HKT48 Announces 2nd Generation Auditions

HKT48 has announced the auditions for their 2nd generation members. Registration has started from today until June 4th. The first round of auditions is in middle of June while the final auditions will be held at the end of June.

The age limit this time is from 11 years old to 18 years old. Hence, the consent of a parent is needed.


Team H recently got formed, so this auditions mean Team KIII is not far from now.

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Not Yet 4th Single Announced [Suika BABY]

Seems like Not Yet will be releasing their 4th single [Suika BABY] on May 30th which is the same day as Watarirouka Hashiritai 7's [Shounen yo Uso wo Tsuke!]. That's just 3 weeks away, and this is very sudden but most probably has to do with the upcoming elections.

The single comes 3 types as usual Type A, Type B, Type C and regular. Apparently there will be a Yui solo in one of them and a song written by Kitarie. The tracklist should be out in a few hours or so as the release date is not that far.

The preview for the a-side is available on their official site http://columbia.jp/notyet/release.html and of course, with title like "Watermelon BABY", this is a summer song which sounds pretty catchy.

I frankly think this a bit too much. Yes pretty sure, the sudden announcement is due to the upcoming elections. This is all very sudden and a bit far fetched in my opinion. An AKB subunit going against another AKB subunit. The management/music agencies needs to learn how to manage their release dates properly.

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NMB48 4th Single [Nagiichi] 1st Day Sales

NMB48's 4th Single [Nagiichi] was released on May 9th, and it sold  231,200 copies on its first day, ranking on #2 in the Oricon Daily Charts. First day sales dropped by aprroximately 50, 000 copies compared to  [Junjou U-19] , which sold 280,367 on its first day, and so NMB48 had to give way to Arashi who took the Daily Number 1 spot with 250,415 copies sold.

All 3 NMB48 singles so far ranked first in the Oricon Weekly Ranking, but it will be tough for the girls to continue this series. Arashi usually sells well over the whole week, while x48 sales drop a lot after the first day.

It is not really surprising that Arashi ranked one, but it is surprising that Nagiichi first day sales are 50 k lower than Junjou U-19. Did the fans spent all their money to buy Manatsu no Sounds Good for the election tickets? A later shipping of some Theater version CDs, like it happened for NMB48's first two singles might be possible too.

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Watarirouka Hashiritai 7 [Shounen yo Uso wo Tsuke!] Covers + Tracklist

Watarirouka Hashiritai 7's 10th single [Shounen yo Uso wo Tsuke!] releases on May 30th. The single will be used for the Crayon Shiichan's new movie as well as the new ending for the anime. The tracklist is pretty interesting. We have Mayuyu / Cindy duet in Type A and surprisingly not a Mayuyu solo in regular edition. Nope, this time we have a Lovetan solo titled [Heso ga Magaru] .


Watarirouka Hashiritai 7 10th Single
Shounen yo Uso wo Tsuke!
少年よ嘘をつけ！
30 May 2012

TYPE A 1,600yen	[CD] 01. Shounen yo Uso wo Tsuke! 02. Kimi wa Kangaeru 03. Shimai Donburi (Watanabe Mayu / Urano Kazumi) 04. Shounen yo Uso wo Tsuke! off vocal. 05. Kimi wa Kangaeru off vocal. 06. Shimai Donburi off vocal. [DVD] 01. Shounen yo Uso wo Tsuke! MV  02. Bonus Videos: Watarirouka Hashiritai 7 - Actress Job - Preview
TYPE B 1,600yen	[CD] 01. Shounen yo Uso wo Tsuke! 02. Kimi wa Kangaeru 03. Renai Heavy-kyuu Champion (Watanabe Mayu / Nakagawa Haruka / Kikuchi Ayaka / Iwasa Misaki) 04. Shounen yo Uso wo Tsuke! off vocal. 05. Kimi wa Kangaeru off vocal. 06. Renai Heavy-kyuu Champion off vocal. [DVD] 01. Shounen yo Uso wo Tsuke! MV 02. Bonus Videos: Watarirouka Hashiritai 7 - Actress Job - Preview
TYPE C 1,600yen	[CD] 01. Shounen yo Uso wo Tsuke! 02. Kimi wa Kangaeru 03. Nante Suteki na Ahiru no Boat (Watanabe Mayu / Ota Aika / Komori Mika) 04. Shounen yo Uso wo Tsuke! off vocal. 05. Kimi wa Kangaeru off vocal. 06. Nante Suteki na Ahiru no Boat off vocal. [DVD] 01. Shounen yo Uso wo Tsuke! MV 02. Bonus Videos: Watarirouka Hashiritai 7 - Actress Job - Preview
REGULAR VER. 1,000yen	[CD] 01. Shounen yo Uso wo Tsuke! 02. Heso ga Magaru (Oota Aika) 03. Shounen yo Uso wo Tsuke! off vocal. 04. Heso ga Magaru off vocal.

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Sashihara Rino Debut Single [Soredemo Suki da yo] 1st Week Sales + Review

This week was Sashihara Rino VS Nogizaka46 with Nogizaka46 gaining #1 and Sasshi #2 with sales of 124,483 copies sold. Nogizaka on the other hand had a sale of 155,567 copies. Sasshi's theater edition sales was not counted as it contained 5 tracks and Oricon only considers singles with 4 songs as a proper single.

The theater edition sold around 12K and could have achieved a 136K weekly sakes but she still beat Mayuyu's [Synchro Tokimeki] by 1K. Mayuyu's first week sales is 123,237.

Soredemo Suki da yo

Upon first listen, you recognize right away that this is a song sung by an idol, cheerful, peppy, and full of raw energy. In the lyrics, Sasshi describes herself as an pessimistic girl lacking any charms whatsoever; but for the very sake of catching the eyes of her crush, she will put on a smile and turn into a bright and cute girl. The hook is undeniably catchy, and the most memorable part of this song is when Rino shouts 'suki da yo' at the top of her lungs.

Hatsukoi Hills

The main b-side of this single is another standard fare idol song. Compared to the title track, Hatsukoi Hills has a calmer and less rockfish melody. Though this track may sound rather generic the first few listens, it grows on you when set on repeat. The refrain is lovely and sugary sweet as Sashihara uses a more youthful and natural voice to sing her feelings.

Renai Sousenkyo

This is originally a song performed by all of YM7 to celebrate their victory over YJ7. The autotune is very obvious in this song, and you can tell that Sasshi is straining to hit those high notes. Her voice falls rather flat, and I don't think this song works very well when sung solo. Tune-wise, the instrumentals are nicely strung together, and the guitar work is also a pleasant additional touch.

Itoshiki Natasha

A nice change of pace from the rest of the single, Itoshiki Natasha is a rock number with a more mature and cool feel. Easily one of best stage songs performed by Sasshi. She may not be a standout singer, but is nonetheless a great entertainer who does well in infusing passion into her performances.


Yeah! Meccha Holiday

A cover of one of Matsuura Aya's hit songs. As we all know, Sasshi is known to be a big wota herself; she is fans of many idols, and especially admires idols groups such as Morning Musume. and C-ute from Hello!Project. I love that she is able to add her own special touch to this song. Tsunku, H!P's producer, is known for writing very wacky songs from his idols, and I believe this track fits perfectly with Sasshi's eccentric personality. This rendition of a nostalgic idol hit is really top Sashihara quality!

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Itano Tomomi Single [10nen go no Kimi e] 1st Week Sales + Review

Itano Tomomi's 3rd solo single [10nen go no Kimi e] ended its first week in second place,  losing only to popular boy group SMAP.  The single sold nearly 73000 units, which is less than either her first or second singles, but still fairly decent.  Hopefully the declining trend in sales will pick back up for subsequent releases!














This single featured several different versions, and included a B-side song for which Itano wrote her own lyrics.

In any case, on to the review!


10nen go no Kimi e (10年後の君へ)

Nostalgic music box is what the opening sequence reminds me of.  This song is perfectly the genre of song that gets to me - sort of a melancholy fast ballad.  I love the verses, probably more so than the chorus itself (although I'll admit the chorus is catchy too), and the backing rhythm is just wonderful - some sort of chacha?  I adore how Tomochin sounds when she sings low, and this mood of song really fits perfectly with the slightly husky/raspy timbre that she tends to have.  I wish she didn't sound so forced when she sings higher/louder - that's the only that really detracts from my enjoyment of this song.  Take care of your vocal chords, Tomochin!!

Clone

Her transition into head voice is actually really good in this song!! If only her high range always sounded this nice.  I love the juxtaposition of her head voice with the purr that she gets in her voice when she drops to the lowest notes.  As for the song itself, I feel sort of neutral about it - the melody I don't find particularly compelling, but it does have a very bad-ass sort of feel about it that I think Tomochin does a good job of portraying.  It makes me think of dancing in a crowded nightclub, is what it does :-P

deal feat. NO-FACE

Angst seems to be the theme du jour.  I love the little opening flourish, but I wish she didn't sound like she was pushing her sound again.  Her little adlibs are just lovely though!  The song itself doesn't really catch my ears.  The melody isn't that catching, maybe even a little boring, nothing particularly memorable about it.  I'm... not at all a fan of Mr. Way-too-auto-tuned Backup-singer-rapper...  Overall, I can't say I'll really spend a lot of time re-listening to this song, given that Tomochin doesn't exactly sound her best here and the song just isn't to my taste.

Always I need you

Love love love this song!  Maybe just because I like the sort of Euro-trance feel of the beat and background instrumental.  It definitely got stuck in my head and had me sort of dancing around my room to it ^_^ The constant drumbeat and the synth-ey sound just sound like the right combination to go with the song.  Definitely a song I can groove to, plus Tomochin sounds really good here!  She for certain needs to stick to a lower range - it'll be healthier for her voice and she just sounds so good low!

lose-lose

This is the song she lyricized herself, so I was really eager to hear it.  I think she did a nice job!  Maybe more consecutive repetitions of specific phrases than I think sounds good, but hey, I can't do any better :-P  The composition itself is pretty nice - I'm not a big fan of some of the intervals used, but at least it makes the melody interesting and the backing beat is pretty catchy.  I especially love the bridge section - it's pretty and she carries the sound nicely there.

Seifuku Resistance (Itano Solo Ver.) (制服レジスタンス (板野ソロ Ver.)

One of those stage songs that I now think of as very much a Tomochin trademark style (and I mean this in the best of ways - she is darn good at pulling off this type of song).  I've always loved the way she sounds (and looks XD) in the stage videos I've seen of this song, and she does not disappoint here!  The song is extremely catchy, and her voice is smooth as melted butter.  I cannot express in words what this does to me... I love it!  Her voice purrs in all the right places and breaks at all the right moments ^_^

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NMB48 Team M 1st Stage [Idol no Yoake] Shonichi

NMB48's Team M performed their 1st Stage [Idol no Yoake] on May 5th for the first time. [Idol no Yoake] was originally performed by Team B as their 4th stage from 2009 to 2010 and was also one of AKB48's Kenkyuusei Stages.

The setlist for this show was slightly changed from the original version. The Team B song  [B Stars] was cut and instead a medley was performed. For the Shonichi performance Kenkyuusei Azuma Yuki performed instead of former Team M member Kodakari Yuuka, who graduated last month.

Several costumes like the ones for  [Kuchi Utsushi no Chocolate]  and the ones for the background dancers in [Kataomoi no Taikakusen]  were changed from the original version.



NMB48 Team M 1st Stage [Idol no Yoake]


M01 - Idol no Yoake
M02 - Minna-san mo go Issho ni
M03 - Haru Ichiban ga Fuku Goro
M04 - Kobushi no Seigi
-----MC1-----
M05 - Zannen Shoujo (Jo Eriko, Yagura Fuuko, Murase Sae)
M06 - Kuchi Utsushi no Chocolate (Hikawa Ayame, Murakami Ayaka, Yamagishi Natsumi)
M07 - Kataomoi no Taikakusen (Yogi Keira, Takano Yui, Azuma Yuki)
M08 - Tengoku Yarou (Kinoshita Momoka, Fujita Runa, Kawakami Rena, Mita Mao)
M09 - Itoshiki Natasha (Tanigawa Airi, Shimada Rena, Ota Riona)
-----MC2-----
M10 - Joshikosei wa Yamerarenai
M11 - Suki to Ieba Yokatta
M12 - Sobakasu no Kiss
-----MC3-----
M13 - Tanpopo no Kesshin

-----ENCORE-----
EN1 - Yokosuka Curve
EN2 - Medley (Zetsumetsu Kurokami Shoujo->Junjou U-19->Oh My God!->Everyday Kachuusha)
EN3 - ARIGATOU

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Maeda Atsuko Starring in a new Movie [Kueki Ressha]

Acchan will be starring in an upcoming movie [Kueki Ressha] which hits the theaters on July 14th. The movie stars Acchan alongside Moriyama Mirai and Kora Kengo. She's the heroine of the  movie and her character's name is Sakurai Yasuko who works in a bookstore.

The story revolves around Moriyama's character who is a labor worker and has only passed till middle school which eventually leads him to be an alcoholic. He starts to have feelings for Yasuko (Maeda's character) but has no experience with girls or had any friends before. He becomes friends with Kora's character who also happens to fall in love with Yasuko. This leads to their friendship being threatened by jealousy

Trailer: 






The movie seems interesting according to the trailer. What do you think?

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Sashihara Rino's 300 Google+ Updates Challenge

Starting today at 6 pm JST Sashihara Rino will, over a period of 24 hours, attempt to update her Google+ status 300 times.

Sashihara Rino's Google+ account: http://plus.google.com/104375100134443203420

This is the third time for Sashihara to undertake a challenge of this kind. In 2010 and 2011, she attempted to dethrone fellow team member Maeda Atsuko as number 1 in the Ameba blog ranking by updating her own blog "Sashihara Quality" one hundred times (two hundred in 2011).

The following ad was printed in today's morning edition of the Yomiuri Shinbun:


Translated by HRP

Good morning! It's Sashihara, all fresh and energetic but with way too much on her hands.

Something incredible has happened: they're going to put my Google+ update in the newspaper. And not just that - a whole page!
It looks like I will have to write some really interesting things unless I want to put a swift end to my writing career. What am I saying; it hasn't even begun yet. As far as I understand, the very words that I'm writing right now will be printed on one whole page in Yomiuri Shinbun.
Please check today's morning paper.

But even I don't have anything in my repertoire that is worthy enough of getting its own newspaper advert and be read by people all around the country. In that case, there's really only one thing that comes to mind. It all began when shooting "Shuukan AKB"...

Two years ago, I challenged myself to make one hundred blog updates in 24 hours. We upped the number to two hundred last year. And this year...

I will update my Google+ account status 300 times starting at 6 pm. today. The challenge begins right after today's broadcast of "Shuukan AKB" (starting at 5.30) and ends tomorrow at 6 pm.
There's no special meaning to this. I just haven't found another way yet. For now this is the one thing I know I can excel at.
So please endure me for today. Or better: let me prove myself today.

My long day starts now!!! Wish me luck, everyone!

P.S.
I will be updating my status 300 times, so feel free to remove me from your circles if that should bother you.

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Sashihara Rino / Nogizaka46 1st and 2nd day sales

Sashihara Rino's debut single [Soredemo suki da yo] as well as [Oide, Shampoo], 2nd single of Nogizaka46 were both released on Wednesday after weeks of media covering an artificial rivalry between the two.

Even with extensive "doping" on Sashihara's side, Nogizaka46 went on to almost double Sashihara in number of units sold. Oricon reports first day numbers as 56,879 and 111,222 sold units respectively.

After two days, Sashihara and Nogizaki46 are at 86,447 and 132,774 sold units respectively.

Today avex staff issued a statement, apologizing that theater edition (Type-D) sales of Soredemo suki da yo amounting to approximately 12k units had not been counted by Oricon. According to avex's statement, Oricon considers a release to be a single as long as it doesn't exceed a 4-song limit (not counting "off vocal" tracks). Apparently Sashihara's cover of Matsuura Aya's 2002 hit "Yeah! Meccha Holiday", exclusive to the theater edition, was counted as a fifth track and not as the "bonus track" it was originally intended to be.

While she might not have been able to beat Nogizaka46, Sashihara did outsell Watanabe Mayu's solo debut "Synchro Tokimeki" by about 8k units (50,145 / 1st day).

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