akb48 request hour

News Roundup #20: does this website work edition

It seems sometimes the website works, sometimes it doesn’t.  There are have been more mysterious things happening like Paruru’s social network activities and Nyan Nyan Kamen’s whereabouts. Enjoy all this and more in another AKB news summary!

Matsui Rena playing by herself

For the super curious, this is how Rena passes the time “playing by herself”:

“I’m in Nagoya for a promotion. The meeting was going so well, that I  have time left over.  Playing by myself.”


Shimazaki Haruka disappears from 755 and Google+

… and she came back later?  Or…?

I am not sure about the exact sequence of events, but it seems to be:

  1. She closed her talk room on 755
  2. She also deleted her Google+ account
  3. She created a new Instagram account (since she closed her former one)

Oh, it is too hard to follow this girl sometimes!

That didn’t seem to stop her popularity, as she just started Instagram again and, according to news sources, she already has 220,000 followers as of yesterday. Wow!


AKB Impersonations

… they’re back again. But why?

Or maybe they just never went away.  I discovered them a while ago, but more recent photos show that things haven’t changed:

2365a70e

And here’s a new member, Kojiharu:

13333d2d


An AKB48 Quiz at the AKB Cafe

According to some 2ch users, there was a special “mini event” where they are playing a game with customers are AKB Cafe: basically, you get a three question quiz about AKB, and if you answer 2 out of 3 correctly, you get a prize.  Also, no cell phones allowed!

38eaa283
The prize is a cup coaster!

Some of the questions that have been asked so far (they seem to switch around the questions):

  • What floor number is the location of AKB48’s Theater in Don Quixote?
  • In the first Majisuka Gakuen, what is the title of Maeda Atsuko’s character’s favorite yankee manga?
  • AKB48 is in the Guiness Book of World Records for what reason?
  • What is Takahashi Minami’s birthday?
  • Who won last year’s Janken Taikai Tournament?
  • How many separate groups make up AKB?
  • What year was NMB48 created?
  • Who’s character is called, “Nirouni”?
  • How many songs have the word, “sakura”, in the title?

Some are pretty easy, but others are a little difficult. Did you get them all correct? 🙂


Nyan Nyan Kamen application approved

I’m speechless, but the mysterious and unidentified Nyan Nyan Kamen has been accepted as a candidate to the election. Wow!

Courtesy of AKB48’s official blog:

“With regards to the pending application of ‘Nyan Nyan Kamen’, we have determined that the candidate is qualified, and have officially accepted the application.” (保留となっておりました「にゃんにゃん仮面」ですが、立候補資格があると判断しましたので、正式に受理致しました).

Not only this, but the profile now appears on the official AKB48 Sousenkyo website:

nyan nyan kamen official

WHO ARE YOU!!?!


Keyakizaka46’s new single #1 on iTunes digital downloads

If reports are to be believed by 2ch users, Keyakizaka 46’s new single is number one in iTunes digital music downloads, as of 8AM JST on April 6th, 2016.  One user provides a screenshot here:

98e3c872


Japan Rail East assigns new 3-letter codes to each station…

What is Akihabara Station’s three letter code? You guess it! “AKB”.  This comes courtesy of a press release by Japan Rail East, about a new numbering and lettering system for train stations:

three letter code japanese train stations


Akiyoshi Yuka’s special cafe menu item

It’s called the “Yuka-chan Burger”. The name is not so creative, but this is not a typical burger:

yukachan burger

That’s a creative “burger”, sort of, but I am not sure how I feel about o_0


AKB48 Request Hour 2016 DVD/BluRay covers

Do you notice something about these jackets? Here they are:

2f867c32

d21a8010

That’s right! There are no AKB48 members on the cover (unless you count Team 8, which, for some wota, is debatable).


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!

  • Chaconne

    Shimazaki’s new Instagram account currently has 31.6k followers, so maybe you intended to say 22,000 followers?
    I can only answer 6 quiz questions with complete certainty. But would 「桜の花びらたち」 and its 2008 remake count as distinct songs or be considered the same song?

    • reika

      Yes, you’re probably right. Numbers is tricky to translate sometimes because Japanese counts in 10,000 pieces, but English counts 1,000 pieces f(^-^); Thanks for correction!

      I am not 100% of the “sakura” question (would guess the same?). The correct answer is 6 songs, according to the 2ch thread. To be honest, I can think of three right now: 桜の木になろう, 桜の栞, and 10年桜.

  • Derek Vasconi

    Those questions were kind of hard for me, and I’m not even sure why lol. Tricky might be a better way to put it.
    I still can’t get into Keyizaka, no matter how hard they are trying or doing well. But maybe they might be another nogi in the making? We’ll see I suppose. All the scandals at the beginning sort of soured them for me, but still…
    Rena is still so incredible. Her presence is still strongly felt… I love how she still keeps popping up for us AKB fans.
    But uh.. what’s with the Request List covers? Interesting…

    • reika

      Lol, those were kind of hard questions to be honest. I don’t even remember the first Majisuka Gakuen anymore!

      Keyakizaka… maybe they need more time to mature? I can’t say I’m all that familiar with them though, since I didn’t watch their show. Plus like you said, so many scandals at beginning!