New AKB Subgroup [Natto Angel Z]

This is pretty dated but the full song only came up few days ago.

Anyone here still remembered the subgroup [Nattou Angels] with their song Nattou Angels last year? They were supporting Nattou Day (July 10) in Japan. This year, they are back. Well....only 1 of the original 3 is though... Gone are Itano Tomomi and Kasai Tomomi, leaving only Miyazaki Miho in the group. She has gained some new allies though: Nito Moeno, Ishida Haruka and Sato Sumire. The four has united to form the new and improved Nattou Angel Z!

Like their predecessor, they will be supporting Nattou Day again with their song Nattou man. There won't be a Single release unfortunately, this time it's a digital download only.


For those of you who are unfamiliar to Natto, Wikipedia has an article on it. With pictures too
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natt%C5%8D
slight warning though: do not click link if your eating.

Official website: http://pc.akb48-horipro.net/source/nattou.html


More after the jump

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[Heavy Rotation] 1st Week Sales

 

527,336 copies sold! Ponytail to Shushu sold 513,453 copies in its first week.And of course they took the no. 1 spot in the Oricon weekly chart.

AKB48 now hold the record of being the
1st female group and the 3rd female artist to have 2 consecutive Singles sell more than 500k in the first week (behind Utada Hikaru and Ayumi Hamasaki)

That's not all for this week, In the Recochoku (online music store for japan) weekly ranking, Heavy Rotation is ranked 1st for Ringtone downloads, Full Song downloads, Video downloads and Movie Downloads!

Congratulations with Heavy Rotation selling over 500,000! Even though there were lots of hopeful people who thought that Heavy Rotation would sell 500k in the first day due to the pervy PV and the amazing 650k shipment sales (yes I know, I admit to being one of those), there were just as many doubters that Heavy Rotation would not break the 500k mark this time due to the lack of special bonuses. Well, another reason why you shouldn't ever doubt Akimoto Yasushi.


Heavy Rotation (Music Station)


note: updated with one that has no pitch problems


(credits to: z3144228, decreez)

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No Sleeves Debut Album [No Sleeves]

Updated 23 September: Kimishika has been added to tracklist
Updated 17 September: Release date confirmed.

The title of the album is "No Sleeves". No surprise there. Their first 4 singles' title tracks Relax!, Tane, Kiss no Ryuusei and Lie will be on the album, as well as remix versions of no3b's Mendol drama songs Christmas Present and 3seconds.

There will also be a surprise inclusion of Team A stage songs Junai no Crescendo and Bye Bye Bye on the album. These are stage songs that the 3 of them did together, so unlike the French Kiss single's coupling songs, no3b is the exact original singers here.

Their latest single, Kimishika will not WILL be included. There will be a total 11 songs on the album, which comes in 5 versions.

No Sleeves 1st Album
Release date: 2010/01/01
Versions:
￥3,059 - Regular CD (Handshake ticket)
￥3,900 - Limited CD+DVD
￥4,800 - Limited Complete Edition CD + Self-Produced Photobook A + Misanga with charm A + 4 Trading Cards (Kojima ver)
￥4,800 - Limited Complete Edition CD + Self-Produced Photobook B + Misanga with charm B + 4 Trading Cards (Takahashi ver)
￥4,800 - Limited Complete Edition CD + Self-Produced Photobook C + Misanga with charm C + 4 Trading Cards (Minegishi ver)

All editions have bonus photo.

The tracklist has not been announced. While there wasn't any reason given for the postponement, speculation is that the album is simply not ready yet. Release date has been confirmed for a New Year's Day release. That's right, 01/01/11. Happy New Year no3b Album!!!!

Fans need not worry, good things are worth waiting for. However, those who have preordered the album with other things such as the 2010 calendars may want to edit their orders as we do not know when it will come out.


(Credit: Jasey, aakun, -Dani-)

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[Heavy Rotation] 1st Day Sales

Once again, congratulations to AKB48!



   Heavy Rotation sold 340,487 copies on the first day, topping the Oricon charts!

   For comparison, Ponytail to Shushu sold 354,403 copies on its first day. This means AKB sold about 10k less this time, but it doesn't mean that it's lousy, because Ponyshu had voting tickets which resulted in more people buying multiple copies. This time, there is no election, but Heavy Rotation managed not to drop drastically in comparison, which means that AKB is really gaining fans.

   And supporting the thinking that the number of fans did grow substantially is Heavy Rotation's second day sales:
68,439
Still at #1 of course.
But this figure means a lot more than just money.
This is AKB's best figure for 2nd day sales yet.

   Also, Ponyshu had sold 49,447 copies on its second day. So even though Heavy Rotation had lost to Ponyshu by 10k on its first day, it sold about 20k more on the second day, meaning Heavy Rotation is already outselling Ponyshu.

   Before this result though, many people did expect higher first day sales even with no election. Maybe due to the fact that the shops had actually shipped 650k copies compared to Ponyshu's 500k. The shops are just better prepared this time, I guess. Not to worry for them, at this rate, Heavy Rotation will probably reach 550k copies sold by the end of the week.

   The fact that the transition from 1st day to 2nd day was less drastic this time meant that there are more casual fans now. How does this thinking work? If you think about it, most wotas and hardcore fans go through preorder so that they can get the single in their hands as early as possible, while maybe less than half of the casual fans(those overseas especially) use it. By the second day, the people left to buy would be mostly casual fans. Of course this is just very hypothetical thinking on my part but I believe it makes sense.

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[Heavy Rotation] Final Updates + Review

 

My my my. It's the day of release for Heavy Rotation and wow, there has been nothing but good news with this Single this last few days. I'll start of with the first one.

Heavy Rotation.........somehow........amazingly..........ships.........out..........
650,000 COPIES!!!!!!!
(note: its shipped not sold. Shipped as in to the various stores for selling)
HOLY SHIT! That's A LOT! To give you a comparison, Ponytail to Shushu shipped out 500,000 copies. Ponytail to Shushu had a 1st day sale of 354,403 and a 1st week sale of 513,453.

Wow AKB is definitely on a roll now.

That's not all! The NINKI ranking (a ranking done by Oricon to see how the public feels about the Single and if they want to buy it or not) for Heavy Rotation is:
351.30!!!!
Ponytail to Shushu had a NINKI ranking of 260.80 and Sakura no Shiori had a NINKI ranking of 148.50 (wait a min. that's the same as Takamina's height lol).

And not only that! The mid-day sales of Heavy Rotation is:
55,226!!!!
Ponytail to Shushu had a mid-day of 26,963. Sakura no Shiori had a mid-day of 15,994.

So from this we can estimate the amount of sales that Heavy Rotation will have. My guess is: 1st day of 500,000 and 1st week of 675,000

However NINKI rankings should not be readily used for judging the sales of a Single, it only shows the willingness of the public it they would buy it or not. Neither should we trust mid-day sales can't be trusted so easily because Kamikyoku Tachi had a mid-day if 44,485 but their 1st day was only 189,884.

There's still more good news!
There will be a simultaneous broadcast of Heavy Rotation in all radio stations throughout Japan on the midnight of 18 August. I repeat. ALL 101 RADIO STATIONS THROUGHOUT JAPAN!!! AND ITS A SIMULTANEOUS BROADCAST!!!! TOKYO FM and Chiba Bayfm will have the song running EVERY HOUR. There will also be narrations done by Oshima Yuko, Maeda Atsuko, and Itano Tomomi broadcasted along with the song.

And the last of them all. They will be performing of MUSIC STATION on Friday (20 August 2010).

Heavy Rotation is definitely on Heavy Rotation.


Heavy Rotation (ヘビーローテーション)
Release Date: 18 August 2010
Price: 1600yen

Heavy Rotation (Type A) [CD]  01. Heavy Rotation 02. Namida no Seesaw Game 03. Yasai Sisters 04. Heavy Rotation (off-vocal) 05. Namida no Seesaw Game (off-vocal) 06. Yasai Sisters (off-vocal) [DVD] 01. Heavy Rotation PV 02. Namida no Seesaw Game PV 03. Yasai Sisters PV 04. 2nd AKB Election Documentary Video (part 1) 05. Issho ni Koreichi! Video (Type A) 06. Bonus Footage	Heavy Rotation (Type B) [CD] 01. Heavy Rotation 02. Namida no Seesaw Game 03. Lucky Seven  04. Heavy Rotation (off-vocal) 05. Namida no Seesaw Game (off-vocal) 06. Lucky Seven (off-vocal)  [DVD] 01. Heavy Rotation PV 02. Namida no Seesaw Game PV 03. Lucky Seven PV 04. 2nd AKB Election Documentary Video (part 2)  05. Issho ni Koreichi! Video (Type B) 06. Bonus Footage
Heavy Rotation (Theater Ver.) [CD]  01. Heavy Rotation 02. Namida no Seesaw Game 03. Yasai Sisters 04. Lucky Seven	First press of Type A and B comes with special holographic cover and handshake event ticket. Theatre version comes with Single release commemorative handshake event ticket and one random photo

The members in Issho ni Koreichi! Video differ according to type.
Type A: Oshima Yuko, Shinoda Mariko, Watanabe Mayu, Kojima Haruna, Miyazawa Sae, Matsui Rena, Takajo Aki, Ono Erena, Akimoto Sayaka, Miyazawa Miho, Kuramochi Asuka, Komori Mika, Maeda Ami
Type B: Maeda Atsuko, Itano Tomomi, Takahashi Minami, Kashiwagi Yuki, Matsui Jurina, Kasai Tomomi, Minegishi Minami, Kitahara Rie, Oota Aika, Nito Moeno, Sato Sumire


Order Links
HMV: http://www.hmv.co.jp/en/search/index.asp?target=MUSIC&category=1&adv=1&keyword=akb48+heavy+rotation&site=&type=sr
CD Japan: http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/search3.html?q=akb48+heavy+rotation&media=&r=any&step=20&order=score
YesAsia: http://www.yesasia.com/global/search/akb48-heavy-rotation/0-0-0-bpt.48_q.akb48+heavy+rotation-en/list.html


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AKB48 Team Pigg Battle

Some time ago, there was a competition going on in Ameba Pigg, a game sort of like Second Life for Japanese, entirely in Japanese. First announced at the Yoyogi concert (see post here). The Pigg characters of all the members of AKB48 (except Shinoda Mariko due to a contract with another company) were split into 10 teams of various sizes. They will be competing for the title of Team Pigg, and their song will be featured on the B-side of AKB48's 18th Single which will be released on 27 October.

We have no information on the songs, only the team name, members on that team, and the title of the song.

Here are the teams:

Team Name	Song	Members
Love Company	Thirsty	Oshima, Sato A, Nakaya, Miyazaki
MINT	Kimi ni Tsuite (君について)	Maeda At, Katayama, Kasai, Nito, Matsui S
U	Delete	Itano, Masuda, Komori, Kobayashi, Hirajima, Matsubara, Oya
Lolita Peter Pan (ロリータピーターパン)	Tenshi no Fruit Parfait (天使のフルーツパフェ)	Watanabe, Ishida
EYES	NEXT HEAVEN	Takahashi, Nakatsuka, Nakagawa, Oku, Iwasa, Uchida
GIRLS·ing (ガールズ・ING)	Uso Desho? (嘘でしょ？)	Kuramochi, Kojima, Umeda, Kikuchi, Sato N, Chikano
Cosmos Tokei (コスモス時計)	Merry Go Round (メリーゴーランド)	Kashiwagi, Fukie, Sashihara, Maeda Am
Shaku ga Hoshii (尺が欲しい)	Renaiun Joshotai (恋愛運上昇隊)	Minegishi, Takajo, Oota, Nonaka, Tanabe
Houkenshitsu (保健室)	Barairo Countdown (バラ色かうんとだうん)	Miyazawa, Kitahara, Sato S, Nakata, Yonezawa, Suzuki
Sally Akimoto (サリー秋元)	Kamuchakka Wataridori Bojou (カムチャッカ渡り鳥慕情)	Akimoto

To vote for the group of your choice, you have to buy their flowers in the AKB48 Gym inside Ameba Pigg. Each flower cost 20 ame. The team which sells the most flowers are the winners.


The results were released on 09 August. Results after the jump


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AKB48xYJ - AKB48 Mangaka Debut/Kitarie Seiyuu Debut

Weekly Young Jump will publish manga works by AKB48 members Watanabe Mayu, Kashiwagi Yuki, Kitahara Rie and Sashihara Rino. They will start in issue No. 38, with Kashiwagi on the cover.

Each of the 4 members' manga will be released once a month, and each members' manga will be released every different week. So each week, you will see a manga by one of the four members. The pattern repeats every month.



The official site for the collaboration is here.

The titles of the mangas are as listed:
Watanabe: "Mayuyu no Mangaka Debut Keikaku" (Mayuyu's Mangaka Debut Plan)
Kashiwagi: "Yukirin no THE Idol Quest!" (Yukirin's THE Idol Quest)
Kitahara: "Kitarie no Bousou Bungaku Shoujo-do" (Kitarie's Delusional Literary Girl)
Sashihara:"Sasshii Bishoujo-ka Keikaku"(Sasshii Beautiful Girl Change Plan)

I haven't actually read any of these, but based on the titles i'd say Kitarie's and Sasshi's titles sound the most interesting. Whether they're good at mangaka or not, I can't say, but from general fan knowledge, Sasshi is an otaku, so it should be really interesting.

I also know that Rie reads manga like One Piece and Kimi ni Todoke, while Mayu is also into such things. However, I'm not too familiar with Yukirin (she's the only one from these four girls that aren't in my top 10).

And there's more than just mangaka for Kitarie!
If you've not heard, my oshimen Rie-chan is also going to have her seiyuu(voice actress) debut!



She will have her seiyuu debut in upcoming remake anime Gakkou no Kowai Uwasa: Hanako-san ga Kita. She plays Howahowa, the main character's furry friend. The anime will premiere on the 13th of August, on the channel BS12 TwellV.

(Credits: Criss)

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Watarirouka Hashiritai 6th Single [Gyu]

Covers

From left: Limited A, B, C and Regular

Gyu (ギュッ)
Release Date: 01 September 2010
Price:
    Limited ver: 1700 yen
    Normal ver: 1200 yen

Gyu (Limited ver. A) [CD] 01. Gyu 02. Tenohira 03. Gomennasai 04. Gyu (Instrumental) 05. Tenohira (Instrumental) 06. Gomennasai (Instrumental) [DVD] Tracklist TBA Comes with 1 trading card out of #73, 74, 75	Gyu (Limited ver. B) [CD] 01. Gyu 02. Tenohira 03. Gomennasai 04. Gyu (Instrumental) 05. Tenohira (Instrumental) 06. Gomennasai (Instrumental) [DVD] Tracklist TBA Comes with 1 trading card out of #76, 77, 78
Gyu (Limited Ver. C) [CD] 01. Gyu 02. Tenohira 03. Gomennasai 04. Gyu (Instrumental) 05. Tenohira (Instrumental) 06. Gomennasai (Instrumental) Comes with mini Photobook and 1 trading card out of #79, 80, 81	Gyu (Regular Ver.) [CD] 01. Gyu 02. Tenohira 03. Gomennasai 04. Gyu (Instrumental) 05. Tenohira (Instrumental) 06. Gomennasai (Instrumental) Only First press comes with 1 trading card out of 3 types

Order Links
HMV/CDJapan/YesAsia

More after the jump

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Puccho x AKB48

Another collaboration between AKB and some other company. How many have there been this year already? This time the collaboration is with food producer UHA Mikakuto. AKB48 will be collaborating with UHA Mikakuto for their for 10th year anniversary, who will be releasing a bunch of new flavours for their Puccho candies (ぷっちょ). The song used for the promotion is the title song of their upcoming single, Heavy Rotation.

The members who are participating in the collaboration are the Senbatsu girls voted in the recent election. These are:
Oshima Yuko, Maeda Atsuko, Shinoda Mariko, Itano Tomomi, Watanabe Mayu, Takahashi Minami, Kojima Haruna, Kashiwagi Yuki, Miyazawa Sae, Matsui Jurina, Matsui Rena, Kasai Tomomi, Takajo Aki, Minegeshi Minami, Ono Erena, Kitahara Rie, Akimoto Sayaka, Sato Amina, Sashihara Rino, Nakagawa Haruka and Miyazaki Miho.

Official AKB x Puccho Website: http://www.akb48cho.jp


Similar to the Kagome collaboration for Yasai Ichinichi Kore Ippon (the vegetable drink) which featured videos of the girls drinking the drink, this one has videos of the girls eating the Puccho candy (with a little surprise after they eat it). Its very fun to hear the each girl's reaction when it happens. You will know when you see it.

Also by eating the Pucchos you stand a chance to win tickets to next year's AKB48 Request Hour top 100! There are only 40 tickets up for grabs though (10 for each day).

The videos of the girls eating the pucchos are ripped and posted after the jump.



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Team A 6th Stage [Mokugekisha] Review

I'm probably the last one to do this. Sorry bout that, exam period plus project submissions and my GPA ain't really that good. Well it's the holidays now so expect a mass of updates. First up is my review of Team A's new Stage [Mokugekisha] meaning Eye-witness. Now with pictures!


Team A 6th STAGE [Mokugekisha]

No.	Romaji	Japanese	Translation	Singers
OP	Miniskirt no Yosei	ミニスカートの妖精	Miniskirt fairy	Zenza Girls
M00	Overture	-	-	-
M01	Mokugekisha	目撃者	Eye-witness	Team A
M02	Zenjin Mitou	前人未踏	Untrodded	Team A
M03	Ibitsu na Shinju	いびつな真珠	Distorted pearl	Team A
M04	Akogare no Popstar	憧れのポップスター	Longed-for popstar	Team A
M05	Ude wo Kunde	腕を組んで	Crossing my arms	Maeda At, Nakaya, Kuramochi
M06	Enjou Rousen	炎上路線	Blazing roads	Sashihara, Takajo
M07	Itoshisa no Akuseru	愛しさのアクセル	Affection accelerator	Takahashi
M08	Hoshi no Mukougawa	☆の向こう側	Beyond the stars	Kojima, Nakata, Oota, Iwasa
M09	Saboten to Gold Rush	サボテンとゴールドラッシュ	Cactus and gold rush	Shinoda, Katayama, Matsubara, Nakagawa, Oya, Maeda Ami
M10	Utsukushiki Mono	美しき者	Beautiful person	Team A
M11	Ai wo Kure	アイヲクレ	Give me love	Team A
M12	Matenrou no Kyori	摩天楼の距離	Skyscraper distance	Team A
M13	Inochi no Imi	命の意味	Meaning of life	Team A
EC	-	-	-	-
EC1	I'm crying	I'm crying	-	Team A
EC2	Zutto Zutto	ずっと ずっと	Always, always	Team A
EC3	Pioneer	Pioneer	-	Team A

* Zenza girls will perform at the beginning of every Stage. 
* Bolded girls are the center.


More after the jump

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SKE48 Request Hour ~Set List Best 30~

SKE48 held its own version of the AKB48 Request Hour ~Set List Best 100~ on 31 July 2010, called SKE48 Request Hour ~Set List Best 30~.Held at the Nagoya Congress Center Century Hall. To vote, you need the voting ticket which is included in the Aozora Kataomoi Single.

For those of you who voted, which song did you vote for and why? I voted for Aozora Kataomoi, because that song pwns \m/.


During the concert, there were a couple of announcements.

Announcements
- SKE48 will be opening their official shop in Shibuya for Tokyo and in Sunshine Sakae for Nagoya.
- Team KII's new stage planned for middle of September.
- Concert Announcements:
Osaka - BIGCAT
Date: 16 August 2010
Performing: Team KII
Date: 17 August 2010
Performing: Team S

Fukuoka - Imuzu Hall
Date: 24 September
Performing: SKE48

Tokyo - SHIBUYA-AX
Date: 03 October 2010
Performing: SKE48

Nagoya - Zepp Nagoya
Date: 05 October 2010
Performing: SKE48

Macau
Date: 16 November
Performing: AKB48, SKE48


Setlist after the jump

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