Iwasa Misaki transfers to Nagara Pro

On the 29 March, AKB48 Team A member Iwasa Misaki announced that she would be changing agency from Ogi Production to Nagara Production. This was announced at the end of the Team A 6th Stage show, on the day the theater reopened after the Tohoku earthquake.

Nagara Pro Official Site: http://www.nagarapro.co.jp/top/

The official reason given for the transfer was that she wants to open a path to become an Enka singer. (Enka is a kind of traditional Japanese sentimental ballad music.) She will officially be part of Nagara Production from 1 April 2011 onwards.

French Kiss 3rd Single [Kakkowarui I Love You!]

French Kiss' 3rd single is slated for release on 11th May. The title of the single is "カッコ悪い I love You!" (Kakkowarui I love you). Not much is known about the single as of yet.

It will come in 3 types with a First press version for each, essentially making it 6 types in total. Type A (3,100 yen) and Type B (1,800 yen) are CD+DVD versions, and then there will be a regular CD-only version (1,200 yen) as usual.

It was widely expected that another mini drama would be included in Type A. However, an official tweet for French Kiss said that the mini drama would be canceled for this single. This is presumably because of the earthquake.

In addition to the release, the title song will be the opening theme for upcoming anime "Sket Dance", in which Kashiwagi Yuki will be voice acting one of the characters.

AKB48 x HP Spring Collection

Previously on 7th March, AKB48 members Kojima Haruna, Miyazawa Sae, Takajo Aki and Yokoyama Yui revealed HP (Hewlett Packard)'s new array of consumer PCs in a press conference.

It was revealed at the conference that two new CMs entitled "Spring Collection - Campus Debut Version" and "Spring Collection - Office Debut Version" will be on air from the 18th onwards, using the same theme of "elegance" from their previous HP Winter Collection CM. The new CM will include 6 AKB48 members, Kojima, Miyazawa, Takajo, Yokoyama, Kashiwagi Yuki and Shinoda Mariko. It is essentially the same six members from before, but Yui replaces Mori Anna.

The CM will continue using "Kurumi to Dialogue" as the background song.

NMB48 to become TV hosts

     As announced on March 18, NMB48 will become hosts for the TV show Docking!!!. Docking!!! is a local TV show in the Kansai area, focusing among other corners on entertainment news and it is hosted by Kendo Kobayashi, Jinnai Tomonori, and Tamura Kenji. All members of the newly created Team N will appear in the show and this is also their first time as TV hosts.

     In order to incorporate the group into the show title, the show will be renamed as Docking48. The show will report about the latest events and also about personal information about NMB48 members. NMB48 will start to appear sometime in April but due to the earthquake and tsunami the actual starting date is still undecided.

Docking48 (どっキング48)  
Hosts: Kendo Kobayashi, Jinnai Tomonori, Tamura Kenji, NMB48  
Channel: Kansai Terebi  
Schedule: Tuesdays  
Timing: 24:35 ~ 25:35 (Wednesdays 0:35 ~ 1:35 am)
Official Website: http://www.ktv.jp/docking/index.html
Starts: April  

     NMB48 got a lot of exposure since the start of their stage show. They were engaged for promotion events, appeared in a CM and just recently became regulars on a TV show for the first time. So it was only a matter of time until they became hosts themselves. I am really looking forward to the show and am especially curious about what kind of ‘personal information’ we will get about the members.

Dareka no Tame ni Project

     Remember the [Takamina ni Tsuite Ikimasu] concert that was canceled in the aftermath of the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami? (see this post). Well it's still canceled but in it's place will be the [Dareka no Tame ni Project] (For Someone's Sake Project) event.Yes it shares the same name as the song from Team A 3rd Stage and Team N 1st Stage. The event will take place from 26 ~ 27 March.

     The Dareka no Tame ni Project is not a concert, it's a charity event where fans can donate to the AKB48 relief fund (see here) . Also at the Dareka no Tame ni Project event will be goods originally for the Takamina ni Tsuite Ikimasu concert. All proceeds will go directly to the fund, and from there to the Japanese Red Cross.

     For a full list of products please see here: http://ameblo.jp/akihabara48/entry-10841360482.html

     No AKB48 members will be at the event because it will impossible to organize everything, based on what happened at the Saitama Super Arena (see this post and this picture).

     In addition to the event, the song Dareka no Tame ni itself will be released on Recochoku (a music download website in Japan), and there are plans to release it on iTunes as well.

[Shuumatsu Not Yet] 1st Week Sales

DUN DUN DUN DUN~~~
And now we bring you the sales report for Shuumatsu Not Yet, the debut single by AKB48 subunit Not Yet:

1st day sales: 50,563
2nd day sales: 34,046
3rd day sales: 15,264
4th day sales: 14,411
5th day sales: 31,772
6th day sales: 10,872

Week total: 159 678

CONGRATULATIONS TO NOT YET!!

With that, they've topped the Oricon weekly charts, with amazingly stellar sales. Considering the situation in Japan now, this is no small feat. All single-related promotional events were canceled. Single sales were relatively stable throughout the week, even seeing more than double an increase on the 5th day (probably because it was weekend).

Shuumatsu Not Yet is the third AKB subunit single to reach #1 on the Oricon weekly charts, after Watarirouka Hashiritai's Akkanbe Bashi(27,441) and Team Dragon's Kokoro no Hane (80,128). Shuumatsu Not Yet's first week has beaten all subunit single sales up til now.

Well done, girls!

I'm still waiting for my copies to arrive because of the transportation delays, can't wait to see who's trading cards I get! (I might have to buy more if I don't see Rie x-x)

Postponed and canceled releases and events

UPDATED: 18 March 2011

     Due to the recent Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami, and the following rolling blackouts (see posts here and here), many releases and events in Japan have been postponed or canceled completely. AKB48 is no exception. Their 3rd Album Koko ni Ita Koto, which releases on 6 April, has been postponed indefinitely. The same goes for SDN48's 2nd Single Ai, Chuseyo which releases on 23 March, next week.

     AKB48 has also canceled their Takamina ni Tsuite Ikimasu concert at Yokohama Arena, which was supposed to happen at 25 to 27 March. The reason is because of the rolling blackouts, and also because Yokohama Arena is currently being used as an emergency shelter.

     It has not been confirmed but there is a 12th gen AKB Kenkyuusei living in Sendai when the earthquake and tsunami struck. Sendai is the hardest hit prefecture. She is safe and is living in one of the many emergency shelters. No name has been specified because the 12th gen Kenkyuuseis were supposed to make their debut appearance at the Yokohama Arena concert.

     The AKB48 Theater will also be closed until further notice. The SKE48 Theater will continue operations starting 31 March. The NMB48 Theater will reopen starting 15 March.

     18 March UPDATE: Itano Tomomi's 2nd Single (currently untitled), which was supposed to release on 27 April, has been delayed too due to the post effects of the earthquake and tsunami. Many other artists have canceled their releases until the end of April. Now to see if DiVA will do the same for theirs too.

Team E 1st Stage [Pajama Drive] Review

Hey, sada here! Here's my first review to kick off my time with MELOS no Michi, since there's nothing happening with SKE for the next month. A little late but I think it's fine. SKE48's Team E 1st Stage [Pajama Drive]. I was really excited when I heard this would be their first stage. It's hard to see the girls in the current Live On Demands (LODs) SKE48 is putting out but hopefully better quality videos will come out soon. Also my Team E oshi is Shibata Aya.

Here's your setlist~

SKE48 Team E 1st Stage [Pajama Drive]

No.	Romaji	Japanese	Translation	Singers
OP	Overture (SKE48 ver.)	-	-	-
M01	Shonichi	初日	Opening day	Team E
M02	Hissatsu Teleport	必殺テレポート	Sure-killing Teleport	Team E
M03	Gokigen Naname na Mermaid	ご機嫌ななめなマーメード	Ill-tempered Mermaid	Team E
M04	Futari Nori no Jitensha	2 人乗りの自転車	A bicycle for two	Team E
MC
M05	Tenshi no Shippo	天使のしっぽ	Angel's Tail	Kimoto, Ueno, Shibata
M06	Pajama Drive	パジャマドライブ	-	Yamashita, Tsuzuki, Mano
M07	Junjou Shugi	純情主義	Pure-heart principle	Hara, Takagi, Isohara
M08	Temodemo no Namida	てもでもの涙	Careless tears	Kaneko, Nakamura
M09	Kagami no Naka no Jean de Arc	鏡の中のジャンヌ・ダルク	Joan of Arc within the mirror	Umemoto, Kobayashi, Yamada, Takeuchi, Sakai
MC
M10	Two years later	-	-	Team E
M11	Inochi no Tsukaimichi	命の使い道	Usage of life	Team E
M12	Kiss Shite Son Shichatta	キスして損しちゃった	Set back after a kiss	Team E
MC
M13	Boku no Sakura	僕の桜	My cherry blossoms	Team E
ENCORE
M14	Wasshoi E!	ワッショイE!	Heave Ho E!	Team E
M15	Suifu wa Arashi ni Yume wo Miru	水夫は嵐に夢を見る	The sailor dreams up a storm	Team E
M16	Shiroi Shirt	白いシャツ	White Shirt	Team E

(note: I am watching the 110205 LOD. Shibata Aya is absent from the February LODs for school reasons. She returned in March once her studies were done. Her replacement is Kobayashi Emiri.)

AKB48 Drama [Sakura Kara no Tegami] Episodes 1, 2-4 Review

Hello mayuyued here. I haven't been posting for a long time because my computer died. So instead Melos told me to take my time and review the drama and when I get my computer from repair, I will post my review. Well I got back my computer already so here is the review.

Sakura Kara no Tegami is a drama whose main cast is AKB48. It aired from February 26th 2011. The story revolves around Maeda-sensei, the homeroom teacher of class 3C and his students. Maeda-sensei abruptly announces his approaching death and leaves his students with a letter as a parting gift. Shinoda Mariko plays the role of the co-form teacher of the class and supports the students in the absence of Maeda Sensei. The drama also revolves around the various challenges that the students have and how the letter from Maeda Sensei guides them.

Spoilers after the jump by the way.

New writer: sada

Allow me to introduce our newest writer, sada! Sada will be in charge of SKE48 related news.

---

Hey everyone!
I’m sada, a new writer for Melos no Michi. I’m really excited to write some articles on SKE48 news. I joined the MNM team just a few days ago so if something is wrong please bear with me.
I listen to a variety of artists in J-Pop and K-Pop as well. I’m a big idol fan. AKB48 and the 48 family is one of my favourite groups to listen to.

My AKB oshimen is Nitou Moeno.

For SKE48 it's Ishida Anna.

Lastly Jonishi Kei for NMB48.


I don’t really follow SDN48 very much. I’m not really into the sexy idol.
Gender: Female
Age: 15
Country: Canada
Occupation: Student
Favourite Artists: AKB48, SKE48, Arashi, Perfume, Momoiro Clover, Ikimono Gakari, Hello!Project, Passpo, NEWS, Natsuko Aso, etc.
Start of Fandom: May 2009

self pimping: STAGE48, Twitter

[Sakura no Ki ni Narou] sales surpasses 1 million mark!

     AKB48's last million-seller single, Beginner, took around two months to reach a million sales. their new Single, Sakura no Ki ni Narou did it in just two and a half weeks! The charts update only to the nearest week however which is why this is kinda late.


First week sales: 942,479


Second week sales: 55,484


Third week sales: 24,519

Congratulations to AKB48 for another spectacular achievement!

NMB48 announces Team N

Yesterday on March 10, NMB48 announced the 16 members of Team N. The selected girls are as follows:

Team N
(Captain) Yamamoto Sayaka
Ogasawara Mayu
Kadowaki Kanako
Kishino Rika
Kinoshita Haruna
Kotani Riho
Kondo Rina
Shinohara Kanna
Jonishi Kei
Shiroma Miru
Fukumoto Aina
Matsuda Shiori
Mori Ayaka
Yamada Nana
Yoshida Akari
Watanabe Miyuki

NMB48 to appear as regulars in a TV show

Starting March 15, members of NMB48 will appear as regulars in the TV show Ohayo Asahi desu, a daily morning program broadcasted at 6:45 am in Osaka.


Ohayo Asahi desu (おはよう朝日です)
Hosts: Urakawa Yasuyuki, Kita Yukari
Channel: ABC (Asahi Hoso)
Schedule: Daily on weekdays
Timing: 06:45AM ~ 08:00AM
Official Website: http://www.asahi.co.jp/ohaasa/
Starts: Ongoing

The group will get a weekly corner every Tuesday called NMB48 no Kagai Jugyo, which can be translated as 'NMB48's Extracurricular Lessons'. Yamada Nana and two other weekly changing members will experience various occupations and will also appear live in the studio.

The first episode will feature Yamada Nana, Watanabe Miyuki and Kotani Riho as elevator girls.

AKB48 announces first original album [Koko ni Ita Koto]

AKB48 will be releasing their first original album on 6 April 2011. Although announced a month and a half ago, the title and tracklist have only been revealed today. The album will be titled [Koko ni Ita Koto] which translates into something like "(you) were here".

The album will have a total of 16 songs, 11 of them are new and original songs, and the remaining 5 will be picked from AKB48's Singles and Stage songs.There will be 3 versions total, Limited, Regular and Theater versions.

Shinoda Mariko to have solo TV show [Mariko-sama no Orikou-sama!]

Shinoda Mariko will have her own TV show this coming spring. Titled [Mariko-sama no Orikou-sama!] it will air every Wednesday night for 5 mins starting 6 April 2011 on NTV. There is also a special 10min episode which will air on 11 March, before regular broadcasting begins. The show will be a collaboration with the documentary show "NHK Special" which airs at 20:00PM on Sundays. Shinoda will join fellow member Sashihara Rino as the only AKB members to have a solo TV show.

Mariko-sama no Orikou-sama! (麻里子さまの おりこうさま)
Hosts: Shinoda Mariko
Channel: NHK
Schedule: Weekly every Wednesday
Timing: 25:05AM ~ 25:10AM (Thurs 01:05AM ~ 01:10AM)
Official Website: http://www.nhk.or.jp/marikosama/
Starts: 6 April 2011

Special episode: 11 March 2011, 25:45AM ~ 25:55AM

This new show will be an educational program which aims to help viewers learn keywords of common knowledge related to "NHK Special", in efficient and funny ways. With the help of viewers who will submit ideas on how to explain it most efficiently, Shinoda will approve and use the best idea for explanation on the show.

No Sleeves 6th Single [Answer]

Since kieyuku, the writer in charge of subgroup posts, is busy with her exams I will be writing this in her stead. You owe me one for this kieyuku.



No Sleeves (no3b) will be releasing their 6th Single on 02 March 2011 (which is by the way yesterday). Titled [Answer], the song is currently being used as the ending theme song for the anime Beelzebub, which is airing on NTV.

Official website: http://www.no3b.net/

WONDA x AKB48

     A new collaboration! AKB48 will be pairing up with Asahi Soft Drink to help promote their WONDA Coffees. Specifically, their "WONDA Morning Shot" and "WONDA Kin no Bitou" canned coffees. A total of 15 AKB members will appear in CMs for this. The campaign starts from now till 12 May.

Official website: http://wonda-akb48.com/top.go

New subgroup [DiVA]

     Seriously this is too much.... How many frickin units are there already. Look at what happened to Day 4 of the Request Hour Setlist Best 100 2011. Half the songs which ranked were from the subgroups. And more units would mean that the girls would have less time for AKB, which is one of the major problems the group is facing. Just look at the AKB Theater schedule. Everything now is mostly Kenkyuusei or SDN. Anyways rant over, let's get to business.

     Following Akimoto Sayaka's successful run at the Tokyo Marathon, with her finish broadcasted on nationwide TV, her agency Office48 decided to use this hype and created a new unit called [DiVA]. DiVA is not to be confused with DIVA, the fictional group in the B-sides of AKB48's previous Singles Beginner and Sakura no Ki ni Narou. To differentiate this, the second letter "i" is small. DiVA is made up of Akimoto Sayaka, Miyazawa Sae, Umeda Ayaka and Masuda Yuka, all of them under the Office48 agency. The group will release their debut Single this spring, 27 April 2011, under AVEX .

Official website: http://avexnet.or.jp/diva/