AKB48 sub unit No3b [No Sleeves] will release their next single “Answer” on March 2 .This is the 6th single for No3b and is the theme song for the anime, “BEEZLEBUB“. The single will come in CD only and three limited editions.
The B-Sides for each edition will be exclusive theater tracks ☆ no Mukougawa“and “Gyakuten Oujisama“, and a recorded version of Takahashi Minami’s solo theatre song, “Itoshisa no Accel“.
AKB48 have reached another incredible milestone with their 20th single “Sakura no Ki ni Narou”. “Sakura no Ki ni Narou” sold an impressive 942,479 copies in it`s first week. Yet the news does not end there, the last single to sale 900,000 in it`s release week was Utada Hikaru’s 1999 single “Addicted To You” which sold 1,068,000 copies.
AKB48 are currently have the highest sales totals of any artists to debut in the 2000`s, while “Sakura no Ki ni Narou” is 6th highest first week sales in Japanese history. Should this current single achieve the one million sales mark, AKB48 will find themselves in the same company of artists as Mr. Children, GLAY and B’z. in terms of sales and overall popularity.
With their number, ranking AKB48 now has seven number one singles in a row an accomplishment that was last accomplished by a female group was Pink Lady in 1978 .
With AKB48 now landing a new prime time variety show slot ,something that is equal to artists of the likes of SMAP ,little now seems to stand in the way of AKB48 becoming one if not the greatest female idol group in Japanese music history. That however is a bold task to accomplish as the 70`s and 80`s were a legendary time for female idols.
Unless a major damaging scandal hits this group ,little can slow this group down now other then themselves . And as AKB48 continues it`s march ,the effect on Indie idols is being felt as more major labels are hunting for that one idol group that can challenge AKB48. It truly is a great time for this genre to grow into a major mainstream force again.
There seems to be some confusion starting as to what has happened or changed with the site. First let me say, I hope everyone likes the new look and finding their way around the set up, now about the changes.
I just wanted to say that nothing is leaving, everything we did before major and Indie idols we are still going to do.
Ryo is working on 4-5 posts on Indie idols; we are still covering idols as the main genre.
The changes, the only things we are doing different are adding to what we are already doing. We are adding new stuff such as non-idol pop groups/artists, the return of KPOP, the addition of JRock and possibly Visual Kei.
Outside of this blog both Ryo and myself are musicians ,so covering industry friends ,bands we like in JRock or Visual Kei or even our own careers is something we have talked about ,so we decided to included our own genre in the new design .
This site is loosing nothing of it`s past, only bringing you more choices such as Scandal, Kalafina, Rock, other Asian groups both all female, all male or co-ed.
Our music industry has so many talented artists such as tiny Enka wonder singer Sakura Maya, that we feel people will enjoy reading about or maybe is already fans of.
We also have the option of providing our readers a message board community, so that you can build friendships, and provide any items to talk about.
I understand the concerns or surprised feelings you may have when visiting today.
Our goal is for readers to one day come to PIH and get all their different genre news needs covered on this one site, if possible, while you are downloading the latest television episode of your favorite idols.
Ryo and I are sorry for any confusions or worries the new design has given our idol fans ,let me put those worries to rest one more time by saying clearly ,the idol genre ,both Indie and Major will continue being a big part of this new site design .
I am a musician, and I love idols. So nothing fancies me more than having idols dancing and prancing with musical instruments in a band. And there is not enough of these combinations in the music world now.
The term "bandol" is an amalgamation of the word "band" and "idol", means it's a pop act that have characteristics of a band and an idol. ZONE was a pop/rock band consisting of 4 girls that uses the genre bandol to promote themselves - the first at that time. Their early days saw them incorporating dance choreography with their performances. However, as time goes by, ZONE's musical prowess began to improve and they moved into serious pop/rock more, and the genre bandol become synonymous only to ZONE.
There were other girl-bands that came along after ZONE, like Gaki's favourite SCANDAL for instance. But SCANDAL is a serious pop/rock act, and the girls are seriously talented in their playing.
So last year, I discovered an interesting project that combines Akiba-style idols with pop/rock band.
An internet broadcasting portal called Akiba BB Channel which was created in 2005, promotes and produces shows all things Akiba in its programme, namely anime, game, seiyuu, idols etc. Their shows are free for viewing online and are released periodically like podcasts.
One of their projects is like a reality show, called "Bandol - Road to major debut". The show was organized in commemoration of its 5th year anniversary and called an audition for all interested indies idols (gravure, idol group, cafe maid etc) to participate in a popularity voting contest to form a bandol unit. The idea is to take a group of snormal Akiba idols, that has absolutely zero experience in band musical instruments, to train in their chosen instrument, and finally go through continous rounds of voting and eliminations and performances.
If you are familiar on how idol audition works, such as Morning Musume or AKB48, the show is not much different from it. Instead of dance lessons and choreography drills, they have drums and guitar practices. Instead of dancing performance, they have band showdowns.
The show has all the elements of Japanese documentary-reality-variety show in it, all the drama, tears and struggles are in it. In the end 4 girls were chosen and formed a band called BeeMINE. In October 2010, an edited and formated version of the show was aired in Sky Perfect TV.
The winning members are:
Guitar: Sugawara Shiori, Mizuki Momoko
Bass: Tokuoka Akane
Drum: Yamaguchi Satomi
On the band's formation the band members were very happy to perform on stage and hopes to be on a major debut soon. Also said that they wish to become like SCANDAL, and work hard so as not to lose to major idol acts.
I will keeping watch of BeeMINE every step of the way. If they ever go major, I'll be there to support them.
So is BeeMINE good as a bandol?
Well, they only have but one year to pick up a new musical instrument. Of course they're not really fantastic. Then again not even AKB48 nor Morning Musume can boast of having a full roster of vocal sirens.
But that is exactly the charm of an idol. It is the journey of becoming an idol, the hard work and tears that appeal to their fans. We always say that idols should be perfect, but conversely it is their flaws and shortcomings that makes us adore them even more.
Additional information:
A 2nd season of the show "Bandol - road to major debut" is currently under way. It chronicles the musical journey of BeeMINE as they continue to perform live shows and hone their skills at the same time for a major debut one day. Currently they had the privilege to see Sexy Panther (セクシーパンサー) practice and get some tips from the rock veterans.
Also, at the end of the 1st season's voting-elimination process, a separate contest was held for "Year 2" band members. Therefore, Season 2 also documents the journey of the selected members until their first live debut.
During BeeMINE's Christmas live gig, bassist Mizuki announced that she will leave the band. Reasons were not clearly given, although I think her agency boss might have something to do with this.
Bijo Gaku is coming to an end at least in name format however fear not Hello! Project fans as a new H!P show is coming . The new show will be called “Haropuro. Fan no Katagata ni Kakusan Kibou” and will air on Saturday mornings starting in April [0930 /9:30 am]. However if you watch Japanese television through some kind of online programs [download sites not included] ,you may have trouble viewing this new show in real-time as it will air on BS Japan a satellite station . If you are not familiar with BS Japan, it is TV Tokyo's satellite broadcasting channel.
Airing on satellite is actually not a bad thing as a number of idol groups air shows this way and it allows the broadcasters to expand the time slot with little disruption to it`s programs .Something that could not happen on the regular TV Tokyo network.
For H!P currently the show is seen in the Kanto area(Tokyo,Chiba,Kanagawa and Saitama prefectures) by moving to BS Japan H!P programming will now be seen nationwide .
The new shows title translates to mean, “To spread more Hello Project to the fans”, so there is a chance that a new and hopefully more exciting concept will come.
What if anything comes from this change is yet to be determined ,however all the pieces are in place to do a more entertaining show to a wider viewing audience .
Will we see a new more exciting show ? on the other hand, will this be Bijo Gaku version 2 ?
Berryz Koubou 25th single “Heroine ni Narou ka!” video is now out and someone in H!P decided the close up shots should be Berryz playing cosplay of a famous Western based international singer.
Heroine ni Narou ka! will be on sale on March 2 and will be released in five different versions; limited edition DVD jacket A, limited edition DVD jacket B, limited edition jacket C, CD regular, and Single V. The jacket A & B versions will come with a DVD containing special versions of the music video. All the limited edition jackets A, B, & C will come with a lottery number to enter to win a chance to go to a Berryz event.
TV talent, model and singer Leah Dizon has recently been discovered to have divorced according to a report in a women's magazine. She married stylist Bun October 2008, and gave birth to her daughter in April 2009. She has been in separation with her beau since October last year.
According to her agency, both parties' lawyers have been in negotiations and finally the divorce is finalized in December last year. Dizon will retain custody of her daughter and is now living in New York. She is currently training to be an actress and will return to work in Japan when demand arises.
Beginning from April, AKB48's "Naruhodo High School" (なるほど！ハイスクール) will be a regular weekly show on "golden time" on NTV network. It will air every Thursday at 7 p.m..
A "golden time" on Japanese TV is equivalent to the term "prime time" slot on TV. The usually begins at around 7 p.m. till around 9 p.m. or so, where all family members are usually home at dinner time to tune in to TV channels. A slot on golden time will almost guarantee high television exposure, on top of the TV show's own attration.
AKB48's first informative-variety genre TV show apparently caught the attention of TV executives when some the show's episodes garnered high ratings. An episode in May garnered 8.0% ratings even though it was in evening. An episode in Ocotober, its show on May. On the October show, where the AKB48 members tested the altitude of mobile phone reception by sky-diving and making a pudding out of a drum barrel resulted in 11.8% ratings.
The show will not include "AKB48" into the show title, in hopes of popularizing the members outside of AKB48 fanbase. Around 20 members will be presented on the show in rotation.
Comments from AKB48 members:
Team A Member Kojima Haruna who was campaigning for a golden time slot for the show in her catchphrases expressed her disbelief and excitement over the news.
Also Team A member Takahashi Minami said that this will be a good opportunity to allow the public to at least get to know the girls by name individually, and that they will work beyond the constrictions of being an idol to all challenges ahead. Additionally, she hopes to create a meme among the TV audiences, to say "Ah, naruhodo..." (lit. means "Oh, I see...")
Team B member Kashiwagi Yuki said that it was a dream to be on a golden time show.
Playing the role of MC for the TV show as "Teacher" of the class will be one half of comedy duo London Boots - Tamura Atsushi, whom some of you may know from the "London Hearts" TV show. Apparently, the producers want to inject doses of humor to the show and made "comedy" to be one of the class' study subjects. Some popular comedy acts will be brought on the show as guests stars.
Sayu has been on a 9th gen posting period, around 8 9th gen posts in the last 3-4 days.
This is a summary of four related posts, with comments from Sayu being used as a reference.
Recently Sayu made a series of posts on Zukki and Sayashi-chan and their dressing room free spirit dance contest.
It started out with Zukki who Sayu calls (especially high-spirited Zukki), challenging Sayashi to dance. The free spirited Zukki ended up dancing all around the room before collapsing on to the floor, causing Sayu to start laughing.
Not wanting it to end there, Zukki again urged Sayashi to dance with her, to which Sayashi said, “Ehーbeing strange is embarrassing.” Zukki would not take no for an answer and said to Sayashi “Look here, do it！”, leaving Sayashi little choice but to play along.
Zukki however becomes a free spirit and dances by herself again, to which Sayu said, "Here she comes! The geniussssss! So terrible huh, this girl. lol" Sayu goes on to describe the two as Zukki being weird in a good way and Sayashi having the grace of a ballerina.
Suddenly their manager enters the room wanting to know what all the noise was; Sayu said "suddenly the two of them got in line （lol）, And, gave a deceptive smile （lol）." As soon as the manager left the room, Sayu ends the four posts by saying, "not being discouraged Zukki starts dancing again （lol）"
Note:In another post Sayu hinted that they maybe shooting the new single PV [She also could just mean regular promo photo shoots]
Sayu- “We’re continuing with photo and film shoots still. Everyone is doing their best and the new members are working very hard. Right now we can’t stop with popcorn, while watching the monitors, we’re eating popcorn, and it feels like a mini movie theater (lol)”
As mentioned earlier, Kikkawa Yuu has an ongoing Universal promotion called Kikka Channel. Kikka Channel is not your normal idol or group channel that we have seen in the past. Kikka Channel is a walk through the debut of Kikkawa.
An internet broadcasting portal called Akiba BB Channel which was created in 2005, promotes and produces shows all things Akiba in its programme, namely anime, game, seiyuu, idols etc. Their shows are free for viewing online and are released periodically like podcasts.
If you are familiar on how idol audition works, such as Morning Musume or AKB48, the show is not much different from it. Instead of dance lessons and choreography drills, they have drums and guitar practices. Instead of dancing performance, they have band showdowns.
Playing the role of MC for the TV show as "Teacher" of the class will be one half of comedy duo London Boots - Tamura Atsushi, whom some of you may know from the "London Hearts" TV show. Apparently, the producers want to inject doses of humor to the show and made "comedy" to be one of the class' study subjects. Some popular comedy acts will be brought on the show as guests stars.
