R&B vocalist SEAMO has a new album coming out, and it certainly isn’t his usual soulful fare.
The album will be called “5 Women” and it’ll be available on December 15th. The unique twist to this release is that it’s actually a collaboration album between SEAMO and five different women. He will challenge them all on the album in a test to prove himself.
The guests on the album will sing with him one after another, with the leading track featuring “ViVi” magazine model and singer Sara Mary. Both SEAMO and Sara May are powerful vocalists and coincidentally come from the same hometown, so this will certainly be an interesting collaboration.
SEAMO hasn’t revealed the names of the remaining women yet, but fans should stay tuned for future news on this exciting release!
For those who might not know who SEAMO or Sara Mary are, here is some of the latest from both of them:
AKB48’s preview for the PV of ’Beginner‘ has just been released!
As we’ve mentioned in a previous post, this single will come in five versions which includes 2 CD+DVDs, 2 Event editions, and a regular edition. It’s set to hit shelves and e-stores on October 27th, and will serve as the group’s 18th single.
A press conference for the upcoming live-action drama, “Reinoryokusha Odagiri Kyoko no Uso” was held on September 29th. “Reinoryokusha Odagiri Kyoko no Uso” was originally a manga by Kaitani Shinobu, the famous mangaka of “LIAR GAME”.
Actress Ishihara Satomi stars as the main character, a charismatic but fake psychic who is appealed to by the police to help solve criminal cases.
At the press conference, Satomi showed up in complete character by wearing the psychic’s “formal dress”. Interestingly enough, the actress participated in designing the dress, which made her stand at 180cm tall (she is originally 157cm).
She laughed, “It feels like I’m wearing a wedding dress.”
Other cast members were also present at the press conference, including Tanihara Shosuke and AKB48’s Ohshima Yuko. The drama will start airing on October 10th.
J-rock unit, Porno Graffitti, has announced that they will be releasing a new single, “Kimi ha 100%” on October 27th. It’s been 8 months since they released their last single, “Hitomi no oku wo Nozokasete.”
As a follow-up song for the new single, they will include their cover of “Get It On” (T.Rex) which was used for a pepsi NEX CM (They also stared in the CM). In addition to that, they will add one more song to the single, but the details have not been revealed yet. Details of the upcoming single as well as the privileges will be up on Porno Graffitti’s official site later.
“The Lion King“, as performed by Shiki Theatre Company, has recently reached its 7,000th performance since it first debuted back in 1998. They are the fastest musical to achieve this feat in Japanese musical history.
At the special curtain call, 60 child actors/actresses who have played the roles of Shimba and Nala (childhood) in the past, jumped onto the stage and celebrated the great record.
Charming actress Kitagawa Keiko co-starred with Hello Kitty in a CM for the collaboration bag between fashion magazine “with” and fashion brand “Samantha Thavasa.” Keiko was extremely happy to co-star with Hello Kitty, as she’s been an adoring fan of her since she was a little girl.
The CM utilized computer graphics, so Keiko said that it was difficult to act as if Kitty was there.
The November issue of ‘with’ will include Keiko’s interview, as well as the making of the CM. The issue hit shelves on the 28th, and the CM also began airing in the Kanto area today.
Cast members (Shibasaki Koh, Ninomiya Kazunari, Nakamura Aoi, Tamaki Hiroshi, Horikita Maki, Ohkura Tadayoshi) of the upcoming movie, “Oooku“, visited Zojoji Temple on September 27th to invoke a big hit.
“Oooku” is a story set in the Edo-era about a female shogun (Shibasaki) and one of her 3000 male servants (Ninomiya). Zojoji Temple is where six of the 15 Tokugawa shoguns are buried. Although it was held in bad weather, 1000 fans rushed to the temple.
Ninomiya said, “There is no scene in which all the cast members appear at one time in the movie, so I’m thankful for this opportunity.” Shibasaki said, “I’m sure this rain will be a great blessing to the movie.” Another cast member, Ohkura Tadayoshi (Kanjani8), commented, “I invoked a big hit, but to hear the cheers of all of you here made me think the movie is already a big hit!”
Female pop duo PUFFY (aka Puffy AmiYumi) held the last day of their concert tour at the Taipei International Convention Center on September 25th. PUFFY held their first overseas concert there back in 1998, and it was so successful that they planned for a second concert for 1999. However, it was cancelled due to the devastating earthquakes which struck the nation in September of 1999.
At that time, PUFFY promised their fans that they would come back to Taiwan; 12 years later, they finally came through. At the concert, they apologized to fans for taking this long to come back.
PUFFY greeted their audience in Mandarin, “Hello!! We are PUFFY! Let’s enjoy this together!“, and roused the audience by singing “Ai no Shirushi” and “Kore ga Watashi no Ikiru Michi” in Mandarin. In total, they sang 16 songs for the event.
Next year will be PUFFY’s 15th career anniversary, so they are planning to release an album and hold another concert tour. Details are unknown at this time, but stay tuned for updates! In the meantime, check out a the ‘Ai no Shirushi’ music video from back in the day:
Okinawan female group SPEED will be releasing their 19th single titled “Let’s Heat Up!” on November 10th. The single will be available in 2 versions: the limited edition, which will have a CD and DVD, and a regular edition which will only come with a CD. The title song of the single is currently being used as the CM theme song for the the clothing line ‘AEON HEAT FACT’
Aside from the single, they will also be releasing a DVD Live titled, “GLOWING SUNFLOWER SPEED LIVE 2010 at Osaka Jo Hall” on November 24th. This will feature footage from their ‘SPEED LIVE 2010 – GLOWING SUNFLOWER” concert performances.
The covers and tracklisting for both the single and the DVD has not yet been disclosed but we will make an update once it becomes available.
It’s been reported that YUI’s upcoming single “Rain” has been chosen as the theme song for new drama “Perfect Report“, scheduled to begin in October.
“Perfect Report” is the first drama to be played on FujiTV’s new drama-time slot for Sundays at 9 pm; talents Matsuyuki Yasuko, Koide Keisuke, and Aibu Saki have been cast for the show. According to the producer of FujiTV, the reason why they chose YUI’s song is because YUI devotes a lot of energy into her songs.
This is the 4th time for YUI to sing for a drama, and “Rain” will be her 17th single. If the new song hits No.1 on Oricon, it will be 6 times in a row – the same record that Utada Hikaru holds as a female singer and a song writer.
Could YUI eventually knock out Queen Hikki from the spot?
Japanese music site, “Music Japan Plus“, announced previously that they would have the visual-kei group DoremiDan on their streaming TV to answer questions on September 27th. Judging by the popularity of the responses, they’ve already announced an additional streaming program, this time featuring the group SCREW.
SCREW will run the same setup as DoremiDan and will stream themselves answering questions from their fans. Followers of SCREW can submit their questions to a thread on the Music Japan Plus site or can tweet the hashtag #SCREWTV to @musicJAPANplus to have their questions taken live. The site will take care of passing on the questions to the band, so fans should definitely use this opportunity to connect with the band!
MJP Presents SCREW TV SHOW
September 8th @ 9PM (JST)
Streaming at: http://www.musicjapanplus.jp
In the meantime, check out a PV from the group below:
Morning Musume member, Kamei Eri will be leaving the group on December 15th. For her disappointed fans, Eri has compiled a release that might soften the blow. A photobook titled “Eririn” will hit stores on the 26th, and is centered around the theme, “If Kamei Eri was a regular college student?”
Eri is shown working at cafe, wearing a suit, and so on.
The singer said, “If I was not a member of Morning Musume, I would be laying around like ‘Himono-onna’.”
Kamei Eri will hold a photobook release event on October 1st in Tokyo.
Pop trio DOMINO has announced on their official site that they will be releasing their next song “U can do it!” as the new Naruto Shippuden ending theme.
The song will be available as a Chaku-Uta cell phone download and also as a Rekochoku computer download beginning on October 7th. As of now, the group has no plans for it receive a physical single release.
Regardless, this news should make fans of DOMINO very happy. The group has been relatively quiet since their early summer release of the single “Kira Kira.” Being able to sing a song for an incredibly popular anime series like ‘Naruto’ should thrust the trio into the spotlight, and hopefully they will get more physical releases.
In the meantime, check out their video for “Kira Kira” below!
One of AAA’s members, Nishijima Takahiro, released his second photobook, “24“, on September 24th, and he held the release event on the 23rd. As the title of the photobook implies, Nishijima tries 24 different looks in the photobook.
There are also some adult-like photos in which Nishijima is holding a girl naked and kissing a girl. 2,500 fans showed up at the event, and Nishijima was told by a fan that she felt jealous to see the photos of him with a girl. In response, he answered, “I put those kind of photos to make fans jealous, because the feeling of jealousy happens only toward somebody you really like.”
AKB48 and Watarirouka Hashiritai members Nakagawa Haruka and Oota Aika, injured their hands on the AKB48 television show on September 23rd.
The girls were participating on their TV Tokyo show “Shuukan AKB,” when they were injured during a ball game segment. Oota was sent to a doctor for diagnosis and treatment for her right hand, which forced her to miss part one of their handshake event. Part two of the handshake event was held later in the day and it was announced that her attendance in the event would depend on the doctor’s decision.
Although Nakagawa also injured herself, she ended up attending the handshake event. She said even though her hand was injured she would try her hardest to interact with fans and be careful.
S/mileage fans who have been waiting for ages just to view the group’s next PV can now celebrate!
Just a little while ago, the group’s PV for their third single, “Onaji Jikyuu de Hataraku Tomodachi no Bijin Mama“, has been released.
The release of the PV comes as a surprise, as it was not expected to be available to the public until September 29th, as that’s the date the single is being released.
Rock/Pop star OLIVIA is back with her very first “best” album titled, “GREATEST HITS”, which releases October 13. The album will cover the last 10 years of OLIVIA’s music career. “A-side” will be her “rock & pop” songs, while “B-side” will contain her “dark & dreamy” songs in a 2-disc package. There will be two new songs on the album, “Sunlight” and “Be your friend”, for a total of 24 songs. The limited edition will have a DVD with nine of her music videos.
OLIVIA has also stated that she will have a series of new releases after her “GREATEST HITS” album. She has said in the past about wanting to work with her family, and she’s kept her promise. Her upcoming releases will include collaborative works with her brother Jeff.
OLIVIA started her career back in 1996 with the J-pop group D&D (Dance & Dream). OLIVIA left the group in 1998, started her solo career, and released six pop singles and one album. She then took a break from the music scene and came back in 2003 with a series of mini albums which were opposite of her previous works. Her music had turned to a rock, with a dark and dreamier sound. With titles such as Internal Bleeding Strawberry, Merry&Hell Go Round, Comatose Bunny Butcher and The Return of the Cholorphyll Bunny, she started gaining major popularity in 2007 when she became the voice of Reira in the hit anime series, NANA, as “OLIVIA inspi. REIRA (TRAPNEST)”.
“GREATEST HITS” Limited Edition CD+DVD
Her last single that she released was “Sailing free” on 2009.04.15.
ORANGE RANGE has finally released the full promotional video for their new single release “Ya Ya Ya.”
The video is a great switch up for the group and is fully animated. Although the video doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, it depicts everything from a girl being eaten by a football, a moldy sandwich hitchhiking, and even the band animated as mimes. It certainly is a quirky song with a quirky video to match.
“Ya Ya Ya” was released in extremely limited form to rental stores on September 22nd and will be the lead track on the mini album “ordl.” The video clip and jacket cover were illustrated by Scha Dara Parr artist “Scha Dara Gaiden,” who has an incredibly unique style.
The song will also be released on October 20th as a part of the brand new album, “orcd.”
Actress Ueto Aya and V6 member Morita Go have ended their 8-year relationship. According to various sources, the couple apparently broke up in May, a month after they revealed their relationship to the public.
Since the end of 2002, rumors about Ueto Aya and Morita Go as a couple have been the center of attention in the entertainment industry. As expected from public figures, neither side have acknowledged the rumors until April 2010, when Ueto indeed confirmed that she was indeed in a relationship. During those times, it was also rumoured that the two might actually tie the knot soon.
However, soon after rumors about their marriage spread, the couple was said to have discussed their plans for the future. Although Ueto has a strong desire to get married already, they considered Morita’s status as an idol group member; considering their individual schedules and commitments, it was impossible for them to get married. The two can’t meet regularly as a dating couple, let alone as a married one. Consequently, they agreed to break up and just focus on their careers.
Reliable sources assured everyone that the breakup was not a result of a fight. They also assured that neither have found someone new.
Even though the movie “Tooku no Sora” is only a couple days away from its release on September 25th, more information about the film was just disclosed this week. The film, which is a love story, will star actress Uchiyama Rina (28), and it represents her first starring role since 2006.
The actress plays a young woman whose mother, played by Kuroda Fukumi, is a Zainichi Korean – ethnic group of Koreans living in Japan. In the story, Uchiyama already has a boyfriend, but she takes an interest in a man she works with, played by Kim Eung Soo. However, she soon learns that Kim Eung Soo’s character and her mother met 30 years earlier during the Gwangju massacre in 1980.
The film is directed by Inoue Haruo, and cast members include Oyamada Sayuri, Yamagishi Kensuke, and Utsunomiya Masayo.
It will open in Shinjuku on the 25th and will then open in more theatres across Japan in October and November.
SHISEIDO’s haircare brand, “TSUBAKI” will release a new line called “TSUBAKI WATER” (a hair treatment product that you don’t need to wash off), and they’ve added Takei Emi (16) as the CM’s image model. There have been many actresses and models for previous “TSUBAKI” CMs, but this is the first time that a teenager girl has been chosen for the brand.
Emi is a model for fashion magazine “SEVENTEEN”, and is also active as an actress. Karina, Mizuki Arisa, and Hasegawa Jun will also appear in the new CM, and it will start airing on September 24th.
Previously, we reported that popular manga/anime Paradise Kiss will be released as a live-action movie starring Kitagawa Keiko and Mukai Osamu. The film’s release date has been set for May 2011, but to indulge the hungry fans, some scene stills as well as a more-detailed cast list has just been revealed!
Igarashi Shunji (D-BOYS) will play the role of Isabella (actual birth name, ‘Yamamoto Daisuke’). ‘Isabella’ is a transgendered character who identifies herself as a woman by dressing and acting like one. To prepare for the role, Shunji lost 8 kg., removed his facial hair through laser procedures, and learned how to act like a lady (as Isabella is very well-mannered, feminine person).
Shunji revealed that he uses three false eyelashes on each eye. He also confessed, “I learned how hard it is to live as a woman through make-up and stuff, and to be honest, I almost got into it (to disguise in woman’s clothes).” ”Paradise Kiss” will also star Ohmasa Aya as ‘Sakurada Miwako‘ and Kaku Kento as ‘Nagase Arashi. Check out the sneak pics from the filming scene below!
Pop group AAA held a concert called “AAA 5th Anniversary LIVE“ at Kobe World Kinen Hall to celebrate their 5th year anniversary on the 20th. To the audience of 6,000, they declared their intention to take part in Kohaku (annual New Year’s Eve music show on NHK) for the first time.
AAA performed 21 songs including their popular hits, “Aitai Riyuu” and “Makenai Kokoro“.
The group also revealed that the follow-up song for their next single will be a cover of globe’s “DEPARTURES“, originally released in 1996.
Though details about the single remain unknown at this time, check out the original song that the group will be covering below:
A press conference for the stage performance of “0 Goushitsu no Kyaku ~Kaettekita Otoko~ (Guest in Room 0)” was held on the 21st, with cast members Koyama Keiichiro (NEWS) and Haru appearing to discuss the play.
“0 Goushitsu no Kyaku” was originally broadcasted as a mini-drama series which consisted of 6 different stories, each running a month long. The premise for the series swirls around a single hotel room, which reveals a guest’s “grade” as a human being. Various guests with differing circumstances each visit the room, hoping to understand their individual value as a human being.
The stage performance will not reinterpret all six stories; rather, it will be the sequel to the 5th episode “Tatakawanai Otoko”, which starred Koyama as the main character.
Since it’s a story which involves ranking as a human being, the cast members were asked by the press, “How do you score yourself?” Koyama answered he would give himself ‘26′, like his age. He also said that he would like to earn a point one-by-one as he ages. His co-star Haru, who will debut in the theatre with this performance, ranked her value as ‘20′.
The stage adaptation of ‘0 Goushitsu no Kyaku’ will start on November 13th at the Tokyo Globe Theatre.
Kansai-based girl group JK21 will finally release their first major-label single on December 15. It is tentatively titled as “I 愛 KANSAI” (‘I Ai Kansai’ – ‘Ai’ translating as ‘Love‘) and is produced by actor and former baseball player Shimao Yasuhito (42).
JK21 was formed in 2008 and is entirely comprised of junior high and high school students from the Kansai region. The second single of the group, titled “WIN! WIN! Tigers” was used as an official support song for the Hanshin Tigers back in 2008. As the group is Kansai-based, most of their activities are held in Osaka and they perform there twice a week. JK21 originally meant “joshi-kousei 21” (21 female high school students), however, since they are now debuting in the mainstream Japanese music, it’s been changed to “Japan, Kansai, 21st Century”.
For their first major-label release “I 愛 KANSAI”, only 6 of the 21 members will be featured. They are: leader Jojima Yukari (19), Matsuda Ayumi (17), Tanaka Rina (16), Aoi Misaki (18), Arakaki Momona (17) and Tsubaki Minami (16).
Sandara Park releases an angelic CF for “Nikon”
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Nikon Imaging Korea has just released a jaw-dropping commercial with 2NE1‘s
Sandara Park.
The idol shed her quirky style and emerged as a gorgeous woman w...
A press conference for the upcoming live-action drama, “Reinoryokusha Odagiri Kyoko no Uso” was held on September 29th. “Reinoryokusha Odagiri Kyoko no Uso” was originally a manga by Kaitani Shinobu, the famous mangaka of “LIAR GAME”.
She laughed, “It feels like I’m wearing a wedding dress.”
“The Lion King“, as performed by Shiki Theatre Company, has recently reached its 7,000th performance since it first debuted back in 1998. They are the fastest musical to achieve this feat in Japanese musical history.
Charming actress Kitagawa Keiko co-starred with Hello Kitty in a CM for the collaboration bag between fashion magazine “with” and fashion brand “Samantha Thavasa.” Keiko was extremely happy to co-star with Hello Kitty, as she’s been an adoring fan of her since she was a little girl.
One of AAA’s members, Nishijima Takahiro, released his second photobook, “24“, on September 24th, and he held the release event on the 23rd. As the title of the photobook implies, Nishijima tries 24 different looks in the photobook. 
Rock/Pop star OLIVIA is back with her very first “best” album titled, “GREATEST HITS”, which releases October 13. The album will cover the last 10 years of OLIVIA’s music career. “A-side” will be her “rock & pop” songs, while “B-side” will contain her “dark & dreamy” songs in a 2-disc package. There will be two new songs on the album, “Sunlight” and “Be your friend”, for a total of 24 songs. The limited edition will have a DVD with nine of her music videos.
“GREATEST HITS” Limited Edition CD+DVD
SHISEIDO’s haircare brand, “TSUBAKI” will release a new line called “TSUBAKI WATER” (a hair treatment product that you don’t need to wash off), and they’ve added Takei Emi (16) as the CM’s image model. There have been many actresses and models for previous “TSUBAKI” CMs, but this is the first time that a teenager girl has been chosen for the brand. 
Previously, we reported that popular manga/anime Paradise Kiss will be released as a live-action movie starring Kitagawa Keiko and Mukai Osamu. The film’s release date has been set for May 2011, but to indulge the hungry fans, some scene stills as well as a more-detailed cast list has just been revealed! 
Shunji revealed that he uses three false eyelashes on each eye. He also confessed, “I learned how hard it is to live as a woman through make-up and stuff, and to be honest, I almost got into it (to disguise in woman’s clothes).” ”Paradise Kiss” will also star Ohmasa Aya as ‘Sakurada Miwako‘ and Kaku Kento as ‘Nagase Arashi. Check out the sneak pics from the filming scene below!
Pop group AAA held a concert called “AAA 5th Anniversary LIVE“ at Kobe World Kinen Hall to celebrate their 5th year anniversary on the 20th. To the audience of 6,000, they declared their intention to take part in Kohaku (annual New Year’s Eve music show on NHK) for the first time.
A press conference for the stage performance of “0 Goushitsu no Kyaku ~Kaettekita Otoko~ (Guest in Room 0)” was held on the 21st, with cast members Koyama Keiichiro (NEWS) and Haru appearing to discuss the play.
Since it’s a story which involves ranking as a human being, the cast members were asked by the press, “How do you score yourself?” Koyama answered he would give himself ‘26′, like his age. He also said that he would like to earn a point one-by-one as he ages. His co-star Haru, who will debut in the theatre with this performance, ranked her value as ‘20′.
