 On December 8th 2014, during a 9th anniversary concert performance, AKB48 General Director, Minami Takahashi surprised fans worldwide with her announcement that she would be graduating from AKB48 on the group's 10th anniversary, December 8th 2015. At this same time she also named Yui Yokoyama as her successor. Further announcements on post-AKB48 activities have not been announced, though we can assuredly look forward to one last amazing year with her as AKB48 Leader.
Minami Takahashi first joined AKB48 in 2005 when she was chosen as one of the original 24 winners of the first AKB48 audition. In 2009, she became the leader of AKB48's Team A. In 2012 that role was taken by Mariko Shinoda and she assumed the role of AKB48 General Director, taking charge of AKB48 and all its sister groups. She has been featured on nearly every AKB48 single and is also a member of sub-group no3b with Haruna Kojima and Minami Minegishi. She has also released one solo single, "Jane Doe", in 2013.
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For this week's Throwback Thursday post, we'll go back just a little over a decade ago an look at Mini Moni's "CRAZY ABOUT YOU". Most people know of Mini Moni in it's original form of Yaguchi Mari, Kago Ai and Tsuji Nozomi. Of course Mika Todd (of Coconuts Musume) was added when the group eventually debuted, but that came a little while later. Their first single was "Minimoni. Jankenpyon!/Haru Natsu Aki Fuyu Daisukki!" (2000) topped the Oricon charts, no mean feat in those days, but this was the height of Morning Musume's fame and the Mari, Ai and Tsuji were all then-current members. Everyone knows the famous clips that spawned from the antics of the original members as well. Just two of these being Ai punching Mari Yaguchi in the crotch and, of course, the infamous "dramatic hamster" clip. Elsewhere, there were the Hamtaro tie-ins and the countless other media pulls that involved endorsements and tons of merchandising. This grew exponentially to the point where Tsuji Nozomi and Kago Ai were two of the most highly paid talents in the industry. Then there is what came after... There are some that don't know the latter part of their career that took place when Yaguchi Mari left to front ZYX and that's a shame. Even with the loss of Mari, Mini Moni soldiered on with Takahashi Ai (Then new 5th generation member of Morning Musume) and Mika Todd taking over leadership duties. This series of events can be seen in a more entertaining form in their movie "Mini Moni The Movie: Okashi na Daibouken" though the group that Mari fronts there is more properly the "4Kids" group and not what would eventually be ZYX. Anyhow, this new line-up's first single would be the more mature-sounding "CRAZY ABOUT YOU". Unfortunately, the single didn't sell too well and the group would break up soon afterwards following a second album and the single "Lucky Cha Cha Cha" (The third single with this line-up). The group disbanded in 2004, but Mini Moni continued in a sort of truncated fashion with "W" which was a duo made up of Tsuji Nozomi and Kago Ai. Two albums and many singles later, this duo too would eventually break up due to Ai's repeated involvement in scandals. While Kago Ai's career would never fully recover, Mini Moni didn't simply fade off into the sunset. Mini Moni as a group would see countless revivals in concerts, but most notable would be resurrected as "Shin Mini Moni" with members Linlin (Then of Morning Musume), Fukuda Kanon (Later of S/mileage), Takeuchi Akari (Also later of S/mileage) and Miyamoto Karin (Later of Juice=Juice). Despite possible high hopes, this line-up would only record two songs and mostly existed as a live unit. This would be the last revival of Mini Moni barring future ones. Throughout Mini Moni's checkered history, we are left with some amazingly catchy songs, many of which I feel are often overlooked, hence my choice of this song over, say, "Jankenpyon". Also, I have been lucky to have seen Kago Ai in person twice (Once performing, once in a promotional appearance) and Takahashi Ai twice as well (Once live with Morning Musume and later as a DJ at the recent J-Melo Party). With all this in mind, watch and enjoy! Mini Moni Are: ●Mika Todd - Leader ●Tsuji Nozomi ●Kago Ai ●Takahashi Ai Hello! Pro Station Episode #95 Contents MC: Tokunaga Chinami, Oda Sakura ◆ S/mileage Live From Michishige Sayumi Graduation Concert. ◆ Michishige Sayumi Graduation Message ◆ Michishige Sayumi - "Akai Freesia" ◆ Morning Musume '14 - "Aruiteru" ◆ 4 Kanji Phrase: 天真爛漫 (Innocence) ◆ Berryz Selection: Tsugunaga Momoko & Sudo Maasa with Suzuki Airi ◆ Juice=Juice Harajuku Event ◆ Q & A Corner with Chinami & Oda This week's slightly late episode of Hello! Pro Station is hosted by Tokunaga Chinami (Berryz Kobo) and Oda Sakura (Moring Musume '14) Before I delve into the video proper let me say I love the girls' sweaters here. They are very random. Disco and comfortable sheep? Makes you wonder who makes these girls' wardrobe choices. Moving on... This episode is chock full of content and a lot of it centers around Sayumi Michishige's graduation concert. This is all well, good and proper since it is the most important Hello! Project event in recent memory and the first of many changes that are just around the corner.  Speaking of the upcoming changes, this episode starts out with S/mileage, a group that will very soon cease to exist in its current form. In this clip we see the introduction of nine-member S/mileage perfoming "Eighteen Emotion". They opened the Morning Musume '14 concert at Yokohama Arena and I'm not sure if this was broadcast too as by the time I joined they were well past this point. Either way I guess I am seeing this for the first time and I'm not sure what to say about it. The new members seem to fit in well, but we don't get much out of them performance-wise as the song stays firmly with the original members. I'll reserve judgement on the direction of the group-formerly-known-as-S/mileage as their future unfolds. I will say that I hope they choose the name I suggested for them! I won't say what it is until the final decision is made, but I think I chose a good one. Did anyone else submit a possible name when the form was up? Oh, did I mention anything about Tamura Meimei's hair? Well, you'll be hard pressed to not realize that it's now quite short, though it is a good look on her if I do say so myself.  Moving into the main segment of the episode, we get lots of footage from the actual graduation portion of the concert. We get Sayumi's graduation speech, her performance of "Akai Freesia" and the closing performance of "Aruiteru". I covered most of this is my previous post about the graduation concert's livestream so I won't go too much into it here. "Akai Freesia" may have shocked me initially (keeping in mind that I forgot that it was her audition song) but it has since grown on me again and I find myself listening to Melon Kinenbi for the first time in countless years. As for "Aruiteru" I must once again state that I am glad that we got the original version here and not the one that Sayumi recorded for the "BEST" album. Her graduation comments? They are as funny and touching as ever. If anyone is interested there are subs of all the graduation messages that can be found online without too much effort.  Closing out that momentous occasion we move onto more mundane elements of the episode. Another 4-Kanji phrase that I can't begin to understand. This week's one is "天真爛漫" and is brought to us by Kanazawa Tomoko of Juice=Juice. Moving on we are treated to more Berryz Selections. This one features the Berryz Kobo x C-ute live so it features members of both groups, namely Momoko and Maasa (Berryz Kobo) and Suzuki Airi of C-ute. This one is a little more interesting than some of the previous ones as the members have good interactions, but I never really cared for this segment even prior to the announcement of Berryz's uncoming disbandment. Onwards, we go and we get footage of Juice=Juice's Harajuku event complete with backstage shots and interviews. We close with our hosts' Q & A segment and that wraps up another episode of Hello! Pro Station! Be sure to watch as this episode has lots to see, especially if you missed the graduation concert. As usual, if you wait a few days Up Front will put up Japanese captions which Youtube will translate for those that need rudimentary subs. Watch and enjoy!   Former AKB48 member, Tomomi Itano released the short version of her upcoming single "COME PARTY!" yesterday and while it is only a minute and a half-ish long, there is lots to see! This girl and her friends sure know how to party! Want to start dancing in the dressing room? Got you covered! Random chair off to the side? Don't worry Tomomi, you're friends will make sure that chair gets what's coming to it! Caution tape? Means nothing! Nerf sniper off in the wings? We have bodyguards willing to sacrifice their lives for you Tomomi! Oh no, Tomomi, there's a swamp monster coming right for you! Don't worry, your chair-kicking friends have your back! Wow, that's a lot of obstacles just to dance and party now isn't it? What a dangerous life you lead Tomomi! Hats off to you! When it's time to dance on the floor (With people I'm sure are famous in one way or another regardless if I recognize them or not.) Tomomi is packing in the costume changes! White dress and fur coat only worn in the dressing room? Check. Simple black dress? Check. Sequined American-flag outfit? Check! Black and white jester outfit complete with ceiling swing? Check and double check! This is a short version and rarely do I bother covering these or actually want to see the full version based on these teases, but this case is different. This left me seriously wanting to see the final product-now! If this is just the first third of the video, what does the rest have in store? Also, I need some questions answered. Why was Tomomi carrying drinks to the party anyway? And most importantly, what did that chair do to anyone? I'll probably not get answers to those questions even when the full version is release, but I can ask right? Anyhow, I suggest you watch this yourselves and get excited for the single that drops December 17th! Tomomi Itano first joined AKB48 in 2005 as part of Team A. She went onto a very popular career within AKB48 complete with team changes and solo works and even two appearances with AKB48 in the US. Her first solo single "Dear J" was released in 2011 while she was still a member of AKB and sold over 200,000 copies coming in at #2 on the Oricon charts. In 2012, Tomomi earned the title of "TV Commercial Queen" as her endorsement contracts were the most of any female tarento in Japan. She graduated from AKB48 on August 25th 2013, her last single being the mega-hit "Koisuru Fortune Cookie". She released her first album "SxWxAxG" in July 2014 and that same month saw her first solo live in the US at San Francisco's JPop Summit. "COME PARTY!" will be her sixth solo single. Official Site: tomomiitano.jp Ameba Blog: ameblo.jp/xanadu11 SNS links below. |
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