AKB48 in 61th Kohaku Uta Gassen updates

     As previously announced, AKB48 will be part of this year's 61st Kohaku Uta Gassen. 4 days ago NHK released the song list that the artists will be performing. AKB48 will be performing a [Kohaku 2010 AKB48 Kamikyoku SP]. A total of 130 members will be singing a medley of 3 songs: Beginner, Heavy Rotation, Ponytail to Shushu. Koda Kumi, and Wada Akiko, as well as ARASHI, NYC, Kayama Yuzo, Go Hiromi, and SMAP, will also be performing medleys.

     This is not the first time AKB48 has performed a medley in Kouhaku Uta Gassen. Their first appearance in the 58th Kouhaku Uta Gassen, they performed Aitakatta and Nantetatte Idol together with artists Shokotan and Leah Dizon. Then on the 60th Kohaku Uta Gassen they performed RIVER Surprise Kohaku Remix, a medley of RIVER and Namida Surprise.

This year's Kohaku seems to be an AKB48 special. There will be tonnes of appearances by AKB during the whole duration of the show, not just their segment. They will be appearing in other artist's segments, including backdancing to Arashi's Bokutachi no Furusato Nippon, and a collab with Mizuki Nana singing an anime song. Members will also be doing backstage reports. The full list after the jump. The show will start on 7:30PM on 31 December 2010 and will run until 11:45PM.

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AKB48 xHottomotto

「GO！カツフェア」or [Go! Katsu fair] enlisted AKB48 members' help to start a new image campaign titled Hottomotto. The image created by the uniform donned by the members portrays an image of people supporting those who are taking the examinations or supporting those who are working hard towards their dreams.

From January 1st 2011, on air in the whole of Japan would be their CM. It would portray HottoMotto's bento getting consumed in places like the Television Station, concert venues etcetera by the girls mainly. There would be three versions of this CM: the [Go! Katsu fair] Version, the 「クリームシチューかつ丼」or [Cream Stew Katsudon] Version、「お好みソースかつ丼」or [Osukimi Sauce Katsudon] Version. The CMs would portray the members enjoying the food with each other.

What fans would look forward to most should be the special encouragement messages from the members. After purchasing the promoted food items, the customers would receive a download card to download encouragement messages. Upon scanning the QR code, they would receive 2 kinds (out of 32) of the special AKB48xHottoMotto mobile encouragement charm.

official AKB48xhottomotto website: http://www.hm-akb48.com/ Operational from January 7 2011

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Mariyannu is back!

Following up from our previous post about AKB48 Team B member Suzuki Mariya being ill, the latest update is that she has now recovered enough to return to idol work! :D

Here's the newer post on her blog by her agency Dresscode:

Thank you for your support.
This is an announcement regarding Dresscode's Suzuki Mariya.

She had to stop her activities due to poor health, but starting from today, she will resume them.
Her blog updates will continue from today, as well.

Thank you for your comments.
We apologize for causing worry.

We seek your understanding on this matter.
Please continue supporting us.


　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 2010/12/27
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 Dresscode Corporation

Source: http://ameblo.jp/mariyasuzuki/entry-10749460410.html
Translations courtesy of maliciel.

And finally the latest post on her blog by Mariyannu herself!

It has been a while.

Over this period I have been taking a break from work, but from today onwards, I will be resuming activities.

I have inconvenienced and worried the fans, staff, officials and members.

At the end of the year, everyone in AKB has daily activities, and for me to be taking a break at this time..
There were the inevitable thoughts of "Everyone is working hard, what am I doing.."

It is regrettable; this was my first time taking a break from work.

To the Kenkyuusei as well, I am sorry for the inconvenience I caused with the sudden announcement.

I will be taking good care of myself. From now on, please lend me your support.

2010/12/27
AKB48 TeamB Suzuki Mariya

Source: http://ameblo.jp/mariyasuzuki/entry-10749800864.html
Translations courtesy of maliciel.

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French Kiss 2nd Single [If] updates

     Some updates about French Kiss's new Single [If] that will be releasing on 19 January 2011. As previously mentioned, the song will be used as the theme song for the Anime OVA [Kyo, Koi wo Hajimemasu]. As with their Debut Single Zutto Mae Kara, If will include a special Drama Clip featuring the 3 members of French Kiss, as well as a new Digital Manga of Kyo, Koi wo Hajimemasu featuring the members voice acting parts of the manga. If will have a total of 3 Types: Type A, Type B and Type C.

     As with Zutto Mae Kara, there will be a total of 4 different songs in all the versions of If, 3 of them being new. The A-Side song If will be on all versions of the Single. The coupling song for Type A is Mae wo Muiteru Kimi (前を向いてる君). All members of French Kiss will be singing it. For Type B that coupling song is Chinmoku (沈黙), a solo ballad song sung by Kashiwagi Yuki. And lastly Type C has Kuchi Utsushi no Chocolate (口移しのチョコレート). From Team B 4th Stage [Idol no Yoake], the song was originally sang by Kashiwagi Yuki, Hirajima Natsumi and Oota Aika, with Kashiwagi leading. In this version Kashiwagi will take her own lines, however it is unknown who will take Hirajima's or Oota's lines.

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Sashihara Rino gets own TV show [Sashiko no Kuse ni]

     Continuing with the new shows, AKB48's very own Sashihara Rino will get her very own solo TV show titled [さしこのくせに] (Sashiko no Kuse ni). The full title of the show is [Sashiko no Kuseni ~Kono Bangumi wa AKB to wa Mattaku Kankei Arimasen] (Even though it's Sashiko ~ This program has nothing to do with AKB at all ~). She will be accompanied by comedian Tsuchida Teruyuki, who is also the producer, as the MC of the show. The show aims to train Sashihara into a full fledged idol by getting her to challenge various things. The show will start on 11 January 2011, the show will air every Monday for 30 mins from 25:25PM ~ 25:55PM on TBS.

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AKB48 PSP Game [AKB1/48 Idol to Koishitara...] Updates

AKB48's PSP video game AKB1/48 Idol to Koishitara... released today in Japan.

     To refresh your memory, the game starts off with all 48 members of AKB48 coming madly after you. You then have to reject them one by one until there is only 1 remaining. The idol love simulation game featuring all 48 AKB members (pre-Erena graduation) came in a total of 4 editions. You can read more about the basic details of the game in our earlier post.

     More details are now known about the game. Firstly, there will be paid downloadable content for the game by Bandai. Currently there is a "Photo Clock" app where a member will hold white paper with time on it. It costs 300 yen per girl, 2400 yen for a whole team, or 3500 yen for all the girls.

     Secondly, apparently there is "drama" in the game, which are things like a girl spotting you on a date with another, or one of the girls you already broke up with can't forget about you, or a member can ask you about your relationship with another girl. In the game, facial expressions and outfits for the girls can be unlocked through clearing conditions. You will also get "trading cards" as you play, which are photos that can be put as wallpaper.

     In addition to the game, a guidebook for it, "AKB 1 / 48 Idol to Koishitara...Official Kouryaku Visual Book" was also released on the 17 December for 1000 yen. The book comes with a Love Letter, Special Sticker and Special Poster.

     In other news, a fight broke out in the morning of the release in the queues(according to an observer there were over 100 queues formed) for the game, outside Don Quixote building. Police cars and an ambulance were seen outside the building.


Image credits: kaztsu @ Twitpic

*sighs*

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Suzuki Mariya unwell

AKB48 Team B member Suzuki Mariya has been unwell for over a week.

The first sign of trouble started when after her 14th December post about being excited for Christmas, Mariyannu stopped blogging or sending out Mobame(Japanese mobile mail subscription), and her radio show was cancelled.

Then on the 16th, Togasaki wrote on AKB48's official blog about Mariyannu's appearance on the 17th's Team B theater show being cancelled due to health reasons. On the 20th, Togasaki wrote a post about the members not attending Team B's Christmas day theater show, which with 3 other girls, included Mariyannu.

On the very same day, Mariya's blog finally had an update; alas, not from herself but her agency.

Thank you for always supporting us.

Please allow us to report on our agency's Suzuki Mariya.

She is now taking a break, after being looked over by a doctor for her physical condition.
She wants to get better and heal fully, so that she may appear before everyone again.

Our heartfelt apologies for the late announcement, and causing worry to everyone.

We hope to seek your understanding.
Please continue supporting us.



　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　2010/12/20
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　Dresscode Corporation

Source: http://ameblo.jp/mariyasuzuki/entry-10742774811.html

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SKE48 mini-drama series [Mousou Deka]

     SKE48 will get their own mini drama starting 12 January 2011. The mini drama is titled 「モウソウ刑事」or Mousou Deka. It will air only in Nagoya every Wednesday from 24:40PM ~ 24:55PM.

     The story begins with a cosplay battle held on a deserted island. The hotel owner on that island is murdered and the suspects are all the participants in the hall. As the story unravels, we would see more of the detective at work and it remains to be said whether Matsui Jurina or the Mousou Deka can solve the mystery. The 17 other SKE48 members are all suspects of the crime and Matsui Jurina has to find the culprit before it is too late.

     Though this drama series would only be aired locally in Nagoya, there will be a DVD compilation of the series along with making-ofs of the drama. The theme song used for this mini drama will be SKE48's latest Single 1!2!3!4! Yoroshiku!. The main leading female role is taken on by none other than Matsui Jurina and she would be accompanied by 17 other SKE48 members namely:

From Team S: Matsui Rena, Yagami Kumi, Rikako Hirata, Oya Masana, Kizaki Yuria, Kuwabara Mizuki, Nakanishi Yuka, Haruna Ono, Yukiko Kinoshita, Hiramatsu Kanako, Takada Shiori, Suda Akari, Deguchi Aki, Kato Rumi
From Team KII: Ishida Anna, Takayanagi Akane, Mukaida Manatsu

     Matsui Rena ,Matsui Jurina and Yagami Kumi do have prior experience with drama acting from Majisuka Gakuen. However this would still be significant for them as they would be acting as the cast consisting entirely of SKE48 members only. In my humble opinion, we have all seen the brilliant acting of Yagami Kumi in Boku dake no Value PV, this mini-drama will feed us with more. It would be 12 15-min-episodes full of SKE48 fun! The costumes would surely spice things up and make the show explode with visual appeal. Something more to look forward from SKE48 in year 2011!

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Itano Tomomi Solo Debut Single [Dear J]

     1st generation AKB48 member Itano Tomomi is due to release her first solo single [Dear J] on January 26 2011, produced by Akimoto Yasushi. The details that are available now is that there would be a total of four different versions namely: Version A, Version B, Version C and one Theater version. Other than the opening track, the disc contents would be different for each version.

     This is not the first time Itano is singing out of AKB. The first was Summer Lips, sung by a group of the same name which consisted of Tomotomo (Itano Tomomi and Kasai Tomomi). After that was a solo gig as Gyaruchin with Shiny Summer ~Tomo no Natsu~. Next was Queen & Elizabeth, another pairing with Kasai Tomomi, promoting Kamen Rider W with their song Love Wars. Dear J is however Itano Tomomi's first single as herself.

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AKB48 5th Anniversary

On 8th December 2010, AKB48 celebrated its 5th Anniversary with a special theater performance that day at the AKB48 Theater in Akihabara.

48 members within the three teams alongside with the kenkyuuseis and a number of the graduated members allowed for 82 of them to gather at that theater together.

The opening song was sung by the original Team A when they debuted in 2005 8th December and it was Party ga Hajimaruyo!

SETLIST (taken of stage48, Credits to Jasey from Stage48)

1. (From A1) Party ga Hajimaruyo (Itano Tomomi, Urano Kazumi, Orii Ayumi, Kawasaki Nozomi, Kojima Haruna, Komatani Hitomi, Sato Yukari, Takahashi Minami, Tojima Hana, Narita Risa, Hirajima Natsumi, Hoshino Michiru, Maeda Atsuko, Minegishi Minami, Watanabe Shiho)

2. (From K2) Seishun Girls (Akimoto Sayaka, Kobayashi Kana, Umeda Ayaka, Oshima Yuko, Miyazawa Sae, Masuda Yuka, Oku Manami, Ohori Megumi, Takada Ayana, Kasai Tomomi, Matsubara Natsumi, Hayano Kaoru, Sato Natsuki, Imai Yu, Noro Kayo)

3. (From B3) Shonichi (Oota Aika, Kashiwagi Yuki, Kikuchi Ayaka, Watanabe Mayu, Nakaya Sayaka, Kohara Haruka, Hirajima Natsumi, Katayama Haruka, Matsuoka Yuki, Nito Moeno, Tanabe Miku, Saeki Mika, Yonezawa Rumi, Urano Kazumi, Saotome Miki)

4. Anata ga Itekureta Kara
----------------------
5. Fruits Snow (Team Kenkyuusei)
6. Love Jump (Team B)
7. ALIVE (Team K)
8. Kurumi to Dialogue (Team A)
9. Yoyakushita Christmas (Original Senbatsu)
10. Chance no Junban (Chance Senbatsu)
11. Sakura no Hanabiratachi
----------------------

At this anniversary performance, it was formally announced that the Ninth Generation Members who were Kenkyuuseis are all promoted. Their teams however are still undecided.

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No Sleeves 6th Single [Answer]

No Sleeves' 6th single has been announced.

The title is "Answer" and the release date is still unknown. The song will be used as the ending theme for anime 'Beelzebub', which starts airing 2011/1/9 on NTV.

Not much is known for now, but I went to check up on this anime, never having heard of this particular title before. "Beelzebub" is an action comedy (click on the link for Wikipedia). I looked out for reviews of the manga, most people seem to like it and rate it high, so this sounds like it'll be a fairly promising boost for no3b's sales and recognition. This will mark no3b's first second entry into the Anisong industry.

Personally, I am already getting excited just from the song title. It sounds so cool.

Source

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AKB48 Appearance at STGCC2010 updates

     Uugh this was supposed to be posted inside STGCC before the doors open.... BUT I COULDN'T GET A CONNECTION TO THE INTERNET D: . Big apologies to everyone. This is the final update.

photograph credit to STGCC

Member List:

TEAM A	TEAM K	TEAM B
Katayama Haruka Nakagawa Haruka Maeda Ami Kuramochi Asuka	Uchida Mayumi Nakatsuka Tomomi Tanabe Miku Matsui Sakiko	Ishida Haruka Sato Sumire Kobayashi Kana Chikano Rina

Rules
Please note that no photography, video and audio recording is allowed due to copyright issues on 10 and 11 Dec. No camera/video/audio equipment deposit area will be provided, please give us your cooperation and respect our idols' wishes. Anyone caught making video and audio recordings or taking photographs will have to be asked to leave the venue. We seek your understanding on this.

Ticket collection
On site ticket sales will start from 11:00AM onwards at level 1.
1. If you have your tickets already on hand, please proceed to level 3 (Concourse).
2. If you have bought BUT not collected your tickets, please proceed to level 1 and queue under the rows "Venue Collection"
3. If you have not bought your tickets, please proceed to level 1

Friday, 10 December 2010
Time: 4:00PM ~ 4:30PM
Location: Hall 401-402, Main stage
Members: Uchida Mayumi, Ishida Haruka, Nakatsuka Tomomi
Admission: Open to all STGCC day (Fri) and 3-day ticket holders

Performance on stage as well as handshake session with the 3 girls. Handshake session limited to first 50 in the queue. Queue poles will be ready at 12:00PM, at the voting area, beside the stage in Halls 401 & 402.
 
Saturday, 11 December 2010
Time: 7:00PM ~ 8:30PM
Location: Level 3, Suntec Theater
Members: All members
Admission: Open to AKB48 ticket holders (inclusive of 1 day access to STGCC on 11 Dec 2010)

AKB48 will have a special closed-door Meet the Fans Session. Includes a performance by the group. All attendees will receive a complimentary postcard featuring their latest Single, Chance no Junban. On the back of the postcard is a Rock-Paper-Scissors game where you stand a chance to win some autographed posters.

Queuing for the AKB48 Meet the Fans Session will only begin from 3.00pm, 11 December 2010, at Gallery East (next to the theater itself). Earlier queuing will result in you being kicked out.

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New members added to Watarirouka Hashiritai for 7th single

UPDATE: Kikuchi and Hirajima have both blogged that the additional two members and the change of name to "Watarirouka Hashiritai 7" is only temporary for this next single.

2 more AKB48 girls, Iwasa Misaki and Komori Mika, have been added to the Watarirouka Hashiritai lineup, bringing the unit's member count to 7. Wasamin and Komorin are in the same agency as the current Watarirouka girls, Ogi Pro.

Watarirouka has also had its 7th single announced some time back, but there are no details as of now.

Watarirouka Hashiritai 7
7th Single [Title TBA]
2011/2/2 Release

CD Only | PCCA-03328
CD+DVD A | PCCA-03326
CD+DVD B | PCCA-03327

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AKB48 19th Single [Chance no Junban] + 1st day sales

     AKB48's 19th Single [Chance no Junban] ((My) Turn by Chance) releases today on December 8. Just a little more than a month after the release of their record selling Single Beginner. Chance no Junban is AKB48's 5th Single in 2010. One interesting note is that the release date is the same as AKB48's 5th Anniversary.

     For the first time ever, the different types of Chance no Junban will be Team based. There will be a total of 4 different types: Type A will feature Team A, Type K will feature Team K, Type B will feature Team B and Theater ver. will have AKB48 Kenkyuuseis. Each Type will have 3 different tracks and it's instrumentals for a total of 6 tracks, but the 4 different Types bump the total track count to 12. Each type will have it's own track #3 and #6.

     Chance no Junban clocked in it's first day in the Oricon Daily Charts at #1 with 471,242 sales. Just close enough to make it to the top 10 highest selling Singles of 2010. Although lesser than the previous Single Beginner, it still sold higher than Heavy Rotation despite the lack missing frontgirls in the Senbatsu.

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New Writer: Miss Moonlight

Another new writer joins! Her name is Miss Moonlight and she will be in charge of the NMB48 posts. Miss Moonlight comes from germany. Treat her well.

Still accepting applicants for the SDN48 slot so if anyone wants to help cover SDN48 related news please drop me an email: melos125@gmail.com.

---

Hello! My name is Miss Moonlight and I am a 21-year old undergraduate student from Germany. From now on I am going to contribute to Melos no Michi about NMB48.

I am a fan of AKB48 for about one and a half years now. It begann with Iiwake Maybe. I was looking through the Oricon ranking chart searching for new releases and I saw Iiwake Maybe on it. The title got me curious, I listened to it and then I was addicted.

Since Iiwake Maybe my oshi are also determined: Akimoto Sayaka for AKB48 and Matsui Jurina for SKE48, they just caught my eye immediately. But generally I like all girls.

I have a special interest in NMB48 because I love to see how this newly created group develops, matures and, hopefully, catches up to the other groups.

It's early days so I am not 100% sure about my NMB48 oshi yet but I'm interested in Yamada Nana, Ogasawara Mayu and Oota Riona. I'm looking forward to see more of them.

Name: Evelyn
Age:21 (1989.07.28)
Occupation: Student (Japanese Studies and Economics)
Country: Germany

Yoroshiku Onegaishimasu!

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Nittere kei Ongaku no Saiten Best Artist 2010

 

     日テレ系音楽の祭典　ベスト　アーティスト　２０１０ or Nittere kei Ongaku no Saiten Best Artist 2010 is airing again this year. 20 artists are invited. This should be its tenth year running and the show is going to air on 15 December 2010 from 7:00PM. It would be a 3 hour run with special medley from the artists.

     The hosts for this year's event are Sakurai Sho (Arashi) and NTV Announcer Shinichi Hatori and Yukari Nishio. AKB48 made it to the list of invited guests alongside popular groups such as Arashi, KAT-TUN, Koda Kumi, Perfume and NEWS. NTV’s official site for the event is also accepting support messages for the performers at the event that will be shown on air.

Best Artist site : http://www.ntv.co.jp/best-artist/

The list below shows the invited artists
Arashi
Ikimonogakari
EXILE
AKB48
KAT-TUN
Koda Kumi
Kobukuro
Fuyumi Sakamoto
Tackey & Tsubasa
TOKIO
Kana Nishino
NEWS
Ayumi Hamasaki
Perfume
Ken Hirai
FUNKY MONKEY BABYS
Masaharu Fukuyama
Hey!Say! JUMP
Porno Graffiti
Yuzu

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New Writer: Mayuyued

     Another new writer joins! Mayuyued is a Mayuyu oshi (obviously) and he will be helping me keep track of the AKB48 and SKE48 news. He already has some experience in this field so it will be a great help for the blog. I have known him for some time already as he is a fellow member of SGP48.

     I still don't have any applicants to fill up the SDN48 slot so if anyone wants to help cover SDN48 related news please drop me an email: melos125@gmail.com.

---

     Hi there, my name shall be known as mayuyued and from a while ago joined Melos and his team on MELOS no michi as a writer. Well... am an AKB48 fan. Other groups I like would be JPOP groups like NEWS and soloist Mano Erina as well as Vkei group The Gazette.

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NMB48 announces stage debut

NMB48, AKB48's Osaka-based sister group, which made their public debut on 9 October, held a press conference on December 4 announcing their 1st Stage. They will start off on New Year's Day 2011 at the NMB48 Theater, which has been 'Base Yoshimoto' , a theater of the entertainment agency Yoshimoto Kogyo, until December 3.

NMB48's Team N's 1st stage itself will be a remake of Team A's 3rd stage [Dareka no Tame ni], performed back in 2006~2007 and the girls will be performing about 2 hours every day. Dareka no Tame ni has brought quite a number of still popular songs including Bird, ranked 10th at last year's Request Hour ~Setlist Best 100 2010~.

However only 16 members of the currently 25 member NMB48 will make it to Team N. The rest of the members not promoted will continue as NMB48 Kenkyuusei.

Since its public debut in October, NMB48 has made quite a few promotion appearances, for example a promising surprise performance during SKE48's concert tour. Now the girls get their own show and I'm looking forward to see what they make out of it. I'm also curious about who will become part of Team N. Currently all 25 members are still Kenkyuusei but I hope that there will be more information about Team N's line-up before their first show.

It is especially interesting to see who gets the positions for Bird and Rider. As mentioned earlier, Bird is still one of the most popular songs in AKB48 and has been performed at almost all of AKB48's recent concerts. And for Rider, not many people know this but that song is actually a tribute to one of the first AKB48 fans. Back then the group was still small and only had a small bunch of loyal fans. Rider-san was one of those loyal fans. He died one day due to a medical condition. His death hurt both the fellow fans and even the girls in AKB48. You can read more about it here.

Personally, I hope Yamada Nana, Ogasawara Mayu and Oota Riona make it into Team N. I'm especially interested in Mayu because I liked her performance during the surprise appearance in SKE48's concert. I'm looking forward to see more of her.

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Sashihara Project

     Shukan AKB, a TV programme on AKB48, recently started and activated a new project. This project is known as Sashihara Project as the main focus of this project was the AKB48 Team A member Sashihara Rino or known by members as Sasshi. She currently owns an Ameba Burogu named “指原クオリティー (Sashihara Quality)” which is on the same server as fellow Team A member Maeda Atsuko and other AKB48 members such as Oshima Yuko.

This would be the link to her blog: http://ameblo.jp/sashihara-rino

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SKE48 Team E formed, Team KII has member changes

     Just announced earlier today on the SKE48 Official Website, Team E has finally been formed, while Team KII has a few member swaps. The member profiles have been updated as well. (The sites may be slow or not loading due to heavy traffic, be patient.)

Team E
磯原杏華（2nd gen）Isohara Kyoka, 13
上野圭澄（3rd gen）Ueno Kasumi, 13
梅本まどか（4th gen）Umemoto Madoka, 18
金子栞（4th gen）Kaneko Shiori, 15
木本花音（4th gen）Kimoto Kanon, 13
小林亜実（4th gen）Kobayashi Ami, 17
酒井萌衣（4th gen）Sakai Mei, 13
柴田阿弥（4th gen）Shibata Aya, 17
高木由麻奈（4th gen）Takagi Yumana, 17
竹内舞（4th gen）Takeuchi Mai, 17
都築里佳（4th gen）Tsuzuki Rika, 14
中村優花（4th gen）Nakamura Yuka, 13
原望奈美（4th gen）Hara Minami, 14
間野春香（2nd gen）Mano Haruka, 13
山下ゆかり（4th gen）Yamashita Yukari, 14
山田恵里伽（3rd gen）Yamada Erika, 14

Promoted to Team KII
阿比留李帆 (2nd gen) Abiru Riho, 13
後藤理沙子 (3rd gen) Goto Risako, 13
秦佐和子 (3rd gen) Hata Sawako, 22
矢方美紀 (3rd gen) Yakata Miki, 18

Demoted to SKE RS from KII
井口栞里 Iguchi Shiori
内山命 Uchiyama Mikoto
鬼頭桃菜 Kito Momona
斉藤真木子 Saito Makiko

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MELOS no Michi Upgrade + We're hiring

     Hello all. As you guys can see, I rolled in a new theme for the blog. I thought that the old theme was getting boring and plain. And the banner was getting old too. So I spent the past few days playing around with the CSS and HTML (mind you I have very little knowledge and experience in these stuff). Reason why it took so long was because of all the small details like the alignment stuff, as well as choosing the color scheme.

     Do note that the new blog theme is still in beta as I am still trying to fix some of the new stuff. If you have any suggestions please comment or email me.

Changes:

• New banner
•  They say that fashion changes over time. And not even the shirt worn by the great Acchan could survive the test of time. "MY SEDIMENTS EXACTLY :)" was great when it first came out but now it needs to go. Replacing it is a screenshot taken from the Hikoukigumo performance at the Day 2 Noon Performance of the [AKB48 Manseki Matsuri Kibou Sanpi Ryouron] (Yokohama Arena 2010) Concert. Then I just sharpened the image a little and added some glow.
• New logo
• I also got ronin of http://destructionbaby.wordpress.com/ to help me design a new logo for the blog. To be honest I was starting to not like the old logo but I was too lazy busy and didn't have any ideas to make a new one.
• Pages section on the top
• The HOME and ABOUT pages have been brought forward. I removed the OSHIMEN and SWAGS page from the previous theme as I felt they weren't necessary. Replacing them are AKB48, SKE48, SDN48, NMB48 pages (still under construction) that will give a brief introduction to the group, a TV SHOWS page (incomplete) that lists all the TV shows the girls appear on, and a FAQ (under construction) which will answer all the general questions of AKB48 and it's sister groups.
• Sidebar moved to the right
• Just something I learnt in Web Design class. Don't know how true it is. I also changed the color of the sidebar to dark gray and the text to light gray as I wanted contrasting colors. Adding in some new stuff too like a clock (under construction) and others.
• Featured posts
• Uh it's supposed to show up there above the main posts. Unfortunately I ran into quite a bit of trouble with it so gonna have to wait a while until I fix this. For some reason the numbered pages aren't showing up either.
• Removal of all copyrighted pictures and videos
• Remember I said earlier in my experience post that I gave my business card to Aki-P? Yup a few days later I got email from them asking me to remove some stuff :( .

Hiring
     Now on to more serious stuff. You probably would have noticed that we aren't blogging so much nowadays. That's because my schedule is filled with medical appointments. I just had an X-Ray and Ultrasound done yesterday and have an upcoming MRI scan. Doctor says surgery is not out of the question yet and when it comes to that it would mean I won't be able to blog for a month or so. Kieyuku is also very busy with her school stuff.

     So I decided to start hiring writers for the blog. One writer will have one specialization. So example you choose no3b as your specialization, whatever no3b news there is like Singles, Concerts, Events and such, you will be the writer for it. Up for grabs are another AKB48 spot, SKE48, SDN48, NMB48, Subgroups (no3b, Watarirouka).

     Requirements are simple. You just have to know the specialization your taking well and must be up to date with their news. That's all.

Interested people please drop me an email
melos125@gmail.com

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