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.
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.
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.
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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.
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.
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.
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.
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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.
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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.
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.
