[GENERAL] The Hinatazaka46 thread

It will be a beautiful showroom. The four members shares "美" on their names.

 

If I were to pick a captain/vice-captain for 1gen and for 2gen, it might well be those four. If it were going to be a single release, you'd think Nao would be involved, at least. But this is Hiragana: anyone could be centre, if a different song is the A side. I've also seen speculation it could be a Christmas live. Or a photobook.

But Memi fans are posting this image, which purports to be for capsule toys/cards commemorating using Joyful Love in a CM. It says you can get them until Thursday midnight:



The Showroom starts in about 11 hours.

Here comes Hiragana. Yet another CM series, this time with a curry restaurant called Curry House CoCo Ichibanya. Two CMs, starring two groups: Miho, Nao, Memi; and Kyouko, Katoshi, Mirei. With Kumi and Take-chan in other materials. There will be various contests, events, visits to stores, etc., as well. source


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To me, especially seeing the younger group of Miho/Nao/Memi, as seen in the Mechakari CM, this seems like rolling toward releasing Joyful Love as a single. The announcement on Showroom in a few hours may be about the ad campaign? Maybe the MV will go live on Wednesday? There is a new song behind the CM: Kimi ni Hanashite Okitai Koto 君に話しておきたいこと.

There are screencaps from the CMs and much more info (in Japanese) here. The whole group is featured, even if they aren't in the first two CMs. You get one of six clear files free for spending Y800. They have 180,000 of them in stock....







The image of Nao-chan at the lower right is a poster, but it turns out that there will be posters of all of them, which will be won at New Year's at restaurants around the country -- so this is planned as an extended campaign. "Happy Aura" is emphasized in the ad copy ("Happy Curry").

home-page: "Koko Ichi no HAPPY!" campaign

Keyakizaka46 official site news announcement w/details

 

Hiragana Keyaki will have a 3 days (11, 12 and December 13) "Christmas Live" on the Nippon Budokan, it was announced today via showroom.


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More event details will be published in the official website.

 

I’m so happy about Budokan but can’t help but disappointed that it’s not about the single. Hopefully they announce it at the end of the last day of the XMas live.

 

Sigh. It might take that long. It's in Mechakari's interest to have the disk not come out much before 5 December, the date on which people have to be signed up with them to get a free CD. If people can buy the disk, they might not bother to sign up with Mechakari to get the special one. But I'll continue to keep a watch on the official YouTube site, in case the Joyful Love MV suddenly shows up there, say, today.

Anyway, it appears that Kanji Keyaki's home field for performance is still Makuhari, but Hiragana's home ground is...Nippon Budoukan. One commenter makes the uncomfortable point that now Kanji will have had 0 performances in Budoukan, while Hiragana will have had 7 (the three-concert series last winter, and the performance with Kyary Pamyu Pamyu a couple of weeks ago).

The official name of the concert series is apparently: ひらがなくりすます2018, or "Hiragana Christmas 2018" -- with everything written in hiragana. One reason they could get the venue at this late date is likely the fact that the three days -- December 11, 12, 13 -- are a Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. This makes it a bit harder for people from out of town to attend. Filling Budoukan for three nights (a total of 45,000 people) is still not a given, especially if there isn't a single out to push sales. But to be honest, I have no doubt they will pack the joint: I think people are learning that Hiragana puts on a great show. One commenter was waxing lyrical about the excitement of Dare Tobe! and how he hopes for the best performance of it so far.

One commenter suggests some surprise guests: Neru, Kageyama, Imaizumi. Another says that the four Hiraganas were far better talkers on Showroom than Neru, Koike and Risa a couple of days ago. I haven't watched enough of either yet to have an opinion. If it's just that they keep talking all the time, without gaps, then that doesn't thrill me that much. Anyway, I was pleased to see the quick-witted (but somehow still cute) Miku there. She's barely 16, but is awfully mentally active and observant.

The two Sasakis have been confirmed to appear on TV with Nakae Yuri, actress, writer and former idol singer, on "The Breakthrough File" on 22 November. This is a return to a show that members previously appeared on for a one-shot appearance. In it, people talk about desperate situations and how to get through them. The hosts are Sandwich Man and Uchimura Teruyoshi (the guy who was host at Kouhaku last year and was performing with Kanji when Techi-Monta-Mona fainted).

Here's Hiragana's impressive performance list for 2018:
1月:武道館3days -- January: Budoukan 3 days
3月:2期生おもてなし会 -- March: 2gens' Omotenashikai concert
4月:地上波レギュラー2番組 -- April: Two shows on regular TV (not cable or satellite)
4月:舞台あゆみ -- April: Ayumi stage play
6月:アルバム発売 -- June: album release
6月:東名阪ツアー10公演 -- June: Tokyo-Nagoya-Osaka tour, 10 performances
8月:テレ朝サマステ大トリ -- August: Asahi TV Summer Station
8月舞台マギレコ -- August: Magia Record stage play
10月:きゃりーぱみゅぱみゅさんと武道館ツーマン -- October: with Kyary at Budoukan
10月:メチャカリ -- October: Mechakari
11月:ココイチ -- November: Koko Ichi
12月:武道館3days -- December: Budoukan 3 days

EDIT: The tie-up with Coco Ichi may be a bit less special than I thought: HKT, SKE, and maybe NMB have also had such tie-ups.

 

@ukifune Idk about NMB but SKE have definitely had a few CocoIchi campaigns.

 

The director of Re:Mind, 頃安祐良 Koroyasu Yuusuke, has exploded into action on Twitter, exulting over the Budoukan concerts in three successive excited tweets, congratulating Hiragana and saying he planned to go to all three concerts, adding that the writer of Re:Mind and other staff are also excited and plan to go. Even a year after working with Hiragana, they still love them, he wrote. A commenter felt he/she just had to support Hiragana, who go all-out in everything they do. source

In other news, some of the recent Kyary/Hiragana Budoukan live will be shown -- including behind the scenes stuff -- on TV next Sunday night. It's on a late show that replays entertainment events. The show's called Saikimichi and is on Asahi's CS channel at 2:55 late Sunday night. They list the cast as: Kyary Pamyupamyu, Kakizaki Memi, Katou Shiho, Higashimura Mei, Kosaka Nao, and Watanabe Miho.　source

 

Well done!
Too bad for me, missed out by a week lol..
Will be cheering for them nevertheless.

 

Xmas Live isn’t that far wow. Only 4 weeks

 

There is a news item now saying that Kanji and Hiragana will perform on NTV's Best Hit Festival 2018 on November 15, "for the first time in history." Will they perform together? What will they sing? Will it really be something different from W-Keyakizaka? Lots of details yet to fill in. Other guests: Exile, Toshi of X-Japan, a contest to decide the best dancer in the 48 groups, Amuro Namie. Next Thursday, 7-9 pm (prime time).

As we are excited about Hiragana's progress, this is probably the time to mention the recent dark posts by anti's saying that Hiragana is doomed and will soon merge or be disbanded. I guess the idea is that without a single, nothing is possible, and these little tie-ups may not amount to much. It all seems highly unlikely to me, but a few people are saying it. Announcing a single soon may stop such talk. Kanji and Hiragana appearing together raises for me the possibility of a combined album with a double A side. But that's probably fantasy, too.

 

Don’t want anything combined. A Hiragana single please. It’s really not that much to ask for.

 

Kato Shiho, Matsuda Konoka and Watanabe Miho will appear on BOMB magazine December edition.

Keyakizaka web.

 

ToshiMiho

 

Hiragana Christmas is selling out fast. The finale is a "miss-out festival" and many people are even being told that their application for for the middle performance has failed. source.

As one comment said, all this without a single. But I think there is still hope for one. Sony accountants are probably making Excel dance in the back rooms, helping the production and marketing staffs decide which single will work best, and when: Hiragana, Kanji, the two combined, before Christmas, in January...?

In any case, Hiragana seems to be establishing itself as a live concert group. That's the foundation. When they get the right front and the right song, off they go, it seems to me. The promo for Best Hits says "a fierce popularity competition is unfolding" between Kanji and Hiragana. That's an exaggeration at the moment, but it might not be for long, all depending.

As for Zambi, the production company has decided to release standing room places in the 2nd and 3rd balconies. Ka-ching (cash-register sound indicating profit, lol). source.

 

Let me add more Hiragana news. They will participate on the event ALL LIVE NIPPON 2019 on the Yokohama Arena in January 19.

Keyakizaka website notice.
Here is the line-up.

 

Shinuchi Mai MC's, along with Yamashita Kenjiro of 3gen J Soul Bros. The guys with the big hair are Kishidan, who were with Hiragana at a festival earlier this year:



And the two guys at the lower right are Sanshiro, the comedy duo who were the fake first MCs of Keyabingo4 and were "fired" by fake director "Danger Kawakami":

 

I don't think we'll ever see a true Hiragana single. Unless Hiragana breaks off and becomes a third Sakamichi sister group with a new name but I think if that were going to happen it would have happened already.

My theory is we'll see a combined senbatsu. Possibly after the girls from the Sakamichi auditions get introduced. Definitely once more Kanji members start graduating, especially the popular ones. Kanji is actually on the older side. They're average age is over 20 and the majority of them are all around the same age. At some point we're going to see them start graduating one after the other.

I think Kanji and Hiragana will remain separate but in the way that Team A and Team K are separate in AKB.

Thinking from a business perspective, Hiragana doing separate singles doesn't even really make sense.

A. Kanji is way more well known than Hiragana to the general public.
B. Hiragana fans will all buy a Keyaki single so long as it has at least one Hiragana song it.
C. A Hiragana-only will probably sell less among mainstream fans.

So why would management do a Hiragana-only single and only sell to Hiragana fans when they can do a Keyaki single with some Hiragana songs as B-sides or coupling songs and sell to Hiragana fans, Kanji fans, and the general public.
Now of course Hiragana could BECOME very popular in the mainstream. But that would require Sony taking a risk and we know how risk-averse Japanese companies can be.

IMO the best thing for Hiragana would be combined senbatsu. It makes sense considering that Hiragana members are selling just as many handshake tickets than Kanji. From a management perspective why have less popular Kanji members when you could have very popular Hiragana members like Katou Shiho, Saitou Kyouko, Kosaka Nao, Watanabe Miho, Kakizaki Memi? And with Imaizumi's graduation, Yonetani's graduation, Shida's seemingly permanent hiatus, and Aoi's hiatus, Kanji as a static united group isn't even a thing anymore. It only makes sense. I think it makes sense to management, too. The 7th single bonus videos with a Kanji member and Hiragana member hanging out and getting to know each other made me feel like a combining of the groups was imminent.

 

Quoted for good sense, even though I don't like it. My own feeling is that the Hiragana debut is still quite possible, and Hiragana can thrive as a third 46 group packing in the handshake guests. This would increase, rather than decrease profits. One group can only put out so many singles a year. The real questions are: can Kanji survive, and can the market support three groups.

But it's quite true that Sony has to take a chance -- as they did with Keyaki in the first place -- and actually put out a single. Hiragana sold plenty of albums (more than any 48 group other than AKB and NMB, and more than Nogi's first album. source), and I think they are extremely talented and attractive and can go far if they have a solid centre or three who can draw fans. But the scenario you paint is quite rational.

We see in this week's KeyaKake and the promo for next week's GanaOshi that both groups may have new uniforms. This may indicate a release coming -- or a release delayed. And I see that Weekly Playboy is basically devoting the issue that comes out next week to "Keyakizaka46" (probably Kanji). It has had a running feature on Hiragana for 19 weeks now. This seems to me to indicate a Kanji release with a strong Hiragana presence in it, coming soon. Or not, lol.

 

But..but the third sakamichi group is Yoshimotozaka46..

Personally I don't feel Hiragana needs another name, it doesn't have inherent meaning as in Nogi's "Under" or 48G "kenkyuusei" (research students)
Heck, Hiragana Keyaki (けやき坂) is the actually existing street name, lol

When Hiragana 1st gen first appeared in keyakake, it's like they didn't hire enough make up artists/ stylists.. (Kanji too actually) (they're all still cute tho)
Maybe it's so fans can feel the members leveled up in make-up or something..
But when 2nd gen made their 1st appearance.. They like, already high-leveled.. Maybe it's the make-up artists/stylists who leveled up. lol
Of course I don't mean to discredit 1st gen by saying this, but I really felt Hiragana started running with 2nd gen addition

 

@spacelion -- I'm a huge fan of the 1gens (especially Memi) but it's clear that the 2gens are a special group. It stands to reason: the 1gens were people willing to sign up for an unknown new group that hadn't even made its debut yet. The 2gens had a pool of top candidates eager to join a group that had already had four huge hits.

The very first GanaOshi, where the group (especially Nibu and the 2gens) gave such great reactions from the start, was like a flag saying: "Here they come!"

And I agree about the name: there's no way they will (or can) change it. It has some value now.

By the way, have we mentioned here yet that the KeyaBINGO 4 boxed set came out last Friday? CM:


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