Back in March 2018 two new groups were teased under the Hello!Project idol collective. This was one of the many announcements made in celebration of their 20th anniversary.

Initially, it was announced that the groups would have activities different from the conventional idol group. One of them was planned to focus on singing, dancing, and performances, using their body for expression. The second group was to take inspiration from theater, adopting the image of a “theater troupe” with the eventual addition of new members.

The groups were planned to start activities in the summer or fall. After over 6 months the names of the groups and members have finally been confirmed!

It has been announced that BABYMETAL member YUIMETAL will be withdrawing from the group effective immediately, a message was uploaded today explaining the situation on BABYMETAL’s official website.

The trouble started earlier in the year when fans showed up to North American dates from BABYMETAL’s latest concert tour. As the show began they were in for disappointment, as member YUIMETAL wasn’t there. No prior announcement was made before the concert, a statement was only released after many expressed their frustration over social media.

This week, King & Prince topped the Oricon single chart with their new single “Memorial”, selling 401,070 copies in its first week.

Mr.Children topped the Oricon album chart for the second consecutive week with their album “Jyuryoku to Kokyu”, selling 58,502 copies in its second week.

LiSA topped the Oricon digital single chart with her new single “ADAMAS”, selling 43,104 copies in its first week.

Yumi Matsutoya topped the Oricon digital album chart for the third consecutive week with her newly available digitally best album “40 Shunen Kinen Best Album ‘Nihon no Koi to, Yuming to.’”, selling 1,709 copies in its third week.

Hello, Arama! Japan readers and welcome to this week’s installment of #1 Song Review! Last week saw Hello Pro All Stars defeat BUMP OF CHICKEN and DA PUMP. DA PUMP is back this week, facing off against two newcomers. Find out what Ronald thought of the songs that topped the singles charts this week and share your thoughts on them too!

It has come to light that Johnny’s doesn’t want media to use the term “former SMAP member”, or anything with a similar wording, when reporting on past members of the group.

This “rule” of course would only apply to SMAP’s leader Masahiro Nakai and Takuya Kimura. After the group disbanded in December 2016, Nakai and Kimura were the only two members that chose to remain with Johnny’s.

Sandaime J Soul Brothers performer Takanori Iwata has been appointed the brand new spokesperson for UHA, a gummy jelly snack.

In the CM Iwata transforms into a bunch of various characters including a samurai, astronaut, kindergarten teacher, and ikemen. The CM shows each different character enjoying the snack, and will begin airing nationwide in Japan on October 20th.

Yellow Magic Orchestra is currently celebrating the 40th anniversary of their formation! To mark this occasion, the band will release a new best album, “NEUE TANZ”, on October 17. The album will come in two editions, a CD and a two piece vinyl set.

Yellow Magic Orchestra had some assistance with “NEUE TANZ.” The songs on the album were selected by TOWA TEI, while Sunahara Yoshinori oversaw the remastering of said songs. Tomoo Gokita, who frequently makes cover art for TOWA TEI and METAFIVE, was in charge of the cover of “NEUE TANZ.” Check out more information on Yellow Magic Orchestra’s 40th anniversary best album below!

On October 17, PAELLAS will digitally a new song titled “Orange.” This is the first of two digital singles that the band will release in consecutive months. On November 7, PAELLAS will release another new song, “Weight.” The band has now released the music video for “Orange.” Check it out below along with the digital single’s cover!