Other Idols Master Post 003

Time to round up information for the various other idol groups that I follow.

First up is E-Girls news. They will doing the theme song for the upcoming Getsu 9 drama, Biblia Kosodou no Jiken Techou. They will be performing a cover of the song The Never Ending Story. And yes, it is that The Never Ending Story song from the movie of the same name that came out in 1984.

Sanspo article (Japanese)

I am quite interested in how this is going to turn out, as The Never Ending Story is a rather dated sounding song. Not to mention something that I cannot imagine dancing to like E-Girls songs tend to be with most of the group being just dancers. But it is a wonderfully 80s song, and I am curious if we are going to get this in Engrish.

~*

Despite semi-frequent visits to their official site and recently began following their official twitter account Love La Doll managed to ninja in a new release for December 12th. This is their third single and it is titled Seishun GIRLZ Saizensen.

One of the most exciting parts about this release is that they actually have a PV for the title track. Their past two singles have only had dance shots so this is a step up from past releases. Plus it looks like the PV actually had something of a budget for an indie-idol group.

While I do not like the song as much as what I have heard from them so far I do like the PV and there is always a chance the song can grow on me. Either way I am still happy to see the group finally have their own PV.

While I cannot find the CD to purchase on the usual online stores it is up on iTunes Japan, with the rest of their previous singles, and I figure that is probably where I will buy it from. Especially as the single is the one title track with karaoke version only.

AKS Master Post 007

I was so close, so close to having an AKS Master Post without an announcement about a girl leaving. I guess that teaches me about being lazy and not making one sooner.

~*

We have another AKB48 member leaving, this time by one of the girls that has been with the group for a long time, Masuda Yuka. She joined AKB48 as a 2nd generation KKS and was a member of the sub-unit DiVA. She was caught by the tabloids spending the night over at the apartment of one of her fellow cast members of the musical she is starring in, The Wiz, and has decided that because of the scandal it has caused, even though she denies doing nothing more than talking with him, she will leave AKB48.

aramatheydidnt article (English)

From the sounds of it she may be better off leaving in the long run. She is keeping her lead role in the musical she is currently in and she has not been active in AKB48 because of it. She is also a really talented singer but is not one of the most popular members of the group so she does not get pushed much from what I have seen. I think she would not have many issues continuing with her career solo, whether it is to become a singer or continue with stage productions. So I wish her the best and wish she could have left the group without a "scandal" attached to it.

I think it is safe now to say that DiVA is not coming back. It never was a big seller compared to all the other sub-units and with Yuka now graduating and Miyazawa Sae in China as an exchange member for at least a year it is highly unlikely that it will be continued. Which is a pity as the unit had some of the strongest vocals of AKB48 and I personally loved everything they had released.

~*

AKS must have realized that with the Janken senbatsu just being AKB48 and SKE48 members fans of the other groups may skip on getting the single as each Japanese sister group will be getting a B-side song and PV on one of the versions of the upcoming AKB48 single, Eien Pressure.

For NMB48 the song is title HA! and there is already a PV preview out.

Have to say that I am loving the song so far. I really do not care to get the single for the one song so I will probably see about getting an iTunes Japan card and buy it with that instead.

~*

Fukumoto Aina participated in her first marathon at the 2nd Osaka Marathon. She was running to support charity for the relief efforts in Tohoku after the earthquake in 2010 and not only met her time goal but ended up running the marathon under it.

aramatheydidnt post (English)

Congrats Ainyan for exceeding your goal and of course just for participating in a good cause. It is always great to see idols take on challenges like this, as it will hopefully inspire others to do the same.

~*

And this is just something I want to do from time to time so I have this information easy to find if I want to do a quick check. It is just an age list of the members of NMB48 as it is sometimes easy to forget how old some of the girls are or what the overall age for the group is. I can assume that this list could also be helpful for fans to check on whether or not they should be mentioning how oppai some members are.

NMB48 Age List (as of 30NOV2012)

20 -
Yamada Nana (Team N)

19 -
Fukumoto Aina (Team N)
Yamaguchi Yuuki (Team N)
Yamamoto Sayaka (Team N)
Watanabe Miyuki (Team N)
Shimada Rena (Team M)
Murakami Ayaka (Team M)
Yokoyama Yui (Team undecided/Team A)

18 -
Ogasawara Mayu (Team N)
Kishino Rika (Team N)
Kotani Riho (Team N)
Yoshida Akari (Team N)
Takano Yui (Team M)
Hikawa Ayame (Team M)
Yamagishi Natsumi (Team M)
Kamieda Emika (Team BII)
Kono Saki (Team BII)
Nakagawa Hiromi (Kenkyusei)

17 -
Jonishi Kei (Team N)
Okita Ayaka (Team M)
Kawakami Rena (Team M)
Koyanagi Arisa (Team M)
Tanigawa Airi (Team M)
Mita Mao (Team M)
Ijiri Anna (Team BII)

16 -
Kadowaki Kanako (Team N)
Azuma Yuki (Team M)
Kusaka Konomi (Team BII)
Kobayashi Rikako (Team BII)
Muro Kanako (Team BII)
Ishida Yuumi (Kenkyusei)
Uno Mizuki (Kenkyusei)
Miura Arisa (Kenkyusei)

15 -
Kondo Rina (Team N)
Shinohara Kanna (Team N)
Shiroma Miru (Team N)
Kinoshita Momoka (Team M)
Murase Sae (Team M)
Yagura Fuuko (Team M)
Akazawa Hono (Team BII)
Ishizuka Akari (Team BII)
Katou Yuuka (Team BII)
Sugimoto Kano (Kenkyusei)
Hisada Riko (Kenkyusei)

14 -
Kinoshita Haruna (Team N)
Yamamoto Hitomi (Team M)
Kurokawa Hazuki (Team BII)
Yabushita Shu (Team BII)
Koga Narumi (Kenkyusei)
Sato Sorai (Kenkyusei)
Hayashi Momoka (Kenkyusei)

13 -
Yogi Keira (Team M)
Ueda Mirei (Team BII)
Umehara Mako (Team BII)
Kushiro Rina (Team BII)
Nishizawa Rurina (Kenkyusei)

12 -
Ota Yuuri (Team BII)
Yamauchi Tsubasa (Team BII)
Takayama Riko (Kenkyusei)


And with that done I am going to feel so very old right now.

But besides that it is interesting to look at the age break down of the different teams. Team N has an age range of 20-14, Team M is 19-13 and Team BII is 18-12. The Kenkyusei range from 18-12 but most of them are in the younger range, which should hopefully mean for them that they have a good chance at promotion at some point as long as they stick with the group.

MSSL line-up announced (Johnny's focused)

Rounding out the major year end music programs in Japan is Music Station Super Live. The program will air on December 21st and has announced their list of performers for it.

MSSL site (Japanese)

Johnny's artists:

SMAP
Kinki Kids
TOKIO
Arashi
KAT-TUN
Kanjani8
Kis-My-Ft2
Hey! Say! JUMP

Other artists I'm looking forward to:

B'z
Mr. Children
L'Arc~en~Ciel
Superfly



I am sad to see that NEWS is not on the list but hopefully I will get plenty of them on music programs leading up to their new single being released in December. And I will assume Sexy Zone is missing from the list as not only will they be doing Johnny's World still but have their own winter concert tour that they will need to be ready for around that time.

I feel happy for KAT-TUN to get on this program. They tend to get overshadowed by other groups these days so it is nice to see that they are not completely forgotten. And since they have a new CM tie-in song fans of the group will be able to look forward to a new single from the group in the near future.

And I am quite happy to see most of my favorite J-rock groups will be on the show. Somehow I cannot help but feel this will be a rather epic show with both B'z and Mr. Children performing as they are both top of the top tier when it comes to modern Japanese music artists.

Other Idols Master Post 002

Hooray! I have a non-Johnny's post that does not have news of group loosing a member! In fact there is much better news than that here.

While I have always remained mostly focused on Japanese idols there are a few Korean groups that have caught my attention over the years, though fewer still that has kept it. One of those groups is the Wonder Girls, who I am quite happy I got to see live when they did their USA tour a couple of years back.

That said the news that surprised fans that was recently announced is that one of the members, Sunye, will be getting married to her boyfriend of two years in late January.

Allkpop article (English)

All I have to say about the news is congrats to Sunye and her soon to be husband and I wish them the best of luck. That and I am happy to hear that she is not going to have to leave the group when she does get married, even though the members are going to focus on solo activities in the coming year. But it is probably for the best, she will get to spend time as a newlywed with her husband as the rest of the girls get to pursue things they would not be able to do as a group. I just hope that Sunye will want to come back when they are all ready to.

On another note, I will say that agencies lifting the dating ban for both their male and female acts is something I see a step above the Japanese idol agencies. Sure it seems to happen for Johnny's unofficially at some point but female idols really only have the choice to date in complete secret or leave the group just to date. And I am personally interested in seeing how things play out for WG with one of their members being married when they get back to group activities at some point, perhaps in the next decade with the usual rate they have been going.

~*

There is a special dance unit created with three members of EXILE, Usa, Tatsuya and Nesmith and singer Crystal Kay. The unit will be called DANCE EARTH PARTY and be produced by member Usa.

Universal Music Japan OHP (Japanese)

They will release their debut single, Inochi Rhythm, on January 16th in two editions. The limited edition has everything the regular edition plus a DVD with the PV and the making of for it.

Inochi Rhythm [Regular Edition] / DANCE EARTH PARTY

Inochi Rhythm [w/ DVD, Limited Edition] / DANCE EARTH PARTY

I have been a fan of Crystal Kay's since about 2004-ish and have followed pretty much liked everything she has released. So I have often found myself disappointed that she has not been doing so well with sales in the past few years, as I think more people should be listening to her. This news has me hoping that this group will get a good deal of promotion and hopefully she will benefit from it.

Other Idols Master Post 001

Since it seems the Master Post thing is going well I am adding one more, this one for the other idols that do not fit under Johnny's or AKS.

Unfortunately I do have a member leaving news for this post. But honestly this was probably a long time coming. Happiness/E-Girls member MIMU, will be withdrawing from the groups. She had been on leave for a while because of academic reasons, the rumor being that her grades were suffering so her parents made her stop activities to fix that. So having this announcement is not a great blow as it was always very iffy what her future would be, especially as she was only one of the dancers for the group, not one of the two vocalists.

Oricon Style article (Japanese)


In much happier news rookie idol group, Love La Doll, will be releasing a new single on November 7th. The title of the single is Honey Bee which is produced by Armyslick, who has produced for K-pop idol group KARA. This will be the group's second single after debuting with their first single back in August.

Honey Bee

Love La Doll

AKS Master Post 007

One of these days I will have one of these posts without a graduation announcement in it. But sadly this is not one of those days.

Mitsumune Kaoru from AKB48 has announced that she will be graduating from the group. She cites that she has been suffering from health issues since August 2012.

I am willing to believe her as she was only just promoted to a team and seemed like she would have been one of the main up and comers of the group if she could stay. She definitely benefited from being a member as she had acting roles in a couple of dramas like Ataru and Shiritsu Bakaleya Koukou.

Very rarely does a member from AKB48 catch my eye or attention but Kaoru did just that with her performance in Bakaleya. She has the talent to be a good actress and I hope that her short time with AKB48  will help her out if continues to pursue that career choice.

~*

In good news NMB48 will finally be added to the Live On Demand (LOD) service by DMM.com. This means that people can pay to see video of a live show for a fee, so those who cannot make it to the theatre or could not get a ticket for a performance can still watch it.

Melos no Michi article (English)

AKS Master Post 006

Well I have to say I am loving Kitagawa Kenji from NMB48. It is such a fun and catchy song to listen to and the PV is a joy to watch. Definitely better than their last single, Virginity. Cannot wait to get this with my November pre-orders.


~*

NMB48 members Yamamoto Sayaka and Watanabe Miyuki will be releasing their first photo albums on November 21st. Since they are being released on the same day they are going to be pitted in a sales battle between the two with the winner getting to star in their own solo commercial.

~*


It looks like the rash of graduations from NMB48 did not end after the creation of Team BII. Since then we have had two graduation announcements. First from 3rd gen KKS Togo Sora, which was only a day or two after the team announcement. Then on October 18th Team N's Matsuda Shiori announced her graduation from the group.

As for reasons why they left most of it is speculation from what can be picked up from their final posts.

Sora's final message does sound like she was getting discouraged with being in the group and it seems like not being picked for Team BII was the final nail in that coffin for her.

While with Shiokichi she talked about wanting to return to being a normal teenage girl again. I think though with her it could be guessed a part of it is that she was one of the least pushed members of Team N and was one of the girls caught up in the group's early scandals. While the other girls in that scandal have had various levels of success with bouncing back from it she was the least successful, with barely appearing in the singles and such. And with a new team created the chances for her to become more prominent again were looking pretty slim.


It will be interesting to see who gets promoted to Team N after Shiokichi leaves. Whoever they will be they will be the first none 1st gen KKS to be included into the group. I cannot help but think that it will probably be a 2nd gen KKS, especially since Team BII was nothing but 3rd gen KKS.

In any case I do hope we get a break from the NMB48 graduations for a while. It is disheartening to see so many girls leave all around the same time even though there is a lot of positive things happening with the group at the same time.

AKS Master Post 005

All the announcements for NMB48's anniversary have been made so I figured it would be a good time to make one of these posts, especially as we do get a new team.

The New Team M

Before we get to the new team a quick look at the changes with Team M. And thankfully the changes are nothing as great as fans were speculating. They just announced the three KKS that will join the team to fill the empty spots left with the three recent graduations from the team. The KKS graduating are the remaining 1st gen KKS, Koyanagi Arisa and two of the 2nd gen KKS, Azuma Yuki and Yamamoto Hitomi. 

I hope that with things settled down for the group now they can figure out how to promote this group so it is not left in the shadow of Team N. I think Yagura Fuuko is getting set up to be the new Ace of the team as she has had pushes in the past and will be the center of the new sub-unit in the upcoming single. So I wish her the best of luck and hope that more Team M members find a way to get noticed.

I am really happy to see that there are no more 1st gen KKS now, especially with the new Team BII it would have seemed too sad if the last girl of that generation was not promoted to be on a team. It is interesting though that this means Team N is 1st gen only, Team M is 1st gen and 2nd gen and Team BII being 3rd gen girls. I wonder if next year they will do a team shuffle, as with AKB48 dropping their Team 4 I doubt the other groups will be creating any of their own.

Team BII

Moving on to more exciting news, the formation of Team BII. I think it surprises no one that Yabushita Shu and Kato Yuuka are on this team. Both girls have been in the senbatsu roster for both the last single and this upcoming one so management clearly want to push them. Especially Shu who gets more pushing than Uuka (can't believe this is her official nickname).

The full list of team members is; Akazawa Hono, Ishizuka Akari, Ijiri Anna, Ueda Mirei, Umehara Mako, Ota Yuri, Kato Yuuka, Kamieda Emika (captain), Kusaka Konomi, Kushiro Rina, Kurokawa Hazuki, Kono Saki, Kobayashi Rikako, Muro Kanako, Yabushita Shu and Yamauchi Tsubasa.

Probably the biggest surprise is that Yokoyama Yui was not placed on a team. I guess it may be because she is coming from the main group, AKB48 and that she may not be with the group for the long term. I guess we shall see about this in time.

There is some new news about the new single Kitagawa Kenji. First we have the short version of the PV, which looks like it will be a fun one. It also looks like they are making this single to be the opposite of AKB48's UZA with using a cuter sounding song and a bright and colorful PV.

Also we have a sub-unit for this single. It is actually a continuation of the last sub-unit, Namba Teppoutai Sono Ichi, as it is called Namba Teppoutai Sono Ni. Kotani Riho is no longer in the group, as she had her big break with becoming a co-AKB48 member, and the center position has been given to  Yagura Fuuko (Team M). The other members of the unit this time are; Kato Yuuka (Team BII), Kushiro Rina (Team BII), Matsuda Shiori (Team N), Yabushita Shu (Team BII), Yamagishi Natsumi (Team M), Yamamoto Hitomi (Team M) and Yogi Keira (Team M).

I rather like the idea of this group, one that has all the girls that the agency wants to give a push to so they can become popular. And having it be mostly Team M and Team BII is nice, especially as it is a much smaller group than the Akagumi and Shirogumi subunits so the girls in this group have a chance to get decent screen time. Also having the girls that do reach a point where they do not need the extra help, like with Ripopo getting the promotion of being a part of AKB48 as well as NMB48.

To speak a bit on the recent graduations with Team M, I think it really should not have been surprising. Shortly before Team M was created we had a few girls decide to leave so I think when something like a team formation looms it probably forces the girls to really look at their idol careers. With a new team it means more competition for the top spots in the group and makes it easier to get lost in the background of a group. 

For Fujita Runa I think she must have felt that with her injury continuing her idol work would have been difficult and it would be a good time for her to bow out with a change to the group coming. 

For Ota Riona I would not be surprised if she figured that she may be better following her dreams through a different course. She had previous experience in the entertainment industry before going NMB48 and I can understand if she felt frustrated that she was getting little promotion and that soon there would another sixteen  girls she would have to compete with, with one of them being an AKB48 members as well.

AKS Master Post 004

I made a post for the Johnny's that will be on the upcoming NTV program that will have various talents that are popular in their shows but there is an AKB48 member on the list as well, Akimoto Sayaka. The special will be airing on October 6th and runs for 3 1/2 hours.

NTV OHP (Japanese)


While I am not really an AKB48 fan I do like some of the girls, and my favorite among them is Akimoto Sayaka. So I am really happy that she will be in this program as it is one more person to look forward to watching.



In sadder news NMB48 will be losing another member and from Team M again. Fujita Runa has decided to graduate from the group because of hip and back pain. She had already reduced her work load to try heal but since it is still uncertain what will come of it she decided to quit.

Official blog announcement (Japanese)


It is always sad to see an idol have to quit because of medical reasons, though it seems to happen much more frequently with the female idols. I cannot help but wonder since much of it is back, hip of knee injury if it is because they have to perform in high heels that is the cause. Because these girls are usually still in their teens so these kinds of pains and injury do not seem normal. And high heels are bad to wear for just everyday use, I cannot imagine how much worse on the body they are when you are doing something like dancing that put more stress on the body naturally.

In any case Ruutan will be missed by me. I rather liked her though she did not get much screen time. But I did like she was one of the girls that had no problem standing up for herself on programs where they would tease her.


I guess this means instead of the seventeen open slots for girls that was before with Jo Eriko's graduation and the creation of Team BII there will now be eighteen. Or perhaps it should still be counted as seventeen as I am sure Yokoyama Yui will have one of those slots.

AKS Master Post 003

Figured it was time for another one of these as there is quite a bit of NMB48 news to talk about.

First off none of the NMB48 members in the janken tournament made it into the senbatsu. Honestly I do not think I can feel too heartbroken about that as it means there will be one less AKB48 single I feel that I need to buy because of any NMB48 members in it.


That said there is more information about NMB48's upcoming single that will be released November 7th. The title of the single is Kitagawa Kenji, which seems to be a nod to one of the main men behind AKS as well to the lyrics of the song. The lyrics this time are from a guy's point of view and how he realizes that the girl he loves is so lovely to him because she is in love with this guy, Kitagawa Kenji.

While there is not a complete track list out there is some track listing information out. Like all their releases the single has three versions sold in stores. All versions will have the same title track and a B-side, then the Type A has the usual Shirogumi song, the Type B has a Akagumi song and the Type C will just have another group B-side not on the other versions. There of course is a theater version but the details for that are not out yet.

Kitagawa Kenji [CD+DVD/Type-A] / NMB48

Kitagawa Kenji [CD+DVD/Type-B] / NMB48

Kitagawa Kenji [CD+DVD/Type-C] / NMB48

Also on the final Hey! Hey! Hey! Music Champ episode NMB48 performed the new single song. Going from the performers in that the senbatsu looks to be; Ogawasara Mayu (Team N), Katou Yuuka (3rd Gen KKS), Kadowaki Kanako (Team N), Kishino Rika (Team N), Kotani Riho (Team N), Jonishi Kei (Team N), Shiroma Miru (Team N), Tanigawa Airi (Team M), Fukumoto Aina (Team N), Yagura Fuuko (Team M), Yabushita Shu (3rd Gen KKS), Yamada Nana (Team N), Yamamoto Sayaka (Team N), Yokoyama Yui (team unknown), Yoshida Akari (Team N) and Watanabe Miyuki (Team N).

That gives us eleven Team N members, two Team M members, two 3rd Gen KKS and Yokoyama Yui. The last three should have teams by the time the single is released but this is still a very Team N heavy senbatsu as not even half of it are from the other two teams. Not that I do not love Team N but I think it is time that the spotlight is spread out a bit more with the other teams.

I just hope the Shirogumi and Akagumi units are more balanced between all the teams for this single.


NMB48 will be celebrating their second anniversary, the date their first single was released, on October 9th. On the 8th Team N will have a new stage they will start, October 9th will have a new Team M while on October 11th Team BII will debut.

Staff blog (Japanese)

There is speculation that the new Team M means that there will be a mini shuffle between the members in that team and the one being newly created, Team BII. Apparently this is something that happened with SKE48 when they created Team E, shuffled some of the KKS into Team KII while moving some to Team E. Though they also made some back into KKS, which I hope is not going to happen with NMB48.

But with Jo Eriko graduating Team M is losing its Ace, plus they already have an open slot because of that so it would make sense to do a bit of a shake up. Not to mention they need to place AKB48 exchange member, Yokoyama Yui in a team and the up and coming KKS Yabushita Shu seems destined to be an Ace for whatever team she is placed in. And with the debut of a new team it sounds like a good time to do a small shuffle like this, and hopefully this will make Team M stronger and help give Team BII some early support so they are both not stuck to be eternally in Team N's shadow.


In other news Jonishi Kei will be in an upcoming drama. The drama is named Poison and will air on YTV in the midnight slot starting on October 4th. Not much is known about Keicchi's role, other than the character is reoccurring as she is listed with the other actors on the official home page of the drama.

Poison OHP (Japanese)

Congrats to Keicchi for getting a drama role. I have not really seen her act so I cannot say if I have any hopes for her. But if anything it could be helpful if she is going to continue pursuing acting as a career.


And on a final and much less exciting note, the date for Jo Eriko's graduation stage has been announced. She will graduate from the group on September 28th.

Staff blog (Japanese)

I am still bummed out about her leaving but I can understand her reasons. I wish her the best and NMB48 is not going to be the same without her.

AKS Master Post 002

The big news of this post is of course the graduation of NMB48 member Jo Eriko. I think like other NMB48 fans I am understandably shocked by the announcement as it seems to have come from nowhere. That and Jo held the status of Ace for Team M so to have her leave is definitely going to make a difference with the group.

In her graduation statement she cites that she feels as someone entering their third year of junior high that she would not be able to handle both work and school. So she has decided to graduate from NMB48 to concentrate on her studies.

I honestly do not think that there is any hidden scandal with her debut. Usually the rumor of the scandal breaks out before this kind of announcement and Jo has always come off as honest so it does not seem to fit her image. So I do believe that her reason to concentrate on her school work more is sincere unlike with most cases when it is used as a reason for graduation.

It is known that she is a big fan of Maeda Atsuko and many speculate that with her graduating Jo may have lost some interest in continuing being a part of the AKS family.

What is known is that she will leaving a big hole in Team M and the NMB48 senbatsu line-up. She was the one constant member of Team M that got pushed.

Her graduation has hit me harder than I thought it would. Probably because I actually had the chance to know her. But I can sympathize with wanting to put school first and not feeling up to being able to balance the two well. So I wish her the best in whatever her future brings and I want to enjoy the remaining time she has with the group, as I will miss be missing her brilliant smile when she is gone.

AKS Master Post 001

Okay, I figure since I don't follow the non-Johnny's idols as much I would instead of doing the usual update posts I do for Johnny's I would just wait until I have a few different bits of news for the groups and do a master post for them. If anything this will make skipping non-Johnny's posts a bit easier for the Johnny's only fans and it will make things easier for me.

I will start off with rounding up the latest news for the AKS group I do bother to actually follow, NMB48. They have already announced their next single that will be released on November 7th. Like usual for their single announcements there is no other information about the single out.

Ameblo article. (Japanese)

NMB48 will also be releasing a DVD of Team N's second stage, Seishun Girls. The DVD will be released on September 25th and is already up for pre-order.

  NMB48 Team N 2nd Stage "Seishun Girls" / NMB48

They also will have their first photo book released on September 16th, title Kyun to Doki. It will feature NMB48 members; Mayu Ogasawara, Haruna Kinoshita, Riho Kotani, Rina Kondo, Kei Jonishi, Miru Shiroma, Aina Fukumoto, Yuki Yamaguchi, Nana Yamada, Sayaka Yamamoto, Akari Yoshida, Miyuki Watanabe, Eriko Jo, Airi Tanigawa, Ayame Hikawa, Ayaka Murakami, Sae Murase, Fuko Yagura, Keira Yogi, and Shu Yabushita.

NMB48 First Shashinshu (Photo Book) "Kyun to Doki" / NMB48

And now for the massive news that is currently shaking up the AKS fandom is that AKB48 is having a member shuffle. What this means is that the group has been returned to be only three teams, A, K & B, with Team 4 now disbanded but the sixteen member limit of the teams has been changed. No word if there is a new limit of members for a team but two of the current teams are now 23 members big and the other has 22.

Here is the full list of the changes (taken from the aramatheydidnt post):

→AKB General Manager: Takahashi Minami

→Team A:
Captain: Shinoda Mariko
Takahashi Minami (ex Captain of Team A)
Kasai Tomomi (ex Team B)
Sato Sumire (ex Team B)
Sato Natsuki (ex Team B)
Watanabe Mayu (ex Team B)
Kikuchi Ayaka (ex Team K)
Nito Moeno (ex Team K)
Nakatsuka Tomomi (ex Team K)
Matsui Sakiko (ex Team K)
Yokoyama Yui (ex Team K) [Also a member of NMB48]
Iriyama Anna (ex Team 4)
Iwata Karen (ex Team 4)
Kawaei Rina (ex Team 4)
Nakamata Shiori (ex Team 4)
Takahashi Juri (ex Team 4)
Tano Yuka (ex Team 4)
Izuta Rina (Formerly w/o team)
Kobayashi Marina (Formerly w/o team)
Morikawa Ayaka (Formerly w/o team)
Oshima Ryouka (Promoted)
Kotani Riho [Also a member of NMB48]

 →Team K:
Captain: Oshima Yuko
Akimoto Sayaka (ex Captain of Team K)
Itano Tomomi (No change)
Uchida Mayumi (No change)
Matsui Jurina (No change) [Also a member of SKE48]
Kuramochi Asuka (ex Team A)
Maeda Ami (ex Team A)
Matsubara Natsumi (ex Team A)
Nakata Chisato (ex Team A)
Nakaya Sayaka (ex Team A)
Chikano Rina (ex Team B)
Kitahara Rie (ex Team B) [Also a member of SKE48]
Kobayashi Kana (ex Team B)
Masuda Yuka (ex Team B)
Miyazaki Miho (ex Team B)
Sato Amina (ex Team B)
Suzuki Shihori (ex Team B)
Abe Maria (ex Team 4)
Nagao Mariya (ex Team 4)
Shimada Haruka (ex Team 4)
Fujita Nana (Formerly w/o team)
Mitsumune Kaoru (Promoted)
Muto Tomu (Promoted) 

→Team B:
Captain: Umeda Ayaka (ex Team K)
Kashiwagi Yuki (ex Captain of Team B)
Ishida Haruka (No change)
Komori Mika (No change)
Oya Shizuka (No change)
Watanabe Miyuki (No change) [Also a member of NMB48]
Iwasa Misaki (ex Team A)
Katayama Haruka (ex Team A)
Kojima Haruna (ex Team A)
Fujie Reina (ex Team K)
Minegishi Minami (ex Team K)
Nonaka Misato (ex Team K)
Tanabe Miku (ex Team K)
Ichikawa Miori (ex Team 4)
Kato Rena (ex Team 4)
Nakamura Mariko (ex Team 4)
Oba Mina (ex Captain of Team 4)
Shimazaki Haruka (ex Team 4)
Takeuchi Miyu (ex Team 4)
Yamauchi Suzuran (ex Team 4)
Kojima Natsuki (Formerly w/o team)
Natori Wakana (Formerly w/o team)
Ishida Anna [Also a member of SKE48]

 →SKE48: Kitahara Rie [Also a member of AKB48]

 →NMB48: Yokoyama Yui [Also a member of AKB48]

 →HKT48: Ota Aika (ex Team A)

 →SNH48: Miyazawa Sae (ex Team K) & Suzuki Mariya (ex Team B)
 →JKT48: Takajo Aki (ex Team A) & Nakagawa Haruka (ex Team A)


Of course not really being an AKB48 fan I do not feel too affected by the changes outside of the two NMB48 members now in the group and an AKB48 member joining NMB48. As well as the two AKB48 members that I do like, Akimoto Sayaka and Mitsumune Kaoru.

For Sayaka a part of me is not surprised at her losing the position of captain for Team K. Not because of anything she has done as she seems to be very good at the position but I feel like her time with the group should be coming to an end as I feel she could do just as well as a solo talent than being a part of this group. Especially as she seems to be rather neglected with the group and I just think it is time for her to move on. So I would not be surprised if being removed from that position is in preparation for a graduation later on in the near future.

I am really happy that Kaoru has finally been promoted out of KKS status and is a part of one of the teams. Team K is a good fit as it is the group known to have a more mature image which I think she fits well with. Hopefully this will just be the start for her and she continues to get solid drama roles as I think being a part of AKB48 will do her well to get her acting career established. Not to mention she is a part of the younger generations of girls that will have to step up and get noticed to keep the group popular.

And now onto thoughts about the NMB48 changes. Since Watanabe Miyuki actually has not had a change in her membership with either group there is not much to say about it. Kotani Riho being given the same kind of dual membership as her though is a bit surprising. Milky has always been a popular member of NMB48 while Ripopo has been mainly middle-tier. In fact her sub-unit Namaba Teppoutai was all about the fact that the girls in it were not the most well known but were trying to reach the level of the five members that placed in the general elections. But I guess management believes she is worth pushing and so will be bound to get some strong pushes now that she is also a member of Team A.

Since I do not really follow AKB48 I am not too familiar with Yokoyama Yui. I looked up her profile and it says she is from Kyoto so it does make sense for her to be placed with the Kansai group as it is in the same region.

I actually do not mind her being placed with NMB48 as one of the biggest issues I have had with NMB48 recently is the fact that they do stray from promoting the same girls all the time. With having an AKB member in the group than that will at least break that up a bit, in fact I am certain Yui will probably end up near the center position of the line up for the single they recently announced. And if Yui ends up in Team BII then it could help break the near monopoly of Team N when it comes to interest and attention. So I do see this as a positive thing for now at least.

Because I am not an AKB48 fan I do not think I can join in the fanwankage over this and actually look forward to what there changes are going to bring. Of course if this is the news AKS brings out for the first of the three days of the Tokyo Dome concerts I do not even want to guess what the next two days are going to bring.

Introducing… Happiness

I know this is late in the month, but better late than never. The next group should not take very long seeing at how new they are.

L to R: SAYAKA, YURINO, KAREN, MAYU, MIYUU & KAEDE

Technically Happiness is a performance group rather than an idol group, much like how EXILE is considered a performance group. Which should be no surprise given that Happiness is one of EXILE’s “little sister” groups. But most just lump them with idol groups anyway so I do not think it will make much of a difference.

Happiness caught my attention when I learned one of the members, KAREN, was the younger sister of 7 WEST’s Fujii Ryusei. Though to be honest if she was not one of the vocalists of the group I probably would not have stuck with them long enough to become a fan. Which is why I am a fan of Happiness and not Flower, the group that has Ryusei's other sister in it. As like with EXILE only two members of the group sing and the rest are just dancers.

The two vocalists of the group are KAREN and MAYU, with MAYU also being the last member to join the group. Then the other four, SAYAKA, YURINO, MIYUU and KAEDE are dancers for the group.

The forte of the group is dancing, which only makes sense when only two of the girls are vocalists. It also means that seeing them perform is essential to see their strength as a group. Thankfully under Universal they get their PVs put up on youtube so anyone can watch them.

They also appear on shows connected to their “older brother” group EXILE.

As a performance group they have a mature image compared to idol groups with members of the same age. In fact it tends to surprise people that the members of this group are either fifteen or sixteen years old.

One of the group’s members, MIMU, is currently on hiatus. The reason given was the standard to focus on studies one so there is speculation on what the reason really is. But with her inactive the group is progressing on as a six member group. Only time is going to tell if she will return or just never be spoken of ever again.

So far the group has released four singles and one album. They usually have a bit of a wait between releases so if you do not want to follow a group that will swamp you with their releases this would be a good group in that respect.

Happiness also falls under the LDH (Love Dream Happiness) grouping that EXILE has for their girl groups. It also means that they are a part of E-Girls, the super girl group that is made up of the members of other LDH groups like Dream and Flower. Recently though they have changed to a competitive selection method for who performs in E-Girls as they have added another girl group, bunny, to the LDH line up as well as let trainees be in E-Girls.

NMB48's Virginity ... щ(ಥДಥщ)

Finally we have the title of the upcoming NMB48 single as well as full track listings. Though I think I could live without the title of the A-side, which is Virginity.

Virginity Type A
[CD]
1.Virginity
2.Musou Girlfriend
3.Bokura no Regetta (Shirogumi)
4.Virginity (Off Vocal)
5.Musou Girlfriend (Off Vocal)
6.Bokura no Regetta (Shirogumi) (Off Vocal)


 [DVD] 
1.Virginity MV  
2.Virginity MV (Dance Mix Version)
3.Musou Girlfriend MV 
4.Bokura no Regetta (Shirogumi) MV 
5.Special Movie ""Goodnight movie (1st half)" 

Virginity Type B

[CD]
1.Virginity
2.Musou Girlfriend
3.Sonzai Shitenai Mono  (Akagumi)
4.Virginity (Off Vocal)
5.Musou Girlfriend (Off Vocal)
6.Sonzai Shitenai Mono  (Akagumi) (Off Vocal)


 [DVD] 
1.Virginity MV  
2.Virginity MV (Dance Mix Version)
3.Musou Girlfriend MV 
4.Sonzai Shitenai Mono (Akagumi) MV 
5.Special Movie ""Goodnight movie (2nd half)" 

Virginity Type C

[CD]
1.Virginity
2.Musou Girlfriend
3.Sunahama de Pistol   (Namaba Teppoutai)
4.Virginity (Off Vocal)
5.Musou Girlfriend (Off Vocal)
6.Sunahama de Pistol  ( Namaba Teppoutai) (Off Vocal)


 [DVD] 
1.Virginity MV  
2.Virginity MV (Dance Mix Version)
3.Musou Girlfriend MV 
4.Sunahama de Pistol ( Namaba Teppoutai) MV 
5.Special Movie: NMB feat.吉本新喜劇 Vol.4

Virginity Theatre Edition

[CD]
1.Virginity
2.Bokura no Regetta (Shirogumi)
3.Sonzai Shitenai Mono (Akagumi)
4.Chotto Nekoze
5.Virginity (Off Vocal)
6. Bokura no Regetta (Shirogumi)(Off Vocal)
7. Sonzai Shitenai Mono (Akagumi) (Off Vocal)

8. Chotto Nekose (ff Vocal)

I cannot say I am thrilled with the song. I like that it has a 50s/60s retro sound to it but the title and lyrics leave much to be desired. Though it does make me feel glad that Yogi Keila is not in the senbatsu as I do not need to hear a twelve year old sing about virginity. In fact having Jo Erika (14) still in makes me side eye this song pretty hard right now.

At least Musou Girlfriend is a decent song and hopefully the other B-sides will be good. I already like the sound of Namba Teppoutai's Sunahama de Pistol. Hopefully it will be as fun as the name sounds as it looks like that will be the version I will buy of this single.

NMB48 Janken results and 5th single sub-units

Well a lot of things for NMB48 have recently happened and been announced. Here are some of the most recent.

First off NMB48 have done their group janken tournament which decided the six members of the group will participate in the AKB48 Janken tournament on September 18th. The girls are:

Team N: Kotani Riho & Shinohara Kanna
Team M: Kawakami Rena, Takano Yui, Hikawa Ayame & Yamagishi Natsumi

Hikawa Ayame was one of the girls from NMB48 that not only participated in that year's AKB48 Janken tournament but placed in the senbatsu so she seems to be pretty lucky. Hopefully she will be able to do the same this year as well.


Then we finally have the list of sub-units for the upcoming single, which is still untitled, and which girls will be in which sub-unit.

難波鉄砲隊其之壱 ("Namba Teppoutai Sono Ichi") (8) Kotani Riho, Yagura Fuuko, Yogi Keila, Yabushita Shu, Murakami Ayaka, Hikawa Ayame, Matsuda Shiori, Kato Yuuka

Akagumi (12) Watanabe Miyuki, Fukumoto Aina, Ogasawara Mayu, Yoshida Akari, Takano Yui, Yamaguchi Yuki, Okita Ayaka, Shinohara Kanna, Yamagishi Natsumi, Yamauchi Tsubasa, Hayashi Momoka, Akazawa Hono

Shirogumi (12) Yamamoto Sayaka, Yamada Nana, Jonishi Kei, Jo Eriko, Kondo Rina, Murase Sae, Shimada Rena, Kushiro Rina, Mita Mao, Azuma Yuki, Muro Kanako, Yamamoto Hitomi

So glad to see Nana return to Shirogumi. I missed her being with Sayaka last single for the Shirogumi song. Of course I have favorites in all three of the groups so this does not help me figure out if there is a version of the single I would feel fine skipping out on. That will have to wait until information about the DVD content comes out.

I am interested in the Namba Teppoutai Sono Ichi group, partly because there are some favorites, like Keila and Shu, in that group. But also because it is a group of girls that are not the most popular members so this looks like it could be a could chance for them to shine and rise in popularity some.


Also Team N's original stage has been given a new start date of August 19th and it is titled Shonichi.

I am really excited about this as it seems like such an important step for an AKS group to start getting their own stages for their teams. Especially as the songs will be for the members of the team and whenever another team covers the stage they will always be compared to those who did it first.

Get ready for Janken!

The date for the annual AKB48 Janken tournament has been announced for September 18th, taking place at Nippon Budokan. All team members of AKB48 will be in the tournament for that date while the AKB48 KKS, and the 48 sister groups will have preliminary rounds to send a select amount of their members to participate. The break down for those groups are 8 from SKE48, 6 from NMB48 and 3 from HKT48 and 1 KKS from AKB48.

This tournament is one of the big events of the year for AKS as unlike the senbatsu election that lets the fans decide which girls are the most popular and get to be in the senbatsu group for a single the janken (rock-paper-scissors game) leaves it all to chance. Each girl gets a single chance against another and moves on in the tournament until the one lucky enough to have beaten all her opponents in the tournament gets to be the center girl for the next AKB48 single. This way girls that may be unknown or never in the front get a chance to do just that. And unlike the senbatsu election the results are unpredictable.

IIRC, last year NMB48 was only able to send five members so it is nice that they get to send one extra this year. Especially since they managed to get two members into the janken senbatsu last year. And they will be having their own janken tournament for their group to decide who those six are on June 30th. So it will not be a long wait to know which NMB48 girls will be participating in the tournament. I hope girls that do not normally get pushed get in like last year as well.

ZONE - treasure of the heart ~Kimi to Boku no Kiseki~ PV review (17JUN2012)

I ordered this single with Hey! Say! JUMP's album and I plan on waiting until I can get the RE version of that album before I do a review for it. This single though is nicely contained with everything on the RE on the LE plus having the PV for the title track, treasure of the heart ~Kimi to Boku no Kiseki~ (treasure of the heart ~Your and My Miracle~). I would have done this review sooner but there were a few things that I wanted to research about it to see if I was right about some of the things I initially guessed at.

This single is ZONE's comeback single after they disbanded back in 2005. In 2011 they made a sorta comeback with a tribute album and touring, mostly to raise funds for the Tohoku region after the March 11th disaster. But with this single they are down to two members, Miyu and Maiko, and has been heralded as an actual comeback for the girl band.

I love this song, not only because it sounds like it could so easily have been a single before the band disbanded in 2005 but because the lyrics are just beautiful to me. From what I understand of the lyrics the song is basically about keeping those you have lost in your heart because they will live with you that way, so when you want to see them again you can in a way and that of course is the miracle of the treasure of the heart.

What really drives the emotional impact of the song is the connections to the Tohoku region as in the thank you section of the booklet two schools are thanked and they are both from the region that the earthquake/tsunami hit in 2011. And me being the sentimental person I am find myself incredibly moved by this. So much so that I do confess to crying each time I have watched this PV.

Miyu

Maiko

I guess to get it out of the way, the girls have really grown since 2005. They are both beautiful young women and I am glad to see them continue on, especially since it seems mainly fueled for helping the Tohoku region.

The PV itself is simple but effective with getting the message of the song across. The basic scenes it toggles between are those of Miyu and Maiko and the students out in the field.

It goes between just focusing on the students as well as having them in the background behind the girls.

Another major part of the PV are scenes of the students in various locations acting out small scenes. Like in the first one you have the boy on the street listening to music.

He sees a girl from his school and he is shocked by it.

And of course the girl disappears in a blink of an eye as she is only supposed to be a memory.

These scenes work very well with the song with only of the themes in it is being able to want to see someone again as the word 出逢い (to meet) is used frequently in the lyrics.

Thankfully they have these scenes in the field to give you a break from the heartache. Though you cannot completely forget it with the students with desks and chairs there in the background.

Probably the scene that got me the most, so much so I had to pause for a moment because I was crying too much by then, is this one. Just seeing the two two figures across the horizon and then the lone figure looking back at the girl no longer there just hits me hard.

Like I mentioned earlier the booklet thanked two schools and I have the feeling that is because they used them for these school shots. And they are pretty eerie as so much of it is empty classrooms, but again it is another way the PV tugs at the heart strings.

I love this shot and the fact they held off on putting it in until the end. It is just one of those shots that you just expect to either be at the start of end of PV.

And to make a note of it, watching the making of that was on the DVD as well shows that it was raining, well mainly sprinkling and drizzling, throughout the entire shooting. Not to mention it also being windy as well, so the weather was not really with them when they were making this. And of course you can tell they played with the look of some of the shots and it mainly has to be because of the weather.

And when we get to the end and see the girl give a small smile of hope my heart breaks in all the right ways. I feel it is a symbol of hope for the region in general, that after all they have lost they will keep living, keeping what they treasured the most but lost in their hearts so they can continue to live in them. (And yes I had to pause at this point because of my tears again.)

And then we get the end shot, and I love how the weather decided to work in their favor at some time during the shot so you get the sun there in the background shining through the clouds. It really gives you the sense of hope, seeing that beyond the clouds that the sun is still there shining.


So yea, this PV makes me cry but in a good way as I feel that just means that it worked for the message the song is trying to send. Because even though there were tears I still felt hopeful by the end.

Looking at the booklet that came with the CD Miyu is listed as writing the lyrics for this song. The other two songs have their lyrics written by her and Maiko, which I am happy with as I love it when idols move past just having all their songs handed to them and begin to be a part of the writing process for them. But I think Miyu did a wonderful job with this song. I may not understand it all but from what I can I can easily follow what is being sung and the general meaning of the song and it is really touching to me. This is a song that really moves me and the PV for it only helps cement the feelings it brings up in me which to me is a sign of a good PV.

My favorite lyric being　ずっと宝物だから。。。僕は歩いてゆく , which I believe should translate to something like "Always because of this treasure... I keep walking." I think these two lines sum up the song so well in terms of its theme and message.

And I think it is pretty understandable why this group would attach themselves to the Tohoku region, as they are from Hokkaido which is not far from it and it was probably a region that the girls are familiar traveling through from going to Tokyo to home in the past. That and so much of their initial reunion was in the region that I am sure it has left a lasting impression on them.

Overall I am so glad that I bought this single and the LE version at that. I not only feel that ZONE is back but feel the maturity that the girls are bringing to the group now that they have grown older since their days with the group years ago.

Team N dominates NMB48’s 5th single senbatsu

Well the announcement of the senbatsu (the NMB48 members that will be in the title track of the single) has been announced. It will consist of 16 girls:

Team N: Osagawara Mayu, Kodawaki Kanoko, Kishino Rika, Kinoshita Haruna, Kotani Riho, Jonishi Kei, Shiroma Miru, Fukumoto Aina, Yamada Nana, Yamamoto Sayaka, Yoshida Akari & Watanabe Miyuki

Team M: Jo Erika & Tanigawa Airi

3rd Gen KKS: Kato Yuka & Yabushita Shu

Compared to Nagiichi’s line-up we have Team N’s Kondo Rina and Team M’s Kinoshita Momoka, Murakami Ayaka and Yagura Fuuko out of the senbatsu.

Overall I am disappointed with the line-up. I do love Team N but I have been warming up to Team M and my favorite member of Team M, Yogi Keila, is not in the senbatsu, even though she has been before. That and it feels like Team M is really getting shafted.

I understand that Team N has the more popular girls, but a big part of why they are more popular is because they have been around longer and have had the most promotion because of this. And while Jo gets pushed a lot as Team M’s Ace, not many other Team M members get as promoted. Not only that but with the past NMB Seven group having only Jo and Airi in it there is a good chance that they will be in the group again with this single, which means they are the only Team M members that will be on the covers of the single, with the rest being stuck in either Under Girls, Shirogumi and Akagumi groups. And with 3rd Gen KKS in the senbatsu then that means there is a good chance we will be seeing some in Shirogumi and Akagumi which could mean some Team N and Team M members could end up only in the Under Girls group which does not get a PV like the senbatsu, Shirogumi and Akagumi. And honestly I am more worried about the Team M members than Team N because of the reasons stated.

That said though, I do not mind having a couple of the 3rd Gen KKS in the senbatsu line-up, as this is a good time to start promoting a couple members anyway. By the end of the year we should have Team BII announced so it makes sense that they start promoting any potential Aces, much like they did with Jo prior to Team M’s formation. Plus Shu interests me so I welcome the chance to learn a bit more about her as I have yet to watch anything with her in it. And having them in Shirogumi and Akagumi is okay too, as it should hopefully give some other 3rd Gen KKS a bit of promotion, which they will need if they are to eventually be a part of Team BII. I do worry though if they will end up as overshadowed by Team N as Team M is.

Overall I think NMB48 is already in need of a team shuffle if those managing the group are not going to make way for the newer teams/girls. I do not think we will see one until all three teams are formed and have been around for a bit, but if next year the group is still Team N heavy then a shuffle would only be for the best, IMHO.

Other than that my hopes for this single is that hopefully the title track will be as good as Zetsumetsu Kurokami Shoujo or Junjou U-19, and that the Shirogumi and Akagumi groups will make up for the lack of Team M girls in the senbatsu. It would also be awesome if the theater edition continues to have a solo song for its bonus track. But there is still a good amount of time between now and August so I am sure it will be a while before that kind of information is announced.

An election I can actually get behind. (AKB48 senbatsu election 2012)

The day is upon us, where Japan is seeing record breaking sales numbers and AKB48 invades everything (more than usual that is). That is the day the AKB48 senbatsu election began with the release of AKB48’s summer single. This year the single is Manatsu no Sounds Good, and will most likely be AKB48’s highest selling single as not only is it the election single but it is the last single the group’s Ace, Maeda Atsuko, will participate in. Already it has sold about 1.2 million copies  (and 2 million copies were shipped for the release) and while the numbers will most likely drop the single will have a longevity that other AKB48 singles do not have because of the election tied to it.

For those who do not know, the AKB48 senbatsu election is held yearly and for every copy of the single a fan buys they can make a vote for a girl. This is in hopes that the girl will make it into the senbatsu, which are the selected girls that participate in the title tracks for singles, go on the music shows to perform, and do other media related things in connection of a AKB48 single release. Which considering AKB48 singles tend to sell over a million copies is a pretty big thing. Of course the AKB48 girls are not the only ones that are eligible to gain a spot in the AKB senbatsu, the members of their sister groups SKE48, NMB48 and HKT48 can also be voted for in the election.

There have been some changes this year to accommodate the amount of members in these groups. The break down used to be the top 12 were the senbatsu and 13-40 could be Undergirls, which is a group that usually get a B-side song/PV on AKB48 singles and could be considered understudies in case one of the senbatsu members cannot fulfill their duties. This year the senbatsu will be the top 16 girls and there are three groups of 16 members each after them, Undergirls, Next Girls and Future Girls that will be for those who place in the 17-64 positions. One can only assume that those three groups will all work like the Undergirls group and be mainly for the B-sides of future singles.

Since NMB48 is in this I will definitely be keeping watch of how things go. I was happy that Yamamoto Sayaka ended up in the Undergirls group last year, as NMB48 had really just started out so there was worry none of them would place. This year things look good for her so far with the first day votes already out and she is in 18^th place with fellow NMB48 member, Watanabe Miyuki right behind her. There are three other NMB48 members placing so far, Ogasawara Mayu (31st), Fukumoto Aina (54) and Yamada Nana (42), all from Team N.

I will be getting a copy of Manatsu no Sounds Good so I can put in a vote. I was worried that pre-ordering it with NYC’s Haina might delay it too much but in the end I had to wait for a copy of Manatsu no Sounds Good to come in to complete my order before it was sent out today. It takes about a week to get my orders from CDJapan with Airmail so I should be able to vote before the election ends. Of course I only have one vote, so I have a bit of a dilemma with who to vote for.

Last year I voted for Yamada Nana, as it felt like a complete no brainer to me as she was easily my favorite girl of the group. Since then though I have really taken a liking to Yamaguchi Yuuki (Yuppi) and was originally planning on voting for her even though she has yet to take the place of Nana as my favorite. While Nana is in the top 64 from the first day votes she is pretty low. I really want to see her place this year so I now want to vote for her as well. I think the best course of action in the end would be to wait to see what the latest voting results will be when I finally get my copy of the single. If Nana has dropped in places then I will vote for her, but if she stays at her current rank or rises then I will go ahead and vote for Yuppi like I originally planned to.

Maybe next year I will be able to afford two election CDs and I can vote for both of them and save myself this trouble.

In any case I am rather excited for all this as I am sure all fans of AKB48 and their sister groups are. But thankfully it only happens once a year as I do not think it would feel as grand as it does as an annual event.

Introducing ... NMB48

As I mentioned before I will begin introducing the few girl groups I follow on this blog. It will be only one a month and the group that gets to start it all off is NMB48.

As things stand now NMB48 is my favorite girl group. I gained interest in the group when I first heard about it being formed, as it was the first AKS group that was formed after I began paying some attention to AKB48. My interest was solidified though when I learned that Nakayama Nana, the older sister of Nakayama Yuma, was one of the girls trying out for the group under the stage name Yamada Nana. So with the Johnny’s connection in place NMB48 became the AKS group of choice for me.

The set up for AKS groups can seem daunting at first, if just because of the sheer numbers of girls. This was one reason I was initially interested in NMB48 as it could be an AKS group I could follow from the beginning when there would not be so many girls in the group. It also made it easier to understand the make up of a group like AKB48.

Basically each AKS main group, i.e. AKB48, SKE48, etc… routinely have auditions for new girls to join. For NMB48 so far it has been yearly but it is not always so. After the girls are picked they become KenKyuuSei (KKS) and assigned a generation, the girls selected from the first auditions are the 1st generation KKS, the girls from the second are 2nd generation KKS and so on. At some point teams of 16 girls are formed. Each team gets its name from a letter in the name of the group, so far NMB48 has a Team N and a Team M for example. The teams usually remain static until a girl must leave, which in Japanese girl group terms is graduating from the group. There have been a few of that with NMB48, but mainly KKS and the two team members that graduated had health issues that prevented them from being active members anymore.

Another concept I picked up from NMB48 is that each team will have a leader and an ace. The leaders so far are Yamamoto Sayaka for Team N and Shimada Rena for Team M. The ace is basically the girl that gets the most attention and is often the center. Some might argue that Sayaka also is the Team N ace but usually most concede that Watanabe Miyuki holds that role. For Team M it is much more obvious that Jo Erika is the ace for that team as she was heavily promoted before Team M was even formed.

So what is the point of all these teams and what do you do with a group with so many members you may ask? Well simply you have them perform live “stages”, which are kinda like concerts but are tailored to involve sixteen members, or one team. These stages are meant to be performed daily at the theater the girls are based in. When AKB48 was not nearly as well known the theater aspect seemed to be more balanced as Akimoto Yasushi, the brain behind everything, had a pretty good schedule for writing stages for the teams. Since there are so many releases now and he still writes all, though he has been considering finally bringing in other lyricists, the rate that a new stage comes out has decreased dramatically. So the AKB48 sister groups have to use the stages from the older groups until they eventually get their own stage. So far the NMB48 teams have done stages from AKB48 but Team N should be getting their own original stage soon at least.

There are also plenty of other things that the girls are kept busy with. From have them appear on TV programs, in magazines and of course release CDs. And since NMB48 is under the Yoshimoto talent agency, who specialize in comedians, NMB48 have comedy elements to them, kinda like Kanjani8 is with Johnny’s & Associates.

I have found following the shows that the girls are on is one of the best ways to get to know them. Most of the programs rotate girls for their appearances so it does give you the chance to know more than the just the most popular girls and you can only follow one or two programs and get to see most of the girls.

I really did not expect to follow NMB48 so much, but as Nana is one of the top girls it was easy to get to see and know some of the other members by following her. Though mostly at this point my interest is with the Team N members there are definitely members of Team M that interest me. But if I have to choose favorites, other that Nana of course, Yamamoto Sayaka, Shiroma Miru and Yamaguchi Yuuki of Team N and Yogi Keila of Team M are at the top of my list. Though I do have my eye on some other girls, like Fukumoto Aina of Team N, Shimada Rena and Mita Mao of Team M, 1st generation KKS Ota Ayaka, and Yabushita Shu of the 3rd generation KKS.

So far the group has released four singles and a few have appeared on AKB48 singles, especially Sayaka. I hope that they will do well with the upcoming AKB48 general elections, as I really would love to see these girls do well as to me they are pretty entertaining and the kind of idols I would have no problem watching on variety programs, even those about eating food, as they have that Osakan knack of being able to make things interesting more often than not.

Right now probably the best way to get an introduction to the members of NMB48 is to check out their videos for the upcoming AKB senbatsu election. Each girl made up a pitch that lasts about one minute for why they should be voted into the AKB senbatsu (the group of girls that are a part of the AKB48 CDs, represent the group in the media, etc…). So it gives you a quick introduction to each current member of the group, and some of them are pretty entertaining. NMB48 also has an official Youtube channel where they upload their music videos and other various videos to watch. So checking that out is a good way to get to know the group a bit better and you never have to worry about hunting for their PVs as they are all there, in full even, to view. You can also visit their official home page to learn more about the groups, which it is good for looking up the names to the faces.

Honestly I would have never thought I would ever become a fan of any AKS group, but NMB48 won me over. And I hope others give them a try as well.