Shiritsu Bakaleya Koukou to get a Movie Adaptation

The drama [Shiritsu Bakaleya Koukou] which starts the members of AKB48 and Johnny's Jr will get a movie adaption which will is scheduled to be released in October this year.

The drama that started from April and airs every Saturday on Nippon Television is about a yankee boy's school which merges with girls school. As of now, the cast for the movie is same as the drama.

AKB48
Shimazaki Haruka
Shimada Haruka
Oba Mina
Nakamura Mariko
Nagao Mariya
Kobayashi Marina
Mitsumune Kaoru

Johnny's Jr
Morimoto Shintaro
Matsumura Hokuto
Kyomoto Taiga
Tanaka Juri
Jesse Lewis
Kochi Yugo

AKB48 Creates Horse Racing Club for JRA New Campaign

On April 12th, 2012, it was announced that JRA (Japan Racing Association) will use AKB48 in its new "Smart! JRA" campaign.

A Horse-Racing Club was formed with 28 members, all of whom are above 20.

They will participate in a campaign called "Gachi Uma", where they compete against one another in predicting the winning horses for 5 Grade-1 races from April 29th, 2012 to May 27th, 2012, and the winner will be featured in JRA's fall commercials.

Starting from April 15th, 2012, new JRA commercials featuring AKB48 Horse Racing Club members will be aired.  The first commercial will show their reactions to the "Gachi Uma" campaign. 

The official JRA Campaign website can be found here - https://smartjra.jp/special/pc/

Minegishi and Watanabe will appear on VOGUE JAPAN

Minegishi Minami and Watanabe Mayu will be appearing in the May issue of VOGUE JAPAN which will go on sale on March 28th.

Official Website: http://www.vogue.co.jp/


Miichan and Mayuyu will be endorsing Dior's new lipstick line. For this photoshoot, these two AKB members will shed off their usual self and take on a whole new different persona, showcasing their "adult" side. Dressed up in pink beige clothing to emphasize the lipstick, they will appear on 10 pages of the magazine

There will also be a making of footage of this photoshoot along with interview in VOGUE JAPAN's official website.


They look so different. While they definitely look more mature, I'm not sure with the hairstyle but then again models for such endorsements usually have short hairstyle like these. What do you think?

Possible New Puccho CM. Kuchi Utsushi no Puccho?

WARNING!
The images you are about to see contain dangerous doses of YURI. Do not enter without sufficient protection.

Parental Guidance is NOT advised, please ensure personal security before viewing. 

If you thought AKB48 was going to stop at Heavy Rotation, think again. The above images were taken from the latest FLASH magazine, and it looks like AKB48 members are swapping Pucchos mouth to mouth.

Kuchi Utsushi no Puccho? Lol. If you didn't get that, there is a song from Team B's 4th Stage called [Kuchi Utsushi no Chocolate] (Mouth to mouth chocolate).

The few pairings that we see now are:
Maeda Atsuko x Kashiwagi Yuki
Shimazaki Haruka x Oshima Yuko
Shinoda Mariko x Watanabe Mayu
Sashihara Rino x Kato Rena
Itano Tomomi x Takahashi Minami
Kashiwagi Yuki x Itano Tomomi


On March 8th, Shinoda Mariko posted on her Google+ pictures of various AKB48 members' (and non-members too) kissing faces, adding on that they were together at some "recording". Some people have speculated that this will be for a Single's PV but it turns out to be for the Puccho CM.

https://plus.google.com/u/0/105312608513060875034/posts

So...from Heavy Rotation to Kataomoi Finally to this Kuchiutsushi no Puccho, I wonder what's next ^^

AKB48 Breaks Guinness Record With WONDA CM

AKB48 has broken the Guinness World Record again, this time for having the "Most Versions of a TV Commercial for the Same Product Broadcast Within 24 hours – Free-to-air (Terrestrial TV)".

The CM in question is the WONDA x AKB48 [WONDA Morning Shot] series, which had all 90 versions, for all 90 members in AKB48, put on broadcast on 28 February 2012. This beat the previous record of 60 Android au commercials were broadcast on 27 January 2011 which starred the Arashi members.


When it comes down to sheer numbers, I guess no one can stand in AKB48's way. AKB48 also holds the record for the "Pop Group with the Most Amount of Members" last 2010.

AKB48 Google+ CM Senbatsu Announced

It was previously mentioned on Akimoto Yasushi's Google+ page that AKB48 (and sister groups) members will star in commercials for Google+. For the past few days, he has been slowly revealing the Google+ Senbatsu members for the CM.

Yesterday, all 16 Google+ CM members have been revealed.

Matsumura Kaori  (SKE48)
Matsui Sakiko (AKB48)
Takajo Aki  (AKB48)
Katayama Haruka  (AKB48)
Yamaguchi Yuuki  (NMB48)
Nakamata Shiori  (AKB48)
Ishida Haruka  (AKB48)
Matsui Rena  (SKE48)
Suzuki Shihori  (AKB48)
Tanabe Miku  (AKB48)
Kuramochi Asuka  (AKB48)
Yamamoto Sayaka  (NMB48)
Nakagawa Haruka  (AKB48)
Kitahara Rie  (AKB48)
Yokoyama Yui  (AKB48)
Fujie Reina  (AKB48)


These 16 members will participate in commercials for Google. Additionally, only members aged 18 and above could be chosen. The song used in the CM will be included as a coupling for the next AKB48 single that will release sometime around May.

And today, the center for the Google+ CM was announced by AkiP to be Ishida Haruka. Congratulations! The member placements in the CM have also been revealed.

[FRONT]

Matsui Rena, Kitahara Rie, Ishida Haruka, Takajo Aki, Yokoyama Yui
Fujie Reina, Kuramochi Asuka, Yamamoto Sayaka, Nakagawa Haruka, Matsui Sakiko
Suzuki Shihori, Matsumura Kaori, Katayama Haruka, Nakamata Shiori, Yamaguchi Yuuki, Tanabe Miku

Shooting for the commercial will commence on March 8th, currently the air date for the CM has not been revealed yet.

Shinoda Mariko and Matsui Rena are Chukyou Racecourse Ambassadors

It was announced today that Matsui Rena will be cutting the ribbon at the Grand Opening ceremony of the Chukyo Racecourse on March 3rd, 2012.

Official Website: http://chukyo-keiba.com/
Official YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/ChukyoKeibaCom

The Chukyo Racecourse was closed in 2010 for an extensive  two year renovation that cost over 17.3 billion yen. With the renovations comes a new grass turf, the longest in Western Japan at 1,705 meters, and new grandstand named Pegasus. The mascot character of the newly reborn Chukyo Racecourse is also called "Pegastar". The new stand is also eco-friendly, equipped with solar panels.

Mariko and Rena was appointed as the Official Ambassadors of the Chukyo Racecourse back in December 2011, when the reopening date was announced. They have also starred in 2 CMs. However, there was no mention of Mariko attending the Official Opening.








I could be wrong but I think this is the first time any 48 member was part of the ribbon-cutting ceremony for something this big. Wow good job Rena. It's unfortunate though that Mariko couldn't join her. Such a busy schedule she has. 


Anyway I would like to see more collaborations like this between the various 48 groups. Where they both are equal, and it's not "AKB48" that includes SKE48. 


Rena is extremely entertaining in those two commercials, the final "IKE!I IKE! IKE! IKE! IKE!" part in the 2nd CM especially. I certainly was not expecting that and it caught me so off guard that I couldn't stop laughing for 10 mins. 

AKB48 new HP Campaign [Love PC, Love HP]

AKB48 teams up with HP again this season for a new campaign [Love PC, Love HP].

This isn't their first collaboration with HP, last year it was AKB48 members as [HP's Support Angels]. This year's campaign has Maeda Atsuko, Shinoda Mariko, Itano Tomomi, Kojima Haruna and the new 13th gen kenkyuusei Mitsumune Kaoru as [Love PC Evangelists].

Each of the members have their own 30 second CM. Their CM talks about "Since PC is an importance presence in our daily lives, we should be particular about choosing the one that's right for us <our needs>, and grow to like the PC we've chosen". That's the message this CM is trying to bring across by members talking about what they like about the PC they chose to the audience.

The CMs starts airing from tomorrow February 23rd. Meanwhile You can check out the individual CMs plus the making of the CM below.


Maeda Atsuko

Shinoda Mariko

Kojima Haruna

Itano Tomomi

Mistumune Kaoru

Making of the CM


This is of course a very big push for Kaoru and guess we also know now why Mariko posted a photo of Kaoru with herself and other members in her blog.

All 90 AKB48 Members In New WONDA CM

AKB48 will be pairing up with Asahi Drinks once again to promote their WONDA Morning Shot canned coffees. The new commercials will include all 90 members of AKB48 and will start airing on February 28, 2012.

The new WONDA CMs is titled "Message" chapter. The new CMs take place in the office, where the Morning Shot canned coffee makes all the salary-men feel refreshed to start the day. Members have also picked their favorite messages from supporters, and will share these heart-warming messages with everyone in the CMs.

This is the first time for any commercial that all the members of AKB48 are featured. Team A, Team K, Team B, Team 4 and even Kenkyuusei members.

Am I the only one tired of all the many OOO48 commercials out there. When I tune to a Japanese channel, it's like 1 of every 4 commericials has a 48 group or member in it. It's good promotion for them but too much is too much.

AKB48 Goes Danso in Commercial for Haruyama

AKB48 was recently chosen as the image character for Haruyama Trading's new "Full Freshers Campaign". Haruyama is a Japanese menswear clothing company, specializing in business suits. The commercial, titled "Handsome men's slim", hopes to attract the "freshers generation" that will enter Japan's workforce soon.

Official website: http://otokomae-slim.jp/
(scheduled to open on February 1st)

The members chosen to participate in the commercial are:
Oshima Yuko, Kashiwagi Yuki, Kitahara Rie, Kojima Haruna, Sashihara Rino, Shinoda Mariko, Takajo Aki, Takahashi Minami, Minegishi Minami, Miyazawa Sae, Yokoyama Yui, Watanabe Mayu

The commercial will feature the 12 members dressed in the suits and walking down a runway, high-fiving each other along the way. They even drastically changed their hairstyles in order to appear more manly. One of the things to watch for is that it's a first-time for most members to show their foreheads, since in most situations they have bangs and that they packed up their smiles to show their "cool" side.

AKB48 previously collaborated with another suits company AOKI back in 2010, but this is the first time the girls ever dressed up in men's attire for a commercial. They hope to appeal to men by expressing Haruyama's brand message, "Come and become a handsome man!"

The suits will have 11 variations, and prices start at 40,950yen.

Additionally, AKB48's upcoming single GIVE ME FIVE! will be used as the theme song for the commercial. It was already filmed last December, and will start airing nationwide from Wednesday, February 1st.

Honestly, instead of making them more manly, I think those hairstyles are horrible. Maybe they should have kept their bangs. Mariko looks okay at least.

Nogizaka46 debut single titled [Guruguru Curtain] + [Aitakatta Kamoshirenai]

notice: sometimes we don't have enough content to make a full post on the blog so there are late posts, but we will tweet about it on our twitter account.

At a press conference for Meiji on January 12th, AKB48's official rival Nogizaka46 announced the title of their debut single to be [Guruguru Curtain]. The single will release on Febrary 22nd with 5 versions.

Nogizaka46 1st Single
Guruguru Curtain
ぐるぐるカーテン
22 February 2012


Guruguru Curtain has been described as Nogizaka46's version of Skirt, Hirari, one of AKB48's early singles. The dance features quite a lot of skirt flipping movements, and they even lift up each other's skirts!

The senbatsu members have already been announced in a previous post.
http://melosnomichi.blogspot.com/2012/01/nogizaka46-debut-single-senbatsu.html

Like I said above, Guruguru Curtain will be used as the theme song for their collaboration CM with Meiji, [Meiji Tezukuri Chocolates] (Meiji handmade chocolates). There are 5 different versions of the CM, each starring different members. The CM has already started airing since February 14th.

All different versions shown in the bellow embed.



I quite like Guruguru Curtain. Although it's the usual generic idol song, it's catchy enough to stick in my mind. I was kinda hoping for something darker for their debut single. But not all is lost!

On tonight's Nogizaka tte, doko? (120115 airing), Nogizaka46 performed for the first time their new song [Aitakatta Kamoshirenai], their version of AKB48's hit song Aitakatta. It wasn't announced but this will probably be one of the coupling songs of Guruguru Curtain.

You can listen to it here:



You can see the shock the 3 hosts had when they first heard the song. When I first heard it I was all WTF this is weird, but then I realized it was actually quite good. After 3 years of listening to the same old thing performed at every AKB48 concert, this is a good refreshment.

Instead of a happy song Nogizaka46's version is more darker and rock 'n' roll. It has the exact same lyrics, the same dance moves, but this is just much more BADASS. Totally different vibe compared to the original version which is super happy, and in my opinion better.

It was a great decision for Nogizaka46 to remake the song that represents AKB48 with their own tunes. It just screams "We're gonna beat you at your own game". And the best part is that they both have the same producer. Whatever Aki-P was drinking when he thought of that, he needs to drink it more.

A win comment I found on facebook

they should change the lyrics coz they sound like riding motorbikes than bicycles rofl

This might be just what I need to get into Nogizaka46. Since it started I have been watching their weekly show Nogizaka tte, doko? however I just didn't really find them that interesting. Since they are rivals I treat them just like any other underground idol group, but they just didn't stand out to me. However after seeing their awesome version of Aitakatta I'm starting to like them. Guruguru Curtain is quite good too.

OFFTOPIC: The other underground idol groups I like are Sakura Gakuin, Shiritsu Ebisu Chuugaku, and Himekyun

PREVIOUS:
Nogizaka46 Debut Single Senbatsu Revealed
Nogizaka46 announces debut single

Maeda Atsuko meets her doppelgänger in [Docomo Gakuwari] CM

Well not exactly but something like that. While we usually we don't blog about CM Collaborations because there are just waaaaay to many, I thought this was quite interesting.

AKB48 will be collaborating with mobile phone operator docomo, to promote their student discount plan [Docomo Gakuwari].

Official Website: http://docomo-gakuwari.jp/

In the CM, through the use of special effects, Maeda Atsuko will meet with her 14 year old self when she first joined AKB48. Together, they go through her past dance practices, times when she was tired and discouraged, times when she cried. Through all those events, the Acchan from now offers support to her younger self, encouraging her to get through these hard times. At the end, Yuko, Takamina, Mayuyu, Marikosama, Kojiharu, Yukirin, Sasshi, Miichan and Yuihan make an appearance, joining Acchan in offering a message of support for all students.

Looking back at herself, Acchan noted, "I'm surprised I haven't changed at all! Even now, I look the same when I don't wear makeup (lol)."  As for her personal goals in the future, she commented, "I want to be told that I'm beautiful.  I don't want to be just cute, but rather I want everyone to say 'Oh, she is really an adult now.'"

AKB48's upcoming single [GIVE ME FIVE!] will be the theme song of the CM. The campaign will run from January 20th to 31st May. You can check out the 30sec version of the CM below.

Shinoda Mariko Stars in New Puccho CM

Shinoda Mariko stars in a new series of CMs for popular gummy candy Puccho, fulfilling part of her prize as the winner of the 24th Single Janken Tournament.  The CMs began airing 19 November.

Because the CMs are intended to honor her victory in the janken tournament, they will feature her singing and dancing to "her" single [Ue Kara Mariko] (along with the other senbatsu members for the single).  Between the dancing and singing shots, there are also closeup scenes where Mariko turns to face the camera, saying such quips as "You like Puccho, right?", "You want to eat it, right?", "Tell me what you want to eat." all with her best effort at a "from the top" attitude.

To carry on the Janken Tournament theme for this CM series, there are actually four different versions: Normal, Rock, Paper, and Scissors.

All four versions have been compiled into the video below:

AKB48 HP Support Angels NEXT New CM!

As a continuation of Hewlett Packard Japan's Summer 2011 campaign for advertising their newest line of computers, six AKB48 members are being featured in yet another CM.

Set in the same futuristic world as the first HP Support Angels CM, this new version spends more screentime showing off individual members playing with various HP devices.



Oshima Yuko is featured floating in in the air while using various computers that are also floating with her.  In commenting on her segment, she was very excited, saying "Uwaah~~ It's very unstable!!"  The special effects the CM were shot using a stool with high-speed up and down controls to create a floating movement.  The director, during filming, is said to have asked her "Isn't this fun?"

Kashiwagi Yuki also plays a leading role in the CM.  The staff for the shooting commented that "Although she usually appears very elegant and graceful, she broke this image during the shooting session."  She is said to have been flustered and exclaimed "Scary!!" when put on the special effects chair.

Kojima Haruna, on the other hand, apparently was not at all shaken by the chair.  Her scenes involved wearing headphones and enjoying listening to music while holding onto a computer (that presumably is playing the music).  The staff were duly impressed, commenting "Nice grip!" because no matter how much the chair moved around or how bumpy the motion was, she never once let go of the computer prop.



AKB48 members Shinoda Mariko, Miyazawa Sae, and SKE48's Matsui Rena will also appear in the new CM.

The CM began airing on 26 November 2011.

AKB48 Kouhaku Countdown Calendar

AKB48 along with Terry Ito has been working as supporters for the 62nd Kouhaku Uta Gassen for nearly 3 weeks now. If you have been following the blog's twitter account, I have been posting daily the AKB48 Kouhaku Countdown Calendar.

Just like the title says, it's a countdown calendar counting down the days left to this year's Kouhaku. Everyday since October 30th, a different AKB48 member (or group of members) will be featured on the Kouhaku website. Right now the number stands at 40 days left.

62nd Kouhaku Uta Gassen Official Website: http://www9.nhk.or.jp/kouhaku/

As well as counting down, the calendar has also been counting up to the numbers 1231, which is the airing date of Kouhaku (12/31).

The 62nd Kouhaku Uta Gassen will air on December 31st, New Year's Eve, from 19:15 ~ 23:45PM JST.

Here's the calendar so far. Will be updated regularly.

<