Pop-rock group MONKEY MAJIK have set the release of their thirteenth single, SAKURA, for March 10th.
SAKURA is MONKEY MAJIK's first sakura song, and also their first release since the triple A-side single Nijiiro no sakana / Open Happiness / MONSTER. Besides the titlesong and its accoustic version, this new release will also include the b-side With you.
CD and CD+DVD editions of the single will also be available. The DVD will feature seven songs from the group's concert held on February 28th, part of their latest nationwide tour Fantasia.
Charts: Four in a row for YUI
Wed, January 27, 2010 (12:43am EST)
YUI's latest song, "GLORIA," topped the weekly charts with close to 81,000 in sales, giving her a fourth consecutive #1 single. She is only the second female singer-songwriter to achieve four in a row, after Hikaru Utada did it seven years ago.
Kumi Koda's newest single came in at #2 this week, followed by Mika Nakashima and a "Hetalia: Axis Powers" character CD. Last week's chart-topper by Nana Mizuki fell to #5.
The bottom half of the singles top ten were all new releases: Nakano Fujoshi Sisters, Kalafina, Guardians 4, Choshinsung, and Do As Infinity.
On the albums chart, GIRL NEXT DOOR came out on top with their sophomore album "NEXT FUTURE," selling over 56,000 copies. THE YELLOW MONKEY (#6) and SOPHIA (#10) also made the top ten.
Meanwhile, Tegomass reached #1 on the overall DVD charts with their first tour DVD. The last music artist to rank #1 overall with a first DVD was RADWIMPS in 2007.
Kiyoharu [I will start all over with Kuroyume and SADS!]
On January 29th Kiyoharu wrote in the title of his blog "To all of my dear fans" which promised to be an entry of great importance.
And while clicking the link with a strange and excited feeling, it revealed almost unbelievable information!
[In 2010, I will start all over with Kuroyume and SADS]
Last year on January 29th, for one night only, Kuroyume had sprang back to life, and during that time already, a reunion had been announced, yet without further information.
Now this has been decided according to Kiyoharu's personal activities.
He wrote in this regard [Let's all look forward to it. And then lets get crazy about it! And lets look back as well. Just to our best as well!]
And with this message towards his fans, 2010 is certainly a year with lots of this to expect from him!
The winners of this year's Blue Ribbon movie awards were announced yesterday. Kimura Daisaku (photo left) took the best movie award for "Tsurugi Tennoki" but at the age of 70, he said he was "a bit embarrassed" to receive a best newcomer award. Though he was regarded by the great Kurosawa Akira as Japan's finest cinematographer, the movie marks his debut as a director. It has won several awards but this was the first time it was chosen as best movie. Asked about his next project, Kimura said, "I'd love to work with Takakura Ken." The two worked together on 1999's "Poppoya."
The main acting awards went to Shofukutei Tsurube (58, "Dear Doctor," photo center) and Ayase Haruka (24, "Oppai Volley," photo right). Tsurube, a rakugoka and popular TV presenter, made his movie debut more than 30 years ago and has now accumulated six awards for his first starring role as a country doctor. His co-star Eita (27, photo center) won the best supporting actor award.
Ayase, who has recently played off-the-wall characters like a cyborg in "Boku no Kanojo wa Saiboogu" and a blind swordswoman in "Ichi," said she was happy to return to a "normal" role for her latest movie. But she was less than happy about the title, which translates as "Titty Volleyball." She said, "When I heard the title, I thought it was a dirty movie. Even when I realized it was a movie about youth, I really wanted them to change the title." The best supporting actress award went to Fukada Kyoko (27) for her role as the villainess Doronjo in the live action adaptation of the "Yatterman" anime.
The 52nd Blue Ribbon awards, given out by a group of seven Tokyo-based newspapers, will be presented on February 16.
Domestic films set box office record in 2009
Thu, January 28, 2010 (5:25am EST)
On Thursday, the Motion Picture Producers Association of Japan (also known as Eiren) announced its data on the state of the Japanese movie industry in 2009. Box office revenues for domestic films reached an all-time high, while foreign films also saw a significant increase.
Domestic film revenue increased for the second year in a row, gaining 1.3% in 2009 to hit ¥117.3 billion. Foreign films saw a drop in 2008, but they bounced back last year to ¥88.7 billion, a 12.3% improvement. These numbers help reinforce the general "hoga boom" trend in recent years, where domestic productions have been gaining a larger share of the market.
Total revenue (domestic and foreign) was up 5.7% at ¥206 billion, the second-highest total in history (2004 was close to ¥211 billion). Although the number of films released (762) was lower than in 2008 (806), attendance was up from 160 million to more than 169 million.
In terms of box office grosses, the top ten domestic films were:
1. ROOKIES -Sotsugyo- (¥8.55 billion)
2. Pokemon: Arceus and the Jewel of Life (¥4.67 billion)
3. 20th Century Boys: The Last Chapter - Our Flag (¥4.41 billion)
4. Evangelion: 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance (¥4.00 billion)
5. Amalfi: Megami no Hoshu (¥3.65 billion)
6. Detective Conan: The Raven Chaser (¥3.50 billion)
7. Gokusen: The Movie (¥3.50 billion)
8. Yomei Ikkagetsu no Hanayome (¥3.15 billion)
9. Yatterman (¥3.14 billion)
10. Crows ZERO II (¥3.02 billion)
The top three foreign films were:
1. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (¥8.00 billion)
2. Red Cliff: Part II (¥5.55 billion)
3. Michael Jackson's This Is It (¥5.20 billion)
Happy 20th anniversary to the revered, allured and talented Masaharu Fukuyama~~~!!!
Thank you for this amazing 20 years you've given to the world.
Please keep on doing this for the next 20 years...
Please give us more of your music and acting...
Alice Nine will be the Cover Feature for Next SHOXX Issue
Alice Nine will be on the cover and main feature (12pages) for SHOXX Vol.206 Apr.2010 issue which will be released on February 20th!
SHOXX will deliver magnetism of Alice Nine, who will release their best album "Alice Nine Complete Collection2" on March 24th and will be on tour from March 22nd.
Featuring LM.C releasing their long awaited 3rd album. LM.C has enormous support not only from Visual-Kei fans but also from anime and comic fans after tie-up with anime in 2008. SHOXX will approach their borderless cham!!
Next feature is Sid. Sid is now in such a strong position that it can do anything they want.
They reveal the secret of their latest single "sleep"!! Latest interview of 4!
Other artists on the magazines are: vidoll, D, doremidan, Megamasso, Mix Speaker's, Inc, Girugamesh and many more artists!
Imai Tsubasa to be the Cover Feature of Arena37°C !!
ARENA37°C focuses on 4 special Topics with Imai Tsubasa as the cover artist, which will be released on February 10th!
The over all lineup of artists appearing in this issue is as follows:
* Imai Tsubasa [Cover Feature]
For Imai Tsubasa ist had been a long awaited dream coming true with his first solo single [BACKBORN] being released on February 24th. With a certain "ROCK"-taste and a stylish appeal, ha also presents himself in an exciting photo shooting accompanied by a long interview on his new songs.
*Tohoshinki
As Tohoshinki will be releasing their [BEST SELECTION 2010] they are featured in a photo series with pictures from past to present, with a number of very nostalgic pictures and had written/illustrated interviews.
*KinKi Kids
From their last tour "KinKi Kids concert tour J" over their final Concert in 2009 on December 30th at Tokyo Dome, the band will be featured in a vivid report, while pictures from December 30th and 31st show the atmosphere of these days in splendid impressions.
*the GazettE
On December 24th the band held their final concert of 2009 at Tokyo Big Sight and next to the full report in the event, a special interview with bassist Reita is available.
*LANDS
On January 19th movie band LANDS held their [LANDS LAST LIVE] at Shibuya AX. A full report on the concert staring KAT-TUN's Akanishi Jin, who played the main role in the movie [BANDAGE] presents long lasting impressions.
Billboard Japan Music Awards: EXILE named Artist of the Year
Mon, February 1, 2010 (1:52am EST)
Billboard has had music ranking charts in Japan for a few years, but it held its 1st Billboard Japan Music Awards in Tokyo on Sunday. The big winner was the group EXILE, who were named Artist of the Year 2009.
Like the other artist category awards, the Artist of the Year was determined by internet and mobile phone voting, with the nominees consisting of the artists who topped the Billboard charts last year. The rest of the artist category winners were:
* Top Pop Artists 2009: EXILE, Kobukuro, AI, Remioromen
* Jazz Artist of the Year 2009: akiko
* Classical Artist of the Year 2009: Nobuyuki Tsujii
* Independent Artist of the Year 2009: HY
* New Artist of the Year 2009: Yusuke
* Rising International Artist 2009: VAMPS
* K-Pop New Artist of the Year 2009: After School
* US Billboard Publisher's Award 2009: Judith Hill, BoA
The chart-based awards were also presented:
* Hot 100 of the Year 2009: B'z, "Ichibu to Zenbu"
* Album of the Year 2009: EXILE, "EXILE BALLAD BEST"
* Hot 100 Single Sales of the Year 2009: Junko Akimoto, "Ai no Mama de"
* Hot 100 Airplay of the Year 2009: ROCK'A'TRENCH, "My SunShine"
* Classical Album of the Year 2009: Nobuyuki Tsujii, "debut"
* Jazz Album of the Year 2009: Hiromi Uehara, "Place To Be"
* Adult Contemporary of the Year 2009: Black Eyed Peas, "I Gotta Feeling"
* Overseas Soundtrack Album of the Year 2009: Michael Jackson, "This Is It"
* Independent of the Year 2009: flumpool, "Unreal"
The late Michael Jackson's female lead guitarist has filmed her first appearance on a Japanese music show. The February 6 edition of Fuji TV's "Music Fair" will feature Australian guitarist Orianthi Panagaris (25), who has been in the spotlight since her rehearsals with Jackson for his "This Is It" comeback show. She teamed up with J-pop diva Koda Kumi (27) for a performance of her hit "Ningyohime." It was the first time for Orianthi to perform with a Japanese female artist. She visited Japan last week to promote her debut album "Believe" as well as the release of Jackson's posthumous movie.
Up-and-coming young pop singer Kana Nishino has announced the release of a new single, titled Best Friend, for February 24th.
Best Friend is set to mark the continuation of Kana's collaboration with mobile phone manufacturer DOCOMO, as it will be used as the official theme song of the product line "Ganbare Jukensei '09-'10".
Kana has already provided one song for DOCOMO's commercial, as the company also used Dear..., one of the title songs from her latest hit single Dear... / MAYBE, released in December last year.
Following the single release, the singer is embarking on her third nationwide tour in March, sponsored by DOCOMO. Named Kanayan Tour 2010 ~Spring~, the tour will span ten dates in five cities. However, as all the concerts have already been sold out, an additional concert at SHIBUYA-AX, in Tokyo, was booked for April 29th.
Pop and folk duo Kobukuro have prepared their November Nippon Budokan live to be released on both DVD and Blu-ray on April 21st under the title KOBUKURO LIVE TOUR '09 "CALLING" FINAL .
Kobukuro released their newest album, CALLING, in August 2009, later embarking on a long nationwide tour to promote the CD. This tour, called KOBUKURO LIVE TOUR '09 "CALLING", mobilized approximately 270,000 people within its 34 four concerts.
On November 28th, the group performed the final concert of the tour, which took place at Nippon Budokan. Nineteen songs from the live, including the encore songs Koko ni shika sakanai hana and Toki no ashioto, have been selected for the DVD.
Additionally, on the same day, the duo is putting out Blu-ray editions of two of their other live DVDs: KOBUKURO LIVE TOUR '06 "Way Back to Tomorrow" FINAL, originally released in 2007 and KOBUKURO LIVE TOUR '08 "5296" FINAL originally released in 2008.
Visual rock band D'espairsRay have announced their first release of 2010: the single LOVE IS DEAD, which is scheduled to be released on April 14th.
D'espairsRay celebrated their tenth anniversary last year with several news for the fans, including their major debut with Delicious Deli Records, ledding to the release of the album REDEEMER, and a special participation in the big V-ROCK FESTIVAL.
Also in 2009, the band held a commemorative concert at Shibuya C.C. Lemon Hall to celebrate this same occasion, which was later released as the live DVD 10th Anniversary Live Closer to ideal -Brand new scene-. The band finished the year with a concert at YOKOHAMA BLITZ in December.
Even though the title and release date have already been revealed, further information regarding the single is currently unknown. However, in April, the band is also performing two new one-man concerts, both to take place at SHIBUYA O-EAST on the 23rd and 24th.
baru donlod n tgk serenade dr versailes tuh...best gak lagu tuh...imej derang mmg pakai baju2 zaman renaissance ek??
imej dr carian pakcik gugel..
pompuan baju oren tuh..terror gler main gitar...teruja ai...
pastu vokalis die muker takleh blah..gorjes ..
rambut putih tuh pon hebat..muker cam watak 3D jeh..
mende baru iols blaja...
skymania Post at 5-2-2010 13:29
kira derang stylo la... mcm2 gaya... masing2 ader imej n gaya sendiri... an cafe ala2 warna warni cute... alice nine ala2 english vampire... versailles nih ala2 muvi...
kira derang stylo la... mcm2 gaya... masing2 ader imej n gaya sendiri... an cafe ala2 warna warni cute... alice nine ala2 english vampire... versailles nih ala2 muvi...
Kittie Post at 5-2-2010 13:34
iols mmg teruja ngan kejelitaan derang neh..plus..lagu sedap..sore very the jantan...
Post time 29-1-2010 12:16 PM
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