Arama! Japan’s favorite mannequin performance duo FEMM have debuted their first new material in over a year. After releasing Femm-Isation in late 2014, FEMM have kept busy staging public performances and participating in a campaign against Japan’s club-wide dance ban.

This month, they performed at YouTube FanFest Japan and showcased their new track “PoW.” Check it out after the jump!

The performers on this week’s show were [Alexandros], Elephant Kashimashi, Crystal Kay, and Ms.OOJA. Matsuzaka Tori was the talk guest.

[Alexandros] – Girl A

Elephant Kashimashi – Toki no Sugiyuku Mama ni

Crystal Kay x Ms.OOJA – Anata ni Aitakute ~Missing You~

Elephant Kashimashi – Rainbow

Hey Arama! Japan! It’s Friday, so it’s Open Post time! Feel free to chat with your fellow readers about whatever you like! Enjoy!

As you may have noticed, the Soundscan chart has not been posted since the chart for the week of 10/26 – 11/1 was released. I have been checking the chart multiple times a day since November 9 to see when it would update, since it normally updates on Monday nights around 11 PM my time (Eastern Standard Time). I was concerned after it didn’t update one week, and then another. There was finally a resolution on November 19. Phile-web, the site that publishes the Soundscan chart, announced that they would no longer publish the chart as of November 1. No official cause has been given.

This news came as a surprise, not only to myself, but to other chart watchers as well, including Japanese netizens. Soundscan was noted for breaking down cd sales based on the edition, rather than the title like Oricon. Readers of the chart were able to see how much certain editions were selling individually. The chart was also known for not including sales from company stores, due to it wanting to measure sales made by conventional methods. This lead to differences in the figures between Soundscan and Oricon. AKB48, for example, didn’t have their theater editions counted, which would create a difference of about 80% between their Soundscan figures and their Oricon figures. Soundscan also counted some stores that Oricon didn’t, which benefited some acts, specifically acts from Johnny & Associates. Johnny’s acts were known to have Soundscan sales that were at times tens of thousands higher than those of Oricon’s. A recent example would be Arashi’s album “Japonism.” Oricon reported that the album sold 820,208 copies in its first week, while Soundscan reported the album’s first week sales as 862,586.

This week’s guests were AI, Carly Rae Jepsen, HKT48 feat. Kishidan, aiko, JUJU, and KinKi Kids.

AI – Story

Carly Rae Jepsen – I Really Like You

HKT48 feat. Kishidan – Shekarashika!

aiko – Puramai

JUJU – What You Want

KinKi Kids – Yume wo Mireba Kizutsuku Koto mo Aru

E-girls have to 2 new releases on the horizon. The first one is their new single “Merry x Merry Xmas”, out December 23. The song serves as the CM song for Samantha Thavasa’s “-Kimi ni Merry Christmas-” campaign. “Merry x Merry Xmas” will come in 3 editions: a CD+DVD edition, a CD only edition, and a One Coin CD only edition.

The second release is E-girls’ first best album. It is titled “E.G. SMILE -E-girls BEST-” and is set for release on February 10. It will come in 5 editions: a 2CD+3DVD edition, a 3CD+3Blu-ray edition, a 2CD+DVD edition, a 2CD+Blu-ray edition, and a 2CD edition. The first CD will contain various songs that E-girls have released over their career, along with 2 new songs. The second CD will be a remix album. The first video disc that comes with the CD / Blu-ray editions will contain various music videos E-girls have released, along with a new music video for one of the new songs that was previously mentioned. The second and third video discs that come with the 2CD+3DVD and 3CD+3Blu-ray editions will contain footage from E-girls’ Saitama Super Arena concert from earlier this year. The third video disc will also contain a documentary on the tour.

E-girls will be collaborating with phone company Suma Pula on their best album. When purchasers download an app, their physical purchase then becomes available on their smartphone or tablet, via Suma Pula Music and Suma Pula Video.

Check out more information on both of these releases after the jump!

Three songs from this year were certified Gold for selling 100,000 copies: Ikimonogakari’s “Anata”, Sandaime J Soul Brothers’ “Unfair World”, and miwa’s “Yozora.”

Check out the PV for Kanjani8’s “Genki ga Deru SONG”, a track included in the group’s latest album Kanjani8 no Genki ga Deru CD! (Uplifting CD of Kanjani8). Led by Nishikido Ryo, the song was written and composed by the members and arranged by Nishikido and PEACH.

Contrary to its song title though and the high energy theme of the album, the “Genki ga Deru SONG” takes a more mellow side, which the members see as an ideal closing song for their upcoming concerts.

The video was part of the making off document for the song, which follows the members throughout the creation and recording process.