The AKB48 Group teams will compete against each other in a new event, the AKB48 Group Pennant Race. Points will be awarded based on theater ticket applications, theater version handshake ticket sales and sousenkyo votes.
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.
「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.
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.
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.
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.
AKB48's PSP video gameAKB1/48 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.
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.
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 ValuePV, 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!
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.
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)
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.)
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.
French Kiss will be releasing their 2nd Single on 19 January 2011. Titled [If], 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, the Single 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.
Just like their previous Single, If will have a total of 3 Types: Type A, Type B and Type C. There are a total of 3 coupling songs, one on each Type. The song titles have not been released yet. Type A and Type B are CD + DVD, while Type C is a CD only version. Type A will include the Drama Clip and Type B will have the Digital Comic
The final part of this 3 part series documenting my AKB48 experience at the recent AKB48 'live' in AFA X. Part 3 will cover the post event activities and the review.
STGCC has announced the member list earlier this evening.
It's legend- waitforit -ary!
So because I'm busy, I gave you a screenshot of it. >_>
Quick summary of the member list:
- It's Chance no Junban senbatsu without the girls who overlap into Beginner senbatsu.
- I'm surprised they really sent the Junban senbatsu because the release date is close with the STGCC date, thought they'd have promoting to do...
- No Beginner senbatsu, but expected because those girls are scheduled for handshake sessions in Japan on 11 and 12th, making it impossible for them to come here.
- Which means no Rie once again, but I was prepared for it this time.
- NO WONDER they put "12-16 girls" on the event info before the member list was confirmed...it makes sense, probably they had no idea if the four Beginner senbatsu girls who overlapped with Junban (aka Maeda Atsuko, Kasai Tomomi, Kojima Haruna and Takajo Aki) could make it.
Further information on the schedule as given by STGCC on their website(UPDATES IN BOLD):
AKB48's Appearance at STGCC2010 1) Appearance at main stage of STGCC exhibition, Hall 401-402
Date: 10 Dec 2010, Friday, 1600hrs
Admission: Open to all STGCC day (Fri) and 3-day ticket holders 2) "Scissors-Paper-Stone" Meet the Fans Session – celebrating new song release
Date: 11 Dec 2010, Saturday, 1900hrs, Suntec theatre, Level 3
Admission: Open to AKB48 ticket holders (inclusive of 1 day access to STGCC on 11 Dec 2010)
In line with AKB48's new song release on 8 December 2010 in Japan, AKB48 will meet the fans in a special closed-door session. Fans will have the opportunity to listen to their latest songs, play games with the girls and win autographed CDs.
As a special tribute to STGCC and AKB fans, tickets are available at a special price of only S$30 per person (GST applies)! Ticket includes access to all STGCC programmes and exhibition on Saturday as well! Unbelievable, isn't it?
Admission: Ticketing is now open at www.singaporetgcc.com/stgcc-ticket-registration
Limited seats available!
Queuing for the AKB48 Meet the Fans Session will only begin from 3.00pm, 11 December 2010, at Gallery East (next to the theatre itself).
That last line is especially important. Since we don't have seat arrangement in our tickets or whatever, the seating is gonna be free for all. Expect long queues again!
Kohaku Uta Gassen is an annual music show broadcasted by NHK that airs on New Years Eve. It is the biggest and highest rated music event of the year where famous artists are invited to perform. The title of the show literally translates into "Red and White Song Battle" and as the title suggests, participating artists are separated into Red Team (Aka-gumi) and White Team (Shiro-gumi) and they will compete against each other. The Red Team is composed of female artists and the White Team is composed of male artists (in a mixed group the lead vocalist will determine their Team). Kohaku attendance is strictly by invite and only the most popular artists are invited.
NHK revealed the participants for the 61st Kohaku Uta Gassen 2 days ago. As expected AKB48 has been invited once again to the show, bringing their attendance count up to 3. AKB48 made their first appearance on the 58th Kohaku Uta Gassen in 2008 where they sang Aitakatta and Nantetatte Idol together with artists Shokotan and Leah Dizon. They were absent on the 59th Kohaku Uta Gassen the subsequent year, but were invited again in 2010 to the 60th Kohaku Uta Gassen to sing [RIVER Surprise Kohaku Remix], a medley of RIVER and Namida Surprise.
Part 2 of the 3 part series documenting my AKB48 experience at the recent AKB48 'live' in AFA X. Part 2 will cover the Cool Japan Forum and the AKB48 Concert.
I'm going to post the concert setlist before the jump for easier reference
00. Overture
01. RIVER
02. Oogoe Diamond
03. Aitakatta
Introduction MC
04. Pajama Drive (Nakagawa, Watanabe, Katayama)
05. Candy (Komori, Kasai, Sato A)
06. Kimi wa Pegasus (Akimoto, Sato N, Miyazawa, Iwasa)
MC
07. 10nen Zakura
08. Iiwake Maybe
09. Hikoukigumo
MC
10. Heavy Rotation
ENCORE
11. Beginner
12. Ponytail to Shushu
Updated 5 December: Setlists added Updated 27 November: Covers added and some tracks confirmed Updated 23 September: Kimishika has been added to tracklist Updated 17 September: Release date confirmed.
Covers
Top L-R: Version A, B, C Bottom L-R: Limited CD+DVD, Regular CD-only edition
The title of the album is "No Sleeves". No surprise there. Their first 4 singles' title tracks Relax!, Tane, Kiss no Ryuuseiand 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 Crescendoand 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.
no3b will also have their own version of Heart Gata Virus.
No Sleeves 1st Album Release date: 2011/01/01 Versions: ￥3,059 - Regular CD ￥3,900 - Limited CD+DVD ￥4,800 - Limited Complete Edition CD ver A, B, C (All editions have bonus photo.)
Hello everyone. This is the first of 3 parts of my AKB48 experience post in Singapore at the recent AKB48 'live' in AFA X. Part 1 will cover the pre concert activities which include Ticket Collection and Arrival. Part 2 will cover the Cool Japan Forum and the AKB48 Concert. And finally part 3 will consist of their departure and final review. Sorry that this took a really long time, I am still having AKB depression and can't write a full post without feeling depressed again.
Hihi I'm back. Been having post AKB depression since after they left on Friday. That's the reason for the lack of updates. Really sorry about that, Will write about the experience in a later post. Now on to more pressing matters: SKE48's 4th Single [1!2!3!4! Yoroshiku!], which releases tomorrow.
Some minor changes about SKE48's newest Single, the name has been changed from [1,2,3,4, Yoroshiku!] to [1!2!3!4! Yoroshiku!]. Unfortunately the name change was a tad late and some websites still use the old name though so make sure that if your searching for it use both the new and old names. That's all for the changes.
The next updates are the PVs. Now the full PVs have already been released some time ago. However, MELOS no Michi will be following a new set of rules now to comply with AKB48 (and SKE48 too for that matter) management. I will tell you more on that later. But for now I'll just tell you that they have direct links to my blog. I am allowed to link the previews however, so that is what I'll do.
First up, the A-Side of this Single, 1!2!3!4! Yoroshiku. Well what can I say? Theres a load of extras. And I mean A LOAD OF THEM. Did they break Watarirouka Hashiritai's record of 300 extras in AkKanbe Bashi? I think they did, because I can roughly count like 600+ extras here. There's salsa dancers, cowgirls, men in suits and even a Santa Claus (or two). However it is a tad too messy for my taste. The song itself is your normal catchy idol pop, even more so compared to all their earlier Singles. It's catchy and keeps playing in your head after a while, but I think I still prefer Aozora Kataomoi to this.
Second is the common B-side song in all 3 types, TWO ROSES sung by SKE48's W Matsui. They are Team Kinect and will be promoting XBox's Kinect system. TWO ROSES is also being used as the CM song for Kinect CMs. The PV for TWO ROSES is....... what's the best way to say this. I would say a fashion show. The first time I watched it, I was too shocked to say anything. Like "what the hell is this I am watching". Then I watched it again and "OMG THIS IS SO AMAZING". Some people have mentioned that TWO ROSES reminds them of WINK, and I have to say OMG THAT'S SO TRUE! And I'm a big fan of WINK.
Then there's the White Team with Cosmos no Kioku in Type A, and the Red Team with Seishun wa Hazukashiiin Type B. I don't have much to say about Cosmos no Kioku, it's a nice idoly song with a nice sounding chorus and a fine PV but it's just......meh. I don't see anything special about it. Seishun wa Hazukashii however is my favorite song and PV of this Single. Yes it is also a nice idoly song with a nice sound chorus and a fine PV too. But I like the tune for this more. I also love the talking in between the lines (even though I didn't really like it in 1!2!3!4! Yoroshiku). Sometimes I don't even understand it myself.
Amid the excitement for this Friday's AKB48 Live at AFA X, come more updates for AKB48's special appearance at the Singapore Toy, Games and Comic Convention (STGCC) in December.
Here are the updates:
1) Appearance at main stage of STGCC exhibition, Hall 401-402 Date: 10 Dec 2010, Friday, 1600hrs Admission: Open to all STGCC day (Sat) and 3-day ticket holders
2) “Scissors-Paper-Stone” Meet the Fans Session – celebrating new song release Date: 11 Dec 2010, Saturday, 1900hrs, Suntec auditorium, Level 2 Admission: Open to AKB48 ticket holders (inclusive of 1 day access to STGCC on 11 Dec 2010)
In line with AKB48’s new song release on 8 December 2010 in Japan, AKB48 will meet the fans in a special closed-door session. Fans will have the opportunity to listen to their latest songs, play games with the girls and win copies of their latest album.
As a special tribute to STGCC and AKB fans, tickets are available at a special price of only S$30 per person (GST applies)! Ticket includes access to all STGCC programmes and exhibition on Saturday as well! Unbelievable, isn’t it?
Enjoy an unforgettable evening with the girls. Programme (duration of about 1.5hrs) includes the following: - Exciting performances of 8 to 10 songs by the girls. - Sneak peek of AKB48 video – selection process for the new song - Play games with AKB48, lucky fans will win autographed CDs of their latest album - Hand-shake with the girls
Overall, the program planned for STGCC sounds very exciting and there's a variety of things the girls do instead of just performances. So what STGCC offers will be more interaction with the girls.
From the writeup, it kind of looks like they might send the entire Janken senbatsu here (which is not a bad thing because there's Nyan xD), but the date is quite close to the single's release and they most probably have promoting to do in Japan.
The ticket price seems extremely reasonable, and other than AKB you'll get access to the convention itself, which is a steal. I hope I can make it for this one, and that the "limited seats" aren't too limited. >__>
I noticed it said "lucky fans will win autographed CDs of their latest album" instead of single. It is most likely an oversight on the writer's part though.
By the way, here is AKB48 Theater manager Togasaki's official blog post about AKB at AFA X, Macau, Moscow, and STGCC.
I'm sure most of you here remember the the announcement to choose the Senbatsu members for AKB48's 19th Single through a Janken Tournament. I'm sure most of you remember the outcome of it too. Doesn't seem that long ago when we were raeging on how our Oshimens didn't make it to Senbatsu. With the 18th Single Beginner successfully released about two weeks ago, it's time to shift our focus to the 19th Single. Fittingly titled [Chance no Junban] ((My) Turn by Chance), lets see how Ucchi will fare as the new Center of AKB.
Chance no Junban will be released on 8 December, only one and a half months after Beginner. For the first time ever, the Single versions will be Team based. There will be a total of 4 types: Type A, Type K, Type B, and Theater ver. Also for the first time ever for an AKB48 Single, the Theater ver. will have its own track separate from the normal vers.
The A side song Chance no Junban will be used as the theme song for AKB48's upcoming PSP game AKB 1/48 Idol to Koishitara... to be released on 23 December. Track 2 Yoyaku Shita Christmas will feature the regular Senbatsu girls before the Janken Tournament. That means Acchan, Yuko, Mariko, Tomochin, Mayuyu, Takamina and co. The song is currently being used for the Seven Eleven Christmas Campaign CM, which AKB48 is part of.
The 3rd Track for all 4 types will have their own song. Type A will have Kurumi to Dialogue sung by Team A, Type K will have ALIVE sung by Team K, Type B will have Love Jump sung by Team B, and finally Theater ver. will have Fruits Snow sung by the AKB48 Kenkyuuseis.
This is also the first AKB48 Single since Baby! Baby! Baby! that does not have any SKE48 members.
Since this news has been out for some time already, most probably have made their own predictions about units and such(including Melos who wrote his predictions in stage48 forums). Personally, I'm just gonna not expect anything so that I can be pleasantly surprised.
FRIENDLY REMINDER! AKB48 LIVE AT AFA X
12 November, Friday, 7PM(doors open at 6.30PM)
Suntec Convention Hall 402
A guide I made for people who want to learn how to wotagei, in preparation for the upcoming AKB48 'live' at AFA X in 2 weeks! By no means is it compulsory for you to learn it. This is a guide for those who want to learn it.
1.1 - What are Wotas?
WOTA (ヲタ), pronounced as OO-TA, are fans of Japanese Female Idols. The name originated from the word OTAKU, which are fans of anime and manga. WOTA was once known as 'Idol Otaku', but to differentiate themselves from the normal Otaku they changed the name slightly to 'Wota'.
1.2 - What is Wotagei?
If you watch an idol concert, be it AKB48, Hello!Project, Tokyo Girls Style etc etc, you would have probably noticed some form of cheering or dancing from the audience. That is Wotagei. Wotagei (ヲタ芸) refers to a type of dancing and cheering gestures performed by Wota. These involve jumping, clapping, arm-waving and chanting (not the type of chanting by priests or monks though). There are more extreme forms of Wotagei, but luckily for you Wotageis for AKB48 are limited to chants, cheers and hand movements.
1.3 - Why Wotagei?
In Japan, the concerts are very different from those in the west. Audience participation is just as important as the singer/band/group performing. It's the same reason why you don't see the "sea of lightsticks" in western concerts, but they are a staple in Japanese concerts and events. And the Idols and Wotas take audience participation to a whole new level with Wotagei. It adds to the atmosphere of the concert.
2.0 - The MIX
The MIX are those chants you hear being shouted by the Wotas in lots of AKB songs. They are always shouted during the instrumental parts of the song and never overlap with the girl's singing. MIXes are only shouted in upbeat songs, so you don't shut them during a ballad or slow song. There are many newer variations but these 3 are the main and most important ones. You can hear all 3 mixes in The Overture MIX video.
MIX 1: Yosh iku zoh!!! Tiger, Fire, Cyber, Fiber, Diver, Viber, Jya Jya!!!
The first MIX is used for almost all of AKB48 songs (except the slow ones of course), and is mostly shouted at the beginning of the song. MIX 1 ends just before the members start singing. You can hear it here.
MIX 2: Moh iccho iku zoh!!! Torah, Hii, Jinzou, Sen-ii, Ama, Shindou, Kasentobijokyo!!!
MIX 2 is used in the 2nd instrumental in the middle of the song. The only exception is in Ponytail to Shushu where you shout MIX 1 and 2 in the first instrumental, but you still shout the 2nd MIX in the 2nd instrumental. It is never used by it's own and is always after MIX 1.
MIX 3: Moh iccho iku zoh!!! Chape, Ape, Kara, Kira, Rara, Tusuke, Myahottusuke!!!
The third MIX isn't used much, but is still important. The reason why it isn't used much is because it is only shouted during the 3rd instrumental of a song, or in a song with a long 2nd instrumental, and few songs have those. Songs with MIX 3 include: Beginner, Ponytail to Shushu, Kimi no Koto ga Suki Dakara, Wagamama na Nagareboshi, Shonichi, Kodoku na Runner
3.0 - Name calls
Pretty simple but is one of the most important parts of wotagei. All you gotta do is shout out the name or nickname of the member you support during her solo or duet line. The reason why I said "name or nickname" is because for some members you don't shout the nickname but the name of the member instead. For example, Maeda Atsuko's name call is "ACCHAN!", but for Takahashi Minami, it's "MINAMI!". This is used for members with nicknames consisting of 4 or more syllables.
4.0 - Calls
In some songs you shout out certain stuff at certain points of time. Some examples:
Skirt Hirari: "sekai de ichiban suki na no" at the same time the girls sing it. Oogoe Diamond: "suki!!" together with the girls when they sing it (sukitte kotoba wa saikou sa). RIVER: "Got it!", "RIVER!!!!" and the whole chant in the beginning together with the girls. 10nen Zakura & Seifuku ga Jama wo Suru: at the start you shout "OGS". Lots of people make the mistake and shout "fourty-eight", this is wrong. Kimi no Koto ga Suki Dakara: "daisuki" and "yoroshiku" same time as when the girls sing it. Namida Surprise: "3, 2, 1, GO!" same time as when the girls sing it. Heavy Rotation: "I want you, I need you, I love you" etc. after they sing it.
4.1 - Other shouting stuff
Just the normal "HAI! HAI! HAI!", "HEY! HEY! HEY!", "ooooOOOO Hai!" and "SORE SORE SORE" stuff
5.0 - Hand MovementsS
This one is a little tricky. There are 3 main movements for this.
Furicopi: For this, you just copy the member's hand movements. Kecha: This is the tricky one. Generally the movement is both hands sweeping upwards towards your oshimen. HERE IS A EXAMPLE. Usually done when the song slows down. Lightstick movement: You guys should know this. Just wake your lightsticks according to the beat.
800k barrier broken! And in only 1 week! Compare this with Heavy Rotation's 1st week value of 527,336, Holy shiet it went up by 300k! This is an truly an amazing feat! AKB is on a roll.
Beginner is the third AKB48 Single to sell more than 500k in it's opening week, making them the first female artist to have 3 consecutive Singles to do so. The previous record of 2 consecutive Singles was jointly held by Utada Hikaru, Ayumi Hamasaki and AKB48 themselves.
Beginner is now the highest selling Single of 2010 (so far), and the highest selling Single of this century. It also holds the record for the highest first week sales for a Single for a female group, beating the previous record held by SPEED's "ALL MY TRUE LOVE" (released Oct 1999). However it falls short of achieving the same for the female artists category, taking 3rd position instead. Beginner was just 1k short of the 2nd position, which goes to Amuro Namie's "Can You Celebrate?" (released Feb 1997). And the record holder is Utada Hikaru's "Addicted to You" (released Nov 1999), with sales of 1,068,000 on its first week. But, it does hold that record for this century.
Beginner is ranked 9th in the Top 10 All Time Best Selling CD Sales. Yes I probably have said this too may times already but who cares. AKB is on a roll.
Oh and look whose having handshake events at this location. 50,000 seater Stadium baby!
Will the 19th Single manage to top this record? I have no idea. Honestly, I doubt that it will. Maybe in the next Senbatsu Election or something. But let's see what AKB decides to pull for that Single.
Just when we thought it couldn't get any better than AKS actually caring about us enough to come here and have a concert, it does.
Singapore fans, rejoice!
Yesterday morning, the Singapore Toy, Games and Comic Convention(STGCC for short), updated their website with an AKB48 banner with the words "MEET AKB48, JAPAN'S LEADING IDOL GIRL GROUP".
Commence fan spazzing now. Yes, I literally held my breath when I saw the news when I was in tutorial class.
Here are the details known so far about the event:
Look out for AKB48’s appearance (up to 5 girls) at STGCC main stage on Friday (10 Dec 2010).
For die-hard fans, be mesmerised by 12 – 16 girls at their meet the fan session on Saturday (11 Dec 2010).
Duration: up to 1.5 hours Cost: S$30.00 (limited seats available, includes same day access to STGCC exhibition).
The stage appearance intrigues me, what will they do? MCs, perform a couple of songs perhaps? And the Meet the Fans Session, what does it entail? High-touch? Handshake? Possibly even autographs!!?? *faints*
And yeah, I noticed in particular the 5 girls on Friday then 12-16 girls on Saturday. It actually can imply much(like they want to send some front girls, but these girls are busy on the Friday, so they send 5 others first, then the rest join in by Saturday). Still, I don't want to read too much into the numbers yet.
This is seriously, the best. Obviously, there wasn't going to be any handshake or autograph session for the AFA live, but we got a concert, and that's already pretty awesome. Now we get both? Damn straight!
Back from fangirling, the general vibe I'm getting is that STGCC is planning this well. Besides having the news up very much in advance, they have a proper banner for it on their website(Beginner promo pic, no less), and an actual introductory media writeup done very nicely.
Now we just wait for the ticketing to be up!
UPDATE: AKB48 apparently has Beginner handshake event scheduled for the 11th. Handshake events are attended by all members of AKB48. How this will work, I have no idea.
Only 3 days and Beginner breaks the 700k barrier!! I'm so proud of them ;___; . Watching them grow since 10nen Zakura, back then when their first day was still 20k and their first week was still 60k. And a year ago I started by blog with a post about RIVER's incredible 1st day sales. I still remember the hype from that day. Compared to now, that figure looks so small. Man have they grown a lot. I know I already said this but might as well say it again: AKB is on a roll.
The biggest question is: Will they manage to sell enough by the end of the week to take the 1st position in the Oricon Yearly Singles Ranking? Standing with 698,542 copies is Arashi's Troublemaker. My guess is yes, they will overtake that amount. And they will do it within the week.
Screw 1 week, they managed to outsell the highest sell group (currently) in 3 days! Beginner is now the highest selling Single of the year, and it doesn't look like that amount can be topped this year. How far more will they extend their lead before the end of the week? More than 800k is confirmed.
Beginner also topped the Recochoku (a music download website in Japan) charts, with reports that the first day downloads were 3 times that of Heavy Rotation's. With this, AKB48 has extended their record for "the most consecutive no.1 single" with Beginner as the 6th. The reason for this is because, if you have been reading my posts, the Beginner PV in the Single was edited because it was "unsuitable for younger audiences". However, the original unedited version would be available on Recochoku for a limited time, which contributed to the great increase in sales.
568k copies of Beginner sold in one day!!!!! Holy shit is that awesome or what! Half a million sold! Not only did they raze through the 1st day sales for Heavy Rotation (340k), but they smashed through it's 1st week too (527k)!! AKB48..... breaking records every time
Beginner sets a new record for the highest first day sales figure for a Single since Oricon began announcing daily sales data. That's not all, Arashi's Single Monster previously set this year's record for first week sales with figures 543,000. AKB48 already passed that figure, and it's only the first day! Who knows how much more they will sell before the week ends?
The biggest question is: Will they manage to sell enough by the end of the week to take the 1st position in the Oricon Yearly Singles Ranking? Standing with 698,542 copies is Arashi's Troublemaker. My guess is yes, they will overtake that amount. And they will do it within the week.
Oh and to all the haters out there, especially all those butthurt Arashi fans who keep whining.
Photo courtesy of MecchaMelon
No offence to Arashi and their other fans who aren't butthurt though. I still am an Arashi fan. But seriously they have been slacking off too much recently. They haven't produced anything epic since Troublemaker and everything after Monster is boring. And judging from the preview and the credits of Freeter, looks like Hatenai Sora will be the same too. So hopefully this new competition will get them back to their feet.
Tomorrow is the release day for AKB48's new Single Beginner. I can't wait! Whose not excited? Well I can tell you who isn't: Arashi fans. Why you ask?
AKB48's 18th Single "Beginner" shipped a total of 1.03 million copies of first pressing.
Holy shit 1.03 million first press shipped to stores!!! That's a 350k jump from Ponytail to Shushu (650,000)!!! AKB is on a roll! But how does Arashi fit into this you ask? Well if you take a look at this chart which shows the Oricon Yearly Singles ranking.
As you can see, Arashi has been leading the music rankings since I don't know how long ago. Looks like that's going to change! Lol my sister is totally raeging over the fact that Arashi is gonna get beaten by AKB.
So imagine if AKB really does sell that much, what would happen? Yup. MILLION SELLER BABY!!!! If AKB does manage to sell a million copies, then
- First million Single since Akikawa Masafumi's Sen no Kaze ni Natte in 2006 (but that took a year).
- First opening-week million seller since Utada Hikaru's Addicted to You in 1999.
- First Female artist to top the Oricon Yearly Ranking since Ayumi Hamasaki in 2002.
Nevertheless I'm expecting at least 500k first day.
However even though the release date is tomorrow, they still haven't released the full PV for Boku Dake no Value, Kimi ni Tsuite and Nakeru Basho. For that reason I'm not gonna do a review of the Single yet. Not sure to add in Beginner to that list because I still don't know if the censored ver. of the PV (below) is the final one....
Announced at the AKB48 Tokyo Aki Matsuri concert, AKB48 9th gen Kenkyuusei Yokoyama Yui was promoted to Team K. Her promotion was to fill the empty spot left behind by Ono Erena's graduation from the group on the 27th last month. Yui has come a long way to being a full-fledged member, she previously auditioned for SKE48's Team KII but was rejected in the 3rd round.
Also during the concert, the 11th gen Kenkyuuseis made their appearance. Ex-Kenkyuusei (7th gen) Suzuki Shihori, who left the group on August last year, is one of them.Shihorin left the group last year on 31 August, just a week after she was promoted to the New Team B in AKB48's Budokan Concert. The reason for her leave was that she was "half-hearted" and felt that she could not continue with her "naive way of thinking," while her peers were desperately trying to achieve their dreams. She decided to graduate so she could figure out her own dream by herself and work directly towards it.
AKB48 will be coming to Singapore as part of Anime Festival Asia 2010 (also know as AFA X). The event falls on the 13 and 14 of November and is the biggest Anime Convention in SouthEast Asia (or so I am told).
AKB48 will be appearing as a special part of Cool Japan, which under AFA X. They will have a concert on 12 November, starting around 7PM for around 1 hour 30 mins at the Suntec City Convention Center in Hall 402. A total of 16 members will be coming over for their first concert in Singapore. The member list has not been finalized however, and will be released at a later date.
Ticket prices for the concert is
$88 - Category A - Closest to the stage
$68 - Category B - Middle
$48 - Category C - Furthest from the stage, free standing
There will be 500 tickets up for preorder this Saturday (tomorrow!!) as well as Sunday. The tickets are only for Category A and B. Tickets will be on sale at HMV in 313@Somerset Shopping Mall starting 10AM on both23rd and 24th.
For those people queueing up this weekend, the tickets are on a first come first serve basis, but you are not allowed to choose your seating position. Each person can buy a maximum of 10 tickets.
The remaining tickets will be up for online sales via Gatecrash on starting from 27 November.
AKB48 will also appear together with the their president(which I assume to be Aki-P) at the industry-level seminar that is the Cool Japan Forum. The Cool Japan Forum costs $238 and is usually attended by company delegates.
SDN48's major debut Single [GAGAGA] will be released on 24 November, just a week after SKE48 will release their 4th Single 1!2!3!4! Yoroshiku!. The Single will have 3 versions: Type A, Type B and Theater version. GAGAGA will be released under the label Universal Records.
The Senbatsu for GAGAGA was decided through an election by the fans back in September, and the member's position in the election would determine their position and screen time in the PV. (refer to this post). The center is Ohori Megumi. Fukuyama Sakura, who was 12th place in the election (and therefore made it into the Senbatsu), has graduated from the group not long ago and her position has been replaced by fellow member Chen Qu.
Type A and Type B will have the usual handshake tickets and (external) bonus photo, but the most important bonus is in the Theater version. First press for Theater ver. will include a ticket for SDN48's Shashinkai Event. In this event, a ticket grants you to a photo with a member of your choice. This is the 2nd time such an event has taken place, the first time was earlier in the year when AKB48 released their 15th Single Sakura no Shiori.
The motto for GAGAGA is "K-POP wo mukae utsu, J-POP tanjou" which means "In order to rival K-POP, here comes J-POP". This is in reference to the recent dominance of K-POP in the Japanese music industry by Korean groups like KARA, Shoujo Jidai, etc.. SDN48's Captain Noro Kayo said during a press conference that "Shoujo Jidai is their legs, KARA is their butt and SDN48 will be the elbows". And true enough, there is a lot of "elbow action" in the PV.
All credits should go to the people who provided the information. We are just the middleman collecting all the information from a wide variety of places and collating it in one place.
