Could Yuko Leave AKB48 Next Year?

It what may be a small hint of things to come, Yuko might be following Acchan and graduating from AKB48 next year in an article that was printed recently in the Nikkan Sports. She had already thought about not taking part in this year’s senbatsu election. Acchan’s graduation has weighed heavily on Yuko’s mind as both have battled each other for the center position in each of the last 3 elections. Now that Acchan is leaving and not appearing in this election, Yuko asked the question of whether it was necessary for her to take part or not now that her main rival is going and sent an email to Aki-P. He told Yuko that if she was to leave AKB48, the group would collapse and I would agree with him on this. He promised that Yuko will not carry the burden of  the group after Acchan leaves. To lose Acchan is one thing but to lose Yuko as well would have a catastrophic effect on AKB48 IMO. But there’s nothing to fear yet as Yuko pledged to carry on with her AKB48 career. This statement apparently made Aki-P cry. The question still remains though – how long will it be until Yuko graduates? She did say that this could possibly be her last senbatsu election in the article. With her acting career now on the up and Yuko is definitely in demand at the moment, there is no doubt that come next year she will have to make a decision. Does she carry on as she is now with a heavy workload of being an idol and an actress at the same time or just devoting everything to being an actress only. I would be devastated if Yuko were to leave AKB48. Only time will tell what will happen?

Yuko Added To The Cast Of A Musical Drama

Proof that Yuko’s acting ability is beginning to turn heads in the industry showed itself the other day when she was added to the cast of a new musical drama ‘Kaeru no Oujo-sama’ (Princess of the Frog) which begins airing on Fuji TV on April 12th.

The producer of the drama series picked Yuko due to her extraordinary expressive power when she’s singing and dancing. He said there’s no other actress with similar abilities which is a really great compliment to Yuko.

Yuko will play a college student who is looking for a job. Her character has been turned down 53 times in job interviews and she’s a member of a chorus group called The Chansons. Due to the timid nature of her character, she has a hard time adjusting to the strict nature of the new leader of the group. Yuko will get a chance to act, sing and dance in the drama. This will be the first time for her to sing as an actress. The drama is said to be somewhat similar to Glee. Yuko’s character won’t be the main one in the drama but she will have an important role in it.

It sounds interesting enough this drama so I’ll probably be checking it out when it starts airing on Thursday nights at 10pm from the 12th next month.

Are Yuko And Eiji Wentz More Than Just Good Friends?

This piece of news came out 2 weeks ago but I’d forgotten about it until now. In July 2010 there were rumours going around that Yuko and Eiji Wentz were in a relationship together. Yuko denied this saying they were just good friends but whispers about them being romantically involved have resurfaced once more as the two of them together with their families went on a new year holiday to an onsen in Ishigawa. Even though both have known each other since they were kids and it’s entirely possible that they are indeed just very good friends, could it be that there is something more to their relationship than meets the eye? I really don’t think Yuko would be that stupid to jeopardise her position as one of the important senbatsu members in AKB48 coupled with the fact that 2 girls were kicked out recently for having boyfriends. She’s far too sensible for that I hope. There is also no incriminating photos of them together at the onsen.

If she ever did get into trouble over this, it would certainly affect AKB48 but possibly not her career. Yuko is making her mark at the moment as an actress so leaving AKB48 would not be the kiss of death for her career at all, there would be plenty of work for her. Surprisingly enough, as this piece of news broke out at the same time as the Nacchan/Yonechan scandal none of the gossip magazines picked this up which is lucky for Yuko.

It’ll be interesting to see if this rumour keeps being circulated around for the next couple of months. Yuko needs to nip this story in the bud if there’s nothing to it at all.

AKB48 Top 10 Members (December 2011)

I know it wasn’t that long ago (July 2011) that I did my last top 10 AKB48 members list but things have changed a lot since then which you’ll see below.

10. Yui Yokoyama

I can hear you all saying ‘it wasn’t that long ago you were criticising her’ and you’ll be right on that count but Yui has really grown on me in the past 6 months and she is so funny on Bimyo.

9. Nito Moeno

8. Minami Takahashi

Out of the Top 5 goes Takamina. I still love Takamina to bits but there are more interesting members that rank above her.

7. Rie Kitahara

6. Haruka Nakagawa

5. Yuko Oshima

This is one of the biggest changes on my list – the former no.1 taking a big tumble down to no.5. Something I thought would never happen but I’ve become sort of bored with Yuko lately. She just doesn’t excite me as she used to do before,

4. Mayu Watanabe

Into the Top 5 goes Mayuyu – up 2 places. The more I see and watch Mayu perform the more fantastic I think she is.

3. Yuki Kashiwagi

Yukirin stays in her position at no.3 though it did cross my mind at times to move her up to no.2.

2. Rino Sashihara

Sasshi also stays in her current position. Sasshi completes the cleap sweep of Not yet members in my Top 10!

And at no.1 is……………

1. Ayaka Umeda

In July, Umechan was at no.8 so this is a huge jump from her into the no.1 position. So how has Umechan managed to steer herself into being at the top. I can’t recall any specific moment of seeing her when I thought ‘OMG she’s now my no.1 favorite member’. She’s just completely gained my full attention especially over the Summer. I’ve just been seeing her in many things on Youtube and I just started to really like her a lot. I love her quirky, some say a little eccentric personality and she is just so damn beautiful. Her singing voice is great, she looks like a lot of fun to hang out with and I’m just happy that she’s getting more attention now. I’m kinda peeved that she’s no longer the Tokyo Tower image girl otherwise I would have gone to see her doing her DJ stint on a Friday night there.

So there you have it. The new Top 10 list. Will it be the same when the next one comes out in May/June?

How To Play Pachinko With The Sukeban Girls

You read all about it on Sunday that Yuko, Kasai and Rena were going to team up in a new Pachinko game unit called Sukeban Girls. Now watch this specially recorded movie by a fan which has been uploaded on Youtube. It’s a video featuring the Sukeban Girls on how to play pachinko for those that have never tried it before. I’ve played pachinko once on my first trip to Tokyo in a parlour that was in one of Shinjuku’s backstreets and to be perfectly honest I didn’t have a clue what I was doing! Even the young man who was helping out in the parlour and was dressed like a shark complete with a shark cap on his head couldn’t help me out as we didn’t understand one another. Still it was great fun trying it out though I’ve never had another go. If any of you guys ever come to Japan please have a go at pachinko. At least you’ll be able to say you had the experience of playing it! You might not understand what the hell you have to do but it’s the taking part that’s the main thing.

Enjoy the video below.

AKB48 New Pachinko Game Unit

Yuko Oshima, Tomomi Kasai and Rena Matsui have formed a unit for a new pachinko game. They will be called Sukeban Girls and apparently will have a big role in the concept of this new pachinko game.

As well as appearing in the game ‘Bikkuri Pachinko Sukeban Deka’, there will also be 2 special music PV’s. The first song ‘Tsupparu Riyuu’ will come up during normal gameplay but the second song ‘Tomo yo Yoake ni Machiawaseyo’ can only be viewed if the pachinko player meets certain conditions. Naturally all 3 girls will appear if you’ve won the jackpot. The main member and the one who gets more screen time in the game is Yuko. If you do manage to win something you can exchange the pachinko balls for some exclusive ‘Sukeban Girls’ special items. I’m not really sure if ‘Sukeban Girls’ will release any songs in the future or not?

I think these 3 would perhaps be fantastic in a new Sukeban Deka movie. We all know how badass Rena was as Gekikara. She’d be even more lethal with a razor sharp yo-yo in her hand!

Acchan and Yuko In A Cool Looking CM

The brand TBC recruited Acchan and Yuko along with Korean actor, singer and model Jang Geuk Suk to star in their CM. In the CM we see a new side to both Acchan and Yuko – a cool looking, stylish and sophisticated side. The three find themselves obtaining a mysterious key in the CM which opens the same door. It is said there will be a continuation of the storyline in future CM’s.

Check out the 15s and 30s versions and the making of below:

Yuko Suffering With A Lower Back Injury

Tomochin isn’t the only one suffering with an injury in AKB48. At the Nagoya handshake event yesterday, Yuko had to sit down to shake hands partway into the event due to a lower back problem. Apparently Yuko has been suffering with this problem for some time but it got worse yesterday and she was in some discomfort. She apologised to fans on her blog that she made them worry about her. If she doesn’t rest her back sufficiently enough, this problem will come back with a vengeance so she seek the advice of a doctor. Dancing around on stage doesn’t help things I imagine.

I hope your back gets better soon Yuko.

Yuko To Star In New Drama

Yuko Oshima has been given a prominent role in the new ‘Getsu9’ drama called “Watashi ga Renai Dekinai Riyuu” (Reasons Why I Can’t Fall In Love) which is due to start airing in October. Touted by some as the Japanese equivalent of Sex And The City, Yuko will star alongside model and actress Karina and Yuriko Yoshitaka.

The plot will revolve around the 3 women who have problems with their love lives. Yuko plays a character called Mako Hanzawa who annoys the men she dates with her clingy and serious personality so she ends up alone most of the time. She starts sharing a house with the other 2 women and together they strive to help one another as they tackle the problems of love.

No definite date has been given yet but it will air on Fuji TV on a Monday night at 9pm. I don’t think this drama will be anything like Sex And The City. If there’s one thing that would put me off from watching this would be seeing Yuko writhing naked with a man. I can’t see it happening though. It would horrify her male fanbase. Also no offence to Acchan or her fans but Yuko acts a whole lot better than her.

Yuko Oshima New Photobook – Previews

Yuko Oshima’s new photobook which is simply entitled “Yuko” is released on June 17th and will cost 1,200 yen. The cover of the PB (it’s not on this post BTW) might confuse some people as it says it’s her 1st photobook which isn’t strictly true. The other PB’s that have been released are photos only but this one is different.

This isn’t just a photobook with stunning pictures of Yuko, there are also lengthy text passages in which she talks about various stuff. Yuko went on location to Okinawa for the main part of the PB with the theme being that it’s only you and her together on holiday. The photos are supposed to show Yuko like you’ve never seen her before. Apart from visiting Okinawa, there are also photos of her going to places she went in her childhood and hanging out with friends. For those interested in what she’s talking about inside this photobook, there’s a lengthy interview in which Yuko reveals all about her life so far, where she sees herself in the future but also talks with her father, AKB48 producer Aki-P and Takamina. The honest and frank opinions inside the photobook is deliberate as Yuko wants her fans to get to know her a little bit better.

Take a look at a couple of preview shots.