SKE48 15th Single Title and Senbatsu Announced

On July 30th SKE48 will release its 15th single and now the title and senbatsu have been announced. The single is called [Bukiyou Taiyou] ('clumsy sun'). For the first time in SKE48's history senbatsu consists of 20 members. Iwanaga Tsugumi, Kumazaki Haruka and Futamura Haruka make their senbatsu debut. Transferred/concurrent members Miyazawa Sae, Watanabe Miyuki, Sato Sumire and Yamada Nana also appear for the first time in SKE48 senbatsu. SKE48 15th Single [Bukiyou Taiyou] Senbatsu Team S: Azuma Rion, Oya Masana, Kitagawa Ryoha, Futamura Haruka, Matsui Jurina, Miyazawa Sae, Watanabe Miyuki Team...

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NMB48 Yogi Keira Announces Graduation

On June 24th, NMB48 Team N member Yogi Keira announced her graduation because she wants to focus on her studies. Her graduation show will be on July 2nd. Keira joined NMB48 in 2011 as youngest member of the 2nd Generation. She became an original member of Team M when it was formed in early 2012 and was shuffled to Team N during the Dai Sokaku Matsuri. She made NMB48 senbatsu four times, for [Oh My God!], [Junjou U-19], [Bokura no Eureka] and [Kamonegikkusu]. Yogi Keira's Message Original Message I, Yogi Keira will graduate NMB48. I passed the NMB48 audition and joined as 2nd Generation...

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AKB48 Tops Oricon First Half 2014 Ranking

Oricon has released its rankings for the best selling releases of the first half of 2014. As expected AKB48 takes the Top3 spots with [Labrador Retriever] on #1. #4 and #5 are taken by Arashi but on #6 Nogizaka46 already makes an appearance with [Kizuitara Kataomoi] ranking higher than any AKB48 sister group singles.  In the album ranking AKB48 also took the top. All 48/46 relevant rankings are: Singles 1. Labrador Retriever- AKB48 1,764,489 2. Mae Shika Mukanee- AKB48 1,151,372 3. Suzukake Nanchara- AKB48 1,086,491 ... 6. Kizuitara Kataomoi- Nogizaka46 538,090 7. Mirai to wa?- SKE48...

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New Announcements: AKB48 Group Tokyo Dome Concerts+ NMB48 2nd Album

As announced on June 19th, AKB48 will again hold concerts in Tokyo Dome. Three concerts are planned for August, one by AKB48 alone and two by the AKB48 Group. This is the third time for the AKB48 Group in Tokyo Dome and the first time an AKB48-only concert will be held. The dates are: August 18, AKB48-only August 19, AKB48 Group August 20, AKB48 Group One day earlier NMB48 also had news to announce. The group will release its 2nd album on August 13. The title is yet unknown but several contents have already been revealed. The album will include all singles from [Bokura no Eureka] and songs...

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Team 8 Okubora Chinatsu Leaves AKB48

As announced on June 18, the newly formed Team 8 has now already one graduation. Okubora Chinatsu who represented Gifu Prefecture left the group that day because she had difficulties balancing her work in AKB48 with her schoolwork. The Team 8 members began their activities only two months ago. Since the team is supposed to have a member from every prefecture in Japan new auditions will now be held in Gifu Prefecture. Girls aged 12~20 who live in Gifu can apply until July 4th. Okubora Chinatsu's Message Original Message Hello to all fans, I am Gifu Prefecture representative Okubora Chinatsu....

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NMB48 Announces Nationwide Tour

On June 14th NMB48 announced its first tour for this year. The tour will be the first nationwide one NMB48 does. Up until now they have only toured Osaka Prefecture, the Kansai region, then West and then East Japan. The tour starts on July 9th and ends on September 19th. A total of 10 concerts in 9 venues have been announced. The concerts will be held team-wise with 3 concerts each by Team N, Team M and Team BII and one concert by NMB48's Kenkyuusei. The tour dates are: July 9 Tokyo NHK Hall Team N July 10 Tokyo NHK Hall Team N July 14 Aichi Nihon Tokushu Togyo Shimin Kaikan Forest Hall...

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JKT48 6th Single [Gingham Check] Released And Launch Concert Setlist

JKT48 have released their sixth single [Gingham Check]. The Sousenkyo single went on sale on 11th June 201...

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Oshima Yuko Theater Graduation Show Setlist

On June 9th Oshima Yuko graduated from AKB48. Her graduation concert had already been held one day earlier at Ajinomoto Stadium but her final show as a member of AKB48 was performed in the theater where it all began. The main part of the show was a remake of Team K's 4th Stage Show [Saishuu Bell ga Naru] the show Oshima Team K performed most recently. Some additional songs were also included. The show was held by Oshima Team K but other current members as well as graduated 2nd generation members made an appearance to see Yuko off. Oshima Yuko Graduation Show Date: June 9th M01. Mammoth M02....

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AKB48 in Ajinomoto Stadium+ Oshima Yuko Graduation Concert Setlist

On June 7th and 8th AKB48 took over the Ajinomoto Stadium for two days of events. On June 7th a short live was held followed by the 37th Single Senbatsu Election. On June 8th Oshima Yuko's graduation concert followed. The latter was originally planned for March 30th but had to be cancelled due to stormy weather. The setlists for both shows can be found below. For the encore some of Yuko's fellow 2nd generation graduated members made a special appearance (reports differ on who of them actually came) . AKB48 in Ajinomoto Stadium Date: June 7~8 Day 1 M01 - Koi Suru Fortune Cookie (Senbatsu) M02...

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AKB48 37th Single Senbatsu Election - Final Results

On June 7th, AKB48's 6th Senbatsu Election was held at Ajinomoto Station to determine the senbatsu members for AKB48's 37th single which will be released on August 27th. About 70,000 fans waited in the continuing rain to see AKB48 Team B's Watanabe Mayu taking the AKB48 Group crown for the first time. With 159,854 votes Mayuyu also beat Sashihara's record of 150,570 votes from last year. Last year's winner Sashihara Rino came in 2nd and Kashiwagi Yuki 3rd. With the graduation of three AKB48 top girls, Oshima Yuko, Shinoda Mariko and Itano Tomomi and with Watanabe Miyuki dropping out of senbatsu...

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AKB48 Reopens Theater

After the attack on May 25th, AKB48 had closed its theater for a week and cancelled all planned shows. Now the theater has been reopened. The first show was held on June 2nd by Takahashi Team A, the team to which the injured members Iriyama Anna and Kawaei Rina belong. Both are still on a break and did not appear at the show. To protect the members AKB48 made several changes to its security system. Metal detectors were established at the theater entrance. The number of security staff was also increased and for the opening show 6 policemen from the local police station also were on lookout...

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