S/mileage’s 7th Single Announced, Titled “Tachiagaaru”

S/mileage’s 7th single and the first to feature the new member(s) has been announced and it will be title Tachiagaaru.

The single will be released in 6 editions: Regular (CD), Limited A (CD+DVD), Limited B (CD+DVD), Limited C (CD+DVD), Limited D (CD+DVD), Limited E (Reduced Price/Content Unknown), and the Single V will follow one week later.

I’m really surprised to see this announcement so soon since we got a lot of information concerning the single just with the announcement of it being released (title, editions, members participating…) and I must say that I’m really happy about this since it shows that UFA are planning to really take advantage of the auditions and of S/mileage’s growing popularity and media attention.

A nice mention is about the title of the song that seems to be a play on words that Sohee @ JPLOP jusged being: Tachiagare (Stand up!) and GAARU (Girl(s)), which seems pretty logical if we look at it since it’s written in Katakana and I have to say that I’m yet very pleased by S/mileage’s song title since they never seem to disappoint us in coming up with an original and unique sounding title that’s very catchy and cute to fit their image.

The most surprising definitely is the number of editions that the single will have since it will include a new “Limited E” that S/mileage never had released before, and this special release is at the price of 500 Yen which is quite intreeguing since it’s very cheap and it’s got me wondering what it will include.

It seems that the picked member(s) will have to have natural talent and ability to compensate the stress that will be generated in this short period of time!

Overall, I have to say that this is one of the most awaited releases from S/mileage to me since it has many surprises and very nice touches everywhere, from the title to the editions and from the fact that it’ll be with the new member(s).

Hopefully everyone who wants to support S/mileage can reserve a copy or wait a little longer until more information about the Limted Editions and specially the Limited E are out, but for now this seems like a very solid release and hopefully we’ll see if yet again the Limited Edition will have different B-sides or not.

The release date is set for 9/28.

The Single V will be out on 10/12.

Amazon.jp page about Regular Edition

Amazon.jp page about Limited A Edition

Amazon.jp page about Limited B Edition

Amazon.jp page about Limited C Edition

Amazon.jp page about Limited D Edition

Amazon.jp page about Limited E Edition

Amazon.jp page about Single V

EDIT: The list below isn’t the official schedule for the new members, it’s a fan made estimate about the amount of work the new member(s) will most likely do based on the announcement dates and the start of the concert tour. This list isn’t official, and shouldn’t be taken word for word.

8/14 announcement, handing out of songs, lyrics, etc
8/15 recording
8/16~19 dance lesson
8/20 pv shoot
8/21~9/8 concert rehearsal/media recordings (performances, TV, etc)
9/9 genepro (rehearsal at the concert hall)
9/10 concert tour starts

Credit: Sohee

Mano Erina 2011 Concert Tour Spring DVD Announced

A DVD release for Mano Erina’s 2011 spring concert tour titled Mano Erina 2011 Concert Tour Haru ~Hatachi no Otome 801DAYS~ has been announced.

I’m really happy to see that Mano will get another DVD release for her latest concert tour since this one was one of the fan’s favorite thanks to the amazing setlist bringing back her debut songs and filled with her newest mature ones, and it contained many nice interaction between the fans and Mano which will add a special touch to the DVD.

Even though we didn’t get a confirmation of a Blu-ray release, it’s pretty much sure that it will follow the DVD release so for everyone who want to enjoy this amazing and unique performance by Mano, I’d recommend waiting until the Blu-ray version comes out since it’s usually much more pleasant to watch.

Overall, I’m really excited about this release since the amazing tracklist and Mano’s major improvement will definitely be something worth seeing.

Hopefully the tracklist for the DVD will be out soon as well as a cover to set us in the theme of the concert!

The release date is set for 9/21.

Amazon.jp Page about product

S/mileage’s 3rd Audition Process To Be Streamed Live On Nico Nico

The 3rd audition process for S/mileage’s audition has been revealed to be streamed live on Nico Nico.

As you might remember, the 2nd round of the auditions also was streamed live on Nico Nico and got a great success since most of the fans tuned in to watch the auditionners perform and check out the talents each one has, so this will definitely please many fans and will give us an amazing chance to check out the selected members for this round.

The participants for the last round were about 50, so after the eliminations and selections for this round, there should be about 10~20 girls left, and even though we don’t know if it’s the last audition process, with the few participants left, I’m guessing it is.

It’ll be really interesting to see which girls got selected since there were some fan favorites such as Miyamoto Karin and Takeuchi Akari from H!P Eggs, or the “purple girl” and “#801”, so I’m waiting impatiently to see who got in and who didn’t, and since the participants are only a few left, it will give us more time to see each one alone and judge her talent and performance.

Hopefully everyone can tune in on time to watch the live process since it seems that the first tentative was a big success, and after it is aired, there will be a post up on the site summarizing the 3rd audition round.

The streaming will be on 7/27 at 14:00 JST.

Official S/mileage Website About Announcement

S/mileage’s Official Nico Nico Page

EDIT: Important info for those who want to watch the Nico Nico stream and don’t know how!

You will need an account to view the stream, you cannot watch the live streaming without an account (this has been verified), but I made a new account on the English version of Nico Nico and I successfully managed to log into the Japanese site without a problem.

I suggest that everyone who wants to watch the stream make an account and log in before the stream begins, that way you are all ready once the doors open to watch the streaming. Here is a short but useful step by step guide on how to log into the Japanese Nico Nico site with a NicoNico.com account:

1. If you don’t have an account on NicoNico.com go to http://www.niconico.com/ and click Login / Register at the top, then Create new account and follow the steps (they are in English so there shouldn’t be any problem)
2. After you finish verifying your account go to http://www.nicovideo.jp/ and click ログイン
3. On the box underneath ログインメールアドレス enter the email address you used to make the account on NicoNico.com
4. Enter your password in the box underneath パスワード
5. Click the blue button below after you entered your info
6. That’s it! At the top of the site you should see something similar to 一般会員 example さん (instead of “example” you should see the nickname for your account)

Doors for the event should open at the time mentioned, so please verify what time it is in Japan by visiting this site and click the silver door with the TV.

The gold door is only for premium members, but normal members can still watch the stream, although there will be times when your kicked out of the stream due to a premium member entering, in that case just refresh the page or visit the page for the stream and click the silver door again, you should enter without any problems.

Nakajima Saki – “W Saki” Making Of DVD Announced

A making of DVD for Nakajima Saki’s 2nd PB titled W Saki has been announced.

I have to say that I was surprised when I saw this announcement since Nakky’s first solo release was set to be only a PB with no DVD release, so most fans though that this second release would be the same, but it’s pretty impressive to see that they managed to make a making of DVD available since this probably means that the PB sold well.

Solo DVDs that come along PBs usually feature the making of of the PB release, so this isn’t a big change, but it will most probably include less content and bonuses, althoug we might be surprised and figure out it’ll contain some interesting things later on, but for now, it’s still great news for all Nakky fans who would like to support her and reserve a copy since this PB is one of the best any H!P member has released lately judging from the previews we got a while back.

Overall, I’m really happy about this announcement since Nakky definitely deserves it and this will please all of her fans so hopefully everyone can pre-order a copy!

The pre-order date is from 7/25 until 8/13.

e-Lineup page about product

Sayashi Riho’s 1st PB Titled “Sayashi Riho”

The title for Sayashi Riho’s 1st PB has been revealed to be Sayashi Riho.

For this release there will also be a limited edition Wanibooks cover.

I’m not that surprised to see that her 1st PB doesn’t have a title with a nickname or another cute reference to her personality since most of the 1st releases for idols usually are self-titled, but it’s great to see that they did write it as Hiragana (さやしりほ) since it gives it a bit of a more unique and cute look.

Apart from the title we also get to see another preview for her PB with her smiling at the camera while wearing a cute blue outfit in front of a plant background, and while it’s not the cover I am glad to see that so far this PB seems to have more of a casual look with the focus being on themes that show of her cuteness, such as her smiling at the camera while riding a bike or this picture above (which seems to be the same that was featured on the UTB previews a few days ago) since it’s the perfect theme for her 1st PB.

We should see a cover sometime soon since the title and a few previews have already been released on UTB, although for now the title of the PB might be a bit too simple, but I hope that the picture they use for the cover along with the word art are a bit more unique.

The release date is set for 8/27.

Wanibooks Site

S/mileage – “Smile Factory” DVD Cover Released

The DVD cover for S/mileage’s TV show Smile Factory has been released.

The cover is very attractive and colorful since it seems to be based mostly on the member’s respective colors: we get to see pictures of the 4 members in different shaped hearts, circles and starts, and each shaped frame is colored by the member that’s appearing inside’s color (i.e: the blue heart on the top has a picture of Dawa, etc…), and the nice thing is that the pictures used are light and spontaneous which only adds to the cuteness of the cover.

They also did a fun thing to the title which is making each letter colored from pink, purple, blue and green following also the member’s colors, and it’s nice to see that they added the “/” in S/mile Factory since it’s really a S/mileage sign that distinguish them from the others, and it’s a very nice addition.

The background is a simple pink colored background with some white thunder bolts coming towards a giant white TV in the center of the cover where there is a picture of S/mileage in white and black dotted outfits, and I have to say that I really like this idea since the picture is the main concern of the cover and they matched the TV show idea with the TV on the cover featuring S/mileage.

Overall, I really like this cover since it’s colorful and fun and suits S/mileage’s image, and even though the Smile Factory logo on the top right and the small images distract a little from the main picture, it’s still a nice addition for fans who want to enjoy seeing S/mileage in their own TV show.

The release date is set for 9/21.

Rakuten.co page about product