This week’s guests were Sexy Zone, Momoiro Clover Z, Touken Danshi team Sanjo with Kashu Kiyomitsu, Seiko Oomori, Funky Kato, Katahira Rina, Kobushi Factory, lol, and AKB48.
Sexy Zone – 24-7 ~Bokura no Story~
Momoiro Clover Z – WE ARE BORN
Touken Danshi team Sanjo with Kashu Kiyomitsu – Touken Ranbu
Seiko Oomori – Ashiteru.com
Funky Kato – Chuto Hanpa na Star
Katahira Rina – Party
Kobushi Factory – Chotto Guchoku ni! Chototsu Moushin
lol – ladi dadi
AKB48 – Kimi no Melody
This week’s guest was Momoiro Clover Z.
Momoiro Clover Z x Kanjani8 – Coco☆nuts
Momoiro Clover Z – Mahalo Vacation
On March 30, X4 will release their second physical single, “Party Up!!” This release marks the debut of X4 as a 5 member group. X4 has gained 2 new members, SHOTA and JUKIYA.
The third incarnation of X4 has now released the music video for “Party Up!!” It’s an EDM tune with a video that finds the group singing and dancing in a warehouse / club. Check out the video after the jump, along with more information on the single and the new members!
Gesu no Kiwami Otome.’s “Ryoseibai” was the best selling studio album of January, and the third best selling album of the month (behind the “Monogatari” compilation and Masaharu Fukuyama’s best album). I was given the task of reviewing the album for The Japan Times.
I couldn’t talk about this album and ignore the Enon / Becky scandal. It was the first big story of the year and outlived the other big story of the year so far, the near disbandment of SMAP. Gesu no Kiwami Otome. entered 2016 on a high, fresh off of their Japan Record Award nomination and their Kohaku debut. But the scandal did affect them, contrary to popular belief. They were the breakout act of 2015, so their sales should’ve been more on par with those of Hoshino Gen and back number’s, acts who also really broke through last year. Instead, Gesu no Kiwami Otome. finished the month with a little under 100,000 copies sold, less than the first week sales of their previously mentioned counterparts.
Haruna Kojima from AKB48 will appear on the cover of a new edition of Jun’ichiro Tanizaki’s classic novel ‘Naomi’ (org. ‘Chijin no Ai’), published by Takarajimasha. The paperback is on sale from 19th February.
As previously announced, Arashi will be releasing their new single “Fukkatsu LOVE” on Feb 24. The song features lyrics by Takeuchi Mariya and music and arrangement by Yamashita Tatsuro. It is currently used as the CM song for Japanese telecom company NTT Docomo’s dhits CM. The commercial for the app features actor Kubota Masataka.
“Fukkatsu Love” will be the first Arashi single to be distributed via flat-rate music distribution service on smartphones. The app lets you listen to other Arashi songs such as My Girl, Beautiful Days, Aozora Pedal, Typhoon Generation, Fuyu no Nioi, Wasurerarenai, Refrain, Hitori Janai Sa and Kimi ga Waraeru you ni.
According to Sakurai Sho, they requested a song from Yamashita and Takeuchi when they went to their concert in 2013 and they are happy to finally show it to everyone.
Ikuta Toma also makes a guest appearance in the music video. Ikuta recounted that Arashi provided the theme song for his drama “Ouroboros” last year and this time he is in their music video. “Being able to work on something with comrades I’ve known since way back makes me really happy. Also, as a fan of them, I couldn’t be happier to have been able to do so. “
Check out the PV and CM below.
We’re back with this week’s edition of Oricon Flashback. This is where we look back on what topped Oricon this week 5, 10, 15, and 20 years ago. Think of it as a way to reminisce and learn about the past of Japanese music.
Model and actress, Nanao, posted a nude photo of herself soaking in an onsen bath from behind on her Instagram on the 18th. She playfully tagged the photo with “I’m pretending this is a good photo, I’m pretending that bowl is hiding it, it’s not hiding it,” but fans flooded the comments in response to the risqué photo. See the full details below!
