Iwasa Misaki transfers to Nagara Pro

On the 29 March, AKB48 Team A member Iwasa Misaki announced that she would be changing agency from Ogi Production to Nagara Production. This was announced at the end of the Team A 6th Stage show, on the day the theater reopened after the Tohoku earthquake. Nagara Pro Official Site: http://www.nagarapro.co.jp/top/ The official reason given for the transfer was that she wants to open a path to become an Enka singer. (Enka is a kind of traditional Japanese sentimental ballad music.) She will officially be part of Nagara Production from 1 April 2011 onwards...

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French Kiss 3rd Single [Kakkowarui I Love You!]

French Kiss' 3rd single is slated for release on 11th May. The title of the single is "カッコ悪い I love You!" (Kakkowarui I love you). Not much is known about the single as of yet.It will come in 3 types with a First press version for each, essentially making it 6 types in total. Type A (3,100 yen) and Type B (1,800 yen) are CD+DVD versions, and then there will be a regular CD-only version (1,200 yen) as usual.It was widely expected that another mini drama would be included in Type A. However, an official tweet for French Kiss said that the mini drama would be canceled for this single. This is presumably because of the earthquake.In addition to the release, the title song will be the opening theme for upcoming anime "Sket Dance", in which Kashiwagi Yuki will be voice acting one of the charact...

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AKB48 x HP Spring Collection

Previously on 7th March, AKB48 members Kojima Haruna, Miyazawa Sae, Takajo Aki and Yokoyama Yui revealed HP (Hewlett Packard)'s new array of consumer PCs in a press conference.It was revealed at the conference that two new CMs entitled "Spring Collection - Campus Debut Version" and "Spring Collection - Office Debut Version" will be on air from the 18th onwards, using the same theme of "elegance" from their previous HP Winter Collection CM. The new CM will include 6 AKB48 members, Kojima, Miyazawa, Takajo, Yokoyama, Kashiwagi Yuki and Shinoda Mariko. It is essentially the same six members from before, but Yui replaces Mori Anna.The CM will continue using "Kurumi to Dialogue" as the background so...

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NMB48 to become TV hosts

     As announced on March 18, NMB48 will become hosts for the TV show Docking!!!. Docking!!! is a local TV show in the Kansai area, focusing among other corners on entertainment news and it is hosted by Kendo Kobayashi, Jinnai Tomonori, and Tamura Kenji. All members of the newly created Team N will appear in the show and this is also their first time as TV hosts.      In order to incorporate the group into the show title, the show will be renamed as Docking48. The show will report about the latest events and also about personal information about NMB48...

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Dareka no Tame ni Project

     Remember the [Takamina ni Tsuite Ikimasu] concert that was canceled in the aftermath of the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami? (see this post). Well it's still canceled but in it's place will be the [Dareka no Tame ni Project] (For Someone's Sake Project) event.Yes it shares the same name as the song from Team A 3rd Stage and Team N 1st Stage. The event will take place from 26 ~ 27 March.      The Dareka no Tame ni Project is not a concert, it's a charity event where fans can donate to the AKB48 relief fund (see here) . Also at the Dareka no Tame ni Project event will be goods originally for the Takamina ni Tsuite Ikimasu concert. All proceeds will go directly to the fund, and from there to the Japanese Red Cross.      For a full...

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[Shuumatsu Not Yet] 1st Week Sales

DUN DUN DUN DUN~~~ And now we bring you the sales report for Shuumatsu Not Yet, the debut single by AKB48 subunit Not Yet: 1st day sales: 50,563 2nd day sales: 34,046 3rd day sales: 15,264 4th day sales: 14,411 5th day sales: 31,772 6th day sales: 10,872 Week total: 159 678CONGRATULATIONS TO NOT YET!! With that, they've topped the Oricon weekly charts, with amazingly stellar sales. Considering the situation in Japan now, this is no small feat. All single-related promotional events were canceled. Single sales were relatively stable throughout the week, even seeing more than double an increase...

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Postponed and canceled releases and events

UPDATED: 18 March 2011      Due to the recent Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami, and the following rolling blackouts (see posts here and here), many releases and events in Japan have been postponed or canceled completely. AKB48 is no exception. Their 3rd Album Koko ni Ita Koto, which releases on 6 April, has been postponed indefinitely. The same goes for SDN48's 2nd Single Ai, Chuseyo which releases on 23 March, next week.      AKB48 has also canceled their Takamina ni Tsuite Ikimasu concert at Yokohama Arena, which was supposed to happen at 25 to 27 March. The reason is because of the rolling blackouts, and also because Yokohama Arena is currently being used as an emergency shelter.      It has not been confirmed but there is a 12th...

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Team E 1st Stage [Pajama Drive] Review

Hey, sada here! Here's my first review to kick off my time with MELOS no Michi, since there's nothing happening with SKE for the next month. A little late but I think it's fine. SKE48's Team E 1st Stage [Pajama Drive]. I was really excited when I heard this would be their first stage. It's hard to see the girls in the current Live On Demands (LODs) SKE48 is putting out but hopefully better quality videos will come out soon. Also my Team E oshi is Shibata Aya. Here's your setlist~ SKE48 Team E 1st Stage [Pajama Drive] No.RomajiJapaneseTranslationSingers OPOverture (SKE48 ver.)--- M01Shonichi初日Opening dayTeam E M02Hissatsu Teleport必殺テレポートSure-killing TeleportTeam E M03Gokigen Naname na Mermaidご機嫌ななめなマーメードIll-tempered MermaidTeam E M04Futari Nori no Jitensha2 人乗りの自転車A bicycle for twoTeam E MC M05Tenshi...

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AKB48 Drama [Sakura Kara no Tegami] Episodes 1, 2-4 Review

Hello mayuyued here. I haven't been posting for a long time because my computer died. So instead Melos told me to take my time and review the drama and when I get my computer from repair, I will post my review. Well I got back my computer already so here is the review. Sakura Kara no Tegami is a drama whose main cast is AKB48. It aired from February 26th 2011. The story revolves around Maeda-sensei, the homeroom teacher of class 3C and his students. Maeda-sensei abruptly announces his approaching death and leaves his students with a letter as a parting gift. Shinoda Mariko plays the role of...

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New writer: sada

Allow me to introduce our newest writer, sada! Sada will be in charge of SKE48 related news.Hey everyone!I’m sada, a new writer for Melos no Michi. I’m really excited to write some articles on SKE48 news. I joined the MNM team just a few days ago so if something is wrong please bear with me.I listen to a variety of artists in J-Pop and K-Pop as well. I’m a big idol fan. AKB48 and the 48 family is one of my favourite groups to listen to.My AKB oshimen is Nitou Moeno.For SKE48 it's Ishida Anna.Lastly Jonishi Kei for NMB48.I don’t really follow SDN48 very much. I’m not really into the sexy idol.Gender:...

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[Sakura no Ki ni Narou] sales surpasses 1 million mark!

     AKB48's last million-seller single, Beginner, took around two months to reach a million sales. their new Single, Sakura no Ki ni Narou did it in just two and a half weeks! The charts update only to the nearest week however which is why this is kinda late. First week sales: 942,479 Second week sales: 55,484 Third week sales: 24,519 Congratulations to AKB48 for another spectacular achievement...

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NMB48 announces Team N

Yesterday on March 10, NMB48 announced the 16 members of Team N. The selected girls are as follows: Team N (Captain) Yamamoto Sayaka Ogasawara Mayu Kadowaki Kanako Kishino Rika Kinoshita Haruna Kotani Riho Kondo Rina Shinohara Kanna Jonishi Kei Shiroma Miru Fukumoto Aina Matsuda Shiori Mori Ayaka Yamada Nana Yoshida Akari Watanabe Miyuk...

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NMB48 to appear as regulars in a TV show

Starting March 15, members of NMB48 will appear as regulars in the TV show Ohayo Asahi desu, a daily morning program broadcasted at 6:45 am in Osaka. Ohayo Asahi desu (おはよう朝日です) Hosts: Urakawa Yasuyuki, Kita Yukari Channel: ABC (Asahi Hoso) Schedule: Daily on weekdays Timing: 06:45AM ~ 08:00AM Official Website: http://www.asahi.co.jp/ohaasa/ Starts: Ongoing The group will get a weekly corner every Tuesday called NMB48 no Kagai Jugyo, which can be translated as 'NMB48's Extracurricular Lessons'. Yamada Nana and two other weekly changing members will experience various occupations and will...

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AKB48 announces first original album [Koko ni Ita Koto]

AKB48 will be releasing their first original album on 6 April 2011. Although announced a month and a half ago, the title and tracklist have only been revealed today. The album will be titled [Koko ni Ita Koto] which translates into something like "(you) were here". The album will have a total of 16 songs, 11 of them are new and original songs, and the remaining 5 will be picked from AKB48's Singles and Stage songs.There will be 3 versions total, Limited, Regular and Theater versions...

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Shinoda Mariko to have solo TV show [Mariko-sama no Orikou-sama!]

Shinoda Mariko will have her own TV show this coming spring. Titled [Mariko-sama no Orikou-sama!] it will air every Wednesday night for 5 mins starting 6 April 2011 on NTV. There is also a special 10min episode which will air on 11 March, before regular broadcasting begins. The show will be a collaboration with the documentary show "NHK Special" which airs at 20:00PM on Sundays. Shinoda will join fellow member Sashihara Rino as the only AKB members to have a solo TV show. Mariko-sama no Orikou-sama! (麻里子さまの おりこうさま) Hosts: Shinoda Mariko Channel: NHK Schedule: Weekly every Wednesday Timing:...

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No Sleeves 6th Single [Answer]

Since kieyuku, the writer in charge of subgroup posts, is busy with her exams I will be writing this in her stead. You owe me one for this kieyuku. No Sleeves (no3b) will be releasing their 6th Single on 02 March 2011 (which is by the way yesterday). Titled [Answer], the song is currently being used as the ending theme song for the anime Beelzebub, which is airing on NTV. Official website: http://www.no3b.net...

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WONDA x AKB48

     A new collaboration! AKB48 will be pairing up with Asahi Soft Drink to help promote their WONDA Coffees. Specifically, their "WONDA Morning Shot" and "WONDA Kin no Bitou" canned coffees. A total of 15 AKB members will appear in CMs for this. The campaign starts from now till 12 May. Official website: http://wonda-akb48.com/top.g...

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New subgroup [DiVA]

     Seriously this is too much.... How many frickin units are there already. Look at what happened to Day 4 of the Request Hour Setlist Best 100 2011. Half the songs which ranked were from the subgroups. And more units would mean that the girls would have less time for AKB, which is one of the major problems the group is facing. Just look at the AKB Theater schedule. Everything now is mostly Kenkyuusei or SDN. Anyways rant over, let's get to business.      Following Akimoto Sayaka's successful run at the Tokyo Marathon, with her finish broadcasted on...

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