New AKB48 Unit, 20th Single PV, Watarirouka Hashiritai 7 PV

[Watarirouka video replaced with new one]

New AKB48 Unit, 20th Single PV, Watarirouka Hashiritai 7 PV

As all of this news is related, I am putting it all in one post.

First, up, there is a new AKB48 Sub Unit: Not yet

Not yet was born at the “AKB48 Request Hour Set List Best 100 2011” concert series .Not yet is made up of Ohshima Yuko, Kitahara Rie, Sashihara Rino, and Yokoyama Yui.

Akimoto Yasushi explained that he named the unit under the concept of, “Both their dancing and singing skills are not that good yet, in other words they still have potential to develop.”

Not Yet debut single will be called “Shumatsu Not yet” and will be released on March 16. Akimoto put together a great team to create this single featuring lyrics by Akimoto, composing by Abe Jun, and arrangement by Suzuki Daisuke from GIRL NEXT DOOR.

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AKB48 have released the PV for their 20th single “Sakura no Ki ni Narou”

“Sakura no Ki ni Narou” will be released on February 16 and is a change from what AKB48 has recently released .

http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XMjM4Njg1NzIw.html


The final piece of news is that Watarirouka Hashiritai 7 has released the PV for “Valentine Kiss”.

“Valentine Kiss” will be released on February 2 and is a cover song of a 1986 single by Kokusho Sayuri.

Recent AKB48 News

Recent AKB48 News

Trying to play a little news catch up today.

AKB48’s sub-unit, Watarirouka Hashiritai has added two new members. The new members are Komori Mika and Iwasa Misaki .The group has officially changed its name to Watarirouka Hashiritai 7 to reflect the size of the new line up.

There is some confusion in the fan base as to if this is a fulltime change. Some of the members have hinted at this being a one-time event related to their radio show.

Watarirouka Hashiritai 7 will be releasing a new single on February 2, 2011 and will be a Valentine’s song produced by Akimoto Yasushi.  The highly famous lyricist, broadcaster, and producer, has written lyrics for a number of major male and female performing artists. Akimoto`s most popular valentine’s theme song was Kokusho Sayuri’s “Valentine Kiss.”

No title at this time has been announced or buying details.

AKB48`s Itano Tomomi is releasing her first solo single.

The single will be called “Dear J“, and will be released on January 26th .Itano said at a recent handshake event that “Dear J”  will be a “dance song”, and she also said, “Since I’m always with the members, I feel a little pressured, but debuting solo has been my dream, so please continue to support me.”

Sub Unit French Kiss will be releasing their second single, “If“, on January 19.
If will come in three different versions and Takajo Aki, will be doing Kyudo (archery) on the drama DVD version.

Maeda Atsuko will be in the July 2011 film release of “Moshimo Koukou Yakyu no Joshi Manager ga Drucker no “Management” wo Yondara ., also known as “Moshidora” .Moshidora is a best seller novel about a high school girl who is the manager of a struggling High School baseball team . Maeda, who plays Kawashima Minami, will take up the challenge of leading this team to the National Championships, by using strategies that she learns by reading a business book.

The Manga version is called “SUPER JUMP” and come out on December 22. The anime version will start airing March 2011.

Watarirouka Hashiritai First Album

AKB48 sub-unit Watarirouka Hashiritai has a first album coming out on October 13 called “Rouka wa Hashiruna! (Run in the Corridor!) “.As part of their promotional campaign they will have a fan contest.

Watarirouka will be in partnership with Nico Nico Douga for this contest. In this contest anyone who has a Nico Nico Douga account can take part in, it is simple .You shoot video of yourself running down a hallway, and when you reach the camera, you have to say   “Rouka wa Hashiruna!  , then finish off your video in a way to impress the group and judges.

Deadline for contest entries is October 20 at midnight, and Nico Nico Douga will announce the videos on October 25.  The grand prizewinner of the contest will have their video shown at the Watarirouka live event at Tokyo Ebisu Garden Hall on October 31, and will be able to attend the show and meet the group there.

Once again AKB48 continue to show not only are they the industry leader, but a fun creative and pro fan franchise and their sales figures are reflecting their fan friendly promotions.

Watarirouka Hashiritai #1 on Oricon[Updated]

Watarirouka Hashiritai, the unit made up of AKB48 members Oota Aika, Nakagawa Haruka, Hirajima Natsumi, Watanabe Mayu and Kikuchi Ayaka has entered the Oricon daily charts at #1 with their new single Akkanbe Bashi.

Akkanbe Bashi has a classic children’s song feel that is written in a way that is not only fun to listen to, but supports the individual members voices perfectly .The dance is cute and simple to follow.

If one didn’t know better this could have easily been taken from the pages of the old Hello!Project unit Minimoni as Akkanbe Bashi  definitely has that type of fun  & cute vibe to it, that can appeal to a cross section of listeners and ages . Watarirouka Hashiritai is a fun unit, which is worth the time to check out.

UPDATE- The single will also take the weekly #1 spot on Oricon




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