AKB48 sub-unit Not yet has just unveiled the covers for their upcoming second single, “Naminori Kakigoori“!
As the covers and title (‘Surfing, Shaved Ice’) suggest, the sub-unit’s newest song is a sparkling summer song that is sure to make you smile. The single will be released in three different versions on July 6th: ‘Type A’ (CD+DVD), ‘Type B’ (CD+DVD), and ‘Type C’ (CD-only).
AKB48 appeared on Countdown TV (CDTV) to show fans a few previews from their highly-anticipated first album, “Koko ni Ita Koto“!
During this week’s episode, fans can catch a glimpse of their songs “Wagamama Collection“, “Kimi to Boku no Kankei“, “Iikagen no Susume“, and “High school days“. Radio rips of their new songs “Kaze no Yukue” and “Koko ni Ita Koto” were just posted as well.
Music store Tower Records announced during a press conference on June 3rd that they’ll be launching their own idol music label, T-Palette Records!
The press conference was held at the Shibuya Tower Records store and was open to both fans and the media. During the event, it was revealed that the first artists to be signed under this new idol label is the girl group Vanilla Beans and the Niigata idol trio Negicco. Label representative Minewaki Ikuo is said to be a self-professed “idol fanatic”, and personally chose the groups himself to begin the new record label.
To kick off their new activities under T-Palette, Vanilla Beans will be releasing a new single, titled “Tengoku e no Kaidan” (a cover of the famous Led Zeppelin song ‘Stairway to Heaven‘), on June 29th, shortly followed by their newest album, “Vanilla Beans II“, on July 20th. Negicco’s first release under T-Palette – a mini-album titled “GET IT ON!” – will also hit stores on July 20th.
For eager fans who can’t wait to hear their new material, and exclusive listening party will be held on July 10th to preview Vanilla Beans’ new album. Both Vanilla Beans and Negicco are also preparing for a performance at the same Tower Records store on July 20th.
Check out the track lists for all three releases, as well as photos from the event below!
< Vanilla Beans – “Tengoku e no Kaidan” > 01. Tengoku e no Kaidan (cover of Led Zeppelin’s ‘Stairway to Heaven’) 02. Baby Portable Rock (Pizzicato Five cover) 03. nicola (re-release) 04. a little crying (re-release)
< Vanilla Beans – “Vanilla Beans II” > 01. Vanilla Beans 02. Elscaddy 03. Nakaji Time (Interlude) 04. Doctor, Onegai 05. Summer vacation 06. ? 07. Oosumi Time (Interlude) 08. Musunde Hiraite 09. C You-san no Uta 10. Oppai 11. Takami Time (Interlude) 12. Sodermalm 13. Yume Miru Shippo 14. Oyasumi 15. Tengoku e no Kaidan
< Negicco – “GET IT ON!” > 01. GET IT ON! 02. Gutter! Gutter! Gutter! 03. Kanzen Kouryaku 04. Disco!! The Negicco 05. Falling Stars
It was revealed on June 4th that the opening song of NHK’s current telenovela, “Ohisama“, starring Inoue Mao (24), will be sung by singer Hirahara Ayaka (27).
The song, simply titled “Main Theme“, will have added lyrics sung by Hirahara and could possibly be used within the drama.
“Main Theme” is an original song by composer Watanabe Toshiyuki, and a wordless 45-second version of the song is used in the drama. The words for Hirahara’s version are written by “Ohisama” scriptwriter Okada Yoshikazu.
The new song, titled “Main Theme Ohisama~Taisetsu na anata e“, contains lyrics describing a mother’s love, such as “To sacrifice my life/I wouldn’t hesitate”. It’s still in production, but is expected to be 5 minutes long when finished. Hirahara’s “Main Theme” will be featured on the “Ohisama” soundtrack, on sale June 29.
“To have Ms. Hirahara sing my lyrics so sweetly is truly an honor”, Mr. Okada commented. “I enjoyed working with her, and I will always treasure this experience.”
Recochoku has just revealed its results for its 2011 wedding song ranking!
Coming in first place for the second year in a row is Kimura Kaela’s hit song “Butterfly“, which she wrote for the marriage of a close friend. The song has maintained its popularity since it dominated the digital charts after its release in 2009. Many of the voters left comments such as, “When I get married, I’d like everyone to sing this together” and “I heard this song at a friend’s wedding and cried.”
Second place went to Kobukuro’s song “Silhouette“, the B-side to their 2011 single “Ano Taiyou ga, Kono Sekai wo Terashitsudzukeru You ni.” and the duo’s first wedding song in nearly seven years. When asked about their choice, voters responded with comments like, “I like how Kobuchi sings so painfully about how a girl feels before she gets married.”
Check out the top five most touching wedding songs below!
AKB48’s ‘ace’ Maeda Atsuko has released a PV preview for her latest single “Flower”, which will be released on the 22nd.
The preview also includes a “making of” segment with a few adorable moments. The little girl in the video is played by Kimura Manatsu and she asks Maeda “Would it be okay if I join AKB?” to which Maeda responds, “You’re so cute! You want to join AKB? I’ll give you a warm welcome. You would be the youngest.”
Two radio rips have been revealed from AKB48’s new album, “Koko ni Ita Koto“, which will be released next week.
The title track “Koko ni Ita Koto” was a major collaborative effort from AKB48, SKE48, NMB48 and SDN48. It’s a divine ballad with moving lyrics that truly showcase the 48 Family’s chorus-like singing style.
The next song, “Kaze no Yukue“, was sung by AKB48 sub-units No Sleeves, French Kiss and Not yet. It’s more upbeat than “Koko ni Ita Koto”, and its bubbly charm is making us hit repeat again and again. Koto”.
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!
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...
AKB48 sub-unit Not yet has just unveiled the covers for their upcoming second single, “Naminori Kakigoori“!
Music store Tower Records announced during a press conference on June 3rd that they’ll be launching their own idol music label, T-Palette Records!
To kick off their new activities under T-Palette, Vanilla Beans will be releasing a new single, titled “Tengoku e no Kaidan” (a cover of the famous Led Zeppelin song ‘Stairway to Heaven‘), on June 29th, shortly followed by their newest album, “Vanilla Beans II“, on July 20th. Negicco’s first release under T-Palette – a mini-album titled “GET IT ON!” – will also hit stores on July 20th.
Morning Musume leader Takahashi Ai updated her official blog, showing off her brand new look to her fans.
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!
