Uchida Mayumi 1st Photobook [Iwa ni Shimiiru “Uchida-san” no Koe]

Uchida Mayumi will release her 1st Photobook [岩にしみ入る“内田さん”の声] [Iwa ni Shimiiru “Uchida-san” no Koe] on 22nd February 2013 for 1,260 Yen. The book, more of a "photo essay", seems to focus on her most famous moment - winning the 2010 Janken Tournament to become centre for AKB48's 19th single [Chance no Junban].

This came out of nowhere. Since winning the Janken in 2010, Ucchi hasn't made senbatsu for any further singles, apart from 2012's janken single [Eien Pressure] , and has failed to rank in any of the elections. I think she is a solid, cute, and under-appreciated AKB48 member so hope this book will both do well and raise her profile.

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SKE48 11th Single [Choco no Dorei] 1st day Sales

SKE48's 11th single [Choco no Dorei] has sold 380,752 copies on it's first day on sale, to place number one in the Oricon Daily Sales chart. This is a tiny bit lower than previous single [Kiss Datte Hidarikiki]'s 387,702 copies. This single marks the last appearance of the nine graduating members, who perform the coupling song [Sore wo Seishun to Yobu hi] together.

Interestingly, Generations from EXILE are at number two in the charts, behind SKE48. Just at the time when Shukan Bunshun is running one of their gossipy stories about Minegishi Minami dating a member from that group.

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NMB48 1st Album [Teppen Tottande!] Covers Revealed

NMB48 has revealed the covers for its 1st Album  [Teppen Tottande!], which will be released on February 27. Type N, M and B feature the girls as ready-to-fight high school girls, the same concept used for the song [HA!], which will also be included in the album together with the complete PV. The Theatre Version cover shows 16 top girls in close up. Check out the covers below.

                                                                           

      

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NMB48 Announces Tour

During the theater show on January 28, NMB48 has announced that they will tour Western Japan in spring. The tour will have a total of eight concerts and it starts on March 4 in Hiroshima and ends on April 5 in Shiga Prefecture. There will be a tour senbatsu selected to perform this tour.

This spring tour will be NMB48's third tour, after the Osaka Prefecture tour in spring and the Kansai tour in summer last year.


Tour Dates:

March 4, Hiroshima
Hiroshima Bunka Gakuen HBG Hall

March 6, Okayama
Okayama Civic Hall

March 7, Kagawa
Alpha Anabuki Hall

March 8, Tottori
Torigin Bunka Kaikan

April 1, Fukuoka
Fukuoka Sunpalace Hotel & Hall

April 3, Hyogo
Kobe International House International Hall

April 4, Osaka
Orix Theater

April 5, Shiga
Biwako Hall



NMB48's tours have become constantly greater: from a small prefecture tour to a Kansai region tour, and now a tour through Western Japan. A national tour is probably not far away. While this is a good thing, I don't like the idea of a tour senbatsu. They should give all the girls a chance to perform.

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Watanabe Mayu [Hikaru Monotachi] 2nd Mini-Live Setlist + Photos

Watanabe Mayu performed two more mini-lives associated with her 3rd solo single [Hikaru Monotachi] on 19th January 2013. She performed both times to crowds of 4,000 people at the Makuhari Messe International Exhibition Hall. Her set included all three of her solo singles and a number of their coupling songs.

1. Hikaru Monotachi
2. Mayuyuroid
MC
3. Otona Jelly Beans
4. Heart no Soup
MC (Smile Radio)
5. Sayonara no Hashi
6. Chiheisen no kanata wa doko ni aru? ~ Beyond the horizon ~
MC
7. Koyubi no Hohoemi
Encore
8. Synchro Tokimeki



They also celebrated her birthday a few months early: reaching #1 on the Oricon chart.

 

More pictures:

Even more images here and here

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AKB48 Three Part Drama Special [So Long!]

AKB48 will release a three-part drama special entitled [So long!]. Each part will feature one of the three teams and last one hour. The drama will air on three consecutive nights, from the 11-13 February 2013 on NTV. [So long!] is also the title of their forthcoming 30th single, released on the 20th February 2013.

The Team A episode will focus on Watanabe Mayu and Shinoda Mariko in a ballerina high school. The Team K episode is a tale of rivalry between Oshima Yuko and Matsui Jurina. The Team B episode is set in a school, with the theme being around graduation, focussing on Shimazaki Haruka as a student and Kojima Haruna as a teacher.

   

I'm looking forward to this drama, and it will no doubt help to establish the new teams more amongst fans. It is also interesting how they have chosen one "older" member and one "younger" member of each team sho is seen as a centre there. Note that the older member in each case is the team captain apart from Kojiharu instead of Umechan for Team B.

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Iwasa Misaki 2nd Single [Moshimo Watashi ga Sora ni Sundeitara] 1st Week Sales

Iwasa Misaki's 2nd solo single [Moshimo Watashi ga Sora ni Sundeitara] sold a total of 18,929 copies on it's first week on sale, to place 5th in the Oricon Weekly Singles Chart. Her debut single [Mujin Eki], sold 23,773 copies, for comparison. Wasamin was a few thousand copies off Cheeky Parade at number 3, but only just beat BABYMETAL, whose major label debut single [Ijime, Dame, Zettai] by 140 copies. These sales were important because it led Wasamin to become the first female enka singer in 40 years to have back-to-back top 5 singles.

Congratulations Wasamin on another top 5 single! Although sales were down on her debut, the percentage drop was a lot smaller than the other AKB soloists, and enka singles traditionally sell well in the long term, like Mujin Eki did.

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Watanabe Mayu [Hikaru Monotachi] 1st Mini-Live Setlist

Watanabe Mayu performed two mini-lives associated with her 3rd solo single [Hikaru Monotachi] on 13th January 2013. She performed both times to crowds of 4,000 people at Port Messe, Nagoya. She performed a set of 8 songs including all three of her solo singles and a number of their coupling songs.

1. Hikaru Monotachi
2. Mayuyuroid
MC
3. Otona Jelly Beans
4. Koio fun Jatta
MC
5. Sayonara no Hashi
6. 2-ri no Yoake
7. Koyubi no Hohoemi
Encore
8. Synchro Tokimeki

On 14th January 2013 she held a "doki-doki" event at Osanbashi Hall, Yokohama which was meant to have 10 different special mini-events. However, only the first five took place as the event was then called off due bad weather/snow. Mayuyu will hold two more mini-lives at the Makuhari Messe International Exhibition Hall on 19th January 2013, again, to 4,000 people each performance.

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