Welcome to MELOS no Michi
an information and news blog dedicated to covering the latest news for: AKB48, SKE48, NMB48, HKT48, JKT48

.

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ORqRZJStNR8/U-oJA1EpUwI/AAAAAAAABVw/n5GnQcYJz-U/s1600/baitoakb.png
AKB48 Is Looking for a Part-Time Member
Following OtonaAKB, AKB48 came up with a new form of temporary membership: part-time idol. Find out more about this new project here.
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NLqZ1JpXrV8/U-OKjnt0UbI/AAAAAAAABVE/2MglP_Vq5vw/s1600/team8.jpg
AKB48 Team 8 Makes Theater Debut
AKB48 Team 8 performed its first theater show on August 5. Get more information about the shonichi performance here!
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3ep-niMXl0o/U7wOG6n5NVI/AAAAAAAABO8/qHE1UGRXbsI/s1600/ske7thaudition.png
SKE48 Announces 7th Generation Auditions
SKE48 is looking for new members and this time the fans will be part of the decision about who joins the group!
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fzI9Ea3WPtk/U5SB_iN9kuI/AAAAAAAABMc/RjaZKG4hnbc/s1600/election2014.jpg
AKB48 37th Single Senbatsu Election - Final Results
AKB48 held its election for the 6th time and for the 1st time Watanabe Mayu won it. Check out the full results here!
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VZDt9IAE_Jo/U1fp17gN24I/AAAAAAAABGY/zjjtNNv8Y-A/s1600/calculationmethod.jpg
Details on the AKB48 Group Pennant Race
The AKB48 Group teams will compete against each other in a new event, the AKB48 Group Pennant Race. Points will be awarded based on theater ticket applications, theater version handshake ticket sales and sousenkyo votes.
Prev 1 2 3 4 5 Next

30 July 2010

[Heavy Rotation] PV previews

30 July - Updated with Heavy Rotation PV, Lucky Seven PV preview





What else can I say. WANTS. MEGA WANTS!!!!

Radio rips of both Heavy Rotation and Namida no Seesaw Game have been released. Links below the jump. I don't really like Heavy Rotation. Only the chorus part, the rest is . . . . .
And for the PV. I don't know what to say. I want that kissing scene (above image) of Acchan and Yuko. But most of the rest of the PV is looking disappointing. I hope my mind will change when the full PV is out.

OHH MAA GAWD!!!!! The kiss scene made it in!!!!! This has got to be the most fanservice ever in an AKB PV, even more than Amai Kokansetsu. Definitely gonna send many wotas into unconsciousness. Best parts of the PV has got to be the Matsui W in a tub. 2girls1tub!

And thats all for the parts of the PV that I like. Overall I don't like the PV except for the kissing and 2girls1tub. In fact i'm very disappointed at it. Why? Look at the PV again. How many times did you see any member not in Media Senbatsu? Other than the 4 seconds where you can see Akicha, Miichan and Erepyon take over the front, I hardly can spot any of the others. WTF is this shit! I paid my yens to get Ponytail to Shushu so I could vote for Amina and give her more screentime but what do I get? I can't even clearly spot her in the whole PV. I did not pay my loyalties to see Amina and the rest of the Senbatsu get demoted to back dancers. Extremely disappointed in the PV.

If not for Namida no Seesaw Game and the other 2 tracks, I would not have ordered Heavy Rotation. I absolutely love Namida no Seesaw Game. The whole retro feel of it. Even the afros and weird hairstyles lol. The whole PV is amazing. 3D is OUT, Black & White is IN. One of the few songs and PVs that I have absolutely no complaints.

Namida no Seesaw Game radio rip
http://www.mediafire.com/?xf887i0y6laghga

Heavy Rotation (ヘビーローテーション)
Release Date: 18 August 2010
Price: 1600yen
Heavy Rotation (Type A)
[CD]
 
01. Heavy Rotation
02. Namida no Seesaw Game
03. Yasai Sisters
04. Heavy Rotation (off-vocal)
05. Namida no Seesaw Game (off-vocal)
06. Yasai Sisters (off-vocal)
[DVD]
01. Heavy Rotation PV

02. Namida no Seesaw Game PV
03. Yasai Sisters PV
04. 2nd AKB Election Documentary Video (part 1)
05. Issho ni Koreichi! Video (Type A)
06. Bonus Footage
Heavy Rotation (Type B)
[CD]

01. Heavy Rotation
02. Namida no Seesaw Game
03. Lucky Seven 
04. Heavy Rotation (off-vocal)
05. Namida no Seesaw Game (off-vocal)
06. Lucky Seven (off-vocal) 
[DVD]
01. Heavy Rotation PV

02. Namida no Seesaw Game PV
03. Lucky Seven PV
04. 2nd AKB Election Documentary Video (part 2) 
05. Issho ni Koreichi! Video (Type B)
06. Bonus Footage 
Heavy Rotation (Theater Ver.)
[CD]
 
01. Heavy Rotation
02. Namida no Seesaw Game
03. Yasai Sisters
04. Lucky Seven 
First press of Type A and B comes with
special holographic cover and handshake
event ticket.

Theatre version comes with Single release
commemorative handshake event ticket and
one random photo


The members in Issho ni Koreichi! Video differ according to type.
Type A: Oshima Yuko, Shinoda Mariko, Watanabe Mayu, Kojima Haruna, Miyazawa Sae, Matsui Rena, Takajo Aki, Ono Erena, Akimoto Sayaka, Miyazawa Miho, Kuramochi Asuka, Komori Mika, Maeda Ami
Type B: Maeda Atsuko, Itano Tomomi, Takahashi Minami, Kashiwagi Yuki, Matsui Jurina, Kasai Tomomi, Minegishi Minami, Kitahara Rie, Oota Aika, Nito Moeno, Sato Sumire

Order Links
HMV: http://www.hmv.co.jp/en/search/index.asp?target=MUSIC&category=1&adv=1&keyword=akb48+heavy+rotation&site=&type=sr
CD Japan: http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/search3.html?q=akb48+heavy+rotation&media=&r=any&step=20&order=score
YesAsia: http://www.yesasia.com/global/search/akb48-heavy-rotation/0-0-0-bpt.48_q.akb48+heavy+rotation-en/list.html



More after the jump
Read more ...

18 July 2010

Yoyogi National Gymnasium 2010 Concert

Yoyogi National Gymnasium 2010 Concert. Three concerts from 10 July to 11 July 2010 involving AKB, SKE and SDN. Officially titled [Surprise wa Arimasen] or (There is no surprise).

"No surprise"? Bullshit! There were tonnes of surprise on every single day!

I'll start with the 'announcements' as TGSK likes to call them, as well as other things that happened in the concert, and finally the concert setlist after the jump as usual.


Announcements
A new OOO48 group is announced. [NMB48] in Namba, Osaka. They are signed to Yoshimoto Creative Agency, which are most know for their comedians. Their theatre will be either Yoshimoto Hall Osaka or Base Yoshimoto. The final audition is on 20 September, and their theatre debut is planned for November.
Official site: http://www.nmb48.com/

Ono Erena of Team K announces her graduation from the group. She will leave at the end of Summer (probably September). The reason for her graduation is that she she will be going overseas to study for her acting career. Country not specified.

17th Single title announced: [Heavy Rotation], Undergirls coupling song is [Namida no Seesaw Game]. The other two songs are [Lucky Seven] from the Seven-11 CM, as well as [Yasai Sisters] from the Kagome Koreichi CM.

19th Single senbatsu will be selected by Jankenpon.

AKB will be performing concerts in 3 foreign countries. Milan in October, Macao and Singapore in November 2010. No information of exact date, place and attending members.

There will be a competition to nominate members of AKB48 Team Pigg. Competition will take place from 23 to 29 July.

There will be a new Unit named [Miniskirt] in collaboration with Takara Tomy (yes the toy company).  Members are Mori Anna, Shimada Haruka and Takeuchi Miyu. The title of the song is [Miniskirt no Yousei], and the product they're promoting is "Pretty Rhythm Miniskirt".

New Watarirouka Hashiritai release in September. Not specified if single or album.

There are plans to get rid of SDN48's 18+ restriction. Not finalised.

There will be another concert in Nara's Yakushiji Temple, as well as in Yoshimoto Hall in October.

Happenings
In Heart Gata Virus, Kojima Haruna didn't make it to the mike stand in time but her part was played.

In Yuuwaku no Garter, they didn't throw the garter far enough and some landed still on the stage. During one of the MCs, Takahashi Minami noticed it and went over to throw them back at the audience.

Saved the best for last. During Team A's MC, they had Maeda Atsuko's birthday celebration. Itano Tomomi was carrying the cake out to the stage but she dropped it. The cake was 3 layers. Made a big mess in the stage.



More after the jump
Read more ...

Team Dragon from AKB48 Single: [Kokoro no Hane]

18 July: Updated with PV previews, full song, promo CM


Team Dragon from AKB48 will release a single titled [Kokoro no Hane] on 21 July 2010 and the title song will be used as the ending song for Dragon Ball Kai. There will be a total of 11 versions. Yes, 11. This is probably the most number of limited editions you’ve seen in a single release from AKB48. AKB seems to be going all out on walletraep.

All 7 members of Team Dragon are upper-senbatsu girls, namely Takahashi Minami, Maeda Atsuko, Oshima Yuko, Watanabe Mayu, Kojima Haruna, Itano Tomomi and Kashiwagi Yuki. Essentially the best 7 of AKB without Mariko.

I would really encourage people to buy the limited edition(s), especially if one of these girls is your oshimen, because they come with a trading card of the selected member and a B3-sized poster, which totally makes your money worth. Also, I could be wrong but I think Team Dragon is only going to be a one-off, so if you really like the lineup, you should get Limited H as well.

Since Dragon Ball is a popular title in Japan, I have no doubt this single will sell well. With the inclusion of all upper-senbatsu members (except Mariko), success is ensured. I’m expecting around 100k first-day sales, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they surpassed that.

Official Team Dragon Site: http://columbia.jp/teamdragon/


Kokoro no Hane
Release Date: 21 July 2010

Price:
CD: 1200yen
CD + DVD: 1500yen

Kokoro no Hane ((member) ver.)
[CD]

01. Kokoro no Hane
02. Sekaijuu no Ame
03. Kokoro no Hane (instrumental)
04. Sekaijuu no Ame (instrumental)
[DVD]
1. Kokoro no Hane Music Clip
2. Kokoro no Hane Live Clip
3. After-Recording Experience (member) ver.
Comes with a
(member) trading card
randomly selected from 3 types.

First Press External Bonus:
B3-size poster

Change (member) to whichever
member's version your buying
Kokoro no Hane (Limited Team Dragon ver.)
[CD]

01. Kokoro no Hane
02. Sekaijuu no Ame
03. Kokoro no Hane (instrumental)
04. Sekaijuu no Ame (instrumental)
[DVD]
01. Kokoro no Hane Music Clip
02. Kokoro no Hane Live Clip
03. After-Recording Team Dragon ver.
Comes with a
Team Dragon Trading Card
randomly selected from 3 types.

First Press External Bonus: B3-size poster
Kokoro no Hane (Limited Dragon Ball ver.)
[CD]

01. Kokoro no Hane
02. Sekaijuu no Ame
03. Kokoro no Hane (instrumental)
04. Sekaijuu no Ame (instrumental)
[DVD]
01. Kokoro no Hane Music Clip
02. Kokoro no Hane Live Clip
03. After-Recording Team Dragon ver.
Comes with a
Original Miracle Battle Card
randomly selected from 3 types.

First Press External Bonus:
B3-size poster
Kokoro no Hane (Regular Team Dragon ver.)
[CD]

01. Kokoro no Hane
02. Sekaijuu no Ame
03. Kokoro no Hane (instrumental)
04. Sekaijuu no Ame (instrumental)
Kokoro no Hane (Regular Dragon Ball ver.)
[CD]

01. Kokoro no Hane
02. Sekaijuu no Ame
03. Kokoro no Hane (instrumental)
04. Sekaijuu no Ame (instrumental)

Order Links
HMV/CDJapan/YesAsia/Amazon


More after the jump
Read more ...

17 July 2010

AKB48 17th Single announced [Heavy Rotation]

Sorry for the late update. I've been bombarded with projects, tests and homework for the past week, and next week is filled too.


AKB48's next Single will be released on 18 August 2010 and its titled [Heavy Rotation]. In the Single are two new songs; the Senbatsu A side and Undergirls B side, as well the two tie-in songs used in the 7-11 CM and the Kagome Koreichi CM. The CMs and full songs are below the jump. The Issho ni Koreichi! Video is probably the video of each member drinking the vegetable juice 'with you'. There was a video of AKB performing Lucky Seven somewhere but unfortunately it got deleted from YouTube.....

Covers
Type A, Type B

Wow at covers. This surpasses Ponytail to Shushu as the most ecchi AKB single cover. Forgive me when I say this but I don't like the covers. Even the RIVER & Kamikyoku Tachi covers are better than this. Their colourful but too messy, especially Type B. Theatre ver. covers are the ones with the cat ears, but the picture is too small to use so I can't show it here.

Heavy Rotation (ヘビーローテーション)
Release Date: 18 August 2010
Price: 1600yen
Heavy Rotation (Type A)
[CD]
 
01. Heavy Rotation
02. Namida no Seesaw Game
03. Yasai Sisters
04. Heavy Rotation (off-vocal)
05. Namida no Seesaw Game (off-vocal)
06. Yasai Sisters (off-vocal)
[DVD]
01. Heavy Rotation PV

02. Namida no Seesaw Game PV
03. Yasai Sisters PV
04. 2nd AKB Election Documentary Video (part 1)
05. Issho ni Koreichi! Video (Type A)
06. Bonus Footage
Heavy Rotation (Type B)
[CD]

01. Heavy Rotation
02. Namida no Seesaw Game
03. Lucky Seven 
04. Heavy Rotation (off-vocal)
05. Namida no Seesaw Game (off-vocal)
06. Lucky Seven (off-vocal) 
[DVD]
01. Heavy Rotation PV

02. Namida no Seesaw Game PV
03. Lucky Seven PV
04. 2nd AKB Election Documentary Video (part 2) 
05. Issho ni Koreichi! Video (Type B)
06. Bonus Footage 
Heavy Rotation (Theater Ver.)
[CD]
 
01. Heavy Rotation
02. Namida no Seesaw Game
03. Yasai Sisters
04. Lucky Seven 

First press of Type A and B comes with
special holographic cover and handshake
event ticket.

Theatre version comes with Single release
commemorative handshake event ticket and
one random photo

The members in Issho ni Koreichi! Video differ according to type.
Type A: Oshima Yuko, Shinoda Mariko, Watanabe Mayu, Kojima Haruna, Miyazawa Sae, Matsui Rena, Takajo Aki, Ono Erena, Akimoto Sayaka, Miyazawa Miho, Kuramochi Asuka, Komori Mika, Maeda Ami
Type B: Maeda Atsuko, Itano Tomomi, Takahashi Minami, Kashiwagi Yuki, Matsui Jurina, Kasai Tomomi, Minegishi Minami, Kitahara Rie, Oota Aika, Nito Moeno, Sato Sumire

Order Links
HMV: http://www.hmv.co.jp/en/search/index.asp?target=MUSIC&category=1&adv=1&keyword=akb48+heavy+rotation&site=&type=sr
CD Japan: http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/search3.html?q=akb48+heavy+rotation&media=&r=any&step=20&order=score
YesAsia: http://www.yesasia.com/global/search/akb48-heavy-rotation/0-0-0-bpt.48_q.akb48+heavy+rotation-en/list.html


More after the jump
Read more ...

No Sleeves 5th Single [Kimishika] and New Mobile Drama [Kotodama no Onnatachi]

17 July: Updated with PV


No3b will be starring in a LISMO mini Mobile Drama, called [Kotodama no Onnatachi] (言霊の女たち) which translates to Women of the Power of Language. The theme song for the drama is no3b’s upcoming 5th single, [Kimishika] (Only you).

Women of the Power of Language sounds like a strange title, but from the trailer (after the jump), you can probably understand why. The three girls are seen doing calligraphy in the drama. I think it should be one of the more important points in the plot because of the title.

Its a mobile drama which means that it is only for Japanese Mobile phones. Hopefully it will be uploaded somewhere. The mini drama consists of four 5-minute episodes, which sounds pretty pathetic, but well, it is a mobile mini drama. I do like seeing no3b and I’ll be trying to find some way to watch this.


Limited A, Limited B
Limited C, Regular

Kimishika (君しか)
Release date: 4th August 2010
Price:
Limited A (Kojima)
(CD + DVD): 1500 yen
Limited B (Takahashi) (CD + DVD): 1500 yen
Limited C (Minegishi) (CD + DVD): 1500 yen
Regular Press (CD only): 1200 yen
Kimishika (Ver. A, B, C)
[CD]

01. Kimishika
02. Seishun no Komorebi
03. Kimishika (off-vocal)
04. Seishun no Komorebi (off-vocal)
[DVD]
01. Kimishika PV
02. Kimishika Karaoke Practice Video
03. Kimishika Making of (A/B/C according to ver.)

Comes with Limited Edition trading card
depending on shop
Kimishika (Regular Ver.)
[CD]

01. Kimishika
02. Seishun no Komorebi
03. Kimishika (off-vocal)
04. Seishun no Komorebi (off-vocal)










Order Links


More after the jump
Read more ...

11 July 2010

AKB48 is coming to SINGAPORE!!!!!!!!

Announced in tonight's Yoyogi National Gymnasium Concert.
AKB WILL BE HAVING A CONCERT IN SINGAPORE IN NOVEMBER!!!!!!!

OMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

LOL Melos and I are super high right now.

When I first heard it from him I was like ..... what!???? OMG OMG OMG OMG! MAJISUKA!?

Literally, both of us went crazy over MSN.
Well, okay Melos was more crazy than me, because I was shocked until I had no reaction. But it started to sink in after a while and I went everywhere to spam about AKB coming to Singapore.

It's crazy. We knew AKB was going to have an Asia tour in November and we were all praying hard for it, but having it officially announced is the bomb! *hyperventilating*

So yeah, Melos thinks that they will be part of Anime Festival Asia(AFA) 2010's lineup because it is AKB's first time here and AFA would be a safe bet not to spend too much money and also, they don't have to look for sponsors.

For me, okay, yeah, I know it totally sounds like it's going to be for AFA since AFA is held annually in November, but i'm holding out hope for a proper full concert. If they don't though, I wouldn't be mightily disappointed either.

I'm prepared to skip school or whatever for AKB when they come, and so is Melos! We're both hyped! It's going to be a looooooooooooooooong wait!!!!

I'm so looking forward to shouting "RIVER" with them and doing the MIX! I'm already envisioning myself in a crowd holding glowsticks and overture is playing in the background and I'm shouting "TIGER! FIRE! CYBER! FIBER! DIVER! VIBER! JAA JAA!" and-

Oh right. Back to reality. I'm too far in, LOL.

Anyway, besides Singapore, AKB is also going to Italy(Milan) in October, then here in Nov and then Macau as well(which we previously knew because AKB/SKE did mini promotions in Macau).


So yes! Otanoshimi ni!

*jumps around like a lunatic*

Source: Official AKB Blog (in Japanese)
Read more ...

06 July 2010

New AKB TV Shows [AKB48 600sec] and [AKB-kyuu Gourmet Stadium]

AKB600sec
Members: 16 unknown AKB48 members
Channel: NTV
Schedule: Every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday.
Timing: 10 mins long, timing differs for all episodes
5/7    25:29~25:44
6/7    24:59~25:14
7/7    25:14~25:29
8/7    25:08~25:23
12/7  25:09~25:24
13/7  25:09~25:24
14/7  25:09~25:24
15/7  25:18~25:33
19/7  24:59~25:14
20/7  25:29~25:44
21/7  24:59~25:14
22/7  25:08~25:23
26/7  24:59~25:14
27/7  24:59~25:14
28/7  24:59~25:14
Official Website: http://www.ntv.co.jp/akb600/

Starting from 5 July till the 29th, every Monday to Thursday, there will be a new TV show on NTV titled [AKB600sec] and it will feature 16 members of AKB48. Members have not been announced yet but most probably the top 16 based on this year's Senbatsu election. The girl that will be featured will be followed by a hidden camera for a whole day and fans will get to see the life of that member not shown in public. Even though they are filmed for a whole day, only 10 mins of footage will be shown If that is too little for you, you can purchase the 90 min version from the NTV online shop.


AKB-級グルメスタジアム (AKB-kyuu Gourmet Stadium)
Hosts: Hikomaro
Members: AKB48 
Channel: NTV
Schedule: Weekly every Sunday
Timing: 20:00 ~20:30
27/7   Akimoto, Oshima, Minegishi
4/7     Kitahara, Miyazawa, Watanabe
18/7   Kasai, Kashiwagi, Miyazaki
1/8     Ono, Komori, Sato (Sumire)
8/15   Kojima, Maeda (Atsuko), Takahashi
8/15   Highlights
Official Website: http://www.skyperfectv.co.jp/ts/akb48/index.html

Another new show is titled [AKB-kyuu Gourmet Stadium]. It airs every Sunday at 20:00 and will last for 3 months. It will be hosted by food gourmet Hikomaro. Those of you who watch AKBINGO! should remember him. 3 members will appear per episode. Members will cook food for the other 2 members and Hikomaro to eat. That is all.


Check here for all the timings of shows. Still being updated at this time.


(Credits to Criss, makistar, flagator21)
Read more ...