The 14th Pokémon movie will open in Japan this summer, and today, the prominent guest line-up of voice actors for the special characters came together with a public recording at the Avaco Creative Studio in Tokyo.
The special voice cast is made up of Takahashi Hideki, Tanihara Shosuke, Ishihara Satomi, Yamadera Koichi, Nakagawa Shoko, and Daichi Mao.
The new movie will be released in two versions, “Pocket Monsters Best Wishes! The Movie: Victini and the Black Hero: Zekrom” and “[...] White Hero: Reshiram“. It is the first time in history that an anime is going to open in theaters in two different versions at the same day.
Both movies will be about Dread, the descendant of the People of the Earth, that once ruled over the land, who seeks revenge for the fall of his people with the help of the Sword of the Earth in the city of Eindoke, and our three heroes – Satoshi, Iris and Dent – who must stop him at all costs. However, similar to the video games,each movie will feature different Pokémon, many different scenes and lines, and different techniques used by the Pokémon.
Ishihara lent her voice to Carlita, the younger sister of Dread. She commented, “It’s a huge honor for me to participate in a Pokémon movie, since it’s such an immensely popular series worldwide. I received some strict coaching this time and learned a lot of new things.”
The mother of Carlita was voiced by Daichi, who never dubbed an anime before. She clearly enjoyed the new challenge, “I’m already having a certain affinity to my character who belongs to the People of the Earth (Daichi no Tami), since she has the same surname as me. It was a lot of fun playing the role of a mother with guts.”
For Takahashi, who voiced Zekrom, it was also the first time to work on an anime. He stated, “I was happy that I was able to challenge myself as a voice actor for the first time in my 40-year-long career as an actor. All the kids of my foreign friends are engrossed into Pokémon, so now I have something I can boast about.” Life-sized Pokémon characters were present during the special dubbing session for the press, and the veteran surprised everyone with his innocent remark, “Aren’t they cute! I want to take them home with me!”
The double-dose of Pokémon action will open in Japan on July 16th.
The PV for Angela Aki’s upcoming single, “Hajimari no Ballad”, has just been revealed!
The moving ballad is the theme song for Fuji TV’s drama, “Namae wo Nakushita Megami”, and the PV features Aki playing piano, as well as several people in artistic scenes.
Check out the PV below and be sure to check out the single on June 8th!
Morning Musume’s 9th generation member Suzuki Kanon is set to release her first solo DVD!
Following the successful release of fellow member Fukumura Mizuki’s DVD, “Greeting~ Suzuki Kanon” will be the second of four planned DVDs to introduce the 9th generation as part of the e-Hello series.
Like Fukumura’s release, the DVD will feature shots of Suzuki showing off her beautiful smile and charm, as well as interview segments about passing the audition and life as a member of Hello! Project so far. Although a release date has not been announced, orders are being accepted until June 20th.
Check out the teaser recently released by Hello! Project below!
Beauty clinic Takasu Clinic has been asked by multiple patients whether or not AKB48 member Kashiwagi Yuki’s breasts are natural, prompting the clinic to release a statement on the topic.
After fans began comparing photos from last summer to swimsuit photos taken in 2011, speculation that Kashiwagi had gotten plastic surgery to increase her cup size started spreading around the internet. Because of this, questions came pouring into the office wondering if “Yukirin” had ever consulted Takasu Clinic for silicon breast augmentation.
In response to this, Takasu Clinic director Takasu Mikiya asserted that “as a doctor, (he is) 99.9% sure that she has not had (breast augmentation) done”.
Takasu went on to point out several reasons why she could not have had surgery within that time span: the idol hasn’t had the time between lessons and live performances to visit the clinic, and is not a suitable candidate for breast augmentation by fat or hyaluronic acid injection due to her already thin build.
It’s been announced that Kuroki Meisa and Tabe Mikako will be co-starring with each other for the first time in TV Asahi’s upcoming drama “Jiu Keishicho Tokushuhan Sousagakari“.
They are both playing as female detectives who belong to “SIT (Special Investigation Team)”. This drama will be the first live-action adaptation of the ”Jiu” trilogy series, which is Honda Tetsuya’s big hit novel.
This will be a thrill & suspense drama with a theme of love in which the two female detectives try to chase after the “Jiu” who is the leader of vicious crimes.
Kuroki’s role, “Isaki Motoko”, will be a “black” detective who has superior physical performance skill, does not believe in love, and she has no hesitation on killing criminals. On the other hand, Tabe will be “white” detective named “Kadokura Misaki” who has kind heart, cries easily, tries to face with the criminals sincerely. Although Motoko (Kuroki) has a hatred for Misaki (Tabe) who is completely opposite from herself, Misaki still tries to understand Motoko.
Other than Kuroki and Tabe, Shirota Yu and Kitamura Yukiya will also make appearances. Shirota’s role will be a mysterious guy “Amemiya Takashi”, who often shows up around Motoko, and Kitamura will be “Azuma Hiroki”, who is the boss of Misaki. Moreover, the biggest enemy of Motoko and Misaki, “Jiu”, who is supposed to be a beautiful blond boy, is planned to be played by a popular foreigner artist which is unknown yet.
The drama will be aired on every Friday at 11:15 PM starting in July.
Singer-songwriter Kato Miliyah has announced that she’ll be releasing her first best album!
Since making her major label debut with the single “Never let go / Aozora” in 2004, the singer has only released a “sampling best album” titled “BEST DESTINY“. Her upcoming best album is currently untitled, but is confirmed for a release on August 3rd.
In the meantime, fans can look forward to her new double A-side single “DESIRE / BABY! BABY! BABY!”, which will hit stores on June 22nd.
Stay tuned for new information on her upcoming best album!
Becky has just revealed the PV for her upcoming single, “Kaze no Shirabe“!
In the music video, Becky sits at a table and walks through a sunny field as her music comes to life, resulting in a PV that’s as sweet and charming as the song itself.
Actress Inoue Mao (24) is currently starring as the heroine in NHK’s morning drama, “Ohisama”.
On May 29th it was reported that, through the drama, Inoue wore a white kimono for the first time in her life. Inoue commented on the wedding scene where she wears a white kimono, “I’ve wanted to wear one someday, so I’m glad I was able to wear one through this drama”.
The drama’s producer, Komatsu Masayo, witnessed filming all day, “She’s an actress, but she looked a bit embarrassed to wear an outfit like that. Though Mao always presents herself nobly, this time she looked a little bashful”.
Check out “Ohisama” on NHK from Monday through Saturday at 8 AM!
It has been confirmed that Horie Yui will make a guest appearance at this year’s “Animelo Summer Live“. Animelo is Japan’s largest anime song event, and will be held August 27 and 28 at the Saitama Super Arena.
Horie will make her stage appearance on August 28, the second day of the event. It has been two years since her last appearance at “Animelo Summer Live 2009 -RE:BRIDGE-“.
This year’s theme is “rainbow”. In addition to Horie, a total of 18 acts will take the stage during the two-day event. Other scheduled performers include Tamura Yukari, Mizuki Nana, May’n, JAM Project, Chihara Minori, Aso Natsuko, and Hyadain.
Animelo Summer Live 2011 -rainbow-
2011/8/27 Aso Natsuko / ELISA / Sasaki Sayaka / JAM Project / Tamura Yukari / Chihara Minori / Hyadain / Faylan / May’n / and more
2011/8/28 Ito Kanako+Shikura Chiyomaru / GRANRODEO / Kuribayashi Minami / Kurosaki Mion / JAM Project / Fantasm / Horie Yui / Mizuki Nana / Miyano Mamoru / Milky Holmes / and more
On May 28th, 15 talents from Up-Front Agency went to the disaster stricken area from the Great Tohoku Earthquake as part of their “Ganbarou Nippon Ai wa Katsu Project”.
The talents paid a vist to Kleenex Stadium Miyagi, home of pro-baseball team Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles.
Before the game between Tohoku Rakuten and Hanshin, the group held a charity handshake event, fundraising activities, and sang “Ai wa Katsu” (Love Wins) together with the 20,000 people in the stands.
The members participating were: the author behind the charity song “Ai wa Katsu” that is on sale digitally and will be released on CD on June 22nd; KAN (48), Kato Noriko (38), Dream Morning Musume’s Nakazawa Yuko (37) , Yasuda Kei (30), Iida Kaori (29), Ishikawa Rika (26), Yoshizawa Hitomi (26) and Kusumi Koharu (18), Morning Musume’s Niigaki Risa (22), soloist Matsuura Aya (24), Berryz Koubou’s Shimizu Saki (19), Tokunaga Chinami (19), Kumai Yurina (17) and Sugaya Risako (17), and rookie Kikkawa Yuu (19) who just debuted this year.
Before singing, Kato and Nakazawa greeted everyone, “We hope that today brings everyone just a bit more power. The 15 of us came here to sing with all of you. We’ve been thinking about what we can do through songs. Currently we’re seeing everyone’s smiles today and we’ve also learned the importance of a smile. Let’s all do our best together so that there can be more smiles”.
Matsuura also sent a message to everyone, “I think there are still many more people who are troubled than we can imagine. All of Japan is doing their best, so let’s try to endure for a little longer”.
KAT-TUN announced to fans that they will be postponing their upcoming nationwide dome tour, in addition to cancelling their open-air live event in July.
The five concert dome tour will be rescheduled to next year because the times KAT-TUN planned to use the domes coincided with several professional baseball games this fall, making the domes unavailable during those times.
According to sources close to KAT-TUN, their live event in July was cancelled due to the fact that the location is still specified as a refugee shelter for those who lost their homes during the aftermath of the Tohoku earthquake.
“We want to do lives constantly, but we’re still figuring out how we can do that through trial and error,” said Kamenashi Kazuya in his apology to fans.
Idol group AKB48’s sister unit, SDN48, announced the members of their third generation at their performance at Tokyo Dome City Hall on May 27th.
The new line-up brings both familiar faces and new, sure to give SDN48 that little something extra.
The third generation is made up of seven girls, including beloved former AKB48 Team A members Tojima Hana and Komatani Hitomi. Models Hayakawa Sayo and Shinahama Saemi, as well as Avex singers Kojo Seara and miray, are also sure to be an explosive addition. Although little is known about new Korean member Siyeon, she’ll definitely be the dark horse to watch.
The girls of AKB48 left some impressions of Music Station on their blogs recently.
This week’s Music Station was filled with a lot of fun things, including an imitation of Kuraki Mai by Minegishi Minami. Minegishi blogged, “Even though it was an amazingly wretched imitation, Kuraki-san was so kind… she saved meeee XD XD”. Kashiwagi Yuki even blogged that Minegishi was the MVP for that day. She posted a picture of Minegishi apologizing to Kuraki for her poor imitation, “Miichan says with her pose and facial expression, ‘Kuraki Mai and Kuraki Mai’s fans, I’m sorry! (>_<)’”.
Maeda Atsuko also blogged that she had a blast on the show. She had fun singing “Everyday, Kachuusha” and was so happy that the group was able to sell one million copies of their single and that they were #1 on the Music Station ranking.
Last is Oshima Yuko’s blog post where she jokes around about Oota Aika AKA Love-tan’s hair being similar to TV Asahi’s new panda mascot Go-chan. “I thought TV Asahi’s new image character was Go-chan, but it’s Love-tan <3 She’s cute and looks just like (Go-chan)”.
Oshima finished up her own entry by saying Music Station host Tamori said he also wants to wear a headband (kachuusha), and because of that everyone else should try wearing them as well. “Summer is for headbands <3 <3”.
On May 27th, FRIDAY reported that actress and singer Kanda Sayaka (24) and opera singer and actor Tashiro Mario (27) are in a relationship, which caused both of them to apologize on their official blogs.
Kanda wrote, “There is no excuse. I know that I really made a mistake”. Tashiro also commented, “I’ve troubled a lot of people through my careless actions and I am truly sorry for that”.
Kanda is currently performing in “Les Miserables” at the Teikoku Theatre in Tokyo. On June 30th she will also be having her 10th Anniversary concert, “Sweet Liberty”, which is being produced by her mom, singer Matsuda Seiko. “This is an important time, I’m really sorry for causing problems and worries with my personal life”.
According to the magazine, the two were spotted eating together on the 18th, and afterwards Tashiro went to Kanda’s place to stay the night. Kanda hasn’t denied or confirmed their relationship in her blog, but Tashiro wrote, “Kanda Sayaka-san is one of my close friends”.
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...
The 14th Pokémon movie will open in Japan this summer, and today, the prominent guest line-up of voice actors for the special characters came together with a public recording at the Avaco Creative Studio in Tokyo.
Both movies will be about Dread, the descendant of the People of the Earth, that once ruled over the land, who seeks revenge for the fall of his people with the help of the Sword of the Earth in the city of Eindoke, and our three heroes – Satoshi, Iris and Dent – who must stop him at all costs. However, similar to the video games,each movie will feature different Pokémon, many different scenes and lines, and different techniques used by the Pokémon.
The mother of Carlita was voiced by Daichi, who never dubbed an anime before. She clearly enjoyed the new challenge, “I’m already having a certain affinity to my character who belongs to the People of the Earth (Daichi no Tami), since she has the same surname as me. It was a lot of fun playing the role of a mother with guts.”
The PV for Angela Aki’s upcoming single, “Hajimari no Ballad”, has just been revealed!
Actress Inoue Mao (24) is currently starring as the heroine in NHK’s morning drama, “Ohisama”.
It has been confirmed that Horie Yui will make a guest appearance at this year’s “Animelo Summer Live“. Animelo is Japan’s largest anime song event, and will be held August 27 and 28 at the Saitama Super Arena.
On May 28th, 15 talents from Up-Front Agency went to the disaster stricken area from the Great Tohoku Earthquake as part of their “Ganbarou Nippon Ai wa Katsu Project”.
Idol group AKB48’s sister unit, SDN48, announced the members of their third generation at their performance at Tokyo Dome City Hall on May 27th.
The girls of AKB48 left some impressions of Music Station on their blogs recently.
