AKB48 Group Weekly News Roundup (1-7 July 2013)

AKB48
- Team B's Nakamura Mariko was given a lead role in the stage play [Sengoku Kourin Girls].
- Team A's Nakatsuka Tomomi has created a twitter account. Follow her at @tmm_n0618
- The [AKB48 in Seibu Dome] and [AKB48 in Saitama Super Arena] Blurays were released on 3rd July.
- AKB48 will be performing at the Tokyo Disneysea on 18th October
- The AKB48 Kenkyuusei Preliminary round took place on 6th July, and Yumoto Ami, Kojima Mako, Tsuchiyasu Mizuki and Owada Nana will take part in AKB48's Janken Tournament on 18th September.
- Shimazaki Haruka will release her own solo photobook [Paruru Komaru] on 19th July.
- The 7th July Handshake event was the final handshake event for Akimoto Sayaka, Itano Tomomi and Shinoda Mariko, and the final AKB48 event at all for Komori Mika, Nakatsuka Tomomi and Matsubara Natsumi, who have now graduated from the group.

SKE48
- SKE48 Kenkyuuseis Owaki Arisa, Kitahara Yuna, Takeuchi Saki and Sasaki Yuka have won the SKE48 Kenkyuusei Janken Preliminaries and will advance into the main SKE48 Janken Preliminaries.
- The SKE48 Janken Preliminaries was held on 3rd July, and Mizuno Honoka, Ami Miyamae, Mikoto Uchiyama, Kyoka Isohara, Seira Sato, Matsumoto Rina, Narumi Ichino and Mai Takeuchi will take part in AKB48's Janken Tournament on 18th September.

NMB48
- Team N's Fukumoto Aina held her graduation ceremony on 1st July.
- NMB48 wrapped up their East Japan Tour on 4th July at the NHK Hall in Tokyo. They did a different Set List from the usual, do check it out HERE.
- Watanabe Miyuki's solo DVD/Blueray [Miruneko] was released on 2nd July
- The NMB48 Janken Preliminary round was conducted on 4th July, and the winners are Shiroma Miru, Kamieda Emika, Mizuki Uno, Ayaka Morita, Koyanagi Arisa, Murakami Ayaka, Okita Ayaka and Kobayashi Rikako.. They will take part in AKB48's Janken Tournament on 18th September.

HKT48
- HKT48 Team H 1st Stage [Te wo Tsunaginagara]'s CD and DVD was released on 6th July.
- HKT48 was added to the list of performers for the Tokyo Idol Festival 2013.

JKT48
- JKT48 announced and released their 2nd Single [Yuuhi wo Mite iru ka?] on 3rd May.
- Team KIII's Shinta Naomi was made the captain of the new team.
- Plans for a 3rd Generation of JKT48 members have been announced.
- JKT48 will be releasing their first own movie [JKT48 The Movie], date unannounced.
- The [Pajama Drive] Stage DVD for 1st and 2nd Generations have been announced and released on 6th July, and a revival show will be held for that stage sometime on July.  Fans will be given the right to choose the members participating in the show.
- JKT48 will release their own version of AKB48's 32nd Single [Koisuru Fortune Cookie] on 21st August, the same day ask AKB's release.
- JKT48 finished their [Let Us Introduce Ourselves: JKT48] concert tour on 4th July at Jakarta.

Nogizaka46
- Nogizaka46's 6th Single [Girl's Rule] went on sale on 3rd July, selling 286,492 for the first day.

Graduates
- Nakatsuka Tomomi's graduation photobook was released on 5th July.
- AKB48 Graduate Nakaya Sayaka has signed on with amuleto, a seiyuu agency.
- Maeda Atsuko is in Australia!
- SKE48 Graduate Kuwabara Mizuki will take part in the stage play [Monster Swing], her first job after graduating from SKE48. It will start showing from 29th August to 1st September at the Ikebukuro Theater Green.
- SKE48 graduate Hara Minami has created a twitter account. Follow her at @haramina1224

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Graduation Ceremonies set for Shinoda Mariko, Akimoto Sayaka, Itano Tomomi + Maeda Atsuko Dome Appearance

The official AKB48 blog has announced some new details of their Five Dome Tour. There will be graduation ceremonies for Shinoda Mariko, Akimoto Sayaka, and Itano Tomomi at three of the 11 concerts. The last handshake events for these three members has been set for 7th July 2013. Graduation theatre performances will be announced at a later date.

In addition, graduated ace Maeda Atsuko is set to appear at the Sapporo Dome concert! She recently tweeted that she was recording a music video overseas. AKS states that her 3rd single will be released in September and that she will perform her new single (and possibly) more at the concert.

The official blog post also announced that a new unit will debut at the Sapporo Dome concert as well.

Full dates of the dome concerts and special events:

20 July 2013   21 July 2013   31 July 2013   7 August 2013   8 August 2013   16 August 2013   17 August 2013   22 August 2013   23 August 2013   24 August 2013   25 August 2013

Fukuoka   Fukuoka   Sapporo   Osaka   Osaka   Nagoya   Nagoya   Tokyo   Tokyo   Tokyo   Tokyo

Shinoda Mariko graduation ceremony   Maeda Atsuko appearance, and new unit debut   Akimoto Sayaka graduation ceremony   Itano Tomomi graduation ceremony

It's sad to see these three prominent members of AKB48 leave in such a short space of time. The new unit announcement is strange, as the sub-units seem to be dead nowadays, with the focus of soloists instead. The return of Acchan to an AKB48 stage is a big surprise, and follows on from her appearance in The Return Of Team Surprise. I don't know what association she has with Sapporo apart from appearing in some Sapporo Beer adverts. She is looking really great recently though, and I'm looking forward to her musical activies.

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AKB48 teams up with Google+

Just announced at a live press conference, AKB48 will be teaming up with social networking site Google+. AKB48 fans will now be able to follow their favorite AKB48 members on Google+!

Having realized the limitations of handshake events and other gimmicks allowing fans to interact with the members now that AKB48 has increasing amount of fans overseas, Akimoto Yasushi announced that fans are able to add members to their Google+ circles to follow their daily happenings more closely and timely.

As well as AKB48 members, SKE48 and NMB48 members will have Google+ pages. Akimoto Yaushi also mentioned that members of HKT48, JKT48, and all the other OOO48 groups in the future will have accounts too. You can find the Google+ profiles of the members here.

You can also hangout with the idols with Google+, this brings "Idols you can meet everyday" to a whole new level. Maeda Atsuko set up a Hangout just after the announcement and hanged out with 15 fans.

There are also limitation for this project, each Hangout is limited to 10 people only, minus the member who organized the hangout, we are only left with 9 fans. And if you disconnect during the Hangout session, it'd be almost impossible to join back again.

Also, members under 18 years old aren't allowed to be on Google+, therefore you don't actually see all the members on the Google+.

Also mentioned at the announcement, fans may be able to view AKB48 Kouhaku on 20/12 on Google+.

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Shimada Rena and Matsuda Shiori return to NMB48

Today at Team N's show in the NMB48 Theater, the results of the fan voting to allow suspended members Shimada Rena and Matsuda Shiori were announced. The votes are shown below.

Matsuda Shiori
Approve: 8,377
Disapprove: 1,406

Shimada Rena
Approve: 7,622
Disapprove: 2,161

Good news for both girls, the majority of the votes approved their return to NMB48. The both of them will resume activities from January 1st 2012.

Although it looks like they both have been allowed to return by a huge majority, it is still disheartening to know that 2,000 fans still disapprove Shimada Rena, and 1,400 for Matsuda Shiori. Hopefully when they return to the stage, they can prove themselves to the fans once more.

One thing I would like to know is why there hasn't been any word about Yoshida Akari's suspension.

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AKB48 Tops Karaoke Request Rankings for 2011

In the recently announced results for the [2011 Karaoke Request Ranking], AKB48 takes the top place in both the song and artist category.

For individual songs, AKB48 takes the top place with [Heavy Rotation].  They take additional places in the top ten with [Aitakatta] at #5 and [Ponytail to Shushu] at #7.

In the artist category, AKB48 again takes the #1 spot, beating out many other popular pop artists/groups.

Congrats to them, and I must admit, I sang all three of their songs that placed the last time I went to karaoke!

Full results are listed below:

■2011 Karaoke Request Ranking (Song)
#1 Heavy Rotation (AKB48)
#2 Mister (KARA)
#3 Gee (Girls Generation)
#4 Kiseki (GReeeeN)
#5 Aitakatta (AKB48)
#6 Arigatou (Ikimonogakari)
#7 Ponytail to Shushu (AKB48)
#8 Cruel Angel's Thesis (Takahashi Youko)
#9 Hanamizuki (Hitoto You)
#10 Chisai na Koi no Uta (MONGOL800)


■2011 Karaoke Request Ranking (Artist)
#1 AKB48
#2 EXILE
#3 Hamasaki Ayumi
#4 Koda Kumi
#5 Arashi
#6 Mr.Children
#7 Nishino Kana
#8 Ikimonogakari
#9 Kobukuro
#10 Kitajima Saburou

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SKE48 5th Generation Members 1st Look

At last weekend's SKE48 Request Hour Set List Best 50 2011 concert, the newest batch of SKE48 members made their debut appearance.

13 members from SKE48's 5th generation performed Oogoe Diamond on Day1 and SKE48 on the Day2 of the concert. Originally, 16 members passed the audition. However 3 girls have already left due to reasons unknown.

Check out the girls below! Names are romanized by Everyday48. Do any of them catch your attention? I think Suga Nanako looks quite cute.

Also....Fujimoto Mizuki?
Fujimoto Mizuki.....
MIZU-SAMA MIZU-SAMA OSHIOKI KIBONNU!
(if you didn't get that)

	Ogino Risa 荻野利沙 Birthday: January 28, 1996 (15) Hometown: Aichi Blood Blood Type:: O Favourite Kanji: Shiro (白White) Oshimen: Abiru Riho
	Iwanaga Tsugumi 岩永亞美 Birthday: May 10, 1994 (17) Hometown: Gifu Blood Blood Type:: A Favourite Kanji: Kanou (叶) Oshimen: Hiramatsu Kanako
	Ichino Narumi 市野成美 Birthday: April 14, 1999 (12) Hometown: Aichi Blood Blood Type:: O Favourite Kanji: Hoshi (星Star) Oshimen: Tsuzuki Rika
	Ego Yuuna 江籠裕奈 Birthday: March 29, 2000 (11) Hometown: Aichi Blood Type: O Favourite Kanji: Yume (夢 Dream) Oshimen: Kato Rumi
	Oowaki Arisa 大脇有紗 Birthday: April 1, 1999 (12) Hometown: Aichi Blood Type: B Favourite Kanji: 望 Oshimen: Wakabayashi Tomoka
	Hioki Miki 日置実希 Birthday: October 14, 1992 (19) Hometown: Aichi Blood Type: AB Favourite Kanji: 希 (Hope) Oshimen: Hata Sawako
	Miyamae Ami 宮前杏実 Birthday: September 9, 1997 (14) Hometown: Aichi Blood Type: A Favourite Kanji: 努 (Effort) Oshimen: Matsui Jurina
	Furuhata Nao 古畑奈和 Birthday: September 15, 1996 (15) Hometown: Aichi Blood Type: Unknown Favourite Kanji: Umi (海 Sea) Oshimen: Hirata Rikako
	Niidoi Sayaka 新土居沙也加 Birthday: February 21, 1994 (18) Hometown: Aichi Blood Type: B Favourite Kanji: Kokoro (心 Heart) Oshimen: Ishida Anna
	Suga Nanako 菅なな子 Birthday: November 11, 1996 (15) Hometown: Aichi Blood Type: O Favourite Kanji: Honoo (炎 Fire) Oshimen: Yagami Kumi
	Fujimoto Mizuki 藤本美月 Birthday: September 21, 1995 (16) Hometown: Aichi Blood Type: B Favourite Kanji: Bi (美 Beauty) Oshimen: Matsui Rena
	Futamura Haruka 二村春香 Birthday: September 21, 1995 (16) Hometown: Aichi Blood Type: B Favourite Kanji: Bi (美 Beauty) Oshimen: Matsui Rena
	Yamada Mizuho 山田みずほ Birthday: May 25, 1997 (14) Hometown: Aichi Blood Type: AB Favourite Kanji: Asu (明 Tomorrow) Oshimen: Yamada Erika

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NMB48 to hold fan voting about the return of Shimada Rena and Matsuda Shiori

As announced on its official website, NMB48 will hold a fan voting to decide whether the currently suspended members Shimada Rena and Matsuda Shiori will be allowed to resume their activities as NMB48 members.

In the time between November 27 and December 3, all members of the NMB48 Ticket Center can vote whether they approve of the girls' return or not. Results will be announced during the Team N Show on December 7. If the fans vote in favor of the girls' return, they will be allowed to participate at lessons again, and eventually return on stage. If not, fan votings will be repeated regularly until the fans approve their return.

Shimada Rena suspended activities in September because of past kissing purikura with her then-boyfriend while Matsuda Shiori officially took a break out of "her own will", as did fellow Team N member Yoshida Akari. Any details about Yoshida Akari will be announced on a later date.

Read a translation of the announcement below.

Honestly I am not sure what to think about this. On the one hand I do want the girls to come back, and I acknowledge that the opinion of the fans is very important. But on the other hand, the decision about the return of members is quite a big issue that usually management should deal with. Maybe management does not want to take resposibilty and hence leaves it to the fans. Also I wonder why Yoshida Akari is excluded from this voting.

What do you think? Is it right to leave this decision up to the fans? Do you think the girls are ready to come back?

About the return of the suspended NMB48 members
Translated by: Miss Moonlight
http://nmb48-staff.laff.jp/blog/2011/11/nmb48-e0f5.html

Thank you for always supporting NMB48.

We have to make an announcement about the return of 2nd Generation Research Student Shimada Rena, on suspension since September 2, and Team N member Matsuda Shiori, on suspension since September 4.

The NMB48 management office has constantly taken communication with the currently suspended Yoshida Akari, Matsuda Shiori and Shimada Rena. They have spent days leading a well-regulated life, faced themselves more than ever until now, and repeating self-lessons.

During that process not only among the members themselves but also among staff the opinion "Wouldn’t it be fine if they start lessons for returning to shows" came up. Nevertheless, the members themselves constantly said that they still think: "I want to come back to NMB48 but I feel so sorry towards the fans who always supported me. Is it really ok if I come back?".

Therefore we entrust the decision about the participation of currently suspended Matsuda Shiori and Shimada Rena at lessons, their appearance in NMB48 shows etc, their return to NMB48, to the voting of you all, the fans. If the positive votes for the return are the majority we will let them start the preparations for their return.

Also, we will hold a voting repeatedly until approval of return reaches the majority.

We will make announcements about Yoshida Akari on a later date.

The original idea of the AKBProject is ‘a place where dreams can come true’. In this place, the girls found themselves back, reconfirmed their dream and are now going towards this dream recklessly.

We think you all have various thoughts and opinions. Please cast those feelings as a vote.

Furthermore, to avoid irregularities, and guarantee rightness, we will entrust the election to the third party organization “株式会社パイプドビッツ” who will act as a supervisor of the voting, like during the AKB General Election and AKB Request Hour.

Voting Details:
Voting Time: November 27 (Sun) until December 03 (Sat) 23:59
Entitled to vote: Members of the NMB48 Ticket Center (free of charge)
Voting Tool: Mobile Phone
Voting supervisor: 株式会社パイプドビッツ

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Takajo Aki diagnosed with Acute Gastroenteritis

Takajo Aki was pulled midway during French Kiss's handshake event yesterday as she was not feeling well. She was rushed to the hospital where she was diagnosed with Acute Gastroenteritis. She received an IV drip and is resting at home.

Acute Gastroenteritis, or stomach flu, is the same as what Tomochin had some time ago. aramatheydidnt.livejournal.com/2973550.html
Depending on the severity, Acute Gastroenteritis can last from just a few days, to a month.

Seems like AKB members are falling sick left and right. Is it the flu season in Japan? We didn't blog about it but Yukirin and Sasshi recently were also taken out of AKB48's last handshake event due to illness. Get well soon Akicha!


【From the Staff】reporting on the wellbeing of Takajo Aki
Translated by gekophetweb of blog48

Takajo Aki has fallen ill, We apoligize for the inconvenience and making you all worry. At the hospital they diagnosed her with "Acute gastroenteritis" and received an IV drip to help her heal, and is currently resting at home


We are currently discussing on changing the Handshake events. For more detailed information please look at 「French Kiss」's official website
Thank you very much for your understanding

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AKB48, SKE48 to perform on [Best Artist 2011]

More not-so-important stuff that we tweeted about but not blog yet

AKB48 and SKE48 has been selected to perform on NTV's annual music concert [Nittere kei Ongaku no Saiten Best Artist 2011].

This is the 2nd time that AKB48 has performed in Best Artist, but the first for SKE48.

The host of this year's Best Artist will be Arashi's Sakura Sho for the 3rd time running, and will be be co-hosted by NTV announcers Hatori Shinichi and Suzue Nana. This year's theme is "cheering Japan up with music".

Official Website: http://www.ntv.co.jp/best-artist/

Best Artist 2011 will be aired live on November 30th at 7:00PM JST, on NTV. 

Artlist Lineup
aiko
Arashi
Ikimono Gakari
AKB48
EXILE
SKE48
Kaibutsu-kun
KAT-TUN
Kanjani8
Saito Kazuyoshi
Sandaime J Soul Brothers
Tackey & Tsubasa
TOKIO
Dream Morning Musume
Nishino Kana
Perfume
Hirai Ken
Fukuyama Masaharu
Hey! Say! JUMP
Porno Graffitti
Yuzu
L'Arc~en~Ciel

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AKB48 to perform on [MUSIC FOR ALL, ALL FOR ONE]

Some minor news that I tweeted about but have not blogged yet.

AKB48 will perform in LAWSON's Christmas concert [MUSIC FOR ALL, ALL FOR ONE] on December 24th.

Spanning 3 days from the 23rd to 25th November, the event will be held at the Yoyogi National Gymnasium. Tickets are priced at 7,800yen. The concert will also be broadcasted live to 29 venues across Japan.

Currently, there are a total of 29 performing artists so far, with possibly more to come.

DAY 1 (23 November)
Fujimaki Ryota
Kimaguren
Kusuo
lecca
Sonar Pocket
Thomas Matsumoto
Yaida Hitomi
... and more!

DAY 2 (24 November)
AKB48
BENI
Crystal Kay
FUNKY MONKEY BABYS
JUJU
KARA
Koda Kumi
KREVA
Kyary Pamyu Pamyu
... and more!

DAY 3 (25 November)
flumpool
FTISLAND
Hilcryme
JAY'ED
Miura Daichi
NICO Touches the Walls
SHINee
SPYAIR
... and more!

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SKE48 transfers parent company to AKS

Sorry for the late post. Was not feeling too well.

Since SKE48's formation in July of 2008, the group and their promotional activities had been managed by Pythagoras Productions. After 3 long years with their former agency, SKE transferred to AKS, the 48 family's primary management branch, on October 31st, not long after their label switch.

So what is in store for the girls of SKE48? Will they form sub-units, be signed individually to agencies just like the AKB48 members, and appear in more promotions with their sister group? Perhaps this move will prove to be strategic as AKS will handle SKE's activities in the same manner as they did AKB's right down to the tee. Frankly, I see both upsides and downsides to these actions; there are things that Pythagoras did right with the group, or just downright better than how AKS handled AKB. W Matsui will never disappear from AKB48 singles, and we may well see more featured SKE girls, particularly in the b-sides. Extensive promotions with AKS may lead to a bump in popularity, but I hope that this does not mean that SKE48 will lose their original flavor; they possess an intangible quality that makes them stand heads and tails above the rest of the 48 family. I wish these girls all the best with their new agency!



(ying)

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JKT48 1st Generation Members

The first step of Akimoto Yasushi's plan for world dominance has started. Yesterday, Akimoto Yasushi traveled to Jakarta, Indonesia to personally oversee the final phrase of the auditions for the 1st generation members of JKT48.

At the end of the day, the members have been chosen. 28 girls have been selected from a total of around 1,200 applicants. With an average age of 15.8 years old, they plan to make their debut within this year.

Official Website: http://www.jkt48.com/

JKT48 is the first OOO48 group outside of Japan. But more international groups are planned Akomoto Yasushi says, possibly in Taiwan and Singapore. TPE48 based in Taipei, Taiwan has already been announced earlier in the year, but there has been almost no word about it since. As for Singapore, AKB48 and it's sister groups make monthly performances at the AKB48 Singapore Theater.

And this morning, the profile pictures of the JKT48 girls have been unveiled. Does any of them catch your eye? One of them did for me. I haven't figured out who she is in the profile pictures, but she is the girl on the top row center of this picture http://mainichi.jp/enta/graph/20111005/20.html.

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GREE's [AKB48 Stage Fighter] Game!

As AKB48 continues their quest to take over the world, they are now being featured in a new game from GREE.  [AKB48 Stage Fighter] is a social game intended to be played on feature phones.

The game is a competition to hold the center position in AKB48, with gameplay format being a card battle.  Players duel it out using game cards featuring AKB48 members.  For the initial release, 250 different cards are planned, with more new cards to be released at a later date.

Set in some year 20XX in a post-apocalyptic world, the 48 members are thrown into a distorted spacetime and now must struggle to come out on top in an epic "Ken" game (janken is a subset of this type of hand-game).  The player's mission is to collect cards and secret items in order to assemble a deck for battling.

A typical mission involves battling another user in order to snatch away their "Center Aura" and thereby increase your own abilities towards taking the "Center Position."  In order to complete the collection of secret items, the player must also collect secret materials.  The social game aspect of this comes into play where each player must designate their "Oshimen," through which they can interact with other players of the game.

In addition, a special [Center Contest Battle] event to begin immediately after release will allow players to enter in card battles in order to win special promotional items featuring various AKB48 members.

The game was released 25 October 2011, As an additional bonus, between 11:00 to 23:59 on the release date, players were able to get a limited edition card.

I've never played much card battle games, so this sounds like Pokemon but with AKB48 girls instead...  I also find it hilarious that the "battle" involved here is basically janken (despite their attempt to be vague about it).  Now you too can participate in AKB48 janken tournaments!  The sample cards look super cute and all kirakira, but my phone wouldn't support this game anyways.  But for those with real technology, you may want to check this out!

Find out more on the GREE website!

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HKT48 makes it's public debut in AKB48's handshake event

HKT48, the newest member of the 48 family, has made their public debut today at AKB48's Nationwide Handshake Event today in the Seibu Dome. They performed [Skirt, Hirari] to an audience of more than 15,000.

HKT48 is based in Fukuoka, and their theater will be beside the Fukuoka Dome. They are the 4th OOO48 group to be formed, and 5th if you count in SDN48. The group plans to have a theater debut later this year

The 1st generation members of HKT48 have an average age of 13.8 years old, the youngest average age so far among all the groups. NMB48's 1st and 2nd generations had an average age of 14.7 and 14 respectively when they debuted. The oldest member on HKT48 is just 17 years old!

Top row, from left: Abe Kyoka, Eto Sayaka, Nakanishi Ayaka, Imada Mina, Shimono Yuki, Kumazawa Serina, Ueki Nao, Nakanishi Chiyori, Moriyasu Madoka, Anai Chihiro, Sugamoto Yuko

Bottom row, from left: Tanaka Natsumi, Furugawa Maiko, Komori Yui, Taniguchi Airi, Wakatabe Haruka, Motomura Aoi, Murashige Anna, Miyawaki Sakura, Matsuoka Natsumi, Kodama Haruka


pictures from natalie.mu, oricon.jp

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AKB48 23rd Single [Kaze wa Fuiteiru] Full PV + Narration + Impressions

The full PV for [Kaze wa Fuiteiru] has just been leaked, and while about half of it shows the dance version again, the half that is new is certainly very interesting.



Other songs' PVs can be found now as well:
Kimi no Senaka
Gondola Lift
Vamos


Well, I'm sure everyone can judge for themselves, but the initial feeling I got from the PV was more of desolation, not exactly fitting for what they claim the message of the song is supposed to be.  They said it was supposed to be encouraging and uplifting, right?  The PV I guess you could interpret as leading to something encouraging, but is in itself kind of... fatalistic.  Let's just say that the post-apocalyptic interpretation of the dance setting is supported by the new material.  Before we interpret, however, let's figure out what exactly is even happening here...

The PV begins with a globe in flames, which presumably represents the state of the world before the story happens.

Now, story begins with the girls walking through a barren praire, and it becomes clear from later parts that they are in search of a large... creature? God?  Who knows.  It looks like a gigantic Diglett covered in hair and with derpy front teeth instead of a nose.

In any case, they find this Diglett dead and restrained with ropes tied to two gigantic walrus teeth stuck in the ground.  All around the Diglett are animal skeletons, blood-stained rags, and it looks like there was some sort of ritual killing of the Diglett after it was restrained.  The girls see it and some of them are (rightly so) like OMGWTFBBQ.  They all think it's dead, and they all become really sad (Tomochin bows her head; Acchan + Yuko and some other pairs comfort each other).

But, leaders Acchan and Yuko decide to put their ears up to the Diglett (eww why would they do that) and the dialogue overlaid on the song goes something like:

Acchan: It's alive.
Yuko: Yes, it's still alive!

IT'S ALIVE!!!  This certainly cheers the girls up a bit.  Now here's the key part of why they're looking for this Diglett in the first place:

Yuko: Let's rebuild a new world once again.
Acchan: Let's go!
Everyone: Yeah! (well, so they just grunt and nod, but that's the idea).

Commence all the girls trying to untie the Diglett from the walrus teeth, using axes, gigantic shears, whatever, to cut through the ropes.  It takes awhile, and they seem to have trouble, but in the end, they get rid of the ropes binding the Diglett.  WAHOO!  Leader-samas move the hair out of Diglett's still-closed eyes.

The girls then form some sort of spiritual circle, all holding hands around the Diglett:

Acchan: Spread all over the Earth.
Yuko: Please help us with your strength.

As the girls kneel, they channel the power of the Diglett, create electric current, and awaken it.  It's pretty awesome and very ugly, and the girls scatter to the side in awe and terror.  Electrified Diglett then makes a powerful roar, and spits a blast of air and dust that extinguishes the flames surrounding the globe.

Presumably then, the eerie world the dance is set in is the new Earth, after Diglett has blown out the fire, and still harnessing Diglett-power, the girls are going to rebuild the Earth.  A world built by AKB48... I wonder what that would be like...

So it seems that in the end, there is in fact a message of hope for rebuilding a better world in the future.  It may seem in the moment that the state of the world is terrible, everything is dead.  However, if we can just find a common source of strength, and share it with those around us, as a whole we can have the power to extinguish the terror and start anew.

I'll be honest, my first reaction was WTF and then I watched it a few more times to catch the actual dialogue and it made waaaay more sense.  I don't understand why they chose the Diglett-creature to be the source of power, but I guess maybe it's metaphoric: even the most ugly and terrifying of things can be a great source of power.  I do like that the PV has a storyline, and the cinematography is overall well done.  I really love movie-like PVs (for example, I love love loved the Team Dragon PV), and I would've preferred if the PV had more of the actual storyline and not the dancing, which we've already seen before.  Plus, that might've made it easier to tell exactly what was going on.

That said, I think it's worth watching the PV more than just once if you can stand to, because I really didn't get it the first time either.  After a few rounds, it starts to make more sense, and you can start to get over the derpiness of that Diglett.

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Watarirouka Hashiritai 7 New Single to be [Crayon Shin-chan] Opening Theme

Watarirouka Hashiritai 7's new single, now titled [Kibou Sanmyaku], has been announced as the opening theme for the anime series [Crayon Shin-chan] starting 4 November 2011.

The song will be the 20th anniversary theme for [Crayon Shin-chan] since the anime series has been on air since April 1992. The song itself has been described as being very similar to a popular song from the 1950s and 1960s, [Aoi Sanmyaku] and is said to have a "Showa era flavor" to it.  It is intended to be a song to cheer on the Japanese people and carry a message of "Keep your hopes high."

Additionally, the song will come with a comical dance that is very "Watarirouka Hashiritai 7-like" and according to Kikuchi Ayaka, "Both the song and the dance are very simple, so I would be happy if everyone could dance hand-in-hand and shoulder-to-shoulder together with us."

The single itself will be released on November 30.

Aoi Sanmyaku (Ishikawa Sayuri)

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Oshima Yuko gets a Madame Tussauds wax figure

Oshima Yuko unveiled a wax figure of herself today at the Madame Tussauds Tokyo museum.  Estimated at 19 million yen, Yuko's wax figure will stand among the figures of other famous stars of the world such as Michael Jackson, Lady Gaga, Johnny Depp and more!

And not forgetting that this is in Tokyo, there are also wax figures of the samurai Sakamoto Ryoma, violinist Hakase Taro, as well as the famous anime character Astro Boy.

Measurements for Yuko's wax figure took place on late July and the whole figure too just under 3 months to complete. At the unveiling, Yuko touched the breasts of her wax figure and said "It's nice, but mine are more tender".

Located at the Odaiba DECKS Tokyo Beach Mall, the Madame Tussauds Tokyo museum was opened just 3 weeks ago. It is only a temporary exhibition and will stay there until January 4th 2012, so if you want to see the wax figure, better hurry!

Oh and you get to touch the wax figures and take pictures with it too.

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AKB48 Featured in New HP SUPPORT CM

AKB48 members Oshima Yuko, Kashiwagi Yuki, Kojima Haruna, Shinoda Mariko, and Miyazawa Sae, along with SKE48 member Matsui Rena appear in the new HP SUPPORT CM as the "HP SUPPORT ANGELS."

On the newly launched website, you are first greeted with a little movie of Oshima, Shinoda, and Matsui playing around on an awesome touchscreen in a futuristic world, manipulating images of that world (very meta...).  After the introductory video, you then have the option of viewing the CM alone, or connecting to your Facebook account and viewing the CM with your Facebook friends (up to 5).

Upon selecting one of these choices and clicking through the user agreement, you are then asked to enter a nickname, and then can either snap a webcam photo of yourself or select from one of their pre-loaded pictures.  And then the CM begins!  First, there's a credit roll, where you appear in the cast list (with whatever nickname you entered).  Then, the CM is actually the little movie that played when the website loaded.  BUT at the end of the CM, the final picture that appears is YOUR photo (or selected pre-loaded picture) instead of whatever futuristic meta-world was there the first time!!!  Pretty cool, huh?

After the CM plays, there's a short making-of video.  Oh, and YOU also appear in the making-of video!  You appear all over the place, actually... but yes, it's pretty nifty.  And kind of hilarious, but maybe I just find everything funnier than it actually is.

To see some nice screenshots of the viewing experience, you can go to the daily-akb48 article on it. To experience the awesomeness yourself, visit the HP SUPPORT ANGELS website!

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Oshima Yuko Selected as Official FF13-2 Test Player

AKB48 member Oshima Yuko has been chosen to be an "Official Test Player" for the new "Final Fantasy XIII-2" game to be released in December 2011.  Additionally, she will be the face of the CM for the game, to begin airing on October 15.

Oshima expressed great enthusiasm in her test player role and wrote a Manifest in which she said "Having played the prequel, Final Fantasy XIII, I would like to represent my fellow fans in being a test player.  I want to honestly report my impressions, both good and bad."

The group of 13 test players that Oshima is part of goes by the title "JUDGE 13."  On October 15, simultaneously the airing of the CM, the official website for "JUDGE 13" will open, and if enough people "like" the website, Oshima promises to appear at a special commemorative event cosplaying as one of the game characters.

The game will be available on 15 December 2011 in Japan, on 31 January 2012 in North America, and 3 February 2012 in Europe.

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Tsunku Invades Akihabara!

Music producer Tsunku♂, known for his work with rival idol collective Hello! Project, will be opening an idol training entertainment cafe to be called "AKIHABARA Backstage ↔ Pass" (this guy sure loves his Unicode symbols).  This cafe is slated to open in late November 2011.


The waitstaff in this cafe will be composed of girls who dream of becoming idols and singers, and will play the role of girls who mature and reach their idol debut during their interaction with the customers.  The cafe is intended to go one step beyond idol training video games and provide a real-life simulation where the customers take on the role of music producers.  Additionally, the cafe will feature performances by already-debuted idols and singers.


The cafe will be located in the famed "AKIBA Culture ZONE," a mere 3-minute walk from the "AKB48 Theater."  It appears that with this bold step, Tsunku♂ is seeking to invade the AKB48 stronghold!!  One can only wonder how this is going to turn out...

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