AKB48 Internet Service Provider [AKB48 OFFICIAL NET]

At a press conference on the 31 Oct 2011, Oshima Yuko came out holding a baby. A new scandal? No, of course not. The press conference was the launch of AKB48's new Internet Service Provider [AKB48 OFFICIAL NET]. Official Website: http://www.akb48.ne.jp At 1,480yen per month, subscribers will get:   - internet connection services   - email that ends with "@akb48.ne.jp"   - an extra vote for AKB48's Request Hour Setlist best 100 2012   - an extra chance to win tickets to AKB48's theater performances   - AKB48 fanclub membership and...

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AKB 1/48: Idol to Guam de Koishitara review

By the way, I'm a new writer to the team: Gender: Male Age: 21 Occupation: NSF Favorite Artist: AKB48, Skrillex Start of Fandom: Nov 2010 Oshimen: AKB48: Oshima Yuko SKE48: Matsui Rena Hi people~ I'm a 21 year old, currently in army in Singapore(finishing with army soon in around 2 month's time). I'm into Japanese stuff, be it Japanese culture, goods, anime, manga and of course Japanese idols :D I've been a fan of AKB48 for almost a year now, though it is only recently that I have become obsessed with them. The reason I became an AKB48 fan is actually kind of amusing as idols were never my...

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YJ7 vs YM7 Results

After several long rounds of voting, the result of YJ7 vs YM7 was broadcasted in a one-time, special 30-second TV commercial on TV Asahi on 30th October 2011. The result should come as no surprise if you have been following the competition. Yes, the winners are YM7. They won 3 rounds while YJ7 won just 2, and the votes for YM7 overall heavily outweighed YJ7's. It also seems that unlike the previous year's YJ vs PB competition, only the winners YM7 will get their own song. The song and PV was previewed during the TV commercial, and the title is Renai Sousenkyo. Sashihara Rino leads as center, yet another unsurprising development. Kasai Tomomi, a member of YM7, does not appear in the song as she is on a break from activities due to pelvic peritonitis. The commercial can be viewed below....

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Not yet 3rd Single [Perapera Perao] Tracklist and Covers

The tracklist and cover for Type A of Not yet's 3rd single, Perapera Perao, has been revealed. The Type A cover features all four girls in their waitress costumes from the music video, and they pose around a life-size tea cup, saucer and stirrer. While Oshima Yuko holds a giant block of sugar and Yokoyama Yui holds the huge stirrer, it puzzles me that Kitahara Rie is holding a normally sized jug of milk. It's a little weird, to be frank. Even worse, it seems they could not find anything for Sashihara Rino to hold, so she's just lying on the saucer...is...

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AKB48 24th single [Ue kara Mariko] Tracklist

The title was just announced and now the tracklist is out as well. The b-side is called "Noel no Yoru" and is said to be a Christmas song. The Team A song is "Rinjin wa Kizutsukanai" which earlier was used for AKB48 and HP's collaboration CM. Team K's is called "Zero Sum Taiyou" while Team B's is "Yobisute Fantasy". In the the theater version is Team 4's "Hashire! Penguin". The DVD of each type also contains the parts of this year's Janken documentary. AKB48 24th Single Ue kara Mariko 上からマリコ 07 December 2011 TYPE A picture   1,600yen[CD] 01. Ue kara Mariko 02. Noel no Yoru 03. Rinjin wa Kizutsukanai  (Team A) 04. Ue kara Mariko (off vocal ver.) 05. Noel no Yoru (off vocal ver.) 06. Rinjin wa Kizutsukanai (off vocal ver.)  [DVD] 01. Ue kara Mariko Music...

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24th single title announced [Ue Kara Mariko]

The title of the 24th single for AKB48 has just been announced at a handshake event today and its titled "Ue kara Mariko". The PV was also revealed on the handshake event and is said to be a school PV. The actual a-side that was planned titled "Hashire! Penguin" will now instead be sung by Team 4 for the theater version. The senbatsu members are of course this years Janken tournament winners, Shinoda Mariko being the center. AKB48 24th Single Ue kara Mariko 上からマリコ 07 December 2011 TYPE A picture   1,600yen[CD] 01. Ue kara Mariko 02. Noel no Yoru 03. Rinjin wa Kizutsukanai  (Team A) 04. Ue kara Mariko (off vocal ver.) 05. Noel no Yoru (off vocal ver.) 06. Rinjin wa Kizutsukanai (off vocal ver.)  [DVD] 01. Ue kara Mariko Music Video 02. Noel no Yoru Music...

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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...

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Kashiwagi Yuki becomes the image person for Kagoshima Tourism Bureau

Kashiwagi Yuki has been made the image person to promote Kagoshima. The 30 second CM will start from November 1 to November 30 in Kansai, Okayama and Hiroshima while it will be aired from November 1 to 12 in Kanto region. The CM of course stars Yukirin and the slogan for the campaign is "Real. Kagoshima Prefecture". The campaign will be promoting Kagoshima's natural beauties such as their hot springs. Kagoshima is Yukirin's hometown so its great to see that the tourism board made her the image person....

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[Team Ogi Matsuri Concert II] to be Live-Broadcast in Movie Theaters!

Due to popular demand, this year's Team Ogi Matsuri concert will be live-broadcasted in movie theaters across Japan!! This is the second year for this 2-day concert featuring the members of the OOO48 franchise signed under OgiPro.  Tickets to the event sold out within one day, so in order to provide access for more fans, there will be a live broadcast of the concert in 17 locations around Japan. Event: Team Ogi Matsuri Live Viewing in Theaters Dates: 15 and 16 November 2011, 18:30 JST  (A different setlist will be performed for the two days) Price: 2400yen For a complete list...

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AKB48 23rd Single [Kaze wa Fuiteiru] 1st day sales

AKB48's 23rd Single [Kaze wa Fuiteiru] releases today! The singlemanaged to ship 1.6 million over the weekend, the highest ever and beating [Everyday, Kachuusha]'s 1.45 million shipped. But how much did it sell? On it's first day, 1,045,937 copies! It's a slight improvement in sales compared to their previous single [Flying Get], which sold 1,025,937 on it's 1st day and ended the week with 1,354,492. Will [Kaze wa Fuiteiru] outsell [Flying Get]? I believe the question is not "will it" but "how long will it take? [Kaze wa Fuiteiru] First Press Editions comes with the voting tickets...

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Watarirouka Hashiritai 7 9th Single [Kibou Sanmyaku] Covers + Tracklist

Watarirouka Hashiritai 7's 9th single [Kibou Sanmyaku] covers and tracklist have been revealed!  They're clearly sticking with the red/white/black color scheme all the way through - I think I like the Regular Edition cover best. Watarirouka Hashiritai 7 9th Single Kibou Sanmyaku 希望山脈 30 November 2011 Limited A 1600yen[CD] 01. Kibou Sanmyaku 02. TBA 03. TBA 04. Kibou Sanmyaku (Instrumental) 05. TBA (Instrumental) 06. TBA (Instrumental) [DVD] 01.Kibou Sanmyaku Music Video Limited B 1600yen [CD] 01. Kibou Sanmyaku 02. TBA 03. TBA 04. Kibou Sanmyaku (Instrumental) 05. TBA (Instrumental) 06....

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Vote for SDN48's [Kodoku na Runner] at AKB48's [Request Hour Setlist Best 100 2012]

Voting for AKB48's Request Hour Setlist Best 100 2012 has started yesterday. Have you voted yet? If you haven't, and are still not sure of what song to vote for, then here's a solution for you. Calling all SDN48 fans and non-fans alike. You probably know by now that the current members of SDN48 will be graduating on March 31st. This will be the last Request Hour concert for SDN48, so we fans want to give the girls the best rank possible. SDN48 fans from all over Japan and the world are uniting together to vote up the song [Kodoku na Runner] (孤独なランナー). Why Kodoku na Runner you might ask? Well it is the song that links to SDN48 the most. Just like what Shonichi is for AKB48's Team B, and Omatase Set List is for SKE48's Team KII. The lyrics of Kodoku na Runner itself is very...

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[AKB48 Request Hour Setlist Best 100 2012] concert voting starts!

The voting period for AKB48's upcoming yearly concert [AKB48 Request Hour Setlist Best 100 2012] has started today! Spanning 4 days from January 19, 2012 to January 22, 2012, the Request Hour concerts are different from other concerts and you get to vote for what songs you want to see performed. Only 100 spots are available though, so if you really want to see a particular song, send in more votes! The Request Hour concerts were started back at 2008, at the Shibuya AX concert hall. However starting the next concert, the location has been shifted to the newer and larger Tokyo Dome...

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NMB48 2nd Single [Oh My God!] First week sales

Making the start for another x48 related release rush, NMB48 released its 2nd Single [Oh My God!] on October 19, managing to sell 265,435 copies in the first week. First day sales amount to 172,474 copies. With those sales, [Oh My God!] tops the Oricon Weekly Charts for the second time with a sales increase of almost 50,000 copies in the first week compared to their first single [Zetsumetsu Kurokami Shoujo] (First week sales 218,441). Not surprisingly, NMB48 is continuing the positive sales trend of the x48 main groups: [Oh My God!] outsold [Zetsumetsu Kurokami Shoujo]...

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HKT48 1st generation members first look

Earlier today we blogged about HKT48's first public appearance during AKB48's Nationwide Handshake Event. But earlier there were only group photos of the girls. Now here's the close up photos of the 21 HKT48 members! Just judging from looks alone, which members are your favorites? Mine are Nakanishi Ayaka, Nakanishi Chyori, and Taniguchi Airi. All images from http://news.walkerplus.com/2011/1023/14/ Created with the help of Microsheep of Everyday48 forums. Abe Kyoka 安陪恭加 (Kyouka) Anai Chihiro 穴井千尋 (Chiichan) Eto Sayaka 江藤彩也香 (Saayan) Fukugawa Maiko 深川舞子 (Maikomu) Imada Mina 今田美奈 (Mina) Kodama...

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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...

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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,...

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