This week’s episode was a four hour special celebrating the show’s 35th anniversary. This week’s guests were Naoto Inti Raymi, PUFFY, Sakurazaka46, Miyamoto Hiroji, THE RAMPAGE, Stray Kids, Elopers, King Gnu, Naniwa Danshi, V6, LiSA, Shimizu Miisha, Hey! Say! JUMP, Hiromi Go, MIKIKO, Rhizomatiks, Daichi Miura, SP Dancers, ELEVENPLAY, Perfume, Seiko Matsuda, B.B. Queens, Kome Kome CLUB, and May J.

Naoto Inti Raymi – Carnival?

PUFFY – ESSAFOSSA

Sakurazaka46 – Nagaredama

Miyamoto Hiroji – Haru na no ni / Ukiyokouji no blues

THE RAMPAGE – LIVING IN THE DREAM

Stray Kids – Thunderous -Japanese ver.-

Elopers – Gunjou Biyori (Shiina Ringo / AiNA THE END (BiSH) / Yuu (Chirinuruwowaka) / Sekine Shiori (Base Ball Bear) / Hona Ikoka (Gesu no Kiwami Otome.)

King Gnu – BOY

Naniwa Danshi – Ubu LOVE

V6 – Full Circle

LiSA – Yuke

Shimizu Miisha – Starting Now ~Atarashii Watashi e

Hey! Say! JUMP – Sing-along

Hiromi Go – Ienai yo / GOLDFINGER ’99 / 2 Oku 4 Sen Man no Hitomi

MIKIKO x Rhizomatiks x Daichi Miura x SP Dancers x ELEVENPLAY x Perfume – Ichiya Kagiri no Special Medley

Seiko Matsuda – Hitomi wa Diamond ~Diamond Eyes~

B.B. Queens – Odoru Ponpokorin

Kome Kome CLUB – Kimi ga Iru Dake de

May J. – Let It Go ~Ari no Mama de~

PUFFY – Asia no Junshin

V6 – TL / TAKE ME HIGHER / Believe Your Smile / HONEY BEAT / Ai Nanda / over

Fujii Kaze is one of the most exciting new talents in the music industry as of late. He’s also known to be quite media shy. He did, however, let NHK in for his Nissan Stadium performance, “‘Free’ Live 2021”, last month. This special also features Kaze visiting his hometown of Satosho, Okayama Prefecture, in an effort to discover his musical roots.

Former AKB48 member Atsuko Maeda is hitting the press rounds for the promotion of her photo/essay book “Akegata no Sora” out this month. The book contains Maeda’s personal thoughts on family, having a child, paparazzi, marriage, and divorce.

The past year Atsuko went through an extremely high profile and publicized separation from her husband, actor Ryo Katsuji. Tabloids constantly reported on the tension between the two, with Ryo apparently telling co-workers he didn’t want to go home and the two getting in shouting matches out in the public.

At the press conference for “Akegata no Sora” reporters directly asked Atsuko how her current relationship with Ryo was.

On October 13, Nariaki Obukuro will release his third album, “Strides”, digitally. This is the follow up to his December 2019 album “Piercing.”

Nariaki’s new work consists of seven songs full of sweet melodies, supple grooves, multi-layered vocalizations, and numerous punch lines. It includes the song “Parallax”, a song for the film “Moonlight Shadow”, and “Route”, a collaboration with KANDYTOWN member MUD.

In conjuction with the release of his album, Nariaki has released a music video for one of the songs from the new album, “Work.” The video was shot entirely with an iPhone. Check it out below, along with more information on his new album!

On October 13, Miliyah Kato will release her 11th album, “WHO LOVES ME.” This is her first album since June 2018’s “Femme Fatale.” The album’s title has the message of “Is there anyone who loves me, or can I love myself now?”

Since the release of her last album, Miliyah has become a mother, which has changed her life a lot. She believes that “WHO LOVES ME” is a release that reflects the heart of a woman who has become stronger.

“WHO LOVES ME” will include “JOYRIDE” (the theme song for the film “Boku to Kanojo to Rally to”), the Yoshida Brothers collaboration “Kono Yume ga Sameru made” (the ending theme for the TBS anime series “Mashiro no Oto”), and “Shukumei” (the Japan Karate Federation official support song).

Miliyah’s new album will be released in a CD+DVD limited edition and a CD only regular edition. The DVD that comes with the limited edition includes footage from “MILIYAH BIRTHDAY BASH LIVE 2021”, which was held at TOKYO DOME CITY HALL this past June. The limited edition also includes a 40 page booklet that contains essays by Miliyah describing her feelings from her 2004 debut til now.

Check out more information on Miliyah’s new album below!

Former AKB48 member Minami Takahashi appeared on the NTV variety show “Odoru! Sanma Hoden!!” on October 12, and she had some things to say about her husband who is 15 years older than her.

Minami married her husband, a man who works for an IT company, on May 1, 2019, the first day of the Reiwa era.

“I think to myself that I’ve never seen him brush his teeth since we started dating”, Minami said. Her husband would say he was brushing his teeth, when in reality he was just standing in front of the sink with the water running, so that it appeared he was brushing his teeth.

Snow Man released their debut album, “Snow Mania S1”, on September 29 to great success. It debuted at #1 on Oricon with 841,088 copies sold. This is the highest first week sales of 2021. It is also the second highest opening week for a male act’s first album, second only to CHEMISTRY‘s 2001 album “The Way We Are”, which opened with 1,143,310 copies sold. Snow Man’s sales in light of changes in the way music is consumed is astounding.

Snow Man debuted on January 22, 2020 with SixTONES with the joint single “Imitation Rain / D.D.” Snow Man formed in 2012 as a Johnny’s Jr. unit consisting of Hikaru Iwamoto, Tatsuya Fukazawa, Shota Watanabe, Ryohei Abe, Ryota Miyadate, and Daisuke Sakuma. Koji Mukai, Ren Meguro, and Raul joined in January 2019, forming the current nine member group.

Groups with many members are not uncommon in the world of female idols. Starting with the 48 Group Sakamichi series, the practice of selecting members from dozens of girls and having them work on a release has taken root. This practice, which has been in action since last decade, resulted in the group gaining fans who are more focused on individual members within the larger group.

In the world of male idols, groups mainly consist of five or six fixed members. Arashi was able to rise to the level of national group, not only on their looks, but also due to the relationship between the members.

Having a large number of people in a group can be an asset, especially when it comes to dance performances. However, having a large number of people can make it difficult to discover the charms of each member. It can also make it difficult to form a group with a unique identity due to the different personalities within it.

In order for a large group to make it, it is necessary that there are ways for each member to shine and that the members are united in their intent as far as the group goes. Snow Man has gained so much popularity, so perhaps they’ve met these requirements?

This week, AKB48 topped the Hot 100 single chart with their new single “Ne mo Ha mo Rumor”, with 12,485 points.

Snow Man topped the Hot Albums chart with their debut album “Snow Mania S1.”

Snow Man topped the Artist 100 chart.

Ayase topped the Hot 100 Lyricists chart for the seventh consecutive week.

Ayase also topped the Hot 100 Composers chart for seventh consecutive week.

back number topped the Streaming Songs chart for the fifth consecutive week with their digital single “Suiheisen.”

Kuzuha topped the Download Songs chart with his new digital single “Contrail.”

Hoshimachi Suisei topped the Download Albums chart with her debut album “Still Still Stellar.”