Other Idols Master Post 009

From L to R: Kana, Aya and Li

Sadly I have to start out this post with the news of members leaving a group. Kana and Li from the indie idol group Love La Doll will be leaving the group to pursue a non-idol life. This will leave on Aya as the sole member of the group. The group's final live performances as a trio will be at the Tokyo Idol Festival 2013 on July 27th and 28th.

OHP Information page (Japanese)


In a little happier news for the group Aya has a role in an upcoming production. She with other idols will be part of the cast for Pirates of the Desert which will run from July 10 to July 15 and star Dream5's Hibi Mikoto for the July 10-12 performances.

AmiPro site (Japanese)


It is always sad to see a member leave a group, especially when it comes to smaller groups. And then add on the fact they are an indie group and it makes a fan feel anxious. Though the staff did say that they plan to continue on with Aya but I wonder if they will be adding new members in the future. It will seem strange to only have a group made out one member.

I wish the best for the group though as a fan. I am sad to see Kana and Li leave and wish them the best in whatever they plan to do for the rest of their lives.

Other Idols Master Post 008

The LDH girl groups, Happiness and Flower will be releasing new singles on the same day. It is so the two groups will compete against each other for number of sales. Both singles will have three versions of the singles. A limited edition with a DVD, a regular edition and then a special limited edition which will only cost 500 Yen (a "one coin single" as these tend to be called as the largest coin amount in Yen is 500) that will only have the title track on it.

Happiness' single will be called Sunshine Dream - Ichido kiri no Natsu and both the LE w/DVD and RE will have the B-side Boyfriend (Sunshine version) on it. The LE w/DVD though has another track, Eien, on it as well.

Sunshine Dream - Ichido kiri no Natsu [w/ DVD, Limited Edition]

Happiness

Flower's single is called Taiyo to Himawari and both the LE w/DVD and RE will have the B-side Boyfriend (Moonlight version) on it. The LE w/DVD though has another track, whose title has not been revealed yet, on it as well.

Taiyo to Himawari [w/ DVD + Photo Book, Limited Edition]

Flower

Both groups will be doing a series of small concerts across Japan when the singles are released to promote them.


It will be interesting to see what the outcome of this will be, especially as Happiness has added two members to the group, which includes another vocalist. If anything releasing the singles like this will help the group garner some extra attention as well as getting their fans to want to make sure they pick up a copy of the single for their favorite group.

AKB48 General Election Results NMB48 Focus

Since NMB48 is the only group I care for anymore their results are all I will be reporting. I am live blogging so expect this post to updated through the night.

Future Girls

Ogasawara Mayu (54) Team N

Yoshida Akari (50) Team N

Yabushita Shu (49) Team BII

Next Girls

Yagura Fuko (44) Team M

Jonishi Kei (40) Team N

Under Girls

Yamada Nana (28) Team M

I will say I am so happy for Nana. It looked like she might have thought she was not going to rank after hearing Maa-chun's rank. I just know her speech is going to be filled with tears.

Of course this means Yamamoto Sayaka and Watanabe Miyuki are in the senbatsu, it is only a matter of where.

Senbatsu 

Watanabe Miyuki (15) Team N

Yamamoto Sayaka (14) Team N


Like probably everyone else I am surprised at Shinoda Mariko announcing her graduation. She was one of those members that one would think would be around forever. But now it is only until sometime this year if I heard right. Even though there have been some changes with the ranking this year it looks like next year will surely bring more.

AKS Master Post 013

This post will mainly be just going over the upcoming NMB48 single, Bokura no Euruka, which will be coming out June 19th. The single has the usual amount of versions, three store versions and one theater version. The type A has the Shirogumi song, type B has the Akagumi, while type C has a Namba Teppoutai Sono San song.

The theater version will have the title track, the Akagumi and Shirogumi songs, and Yamamoto Sayaka's (Sayaka) second solo song, Sayanee.

NMB48 OHP (Japanese)

The senbatsu for the title song is: Ogasawara Mayu (Team N); Kotani Riho (Team N); Jonishi Kei (Team N); Ichikawa Miori (Team N); Shiroma Miru (Team N); Yamamoto Sayaka (Team N); Yoshida Akari (Team N); Watanabe Miyuki (Team N); Shimada Rena (Team M); Takano Yui (Team M); Tanigawa Airi (Team M); Yagura Fuuko (Team M); Yamada Nana (Team M); Yogi Keila (Team M); Kato Yuka (Team BII); Yabushita Shu (Team BII)

Shirogumi is: Kishino Rika (Team N); Ogasawara Mayu (Team N); Kinoshita Haruna (Team N); Yamaguchi Yuki (Team N); Kadowaki Kanako (Team N); Yamamoto Sayaka (Team N); Azuma Yuki (Team M); Yamagishi Natsumi (Team M); Yamada Nana (Team M); Murakami Ayaka (Team M); Kusaka Konomi (Team BII); Kamieda Emika (Team BII)

Akagumi is: Ichikawa Miori (Team N); Koga Narumi (Team N); Kondo Rina (Team N); Watanabe Miyuki (Team N); Mita Mao (Team M); Okita Ayaka  (Team M); Kawakami Rena  (Team M); Yagura Fuuko (Team M); Kinoshita Momoka (Team M); Kurokawa Hazuki (Team BII); Muro Kanako (Team BII); Kobayashi Rikako (Team BII)

And Namba Teppoutai Sono San is: Shiroma Miru (Team N); Nishimura Aika (Team N); Murase Sae (Team M); Yogi Keila (Team M); Akazawa Hono (Team BII); Ota Yuuri (Team BII); Shibuya Nagisa (Kenkyuusei); Yamao Rina (Kenkyuusei)

Looking at the lists it does look like they are trying to promote Team M more than they have been, though it helps that Yamada Nana (Nana) is now Team M.

I already am favoring the Shirogumi for this single as it has Yamaguchi Yuki (Yuppi). It also helps that it is the group with Sayaka and Nana as well. If it was not for the theater version having a Sayaka solo I would have easily decided to have gotten the type A but instead I will be getting the theater edition of the CD. But I will make sure to buy the PV of the Shirogumi song off of the Japanese iTunes for those three.

The Namba Teppoutai Sono San of course is just a continuation of the unit from the past two singles. With Yogi Keila (Keila) and Shiroma Miru (Mirurun) in the senbatsu for this single I have the feeling that they are next to leave this grouping with the next single. And I would love to see that as I like them both and want to see them do more.

The full version of the PV is out already as well as a look at the bikini version. What interests me the most is that the full PV ends with a "to be continued", so I am wondering if the next single is already planned to at least have its PV linked to this one. I hope so, as I am a sucker for that kind of thing when it comes to PVs and the story line is one of the strongest things for it as the song is just so bland.

And Nana is indeed back to her position as the group's number three after Sayaka and Watanabe Miyuki (Milky). Ichikawa Miori (Miorin), the AKB48 concurrent member, was placed with the second tier girls instead of getting placed up with the top three like Yokoyama Yui was, which seems to have been more a reflection of general popularity of the two then to simple use NMB48 as a vehicle to promote them more.

I would like to note that I do appreciate the fact that for the bikini version of the PV the youngest girls in the senbatsu, Keila (13) and Yabushita Shu (14) are not in bikinis. I feel I should at least give some props to AKS for at least keeping with giving the younger girls more to cover themselves up with for these kinds of PVs. Especially when they have plenty of older girls that do not mind being in the skimpier outfits.

And I think I have rambled on long enough for this for now.

AKS Master Post 012

Well there have been various changes for NMB48 recently so this is probably long over due.

First up at the NMB48 Request Hour it was announced that Yamada Nana will be transferred to Team M from Team N. It was also announced that Kenkyusei Koga Narumi and Nishimura Aika were to be promoted to Team N.

Melos no Michi post (English)

Then at the AKB48 Budokan concerts we had some intergroup shuffling.

The cancellation of concurrent memberships included that AKB48 member, Yokoyama Yui is to be taken out of NMB48 to return to be only a member of AKB48. Kotani Riho of NMB48 is being taken out of AKB48 to go back to only being a NMB48 member.

New concurrent members from AKB48 to NMB48 is Team B member, Ichikawa Miori, who will now also be a member of Team N.

Then from NMB48, Team M's Yagura Fuuko will now be also a member of AKB48's Team A.

Melos no Michi post (English)


I feel these little line-ups shuffles for NMB48 deciding to start correcting the imbalance of popularity with NMB48's teams. Since the start Team N has been the most popular team as they got to enjoy being the only team and getting special focus for that. Yet because of that the other teams have not really been able to rise up to close to their level. It was not so bad at first for Team M because the had Jo Erika who got massive pushing from the agency but when she graduated it felt like Team M lost any steam it had. Of course it was not like they had nothing to offer as there are some true gems in Team M, but they no longer had that Ace to pull people in with. So in that sense moving Yamada Nana (Nana) to the team fixes that problem as she is going to bring a good chunk of fans with her. Not only that but the rising Ace of Team M, Yagura Fuuko (Fuuchan), is getting strong pushes, and her also being in Team A of AKB48 could do great things for her. And as she rises so should the rest of Team M.

Team BII probably was left alone from the shuffling as they are the newest team so it is hard to tell if they will end up in the same situation as Team M or not. If anything I think it is telling that they do not have a strong main Ace like Team M did starting up. And Yoshimoto probably wants to see if their plans will work for Team M before taking a look at Team BII.

Personally I am fine with the shuffling. It will be strange to see Nana not with Yamamoto Sayaka (Sayaka) and Watanabe Miyuki (Milky) on Team N, but with Yokoyama Yui (Yuihan) leaving she stands a good chance of returning to the top 3 again. I do not see Ishikawa Miori (Fresh Lemon) displacing her, but perhaps being in the top 4 just to remind fans they have a AKB48 member in the group. But then again I know next to nothing about Lemon, just that she is one of the newer AKB48 members.

I still think the group is in need of a complete shuffle, but until then this is at least a start and hopefully Team M will end up benefiting from these changes.

Other Idols Master Post 007

Love La Doll has updated their official shop on their website. (OHP Shop) The new items they have added is a T-shirt and a DVD with footage from their live in Singapore last year for Anime Festival Asia 2012.

They also have special bonuses for those who purchase items from the store, which for now includes photos and pin badges.

You do need a Japanese address to be able to purchase anything from the store.

~*

E-Girls' first album, Lesson 1, ranked number one on the Oricon chart for the week. This is the first time the group has ranked number 1 with one of their releases, number 2 being the highest they have gotten before.


So congrats to the girls for that. I just hope the groups that make up E-Girls all get chances to release something this year, though Dream is covered with a new single out next month.

Other Idols Master Post 006 (18APR2013)

It has been so long since I have checked this I discovered that I had news from over a month ago in it. So this post is going to focus on E-Girls, as they were the group I had the left over news from, and I will start catching up with the news for the few other non-Johnny's idols that I follow.

E-Girls looks like they have no plans to slow down as they have already announced a new single. The single is be titled Candy Smile and released on March 13th. It came in two versions, like most of their releases.

Candy Smile

E-girls

Candy Smile [CD+DVD]

E-girls

Shortly after the single release they announced that the mega-group will be releasing their debut album, title Lesson 1. It was released on April 17th and came in the usual two editions for the group.

Lesson 1

E-girls

Lesson 1 [w/ DVD, Limited Edition]

E-girls

While I was iffy about E-Girls when they first began the group has grown on me. And since Happiness is on break while one of their vocalists, Mayu, recovers it is probably going to be the only place I can see the girls being active right now. So I look forward to what they will come out with.

I am glad that I have not bought most of the group's singles, as the album pretty much has all the B-sides on it. If this is going to be the case with the group for the long term than I will just wait for the albums and get those. Of course it will be hard when they come out with a song I really like, as Celebration or Follow Me, but my pockets are not bottomless.

AKS Master Post 011 (11APR2013)

I know I have let a lot of news pass with NMB48 without doing one of these posts. Instead of trying to play catch up I want to instead just touch up on the more recent news for the group.


NMB48 have expanded their concert tour from just covering Western Japan but now Eastern Japan. Starting on June 11th they will begin touring cities in the Eastern half of Japan, finishing the tour on July 3rd at NHK Hall in Tokyo.

~~*

The group's show, NMB48 Geinin!!, has been renewed as NMB48 Geinin!! 2 and has begun airing this month. Because of graduations the main cast of the show has been changed and the main girls featured are Yamamoto Sayaka, Watanabe Miyuki, Yamada Nana, Ogasawara Mayu, Kotani Riho and Yokoyama Yu. The other members of the group will be on the show as well.

~~*

That is not the only TV show NMB48 has started already this month. They also now have a program titled Black Million, which like Geinin has the girls teaming up with comedians, but unlike Geinin it will be more like a game show.


NMB48 is really going to be the only AKS group I plan on following in the long term. Short term though Akimoto Sayaka is still in AKB48 so they have my interest for her at least. That and I find it interesting to follow things like the general election, even though I no longer feel the need to participate in it.

AKS Master Post 010

No, I have not quit doing these. Like I have mentioned before I do not follow non-Johnny's as much so there are times I will let my interest slip for the other groups or my interest with Johnny's eclipse my other interests. I have at least one more of these planned for AKS but this one I really only want to dedicate to one piece of recent news.


Akimoto Sayaka has announced that she plans of graduating from the group and thus has decided not to run in the upcoming general election. (aramatheydidnt)

Honestly I have been falling out of interest in AKB48 for a while and the only thing that had been keeping me in was Sayaka. She is the only girl that has not only gained but retained my interest over time. I admire her for being assertive and not willing to just take badmouthing from "fans" as well as being someone in AKB48 that took on a mentoring role to help other members out.

I am not surprised though that she has finally decided to graduate from the group. She was another member of the group that was not getting much out of being in the group, especially when they gave her position of team captain to someone else. But she has been a member that has gotten a good amount of solo work and she is aiming to continue her goal in becoming an actress so I feel that she will do fine post-graduation. If anything her time in the group has helped her make connections that should help her continue to get work, especially since she is not leaving because of a scandal.

I look forward to seeing what Sayaka's future will bring and hope to see her in future dramas I will want to watch.

AKS Master Post 009

Even if the first season of AKB0048 is not legally streamed online U.S. fans do not have to worry, because it will be coming to home video with the second season sometime later this year. Sentai Films has announced that it has the license and will have it available digitally at first with the physical release of the series coming out later.

So if you live in the U.S. and want to legally support the girls and the show you will be able to.

Anime News Network article (English)

~*

We finally have track listings for NMB48's upcoming album, Teppen Tottande! that will be released February 27th.

Type N:
01. Teppen Tottande!
02. Zetsumetsu kurokami shoujo
03. Oh My God!
04. Junjou U-19
05. Nagiichi
06. Virginity
07. Kenji Kitagawa
08. HA! (NMB48 Ver.)
09. 12/31
10. Lily (Team N)
11. Jungle Gym (Yamamoto Sayaka)
12. Hoshokushatachi yo
13. NMB48
14. Seishun no Laptime
15. Boku wa Matteiru

Type M:
01. Teppen Tottande!
02. Zetsumetsu kurokami shoujo
03. Oh My God!
04. Junjou U-19
05. Nagiichi
06. Virginity
07. Kenji Kitagawa
08. HA! (NMB48 Ver.)
09. 12/31
10. With My Soul (Team M)
11. Waruki (Watanabe Miyuki)
12. Kesshou
13. Namekuji Heart (Kondo Rina, Shiroma Miru, Watanabe Miyuki, Yagura Fuuko, Yogi Keira, Ota Yuuri, Kushiro Rina, Yabushita Shu, Nishimura Aika)
14. NMB48
15. Seishun no Laptime
16. Boku wa Matteiru

Type B:
01. Teppen Tottande!
02. Zetsumetsu kurokami shoujo
03. Oh My God!
04. Junjou U-19
05. Nagiichi
06. Virginity
07. Kenji Kitagawa
08. HA! (NMB48 Ver.)
09. 12/31
10. Almond Croissont Keikuku (Team BII)
11. Mikazuki no Senaka
12. Fuyushougun no Regret
13. Dazai Osamu o Yonda ka? (Yamada Nana, Yamamoto Sayaka, Yokoyama Yui)
14. NMB48
15. Seishun no Laptime
16. Boku wa Matteiru


I am a bit disappointed that we have so many of their B-sides on the album. But it did finally help me make up my mind on which version to get, Type M as it has one of the concerts on the DVD and has the most songs that I do not already own.

Other Idols Master Post 005

Great news for Love La Doll fans, the group will be releasing their debut album next month of February 6th. The title of the album is lovedes, and unfortunately there seems to be no more information out about it. It is up for pre-order on CDJapan though.

lovedes

Love La Doll

I can only assume that this is being timed for the group's first oneman concert later in February. It makes sense as you do need about an album's worth of songs to be able to do a full solo concert unless you do a lot of covers.

They also did a massive overhaul of their OHP so not only does it look much nicer but it has more information that is easier to find.

AKS Master Post 008

Been a while since I did one of these so it is about time for one of these.


Crunchyroll has announced that they will be streaming the second season of AKB0048, the anime series based off of the idol group.

No word if they will also be putting up the first season of the anime series as well.

Anime News Network (English)


I have watched the first season of this, which I enjoyed for what it was. I am rather happy with the idea I have a legal way to watch this now and I hope that they get the rights for the first season as well at some point.

~*

NMB48 has a title for their upcoming album, Teppen Tottande! We also have some information about what to expect on the different versions.

Type N: NMB48 Kinki Concert Tour ~Mina-san, Chapuchapu Shimasho, 2012/08/21 Osaka Prefecture, Orix Theater footage
Type M: Osaka Juuban Shoubu Tour, (more than 60mins footage)
Type B: HA! Full PV

Confirmed songs for the track list (all types):
Zetsumetsu Kurokami Shoujo 
Oh My God! 
Junjou U-19 
Nagiichi 
Virginity 
Kitagawa Kenji
Seishun no Lap Time 
NMB48 
HA! (NMB48 Ver.) 
Boku wa Matteiru

There is also to be seven new songs. Two of those songs are going to be exclusive to Type M and B versions, with one each being on a version and having a PV to go with them.


I now do not which version I want to get. The DVD extras for Type N and M look so worth it being concert footage. I think I will have to wait and see what the original songs are, like if there are any solos, duets, or smaller groupings with girls I am a fan of in them.

I do love that we will be getting NMB48 on a CD finally. I have loved the song since first hearing it performed and have been hoping for a CD release for it since. And I like that HA! will be on the album as well, as I really do not want to get Eien Pressure just for the one song and now I do not have to.

Other Idols Master Post 004

As things seem to have quieted down with the holidays I figured it was time to see about doing some of these master posts to do some catch up with news for these various groupings.


Love La Doll will be having their first oneman live on February 23rd, 2013. It will be held at TwinBox Akihabara which holds up to 200 people.

Concert OHP (Japanese)

They also have opened up an online store for fans in Japan to order some goods from. So far they have a muffler towel and a Happi Set (a Happi coat with their most recent single) up for sale. It also looks like fans can buy tickets through this site as well.

Online Store (Japanese)


Really happy for both pieces of news. The opening of the online store is just another step towards the group becoming more established. The concert does this as well but also is proof that the group is doing well.

If the indie idol concerts are anything like the indie visual kei concerts I went to when I was in Japan then for the ones that had more than one group there you would be asked to say which group you came for. This for vk bands would be the difference between making or losing money as they would have to pledge that they could get a certain number of fans in the venue and if less than that amount showed they would have to pay for the number of fans that did not come. I would not be surprised if indie idols was something of the same, with of course their management being the ones to decide on the numbers. But what it is useful for is that if a group gets strong showings then it can indicate that they could do a oneman concert, which is a concert that only has the one act. If that is the case than I am really happy and proud of Love La Doll to have reached that level in less than a year since debut.

And while a 200 capacity venue is small there are smaller venues and if they can sell out one this size it will still mean really good things for the group.

~*

There is a short version of the PV for the title track of the DANCE EARTH PARTY debut single, Inochi no Rhythm.

I like the song, even though there is nothing that screams unique about it. But Crystal Kay sounds great and I love this kind of song so I have little doubt that I will not love the full version of it.

~*

While not an idol I figure this is a good a place to talk about one of my favorite all time J-pop artist, Utada Hikaru. With her recent release of the digital only song Sakura Nagashi, which is the theme song for the third Neon Genesis Evagelion movie and first song she has released since she went on hiatus, she had past the 36 million mark for digital downloads.

Music Japan Plus (English)

As a long term fan, she won me over with her debut album back int 1999, I cannot help but feel really happy for Hikki. Especially since for an artist that has been around as long as she has she really has not released much with only six studio albums released in Japan to count towards this.

I doubt that she is going to return anytime soon from her hiatus though. I hope that perhaps she might next year when it is her 15th debut anniversary year. But even then I feel I should not press my luck like that. Hikki has always been more of a my pace kind of artist and if you have been a fan of hers for a long time you know that patience is key.