This week’s guests were Nishiuchi Mariya, GENERATIONS, Tancobuchin, Usotsuki, Kuso Iinkai, Yamazaki Aoi, and Yoshii Kazuya. This week’s episode also included a survey for the top 10 acts that are most likely to break through this year.

Nishiuchi Mariya – 7 WONDERS

GENERATIONS – Sing it Loud

Tancobuchin – Naitemo Iin da yo

Usotsuki – Shinkiba Hatsu, Ginga Tetsudo wa Iku

Kuso Iinkai – Harukoi, Kakusei

Yamazaki Aoi – Futari de Arukeba

Yoshii Kazuya – Clear

This week’s guest was back number. They performed 2 songs and were also interviewed.

back number – Takane no Hanako san / Heroine

On the 26th, Chisato Haga (22) was chosen as the grand prize winner for the 47th “Miss Nippon Contest”. Haga is a Tokyo native and former synchronized swimmer. She is a student from Japan Women’s College of Physical Education.

It was announced that Golden Bomber’s Yutaka Kyan will be starring in the stage play “Fushigi Yugi” which will run from March 19- 29 at the Shinagawa Prince Hotel Club eX in Tokyo. Kyan will play Tamahome, the young man who meets the manga’s female lead Miaka after she is transported through a book to another realm. This play will depict a new version of Fushigi Yugi through the eyes of Tamahome. Ueno Keiko wrote the screenplay and Okumura Naoyoshi (BQMAP) is directing.

The other cast members include Risako Ito as Miaka, Ikkei Yamamoto as Hotohori, Toshiyuki Someya as Nuriko, Masato Saki as Tasuki, Yuta Kogawa as Chichiri, Mirai as Chiriko, Yusuke Hirose as Mitsukake, Namiko Itō as Yui, Reo Sawada as Amiboshi, Makoto Endo, Tatsuya Ogasawara, Takuya Tachibana, Tomoaki Maedō, Masayasu Yuasa, Daiki Watanabe, and Yu Yoshioka as Nakago.

(via ANN)

KAT-TUN is illustrated by manga artist Shimotsuki Kayoko, the artist behind “Joker Game“. The original novel was made to a movie starring Kamenashi Kazuya and KAT-TUN sings the theme song. Joker Game is currently being serialized in Weekly Big Comic Spirits and a special illustration of KAT-TUN was made by the manga artist with the title, “If I were a spy of D Kikan”.

Set in the eve of World War II, Joker Game tells of a secret intelligence agency D Kikan established by the Japanese Army. It sends its member Kato Jiro (Kamenashi Kazuya) to a high-stakes “spy game” as spies from countries such as Japan, the UK, the Soviet Union, and Germany in order to give their respective countries any possible advantage in world diplomacy.

The published illustrations features KAT-TUN in different settings as spies in the organization D Kikan – Kamenashi Kazuya as a Safe Cracker, Nakamaru Yuichi as a transvestite, Taguchi Junnosuke at a party and Ueda Tatsuya in prison.

Kiritani Mirei will star in the live-action film adaptation of Koda Momoko’s “Heroine Shikkaku” (No Longer the Heroine). The romantic comedy center around Matsuzaki Hatori , a high school girl who firmly believes that she has to marry her childhood friend someday. Kiritani Mirei will play Hatori and joining her are Yamazaki Kento as Terasaka Rita, the childhood friend and Sakaguchi Kentaro as Hiromitsu Kousuke, the coolest boy at school.

It was reported that Kiritani has been a fan of the original manga, and she had already personally wanted it adapted into a movie. Koda said that when she was serializing the manga, she secretly modeled Hatori on Kiritani, so she is truly delighted that Kiritani will end up playing Hatori. Koda added that she received the film’s script the other day, and she imagined how Kiritani will make Hatori’s signature funny faces in her performance.

Tsutomu Hanabusa is directing the film. Shooting begins this month and movie is planned for release this summer.

More details on GENERATIONS from EXILE TRIBE’s new album “GENERATION EX”, scheduled to be released on February 18, have been revealed.

The album will include singles released last year, “NEVER LET YOU GO” “and Always with you”. It will also include their upcoming single “Sing it Loud”, which will be released on January 28. DISC 2, which will be available in CD + DVD format and CD + Blu-ray format will include music videos as well as a documentary footage “GENERATIONS Document Movie” of over 60 minutes long.

Along with the album release, the group will also embark on a nationwide tour starting April, for a total of 21 performances. Check out the album covers, tracklist and tour schedule below.

On January 25, during the final performance of the “AKB48 Request Hour Set List Best 1035 2015” at the Tokyo Dome City Hall, AKB48 debuted their upcoming 39th single titled “Green Flash”. It will be released on March 4. It was also announced that Kojima Haruna and Kashiwagi Yuki were chosen as centers for the song. This is the first time in Kahiwagi’s 9 year- career to be chosen as center and the announcement was received by a large cheer by the audience of 2,000 people.

The song is a homage to the 1986 French movie “The Green Ray” directed by Eric Rohmer . When the title was announced, fans immediately switched to green pen light impressing the members. AKB48’s spring singles are centered around graduation song but the latest song will be different and is described as a heartbreak song. Members Takahashi Minami and Yamamoto Sayaka will have rap parts.