Hoshino Gen’s band SAKEROCK is set to split after their June 2 concert. He, however, will be continuing his solo music career. On May 27, he will release his new single, “SUN.” “SUN” is the theme song for the new Fuji TV drama “Kokoro ga Pokitto ne”, starring Sadao Abe, Kiko Mizuhara, and Naohito Fujiki. The single will be released in 3 editions: a CD+DVD limited edition, a CD only regular edition, and 7 inch vinyl edition. The DVD that comes with the limited edition of the single will have 108 minutes of content, including behind the scenes footage, an audio commentary, and concert footage.
Check out the covers and tracklist for the new single after the jump, along with a new artist photo!
The April 27 issue of “FLASH” reports that TAKAHIRO of EXILE is dating actress Takei Emi. They report that he visits her apartment at least twice a week. There are also photos of him going from his car to her apartment building, as well as photos of him visiting the convenience store near her apartment.
Last year, the rumored couple starred in the Nippon TV drama “Senryokugai Sosakan.” They came into contact again to film a special episode of the drama earlier this year. That episode aired on April 21. It is said that they grew closer while filming this special episode in Macau. They were supposedly caught on a dinner date sometime in February.
R&B singer EMI MARIA released the digital single “91” last month. It featured a guest spot by her husband, rapper SEEDA. That song is one of the songs that will be on her new album “EUPHORIA”, out May 20. “EUPHORIA” will have 13 tracks. EMI MARIA recently released music videos for 2 of those songs, one for the song “#Perf #Girls #Love #Selfie (perfect girls)” and the other for “ONE OF THEM.” These 2 songs are in the same vein as “91”, in that they incorporate some of the more progressive elements of today’s R&B scene.
Check out the videos after the jump along with the cover and tracklist for the album!
New rapper Rykey is set to release his debut album “Pritty Jones” on June 3. Not much is known about this mysterious new figure on the hip hop scene. The only time he’s previously been heard was on the One Year War remix of AKLO’s “Red Pill.” That remix also featured fellow One Year War Music rapper SALU. This connection to AKLO and SALU has spawned interest in Rykey.
Before the release of “Pritty Jones”, Rykey has released the digital single “Honne.” The song is produced by One Year War Music producer JIGG, who also produced the whole “Pritty Jones” album. He’s also released the music video for “Honne.” It was created by HAVIT ART STUDIO, which has also worked on videos for the likes of KLOOZ, EMI MARIA, Alice, and KOHH. The video depicts the grittier side of life that some youth experience.
Check it out after the jump along the covers and tracklist for these releases!
This year, Miki Imai is celebrating the 30th anniversary of her debut in the music industry. To mark this anniversary, she will release her first studio album since 2009’s “corridor.” It is titled “Colour” and will be released on May 20. The album was recorded last fall in London, which has been Miki’s base of production since 2012. She’ll be working with a variety of people on the album, including the Hale Brothers, Andrew and Simon. Andrew is a member of the legendary band Sade, where he plays keyboard and writes songs. Simon Hale is a renowned composer and musician who recently worked on Sam Smith’s critically praised and highly successful debut album “In the Lonely Hour”.
Miki recently released a teaser movie for “Colour.” The album will have mix of sounds on it. A little funk, a little jazz, a little disco, with some balladry. The limited edition of the album comes with a DVD of a concert Miki did in London this past January, her first outside of Japan.
Check out the trailer after the jump as well as the album’s cover and tracklist.
On the 24th, Hey! Say! JUMP’s Yamada Ryosuke attended the mega-hit stage greeting for the movie “Assasination Classroom” held at the TOHO Roponggi Cinema Hills. His first movie starring role is a mega-hit, mobilizing 2.2 million people and grossing 2.5 billion yen as of April 23.
At the event, the movie sequel Ansatsu Kyoushitsu~Sotsugyo Hen~ (Assassination Classroom ~Graduation Edition~) was also announced. The movie will hit cinemas in 2016. A banner was revealed announcing the sequel and was met with great cheers from the venue “Congratulations!” Yamada, who just learned of the sequel decision commented that the office really like suprises.
The trailer for the sequel will be played nationwide starting Saturday’s screenings after the endroll. In addition, the movie will be shown overseas, focusing in Asian countries such as Korea, Hongkong, Taiwan, Singapore among others.
It was announced in the June issue of Futabasha’s Monthly Action magazine that Orange, a romance manga by Takano Ichigo, is being turned into a live-action film that will hit Japanese cinemas in December of 2015.
The Sci-fi love story follows Naho, a 16 year old high school student who begins to fall in love with Takeru, a new transfer student.
Her infatuation is predicted by an enigmatic letter that she receives the morning before they meet. The letter claims to have been written by herself, ten years in the future. It advises her to behave differently in the past, so that Naho’s 26 year old self won’t have to grapple with so many regrets.
Director and cast announcements are yet to be made.
(via Crunchyroll)
R&B diva DOUBLE is set to come back to the music scene! Her last release was the 2011 album “WOMAN.” Her first new song in 4 years is titled “Circle of Life.” It is the theme song for the newest and final installment in the “Juon” series of horror movies. This series of films inspired the “The Grudge” series in the US. “Juon -The Final-” is set for release on June 20. It stars Airi Taira and is directed by Ochiai Masayuki.
“Circle of Life” features elements of nursery rhymes and pieces of the movie’s view on the world into the song. There is no word as of yet when “Circle of Life” will be released. A trailer featuring the song is set to be released soon.
