AKB48 31st Single [Sayonara Crawl] 1st Day Sales

AKB48's 31st Single [Sayonara Crawl] was released on May 22 and the first day sales amount to 1,450,881 copies. Not surprising, AKB48 ranked first in the Oricon Daily Charts.

These are the highest first day sales for AKB48 ever. The previous record was set by [Manatsu no Sounds Good] with 1,170,554. Sales made a huge jump from the prevous single [So long!] which sold 817,530 copies on its first day. Singles containing voting tickets always sell more but given the slight downward sales trend of the previous singles this is a surprising sales number.

This time voting tickets are included in all types including the Theater Edition so we can expect a huge amount of votes for the ongoing election.

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AKB48 32nd Single Senbatsu Election - Preliminary Votes

AKB48's 31st Single [Sayonara Crawl] was released today, and with that the voting tickets for the 32nd Single Senbatsu Election. The AKB48 Official Blog released the first and only preliminary vote count for this election.

http://ameblo.jp/akihabara48/entry-11535824621.html

Do note that this is not the final result, and there will most likely be big changes from now to the final result on July, which is the case for all the previous year's senbatsu elections.

Rank		Team	Votes	Prev Rank
-----Future Girls line-----
64	Kimoto Kanon	SKE48 Team E	2,275	56
63	Tano Yuka	AKB48 Team A	2,394	45
62	Iwasa Misaki	AKB48 Team B	2,406	33
61	Miyawaki Sakura	HKT48 Team H	2,482	47
60	Suzuki Shihori	AKB48 Team K	2,492	-
59	Yagura Fuuko	NMB48 Team M (Team A Conc)	2,535	-
58	Abe Maria	AKB48 Team K	2,595	-
57	Okamoto Naoko	HKT48 Kenkyuusei	2,660	-
56	Ishida Haruka	AKB48 Team B	2,665	50
55	Iwatate Saho	AKB48 Kenkyuusei	2,685	-
54	Kuramochi Asuka	AKB48 Team K	2,699	22
53	Kikuchi Ayaka	AKB48 Team A	2,704	51
52	Fujie Reina	AKB48 Team B	2,710	40
51	Tomonaga Mio	HKT48 Kenkyuusei	2,740	-
50	Maeda Ami	AKB48 Team A	2,761	42
49	Moriyasu Madoka	HKT48 Team H	2,809	-
-----Next Girls line-----
48	Kaneko Shiori	SKE48 Team E	2,821	-
47	Yamashita Yukari	SKE48 Team KII	2,864	-
46	Oba Mina	AKB48 Team B (Team KII Conc)	2,868	57
45	Yamada Nana	NMB48 Team M	2,872	46
44	Ichikawa Miori	AKB48 Team B (Team N Conc)	2,948	58
43	Kinoshita Yukiko	SKE48 Team E	3,072	-
42	Tashima Meru	HKT48 Kenkyuusei	3,080	-
41	Oota Aika	HKT48 Team H	3,259	52
40	Isohara Kyoka	SKE48 Team S	3,272	-
39	Yakata Miki	SKE48 Team S	3,277	62
38	Kitahara Rie	AKB48 Team K	3,507	13
37	Takajo Aki	JKT48 Team J (Team B Conc)	4,114	17
36	Katayama Haruka	AKB48 Team B	4,118	48
35	Muto Tomu	AKB48 Team K	4,195	49
34	Furukawa Airi	SKE48 Team KII	4,392	30
33	Kawaei Rina	AKB48 Team A	4,457	-
-----Under Girls line-----
32	Matsumoto Rina	SKE48 Team KII	4,493	-
31	Jonishi Kei	NMB48 Team N	4,640	-
30	Nakanishi Yuka	SKE48 Team S	4,654	63
29	Oya Masana	SKE48 Team S	4,703	27
28	Takayanagi Akane	SKE48 Team KII	4,824	24
27	Iriyama Anna	AKB48 Team A	4,864	-
26	Minegishi Minami	AKB48 Kenkyuusei	4,875	14
25	Saito Makiko	SKE48 Team S	5,051	-
24	Kodama Haruka	HKT48 Team H (Team A Conc)	5,096	-
23	Yabushita Shu	NMB48 Team BII	5,539	-
22	Umeda Ayaka	AKB48 Team B	6,030	16
21	Umemoto Madoka	SKE48 Team E	6,055	-
20	Kojima Haruna	AKB48 Team B	6,502	7
19	Kobayashi Ami	SKE48 Team KII	6,536	-
18	Takahashi Minami	AKB48 Team A	6,598	6
17	Matsumura Kaori	SKE48 Kenkyuusei	6,616	34
-----Senbatsu line-----
16	Kizaki Yuria	SKE48 Team S	6,891	31
15	Shinoda Mariko	AKB48 Team A	7,126	5
14	Itano Tomomi	AKB48 Team K	7,407	8
13	Yamamoto Sayaka	NMB48 Team N	8,097	18
12	Miyazawa Sae	SNH48 (Team K Conc)	8,567	11
11	Suda Akari	SKE48 Team KII	8,753	29
10	Watanabe Miyuki	NMB48 Team N (Team B Conc)	9,163	19
9	Yokoyama Yui	AKB48 Team K	10,616	15
8	Shibata Aya	SKE48 Team KII	8,753	-
7	Shimazaki Haruka	AKB48 Team B	11,832	23
6	Matsui Rena	SKE48 Team E	12,177	10
5	Kashiwagi Yuki	AKB48 Team B	12,887	3
4	Matsui Jurina	SKE48 Team S (Team K Conc)	13,656	9
3	Oshima Yuko	AKB48 Team K	14,000	1
2	Watanabe Mayu	AKB48 Team A	14,885	2
1	Sashihara Rino	HKT48 Team H	28,563	4

Usually, fans would submit only a few of their votes to test the market, and use the preliminary results as a guide to how they should distribute their votes amongst all their Oshimens in the various groups, or the fans would keep their votes until after the preliminary vote count, and then vote all at once so there would be a surprise sharp rise in positions, which was the case of Sato Amina in the 1st election. Unfortunately since then it's no longer a secret and is part of the tactics of many fans now, but I don't know if that's the reason why Amina did not rank at all in the preliminary results.

So it is quite shocking to see Sashihara Rino right on the no.1 spot with 28k votes, almost double that of the 2nd place holder Watanabe Mayu. During last year's preliminary results, the 1st place only had 15k votes. Do the Sasshi fans have something in mind? Or has Sasshi's fanbase grown leaps and bounds since the last election?

Another surprise is SKE48's Shibata Aya, who did not rank at all last year but somehow shot up straight to the 8th place. I don't recall Ayaya getting any major pushing the past year so I'm wondering where all this newfound fame came from. SKE's Suda Akari and Kizaki Yuria, and AKB's Shimazaki Haruka have also leaped from Under Girls to Senbatsu but those 3 have been pushed heavily.

Looking at the results overall, there seems to be just as many SKE48 members as AKB48 members. Maybe it's time SKE48 had it's own Senbatsu Election?

Do drop us a comment on who you voted for and why, and which members do you think deserve to be ranked but did not.

Stay tuned for the final result on 8th June, 2013, 05:30PM at the Nissan Stadium.

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Nogizaka46 2nd Generation Profiles + Videos

The Tokyo phase of Nogizaka46's [16nin no Principal Deux] Stage has ended on 12th May, and with that all the Nogizaka46 2nd generation of members have been revealed, numbering 13 in total. This brings the total number of members in Nogizaka46 up to exactly 46, living up to it's name.


Nogizaka46 2nd Generation profile page: http://www.nogizaka46.com/2kisei_profile/

Each of the members self introduction video has been put up onto their profile pages. You can take a look by clicking on the link above.

Included among the 2nd Generation members is an AKB48 Kenkyuusei graduate, Nishikawa Nanase. She was part of the 8th generation of Kenkyuusei until she graduated on 2009 for an alleged scandal. You can read more about her case HERE.

In addition, the 13 2nd generation members have been seperated into the "Youth Division" and the "Adult Division". Members younger than 16 years old (1997) are grouped into the Youth Division, and those younger than that will join the Adult Division.

Youth Division (L-R) Watanabe Miria (渡辺みり愛) Terada Ranze (寺田蘭世) Sasaki Kotoko (佐々木琴子) Suzuki Ayane (鈴木絢音) Hori Miona (堀未央奈) Yonetoku Kyouka (米徳京花) Ito Junna (伊藤純奈)
Adult Division (L-R) Itou Karin (伊藤かりん) Kitano Hinako (北野日奈子) Yada Risako (矢田里沙子) Shinuchi Mai (新内眞衣) Yamazaki Rena (山崎怜奈) Nishikawa Nanami (西川七海)

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AKB48 32nd Single Senbatsu Election - Election Posters

The Election Posters for the AKB48 32nd Single Senbatsu Election have already been uploaded on the official election website. The 254 posters are also being hung at the TOKYO DOME CITY HALL, and the respective groups' theaters.

http://www.akb48.co.jp/sousenkyo/32ndsingle/member.php

A small 3R photo of one of the election posters will be included as a bonus photo for the Theater Edition of AKB48's 31st Single [Sayonara Crawl], which releases this week.

There are also some updates about the actual election on 8th June, 2013 at the Nippon Budokan. It will be broadcast live on Fuji TV starting 3:00PM JST.

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SKE48 12th Single Announced

SKE48 has announced its 12th Single during their handshake event in Port Messe, Nagoya. Currently, the Single is still untitled, but the release date has been set for 17th July, 2013.

The announcement came unknown to the members in the middle of their mini-live where they performed Okey Dokey, Kataomoi Finally, Aishiteraburu!, and Kiss Datte Hidarikiki. Just as they were about to sing the next song, Choco no Dorei, the announcement flashed on the screen.

The 12th Single will be SKE48's 2nd in 2013. SKE48's 11th Single, [Choco no Dorei], was released more than half a year ago on 30th January, 2013. It will be released in types A, B, and C limited and regular versions as well as a theater version. The single is already up for pre-orders on various websites.

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Kuramochi Asuka [Itsumo Soba ni] PV Preview

The Promotional video for Kuramochi Asuka's solo single [Itsumo Soba ni] has been uploaded onto YouTube. The PV was shot in Guam and will release on 29th May 2013.

However, not all went smoothly during her PV shoot. Kuramochi reported on her blog that her wallet was stolen on the set of the shoot. Unfortunately, she only found out about it after the shoot and by that time it was too late; when she blogged about it she was already back in Japan.

Some of the things inside her wallet included a baseball card signed by her father, cash, and various insurance cards.

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Yokoyama Yui and Yamada Nana Leave Team N

Yokoyama Yui and Yamada Nana both performed their last show as Team N members on May 20. With this, Yokoyama's concurrency ends and she will be only an AKB48 member from now on while Yamada Nana will move to Team M. During the show the two and Yamamoto Sayaka also performed their unit song [Dazai Osamu wo Yonda ka?] from the NMB48 album for the first time in the theater.

Yokoyama Yui's concurrency had been announced during the Tokyo Dome Concerts in August last year. Since then she was quite active in NMB48. She was senbatsu in NMB48's single [Kitagawa Kenji], participated in the album [Teppen Tottande] and was part of the main cast in [NMB48 Geinin!!2] as well as [Geinin!The Movie]. Umeda Team B member Ichikawa Miori will take over the concurrent position in Team N.

Yamada Nana's move to Team M had been announced during NMB48's Request Hour Setlist Best 30 on April 18. Nana has been a Team N member ever since the team was formed in early 2011 and was always one of the front members. From now on she will have to do her best in Team M.

Both girls made comments about their leave on Google+.

Yamada Nana's Comment
Original Message

My last show as Team N.
It was really fun.
I remembered the lessons for our first show and I felt like crying.
I really love the "Dareka no Tame ni" stage show.
Yuihan, even though your concurrency ends we are friends, I really love you.
Even Aina came specially for today. Everyone, thanks for all your love.
Even in Team M, please let me still show my gratitude.
Until today, I've spent such a great time in Team N.
Thank you!

Yokoyama Yui's Comment
Original Message

My last NMB48 theater show has ended.
To everyone in Team N
To everyone in NMB
To the staff
And to all the fans who support me,
Thank you so so much.
I love NMB48.
Thank you for an intensive half year.
I am happy.

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[NMB48 Geinin! The Movie] Will Come To Theaters 1st August

NMB48's first starring movie [NMB48 Geinin! THE MOVIE Owarai Seishun Girls!] will be released in theaters nationwide in Japan starting 1st August, 2013.

Official Website: http://www.ntv.co.jp/geinin_1/movie.html

NMB48 Geinin! THE MOVIE is an adaptation of NMB48's variety TV show NMB48 Geinin!, which broadcasted on Nippon Television (NTV) from July to September 2012. The filming started already on February and the movie was already featured earlier this year at the Okinawa Film Festival, but finally the movie will be available for public viewing from August.


The movie is set in the same girls high school as the TV Show, "Namba Jougakuin" (なんば女学院). The comedy club of Namba Jougakuin aims to win the comedy competition JK-1. However, the similarities end there and the movie will go on a totally different route as the TV show.

The official NMB48 channel has also released a short preview:

NMB48 Geinin! THE MOVIE Owarai Seishun Girls!
NMB48 げいにん！THE MOVIE お笑い青春ガールズ！

Release date: 1st August 2013
Region: Nationwide, Japan

Director: Uchida Hidemi (内田秀実)
Main Cast: Yamada Nana, Ogasawara Mayu, Yamamoto Sayaka, Kotani Riho, Watanabe Miyuki, Yokoyama Yui
Plot:
The members of the "Namba Girls High School Comedy Club" Yamamoto Sayaka, Yokoyama Yui, Yamada Nana, Ogasawara Mayu and Kotani Riho are putting all their effort into manzai comedy.  They practise everyday and don't even have time for fashion or love. One day a nationwide comedy competition for female high school students, the JK-1, is announced. Who wins there, might even appear on TV! The club members get completely excited about this.

At this point, a new student, the pretty but devilish Watanabe Miyuki, transfers to school and wants to join the comedy club. Her joining the club unsettles the other members. The behaviour of the charming and sexy Watanabe displeases Yamamoto and the two get into conflict at every opportunity. Yokoyama who forms a comedy duo with Yamamoto also can't help worrying about the two.

Actually, Yamamoto and Watanabe have a hidden past together...What is behind that? And can the girls win the JK-1? This will be a youth movie full of laugh, tears and deep emotions.

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Kitahara Rie Ends Her Concurrency in SKE48

Kitahara Rie performed her final stage of [Seifuku no Me] on 9th May, ending her concurrency as an SKE48 Team S member. She will revert back being just a member of AKB48's Oshima Team K. Taking her place will be Umeda Team B's Oba Mina, who will be joining SKE48's Team KII.

Kitahara Rie's concurrency with SKE48 was announced during the AKB48 Tokyo Dome concert on August 2012. She made her debut on Team S's [Seifuku no Me] stage on 13th February 2013, performing for 2 months before her concurrency was shuffled from Team S to Team KII at the SKE48 Gaishi Hall concert in April. That was however overruled when at the AKB48 Group Rinji Soukai concert later that month, Togasaki announced the ending of her concurrency.


Kitahara Rie's comment (translated by MajouShoujo48)
https://plus.google.com/101698755652225940459/posts/YkezdBc8vrG

Today my work as a member of SKE48 reaches its end.
It both feels like it’s been a long and a short time but, well..
It didn’t even pass a year, so I guess it was really short.
It was but…still, I was able to make lots of memories with everyone in SKE48, and I’m so happy I’ve had the chance to do that.

It’s not been easy, not at all…it’s been considerably hard,
but this concurrent position really turned out to be
something very positive for me, it made
me realize that there’s nothing impossible to do,
and so it also gave me a lot of confidence in myself.
It was a really wonderful period, in which I’ve had
the privilege to pass through this experience and
find a lots of new precious things for me.

Turning back only to AKB48 would mean to just turn back where I used to be in the first place, but…
if it feels so sad and lonely it’s definitely because it’s been really enjoyable for me to work in SKE48.
Everyone, thank you from the bottom of my heart for your support.

Lastly…
SKE48’s fans are all very very supportive of the group,
and I’m genuinely tremendously envious of SKE48’s members for this love they receive.
Now Ooba Minachan is going to come here after me, as a member in a concurrent position so…
Please, everyone…be so kind to welcome her warmly.
I count on you.

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Eguchi Aimi Disappears from AKB48's Profile Page

AKB48's very own virtual idol Eguchi Aimi has finally graduated from the group. Her profile was taken down from the official website a few days ago.

Eguchi Aimi debuted on June 2011 as the "Ultimate Kenkyuusei", impressing Akimoto Yasushi during NMB48's 2nd Generation audition. She then got transfered to AKB48 and become the only member of AKB48's generation 12.5. Immediately after debuting, she made the cover of the magazine Shupure, as well as starring front and center in the Ice no Mi commercial collaboration with Ezaki Glico.

It was later revealed though that Eguchi Aimi was not a real person, but actually a digital composite of various AKB48 members. Oshima Yuko for her hair and body, Takahashi Minami for her facial outline, Maeda Atsuko for her eyes, Itano Tomomi for her nose, Shinoda Mariko for her mouth and Watanabe Mayu for her eyebrows. 12th Gen Kenkyuusei Sasaki Yukari also filled in as the actual body for the Shupure photoshoot and in live concerts.

However soon after, Eguchi Aimi started appearing less and less and within a month she was nowhere to be seen. Her profile was still kept on the AKB48 official site until today. Eguchi Aimi has not left any graduation speech and no graduation ceremony has been planned.

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