HKT48 4th Single [Hikaeme, I Love You !] Tracklist and Covers

HKT48 will release their 4th single [Hikaeme, I Love You !] on September 24th. The covers and tracklist for this single have now been reveale...

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JKT48 7th Single [Papan Penanda Isi Hati] Released & Pajama Drive Revival

JKT48 have released their 7th single [Papan Penanda Isi Hati] on 27th August 2014. The release time shares the same date with AKB48's version of the song [Kokoro no Placard] just like [Koisuru Fortune Cookie] last yea...

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Subunit DiVA to Restart Activities and then Disband

AKB48's subunit DiVA has announced that they will disband at the end of the year. But before the disbandment the group will restart activities for a while. For this final activities former DiVA member Masuda Yuka will return to the group and the 'i' in the name will be changed to capital letters so that they will perform as [DIVA] from now on. A new single, their first in two and a half years, will be released on October 8th. The release of DIVA's first and last album as well as a final live event are also planned....

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AKB48 Is Looking for a Part-Time Member

Once again AKB48 is looking for a new member but this time following a new concept. On August 10th it was announced that AKB48 wants to recruit a new part-time member. This member will work for 1000 Yen per hour and will participate in the usual AKB48 activities like TV shows, CM, handshake events etc as Baito AKB member. This new project is part of the AKB48 Group campaign for the part-time information site Baitoru. Application time already started and will go on until September 10th. The final audition round is planned for late September. As with Otona AKB, the Baito AKB member will only...

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AKB48 Janken Tournament Preliminary Round Winners

On August 8th, the AKB48 Group held preliminaries to determine participants for the janken tournament. All Team A, K, B and 4 members (including concurrent members) participate automatically but Team 8 members, Kenkyuusei and sister group members had to win preliminary janken rounds to participate. The winners are: Team 8 (3 participants): Ota Nao (Kyoto), Gyouten Yurina (Kagawa), Honda Hitomi (Tochigi) AKB48 Kenkyuusei (1): Iino Miyabi SKE48 (8):  Arai Yuki, Ishida Anna, Uchiyama Mikoto, Ego Yuna, Kato Tomoko, Goudo Saki, Takatsuka Natsuki, Takagi Yumana NMB48 (7): Azuma Yuki, Ishizuka...

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AKB48 Team 8 Makes Theater Debut

On August 5, AKB48's Team 8 made its theater debut in the AKB48 theater. 16 out of the 47 members were selected to perform the Shonichi show, a remake of AKB48's very first stage [Party ga Hajimaru yo]. The setlist can be found below. Team 8 was first revealed to the public in April. Since then they have held several local events in various parts of Japan. Following the AKB48 theater debut they also tour the other 48 Group theaters with changing performing members. Recently Team 8 member Okubora Chinatsu, the Gifu representative, graduated but a replacement has already been selected: Hattori...

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AKB48 Janken Tournament Winner To Make Solo Debut

AKB48 will hold a Janken Tournament this year as well, on September 17. This will be the fifth Janken tournament for AKB48 but this time there is a new reward: the tournament winner will make a solo debut! If a member wins who already debuted as solo act she will get a solo concert in addition to the new solo single. Those who rank #2~#16 at the tournament will participate in the winner single's coupling songs and the respective music videos. The preliminary rounds for the tournament will be held on August 8 during the AKB48 Natsu Matsuri (summer festival) and the tournament pairings will...

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HKT48 4th Single and Additional National Tour Concerts Announced

During a handshake event on August 3, HKT48 announced the release of their 4th single. The single will go on sale on September 24th. Further details will come out on a later date. Also, HKT48 will hold a national tour this fall. A few concerts had already been announced before but now additional venues were revealed. Concerts in Taiwan and Hong Kong are planned as well but dates have not been set yet. The full tour schedule is: 09/21 Ishikawa Prefecture, Honda no Mori Hall 09/28 Iwate Prefecture, Iwate Prefectural Hall 10/04 Niigata Prefecture, Niigata Terusa 10/11 Yamagat Prefecture, Yamagin...

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Two SKE48 Kenkyuusei Promoted

During a special SKE48 live show on August 4, two Kenkyuusei promotions were announced: Inuzuka Asana and Noguchi Yume were both promoted to Team S. Inuzuka Asana is a 4th Generation member who already joined in fall 2010. She was a Kenkyuusei for almost four years and the last 4th generation Kenkyuusei left unpromoted. Noguchi Yume is a 6th generation member. She joined SKE48 in early 2013. She is the sixth 6th gneration member who got promoted....

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SKE48 15th Single [Bukiyou Taiyou] First Week Sales

SKE48's 15th single [Bukiyou Taiyou] has finished its first week and once again SKE48 took the first rank in the Oricon Weekly Charts. The single sold 324,076 in week one. The previous single [Mirai to wa?] already had lower sales (first week: 397,874) than other recent SKE48 singles but [Bukiyou Taiyou]'s are even lower by more than 70,000 copies. But theater version sales rounds are still not all finished so sales are hard to compare. Soundscan sales have gone down as well but not as much as total sales: SKE48 ranked on #2, #5, #6 and #7 with a total of 102,722 copies sold (previous...

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AKB48 37th Single [Kokoro no Placard] Tracklist+Covers

AKB48's 37th single [Kokoro no Placard] will be released on August 27th. Covers and tracklist for this single which features the elected members from this year's election can be found below. The main song [Kokoro no Placard] is centered by election winner Watanabe Mayu who also gets two solo covers. Apart from the election-related songs, the single also contains the song [Sailor Zombie] the title song for the drama of the same name, the Papico CM song [Oshiete Mommy] with Tsukamoto Mariko and Team 8's first own song [47 no Suteki na Machi e]. AKB48 37th Single Kokoro no Placard 心のプラカード 27th...

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NMB48 2nd Album [Sekai no Chuushin wa Osaka ya~ Namba Jichiku~] Tracklist and Covers

NMB48 will release its 2nd album on August 13th. The album is titled [Sekai no Chuushin wa Osaka ya~Namba Jichiku~] ("The center of the world is Osaka~Autonomous region Namba/Namba Territory~"). It will be released in 4 types: N, M, B and Theater version. The record contains all singles since [Bokura no Eureka], several couplings and new songs, for example songs for the new teams and the album's main song [Ibiza Girl]. DVDs included in types N, M  and B not only contain music videos but also theater shows, the NMB48 Request Hour and bonus videos. NMB48 2nd Album Sekai no Chuushin wa...

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SKE48 15th Single [Bukiyou Taiyou] First Day Sales+Covers and Tracklist

SKE48 released its 15th single [Bukiyou Taiyou] on July 30th. The single topped the Oricon Daily Charts selling 67,786 copies. The last single sold 273,740 copies on its first day so the current first day sales are extremely low for SKE48. But it seems this is due to delayed shipments of the theater editions. SKE48 15th Single Bukiyou Taiyou 不器用太陽 30th July 2014 Type A Limited 1,600yenType A Regular 1,600yen [CD] 01. Bukiyou Taiyou 02. Houkago Race (Team S) 03. Coming Soon (Boat Pier Senbatsu) 04. Tomodachi no Mama de (Selection 10) 05. Bukiyou Taiyou (off vocal) 06. Houkago Race...

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AKB48 47 Prefectures Tour Setlist (Updated)

In 2012 AKB48 started its nationwide tour through all 47 prefectures but stopped it after the Akita Prefecture concert in April 2013. Now the tour has been revived and the remaining 27 prefectures will get their concerts. Team A made the start with two concerts in Shimane Prefecture on June 22nd. 3 other stops have already been announced as well: July 19 Nara Prefecture- Team K July 20 Shiga Prefecture- Team B July 21 Wakayama Prefecture- Team 4 The setlist for the Shimane concerts can be found below. AKB48 Zenkoku Tour 2014 "Anata ga Ite Kureru kara. ~Nokori 27-Todoufuken de Aimashou~...

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NMB48 National Tour Setlist (Updated)

NMB48 started its first nationwide tour on July 9th in Tokyo with a concert by Team N and another one on the following day. A total of 10 concerts in 9 venues are planned for this tour. This post will be updated with the setlists of the follwing concerts. Due to retinal detachment, Sutou Ririka had to skip Team N's second and third show. She now has to take a break from NMB48. For the tour dates please see this post. Two additional concerts for September 29th and 30th at Pacifico Yokohama have also been announced. NMB48 Tour in Summer 2014 Date: 9 July ~ 19 September 2014 First...

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HKT48 Arena Tour Setlist (Updated)

On April 29 HKT48 started its first nationwide tour with two concerts in Chiba. The current tour is called ~Kawaii Ko ni wa Motto Tabi wo Saseyo~ and  is an extension of HKT48's Kyushu Tour ~Kawaii Ko ni wa Tabi wo Saseyo~ which they performed from January to March. The setlist for the first two concerts can be found below. Concerts in Osaka, Nagoya and Fukuoka will follow (please see this post for the dates). The final concert took place outdoors at the Uminonakamichi Sea Side Park in Fukuoka on July 13th. Musician and actor Uchida Yuya made a guest appearance at that concert to perform...

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