AKB48 36th Single [Labrador Retriever] Senbatsu

During AKB48's concert in the National Olympic Stadium on March 29, the group performed its new single which will be released on May 21st and will contain voting tickets for the senbatsu election. The single is called  [Labrador Retriever]. As usual for a pre-election single, the number of senbatsu members is higher than usual: for this single a total of 36 members were selected, the highest number for AKB48 together with [Manatsu no Sounds Good] which also featured 36 girls. Center is Watanabe Mayu. 17* members from AKB48, 7 from SKE48, 6 from NMB48 and also 6 from HKT48 were selected. AKB48...

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NMB48 9th Single [Takane no Ringo] First Day Sales

NMB48's 9th single [Takane no Ringo] went on sale on March 26th marking the end of the 48-related release rush. The single took the top spot in the Oricon Daily Charts selling 368,719 copies. Sales jumped up from the previous single [Kamonegikkusu] which sold 270,447 copies on its first day, almost 100,000 less that the current single. [Takane no Ringo]'s first day sales are the second highest for NMB48, only [Bokura no Eureka] sold more on day one (420,906 copies). NMB48's daily sales are close to SKE48's weekly sales and most probably NMB48's first week sales will surpass SKE48....

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SKE48 14th Single [Mirai to wa?] First Week Sales

SKE48's 14th single [Mirai to wa?] finished its first week selling 397,874 copies. The single ranked first in the Oricon Weekly Charts, the 10th time in a row that SKE48 takes the top spot in this ranking. Sales dropped compared to the previous single. [Sansei Kawaii!] (first week: 449,003) sold about 50,000 copies more in its first week. In fact, [Mirai to wa?] has SKE48's lowest first week sales since [Oki Doki] (first week: 382,802) back in 2011. [Mirai to wa?] also tops the Soundscan ranking, taking rank 1~4. Total sales amount to 118,750 copies which tells us that theater edition...

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NMB48 Kobayashi Rikako Announces Graduation

On March 22, Team BII member Kobayashi Rikako announced her graduation from NMB48. Her dream is to become a fashion designer and she wants to focus on that now. Graduation details will be announced on a later date. Kobayashi Rikako joined NMB48 in early 2012 as part of the 3rd Generation. She was selected for Team BII when it was formed in October the same year. In September last year she had to temporarily stop her NMB48 activites due to a foot injury but came back in December.   Kobayashi Rikako's graduation announcement Original Message I, Kobayashi Rikako, will graduate from...

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AKB48 Group 37th Single Senbatsu Election To Be Held in June

This year again AKB48 and its sister groups will hold an election to decide senbatsu members. The 37th Single Senbatsu Election will take place on June 7th in Ajinomoto Stadium. Voting tickets will be included in the 36th single which will be relased on May 21st. This 36th single will also include an Oshima Yuko graduation song called [Kyou made no Melody]. Again this time, there will be a candidate system for the election meaning that the eligible members can decide whether they want to participate in the election. Eligible are AKB48, SKE48, NMB48 and HKT48 members but also former AKB48...

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HKT48 4 Kenkyuusei Promoted and Nationwide Tour Announced

HKT48 finished their first tour with a double concert in Fukuoka on March 21st. The tour finale came with three announcements. Newly appointed AKB48 Group General Manager Kayano Shinobu appeared during the evening concert and announced the promotion of 4 Kenkyuusei: Ui Mashiro and Ueno Haruka were promoted to Team H, Ito Raira and Iwahana Shino to Team KIV. Until this day, these four girls were the only 2nd Generation members left unpromoted in HKT48. They joined the group in autumn 2012. Once the new team systems starts, HKT48 will only have 3rd Generation members left as Kenkyuusei, 1st...

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NMB48 Miura Arisa Promoted to Team M

On March 20th, Team M finished their first tour with a concert in Osaka City and the tour finale came with a surprise announcement. Kenkyuusei Miura Arisa was promoted to Team M. Miura Arisa is a 3rd Generation Kenkyuusei who joined NMB48 in early-2012. She was one of the few 3rd Generation members who weren't selected for Team BII but she kept working as a Kenkyuusei and was now rewarded. With her promotion only one 3rd Generation member, Takayama Riko, is left among the Kenkyuusei. Apart from the promotion, the tour finale also included a graduation ceremony for captain Shimada Rena who...

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SKE48 14th Single [Mirai to wa?] First Day Sales

SKE48's latest single [Mirai to wa?] was released on March 19th selling 273,740 copies on the first day. The single ranked first in the Oricon Daily Charts. Sales went down for SKE48, [Mirai to wa?] is clearly behind the previous singles. [Sansei Kawaii] was sold 349,835 times on day one and [Utsukushii Inazuma] even 416,341 times. Those numbers don't look too well compared to SKE48's recent sales. For the past singles, first day sales broke the 300,000 mark clearly and once even surpassed 400,000. Is this because of the AKB48 Group serial releases with all sister groups releasing...

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HKT48 3rd Single [Sakura, Minna de Tabeta] First Week Sales

HKT48's 3rd single [Sakura, Minna de Tabeta] was released on March 12th and has now finished its first week. The single topped the Oricon Weekly Charts selling 276,799 copies. First day sales amounted to 227,322 copies. [Sakura, Minna de Tabeta] has HKT48's best first week sales, slightly higher than those of [Melon Juice] which sold 268,897 copies in week one. Looking at the Soundscan numbers, the single's different versions take rank 1, 2 and 4 selling a total of 80,088 copies. Which means that as usual the Theater Version was sold the most by far, with almost 200,000 copies. ...

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SKE48 Team E Kito Momona Announces Graduation

On March 16, another SKE48 member announced her graduation: Kito Momona, member of Team E, will leave the group in April. An exact date is yet to be decided. Kito Momona is a 2nd Generation member. She joined SKE48 in 2009 and became a Team KII member the same year.  At the end of 2010 she was demoted to Kenkyuusei alongside some other KII members. After more than one and a half year as Kenkyuusei she was promoted to Team S in August 2012 and then transferred to Team E during the SKE48 shuffle last year. As announced during the Dai Sokaku Matsuri, she was supposed to go back to Team...

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JKT48 Revealed 3rd Generation Members & First Preliminary Sousenkyo Result

On 15th March 2014, JKT48 hold an event titled [JKT48 Flying Get Concert]. It's a mini concert to celebrate the release of JKT48 5th single [Flying Get] and to introduce JKT48 third generation as wel...

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Subunits Not yet and DiVA are back

Over the past days it was announced that two subunits from the AKB48 group are back again: Not yet with an album and DiVA with a new song. Not yet, consisting of Oshima Yuko, Sashihara Rino, Yokoyama Yui and Kitahara Rie, will release their first album titled [already] on April 23, more than a half year after their last release [Hiri Hiri no Hana]. Interesting is that the release date is set after Oshima Yuko's graduation. A release event for May 10 is also scheduled. What will happen with the group afterwards has not been announced yet. The tracklist for the album can be found below. The...

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Team S Deguchi Aki Graduates SKE48

SKE48 Team S member Deguchi Aki has announced during her birthday show on March 13th that she will be graduating from the group. She wants to focus on becomíng a singer. The graduation will be in April, further details will be revealed on a later date. Before becoming an SKE48 member, Deguchi Aki had already been an AKB48 Kenkyuusei. She joined AKB48 in 2007 as part of the 4th Generation but graduated the same year. Being originally from Mie, a region close to SKE48's home base Nagoya, she decided to make a comeback and applied for SKE48 when it was formed in 2008. She became part of the 1st...

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AKB48 SKE48 NMB48 HKT48 Charity Show Setlists

Three years have passed since on March 11, 2011 a devastating earthquake and tsunami struck the Tohoku region of Japan. Every year since then, the AKB48 Group held charity shows for the affected areas in their theaters on March 11 as part of the Dareka no Tame ni Project. This year again, shows were performed at the same time in the four group theaters. Before the theater performances, members of each group visited three places in the disaster-hit area. At 2:46 pm, the time the erthquake had happened, a moment of silence was held. Afterwards, the visiting members performed a live show at...

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SKE48 Kenkyuusei Orito Aisa and Yamamoto Yuka Announce Graduation

On March 10th, two SKE48 Kenkyuusei, Orito Aisa and Yamamoto Yuka, announced that they will graduate from the group. Both girls want to focus on their studies. Orito Aisa will graduate in April and Yamamoto Yuka in March. Her graduation show will be held on March 22nd, one day before Mukaida Manatsu's who will graduate on March 23rd. Orito Aisa and Yamamoto Yuka are both 6th Generation Kenkyuusei who joined SKE48 about a year ago in March 2013.   Yamamoto Yuka's graduation announcement Original Message I, Yamamoto Yuka, have decided to graduate from SKE48 at the end of March. I think...

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HKT48 3rd Single [Sakura, Minna de Tabeta] First Day Sales

HKT48's 3rd single [Sakura, Minna de Tabeta] was released on March 12th selling 227,322 copies on its first day. The single clearly topped the Oricon Daily Charts. First Day Sales are slightly higher than those of [Melon Juice] which sold 222,984 on day one and also above those of the debut single [Suki! Suki! Skip!] (205,278 copies) making the current single HKT48's top seller in terms of first day sales. ...

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NMB48 Kenkyuusei Shimazaki Momoka Announces Graduation

On March 8th, NMB48 Kenkyuusei Shimazaki Momoka announced that she will graduate the group because she wants to focus on her studies. Her graduation show is scheduled for March 14th and her last activity will be a handshake event on March 15th. Shimazaki Momoka who is currently NMB48's youngest member joined the group in December 2012 as part of the 4th Generation. She is the fifth 4th Generation member who leaves NMB48. This is the second graduation announcement for NMB48 in a week. On Monday Nakagawa Hiromi had already announced her leave. Her graduation show is one day before Momokas....

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[GUIDE] How to Vote for JKT48 6th Single Election

JKT48 will hold the General Election Senbatsu system for their upcoming 6th single. They will be the first overseas sister group to hold such a system. Therefore, their current single [Flying Get] is being the single that will determine the resul...

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AKB48 Looking for a Member Aged 30+

On March 4th, AKB48 made a surprising announcement: they are holding an audition for [Otona AKB48] (Adult AKB48) looking for a member aged 30 and above. The membership will be only temporary but the new member will participate in AKB48 events like handshake events, stage shows and also concerts. There is no upper age limit for the applicants, it also does not matter whether they have experience in the entertainment industry or not. Marital status doesn't matter as well. Application period started on March 4th and will continue until March 28th.The second audition round (interviews) will be...

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AKB48 35th Single [Mae Shika Mukanee] First Week Sales

AKB48's 35th single [Mae Shika Mukanee] was released on  February 26th and has finished its first week. The single sold 1,091,406 copies making AKB48 once again the top of the weekly Oricon Ranking. As was the case for the first day sales, numbers went up from the Janken single [Suzukake Nanchara] which sold 1,033,136 in week one. But sales of [Mae Shika Mukanee] don't reach the sales numbers of the three singles before that: [Sayonara Crawl], [Koisuru Fortune Cookie] and [Heart Ereki]. Nevertheless, it is the 15th time in a row that an AKB48 single sold more than a million copies in...

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JKT48 5th Single [Flying Get] Released

JKT48's 5th single [Flying Get] went on release on 5th March 2014 . This single is a version of the song which was originally AKB48's 22th single which was centered by Maeda Atsuk...

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NMB48 Kenkyuusei Nakagawa Hiromi Announces Graduation

On March 3rd, NMB48 Kenkyuusei Nakagawa Hiromi has announced her graduation from NMB48. She decided to go to vocational school and follow a different path in life. Her graduation show will be on March 13th and her last activity will be a handshake event on March 15th. Nakagawa Hiromi joined NMB48 in mid-2011 as part of the 2nd Generation. Unfortunately she was never promoted, so after being a Kenkyuusei for more than two and a half years she now decided to leave. Nakagawa Hiromi's graduation announcement Original Message I, Nakagawa Hiromi, will graduate from NMB48. In the two and a half...

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SKE48 14th Single [Mirai to wa?] Tracklist and Covers

SKE48 will release their 14th single called [Mirai to wa?] on May 19th. While the title and senbatsu have been known for a while, covers and tracklists are out now too. The single will be released in five types: A, B, C, D and Theater. As couplings, the single contains team songs as well as songs by the new units Dragon Girls and GALAXY of DREAMS, the second one being a unit to promote Samsung Galaxy. The Theater Version features a song by the remaining 2nd Generation members. SKE48 14th Single Mirai to wa? 未来とは？ 19th March 2014 Type A Limited 1,600yenType A Regular 1,600yen [CD] 01....

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NMB48 9th Single [Takane no Ringo] Tracklist and Covers

NMB48 will release their 9th single on March 26th and further details about this single are out now. It is called [Takane no Ringo] (literally: apple from a high peak; may be translated to: unattainable apple). Covers, tracklist, song line-ups and a short PV have been revealed too. The single will be released in 4 types: A, B, C and Theater Version. As usual, coupling songs by Shirogumi, Akagumi and Namba Teppoutai are included. Type A, B and C limited contain voting tickets for NMB48's Request Hour Setlist Best 50. As for senbatsu, Murase Sae and Shibuya Nagisa make their NMB48 single senbatsu...

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AKB48 Nonaka Misato Announces Graduation

AKB48 Team B member Nonaka Misato has announced her graduation during a broadcast of AKB48 no Anta, Dare? on February 28. Details about her graduation have yet to be announced. After the broadcast Micha commented on her blog about her decision. A translation of the post can be found below. Micha joined AKB48 in 2008 as part of the 6th Generation. During AKB48's first shuffle in 2009 she was promoted to Team K and later shuffled to Team B. Unfortunately she never was a prominent member of the group, but in 2012 AKB48 named their 47 prefectures tour after her calling it Nonaka Misato, Ugoku....

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