Masuda Yuka Announces Her Resignation From AKB48

AKB48 2nd generation member Masuda Yuka has announced her resignation from the group via her blog. In her blog post she directly mentions this article by Shunkan Bunshun (although not mentioning the magazine by name) which had yet to be released. The article claims that Yuka spent the night at the house of ISSA, from DA PUMP, another Japanese group. The magazine has pictures of her going to his house. She says it is true that she did spend the night there, but that some of the other allegations made in the magazine are false.

ISSA was engaged to actress Fukumoto Sachiko, and his agency have said that the engagement has now been called off. Yuka met ISSA whilst working together on the musical The Wizard Of Oz where she played Dorothy. Due to her actions, Masuda announced she wishes to withdraw from AKB48.

A full translation of Yuka's graduation blog post can be found on emptystring's blog: http://bilingual48.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/masuda-yuka-resigns-from-akb48.html

This graduation doesn't come as much of a surprise to me since Yuka has been withdrawing from important AKB48 activities recently, such as the Janken Tournament and the landmark Tokyo Dome concerts. However, the nature of it did. Especially how she announced her resignation on her blog before the magazine article had even been published. Bunshun's articles have led to much trouble for AKB48 members recently, including the scandal which led to Sashihara Rino being transferred to HKT48. I feel proud of Yuka for admitting to her mistakes and bearing the consequences. She seems to be carving out a career for herself with her recent high profile musical role and I wish her all the best for the future.

Nogizaka46 4th Single [Seifuku no Mannequin] Tracklist

The tracklisting for Nogizaka46's 4th single [Seifuku no Mannequin] have been revealed. The single will be released on 19th December 2012. It will be released in three CD+DVD editions and two CD only editions. The DVD contents are not yet fully announced. The song [Yubi Bouenkyou], common to all types, is the theme song to the anime Magi.

Nogizaka46 4th Single
Seifuku no Mannequin
制服のマネキン
19 December 2012

Type A  1,600yen	[CD] 01. Seifuku no Mannequin 02. Yubi Bouenkyou 03. Yasashisa nara Ma ni Atteru 04. Seifuku no Mannequin (off vocal.) 05. Yubi Bouenkyou (off vocal.) 06. Yasashisa nara Ma ni Atteru (off vocal.) [DVD] 01.  Seifuku no Mannequin PV TBA
Type B 1,600yen	[CD] 01. Seifuku no Mannequin 02. Yubi Bouenkyou 03. Koko Janai Doko ka 04. Seifuku no Mannequin (off vocal.) 05. Yubi Bouenkyou (off vocal.) 06. Koko Janai Doko ka (off vocal.) [DVD] 01.Seifuku no Mannequin PV TBA
Type C 1,600yen	[CD] 01. Seifuku no Mannequin 02. Yubi Bouenkyou 03. Haru no Melody 04. Seifuku no Mannequin (off vocal.) 05. Yubi Bouenkyou (off vocal.) 06. Haru no Melody (off vocal.) [DVD] 01. Seifuku no Mannequin PV TBA
Regular 1,000yen	[CD] 01. Seifuku no Mannequin 02. Yubi Bouenkyou 03. Shibuya Blues 04. Seifuku no Mannequin (off vocal.) 05. Yubi Bouenkyou (off vocal.) 06. Shibuya Blues (off vocal.)
Anime 1,300yen	[CD] 01. Seifuku no Mannequin 02. Yubi Bouenkyou 03. Yubi Bouenkyou (anime ver.) 04. Seifuku no Mannequin (off vocal.) 05. Yubi Bouenkyou (off vocal.)

Watanabe Mayu 3rd Single [Hikaru Monotachi] 1st Week Sales

 

Watanabe Mayu's 3rd solo single [Hikaru Monotachi] has landed 1st place in the Oricon weekly sales charts with sales of 91,907 copies. It had already achieved a daily number one on its first day of sales. This is her first weekly solo number one, as [Synchro Tokimeki] sold more copies with 123,237 sales but only reached number 2. [Otona Jelly Beans] only reached number 3 with 87,993 copies. [Hikaru Monotachi] sold almost 20,000 copies more than the second place single

Congratulations Mayuyu!

Kashiwagi Yuki to Star in Lead Role in Drama [Mieriino Kashiwagi]

Kashiwagi Yuki will star in the lead role in the drama [Mieriino Kashiwagi], named after herself. This will air on TV Tokyo from the 11th January 2013 at 24:52. The show will be directed by Takahata Hideta. Kashiwagi works at a cafe and has a special ability to foretell the love life of anyone who touches her. The theme song will be her solo debut single which will be released on the 6th February 2013.

Official webiste: http://www.tv-tokyo.co.jp/kashiwagi/

Nogizaka46 4th Single [Seifuku no Mannequin] Covers Revealed

The covers for Nogizaka46 4th single [Seifuku no Mannequin] have been revealed. They feature the hachifukujin members. For the three CD+DVD types, Type A features Ikoma Rina and Ikuta Erika, Type B features Shiraishi Mai and Hoshino Minami, whilst Type C features Sakurai Reika and Akimoto Manatsu. There are two CD only types, the regular edition features Matsumura Sayuri and Hashimoto Nanami, and there is an anime edition which is a tie-in to the anime Maji, where Nogizaka46 provide the ending theme [Yubi Bouenkyou]. The single will be released on the 19th December 2012.

Type A                                                   Type B

 

Type C                                              Regular

 

Anime

HKT48 1st Anniversary Show Setlist + Photos

HKT48 celebrated their 1st Anniversary with a special theatre show. All members were present, however, Sashihara Rino was absent until her unit song as she was delayed travelling from her other commitments. HKT48 played a variety of songs from both their theatre stages, as well as songs by AKB48, SKE48, and NMB48. They also debuted their first original song [Hatsukoi Butterfly], which will be released on Type C of AKB48's 29th single [Eien Pressure] and finished with a rendition of the song [HKT48]. This show will be the first show available on the HKT48 LOD (Live On Demand) section of DMM.com, which is free for an initial period but region-locked to Japan.

HKT48 1st Anniversary Theatre Show
26th November 2012

M01 - Te wo Tsunaginagara
M02 - Chime wa LOVE SONG
M03 - Aitakatta (Kenkyuusei)
---MC---
M04 - Skirt, Hirari (Tashima Meru, Fukagawa Maiko, Ueno Haruka, Okamoto Naoko, Fuchigami Mai)
M05 - Wimbledon e Tsureteitte (Motomura Aoi, Murashige Anna, Tomonaga Mio)
M06 - Tenshi no Shippo (Ota Aika, Ueki Nao, Yamada Marina)
M07 - Ame no Doubutsuen (Kodama Haruka, Kumazawa Serina, Nakanishi Chiyori, Tanaka Natsumi, Abe Kyoka, Komada Hiroka, Akiyoshi Yuka)
M08 - Itoshiki Natasha (Sashihara Rino, Moriyasu Madoka, Imada Mina)
M09 - End Roll (Miyawaki Sakura, Anai Chihiro, Shimono Yuki, Matsuoka Natsumi)
---MC---
M10 - Kitagawa Kenji (Kenkyuusei)
M11 - Kiss Datte Hidarikiki
M12 - Gingham Check (Team H)
---MC---
M13 - Kimi no Koto ga Suki Dakara
M14 - Oogoe Diamond
M15 - Iiwake Maybe
M16 - Namida Surprise! (Kenkyuusei)
---MC---
M17 - Sakura no Hanabiratachi
---ENCORE---
M18 - RIVER
M19 - Beginner
M20 - UZA
---VTR---
M21 - Hatsukoi Butterfly
---DOUBLE ENCORE---
M22 - HKT48

Congratulations HKT48 on their first year and finally getting their first original song! This set list looks really good and I look forward to seeing this show now that their LOD service has started!

Kasai Tomomi Solo Debut Single Titled [Masaka]

Kasai Tomomi performed her solo debut single for the first time today at her live event at Tokyo Racecourse after the Japan Cup. She announced the title of the song as [Masaka] before performing it. She also performed the AKB48 songs [Heavy Rotation] and [Flying Get] at the event. Both the live event and her debut single are part of the new [Kasai Project]. Her single will be released on the 26 December 2012 under Nippon Crown.

Watch the announcement and performance here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7N1cdGcnIB8

Watanabe Mayu 3rd Single [Hikaru Monotachi] 1st Day sales

Watanabe Mayu's 3rd solo single [Hikaru Monotachi] has landed 1st place in the Oricon daily sales charts in its first day on sale. It sold a total of 40,187 copies.

Mayuyu was facing tough competition from 2nd place Generations with 33,232 copies, 3rd place Momoiro Clover Z with 31,889 copies, and 4th place Shoujo Jidai (Girls Generation/SNSD). Will she be able to fend them off in the weekly sales battle?

This single sold more than Mayu's 2nd single [Otona Jelly beans], which sold 38,109 copies on day one, but not more than her 1st solo single [Synchro Tokimeki] which sold 50,145 copies.
[Hikaru Monotachi] is her 2nd first day sales number one after [Synchro Tokimeki], but neither previous single achieved first place in the weekly sales.

Congratulations to Mayuyu for first day number one! I'm glad her sales are increased from her 2nd single as well. Good luck to her in the weekly chart.

NMB48 6th Single [Kitagawa Kenji] 1st Week Sales+ Review

NMB48's 6th single [Kitagawa Kenji], released November 7, finished its first week selling 317,051 copies. Despite lower 1st day sales, this single sold slightly more than the previous one [Virginity] (315,205) in first week.

[Kitagawa Kenji] also tops the Oricon Weekly Charts, marking the 5th weekly number-one for NMB48. Ironically, NMB48's only single that did not top the weekly charts, [Nagiichi], had the group's best weekly sales of 375,785, almost 60 k more than [Kitagawa Kenji].

Kitagawa Kenji
Personally I think this is one of NMB48's best songs. It's very energetic, fun, cute and catchy. It represents NMB48 perfectly. Same is to say about the PV, which is very colourful, cute and fun to watch. The unusual title gives it a special touch.

Hoshizora no Caravan
Shirogumi's song is a cute idol song. It's nothing special but it has an interesting intro, a nice Sayaka solo at the beginning and a heartwarming, encouraging PV. 

Renai Higai Todoke
Unlike Shirogumi, Akagumi's song is very unusual and a bit weird. The chorus sounds kind of hyperactive and it might sound annoying to some people. Personally I like the song, though it needs some time to get used to. It's great that they try unusual stuff.

In Goal
This single has several cute idol songs, and out of them this is my least favourite. It's ok but overall rather boring. I don't know why and I am probably the only one hearing it, but the intro slightly reminds me of christmas songs...

Fuyushougun no Regret
Just like the previous Namba Teppoudai song, this one is a generic cutesy idol song. I usually don't go for this type of songs, but this one is actually nice with a catchy chorus. But like last time, they combined a cool PV with such a cute song. It just doesn't fit and I wish they don't try that again.

Nemuku naru made hitsuji wa dete konai 
I am no fan of ballads, but it's nice to have one once in a while. It's not that much different from usual idol ballads but at least it's not boring. The chorus is nice and relaxing.


Overall I think this is a nice single, with a great A-side and some nice couplings. As for the sales, it seems like NMB48 has reached its peak. As long as they stay stable and don't drop much, that is perfectly fine, because those are great numbers compared to most other artists.
 

 

Kashiwagi Yuki Solo Debut Single Release Date + Drama Announced

The release date for Kashiwagi Yuki's previously announced solo debut single has been set for 6th February 2013. A title has not been set yet. The single will be released on a new Avex-associated label titled [YukiRing] after Kashiwagi's nickname of Yukirin.

A countdown timer had previously been running on the website www.yukiring.jp with no clue to what is was. Her debut single is set to be a ballad and will be the theme song of a drama series starting on TV Tokyo starting in January, which Yukirin will star in.

Kashiwagi Yuki's first solo concert [Netemosametemo Yukirin World] is being releaed on DVD Bluray on 2nd January 2013. Check out the tracklist here: http://melosnomichi.blogspot.com/2012/07/kashiwagi-yuki-solo-concert-setlist.html

I love Yuki's solo ballads so am really looking forward to this solo single and concert. I wonder what her solo drama will be about. This YukiRing label is curious and it will be interesting to see what other acts are released under that label.

[Kasai Project] Launched for Kasai Tomomi, Including Solo Single, Photobook, Live and CM

Kasai Tomomi will become the next member of AKB48 to have a solo single. Her debut will release on 26 December 2012 under Nippon Crown. This is not all, as a [Kasai Project] has been launched, including a solo photobook to be released in January 2013.

Before the single and photobook, however, is a solo live to be held at Tokyo Racecourse on 25 November 2012 during the Japan Cup. Keeping with horse race theme, she will star in a JRA (Japan Racing Association) CM entitled AKB no Gachi Uma which will start airing from the 18th November. Chiyuu won the opportunity to star in this CM back in May in a competition against other AKB48 members.

This Kasai Project is very interesting, as each of the things she is doing would be big news for any member of AKB48, let alone all of them happening at the same time. The timing of this project is also very curious, since she has recently been receiving some negative press for withdrawing from the reality TV show where she had to live off 10,000 yen for one month after not appearing in the second episode.