AKB48, SKE48, and SDN48 have a new ’48 group’ joining them: NMB48. It was all surreal and full of uncertainty when it was announced, but it’s become all the more concrete with television coverage of NMB48 auditions and the announcements of names who made the cut.
The NMB48 site has put up a members page with everyone, so you know the drill; time to pick your potential favorites and memorizing their names and nicknames! The image below provides the members with their info, with the members I have hopes for circled in red:
You should know that while AKB48 promotes fun, simple things like stores, clothes, and vegetable drinks, they also promote other interests…like internet security.
Watch this intensely shot CM for Kaspersky Lab’s security software featuring Maeda Atsuko:
If you need more security in your network, go ahead and pick this up; it’s endorsed by Maeda Atsuko and AKB48 research students, after all.
Or perhaps you’d want to pick this up along with a brand new NEC Lavie laptop computer, as promoted by the members of Watarirouka Hashiritai…in maid outfits:
If only they could have some awesome AKB promos to give away with these products, I bet they’d sell at least twice as many.
I just pre-ordered two versions of AKB48’s upcoming single, ‘Beginner’, and coincidentally came across this little video giving me a preview of what to expect from the PV. It gets curiouser and curiouser…
I’ll say it: I’m completely smitten with AKB48’s upcoming single, ‘Beginner’. Even with only low quality recordings to judge, I’ve listened to it countless times. It was playing in my head when I was driving; in my head when I was taking a shower; in my head while making dinner. I’ve been waiting for another single like ‘River’ to come along; after all, it was only a matter of time they released another unorthodox idol single, and ‘Beginner’ fit the bill, even exceeding my expectations.
First off, this is unlike any idol music I’ve heard. ‘Beginner’ doesn’t sing about love, the simplicities of school life, or uplifting ‘go-get-em’s. The tone of this song is downright angry; translated lyrics floating around the web convey frustrations and doubts from the youth of society, not unlike their early “dark” single, ‘Keibetsu Shiteita Aijou’, which dealt with bullying and suicide.
But ‘Beginner’ differs in tone. While ‘Keibetsu Shiteita Aijou’ was a haunting melodious piece with carefully chosen words of caution towards a silent depression, ‘Beginner’ is an outburst of deeply rooted frustration with a sharp tongue and no remorse. I get a sense of relentlessness and angst that I personally find refreshing coming from an idol group. Afterall, idols can get angry too, right? Life can’t always be about surprise birthday parties and wearing ponytails in the summer. AKB48 calling out to my inner cynic is a good change of pace.
It’s singles like this that come out of AKB48 every once in a while that secure their spot on Japan’s musical radar. Who else in the idol market is doing stuff like this right now? I’ve never been this eager to get my hands on an AKB single. October 27 never looked so far away.
King Records listed details about the different editions of ‘Beginner’ that are available to pre-order, along with the DVD contents:
version A:
1. Beginner
2. Boku dake no Value
3. Kimi ni tsuite
4. Beginner no vocal ver.
5. Boku dake no Value no vocal ver.
6. Kimi ni tsuite no vocal ver.
DVD includes 3 PVs, and 3 different dance shots of ‘Beginner’ featuring Oshima Yuko, Shinoda Mariko, and Matsui Jurina/Watanabe Mayu as the centers.
version B:
1. Beginner
2. Boku dake no Value
3. Nakeru Basho
4. Beginner no vocal ver.
5. Boku dake no Value no vocal ver.
6. Nakeru Basho no vocal ver.
DVD includes 3 PVs, and 3 different dance shots of ‘Beginner’ featuring Maeda Atsuko, Itano Tomomi, and Takahashi Minami as the centers.
The covers look really good too…all five of them. Should I…?
You can listen to a more cleaned up version of ‘Beginner’ below (still low quality though):
Now that I’ve dedicated myself to picking up a PSP(a pink one at that), I’m running into PSP titles without even looking for them.
I’ve come across this trailer for a K-On! music/rhythm/button-pressing game coming out this September 30th in Japan.
the presentation looks really nice, and the game play looks more approachable compared to the madness that is DJ Max. K-On!: Hokago Live! looks like a game I can play on the go without hours of practice. Looks like I should start compiling a list of PSP games I’ll be picking up after AKB 1/48.
Ps3’s The Last Guardian makes another appearance at the Tokyo Game Show, reminding me and thousands of others about its arrival. This trailer shows more of its trademark puzzle-platforming elements, and its beautiful aesthetics look even better than it has in previous trailers.
One thing that makes me sad: as a release date, it says “Holiday 2011”, which probably means late fall of next year. I’ve waited this long, I suppose I can wait…another year and a couple months.
The much anticipated No3b album which was originally planned to release this month has been rescheduled to 2011, but it’s not too bad; the album’s official release date is now January 1st, 2011.
Honestly, it’s a welcome break to many AKB fans’ wallets, even if it means having to wait a few months longer. Looks like I can purchase the Watarirouka Hashiritai album without feeling too guilty!
Releasing on New Years is definitely interesting. It’ll be like a post-Christmas surprise gift to myself.
I’ve never been a huge portable gaming fan. I have a scratch-less, shiny, and absolutely immaculate Nintendo DS Lite sitting on the desk, which hasn’t moved in months. I only own about ten to fifteen DS games, and play them almost exclusively in my home.
For a while I was confident that I wouldn’t need a PSP, but with recent releases like Persona 3 Portable and the upcoming sequel to Valkyria Chronicles, I knew it was only a matter of time before I caved.
Hey, speaking of PSP, buying, and games, did I mention that AKB48 has a game coming out on December 23rd? The title is “AKB 1/48 Idol to Ai Shitara“(If I were to Love an Idol), and the game is exactly what it sounds like: a dating sim with members of AKB48.
I don't know how I should feel about people being able to date a virtual version of Takahashi.
Uniforms created specially for the PSP game.
It’s said to have all 48 members available, with 10,000 photos and 80 minutes of video footage in the game, with voice recordings for all the dialogue.
There are first press editions, limited editions, and regular editions, but what I want to bring your attention to is something they’re releasing called the “Premiere Special Pack“:
Premiere Special Pack
What this pack includes is a AKB48 PSP-3000, with 48 “kiss print” interchangeable battery covers, 48 stickers of life-size versions of the “kiss prints”, two Making-Of DVDs with 240 minutes of content, an extra video UMD which contains 120 minutes of footage not put into the game, 24 reversible jackets making 48 possible covers, and 10 randomized photos. Oh, and the giant special box that it all comes in.
This could not have come at a worse time. How the hell am I supposed to ignore this?! It’s not even about “I can’t play the game ’cause it’s all in japanese”.
It’s about the limited PSP-3000, 48 customizations, 48 game covers, photos, and hours upon hours of extra video content, not to mention the nearly non-existent barrier between me and buying a PSP and my recent acceptance of the color pink. AKB is practically screaming at me “HERE I AM! I’M THE BRAND NEW PSP THAT YOU CAN BUY WITH A TRUCKLOAD OF EXTRAS!”
I expect to see a lot of CMs and promos relating to this release and it’s hard trying to find the downside.
On an unrelated side-note, this hilarious alternate Heavy Rotation PV was on the extra DVD of the Heavy Rotation single:
NMB48 sounded weird when it was announced but with management fast-tracking the auditions and having a special televised insider look, it’s quickly becoming reality. Out of thousands, they’ve whittled it down to a hundred and six.
The video below shows those chosen few below.
Warning: many of them look pretty rough:
Sure they look pretty humdrum, but I remember feeling the same way about SKE48 when they first started out so I’ve learned to hold my tongue. I’m sure with some polish and amazing hair products, the twenty chosen to be part of NMB48 will clean up well.
Who will you be betting on to move to the final round? Time to place your bets!
about time they made this. we no longer have to scrounge around looking for music videos and praying they’ll stick around for a while before they inevitably get taken down.
and as someone who likes to blog about videos, it’s a godsend.
that means i can do this!
and this!
and i don’t have to worry about them being taken down!
Posted by dae lee 
RockLiao's Blog 