Everywhere I see, there is snow and cold weather (with exceptions of course). Are you cold too? Get warmed up with this slightly lukewarm AKB news summary!
Kitarie was, and still is, so cute
Are you keeping up with Sashi Kita Gassen these days? For once, I am all caught up!
Kitarie appears in the episode as herself when she was a 17 year old! Behold:
Akimoto Yasushi poses with members of Nogizaka46
It must be one perk to be surrounded by cute girls all the time! Oddly enough, Akimoto Yasushi’s group photos with idols is somewhere rare. Here, he poses with members of Nogizaka46:
Also! Aki-P appears with members of HKT48:
Unnamed idol group collaborates with SNS app SIZEBOOK. Maybe?
“SizeBook” is a Japanese company that specializes in shoes, and they’re releasing a smart phone application that’s intended to help you find the best-fitting pair of shoes.
Also, they are collaborating with an unnamed idol group to be part of their app! This news comes from their Twitter feed:
【コラボ企画】先日、某アイドルグループとのコラボ企画のコンテンツを撮影しました！ 撮影現場の一部をご紹介！どんな企画になるかは、近日公表いたします！お楽しみに！ pic.twitter.com/mjfwL1yvSV
— sizebook (@_sizebook_) January 12, 2016
Which idol group? No one knows, but early guesses from Japanese netizens think it is Nogizaka46. Two pieces of really circumstantial speculation:
Takajo Aki and Nagao Mariya have graduated
This isn’t really a surprise, but JIJIPRESS has released a short summary video of the concert for your viewing pleasure!
NGT48’s CM collaboration with Niigata-made rice company Koshi Hikari
Unfortunately, due to circumstances, you won’t be able to watch this on Youtube if you’re in the United States. But there’s hope! Please google search “Youtube proxy” to watch this.
Takayanagi Akane performs duet with Noguchi Goro
If Twitter is anything to go by, Churi was surprised by the announcement. About the song itself, it is a ballad named, “Sore sore no toki”, and is part of Noguchi’s upcoming album, which is titled, “The birth GORO anniversary”. It goes on sale February 23, 2016.
Here one of the few of the promotional images (courtesy of Sanspo news):
Matsui Rena to star in NHK TV drama series, “Koibito Geinin”
The drama is scheduled to broadcast starting in March and is a romantic-comedy based on a novel of the same name. Rena herself plays the female lead, and is joined by co-star Emoto Tasuku.
The premise? Emoto plays a very minor celebrity with no experience in relationships, and Rena plays the role of a “mysterious” young woman. Vague enough for me!
Kashiwagi Yuki not participating in NGT48 MV shooting
Yukirin recently laments her exclusion from the filming of a yet-to-be-announced NGT48 music video. From her 755 feed:
Translation: “I’m not participating in NGT’s music shooting. Music video, I mean. They told me it doesn’t include concurrent members. I really wanted to be part of the first music video…”
Jurina memorizes the dance for Escape in 2 hours
The source is not clear, but it appears to be part of a late night radio show, featuring Tani Marika, Shibata Aya, and Kitagawa Ryoha. Here is the audio clip:
In this clip, Shibata talks about the dance moves for SKE48 single, “Escape”. Notably, she says that it took most of the members about one week to fully memorize. However, Matsui Jurina memorized it in 2 hours.
Even more amazing when you consider that Jurina was the center for the single. As the other girls mention, you can kind of get away with not fully memorizing things if someone is in front of you.
Wow, look at that formation.
Okay, this isn’t news (but what is, really?). I just thought this stage formation from Request Hour was neat looking:
Miyazawa Sae’s graduation concert details announced
March is going to be a busy month! Sae-chan’s concert is going to take placed on March 3rd and March 4th, 2016. As part of SKE48, the location will be Nagoya’s Nippon Gaishi Hall, and tickets will be 7,800 yen.
The second part of the announcement (which took place at Request Hour 2016) includes final theater performance dates. Sae will appear for her last performance at SKE48’s theater on March, 31st. Her last appearance in AKB48’s theater will be the next day on April 1st.
Miyawaki Sakura to be center for AKB48’s 43rd single
The title of the single is “Kimi wa Melody.”, and was announced and performed at Request Hour 2016.
As much as I love the original (OG) members, thank goodness that they’re putting a current member as center position!
Noro Kayo plays role in musical, “Annie”
She doesn’t play the lead role, but rather the role of sexy side character named, “Lily.”
Aside from her appearances on Japanese variety shows like London Hearts, I hadn’t seen Noro doing much (I admit that I don’t follow her so closely), but it’s good to see she’s still making a living in show business.
Tanaka Miku’s new short hair cut
She looks a bit like Miyawaki Sakura now, but still cute as always:
Katayama Haruka to release DVD next month
It appears that Katayama Haruka will be releasing her own gravure-style DVD next month.
Funny enough, the name of the DVD is “Aru Hi” which, as a few Japanese netizen’s note, is rather distinctive of her showa-style beauty for which she was always teased about.
Author: reika
I’m writing about useless and stupid things a lot, and I like to laugh. My policy is 一期一会。It means treasure your meeting with everyone!