Singer Shoko Nakagawa’s 2-year dream of working with 6-member idol group Dempagumi.inc have come into fruition! Together, they are set to combine their mutual love for video games and anime with a brand new collaboration unit called “Shokotan❤Dempagumi“.

The unit’s song “PUNCH LINE!” is due out April 29th. The song was written by Kenichi Maeyamada, known for his famous Nico Nico remixes and frequent collaborations previously with Dempagumi.inc as well as Momoiro Clover Z and SMAP.

The infectious and repetitive pop tune will be used as the opening theme for upcoming slice of life comedy anime “Punchline“. The series follows main character Yuuta Iritatsu, whose spirit has been separated from his body.

The anime “Punchline” will premiere on Fuji TV’s Noitamina block April 9.

(via Tokyo Pop Line)

Following negative attention received earlier this week from their racially insensitive blackface incident, popular Idol group Momoiro Clover Z has cancelled a film screening and press conference with the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan (FCCJ) scheduled for February 23rd.

The photo in question was posted last week onto Twitter after it gained traction when tweeted out by New York Times reporter Hiroko Tabuchi and Wired writer Daniel Feit. It was a preview for an upcoming Music Fair collaboration between Momoclo and Motown-inspired singing group Rats & Star featuring some members of both groups with their skin painted black to perpetuate racial stereotypes inspired by Rats & Star’s style of music.

The press conference for foreign journalists was planned to discuss and answer questions concerning the upcoming film Maku ga Agaru (“The Curtain Rises“) of which the five members star in. According to J-Cast, an English e-mail from FCCJ was sent out to members on February 16th apologizing for the inconvenience of the cancellation without any explicit reason as to why it was cancelled.

Last month, rapper KOHH released his second album “Kuchinashi Ko.” He has now released a music video the album’s 7th track, “Real Love.” The song and video are similar to that of KOHH’s last video “Where You At.” Both songs show a more mellow side of KOHH and both videos use a sort of green screen effect throughout the video. KOHH has been getting a bit of attention as of late in Western hip hop circles. A Vine of part of his rap in the video for “HIROI SEKAI” is at nearly 3 million loops in the past 2 weeks. Because of this he has been uploading a number of English subbed videos for his songs, the 2 most recent being “Hikoki” and “Binbo nante Kinishinai.” Check out all 3 of these videos after the jump!

As previously reported, MISIA is set to release her new single “Shiroi Kisetsu / Sakura Hitohira” on February 18. Ahead of the single’s release, she released a music video for “Sakura Hitohira.” She has now released one for the single’s first A-side, “Shiroi Kisetsu.” The song is the insert song for the TV Asahi drama “Second Love”, starrting KAT-TUN member Kamenashi Kazuya. The music video for “Shiroi Kisetsu” finds MISIA singing the ballad in a snowy winter wonderland. Check it out after the jump!

On the 16th, Kyary Pamyu Pamyu uploaded a photo on her Instagram with the recent Grammy Award winner Sam Smith.

The musician hailing from the United Kingdom just won four awards at the 57th annual Grammy Awards last Sunday: Best New Artist, Song of the Year and Record of the Year for his hit “Stay With Me”, and Best Pop/Vocal Album for “In The Lonely Hour”.

Keep on reading to see the lovely snapshot!

As we reported previously, veteran pop-rock act Southern All Stars are going to be releasing their first new album in almost 10 years on March 31st of this year.  Now the band have chosen to suddenly reveal all of the details concerning this new release to the public, from the track list to the contents included with each version.

SAS’ 15th studio album will be titled “Budou” (“Grapes”) and is set to include 16 full-length songs which the band’s singer Kuwata Keisuke has said should together resemble the “rich and euphoric taste of wine”.  “Budou”‘s pair of Limited Editions are set to include the following content:

• The Regular Edition CD
• The “Budou Hakusho”, a special booklet which includes liner notes and other unique commentary on all of the songs included in the release, a rare set of valuable photos dating back to the band’s revival in 2013, and more, all of which has been specially edited together by Kuwata himself and will be packed inside a carefully designed Box with the CD
• The “Oishii Budou no Tabi” (One-Size-Fits-All) Mesh T-Shirt (Limited Edition A Only)
• Additional as-of-yet unannounced benefits

Read on below to find the album’s trailer, its full track list, and several photos of its cover and the above limited contents.  As always, please do look forward to the release of “Budou” next month.

As previously reported, Ayumi Hamasaki was in the Taiwanese capital of Taipei this past weekend to attend CPop singer JJ Lin’s concerts. On the night of the 14th, she watched the concert along with her husband and her stylist Alvin Goh. The next night, Ayu joined JJ on stage. The pair sang a duet version of Ayu’s 2000 classic “SEASONS.” After the song was over, Ayu and JJ engaged in some English banter, which included the announcement of their upcoming collaboration. JJ composed the song “THE GIFT”, which will be featured on Ayu’s upcoming album “A ONE”, set for release on April 8. The song is titled “THE GIFT” because Ayu considers it as a beautiful gift from JJ. A music video for the song will soon be shot in Tokyo. The English speaking soon turned into Chinese, with JJ assisting Ayu. Check out a Taiwanese news report on the concert after the jump as well as pictures from the weekend!

On March 18, R&B singer YU-A is set to release her 4th solo studio album, “PURPLE.” The former Foxxi misQ member’s album will come in 2 editions. The limited edition will come with a 24-page special photobook that was done in collaboration with the Japanese edition of the fashion magazine NYLON. NYLON JAPAN is actually in charge of all the visuals for this album. The limited edition of “PURPLE” will also include a DVD with 2 music videos and 3 performances from a YU-A concert from this past November. The regular edition of the album will come with a bonus track. Ahead of the album’s release, YU-A has released a short music video for the track “Seishun Show.” This music video was shot on the Pacific island of Guam. Check out this music video as well as the album’s covers and tracklist after the jump!