French Kiss 2nd Single [If]

     French Kiss will be releasing their 2nd Single on 19 January 2011. Titled [If], the song will be used as the theme song for the Anime OVA [Kyo, Koi wo Hajimemasu]. As with their Debut Single Zutto Mae Kara, the Single will include a special Drama Clip featuring the 3 members of French Kiss, as well as a new Digital Manga of Kyo, Koi wo Hajimemasu featuring the members voice acting parts of the manga.      Just like their previous Single, If will have a total of 3 Types: Type A, Type B and Type C. There are a total of 3 coupling songs, one on each...

Read more ...

AKB48 'live' in AFA X (Singapore) Experience - Part 3

     The final part of this 3 part series documenting my AKB48 experience at the recent AKB48 'live' in AFA X. Part 3 will cover the post event activities and the review. Part 1: http://melosnomichi.blogspot.com/2010/11/akb48-live-in-afa-x-singapore.html Part 2: http://melosnomichi.blogspot.com/2010/11/akb48-live-in-afa-x-singapore_27.html image credit to supermerlion more after the j...

Read more ...

AKB48 at STGCC Member List & Updates (Singapore)

STGCC has announced the member list earlier this evening. It's legend- waitforit -ary! So because I'm busy, I gave you a screenshot of it. >_> Quick summary of the member list: - It's Chance no Junban senbatsu without the girls who overlap into Beginner senbatsu. - I'm surprised they really sent the Junban senbatsu because the release date is close with the STGCC date, thought they'd have promoting to do... - No Beginner senbatsu, but expected because those girls are scheduled for handshake sessions in Japan on 11 and 12th, making it impossible for them to come here. - Which means no...

Read more ...

AKB48 invited to 61th Kohaku Uta Gassen

     Kohaku Uta Gassen is an annual music show broadcasted by NHK that airs on New Years Eve. It is the biggest and highest rated music event of the year where famous artists are invited to perform. The title of the show literally translates into "Red and White Song Battle" and as the title suggests, participating artists are separated into Red Team (Aka-gumi) and White Team (Shiro-gumi) and they will compete against each other. The Red Team is composed of female artists and the White Team is composed of male artists (in a mixed group the lead vocalist will determine their Team). Kohaku attendance is strictly by invite and only the most popular artists are invited.      NHK revealed the participants for the 61st Kohaku Uta Gassen 2 days ago. As expected...

Read more ...

AKB48 'live' in AFA X (Singapore) Experience - Part 2

     Part 2 of the 3 part series documenting my AKB48 experience at the recent AKB48 'live' in AFA X. Part 2 will cover the Cool Japan Forum and the AKB48 Concert. I'm going to post the concert setlist before the jump for easier reference 00. Overture 01. RIVER 02. Oogoe Diamond 03. Aitakatta Introduction MC 04. Pajama Drive (Nakagawa, Watanabe, Katayama) 05. Candy (Komori, Kasai, Sato A) 06. Kimi wa Pegasus (Akimoto, Sato N, Miyazawa, Iwasa) MC 07. 10nen Zakura 08. Iiwake Maybe 09. Hikoukigumo MC 10. Heavy Rotation ENCORE 11. Beginner 12. Ponytail to Shushu Part 1: http://melosnomichi.blogspot.com/2010/11/akb48-live-in-afa-x-singapore.html Part 3: http://melosnomichi.blogspot.com/2010/11/akb48-live-in-afa-x-singapore_30.html more after the ju...

Read more ...

No Sleeves Debut Album [no3b]

Updated 5 December: Setlists addedUpdated 27 November: Covers added and some tracks confirmedUpdated 23 September: Kimishika has been added to tracklistUpdated 17 September: Release date confirmed.Covers Top L-R: Version A, B, CBottom L-R: Limited CD+DVD, Regular CD-only editionThe title of the album is "No Sleeves". No surprise there. Their first 4 singles' title tracks Relax!, Tane, Kiss no Ryuusei and Lie will be on the album, as well as remix versions of no3b's Mendol drama songs Christmas Present and 3seconds.There will also be a surprise inclusion of Team A stage songs Junai no Crescendo...

Read more ...

AKB48 'live' in AFA X (Singapore) Experience - Part 1

     Hello everyone. This is the first of 3 parts of my AKB48 experience post in Singapore at the recent AKB48 'live' in AFA X. Part 1 will cover the pre concert activities which include Ticket Collection and Arrival. Part 2 will cover the Cool Japan Forum and the AKB48 Concert. And finally part 3 will consist of their departure and final review. Sorry that this took a really long time, I am still having AKB depression and can't write a full post without feeling depressed again. Part 2: http://melosnomichi.blogspot.com/2010/11/akb48-live-in-afa-x-singapore_27.html Part 3: http://melosnomichi.blogspot.com/2010/11/akb48-live-in-afa-x-singapore_30.html more after the ju...

Read more ...

SKE48 [1!2!3!4! Yoroshiku!] updates

     Hihi I'm back. Been having post AKB depression since after they left on Friday. That's the reason for the lack of updates. Really sorry about that, Will write about the experience in a later post. Now on to more pressing matters: SKE48's 4th Single [1!2!3!4! Yoroshiku!], which releases tomorrow.      Some minor changes about SKE48's newest Single, the name has been changed from [1,2,3,4, Yoroshiku!] to [1!2!3!4! Yoroshiku!]. Unfortunately the name change was a tad late and some websites still use the old name though so make sure that if your searching...

Read more ...

AKB48 at STGCC Updates (Singapore)

More updates for Singapore AKB48 fans!Amid the excitement for this Friday's AKB48 Live at AFA X, come more updates for AKB48's special appearance at the Singapore Toy, Games and Comic Convention (STGCC) in December.Here are the updates:1) Appearance at main stage of STGCC exhibition, Hall 401-402Date: 10 Dec 2010, Friday, 1600hrsAdmission: Open to all STGCC day (Sat) and 3-day ticket holders2) “Scissors-Paper-Stone” Meet the Fans Session – celebrating new song releaseDate: 11 Dec 2010, Saturday, 1900hrs, Suntec auditorium, Level 2Admission: Open to AKB48 ticket holders (inclusive of 1 day access to STGCC on 11 Dec 2010)In line with AKB48’s new song release on 8 December 2010 in Japan, AKB48 will meet the fans in a special closed-door session. Fans will have the opportunity...

Read more ...

AKB48 19th Single [Chance no Junban]

     I'm sure most of you here remember the the announcement to choose the Senbatsu members for AKB48's 19th Single through a Janken Tournament. I'm sure most of you remember the outcome of it too. Doesn't seem that long ago when we were raeging on how our Oshimens didn't make it to Senbatsu. With the 18th Single Beginner successfully released about two weeks ago, it's time to shift our focus to the 19th Single. Fittingly titled [Chance no Junban] ((My) Turn by Chance), lets see how Ucchi will fare as the new Center of AKB.      Chance no Junban will be released on 8 December, only one and a half months after Beginner. For the first time ever, the Single versions will be Team based. There will be a total of 4 types: Type A, Type K, Type B, and Theater...

Read more ...

List of AKB48 members attending AFA X (Singapore)

WE ARE NOW DOWN TO LESS THAN 4 DAYS TO THE AKB48 LIVE, GUYS! :D So, the list of confirmed members for AKB48 "Live" at AFA X were announced on Saturday night. TEAM A: 岩佐美咲 Misaki Iwasa多田愛佳 Aika Ota片山陽加 Haruka Katayama仲川遥香 Haruka Nakagawa前田亜美 Ami Maeda TEAM K: 秋元才加 Sayaka Akimoto菊地あやか Ayaka Kikuchi野中美郷 Misato Nonaka宮澤佐江 Sae Miyazawa TEAM B: 河西智美 Tomomi Kasai小林香菜 Kana Kobayashi小森美果 Mika Komori佐藤亜美菜 Amina Sato佐藤夏希 Natsuki Sato鈴木まりや Mariya Suzuki渡辺麻友 Mayu Watanabe Source: AFA X website Since this news has been out for some time already, most probably have made their own predictions about units and such(including Melos who wrote his predictions in stage48 forums). Personally, I'm just gonna not expect anything so that I can be pleasantly surprised. FRIENDLY REMINDER! AKB48 LIVE AT AFA X 12 November,...

Read more ...

Wotagei Guide for AKB Concerts.

NOTICE: new version here      A guide I made for people who want to learn how to wotagei, in preparation for the upcoming AKB48 'live' at AFA X in 2 weeks! By no means is it compulsory for you to learn it. This is a guide for those who want to learn it.  1.1 - What are Wotas?      WOTA (ヲタ), pronounced as OO-TA, are fans of Japanese Female Idols. The name originated from the word OTAKU, which are fans of anime and manga. WOTA was once known as 'Idol Otaku', but to differentiate themselves from the normal Otaku they changed the name slightly to 'Wota'. 1.2 - What is Wotagei?      If you watch an idol concert, be it AKB48, Hello!Project, Tokyo Girls Style etc etc, you would have probably noticed some form of cheering...

Read more ...

AKB48 [Beginner] 1st Week Sales

Day 1: 568,095    Day 2: 112,151    Day 3: 61,863  Day 4: 26,077     Day 5: 23,109    Day 6: 22,025Week 1: 826,989      800k barrier broken! And in only 1 week! Compare this with Heavy Rotation's 1st week value of 527,336, Holy shiet it went up by 300k! This is an truly an amazing feat! AKB is on a roll.      Beginner is the third AKB48 Single to sell more than 500k in it's opening week, making them the first female artist to have 3 consecutive Singles to do so. The previous record of 2 consecutive...

Read more ...