HKT48 to Perform the [Pajama Drive] Stage Himawari-gumi Style

It was announced today that HKT48 will start to perform the [Pajama Drive] stage from 2nd November 2013. This will be a 3rd stage in addition to the current Team H [Hakata Legend] stage and the kenkyuusei [Party ga Hajimaru yo] stage. This stage will be performed Himawari-gumi-style. This means that 16 members will be selected for each performance taken from both Team H and the kenkyuusei. The Himawari-gumi idea was first introduced to AKB48 in 2007 when members were mixed from Teams A and K to first perform the [Boku no Taiyou] stage and then the [Yume wo Shinaseru Wake ni Ikanai] stage....

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Finalists for AKB48's Draft Meeting Revealed

As previously announced, the AKB48 group will hold a draft meeting on November 10 where team captains of the 48 groups will draft new members for their team. The candidate audition for this draft meeting has been finished and the final 30 girls were presented to the public on September 22. The youngest candidates are 12 and the oldest is 24. These 30 candidates will now be further presented in different media until the actual draft meeting and then it is up to the captains who they want for their team. The candidates are from left to right: Front row: Takatera Sana (13), Takatsuka Natsuki...

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SKE48 Announces 13th Single

During their handshake event in Seibu Dome SKE48 announced the release of their 13th Single. It will be released on November 20th. Following the successful singles [Choco no Dorei] and [Utsukushii Inazuma], the upcoming single will be the third and most probably the last one this year.  Official announcement video: Looking forward to this. This single's senbatsu should reflect the election results so we will probably see some interesting changes in the line up....

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AKB48's 33rd Single Titled [Heart Ereki] and Centered by Kojima Haruna

During the 4th Janken Tournament, AKB48 performed their 33rd single for the first time. This year's cool single, to be released on October 30, is called [Heart Ereki]. Kojima Haruna was surprisingly picked as center. Apart from an unexpected center, some other interesting choices have been made for senbatsu. AKB48's Kawaei Rina and Iriyama Anna who up till now only have been selected for the mass senbatsu of [Manatsu no Sounds Good] and [Sayonara Crawl], are in as well as HKT48's Ota Aika who hasn't been in AKB48 senbatsu since [Everyday, Kachuusha]. All senbatsu members have a special nickname...

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NMB48's Kobayashi Rikako Suspends Activities Due to Injury

Team BII's Kobayashi Rikako has announced that she will suspend all her activities due to a leg injury. She has been injured already for a while but nevertheless continued to perform. Following the advice of her doctor she now decided to take a break. An approximate length of this injury break has not been announced. Kobayashi Rikako was one of the girls who won the NMB48 Janken Preliminaries, but because of her injury she also decided to withdraw from the upcoming AKB48 Janken Tournament. Rikako has explained her decision in the NMB48 blog. You can read the translated statement below. Kobayashi...

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NMB48 Team BII Announces New Stage

On September 13, Team BII performed the stage [Party ga Hajimaru yo] as a special and during this show it was announced that they will start a new stage. Team BII's current stage [Aitakatta] will have its Senshuuraku (final performance) on October 17 and the new stage will start on November 1. NMB48 started [Aitakatta], originally Team A's 2nd Stage, in April last year as a Kenkyuusei stage for their 3rd Generation Kenkyuusei. When Team BII was formed in October last year, the [Aitakatta] stage was continued as Team BII's 1st Stage. As previously reported, new stages for all teams have been...

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Kashiwagi Yuki's 2nd Single [Birthday Wedding] Covers

Recently it was announced that Kashiwagi Yuki will release a 2nd solo single and now the title and covers have been revealed. The single is called [Birthday Wedding]. It will be released on October 16th, about 8 months after Yukirin's 1st single [Shortcake]. The six covers show Yukirin in different wedding outfits, appropriate to the title. Check them out below! TYPE A (Limited) cover, Type A (Regular) cover TYPE B (Limited) cover, TYPE B (Regular) cover TYPE C (Limited) cover, TYPE C (Regular) cover Yukirin looks absolutely beautiful on all covers and I do like the regular...

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AKB48 Nakamata Shiori Announces Graduation

Nakamata Shiori, member of Yokoyama Team A, announced that she will graduate from AKB48. The announcement was made during Nakamata's birthday show in the AKB48 Theater on September 9th. She explained that she wants to work towards a new dream of hers from now on. Nakamata joined AKB48 in 2010 as a 10th Generation Kenkyuusei. After passing the entrance exam for the prestigious Waseda University she was promoted in February 2011 to reward her hard work, it was the first promotion for a 10th Generation Kenkyuusei. She later joined Team 4 when it was formed for the first time, and became a Team...

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HKT48 2nd Single [Melon Juice] First Week Sales

HKT48's 2nd Single [Melon Juice], released on September 4, finished its first week and ranked number 1 in the Oricon Weekly Charts with 268,897 copies sold. First Day sales alone amounted to 222,984 copies which put HKT48 also on top for the Daily Charts. These sales are a slight increase compared to the previous single [Suki!Suki!Skip!] which sold 250,147 copies in its first week. HKT48 is now only the second female group who topped the Oricon Charts consecutively with their first two singles since debut (the first group being NMB48). Only a small increase in sales, but well, better...

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NMB48 8th Single [Kamonegikkusu] Covers, Tracklist and Short PV Revealed

NMB48 has revealed further information regarding their 8th Single [Kamonegikkusu] which will be released on October 2: covers and tracklist are out and a short version of the PV has been posted on NMB48's official Youtube channel as well. The covers show the girls in their kind of futuristic outfits from the PV. While the Type C cover features all senbatsu members, Type A, B and the theater version show a selection of front girls. The tracklist includes the usual Akagumi, Shirogumi and Namba Teppoutai songs but also a Kenkyuusei song. Check out the full tracklist, covers and short PV below. Type...

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NMB48 8th Single Titled [Kamonegikkusu] + Senbatsu Revealed

As previously reported, NMB48 will release its 8th single on October 2nd and today this single was performed for the first time in NMB48's theater. The single is called [Kamonegikkusu]. The senbatsu line-up for this single is almost the same as for the previous one [Bokura no Eureka]. The only change is that Shimada Rena is out  and Kadowaki Kanako back again. Senbatsu: Team N: Ichikawa Miori, Ogasawara Mayu, Kadowaki Kanako, Kotani Riho, Jonishi Kei, Shiroma Miru, Yamamoto Sayaka, Yoshida Akari, Watanabe Miyuki Team M: Takano Yui, Tanigawa Airi, Yagura Fuuko, Yamada Nana, Yogi Keira Team...

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Watanabe Mayu [Rappa Renshuuchuu] Release Solo Live in Nagoya Setlists

To commemorate the release of her 4th single [Rappa Renshuuchuu], Watanabe Mayu is holding four solo live events entitled [Mayu's Restaurant Zenkyoku Full Course wo Meshiagare]. Over the course of these four shows she will perform all 24 of her solo songs. The first two shows were held on 1st September 2013 in Nagoya to 1300 people per show, and the second two will be held on 16th September 2013 in Omiya, Saitama to 2500 people per show. Nagoya Show 1 Nagoya University Bunri Culture Forum <Inazawa city center> 1st September 2013: 14:00 1. Rappa Renshuuchuu 2. Kisu no Sonar-on 3. Hikaru...

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