that trend looks to continue in the foreseeable future. Pink Lady again held that record previously with 5.

Total Singles charting at No.1: 12
With this single, they’ve passed Morning Musume who had 11 singles hitting no.1 in their first week.

Total Singles charting at No.1 consecutively: 12
They passed Pink Lady’s record a while ago who only had 9 no.1 singles on the trot.

 

Acchan To Blame For Yamapi’s Latest Drama Ratings Disaster

Poor Acchan. She’s had a tough time in the dramas that she’s starred in during the past year and things haven’t improved in the latest one she’s in. You would have thought that with the ever popular Yamapi also in ‘Saiko no Jinsei no Owarikata ~Ending Planner~ ‘ that ratings would have been high but unfortunately they haven’t and Johnny’s Entertainment is putting the blame squarely on Acchan. There’s a rumour going around that Johnny’s taken the extreme step of blacklisting Acchan from starring in any drama featuring their artists. Apparently they’ve been measuring the ratings by the minute and whenever Yamapi and Acchan are together in a scene the ratings drop to single digits so they think the blame for the low ratings the drama has been garnering is Acchan’s fault. That’s a bit harsh I’d say.

Johnny’s blacklist is usually reserved for unpopular women. Some women are only blacklisted for a while whilst others in the past have been banned from starring with a Johnny’s member for the rest of their career. ‘Saiko no Jinsei no Owarikata ~Ending Planner~’ low ratings has been a surprise for many because usually any drama featuring Yamapi has been a ratings winner. The script for the remaining episodes that have yet to be filmed is allegedly being re-tooled in order to get the ratings back up.

Instead of blaming Acchan for the ratings, could it be that the drama itself is crap and not interesting enough.