Nogizaka46 3rd Single Senbatsu Announced + Sakurai Reika Official Captain

Today at Nogizaka46's variety show Nogizaka Katte, Doko  they announced the senbatsu for their 3rd single which will be released on 22nd August. Along with the senbatsu announcement, Sakurai Reika was appointed as the captain official as in no longer just a temporary captain. Also the centers for this single is same [Guruguru Curtain], Ikuta, Ikoma and Hoshino.

The senbatsu members are (listed on the basis of their position and name called out)
Ikuta Erika, Ikoma Rina, Hoshino Minami, Sakurai Reika, Nakada Kana, Hashimoto Nanami, Shiraishi Mai, Matsumura Sayuri, Nishino Nanase, Takayama Kazumi, Saito Yuuri, Wakatsuki Yumi, Inoue Sayuri Ichiki Rena, Itou Mariko, Fukagawa Mai

Nogizaka's Shichi Fukujin (Lit. Seven Deities of Good Luck/Nogizaka's Kami7): Ikuta Erika, Ikoma Rina, Hoshino Minami, Nishino Nanase, Hashimoto Nanami, Shiraishi Mai, Matsumura Sayuri



In (Senbatsu): Itou Mariko, Fukagawa Mai and Wakatsuki Yumi.
Out (Senbatsu): Miyazawa Seira, Hatanaka Seira, Iwase Yumiko

In (Shichi Fukujin): Hoshino Minami, Nishino Nanase, Ikuta Erika
Out (Shichi Fukujin): Sakurai Reika, Nakada Kana, Takayama Kazumi

Nogizaka46 Announces 3rd Single Release Date

Nogizaka46 announced they will be releasing their next single on August 22. This is the groups 2nd single after [Guruguru Curtain] and [Oide Shampoo].

Beside the date, no other details have been announced except that the senbatsu will be announced next week on their variety show Nogizakatte, Doko.

Sashihara Rino / Nogizaka46 1st and 2nd day sales

Sashihara Rino's debut single [Soredemo suki da yo] as well as [Oide, Shampoo], 2nd single of Nogizaka46 were both released on Wednesday after weeks of media covering an artificial rivalry between the two.

Even with extensive "doping" on Sashihara's side, Nogizaka46 went on to almost double Sashihara in number of units sold. Oricon reports first day numbers as 56,879 and 111,222 sold units respectively.

After two days, Sashihara and Nogizaki46 are at 86,447 and 132,774 sold units respectively.

Today avex staff issued a statement, apologizing that theater edition (Type-D) sales of Soredemo suki da yo amounting to approximately 12k units had not been counted by Oricon. According to avex's statement, Oricon considers a release to be a single as long as it doesn't exceed a 4-song limit (not counting "off vocal" tracks). Apparently Sashihara's cover of Matsuura Aya's 2002 hit "Yeah! Meccha Holiday", exclusive to the theater edition, was counted as a fifth track and not as the "bonus track" it was originally intended to be.

While she might not have been able to beat Nogizaka46, Sashihara did outsell Watanabe Mayu's solo debut "Synchro Tokimeki" by about 8k units (50,145 / 1st day).

Nogizaka46 to Hold Auditions for 2nd Generation Members

AKB48's official rival group Nogizaka46 has announced auditions for 2nd generation members. The auditions will be held on 29th April.

It will be held in ETC Dance School (Ikebukuro branch)The requirements to join is that you must be a female between the age of 12 to 24. Beside this, no further details has been given as of yet.

Seems like NGZ is upping their game, does this also mean they will have Teams now? Well, we'll just have wait and see.

Nogizaka46 To Change Choreography for [Oide, Shampoo]

Since the first performance of Nogizaka46's [Oide, Shampoo] and the subsequent release of Music Videos, the most discussed aspect of this song is the choreography.

On 2ch, a popular Japanese online forum, the discussion is especially fierce.  Many did not like the choreography and wondered why the management decided to go ahead with it.

On April 15, their producer Akimoto Yasushi finally spoke up


Akimoto Yasushi - Apr 15, 2012  -  Mobile  -  Public

Business call.

Konno at  Sony Music!
See?
Now that part of "Oide Shampoo", Nogizaka46's new song, is getting poor reviews.
Didn't we discuss this in the meeting?
That's a bit over the top.
The music video was not shot well either.
Please change the choreography for future performances on music shows and such.
As for the music video...probably too late.

It's not Minami Sasuga's fault.
It was supposed to be a cute choreography but didn't fit Nogizaka46's concept.
This is probably because the production team doesn't understand Nogizaka46.

Hmmm, this is quite difficult.
I want to give the production team as much freedom as possible,
but I also feel like I have to check everything...quite conflicting...

Nogizaka46 2nd Single [TBA] Senbatsu Announced

The senbatsu members for Nogizaka46's 2nd single was announced during the March 18th episode of Nogizaka tte, doko?

Senbatsu (announcement order)
Sakurai Reika, Ikoma Rina, Takayama Kazumi, Nakada Kana, Matsumura Sayuri, Hashimoto Nanami, Shiraishi Mai, Inoue Sayuri, Saito Yuuri, Miyazawa Seira, Ichiki Rena, Hatanaka Seira, Nishino Nanase, Hoshino Minami, Ikuta Erika, Iwase Yumiko

IN: Miyazawa Seira, Hatanaka Seira, Iwase Yumiko
OUT: Noujou Ami, Kawamura Mahiro, Saito Asuka

Shichi Fukujin
Sakurai Reika, Ikoma Rina, Takayama Kazumi, Nakada Kana, Matsumura Sayuri, Hashimoto Nanami, Shiraishi Mai

Two Shichi Fukujin (Nogizaka46's Kami7) members, Ikuta Erika and Hoshino Minami, have been swapped out for Sakurai Reika and Nakada Kana. The next single will also have 3 centers, Sakurai, Nakada and Ikoma.

At the time of posting, the title for the 2nd single has not been revealed yet. The single will release on May 2nd, 2012, the same day as Sashihara Rino's [Sore Demo Suki da yo].


It baffles me to see Ikuta Erika and Hoshino Minami removed from the Shichi Fukujin. I always thought the two were quite popular. Speaking of popularity, the most popular member Shiraishi Mai is not in the center 3. I wonder what has been planned for the song that they changed the members around like this.

As for the rest of the senbatsu members, my oshimen Kawamura Mahiro has been kicked out, as well as another of my favourites Noujou Ami. Why must the world be so cruel.

Excel Spreadsheet for AKB and Other 48/46 Members

I spent the past 3 days creating an AKB48, SKE48, NMB48, HKT48, JKT48, SDN48 and Nogizaka46 member information excel spreadsheet.

Includes all the basic information for all the members of all the groups that are created by Akimoto Yasushi. I will try to update it whenever there are new generations of members. Mistakes are likely as I am still human. If there are any errors please inform me.

Feel free to spread, but please credit back to MELOSnoMichi.
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/12947028/2.MELOSnoMichi/48%20members%20info.xlsx

VER 1.1: Fixed some errors in the spreadsheet
VER 1.2: Updated with links to members' Twitter and Google+ Accounts, as well as Election ranking
VER 1.3: Added in SDN48 profiles
VER 1.4: Updated with new Team 4 members and agencies


If you are still using the old Microsoft Excel, here's a 1997-2003 compatible version: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/12947028/2.MELOSnoMichi/48%20members%20info%20%2897-03%20compatible%29.xls

I uploaded it on Google docs too.

Nogizaka46 to Release 2nd Single on the Same Day as Sashihara Rino

Just barely a month after the release of [Guruguru Curtain], Nogizaka46 has announced their 2nd single, currently untitled, which will be released on May 2nd, 2012.

May 2nd is also the release date for Sashihara Rino's solo debut single [Sore Demo Suki da yo]. This is the first time the rivals have went head to head.

Not much else is known about the single. The senbatsu members, and hopefully more details, will be announced on next week's episode of Nogizaka tte, Doko?! (March 19th airing).

So it's Yasusu's oshi vs AKB48's rival on Yasusu's birthday, I wonder if the result will become a birthday present for him. Nogizaka outsold Mayuyu by 30k for 1st day and week, and Mayuyu is more popular than Sasshi.


So who do you think will win?

Nogizaka46 [Guruguru Curtain] 1st Week Sales + Review

Oricon released their weekly charts last week and the first week sales for Nogizaka46's debut single [Guruguru Curtain] is 136,309.

As expected, they lost to Johnny's group Hey!Say!JUMP. But nevertheless 2nd place with 136k is still good for their debut single. Congratulations girls!

I guess I was expecting too much from them. After all NMB48's debut single [Zetsumetsu Kurogami Shoujo] sold 131k on Day 1 and 218k on just Week 1.

Before my review, I just want to point out that I have seen a large number of people intentionally hating Nogizaka46 just because they are rivals. Personally I don't really see them so much as a rival group, but instead like the AKBIdoling!!! collaboration on 2009.

Guruguru Curtain (ぐるぐるカーテン)
When I first heard it I thought it was quite catchy and stuck on my head, but after some time I quickly got bored of it. That drum rhythm gets irritating quickly. Overall it's an okay song, cute and has a very simple choreography, kinda like AKB48's debut single Sakura no Hanabiratachi.

The PV especially feels really plain and low budget. It's like all the budget for the single went to Aitakatta Kamoshirenai and the 33 special videos in the single. I like the monochrome classroom scenes in the PV though.


Hidari mune no Yuuki (左胸の勇気)
it sounds just like your standard AKB undergirls song. If I hadn't known before I listened to it I would have even mistaken it for one. I like it better than most of the other undergirls songs actually.

Oh yeah how come this song doesn't have a PV like the other 3 tracks in Guruguru Curtain?


Nogizaka no Uta (乃木坂の詩)
Nogizaka46's theme song, and it's about not giving up and moving forward. At one point of the song the girls sing in the in accompaniment "Don't look back! Go my way!   Don't give up! Good luck now!"
The lyrics are nice, but I really dislike repetitive lyrics and totally can't stand the "WOW WOW WOW WOW" in the song. The cheorography is weird too.

Just like in Guruguru Curtain, the PV for Nogizaka no Uta is plain and featureless. Have they completely run out of budget? Well it's one way of bringing attention to the 33 Nogizaka46 members, who are dressed in contrasting purple tracksuits.

The girls seem to be at some sort of training camp where they are shown doing various exercises.  Then there are some crying scenes for people with that kind of fetish, and a strip scene because otherwise there isn't much else to watch in the PV.


Aitakatta Kamoshirenai (会いたかったかもしれない)
Perhaps the most anticipared song of this single, and it's not even an original song lol. Aitakatta Kamoshirenai is Nogizaka46's cover of AKB48's famous Aitakatta, but a much more darker version. And frankly I prefer this darker version. The whole "I can do it better than you" has worked for me.

There's actually 2 versions to the PV, the normal version and the "original cut". But there's not really much difference between the two and you really have to know where to look to see it. A complete waste of DVD space, they could have instead created a PV for Hidari mune no Yuuki. I guess they ran out of budget.

Will Nogizaka46 release a dark version of an AKB song in every single? I hope so because I really enjoyed Aitakatta Kamoshirenai


Ushinaitakunai kara (失いたくないから)
A ballad song, of course it wouldn't be an Akimoto Yasushi produced single without a ballad included. It's a nice ballad too actually, better than most of the recent ballads released by the 48s'. Good to listen to after a hard day's work.

On to the PV now. At last there is something in the background this time, which helps accentuates the girls, who are dressed in beautiful white tutus. In between the studio scenes, there are clips showing the early days of Nogizaka46. Vocal tranining, dance training, image training, rehearsals for Guruguru Curtain, and a bonus clip at the end showing poor Ikoma-chan doing something no idol should ever be shown doing ^^;;.

IMO Ushinaitakunai kara has the best PV in the entire single. This would definitely have been a better "Nogizaka46 theme song" than Nogizaka no Uta.


OVERALL
Overall I think the single is quite average, but definitely not living up to the hype that it created when Nogizaka46 was announced. When you hear that they are an "official rivals" you kinda expect them to be on the same level as AKB currently. I guess they wanted to start off safely, but I really feel that they could have done much more. Hopefully the 2nd Single will be much better.

Nogizaka46 Appointed as "Sukapa-! J-League 2012 Official Supporter"

On February 28th, 2012, Nogizaka46 has been appointed as the Sukapa-! J-League 2012 Official Supporter!. There will be a CM, titled [Ketsui], starting March 3rd.

At the Sukapa-! x J-League press conference, Nogizaka46 members dressed up with original soccer-uniform-styled costumes and appeared as surprise guests. Sukapa, officially known as SkyPerfecTV, is a satellite TV service in Japan.

Hidari mune no Yuuki, one of the songs in Nogizaka46's debut single, was used as the Sukapa-! J-League 2012 official cheer song, and it will be used in TV programmes and CM.

Regarding being appointed the official supporter, Ikoma Rina said, "I feel really honoured to be appointed as the official supporter. From here on, Nogizaka46 shall become one and support the teams together with the other fans and supporters. And I hope we will be able to heat up the atmosphere as well".

She also added "Nadeshiko Japan received a lot of attention from everyone in Japan. I hope they will work hard to achieve a gold medal during the London Olympics".


Miyazawa Seira, whose father used to be a professional soccer player, said, "When I told my father about this news, he was shocked and said, 'Really!? I'm so jealous that you get this chance.' I shall work hard for my father's share as well and hope to liven up the atmosphere together with the supporters in the stadium".

Nogizaka46 Debut Single [Guruguru Curtain] 1st Day Sales

Nogizaka46 released their debut single [Guruguru Curtain] earlier today, it's first day selling 84,905 copies.

Nor bad for a rival group, although they probably wouldn't have garnered this much sales if they weren't connected to AKB as rivals. All they hype in the media because they are "official rivals" was quite a clever promotional tactic to promote the group and single. Oh the irony, AKB is helping their rivals grow.

There's not really much point comparing sales records at this point of time, so I'll leave that until the weekly sales are out. I predict around 130 to 140k at the end of the way, unless there are some late shipments that ill give the single a sudden boost in sales mid-week, then it's impossible to guess.

Nogizaka46 Debut Event in Ginza

To celebrate their debut, Nogizaka46 will hold an event at Opus, which is located on the 8th floor of Sony Building in Ginza. The event is called "Nogizaka46 Debut Commemoration Special Week", and will be from February 16th to March 4th, 2012.

At the event, all the PVs from their debut single [Guruguru Curtain] will be played on a 200" screen, as well as the bonus 33 short movies. In addition, 3D video messages recorded by individual members will be played on a Bravia 3D screen at the venue.  Attendees will also be able to see the exclusive hand-written and autographed messages from individual members.

Moreover, on the day of release (February 22nd), and then 23rd, 24th, 25th, different Nogizaka46 members will be at the venue each day for a handshake event.
2/22 - Sakurai Reika, Itou Nene, Etou Misa, Saito Asuka
2/23 - Noujou Ami, Saito Yuri, Itou Marika, Saito Chiharu
2/24 - Higuchi Hina, Miyazawa Seira, Kashiwa Yukina, Wakatsuki Yumi
2/25 - Ichiki Rena, Fukagawa Mai, Hatanaka Seira, Iwase Yumiko

5 people will also receive signed posters of Nogizaka46 Senbatsu members. The 5 people will be randomly chosen by Opus (@opus_event)

Nogizaka46 debut single [Guruguru Curtain] Covers + Tracklist

Nogizaka46 debut single releasing on February 22nd [Guruguru Curtain]'s covers and tracklist are out.

The single comes in four Types: A, B, C and Regular versions. Just like the 48s' singles, the coupling songs differ between the different versions. All of the coupling songs in Guruguru Curtain will have a PV of their own.

The members on the covers differ slightly too between the different versions. Type A's cover will feature Hashimoto Nanami, Ikoma Rina, Ikuta Erika and Hoshino Minami. For Type B it is Takayama Kazumi, Hishino Minami, Ikoma Rina and Ikuta Erika, and finally for Type C is Hoshino Minami, Ikuta Erika, Ikoma Rina and Matsumura Sayuri.

As for the DVD content, aside from the PV, all 33 members of Nogizaka46 will have their own bonus video. Each member will team up with a different director (or two) and produce their own short movie. The total length of all the videos is said to be over 150mins long. See the bottom of the post for more.

Guruguru Curtain is used as the theme song for the Nogizaka46 X Meiji collaboration CM

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

TYPE A 1,600yen	[CD] 01. Guruguru Curtain 02. Hidari mune no Yuuki 03. Nogizaka no Uta 04. Guruguru Curtain (off vocal ver.) 05. Hidarimune no Yuuki (off vocal ver.) 06. Nogizaka no Uta (off vocal ver.) [DVD] 01. Guruguru Curtain music video 02. Nogizaka no Uta music video 03. Special Videos 1
TYPE B 1,600yen	[CD] 01. Guruguru Curtain 02. Hidari mune no Yuuki 03. Aitakatta Kamoshirenai 04. Guruguru Curtain (off vocal ver.) 05. Hidarimune no Yuuki (off vocal ver.) 06. Aitakatta kamoshirenai (off vocal ver.) [DVD] 01. Guruguru Curtain music video 02. Aitakatta kamoshirenai music video 03. Aitakatta kamoshirenai PV (original cut ver.) music video 04. Special Videos 2
TYPE C 1,600yen	[CD] 01. Guruguru Curtain 02. Hidari mune no Yuuki 03. Ushinaitakunai kara 04. Guruguru Curtain (off vocal ver.) 05. Hidarimune no Yuuki (off vocal ver.) 06. Ushinaitakunai kara (off vocal ver.) [DVD] 01. Guruguru Curtain music video 02. Ushinaitakunai kara music video 03. Special Videos 3
Regular version 1,000yen	[CD] 01. Guruguru Curtain 02. Hidari mune no Yuuki 03. Shiroi Kumo ni notte 04. Guruguru Curtain (off vocal ver.) 05. Hidarimune no Yuuki (off vocal ver.) 06. Ushinaitakunai kara (off vocal ver.)

Senbatsu - Guruguru Curtain (ぐるぐるカーテン)
Ikuta Erika, Ikoma Rina, Ichiki Rena, Inoue Sayuri, Kawamura Mahiro, Saito Asuka, Saito Yuri, Sakurai Reika, Shiraishi Mai, Takayama Kazumi, Nakada Kana, Nishino Kanase, Noujou Ami, Hashimoto Nanami, Hoshino Minami, Matsumura Sayuri


In addition to this news, Nogizaka46 has also launched their official YouTube channel!
http://www.youtube.com/user/nogizaka46SMEJ

Already uploaded on the channel is the preview of Guruguru Curtain, and a preview of all 33 of the special videos. Unfortunately the videos are limited to viewing in Japan, or if you have a Japanese IP.

TYPE A Special Videos
03. Ikoma Rina X Tsutsumi Yukihiko
04. Ito Nene X Katsuwo
05. Inoue Sayuri X Asahi Eri
06. Iwase Yumiko X Kumasaka Izuru
07. Takayama Kazumi X Ichii Masahide
08. Nakamoto Himeka X Yamamoto Wataru
09. Nagashima Seira X Harima Junichi
10. Hatanaka Seira X Ishii Takahide
11. Miyazawa Seira X Kimura Hisashi
12. Yamato Rina X Sato Tetsuya
13. Wada Maaya X Fujiwara Tomoyuki

TYPE B Special Videos
04. Eto Misa X Kondo Keiji
05. Kashiwa Yukina X Osabe Yohei
06. Kawago Hina X Yamada Atsuhiro
07. Kawamura Mahiro X Okagawa Taro
08. Saito Asuka X Flash Harry
09. Saito Chiharu X Sakae Ryota
10. Nishino Nanase X Orai Yu, Torisu Tomoyuki
11. Hashimoto Nanami X Miki Satoshi
12. Fukagawa Mai X Nakamura Taiko
13. Matsumura Sayuri X Hagihara Kentaro
14. Wakatsuki Yumi X Kanamori Takahiro

TYPE C Special Videos
03. Ando Mikumo X Kameyama Kouryo, Kuroyanagi Kazunori
04. Ikuta Erika X Hirakawa Yuichiro
05. Ichiki Rena X Shiraishi Tatsuya
06. Ito Marika X Yanagisawa Sho
07. Saito Yuri X Uchida Shinya
08. Sakurai Reika X Morita Ippei
09. Shiraishi Mai X Nara Yuya
10. Nakada Kana X Takamatsu Akiko
11. Nojo Aimi X Sato Daisuke
12. Higuchi Hina X Takahashi Hiroto
13. Hoshino Minami X Aoyama Yuki

Idols, Chocolates and Valentine's Day

It's almost Valentine's Day again. If you were to receive chocolates from your oshimen, ever wondered how it will look like? A collaboration between NMB48 X Pocky, you can now see the deco-pocky designed by members of NMB48.

Here are the designs for the pocky:

There will also be limited edition wallpaper set to be revealed on 08 February 2012, be sure to check out the site then! And you can also check out the photos of members making the chocolate at the site itself, http://pocky.jp/event/nmb48/index.html

*In case you don't know, giri chocolates are those you give to people who are just friends, colleagues and have no deeper meaning. Honmei chocolates are those you give to those you like, usually to a boyfriend level, or girlfriend if you swing that way :/

NMB48 will also be holding a Valentine's Day Special Handshake Event on the 18 February 2012 at ZEPP OSAKA. On that day, fans will be able to receive a "Pocky Valentine Original Package" from the members.  Each member only have 90 of these packages so the fans will be assigned a random member and they won't get to choose beforehand. But this makes it all the more exciting...right?

French Kiss is giving away signed tumblers for Valentine's Day. In a Valentine's Day event organized by WatanabeGirls, the talent agency in charge of French Kiss, subscribers to its official mobile site or iPhone app can take part in the lucky draw and stand to win tumblers signed by French Kiss and other girls under the same agency, such as Sato Natsuki and Oya Shizuka. There will also be subscriber-only contents, such as wallpaper and flash-based handphone wallpaper during the Valentine's Day period. You can find the link to sign up at the event site, http://www.we-girls.jp/valentine2012/



Here's a AKB48 X 7&i collaboration for Valentine's. As seen in the CM above, among the 3 chocolates which are from the same package, only one is bitter(honmei)* and the rest are normal milk chocolates(giri). There are both the 3-chocolate package and the 5-chocolate package. The recipients don't know which is honmei and which is giri until they eat it. It could be used to secretly give honmei chocolate to the one you like with out all the teasing from everyone else. Or it could simply be used to play a Russian roulette-like game among friends.

When you purchase the chocolate, you will get a card of the members' kissing face. This only applies to the members who appear on the packaging of the chocolate. For the 5-piece set, they are: Maeda Atsuko, Takahashi Minami, Itano Tomomi, Kashiwagi Yuki, Oshima Yuko, Shinoda Mariko, Watanabe Mayu.

And for the 3-piece set, they are: Maeda Atsuko, Takahashi Minami, Oshima Yuko, Watanabe Mayu. For those four, the photos used in the 5-piece set are different for the ones used in the 3-piece set.





Not forgetting AKB48's official rival, Nogizaka46 is collaborating with Meiji for Valentine's Day, there isn't any special products but on the event homepage, there are lots of movies of the members making chocolates and recipes could be found on the site as well. Of course the ingredient used is Meiji chocolate. Check those movies here, http://www.choco-recipe.jp/milk/recommend/nogizaka/

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

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Nogizaka46 Debut Single Senbatsu Revealed
Nogizaka46 announces debut single

Nogizaka46 Debut Single Senbatsu Revealed

The Senbatsu members for Nogizaka46's debut single has been revealed! And they are...

Senbatsu: Ikuta Erika, Ikoma Rina, Ichiki Rena, Inoue Sayuri, Kawamura Mahiro, Saito Asuka, Saito Yuri, Sakurai Reika, Shiraishi Mai, Takayama Kazumi, Nakada Kana, Nishino Kanase, Noujou Ami, Hashimoto Nanami, Hoshino Minami, Matsumura Sayuri

Also announced are the new Shichifukujin ("Seven Deities of Good Luck", basically Nogizaka46's version of AKB's Kami7), who will be leading the single. They are:
Shiraishi Mai, Matsumura Sayuri, Hashimoto Nanami, Ikoma Rina, Takayama Kazumi, Ikuta Erika, and Hoshino Minami

The single's title is still untitled. It will be released on February 22nd, with 5 different versions: TYPE A, TYPE B, TYPE C, Regular and Limited Edition versions. No other information is known at this point of time.

Nogizaka46 Announces Debut Single

Nogizaka46, the "official rival" of AKB48 have announced that they will be releasing their debut single on February 22nd, 2012 right after AKB48's 25th single slated to be released on February 15th. At the moment no details about the single have been given beside the date.

I have absolutely no interest in them and I still have no idea what Aki-P is planning to do. But I'm curious to see how this single will fare because they already have quite a fan following but the question is: as the official rival, will they really be able to rival AKB? That is something we'll just have to wait and see.

Nogizaka46 makes it's first appearance

Nogizaka46, AKB48's official rival group that is also produced by Akimoto Yasushi, has completed their auditions last month and today they made their first appearance to the public. There was a total of 38,934 applicants, a surprise for many since they weren't expecting people to be interested in it.

(conflicting reports for this. I'll give both sides of the story.)
1. Nogizaka46 will get their own Theater sometime in the future at Sony's Nogizaka SME Building.
2. Nogizaka46 will not be based in a Theater like AKB48 and will be going all over Japan to perform.

Official Website: http://www.nogizaka46.com/top.html

The group has already chosen their senbatsu members, frontgirls and even the center girl. The girl having the honor of being center of all Nogizaka46 is 14 year old Yoshimoto Ayaka from the Kumamoto prefecture. Her AKB48 rival is Itano Tomomi. The rest of the top 5 are Sakurai Reika (Rival: Eguchi Aimi), Akimoto Mantsu (Rival: Kojima Haruna), Ichiki Rena (Rival: Maeda Atsuko), and Hashimoto Nanami (Rival: Sashihara Rino).

That is not all. Nogizaka46 will have a unique way of deciding the senbatsu members. During all of their performances, everyone in the audience will get to vote for whichever member they want and the senbatsu will be decided according to the results. This will ensure different results and positions for each show and make it more entertaining.



The members of Nogizaka46 have an average age of 16 years old. Their variety show "AKB48 History" will start next month and a CD debut is in the works.

Members profile table, names romanised by Sada@Everyday48. Check out the original post for more information of the members. Do any of them interest you?

Akimoto Manatsu 秋元真夏	Andou Mikumo 安藤美雪	Asou Ririko 麻生梨里子	Etou Misa 衛藤美彩
Higuchi Hina 樋口日奈	Hatanaka Seira 畠中清羅	Hashimoto Nanami 橋本奈々未	Fukagawa Mai 深川麻衣
Hoshino Minami 星野みなみ	Ichiki Rena 市来玲奈	Ikoma Rina 生駒里奈	Ikuta Erika 生田絵梨華
Iwase Yumiko 岩瀬佑美子	Itou Nene 伊藤寧々	Itou Marika 伊藤万理華	Inoue Sayuri 井上小百合
Kashiwa Yukina 柏幸奈	Kawai Hina 川相陽菜	Kawamura Mahiro 川村真洋	Matsumura Sayuri 松村沙友里
Nakamoto Himeka 中元日芽香	Nakada Kana 中田花菜	Nagashima Seira 永島聖羅	Miyazawa Seira 宮澤成良
Nishino Nanase 西野七瀬	Saitou Asuka 斎藤飛鳥	Saitou Chiharu 斎藤ちはる	Saitou Yuuri 斎藤優里
Wada Maaya 和田まあや	Takayama Kazumi 高山一実	Shiraishi Mai 白石麻衣	Sakurai Reika 桜井玲香
Wakatsuki Yumi 若月佑美	Yamamoto Honoka 山本穂乃香	Yamato Rina 大和里菜	Yoshimoto Ayaka 吉本彩華