It has come to light that Morning Musume 18′ member Haruna Ogata will be graduating from both the group and Hello!Project in June 2018.

Ogata shared that she wants to focus on her education. Beginning in April she will start to attend a junior college, and hopes to transition into a 4 year university program. Balancing classes and her show business duties isn’t an easy task, especially the further she gets into her education.

The sudden announcement was made due to Ogata waiting for her results to come in. Her fellow Morning Musume groupmates already were well aware of Ogata’s ambitions to attend university, they also knew that she was taking entrance exams.

Her graduation will take place on the final day of Morning Musume’s current tour Morning Musume Tanjou 20 Shuunen Kinen Concert Tour 2018 Haru ~We are MORNING MUSUME~  on June 20th, 2018.

In 2014 Ogata successfully passed the generation 12 audition, becoming the very first member to hail from the Osaka prefecture. She made her official CD debut with the other gen 12 members in the 2015 single Seishun Kozou ga Naiteiru / Yuugure wa Ameagari / Ima Koko Kara. 

(ameblo)

This week’s guests were The Wisely Brothers, Tempalay, Dizzy Sunfist, PELICAN FANCLUB, MONO NO AWARE, and Hitsujibungaku.

The Wisely Brothers – Niwa wo Dete

Tempalay – Kakumei Zenya

Dizzy Sunfist – The Dream Is Not Dead

PELICAN FANCLUB – Night Diver

MONO NO AWARE – Iwankocchanai

Hitsujibungaku – Step

This week, AKB48 topped the Oricon single chart with their new single “Jabaja”, selling 1,115,843 copies in its first week.

Saito Kazuyoshi topped the Oricon album chart with hisnew album “
Toys Blood Music”, selling 19,875 copies in its first week.

Yonezu Kenshi topped the Oricon digital single chart for the fifth consecutive week with his single “Lemon”, selling 108,181 copies in its fifth week.

The “Greatest Showman” soundtrack topped the Oricon digital album chart for the fifth consecutive week, selling 8,052 copies in its 15th week.

Dream Ami has released the full MV for her 6th single Amaharu

It will be released in three versions. A CD only, CD+DVD, and premium CD+2DVD edition. The latter will only be available for purchase  via E-girls’ fanclub FAMILY OFFICIAL SHOP, LDH official mobile shop, and avex’s online store mu-mo.

All versions of the single will come with a b-side titled No Idea,  while the DVD comes with the full Amaharu MV. Priced at 4,850 the DVD edition might seem a little steep, but that’s because it also comes with a full concert. The entirety of Dream Ami 1st Live Tour 2017 ▽ Re: Dream will be on the disc also.

In the MV Ami is dressed as a vintage post delivery boy, where she’s seen packing flowers in envelopes and sending them out to the world attached to balloons. She later finds a giant mysterious egg/crystal that causes her to be “reborn” in a floral print dress. Wow!

The single covers for Amaharu can be seen below, along with the MV.

Fomer C-ute member Airi Suzuki will be making her official solo debut in June!

Her first debut album Do me a favor will be released on June 6th, 2018, in one regular edition (CD only) and a limited edition CD+blu-ray. The albums sound will be a healthy variety of dance music, pop-rock, and mid-tempo ballads.

Suzuki worked with long time Hello!Project collaborator AKIRA for the creation of two songs on the album. His H!P resume includes High-King’s C\C (Cinderella\Complex), Gomattou’s SHALL WE LOVE, and W’s Ai no Imi wo Oshiete!

She also collaborated with Ryosuke Imai, who was the mastermind behind Namie Amuro’s hit HERO. This album also  marks the very first time Suzuki is credited as a song writer, she co-wrote the tracks #DMAF and Perfect Timing.

15 songs will be included on Do me a favor in total, 3 of them being collaborations. In the track STORY she teams up with rock group SCANDAL, while in Hikari no Kata e she joins forces with another all female rock group Akai Ko-en. The final collaboration is in #DMAF, with reggae singer SPICY CHOCOLATE.

Covers, tracklist, and a preview of the songs on Do me a favor can be seen below!

Hello, Arama! Japan readers and welcome to this week’s installment of #1 Song Review! Last week saw Suda Masaki defeat Hoshino Gen and Yonezu Kenshi. Gen and Kenshi are back again this week, facing off against a newcomer. Find out what various staff members thought of the songs that topped the singles charts this week and share your thoughts on them too!

Within the last couple of days, it was revealed that popular rock band BUMP OF CHICKEN will be in charge of the theme songs for the upcoming spring anime “Juushinki Pandora”.  This sci-fi series is the latest creative brainchild of mecha designer and Macross creator Shoji Kawamori, who is known for his work on properties as varied as “Eureka Seven” and “AKB0048”.

The show’s opening theme, titled “Sirius”, has been described as an impressive rock tune defined by its edgy guitar melody.  The ending, “Spica”, was recently shown off during the final shows of the band’s “PATHFINDER” tour and is described as a warm, mid-tempo number.  No release date has been provided for either of these tracks as of yet.

“Juushinki Pandora” will start airing next week on March 29th, but for those that just can’t wait, you can find the latest trailer (which features a preview of “Sirius”) right after the jump.

It was recently announced that well-known singer/songwriter Kazumasa Oda will be providing the newest theme song for popular morning show “Mezamashi TV”.  This marks the second time that Oda has worked with the program, following its use of “Kyou mo Dokoka de” as its theme in 2008.  This time, the show’s production committee was revealed to have specifically reached out to Oda, believing that a song written by him would be a perfect way to celebrate its 25th anniversary on the air.

The new theme song will be titled “Ai ni Iku” and has been described as a warm and uplifting track which will gradually encourage listeners to move towards happiness during their days.  The song will also be a centerpiece of Oda’s upcoming Arena Tour, wherein he intends to showcase a number of new songs before their official release.

The first chance to hear “Ai ni Iku”, however, will be on the April 2nd broadcast of “Mezamashi TV”, so please look forward to that date.

(via natalie)