This guide on concert light sticks has been in the works for a while since I wasn’t quite sure whether to push it out, but here is it anyways. This is a certain collection of common knowledge about the different types of light sticks you see people brandishing at concerts. While idol concerts primarily referenced, this information might prove even more useful for fans of other artists where such weapons of mass euphoria are not as common.

If someone were to keep tabs, there’ll be a concert going on somewhere in Tokyo for every day of the year. Light sticks see such common use in Japanese concerts that they have become a necessity. You’ll find them easily available at departmental store. In fact, it’s reached a point where people aren’t satisfied with just conventional glow sticks anymore, and thus the variety of options to choose from.

This little guide aims to point out some of the different types of light sticks available, their cost and where to find them. We also scrape a little at the inner workings of these devices for the more curious minds. The main 3 brands to take note of that are mentioned the most in this article are Fukuoka based Lumica, the American OmniGlow company and Turn On, which specializes in LED light sticks.

Normal glowstick.

Normal Glow Sticks
+ Fairly Cheap
+ Relatively Lightweight
+ Long Lasting
- Not Particularly Bright

Glow sticks, light sticks, chemical lights. These are the normal light sticks that everyone has come to know of. They see use at all sorts of concerts, clubs and by ravers or glowstickers. More recently, the artsy fatsy crowd have re-figured that they could use them to write words on film at low shutter speeds.

While many a wota might find conventional glow sticks insufficient for their wild kecha needs, ordinary glow stick remain some of the most cost effective and reliable lighting devices. Plus points include being relatively cheap, easy to wield and in the case of the Japanese variants, impressively long lasting. Being disposal adds to their convenience and they come in an assortment of colors that should fulfill most purposes.

When it comes to normal glow sticks, the Lumica brand ones dominate the Japanese market as the cheapest commercially available ones.  They are surprisingly also the most reliable. The yellow one in the picture below continued to glow even after more than 24 hours (albeit rather dimly)! This is despite an advertised maximum lifespan of 12 hours. Individual sticks cost about 100 yen each (SGD$1.60) but are available in Singapore at all Daiso outlets for SGD$2.

For those living in Singapore, the alternative is to of course to get wholesale ones from the military supply market at Beach Road. These work just as about as well as only other chemical ones, though you may occasionally get a dud due to the low QC.

The ones at Beach Road go for as cheap as SGD$0.50 a piece, if you’re purchasing common colors (white/red/blue/green/yellow/red) in bulk. Do make it a point to bargain. The normal price point for purchasing generic light sticks in low quantities here is $0.80/piece. Elsewhere, at party shops or such, individual sticks still cost about $2 each.

Pink chemical light sticks from Beach Road.

While unknown to some, you can actually request for pink glow sticks at Beach Road too! These tend to  go for roughly $1.00 a piece.

Surprisingly, the biggest minus against normal glow sticks isn’t actually the brightness of the sticks but the cost that eventually stacks up. This is especially true for idol fans who go to lives on a regular basis.

Pretty much all generic light sticks work in the same way and are based off only a few different chemicals, as such many colors actually perform similarly. In general, the green and yellow ones are still the brightest, while also lasting the longest. The white and blue glow sticks are not recommended as they are the dimmest and also last the shortest. Note that the red glow sticks sold in Singapore often aren’t red at all but are simply white ones with a red shell and are thus not recommend either.

Another thing to note is that Japanese and American Pink colored glow sticks often use a white or purple base for its color and are thus some of the dimmest. In a rare case of Singaporean superiority, the pink glow sticks at Beach Road that use a red base are better.

Actual pink and actual red glow sticks come out brighter and richer in color than any white/blue/purple ones but are still significantly less effective than green and yellow ones.

Penlight.

Penlights
+ Lightweight
+ Long Lasting
- Flimsy
- Possibly Pricey

If you’re going to be consuming glow sticks on a regular basis, then getting a battery operated one might seem like a good idea. Commercial battery operated light sticks tend to last for a pretty long time on a single change of batteries, if you’re not particularly concerned on the brightness.

Each of the 3 brands mentioned above offer their own take on the standard battery operated light stick. Both Lumica and OmniGlow have their own versions that attempt to mimic the look of a regular light stick but when it comes to battery operated lightsticks Turn On’s “penlights” are the most popular choice.

Turn On specializes exclusively in making their penlight series of light sticks. Apart from usual benefits of a battery powered light stick, the sticks are the lightest option featured in this guide, beating even conventional chemical glow sticks when it comes to weight. They are also the most enjoyable to wield.

Turn On’s penlights can be found at many departmental stores and pretty much any toy or novelty shop that carries party goods in Japan. Thanks to their ease of customization, they’re also the brand most artists turn to to provide their official concert light sticks.

All battery operated light sticks have a single light-emitting diode (LED) inside. Penlights easily beat out normal glow sticks when it comes to brightness. And though they fall short of orange and yellow high intensity ones, penlights are still brighter than any diphenylanthracene based ultras, such as the blue, white and purple high intensity chemical lights.

Lumica battery lights are made to look like regular chemical lights.

Penlights come with batteries out of the box and have an astonishing lifespan. Mine were able to last for 6 months worth of AKB48 Singapore concerts (approximately 17 shows) on the OEM batteries alone.

Perhaps the only minus against pen lights are their cost. Brand new generic penlights cost 1,200 each (SGD$20). This one off investment pays for itself after about 20 concerts but it doesn’t help that replacement batteries can be pricey.

Standard sized battery powered light sticks from all brands require between 3 to 4 LR44 cell batteries. These cost something like SGD$2 a piece in Singapore or 200 yen in Japanese stores. As you can see, the price of the batteries alone work up to about the cost of a brand new light stick in Japan. Ordering the batteries in bulk direct from wholesalers will help elevate a lot of this pain.

Many artists, 48-family included offer their own branded pen lights by Turn On. These usually sell for 1,500 yen each but are often snatched up quickly.

AKB48 itself has stopped making battery powered light sticks through Turn On and existing ones can sell for as high as 10,000 yen ($160) on the second hand market. AKB48 now distribute their own light sticks, but from experience these aren’t as bright as Turn On’s and manage to be even more flimsy. A friend’s broke after a single use!

Note, a more specialized form of battery powered light sticks are the “light batons” that are available at Don Quijote outlets. Like DIY stick, these are usually powered by Double or Triple A batteries and are even brighter than standard pen lights. Also like DIY sticks, these tend to consume batteries faster but come with the benefit of being in a size covered by rechargeable batteries. Take note though that while you can use them at all other concerts, such devices are banned at the daily AKB48 theater performances.

High Intensity Light stick.

High Intensity Light Sticks
+ Ultra Bright
- Short Lifespan
- Expensive

High Intensity Light Sticks are a type of specialty light stick that trades a typically long glow duration for a short burst of brightness. These see little practical military or industry use but have recently gain popularity with concert-goers, wota and glowstickers thanks to their unique purpose.

They typically last for between 5 to 15 minutes. Both OmniGlow and Lumica offer their own versions for between 157 – 262 yen (approximately $2.50 to $4.20) a piece, available at normal department stores. As you can see, they cost far more than the normal counterparts due to their specialized nature.

If you haven’t already figured, normal light sticks involve the mixture and resultant reaction of two chemicals that produces its glow. To simplify things, we can split colored light sticks into two main groups, those with a yellow-green hue and blue based ones (white/blue/purple). As with regular glow sticks, yellow and green high intensity light sticks are among the brightest (as these use a version of the yellow-green fluorescent dye that is quicker to react).

But of all the available ones, orange colored high intensity light sticks produce the biggest bang. These use a completely different dye that reacts aggressively to produce the brightest possible light. At the offset of lasting for the shortest amount of time.

Due to being the most common color available, they have since been referred to as “UO”s or Ultra Oranges, a named derived from the only two English words printed on OmniGlow’s packing. In truth, there are “ultras” for every other color too.

OmniGlow Ultras.

As with regular chemical lights, blue, white and purple high intensity glow sticks are not recommended.

As there are no chemical alternatives to produce significantly brighter versions of these colors, blue based ultras simply add in more hydrogen peroxide (the glass vial inside glow sticks) so that the chemicals react faster. The result is that while these sticks do glow slightly brighter, it they still under performs the orange, yellow or green counterparts.

In Singapore, some military themed shops have begun to import orange Cyalume brand high intensity glow sticks. Unfortunately, as they are meant to last for 30 minutes a piece, these do not glow as brightly as the 5 minute ones made for concerts.

Size comparison.

To counter Lumica’s more attractive prices, OmniGlow have in recent years introduced a new line of their Ultra light sticks. The new 6″ ones are fat and thick as you can see from the image above but are actually also flat. OmniGlow brags of it being 4 times the size. These replace their older Ultra series of light sticks for the same price of 262 yen.

Alas, when it comes to glow sticks, the actual amount of liquid inside means less than the proportion of chemicals. To retain the same brightness and duration as regular high intensity light sticks, the proportion of mixture is kept the same and as such, the OmniGlow’s 6″ Ultras do not glow any brighter than normal high intensity light sticks…they are just bigger. This makes them certainly more comfortable to hold, but it hardly justifies the cost.

Lumica have also recently released their own counterpart to these larger flat sticks at a more affordable price of 189 yen each.

Brightness Comparison.

If you’re in Singapore and in need of 5 minute high intensity glow sticks, do drop me a message. I import them in fairly large quantities on a regular basis. As you can see from above, the ones I have in stock are identical to the regular sized Japanese ones. Also as they are made specially for concerts in mind, they also break must easier and react instantly for maximum brightness with no shaking required!

I have them in the following colors: orange, blue, green, yellow and red.

The orange ones seem to glow especially bright and come recommended. This is followed by the yellow and green ones of course. While not as bright, the red ones glow a really deep red that may be a little niche. The blue ones are not really recommended as they do not compare well with the other colors. If you are in need of any, you can find me at any AKB48 related concert to get them at $2.50 a piece.

Specialty Chemical Light Sticks
Various

Lumica’s primary business is chemical glow sticks for the purpose of both industrial and entertainment purposes. And it is perhaps for this reason that they have the widest variety of chemical lights available. Apart from the usual 8-12 hour and high intensity light sticks, Lumica have developed some other novelty light sticks such as 2-hour ones that glow just slightly brighter than the 8 hour versions, pastel colored light sticks (in baby pink and baby blue) and even chemical light sticks that changes between 3 colors (orange > yellow > green or red > purple > blue) over a 20 minute period. I won’t be explaining them in detail, since they don’t differ enough from regular chemical lights.

DIY sticks.

DIY Sticks
+ Possibly Brightest
+ Possibly Cost Effective
- Cumbersome
- Actual Work Required

Like many a Jedi, the most extreme of wota eventually take a crucial step to make their very own battery powered light stick.

At its simplest, creating your own custom light stick involves purchasing a LED torchlight and attaching an existing or custom plastic tube to the top. This requires a certain amount of effort on the part of the wielder but as most tend to opt for high powered Gentos or Cree LED flash lights, the result is the brightest (if not blindingly powerful) light stick that you can possibly wield.

On it’s own, a Cree flash light will cost anywhere between $20-$30. The more powerful ones from the Japanese company Gentos can go for slightly more than $40 each. The brightness of these torches are measured in lumens with torches providing anywhere between 100 to 700 eye melting lumens. Keep in mind that the output of a normal chemical light stick is about 4 lumens.

For practical purposes, we wouldn’t recommend anything over a couple hundred lumens and even then you’re going to need some serious padding to keep the light in. Next, you can either use a piece of plastic to form a tube around the torch or if available, find an acrylic tube that can fit.

A paper to filter is required to give your DIY light stick some color if you want it to display anything other than white. Due to the strength of such LED torches, it can be difficult to find papers that are translucent enough to dissipate the light without being completely opaque.

Finally, the top of the tube has to be sealed off  (it’d simply be a torch light with a tube attached). This is usually the least glamorous part, since it can be quite difficult to find a cap that will fit nicely. Most choose to simply tape off the top or cover it with some sort of reflective material like aluminium foil.

Just an observation but light stick creation or modding is less prevalent among AKB48 fans than other wota and otaku, perhaps because they aren’t allowed at the AKB48 theater. The bright glow of a DIY light stick will definitely catch a lot of attention but it can also be rather distracting.

There are a few additional plus and minuses to making your own light stick. Some have managed to work in a screw on tube to their torches or found some other means to swap the colors of their filter. Such torches also tend to be powered by Double or Triple A batteries which can be recharged, meaning that there is no need to purchase expensive cells like commercial penlights. On the downside, DIY light sticks tend to be pretty heavy.

Ultimately, there is no single best type of light stick to suit every purpose. Instead, users will have to choose from whichever best suits their concerting needs.

Have more notes about light sticks? Help share your knowledge in the comments section below.

As the new year comes along, fans await with bated breath for the yearly spring season single. Fans colloquially refer to it as the Sakura single; every single released at this time has had ‘sakura’ in its title. So imagine the surprise of many, when it turned out that 2012′s spring single had a title that wasn’t even in Japanese: Give Me Five!

Type A Limited Cover

On the last day of AKB48′s 2012 Request Hour event, Give Me Five! was unveiled with an interesting twist. For 6 months prior, the senbatsu members of the single had been given a task, to secretly learn, practice, and perform on an instrument assigned to them for the song.

The girls were mostly given instruments they were unfamiliar with and the newly formed band (christened Baby Blossom) performed Give Me Five! for the thousands in attendance at Tokyo Dome City, as well as the countless more watching on Google+. The performance started off really badly (think high school band, except without practice) but they soon found their groove and tightened it up toward the end for a memorable finish.

Type B Limited Cover

The song itself however, isn’t anything to write home about. While at first the brass instruments seem to be a superfluous addition to the song for the sake of including everyone, it does add some excitement to an otherwise lackluster guitar-driven melody. A safe assumption would be that they had to make the song simple enough for the girls to be able to play live; of course, the Baby Blossom version still has slight differences from the version that’s on the single itself.

Type A Cpver

Sweet and Bitter, the coupling song by Selection 6 (another new unit), is used as the insert song for Seven & I’s Valentine Fair campaign. Made up of the 6 members with the most exposure, it’s obvious Selection 6 was formed for the sole purpose of endorsement.

The rest of the girls are split into the Special Girls A, B and C for the Types A, B and Theater releases respectively. For some reason, AKB48 has managed to stumble upon an even worse name to call their lower-ranked members than ‘Undergirls’.

Give Me Five will have its promotional video directed by Shigemichi Sugita. It will be a whopping thirty-four minutes long, with a storyline explaining how the high-school band Baby Blossom comes together. Shigemichi is the perfect man for the job, his magnum opus, Kita no Kuni Kara, is a slice-of-life drama focusing on a family.

Type B Cover

Some may think that AKB48 crossing over into the land of live instruments would open them to even more criticism, with observers easily drawing comparisons to groups like ZONE or Scandal. Despite this however, many fans will be delighted to see their idols performing live, instrumental ability aside. It will be interesting to see the reactions to the single when the single finally drops, on the 15th of February.

Near the end of 2011, AKB48 staged its own singing contest prior to the perennial NHK Kouhaku Uta Gassen. Aside from being the first time such a singing competition was staged by the AKB48 family, it was also the first glimpse many Japanese (as well as the overseas fans through Google+) caught of the Jakarta-based AKB48 sister group, JKT48.

Akimoto Yasushi has constantly spoken of plans to expand the AKB48 family overseas. Given the presence of shops in Hong Kong, China, Taiwan and Singapore, these locations were the first guesses for any probable new sister group, given their cultural closeness to Japan, as well as already proven fanbases. Indonesia, for all intents and purposes, was not on anyone’s list of places.

This only added to the surprise many had, when auditions for JKT48 were announced on the Internet. The initial lack of any official announcement by AKS only served to exacerbate fans’ doubts. These doubts however, were erased by an eventual official announcement on the official AKB48 blog.

Not long after, flanked by the 28 first generation members of JKT48, Akimoto Yasushi introduced the first overseas sister group of AKB48.

Right out of the gate, the girls were placed in a prominent ad, endorsing drink brand Pocari Sweat. Many were quick to point out that the commercial featured the AKB48 hit Heavy Rotation – in Bahasa Indonesia. With that, many came to realize the portability of the AKB48 formula. Refined to the point of being culturally odourless, the AKB concept was exported to Indonesia for the Indonesians.

A country that’s no stranger to idols (local versions of La Academia and Popstars were huge hits), Jakarta presents the perfect place to start a sister group to AKB48. With the AKB brand giving it a jump-start in the beginning, JKT48 aims to be the ‘original Indonesian idols’. Of course, this is made easier when you have a huge library of existing pop hits to localize from.

The 1st generation of JKT48

The new group doesn’t fall too far from the AKB tree. With the initial selection of 28 members, girls from the age of 12 to 22 were selected, with as broad an archetype range as you could possibly have. Part of the 48 groups’ established formula, that has proven to attract fans – there is, after all, something for everyone.

Response to the group has been favourable in Japan as well; the cheers were as loud as ever when the group performed the Indonesian version of Aitakatta to a full capacity crowd at Tokyo Dome City for AKB Kouhaku Uta Gassen. The group also performed at the actual NHK Kouhaku Uta Gassen, and even made an appearance at this year’s Request Hour Set List Best 100 concert.

JKT48 performing Aitakatta at AKB Kouhaku

With a now solid fanbase of Indonesian fans, there is no doubt that JKT48 is bound for success, even if the extent of that success is still very much unknown. Even many who scoffed at the idea of an overseas 48 are now sitting up and listening.

What will be next in Akimoto Yasushi’s plans for world domination and where will JKT48 end up in the grand scheme of things? Only time can tell. And I, for one, am excited for the prospects.

JKT48 has an official website and YouTube account. Updates on events involving JKT48 are also frequently posted on their Facebook page.

First up, I would like to apologize for today’s lack of quality and quantity of photos. Today we made our way down to Shinjuku BLAZE for the awaited SUPERGiRLS concert. Most of the day would be spent indoors and I didn’t want the trouble of carrying such heavy shooting equipment or figuring out how to store it away during the show. Before the concert though it was first to Harajuku, where we had an appointment with the AKB48 Official Shop Harajuku.

While it seems counterproductive to the whole purpose of selling stuff, for some reason, AKB48 shop at Harajuku requires you to book in advance to simply enter the store. This would make sense if the shop was crowded more often, but I’ve heard reports that it is rarely packed outside of the current holiday season.

Booked our visit a few days ago online at their website. Thankfully it’s goes by a purely first come first serve basis rather than at random. It used to be that the only way to do so was through a cellphone, but they have recently added a PC alternative, perhaps in response to complaints.

AKB48 Official Shop Harajuku.

The shop is located at the entrance to Takeshita dori, just beside the Lawson store here. The first floor of the shop is open to the public without a prior reservation, but the only thing for sale here were AKB48 branded biscuits. It’s not that the biscuits were actually in the shape of members or anything, that would had been interesting. Beyond that, there was also an abundance of unsold of Flying Get stationery for sale

The first floor is free to enter.

AKB48′s Harajuku store consists of 3 floors in total. The second floor and basement were the restricted areas blocked off by two young shop assistants. To get past, I had to present our confirmation email and we were given a couple of slips of paper as passes.

We were instructed to return the slips before leaving the store to another assistant. The shop was seriously overstaffed, there were at least 5 staff on this floor alone (and another 2-3 on each additional floor).

But you need a reservation to visit the basement and second floors.

While the walls were stocked full of various AKB48 merchandise, there wasn’t much worth buying. Mostly stationery items, which made sense since most of the customers here were young grade school level girls. The small B5 sized clear files with different AKB48 members plastered over them were a popular item among this audience.

Nice A4 sized mini-posters in a Christmas theme. Unfortunately they were all sold out.

Cute scribbles on the blackboard behind the counter.

Every inch of the shop was covered with autographs.

The shop had been decorated/vandalized by the combined seemingly combined efforts of various AKB48 members and shop staff. Almost every inch of the store was covered with autographs and doodles, giving it a nice personable touch.

Even the underside of shelves.

The other thing of interest would be actual member costumes displayed at the store. Despite the signs, some of the little girls here reached out for a feel. I’m sure AKB48 could had easily reproduced these costumes or even just the badges on them for sale and it’d make a more meaningful purchase.

Maeda Atsuko's actual costume from Ponytail to Shushu.

The basement was mostly just stationery, stickers, charms and key chains. Similar stuff was to be found upstairs with a greater assortment of key chains. Some of the agency made goods, like OgiPro’s t-shirts and clear folders were also available for sale.

More autographs upstairs.

Another board.

Oshima Yuko's Heavy Rotation outfit.

Kashiwagi Yuki's Everyday Kachuusha costume.

The only thing we managed to pick up that was remotely useful were a couple of new official yellow concert pens, which are basically battery operated glow sticks. They had the AKB48 and Team 4 words across the side. These were the only remaining ones left, with the other team versions long sold out.

We snatched up the last in stock, one for Yan and another which Gage would keep himself. Took some time to stash it away in my bag since I wouldn’t be caught dead walking around anywhere in Japan with a AKB48 plastic bag.

Also paid a quick visit to the Evangelion Store nearby, it had been closed the past few days. It only just opened a couple months ago. The first floor served as a retail outlet for Radio Eva, while the second floor sold more conventional goods for the classic anime.

Evangelion Store Harajuku.

Next was to Shinjuku for the first SUPERGiRLS concert of the new year. A crowd had formed outside the Shinjuku BLAZE building where the concert was to be held. Today’s concert was to hold 800 guests.

Shinjuku BLAZE.

The concert was to be one of the main highlights and chief motivations for my impulsive trip down to Tokyo.

While I initially paid little attention to SUPERGiRLS and first dissed them as yet another plaid clad AKB48 clone back when they debut at Tokyo Idol Festival in 2010, avex’s foray into the conventional idol market had put on a most impressive display this year.

So while 2011 was a series of disappointments as far as AKB48 was concerned, SUPERGiRLS simply pushes all my right buttons. In fact, between their rainbow and star motif, colored sorted members and aggressive use of SNS gaming into their concept, you’d think I was somehow responsible for SUPERGiRLS’s branding.

SUPERGiRLS tour bus parked outside.

People who turned up for the show (and those who didn’t) stopped to gaze at the bright pink bus parked outside the venue.

Getting inside the theater was an unusually smooth and easy process. Ticket numbers were number 1-800 (Gage and mine were 744 and 745 respective). Numbers were called in quick sequence, first individually for the first 50 or so people, then in groups of 10 and finally bunches of 20 when it didn’t matter as much anymore.

Note that while tickets for the concert were cheap. One of the requirements upon entry to Shinjuku BLAZE, which was really a club (this is Kabukicho), was that we needed to purchase a 500 yen drink coupon upon entry. We were also given a slip of paper with a special “key code” to redeem a trophy to prove our participation of the concert in My Idol, SUPERGiRLS’s integrated social network game. Cruel.

As bad as our ticket numbers were, we had somehow managed to secure a standing spot in the absolute right corner of the 5th row. Which by the size of the small performing venue and the fact that everyone was compacted together, turned out to be the equivalent of a 3rd row view at a AKB48 Singapore “Live”. Which was fortunate, as most of the group’s young fans turned out to be an unruly bunch. I will postpone describing them till tomorrow.

(Almost) life sized decals.

Perhaps through sheer luck, the right corner happened to be where members Maeshima Ami and Tanaka Mirei would spend most of the concert at. Though we had to sacrifice being able to see much of Kano Kaede or Shimura Rika. Unfortunately, Maeshima wasn’t the most interactive of idols, who except for one or two glances, preferred to limit fan interaction to those in the center in favor of spending more of her time with the cameras. In comparison, Yasaka Saori greeted us the most despite being rather stiff in other situations.

The show started off with the Kanto and Kasai iDOL Street (the avex equivalent of AKB48′s kenkyuusei research students) teams performing what must had been their only 3 songs. While the performers were alien to us, the songs threw us off guard by being surprisingly good. This would mark the opening of a pretty awesome concert.

Before long, the main members took the stage, opening with the titular song of their upcoming album EveryBody JUMP!! and keeping up the high tension by moving directly to Joshiryoku Paradise.

While I wasn’t too keen on the new EveryBody JUMP!! from the preview clips so far, seeing it performed live changed my opinion for the better. Overall, the concert managed to blow away all my expectations. Between the actual live singing (in which Mizote Ruka shone) and sharp energetic dance moves (Miyazaki Rina performed a flurry of acrobatic somersaults mid song, none of that cartwheels nonsense), the only other things that crossed my mind was how adorable Maeshima was and how stunning Tanaka Mirei was in real life.

The concert was pretty short though, with something like a a total of 10 songs, lasting about an hour and a half. For better or for worst, there were no unit songs. Instead, the members would run off stage occasionally between MCs to catch their breath or grab a drink.

For today’s concerts, being the new year and all, the MCs revolved around the topic. The members were asked to do some shodo, a certain zen inspire Japanese calligraphy to write their new year’s resolutions. You can see all of them at the official SUPERGiRLS staff blog. These were hung outside the theater later. Arai Reira aka Rachel wrote hers in English, which prompted Maeshima to reminded her shodo was a form of Japanese culture.

The young attention seeking Maeshima felt the need to cut into lots of people’s conversations, occasionally causing the other members to simply ignore her. On the other hand, Tanaka Mirei barely spoke a word beyond her necessary singing lines.

There was also ballot during the concert where patrons who visit today could win prizes in the form of handwritten letters from the girls. They took a little time to tease about the industrial norm of idols being unable to date and this being the closest thing. Ironically, the person explaining this would be Shimura Rika. In turn each of the members drew a ticket stub from a box and the winner would get the respective member’s letter.

In a moment of anticipation the numbers 7 and 4 were called out (I can’t remember by who but it was probably Goto Aya) but it turned out to be for 742. Close but no コール. I remember Akita Eri standing out particularly during this part of the show. She mentioned writing a lot of jokes in her letter. She later remarked to the person receiving her letter that she hoped he enjoys humor.

Before we knew it, the concert was over. There wasn’t any encore or such. I guess they were expecting most fans to come for the second show in the evening, which we unfortunately did not have tickets for. Instead, we took the opportunity to get a midday lunch at Midori Sushi while excitedly going through what had happened. Gage concluded that SUPERGiRLS performance was better than anything he had witnessed from AKB48 thus far, though falling short of SKE48 levels. A meet and greet session might had changed that though.

After the concert, they continued selling a small selection of concert goods. Briefly considered buying one of their ema tablets but wondered what I would ever do with one. Not sure if I should had bought anything else other than the concert tees we grabbed on the way in but we didn’t.

Midori Sushi.

There wasn’t any queue at all on this Thursday, so we could simply walk in and grab the first sushi (and sadly only) sushi we would get this trip. Again, on hindsight, I wonder why we didn’t get more.

Ultimate Sushi Assortment. 2,100 yen.

The sushi at Midori was still the same slimy delicacies as before. Gage ordered their amusingly named ultimate platter while I went with the more humble special assortment. Both sets came with a side of soup and chawanmushi. The chef was nice enough to give Gage an extra cut as “service”, Japanese for on the house.

Special Sushi Assortment. 1,680 yen.

Over brunch, decided that we should probably return tomorrow for another concert. There was still two terrible tickets for sale at Gorakudoh but feeling lazy, we took the chance to delay getting them until tomorrow morning. Instead, we headed toward Akihabara which was more in the direction of our hotel. What a wota day this was turning out to be.

Akihabara.

Didn’t get a chance to look around Akihabara in much detail this trip yet, in fact hadn’t been around the shops here in quite a while since I’m neither into anime or manga.

Most of Akiba had been further taken over by AKB48 since before though, if that we even possible. There wasn’t any queue for the shop section of the AKB48 Cafe here (the cafe always has a queue and you have to make reservations), so we took a brief moment to look inside. Pretty much the exact same stuff as in Harajuku.

AKB48 had taken over.

Apart from all of the AKB48 related advertisements and promotions sprawled across all the shops, many had now taken to selling AKB48 related stuff too. Even the stores better known for their anime sculptures now have sections dedicated to selling second hand merchandise for the idol group. New capsule boxes have popped up here too, again with many being taken up by fans selling their photos at exorbitant prices.

It was the adults goods store Lammtara that sold the idol merchandise at the most affordable prices. The humor was not lost on me. They had a more varied range of photographs for just about every 48 group available here at standard prices. There were a couple of folders worth of SUPERGiRLS stuff too. Was lucky enough to find the Mirei set I was looking for here.

Paid the shop a visit.

Also picked up the iDOL Street Official Book from Animate so as to put some names to the training members. Pictured with the tees that we got from the concert earlier. All of SUPERGiRLS tees come with an outline of their trademark insignia in front. If you’re feeling generous, you could always socket the respective favorite member’s colored emblem (sold separately) for added bonuses.

Today's loot.

Today we look at another, newer SKE48 book, SKE48 Bukatsu Damashii (Club Spirit) by Fusosha Publishing. Released in September, the book features many candidly taken photographs, set to the book’s extracurricular activity theme.

SKE48 Bukatsu Damashii.

SKE48 Bukatsu Damashii differs from most other mooks in that text is kept to a minimum. This may be a good or bad thing depending on the individual.

Lots of photos within.

Candid photographs of the group.

There are still interviews with individual members scattered across the different themes but most of the pages are filled with random shots from each set. Thankfully, the nature of the photographs do make them more interesting than most.

Photos are split into different club activity themes.

Some interesting sections.

With that in mind, there is little to be said for this book. It is a simple package that will appeal to those looking to see a more spontaneous side of their idols. If I were to compare it to a previous release, it would be to the twin AKB48 Yusatsu books, though the photographs here are better taken.

Fashion check.

Note though that not all members are featured in the book equally, if at all. Fans of less prominent members will be disappointed. On the other hand, the Top SKE48 members are given star treatment within. Quite a few pages are dedicated to the six most popular members in what looks like one of their best studio shoots for a mook.

Akarin.

Churi.

The SKE48 Bukatsu Damashii is a fairly thick book, coming in at 165 pages. The fact that it costs only 1,200 yen does make it more tempting too. If that wasn’t enough, the book comes with two additional bonus L-sized photographs to sweeten the deal. As you would have expected, photographs are chosen at random from a variety of (barely) different poses from a small pool of selected members.

Bonus photos.

Overall, SKE48 Bukatsu Damashii provides some additional content for die hard fans at great value but will likely only appeal to a selected number of this already niche group.

Not exactly a new book, but the SKE48 Complete Book 2010-2011 is a nice compendium of SKE48 knowledge. The book was released last December and remains in print, though judging from the title it will most likely be phased out soon. Completionists will want to grab a copy before that happens. But even if not, it still contains enough sweet treats within to warrant attention.

This is actually the first refresh of the SKE48 Complete Book, with the first one being the 2008-2009 edition. It serves a purpose similar to the AKB48 Visual Book series but receives my thumbs up over its previous version as well as the AKB48 variation for a number of reasons which will be mentioned.

The front sleeve.

Back.

The SKE48 Complete Book 2010-2011 comes in a standard mook sized package but is slightly thicker than average. Peeling away the obi and sleeves will reveal the cover which features all the SKE48 members in cute super deformed form.

Cute actual cover.

The usual stickers.

Senbatsu photoshoot for the book.

Unlike newer editions of the AKB48 Visual Book, profiles of all 3 SKE48 teams and research students are present in one convenient book. The SKE48 Complete Book is price at 1,980 yen, which is cheaper than getting a complete set of A, K and B (1,500 yen each) as well as the previous 2009 version of this book (3,000 yen).

Most members get a two page profile.

Interesting question and answer with each member.

All of the member profiles come with studio photos taken for this occasion, an introduction to the member and a short Q&A segment. The Q&A segment features such interesting questions like “What is your favorite type (of guy)” and “What is a secret about another member that only I know”. Another plus point is that the girls’ own handwritten answers are printed here, adding to the personable feeling.

There was a contest to win these polaroids.

Mini-question sections in between.

Team E.

And the kenkyuusei get only one page each.

Another highlight of the book is the generous number of pages dedicated to the history of SKE48. This time though, key events are presented through never before seen candid photos. There are also features on the different SKE48 stages, their participation in the AKB48 elections and the SKE48 Request Hour Set List Best 2010. This is the equivalent of multiple AKB48 mooks worth of coverage.

SKE48 Chronicle.

Timeline of SKE48 events.

The same history in photo form.

Exclusive candid photographs from member birthday celebrations.

More candids from the making of this book.

As an added bonus, each copy of the SKE48 Complete Book comes with 1 of 4 possible double-sided posters. This one contained the version with a large spread of Takayanagi Akane from Macau. For once, the poster isn’t sealed or attached to the book itself so you don’t have to risk damaging your copy. Something that frustrates me greatly with most AKB48 mooks.

One of four random double-sided posters.

Size comparison.

If you’re living in Singapore. There should be a number of copies still available at the local Kinokuniya though somewhat pricier. Otherwise, you will also be able to find it at CDJapan through the generated link below.

Released this past November, THE SPEC KIT Watarirouka Urikomitai (THE SPEC KIT 渡り廊下売り込み隊) follows the growth of one of AKB48′s most popular sub-groups, Watarirouka Hashiritai. The B5-sized book chronicles the group from the start. A picture timeline and essays from those involved with the group traces the milestones in Watarirouka history.

At first glance, one can already tell that the book is a little different from others. The obi, usually a narrow sash of paper with promotional type, is a lot wider in Spec Kit and instead of duplicating the cover (as they normally do), provides graphics to an otherwise bare front. The faux-leather texture and gold lettering are reminiscent of bounded journals that one would find in a university library, a rather poignant cover given the theme of the book.

The plain cover of Spec Kit without its obi.

The book starts off with the expected group photos of the girls, as well as a tongue-in-cheek set of instructions on how to get into an exclusive event.

Appealing to Shoujo-ai fans.

Content page adorned with anime illustrations.

As can be seen by the content page, each member has a set of pages dedicated to her. Of course, the prerequisite gravure shots are present, but the girls also get a few pages in their sections for their own works. Hirajima Natsumi becomes Hirajima-sensei, dishing out mock relationship advice (yes, the irony is not lost) to readers that write in. Iwasa Misaki speaks of coping with her unique voice, it begins with a quote about her disappointment at having a non-cute voice and entering Watariouka Hashiritai.

Bikini photos are par for the course.

Tackling two fetishes at once.

Watanabe Mayu draws an anime version of Watarirouka Hashiritai 7.

Wasamin's short essay.

After the individual pages, the book shifts focus onto the group itself. A pictorial timeline greets the reader with rich photographs and text showing Warota’s growth from a 4-member unit to the relatively large 7 that they currently have.

A timeline with photos of the group.

Some fans would definitely be interested in the sections that follow; an essay on the happenings in Watarirouka since its formation in 2008, and a section where various people who have worked with Warota (like Yamasato Ryouta) write on their opinions of the group.

The gossip rag look is not coincidental.

Akihiro Kiuchi & Toshiro Kunikawa give their take on Watarirouka.

To close off, the book ends with a few more group shots, and a retro-styled series of photos, which in the opinion of this writer looks the best of all the photos in the book.

Hirajima Natsumi

A parting shot and some messages from the members at the end of the book.

Released by Wani Books, the book has a slightly steep price point of 1500yen. However, fans who are interested in Warota should see no waste in this expense. The uniqueness of the book’s cover alone should give it a decent place in any collection. Unlike the first photobook release, this does not have as many photos, but the inclusion of personal write-ups are a nice addition to the photographic contents of the book.

Today marks the 6th anniversary of AKB48′s theater debut at Akihabara and will be celebrated in the evening with a grand performance no doubt, a performance that we tried applying to but sadly failed to get tickets for. Instead, we’ll be cheering them on from the sidelines.

At 12.30 PM this afternoon though, many waited in anticipation as the AKB48 YouTube channel revealed a special announcement. AKB48 will be teaming up with search giant Google, to make use of their new social network Google+ in their future efforts to reach out to global fans.

The announcement comes as quite a surprise that will likely shake up social media news in no time. Having met with lukewarm reception in the rest of the world, Google+ hopes to tackle the Japanese social media instead. A market that proved impossible by other foreign attempts in the past.

But will Google succeed where others have failed? Well they certainly hope so, having roped in Japan’s most popular idol sensation. One cannot doubt the influence AKB48 has demonstrated in recent times. However, Google has collaborated with many other global celebrities in the past to varying results.

Today, AKB48 producer promised that all local 48 groups, AKB48, SKE48, NMB48, HKT48 as well as overseas and future efforts will make use of Google+ as their medium of choice. The campaign, titled “AKB48 Now on Google+” is already effective immediately to some extent. You can find the AKB48 member profiles here.

Fans will be able to befriend members on Google+ and in turn AKB48 members will be able to use Google+ to reach out to fans through the network’s “Hangout” feature, that functions as sort of a live chat. AKB48 performances will also be streamed live to Google+. Unfortunately, one caveat is that AKB48 members below 18 years old would have to be omitted from participating in the service.

Supermerlion wouldn’t be nearly as successful without having benefited from many of Google’s APIs and SEO advantages that we have been granted. But despite being a firm supporter of Google’s technologies, observations has been that the social network has still has a ways to go to catch up to Facebook’s 7 year lead or the familiarity of Japanese SNS like Mobage and Mixi. Ultimately, it will be time and conversions that will determine whether Google+ wins out on the competition, and not just the inclusion of a bunch of Japanese idols.

Regardless, can we expect a sudden surge of AKB48 fans signing up for Google+ right now? I signed up for Google+ a while ago but can’t really find a use for it yet though. Facebook will remain our method for divulging information for now.

Some months ago, the formation of a new idol group Nogizaka46 (乃木坂46) was announced. The latest project by producer Akimoto Yasushi, Nogizaka46 is billed as the official rivals to the popular pop act, AKB48. Thus far, the starting lineup of members have been established and only last week, the group have begun appearing in their own television program titled “Nogizakatte, Doko?” (Where is Nogizaka). But is there more to this group than meets the eye?

Nogizaka46.

Up until now, Nogizaka bears a number of similarities to AKB48. Like Akimoto’s previous ventures, it’s a large group of young faces decked out in school girl uniforms. But little information have been released about what exactly the group will do.

The group's fronts?

It wouldn’t be prudent to presume that Nogizaka46 will eventually follow their other idol counterparts as music artists. This would seem only natural with Nogizaka46 being already signed up to the Sony Music Entertainment label. However, the group has yet to show any interest in such a foray.

A guide to getting to know the faces of this new group.

It has been announced that Nogizaka46 will have their own theater equivalent at the Sony Music Entertainment Nogizaka Building. Though not as globally known as Tokyo’s otaku heaven, locals will immediately recognize Nogizaka for another niche culture. As part of the outer Roppongi district, the area which the group takes is name after is best known for being home to many of the city’s Kyabakura (Cabaret/Hostess Clubs).

Spot the promising stars.

Perhaps it is purely coincidental. But AKB48′s recent experiments with F&B in Singapore and Japan, coupled with the timely number of Kyabakura themed videos by SDN48 and NMB48 do look slightly suspicious.

It has been personally stated by producer Akimoto Yasushi that Nogizaka46′s concept will differ from that of AKB48s. Of particular interest is the declaration that “Nogizaka46 will be doing things even AKB48 cannot do”. A hint of things to come?

Different vibes.

The management is promoting an increased focus in knowing individual members.

Perhaps we’re over thinking things but even if the concept is not embraced directly, elements of the kyabakura culture do seem to have infiltrated the group.

For starters, the competition within Nogizaka46 will be much fiercer. While AKB48 holds a yearly senbatsu election, members selected for all Nogizaka46 activities will be determined by fan votes at every instance.

Do the cliched seifuku hide a deeper concept?

There’s also an increased importance being placed on having fans support a singular member of the new group (much in the same way patrons designate a regular hostess).

Even before anything else, Nogizaka46 made their first public appearance last month in Tokyo for a “member selection event” where visitors were urged to select a member of choice. They would then earn a “fan no akashi” (proof of fandom) for that individual member.

I would presume these act as sort of a loyalty/rewards program for fans to continue supporting their chosen member. Once again, the similarities are frightening.

Big ambitions.

What do you think the future holds for this ambitious group?

Ultimately, as much as Nogizaka46 looks to be inspired by the place it takes is name after, it also looks to be a refinement of the concept that was already introduced by AKB48, Akihabara clubs and the maid cafes before them.

But with iteration comes progress. If idols happen to be your thing and history any indication, the best time to start your Nogizaka46 fandom would be now.

Scans by Afro Stud.

If you have been following the AKB48 trend even just for a while, you might had noticed that it’s about that time of the year where they release their yearly dark and serious single. This year’s culprit is Kaze wa Fuiteiru (風は吹いている/The wind is blowing), which is once again filled with enough mainstream appeal to ensure their continual chart topping domination of the Japanese airwaves.

While previous “dark” singles like RIVER and Beginner have tried to play with various hip-hop references, Kaze wa Fuiteru is most certainly pop, with beats, as well as a dance clearly inspired by the king of pop himself. It gets more apparent in the later half, when the girls break out into typical Michael Jackson moves during the instrumental solo.

As someone pointed out, Kaze wa Fuiteru wouldn’t be out of place as an Arashi song. Even its gritty cinematics fit the ball. To be perfectly honest, I find myself immediately liking Kaze wa Fuiteru more than any of the other singles usually released this time of the year.

Type A Cover.

It may seem that in recent time that AKB48, the group so well known for their various game breaking surprises have been riding pretty cautiously. With the wind of what should had been Team 4′s most glorious year bogged down by scandals and no other new major announcements in concerts as we’ve been used to.

But perhaps we are forgetting that it has only been months since the tsunami and resultant earthquake shook Japan. But while the country as a hold puts on a strong face to work towards the future, it will take a while for many to recover from its effects.

Type B Cover.

In the past months, AKB48 have been most respectful. The company, girls and fans have contributed tremendously to the relief efforts, raising more than entire countries in some cases. Instead of just financially, the group has also been beacons of hope, lifting spirits through their music.

Kaze wa Fuiteiru comes just after the end of their Dareka no tame ni project. Unlike the ballad, its video is filled with enough grit to distract viewers. But pay a little more attention and we see hints of a related theme with Kaze wa Fuiteiru’s lyrics mirroring the feelings of devastation. Appropriately, a portion of Kaze wa Fuiteiru’s proceeds will also go toward the victims of the tsunami. With the song being symbolic of those who have suffered from the disaster.

Theater Version Cover.

But we also see a small glimmer of hope and the message that there is a need to rebuild. Even the AKB48 member’s avant garde outfits worn during the song’s promo video are made to resemble those of seedlings in an otherwise barren landscape.

Perhaps an angsty song like this would resound better with the Japanese teen population than the slow melodies of Dareka no tame ni. And ultimately, provide them some hope. Or at least (as it is the purpose of all music) a distraction from the troubles of their daily lives.

Kaze wa Fuiteiru will be released on October 26 2011. Pre-orders are available at various online retailers now.

Tomorrow will mark the grand opening of the brand new AKB48 themed cafe and shop in Akihabara, and grand it is indeed. The new cafe occupies a large area underneath Akihabara Station and is located just beside the existing Akihabara Gundam Cafe and Bar.

These days, images of the popular Japanese idol group are plastered all over Tokyo. Their foothold in the city’s otaku haven is so strong that shops have sprung out seemingly just to accommodate AKB48 merchandise. Through the dominance of the radio waves, AKB48 have captured the hearts of Japan’s youth. But now, they are eying your stomach too.

As explained before, this is hardly a new concept. But thought the company has experimented with the cafe concept in the giant sandbox that is Singapore, this first time that AKB48 will be reviving the idea in Japan after the previous cafe closed its doors in 2009.

The new AKB48 Cafe and Shop Akihabara occupies 4 shop spaces underneath the North exit of the JR Akihabara Station. The Gundam Cafe beside occupies only 3. As seen from the cafe’s official site, the four spaces will be used to host a 4-in-1 concept, where each area will provide a different function.

Fans will be able to enjoy a buffet meal while watching videos on the large 136 inch screen at the cafe’s Theater Area. Videos of the latest AKB48 Theater performances (LODs) from the past week will be shown here. Tickets for the Theater Area buffet costs 2,700 yen (approximately SGD$45).

The Cafe Area will function more like a regular cafe. For 2,000 yen (SGD$34), visitors will be able to choose a main meal with free flow of drinks and sides. In a move more similar to Akihabara’s maid cafes, tickets for the Cafe Area also include a commemorative photograph.

The third section is a 16 person Private Area. This is a private function room that can be booked in 2 hour blocks for 10,000 yen (SGD$170). It will provide visitors a place to hold parties and celebrations. But like the Singapore AKB48 Cafe, it will also probably serve as a place for the management to hold events too.

Finally, as the title suggest the new cafe will also feature a Shop Area where AKB48 related goods will be put up for sale. The shop promises to sell original cafe themed goods that are not available anywhere else.

In Japan, AKB48 have expanded far larger than what their tiny theater in Donki can accommodate. To handle the problem, entry to the Theater has been much more restricted in recent years. If executed well, the emergence of their new cafe will hopefully provide like-minded fans a nice place to hang out and mingle, at least until the theater finds its rumored new home.

Reservations for the different areas are available online but the cafe area has already been completely booked out for the next 3 weeks! If you happen to be visiting Japan soon or have plans to, do drop by to take a look. But be sure to place your reservations early.

I must apologize for the sporadic updates this month. Been busy lately and it would seem, greatly understaffed at this point. But in the meantime, Yan has provided us some high quality scans of photos from the recent B.L.T. U-17 series featuring members from AKB48′s newest Team 4. Enjoy, hopefully this will tide you over until our next post.

Ichikawa Miori.

Ichikawa Miori.

Shimazaki Haruka.

Shimazaki Haruka.

Ichikawa Miori and Shimazaki Haruka.

Nagao Mariya.

Nagao Mariya.

Takeuchi Miyu.

Takeuchi Miyu.

Nagao Mariya and Takeuchi Miyu.

Nakamura Mariko.

Nakamura Mariko.

Yamauchi Suzuran.

Yamauchi Suzuran.

Nakamura Mariko and Yamauchi Suzuran.

Last year’s Janken Tournament was one of the most interesting events in recent AKB48 history. It wasn’t a surprise (though most had expected them to mix up the game) that they’d repeat the success of last year’s event, this time with the the 2011 Janken Takai. Kobusha have released an accompanying guide book again this year with detailed statistics of all the participating members.

Copies of the Janken Taikai Official Guide Book were provided last year to some attendees at Budokan. It flows like a play book of the matches but also has enough details to make for an interesting read. Others will enjoy the large full color profiles of the members.

Last year’s mook featured some of the best photographs of the girls among all other books. This year’s edition maintains the standard, though some of the team costumes leave much to be desired.

This year's Janken Taikai guidebook.

Flying Get costumes.

As usual, each mook comes with a collection of stickers and a poster related to the event. If it’s inside, then there has got to be a market for such things somewhere.

Stickers.

Matchup chart.

Photoshoot at the front. One of the anticipated matches.

Coverage of the preliminary rounds.

Inside, you’ll find information about this year’s Janken Tournament as well as the events leading up to it. Coverage of the preliminary rounds to determine the participants from SKE48, NMB48 and the Research Students are also included.

Breakdown of the individual matches.

Lots of friends pitted against each other this time.

Team 4, as well as select SKE48, NMB48 and kenkyuusei members are included.

But the individual member profiles make up the brunt of the book’s content, sorted by their respective first round matches. Once again, predictions and statistics of the members are provided. But the write up and photographs make up the main attraction.

Ninja stats.

Autographed Polaroids that can be won.

Other contents include interviews with producer Akimoto Yasushi, words from last year’s winner Uchida Mayumi and predictions by notable charisma fortune tellers. There’s also a short making off section with candid photographs taken during the production of the book.

Last year's champion.

Predictions by celebrity fortune tellers.

Behind the scenes.

This preview was initially intended to be uploaded earlier. The Jaken Taikai is now over and pretty much everyone ought to know that Shinoda Mariko won this year. But the Janken Taikai Official Guide Book 2011 still makes for a nice photo book and collectible to commemorate this event in AKB48 history.

You can probably expect the equivalent of last year’s AKB48 Janken Senbatsu Report Book soon. Which will be a companion and report of the actual tournament that took place on the 20th of September this year.

If you haven’t already gotten your copy, you can find it available online for 1000 yen or at your local Kinokuniya outlet. The AKB48 Singapore Shop should be selling copies too, together with a free bonus photograph for SGD$22.90. The bonus photograph is not available from the Kinokuniya bookstore.

We have two tickets for the upcoming AKB48 Flying Get National Handshake to give to anyone who can put them to good use. If you happen to be in town for the event, or are planning to go for the event. Drop us an email and we’ll send you the tickets for free!

Unfortunately, due to some last minute circumstances, one of our readers, Gerald is unable to make it for the Flying Get National Handshake event. He was nice enough to pass us the two tickets but we are unable to put them to use either.

As such, I have promised to help find someone who will be able to. If you happen to fit the bill, drop us an email soon through this contact page.

Do hurry though as the event takes place on the 19th of September at Fukuoka Marine Messe. Individual tickets retail for upwards of 2000 yen ($32) on the secondary market but we will ship them to anyone, anywhere in the world for free, provided you use them of course.

More event details for the Flying Get National Handshake can be found here.

If more than one reader emails us in this short period, we will either split up the tickets or send them out randomly. The extra tickets will definitely come in handy for anyone who wishes to spend some extra time with the most popular AKB48 members.

Members from AKB48 were back in town last weekend for their 4th Stage performance in Singapore on Saturday. The following day, three of the local fan favorites stayed around to to make another appearance at the AKB48 Cafe Singapore. New changes were made to the event to keep things exciting and fresh.

Did everyone get to enjoy themselves during the concert? We got the chance to make some new acquaintances and even met up with an old friend from Japan who had specially come down over the weekend to join in the events.

The three members paying the cafe a visit this time were Abe Maria, Maeda Ami and Yamauchi Suzuran. Abe and Maeda were the first AKB48 members to hold a cafe event, while Yamauchi Suzuran was one of the members at the AKB48 Cafe Special Visit just two weeks ago.

Once again, tickets were sold at $35 each and including a meal during the event. There were two sessions this afternoon, the first at 12.30 and a second at 3 PM which we participated in. First, an apology for the poorer pictures this time round.

Side.

Main.

Fans didn’t let the lazy weather and exhaustion from the previous day’s concerts stop them from turning up for this cafe event. Energy levels of definitely lower as apparent from the quieter visitors but that didn’t mean they didn’t enjoy themselves. Some new changes to the event format helped keep things interesting.

Kanojo ni naremasu ka?

Beginner.

The AKB48 members made their appearance at the start of the event as the local cafe staff took to the stage to perform a couple of songs this afternoon for the benefit of the AKB48 guests and cafe patrons. They danced to Beginner and a new song, Kanojo ni naremasu ka? from Team K’s 6th Stage set list. The staff have been practicing after hours and have been improving consistently since they first started.

After the dances, the AKB48 members were asked for their impressions.

Abe stated that you wouldn’t usually pay notice to the staff serving your food but after the effort they put in she hoped the cafe patrons would notice them more and appreciate the performances.

Maeda asked how long the girls took to learn the dances and when she found out that they took two weeks, offered her praise for being able to learn the songs in such a short time.

Yamauchi mentioned that both Abe and herself were particularly impressed by Riyo, who performed Beginner.

No Q&A this time round.

The previous question and answer session was replaced by a drawing quiz between the AKB48 members. Kai, the AKB48 Singapore Shop manager and MC, asked the girls various questions about Singapore, which they had to answer through their illustrations. Mr Miyano Haru, the Dentsu manager for AKB48 Singapore decided upon the winning answers.

Drawing contest between the three members.

For the first question, the girls were asked to draw food that they had in Singapore. Maeda Ami drew pasta from the cafe. Yamauchi Suzuran drew a paper chicken and a cup of tapioca (which is Japanese English for Bubble Tea) while Abe Maria drew a bunch of bananas. Yamauchi attracted the loudest cheers from fans and won the round.

They were asked to draw their ideal man next. Maeda noted that she wanted someone who was at least 175cm tall. The bluntly humorous Abe drew a man surrounded by money with an added note that being tall would be nice. Yamauchi drew a cartoonish 2 and a half meter tall figure spotting a pompadour. The round went to Yamauchi again.

Amusing pictures and answers.

For the third and final question, the AKB48 members had to draw their view from the stage ideally of Singapore’s theater. In typical Japanese variety humor, this ended up being only the round that mattered as the winner was to be awarded 10 points.

Abe showed off her usual tsukkomi character by drawing a bunch of potatoes, which she likened the fans to. Maeda drew a sea of smiling faces while Yamauchi drew a mishmash of caricatures, even pointing out a couple of fans from the previous day’s concert.

No clear consensus could be reached for the winner so Mr Miyano invited three fans, one of each of the individual girls to compete in rock-paper-scissors to determine the winner. Yamauchi’s fan was eliminated in the first round and an epic battle between the two remaining fans ensured.

When Maeda’s fan was asked what he’d do should he lose, he apologized in advanced to his idol. To up the stakes, Miyano subsequently convinced the two fans that the loser ought to shave his head, the crowd laughed.

Two fans face off.

After two tense draws, Maeda’s fan representative, Guo Dong won, making her the resultant winner. As a present, she received a plush featuring the Singapore Merlion mascot. The two other members did not walk away empty handed though as they each received a souvenir picture frame too.

The girls win prizes of their own.

Visitors to the cafe were given the chance to win some prizes of their own too. Instead of the previous mass janken competition, visitors who had purchased the tickets for the event were handed sheets of paper on which they were supposed to test their artistic talents by drawing their favorite AKB48 members.

The three visiting AKB48 members would each pick their favorite submission and the artist would win a prize. A total of 6 copies (three per session) of AKB48′s latest release, Flying Get was autographed and given away by the visiting AKB48 members.

Choose the winning submissions.

This editor was lucky enough to have Yamauchi Suzuran pick the submission featuring Ichikawa Miori and such walked away with one of the copies of the said CD. Alas, I was too preoccupied to take a picture of the piece beforehand and would be too embarrassed to upload it here anyway.

Flying Get CD.

Like before, the event ended with a handshake session between the three AKB48 members and visitors. Fans no doubt left with smiling faces.

Handshake session.

It’s nice to see many new faces popping up, as AKB48 slowly works toward establishing their fan base in Singapore. It’s also interesting to see fans of all types coming to such events. But as soon as the theater lights turn off, all are united unanimously in their efforts to support their idols.

Well, fans will have many more chances lined up to show their support. Look forward to more of such cafe events in the (near) future. And surprises, in typical AKB48 fashion.

Photos by Maliciel.

The Anime Festival Asia will return to Singapore again later this year, bringing with them familiar names in Japanese entertainment and otaku sub-culture. Yesterday, the organizers introduced the event which will take place from 11th to 13th of November and unveiled their first lineup of guests for the Anime Festival Asia 2011 (AFA 11).

Notable announcements included the organizers’ intent to bring similar festivals to other countries in the region. A move that will no doubt be lauded by the South East Asian fans who have been very vocal in their requests for such an event.

Confirmed too was the appearance of Tokyo Girls Collection, Japan’s most publicized fashion festival at the Singapore Indoor Stadium next month on the 17th of September 2011.

Returning again is celebrity blogger Danny Choo, as well as ani-song artists May’n and Ichirou Mizuki who will be performing during this year’s I Love Ani-song concerts. They are joined by alt-rock band FLOW and LiSA of Angel Beats fame.

Details have been scarce, but more artists will be announced at a later date. Fans of Japanese otaku culture will want to keep the dates marked on their calenders.

Anime Festival Asia is organized by Dentsu and SOZO Pte Ltd, the same people running the AKB48 presence in Singapore so you can definitely expect a showing at this year’s event too. So far the only confirmation we’ve got is that they’d be running an “experience zone” where fans will be able to purchase exclusive merchandize. But if last year was any indication, we won’t rule out a bigger surprise as the date draws near.

Check out our past years’ coverage of Anime Festival Asia for a taste of what to expect.

While Singapore will have to wait until the 27th of August for the next concert, AKB48 continue to keep fan spirits high with yet another special cafe visit last Sunday. Three members of the popular pop idol group, Kuramochi Asuka, Sato Sumire and Yamauchi Suzuran met and entertained fans, some of whom had flown in to especially for this event at the AKB48 Singapore Cafe.

AKB48 are of course, currently Japan’s most popular music artists, having finally found superstar status since their debut almost 6 years ago. Their success, a result of high production values and the unique effort to break out of traditional celebrity preconceptions, by holding frequent events where the idols can interact casually with fans and vice versa.

The group has been routinely holding theater styled performances in Singapore since May this year. And this is the second time members from AKB48 have visited the AKB48 Singapore Cafe as part of their “AKB48 Summer Holiday Special Visit” campaign.

Singapore's AKB48 themed cafe.

The three visiting members Kuramochi Asuka (Team A), Sato Sumire (Team B) and Yamauchi Suzuran (Team 4) held a total of 4 sessions throughout the day. Tickets for each session were sold in advance at $35 and included a meal.

Refreshments were served promptly and fans dug into their meals quickly, no doubt to focus on the happenings on the mini-stage. Appropriately, a video showing AKB48 members sampling the cafe food during their previous visit was aired simultaneously.

Katsu curry was served for the 1st and 4th sessions.

Fried chicken.

While parfait and a light snack were served during the tea time sessions.

Fans turned up from Singapore as well as Japan, Malaysia, China and Indonesia. It’s nice to note that despite the misconception where such an event would be filled by male otaku, that it wasn’t the case (that would be left for the “Summer Festival” held by Haru House upstairs).

Instead, AKB48 attracted visitors from all walks of life, including many expats, young children accompanied by their parents and a significant number of female fans.

I had the opportunity to talk to one young woman, who was visiting an AKB48 event for her first time and learned that her fascination with the group stemmed from seeing the members in Japanese television dramas (which they now frequent) such as Majisuka Gakuen.

The cafe staff introduce themselves.

The afternoon event opened up with introductions from each of our own AKB48 Cafe staff members on the mini-stage. But it wasn’t long before the guests-of-honor would make their grand entrance.

Fans cheered excitedly as the three AKB48 members made their way to the stage, where they too would introduce themselves in turn.

AKB48 members take to the stage.

From left to right: Kuramochi Asuka, Sato Sumire and Yamauchi Suzuran.

No AKB48 event would be complete without live performances. But it was our local talents that wowed the audience with their moves on stage today. The AKB48 members were invited to sit aside while the cafe staff took to the stage to perform their own renditions of popular AKB48 songs.

Live performances by the cafe staff.

Sakura no Ki ni Narou.

GAGAGA.

The girls watch on excitedly.

Two songs were rotated each session, from a total of four new songs: Beginner, Blue Rose, Sakura no Ki ni Narou and SDN48′s GAGAGA. Fans and AKB48 members joined in cheering the cafe staff on as they danced energetically on stage.

AKB48 members give their review.

After each performance, the AKB48 girls were asked to voice out their impressions. Kuramochi commented on how accurately the cafe girls were able to pull off the songs without any guidance. Sato complimented the staffs’ performances too, while noting the difficulty of the dances and adding that she found them cute.

The hyperactive Yamauchi expressed her excitement in being able to occasionally sneak peeks at the performers’ short pants as they danced, also complementing the girls on their legs and exclaiming that they were cool.

They enjoyed the performance too.

The AKB48 Cafe Special Visit followed an almost identical format to the last, with a Q&A session with the three guests. Lucky visitors were given the chance to learn more about the AKB48 members by having their questions answered personally.

Compared to past visits, today’s AKB48 guests were refreshingly open, answering all sorts of demanding or embarrassing questions in good fun.

Question and answer session.

Once again our MC for the day was Kai, the AKB48 Singapore Shop manager. He’s loosened up considerably too since the previous sessions, which allowed for some amusing conversations with the members. Needless to say, the AKB48 members entertained the crowd with their upbeat personalities.

Lots of interesting requests.

One interesting request was for Kuramochi Asuka to assess the other attending members’ ears, since the former is well known for her ear fetish, something that has been publicized on television before. When questioned on who had the best ears in AKB48, Kuramochi nominated fellow French Kiss team mate, Takajo Aki. Even going into great detail in elaborating its texture and shape.

Just one of the many young Sato Sumire fans this afternoon.

Sato Sumire attracted a surprisingly number of young guests today, who no doubt looked up to her as a role model. One young guest, upon having her lot picked out of the box, voiced her support and requested if Sato could perform her catchphrase which she liked. Sato complied shyly.

Another young Sato Sumire fan, a diminutive 4 year old girl, panicked and broke into tears when chosen, resulting in an adoring exclamation from the crowd.

Complying.

At the suggestion of a fan, Yamauchi Suzuran demonstrated her golf swing. The young AKB48 member is well known for her interest in golf, having picked it up when she was 8. She had joined a pro-am tournament earlier this year too.

Suzuran showing off her golf swing, at the bequest of fans.

Next up was another mass rock-paper-scissors contest held between the AKB48 members and cafe patrons where visitors had the chance to win exciting prizes.

Mass janken contest.

Fans competing directly with the members.

The AKB48 members took turns playing with the crowd and all but the winning throws were eliminated until only one lucky person remained each round.

Winners received original posters of the event, signed personally by the member that they bested. 3 posters were given out each session for a total of 12.

Autographed personally.

Winners walked away with original AKB48 Singapore autographed posters .

A total of 12 lucky winners were rewarded over the day.

The event was wrapped up with a meet-and-greet session with the three visiting AKB48 members. AKB48 had popularized such events in Japan where fans could meet their idols up close. While increasingly common, visitors cherished the opportunity to interact personally with the AKB48 members.

The highlight of the visit for many.

A handshake session with the AKB48 members.

Fans could interact directly with their idols.

Fans of all sorts.

Events like this leave an inexplicable atmosphere, where it is difficult for even non-fans witnessing not to smile. Thrilled fans left with wide grins from being able to meet their idols, while the idols appreciated the encouragement from fans. It is with these positive feelings, that the AKB48 members continue to shine in the performances that the fans so love.

Fortunately AKB48 buffs will not need to wait long to meet them again, with members coming down again next Saturday for their 4th stage performance. Visitors to the cafe event were also the first to learn of the 16 members coming for the subsequent concert at the end of the month. The list being as follows.

Team A
Ota Aika
Katayama Haruka
Nakata Chisato
Maeda Ami
Matsubara Natsumi
Nakaya Sayaka

Team K
Umeda Ayaka
Fujie Reina
Matsui Sakiko
Yonezawa Rumi

Team B
Ishida Haruka
Sato Sumire
Sato Natsuki
Hirajima Natsumi

Team 4
Abe Maria
Yamauchi Suzuran

Kind of late, but here’s a peek inside the contents of Zetsumetsu Kurokami Shoujo (Extinct Black-haired Girl) which was released last month on the 20th of July, as the debut single by the 48 family’s latest group.

Just half a year after their formation, NMB48′s single falls under laugh out lough records, a subsidiary of Yoshimoto R and C (which also manages the wacky Ayaman Japan). All of the group’s first Team N joins in the single’s title track Zetsumetsu Kurokami Shoujo, which appears to blend traditional pop with some thumping beats.

In a nod to sister group SKE48′s recent releases, the participating members are split up into two groups, Shirogumi and Akagumi (White and Red) to fill up the single’s B-sides.

As expected, the single comes in multiple versions to cash in on obsessive collectors. The Type A and Type B versions (1600 yen) come with either group’s coupling songs as well as a bonus DVD featuring the promo videos for the single and respective B-side. A 1000 yen theater version is also available which sacrifices the bonus DVD for both couplings.

CD+DVD Type A.

CD+DVD Type B.

Regardless of which version you choose, both the coupling songs are pretty standard pop affair and will ultimately come down to a preference of featured artists. First press copies of the single come with a ticket for a handshake event, as well as one random bonus photo card (16 types per version), like in SKE48/AKB48 DefStar era CDs.

Below is a look at the contents of the two CD+DVD versions.

The two different CD+DVD versions.

CDJapan pre-order bonus.

Type A Front.

Back. Shirogumi. The same girls featured at the front.

Inside.

The pattern differs slighly for both versions.

Bonus trading card.

Type B Front.

Akagumi.

They cropped it off at Watanabe Miruki instead.

Different colored CD and insert.

Random trading card. Two types for each member.

Hetappi Wink (へたっぴウィンク) is Watarirouka Hashiritai’s 8th major single and their second this year as Watarirouka Hashiritai 7. It’s yet another infectiously catchy pop single with playful lyrics that Watarirouka fans love. But does it live up to the success of Valentine Kiss?

Once again, Watarirouka Hashiritai 7′s new single comes in a number of versions each with different covers and bonus tracks. All four version feature the titular song Hetappi Wink as well as Mama Grazie! (マンマ、グラッチェ！, a previous digital release that was used in the 7-Eleven Mother’s Day commercials).

The remaining bonus tracks for the four versions are Bikini wa Niawanai (ビキニは似合わない), Chikatetsu no Teddy boy (地下鉄のTeddy boy), Fuku wo Kita Ousama (服を着た王様) and Mirai no Koibito (未来の恋人) respectively. All four are rather forgettable as far as B-sides go, so don’t be too troubled about which version to choose.

Type A version.

Type B version.

Type C version.

Regular CD only version.

The concept of the new single’s video is that of the expanded Watarirouka Hashiritai members in the filming of a mock commercial for their (also imaginary) mascara brand. It turns out that front girl Watanabe Mayu is unable to wink properly and the rest of the video shows snippets of her trying to learn how to wink, before eventually still failing.

As one of our readers had pointed out, the video ends with “boss” figure giving in to Watanabe’s shortcomings, a testament to how much others would be willing to bend over for her (at least in this imaginary video world).

But this being Watarirouka, the concept takes a sideline to the group’s catchy new costumes and dance. This is yet another addictive sugar sweet pop tune, with that little hint of cheekiness that Watarirouka Hashiritai fans have come to love.

It may not have the lasting appeal of a cover on a classic song like Valentine Kiss but it certainly doesn’t disappoint either. While the style of AKB48 songs and videos have been wavering as of late, Hetappi Wink sticks true to Watarirouka Hashiritai’s established formula (much to the delight of their niche fans).

Maybe I’m being biased to the sinful club beats hidden in the start of the song’s verses but I might even consider Hetappi Wink to be the second best song to come out of the AKB48 family this year.

Quite a few people have been asking for a list of AKB48 Member Blogs and the previous introduction articles do have split up links to all of them. But to save myself the trouble of replying to e-mails, here’s a compiled list of all the blogs in the 48 idol family.

Outdated blogs have been left out from the list. Do drop a comment, if you know any other missing sources that ought to be in this list.

AKB48

Team A
Iwasa Misaki (Blog)
Oota Aika (Watarirouka Blog)
Ooya Shizuka (Blog)
Katayama Haruka (Blog)
Kuramochi Asuka (Blog)
Kojima Haruna (Blog) (Twitter)
Sashihara Rino (Blog)
Shinoda Mariko (Blog) (Twitter)
Takajo Aki (Blog)
Takahashi Minami (no3b Blog)
Nakagawa Haruka (Watarirouka Blog)
Nakata Chisato (Blog)
Nakaya Sayaka (Blog)
Maeda Atsuko (Blog)
Maeda Ami (Blog)
Matsubara Natsumi (Blog)

Team K
Akimoto Sayaka (Blog) (Twitter)
Itano Tomomi (Blog) (Twitter)
Uchida Mayumi (Blog)
Umeda Ayaka (Blog) (Twitter)
Oshima Yuko (Blog)
Kikuchi Ayaka (Watarirouka Blog)
Tanabe Miku (Blog)
Nakatsuka Tomomi (Blog)
Nito Moeno (Blog) (Twitter)
Nonaka Misato (Blog)
Fujie Reina (Blog)
Matsui Sakiko (Blog)
Minegishi Minami (Blog)
Miyazawa Sae (Blog)
Yokoyama Yui (None)
Yonezawa Rumi (Blog)

Team B
Ishida Haruka (Blog) (Twitter)
Kasai Tomomi (Blog) (Twitter)
Kashiwagi Yuki (Blog)
Kitahara Rie (Blog)
Kobayashi Kana (Blog) (Twitter)
Komori Mika (Blog)
Sato Amina (Blog)
Sato Sumire (Blog) (Twitter)
Sato Natsuki (Blog)
Suzuki Shihori (None)
Suzuki Mariya (Blog)
Chikano Rina (Blog)
Hirajima Natsumi (Watarirouka Blog)
Masuda Yuka (Blog) (Twitter)
Miyazaki Miho (Blog) (Twitter)
Watanabe Mayu (Watarirouka Blog)

Graduated
Usami Yuki (Blog)
Uemura Ayako (Blog) (Twitter)
Orii Ayumi (Blog)
Hoshino Michiru (Blog)
Imai Yu (None)
Takada Ayana (None)
Watanabe Shiho (Blog)
Masuyama Kayano (None)
Inoue Naru (None)
Ohe Tomomi (None)
Nakanishi Rina (Blog)
Narita Risa (Blog)
Kawasaki Nozomi (Blog)
Noguchi Reina (None)
Matsuoka Yuki (None)
Oshima Mai (Blog) (Twitter)
Hayano Kaoru (Blog)
Saotome Miki (None)
Naruse Risa (Blog)
Saeki Mika (Blog)
Ono Erena (Blog)
Oku Manami (None)

Staff
Togasaki Tomonobu (Blog) (Twitter)

SKE48

SKE48 Official (Blog) (Twitter)
Members (Blog)

SDN48

1st Generation
Akita Kazue (Gree)
Imayoshi Megumi (Gree)
Umeda Haruka (Gree)
Urano Kazumi (Blog)
Okochi Misa (Gree)
Ohori Megumi (Blog) (Twitter)
Kaida Jyuri (Gree)
Kato Mami (Gree)
Kouchi Masami (Gree)
Kohara Haruka (Blog)
Kondo Sayaka (Gree)
Sato Yukari (Blog)
Serina (Blog) (Gree) (Twitter)
Chen Qu (Blog) (Twitter)
Tezuka Machiko (Gree)
Nachu (Gree)
Nishikunihara Reiko (Gree)
Noro Kayo (Gree)
Hatakeyama Chisaki (Blog) (Twitter)
Mitsui Hiromi (Gree)

2nd Generation
Aikawa Yuki (Blog)
Akiko (Akiko & Natsuko Blog)
Ito Mana (Blog)
Oyama Aimi (Blog)
Kimoto Yuki (Gree)
KONAN (Blog) (Twitter)
Takahashi Yui (Blog)
Tanisaki Tomomi (None)
Tsuda Marina (Gree)
Natsuko (Akiko & Natsuko Blog)
Fukada Akane (Blog) (Gree)
Fujikoso Yumi (Gree)
Hosoda Miyuu (Gree)
Matsushima Rumi (Blog)

3rd Generation
Kojo Seara (Blog) (Twitter)
Komatani Hitomi (Blog) (Twitter)
Shinahama Saemi (None)
Siyeon (None)
Tojima Hana (Blog) (Twitter)
Hayakawa Sayo (None)
miray (Blog) (Twitter)

Graduated
Ninomiya Yuka (Blog)

Staff
SDN48 Official (Blog)

NMB48

NMB48 Official (Blog)