Keyakizaka second single "cheerful," "about youth," "still a bit cool" -- Hirate

Neru...and Techi

On the Keyakizaka46 radio show today, Hirate Yurina says the second single will be different from the "cool message song" Silent Majority. It will be cheerful, and the words will be about "youth."

Hirate: "The first single, Silent Majority, was a really cool song with a strong message. We're grateful that we were able to sell more than any other debut single by a female artist ever had in its first week. We feel more grateful even than happy. And we feel nervous about the second single, actually."

Hirate: "But...if we can, we want to outsell the first single.... It may even have a better melody."

Hirate: "The theme of this song is 'youth' (seishun 青春). There's more recording to do. We still haven't heard the full song. But the first part has a new and different feeling."

Hirate: "...youth, eh...(laughs). I'm in my youth.... But somehow, seeing the lyrics, there's a bit of a cool feeling there, too. It's a cheerful feeling, uhh.... Anyway, please listen to it and see! There are probably other ways to feel about the song than mine. I'd love to hear from you, at handshake events and so on, about your first impressions of the song."

Hirate's co-host this week was Nagahama Neru, and she will back again next week. The two are so smooth and natural together. They are good friends, and almost finish each other's sentences. Techi (age 14) teases Neru (age 17), and Neru takes it like an adult. Techi seems relaxed with Neru, and can spin up into a nice level of excitement. (click image to enlarge)

Commenters on 2channel were entranced by Neru's Kyushu accent, and one thought it would be totally unfair if Techi were to take on some of that, making her even more irresistible. Despite the slight accent, I appreciated the clarity of both of their voices.

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SaiMajo #5 on Billboard Hot 100 for First Half of 2016. Harujion #2!

Silent Majority has come in at #5 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for the first half of 2016, behind only AKB48, Nogizaka46, and two songs by Arashi. This is heady company for a new group's first single.

In another triumph for the Sakamichi group, Harujion ga Saku Koro was #2. And 48/46 groups took six of the top 20 places.

The Billboard Hot 100 tries to estimate the total popularity of a song by combining figures from CD sales, downloads, radio plays, streaming, online searches, Twitter mentions, etc. The period covered was 2015.11.23 to 2016.05.29.


AKB48's Kimi wa Melody was far and away the #1 song, with Nogizaka46's Harujion ga Saku koro #2. Then came Arashi's I seek and Fukkatsu Love. Silent Majority at #5 came before songs by Hoshino Gen (Sun), Nishino Kana (Torisetsu), back number (Christmas Song), Urashima Tarou (Umi no Koe) and Exile (Ki・mi・ni・mu・chu) in the top ten. Numbers 11-20 included songs by One OK Rock, Kobukuro, SMAP, Perfume, and two more from the powerhouse AKB48.

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Why was Keyakizaka46's name changed from the original Toriizaka46?

When auditions were announced last year for Nogizaka46's sister group, the new group was to be called Toriizaka46.

It was only when the chosen members were introduced that it was revealed that the name had been changed to Keyakizaka46.

Why did they change it? And what do the names mean?

Keyakizaka Street

Campus WiFi access #1? Nogikoi!

A Japanese university has just informed its students that their free WiFi access may end if traffic continues to be dominated by online games and manga-reading sites.

The highest number of accesses in the first five months of the year? The Nogikoi Nogizaka46 online dating game that came out a couple of months ago.

The game is popular. Even Keyakizaka46 member Kobayashi Yui says she was so engrossed in it on the train one day that she went six stops too far. She refused to say who her oshi was.

Most accesses: 1. Nogikoi 220K (K= thousand), 2. Yahoo ads 170K, 3. manga reading sites 170K, 4. Apple 160K, 5. White Cat Project (game) 110K.

Most traffic: 1. multi-user sites (various games) 31gb, 2. Twitter 24gb, 3. manga reading sites 16gb, 4. Puzzle & Dragons (game) 8gb,  5. White Cat Project 6gb.

"Campus wi-fi is not intended for playing games. If usage patterns do not change, students' open access will be ended. Please make proper use of the system."

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Nanako strikes first: fishing for handshake guests

A little over a month ago, Nagasawa Nanako suddenly turned from a shy former miko into a handshake monster. With a new series of handshake events now scheduled, for the new single, she has got in first in her blog with a direct appeal for guests to sign up to shake her hand.

"Come on, okay? (❁´ω`❁)  Pinky promise!"

"Don't forget the deadline!" The first round of reservations opens Thursday and closes Friday.

A Yui-pon festival -- Kobayashi Yui

Photos and worshipful quotes from a Japanese forum:

Yui-pon:
 

A rich treasure: group shot of Nogizaka46 and Keyakizaka46 together

Both groups had handshake events last Saturday at Pacifico Yokohama convention center. The elder sisters came over to talk and take photos with their imouto group. And after her last Nogizaka46 handshake event, the graduating Fukagawa Mai posted a photo of the two Sakamichi groups together (click image to enlarge):

back row (Nogizaka46 - left to right):
Nishino Nanase, Takayama Kazumi, Hori Miona, Kitano Hinako, Itou Karin, Nakamoto Himeka, Itou Marika, Saitou Yuri, Itou Junna, Saitou Asuka, Watanabe Miria, Fukagawa Mai, Shinuchi Mai

crouching in front of back row (also Nogizaka46):
Kawago Hina (partly hidden), Noujou Ami (very low), Saitou Chiharu (below Hinako and Karin), Higuchi Hina, Akimoto Manatsu, Nakata Kana, Terada Ranze, Ikoma Rina, Sakurai Reika

front area (Keyakizaka46, left to right by head position):
Sugai Yuuka, Imaizumi Yui, Ozeki Rika, Shida Manaka, Uemura Rina (in front), Watanabe Risa (behind), Harada Aoi, Yonetani Nanami, Satou Shiori, Watanabe Rika, Koike Minami, Nagasawa Nanako, Ishimori Nijika, Saitou Fuyuka, Kobayashi Yui, Suzumoto Miyu, Habu Mizuho, Oda Nana, Moriya Akane, Nagahama Neru (behind a cat-ear), Hirate Yurina.

All 21 currently performing members of Keyakizaka46 are in the picture, along with 22 members of Nogizaka46.

Suzumoto Miyu, the funny-face queen

On the KeyaKake TV show they have already established Miyu-chan as the group's funny-face queen. Now someone has put together 36 different expressions (click to enlarge):

She says that this is all unconscious, she's not "making faces," they just happen.

Here's a photo to show that not all her faces are funny, most are just beautiful:

Keyakizaka members' height changes

Several Keyakizaka members are taller than their officially reported height -- and one is shorter.

Hirate Yurina is listed at 160.2cm. She herself said recently on radio that she is now 164cm tall. Growth spurt. She hopes she won't get any taller.

Take a look at this photo, from Audition magazine:

Watanabe Rika (left) is listed at 165cm. Moriya Akane at 163cm. Shida Manaka is listed at 163cm, too. This clearly isn't true. She's at least 165cm. Watanabe Risa is listed at 163cm, but she is clearly the tallest here -- with all of them standing in the same plane, wearing similar shoes.


The Japanese source that tipped me off to this thinks Manaka is 167.5cm and Berisa 168 or taller.

From Akanen's blog: Akanen, Techi, Neru

Moriya Akane's blog posts are often long and often interesting. A couple of photos from her most recent post:

Yu...Yurina.... ⁄(⁄ ⁄•⁄ω⁄•⁄ ⁄)⁄

Mana-tan with Neru and the Keyakis (pics)

In her Monday blog post, Akimoto Matasu wrote about meeting Keyakizaka members on Saturday:

...

Recently, the Keyaki-chans had their handshake event near ours.
I was able to speak with some of them ～♪
And take a few photos!

Nagahama Neru

I'm still texting with Neru, as always♪
To have someone who works so hard in difficult circumstances depend on me...
She's such a cute little sister (*^^*)

Nogis visit Keyakis (pix)

On Saturday, both Keyakizaka46 and Nogizaka46 had handshake events at the Pacifico Yokohama convention centre. Some of the elder sisters did the younger sisters the favour of coming over to greet them and take photos.

Saitou Asuka with Shida Manaka:

More photos....