Sasshi Transferred To HKT48 With Immediate Effect

It’s been quite a dramatic week for Sasshi which ended tonight with an immediate transfer to HKT48. What a turnaround from last week in which she celebrated being no.4 in the senbatsu election. Now it’s come to this – being exiled from AKB48 for being part of a scandal.

Let’s go back to the beginning and how this sad turn of events began. The scum tabloid magazine Shukan Bunshun ran a story by an alleged ex-boyfriend of Sasshi from the past who said they were intimate and that she had sent emails and nude pictures of herself to him. The magazine was even given Sasshi’s mobile number by this guy which they tried and Sasshi answered. An investigation was launched by AKS and tonight Aki-P addressed the situation on a radio show with other members of AKB48 about what he was going to do. Sasshi has denied certain things in the story but she also said that she did know the guy and he was her friend and nothing else.

For breaking the cardinal rule of having relations however innocent with a member of the opposite sex whilst being a part of AKB48, Sasshi has been transferred to HKT48 immediately and exiled for good from AKB48. Whilst many fans will be livid about this (myself included) it is far better for this to happen than to be suspended or even fired but then again will there be further revelations that could see Sasshi being fired for good? Other fans think that HKT48 is being punished and that their fans might dislike the presence of such a high profile member in their ranks. I actually think that HKT48 will become popular because of Sasshi. Aki-P thinks that Sasshi will be a good mentor to the HKT48 kids on what not to do and even Mariko chipped in saying that this is a good move for Sasshi.

I’m not angry with Sasshi for breaking the rules even though she has been careless, I’m more angry with the ex-boyfriend who would stoop so low as to spill the beans on her.  The magazine have really timed this story so well just after the election.  Sasshi has worked so hard to get where she’s at and now she’s starting at the bottom once more. Will this affect her placing in Not yet or is it only AKB48 that she’s been taken out?

This is Sasshi’s tearful apology announcement:

AKB48 27th Single Election Result

I will post my thoughts about the whole event in my next post but first here are the results in full:

FUTURE GIRLS

64. Mika Komori
63. Yuka Nakanishi
62. Miki Yakata
61. Sumire Sato
60. Mayu Ogasawara
59. Shizuka Oya
58. Miori Ichikawa
57. Mina Oba
56. Kimoto Kanon
55. Nito Moeno
54. Suzuran Yamauchi
53. Sakiko Matsui
52. Aika Oota
51. Ayaka Kikuchi
50. Haruka Ishida
49. Tomu Mutou – CENTER

NEXT GIRLS

48. Haruka Katayama
47. Sakura Miyawaki
46. Nana Yamada
45. Yuka Tano
44. Haruka Nakagawa
43. Aina Fukumoto
42. Ami Maeda
41. Kana Kobayashi
40. Reina Fujie
39. Mariya Nagao
38. Miho Miyazaki
37. Chisato Nakata
36. Sayaka Nakaya
35. Manatsu Mukaida
34. Kaori Matsumura
33. Misaki Iwasa – CENTER

UNDERGIRLS

32. Shiori Ogiso
31. Kisaki Yuria
30. Airi Furukawa
29. Akari Suda
28. Kumi Yagami
27. Masana Oya
26. Yuka Masuda
25. Hata Sawako
24. Akane Takayanagi
23. Haruka Shimazaki
22. Asuka Kuramochi
21. Amina Sato
20. Sayaka Akimoto
19. Miyuki Watanabe
18. Sayaka Yamamoto
17. Aki Takajo – CENTER

SENBATSU

16. Ayaka Umeda – YES!!!!!!!!!
15. Yui Yokoyama
14. Minami Minegishi
13. Rie Kitahara
12. Tomomi Kasai
11. Sae Miyazawa
10. Rena Matsui
09. Jurina Matsui
08. Tomomi Itano
07. Kojima Haruna
06. Minami Takahashi
05. Mariko Shinoda
04. Rino Sashihara
03. Yuki Kashiwagi
02. Mayu Watanabe
01. Yuko Oshima – CENTER

The Wait Is Nearly Over….

The time to vote is over and tomorrow is the big day for all of us AKB48 fans when we’ll discover who will be the senbatsu and center for the next single that’ll come out in August.

The senbatsu election will be broadcasted live on Google+ from 17:20pm (JST) so you won’t miss anything. The link to the page where you’ll be able to see the election has already been uploaded: http://www.akb48plus.com/senkyo/en/teaser.html

I hope everybody will enjoy the show and I’ll make a post straight after the end with my thoughts and feelings on it. All that’s left to say is I wish all of your oshimen the very best of luck.

 

SKE48 Member Injured At Today’s Performance

So then guys, did any of you tune in to watch the live AKB48 concert today on Youtube to commemorate the 1st anniversary of the Tohoku disaster. Even though it was short, I thought it was great and to hear Nakaya and Karen’s tearful account of not being able to do nothing when they heard the terrible news as they both come from the 2 prefectures that was affected the most was touching to say the least. There was 5 simultaneous concerts going on at the same time with SKE48, NMB48, HKT48 and SDN48. Apart from SDN48 who were at Tokyo Big Sight in Odaiba, the rest took place in their own theaters. There was a live link up with all 4 other concerts and in the climax they all sang Sakura No Hanabiratachi together.

Unfortunately at the SKE48 concert, Team S member Kanako Hiramatsu tripped and in the process managed to fracture her right foot. She’ll be out of action for at least 6 weeks and will recover at home.

Get well soon Kanako.

HKT48 Team H Unveiled

HKT48’s Team H was introduced to the press at the HKT Theater yesterday.

The 16 members of the team are:

Chihiro Anai (Captain)
Haruka Wakatabe
Nao Ueki
Madoka Moriyasu
Serina Kumazawa
Aoi Motomura
Haruka Kodama
Anna Murashige
Yui Komori
Sakura Miyawaki
Yuki Shimono
Natsumi Matsuoka
Yuko Sugamoto
Chiyori Nakanishi
Natsumi Tanaka
Airi Taniguchi

Unfortunately, 5 members could not make it to the team and are to continue as kenkyuusei students.

Kyoka Abe
Mina Imada
Sayaka Eto
Ayaka Nakanishi
Maiko Fukagawa

Team H are currently performing SKE48 Team S 2nd Stage Te wo Tsunaginagara at their theater. It’s taken nearly 6 months for management to decide on who would be in the team since all 21 first generation members were introduced to the fans at an AKB48 handshake event last October.

Good luck to the newly formed team. I admit I haven’t taken that much notice of them so far. So now all we want to know is when will they release their debut single?

Under 18 Members Finally Get Their Own Google+ Profile Page

Just announced, all 109 members of AKB48/SKE48/HKT48/NMB48 under 18 years old that had been lumped together on the ‘Heyakko’ page have now been given their own Google+ profile page just like the rest of their teammates so for all of you that have been waiting for a profile page solely for Mayuyu, Lovetan or Jurina for example you’ve finally got your wish so get going and add the members to your circles!

Which Member Is The Most Popular on Google+

When news of AKB48 collaborating with Google+ came up, I naturally joined up immediately but I can’t say I go on Google+ a lot, in fact I hardly go on it at all. I prefer reading what’s going on from AKB48 members on their Ameba blogs.

There’s been some lively activity going on Google+ lately namely Aki-P stamping down on some of the girls’ agencies who were censoring some of their posts and AKB48 Theater Manager Togasaki has created an account as well.

Here’s the list of the most popular AKB48/SKE48/NMB48 members that people follow in their Google+ circles:

1. Yuko Oshima
2. Mariko Shinoda
3. Atsuko Maeda
4. Yuki Kashiwagi
5. Rino Sashihara
6. Kojima Haruna
7. Minami Takahashi
8. Aki Takajo
9. Tomomi Itano
10. Rena Matsui
11. Aki-P
12. Yui Yokoyama
13. Sae Miyazawa
14. Rie Kitahara
15. Minami Minegishi
16. Sakiko Matsui
17. Asuka Kuramochi
18. Tomomi Kasai
19. Sayaka Akimoto
20. Shizuka Ooya
21. Amina Sato
22. Yuka Masuda
23. Ayaka Umeda
24. Haruka Nakagawa
25. Sayaka Yamamoto
26. Ayaka Kikuchi
27. Haruka Ishida
28. Natsumi Hirajima
29. Haruka Shimada
30. Miho Miyazaki
31. Nito Moeno
32. Sumire Sato
33. Haruka Katayama
34. Akane Takayanagi
35. AKB48 Under 18’s
36. Natsuki Sato
37. Miyuki Watanabe
38. Sawako Hato
39. Shiori Nakamata
40. Kana Kobayashi
41. Misato Nonaka
42. Sayaka Nakaya
43. Natsumi Matsubara
44. Tomomi Nakatsuka
45. Rumi Yonezawa
46. Miku Tanabe
47. Chisato Nakata
48. Mariya Suzuki
49. Shiori Ogiso
50. Rina Chikano
51. Nana Yamada
52. Akari Suda
53. Mina Oba
54. Airi Furukawa
55. Kanako Hiramatsu
56. Masana Oya
57. Mizuki Kuwabara
58. Yuuka Nakanishi
59. Haruka Ono
60. Aina Fukumoto
61. Aki Deguchi
62. Kaori Matsumoto
63. Rina Matsumoto
64. Miki Yakata
65. SKE48 Under 18’s
66. Mai Imade
67. Rikako Hirata
68. Shiori Takada
69. Seira Sato
70. Riho Abiru
71. Mieko Sato
72. Madoko Umemoto
73. Momona Kitou
74. Aya Shibata
75. Ami Kobayashi
76. Tomoko Katou
77. Mariko Nakamura
78. Mai Takeuchi
79. Mayumi Uchida
80. Yumana Takagi
81. Ayaka Murakami
82. Yuuki Yamaguchi
83. NMB48 Under 18’s
84. Yui Takano
85. Yukiko Kinoshita
86. HKT48 Under 18’s
87. Rena Shimada

 

AKB48 – Give Me Five Tracklisting/Members Revealed

The lineup for AKB48’s next single Give Me Five and all it’s coupling songs has been revealed. Whilst there’s been no complaints about the lineup for the leading track, there’s been plenty of debate about who Aki-P has chosen for the coupling songs with many complaining that members such as Mayuyu have been left out especially for the track Sweet & Bitter as the normally untouchable Kami7 (named after the Top 7 AKB48 members) has been replaced by Selection 6 with Sasshi taking over what would normally be Mayuyu’s position. Maybe Aki-P has noticed that Sasshi is becoming more popular than Mayuyu? Many are saying that Selection 6 equals to Aki-P’s favorite Top 6 members.

Also it looks like the Undergirls have been scrapped for this single and replaced with 2 Special Girl teams and there’s too many members from other 000 teams starting to filter into AKB48 singles now as well. I understand about having Rena and Jurina but leave the rest out. The fans will probably lash out on Google+ to Aki-P about the decision to leave out a lot of girls like Harugon and Moeno out of this single. So this is how the tracklisting looks like for the Type A & B editions:

Type-A
CD
1.　GIVE ME FIVE!
2.　Sweet & Bitter (Selection 6）
3.　NEW SHIP (Special Girls A）
4.　GIVE ME FIVE! (Instrumental)
5.　Sweet & Bitter (Instrumental)
6.　NEW SHIP (Instrumental)

DVD
1.　GIVE ME FIVE! PV
2.　Sweet & Bitter PV
3.　NEW SHIP PV
4.　GIVE ME FIVE! MAKING (Part 1)
5.　Beautiful M – X Course

Type-B
CD
1.　GIVE ME FIVE!
2.　Sweet & Bitter (Selection 6）
3.　Hitsujikai no tabi (Special Girls B)
4.　GIVE ME FIVE! (Instrumental)
5.　Sweet & Bitter (Instrumental)
6.　Hitsujikai no tabi (Instrumental)

DVD
1.　GIVE ME FIVE! PV
2.　Sweet & Bitter PV
3.　Hitsujikai no tabi PV
4.　GIVE ME FIVE! MAKING (Part 2)
5.　Beautiful overture＆encore course

And the members for each track on the CD are as follows:

GIVE ME FIVE
Team A: Sasshi, Mariko, Kojima, Akicha, Takamina, Acchan
Team K: Yuko, Tomochin, Miichan, Yui, Sae
Team B: Mayuyu, Yukirin, Chiyuu, Kitarie
SKE Team S: Rena, Jurina
NMB: Sayanee

Sweet & Bitter – Selection 6
Team A: Sasshi, Mariko, Takamina, Acchan
Team K: Tomochin, Yuko

NEW SHIP – Special Girls A
Team B: Suuchan
Team 4: Lemon, Anna Iriyama, Paruru, Ranran
KK: Karen Iwata, Rena Kato, Rina Kawaei, Juri Takahashi
SKE Team S: Yuria Kisaki, Jurina
SKE Team E: Kanon Kimoto
NMB Team N: Miyuki Watanabe
HKT48: Haruka Kodama
JKT48: Melody

Hitsujikai no tabi – Special Girls B
Team A: Wasamin, Lovetan, Haachan, Mocchi, Kojima, Akicha
Team K: Sayaka, Umechan, Ayarin, Reinyan, Sakippe, Miichan, Sae, Yui
Team B: Chiyuu, Mayuyu, Yukirin, Kitarie, Amina, Yuttan
Team 4: Haruu, Mariya Nagao
SKE Team S: Rena
SKE Team KII: Churi

AKB48 Kouhaku Battle Teams Announced

The 20th of December sees 2 teams of members from AKB48, SKE48, NMB48 and HKT48 do battle in a karaoke contest at the Tokyo Dome to see who comes out on top. The Red and White teams will be led by Takamina and Yuko respectively

From the list below, it seems the odds are stacked in favour of the Red Team but perhaps Yuko’s team will pull off a miracle and win.

The teams are as follows:

Red Team  – led by Minami Takahashi

Miku Tanabe, Misaki Iwasa, Sae Miyazawa, Atsuko Maeda, Nito Moeno, Reina Fujie, Ayaka Umeda, Mika Komori, Sayaka Akimoto, Shizuka Oya, Kojima Haruna, Mariko Shinoda, Mayumi Uchida, Haruka Ishida, Rie Kitahara, Asuka Kuramochi, Aki Takajo, Tomomi Kasai, Haruka Nakagawa, Ami Maeda, Rumi Yonezawa, Kana Kobayashi, Natsuki Sato, Tomomi Nakatsuka, Sayaka Nakaya, Nakata Chisato, Sumire Sato, Maria Abe, Yukari Sasaki, Mariya Suzuki, Rina Chikano, Anna Iriyama, Nana Fujita, Natsumi Hirajima, Yuka Masuda, Rena Kato, Natsumi Matsubara, Mariya Nagao, Rina Izuta, Miyuu Omori, Wakana Natori, Natsuki Kojima and Ayaka Morikawa.

I don’t have any details who the 16 members of NMB48 that are joining this team.

White Team – led by Yuko Oshima

Mayu Watanabe, Aika Oota, Shiori Suzuki, Amina Sato, Rika Suzuki, Rino Sashihara, Tomomi Itano, Yuki Kashiwagi, Miyu Takeuchi, Minami Minegishi, Ayaka Kikuchi, Miho Miyazaki, Haruka Katayama, Sakiko Matsui, Misato Nonaka, Yui Yokoyama, Miori Ichikawa, Erena Saeed Yokota, Suzuran Yamauchi, Shiori Nakamata, Haruka Shimada, Mariko Nakamura, Karen Iwata, Haruka Shimzaki, Mariko Nakamura, Rina Hirata, Tomu Muto, Rina Kawaei, Juri Takahashi, Yuuka Tano

Again I’m not sure who the 16 SKE48/16 HKT48 and 13th kenkyuusei members who are joining the team. I guess we’ll find out soon enough.

I’ll update this post when I have the complete team list.

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.