Wed, April 8, 2009 (1:55am EDT)
"It's all Love!," the collaborative single between Kumi Koda and misono, topped the charts this past week with over 74,000 in sales. Ever since Oricon launched its weekly sales rankings in 1968, this is the first time that a group composed of actual siblings has taken the #1 spot in its initial week.
Counting singles that reached #1 after the first week, the Koda sisters are the 4th sibling group to accomplish this feat. The first was the male duo Billy Banban in 1972, followed twice by The Finger Five (4 brothers and 1 sister) in 1973 and 1974, and then the Irish sisters The Nolans in 1980.
Kumi Koda is no stranger to the #1 ranking, but misono had never before reached higher than #2 since the start of her career as part of the band day after tomorrow.
The AKB Idoling!!! collaboration ranked #2 on the singles chart, followed in order by Mai Kuraki and Kaori Mizumori. Masayoshi Yamazaki also entered the top ten with a new song at #9.
On the album rankings, Dreams Come True's "DO YOU DREAMS COME TRUE?" regained the #1 seat, after being temporarily ousted last week by Ayumi Hamasaki. The album has now reached the milestone of 1 million units shipped.
The only new release in the top ten albums was "PB" by SPECIAL OTHERS, which landed at #10. Meanwhile, Ayaka's second album "Sing to the Sky" (released last June) jumped up from #278 to #84, apparently fueled by last week's announcement of her marriage to actor Hiro Mizushima and her impending hiatus due to Graves' disease.
Hikaru Utada's second English album, "This Is The One," held onto the #1 spot on the foreign albums chart for the third consecutive week.
Counting singles that reached #1 after the first week, the Koda sisters are the 4th sibling group to accomplish this feat. The first was the male duo Billy Banban in 1972, followed twice by The Finger Five (4 brothers and 1 sister) in 1973 and 1974, and then the Irish sisters The Nolans in 1980.
Kumi Koda is no stranger to the #1 ranking, but misono had never before reached higher than #2 since the start of her career as part of the band day after tomorrow.
The AKB Idoling!!! collaboration ranked #2 on the singles chart, followed in order by Mai Kuraki and Kaori Mizumori. Masayoshi Yamazaki also entered the top ten with a new song at #9.
On the album rankings, Dreams Come True's "DO YOU DREAMS COME TRUE?" regained the #1 seat, after being temporarily ousted last week by Ayumi Hamasaki. The album has now reached the milestone of 1 million units shipped.
The only new release in the top ten albums was "PB" by SPECIAL OTHERS, which landed at #10. Meanwhile, Ayaka's second album "Sing to the Sky" (released last June) jumped up from #278 to #84, apparently fueled by last week's announcement of her marriage to actor Hiro Mizushima and her impending hiatus due to Graves' disease.
Hikaru Utada's second English album, "This Is The One," held onto the #1 spot on the foreign albums chart for the third consecutive week.
Wed, April 8, 2009 (1:16am EDT)
On Tuesday, Shochiku announced that the long-running "Tsuribaka Nisshi" ("Diary of a Fishing Fool") movie series will be coming to an end with its next installment. The movie is appropriately titled "Tsuribaka Nisshi 20: Final" and is slated for release at the end of this year.
The "Tsuribaka Nisshi" films first began in 1988, and a new film has been released approximately once a year as the franchise grew into a national institution. The movies portray the relationship between a fishing-obsessed pair consisting of salaryman Hama-chan (Toshiyuki Nishida) and his boss Su-chan (Rentaro Mikuni). The director of this final picture is Yuzo Asahara, who has been in charge of the series since #14.
According to producer Hiroshi Fukazawa, it was decided three years ago in discussions with Nishida and Mikuni that the franchise would come to an end with #20. The decision was said to have been a reflection of the difficulty of continuing the series with both characters past retirement age. Fukazawa denied the suggestions that the actors' health was a factor, further stating that there has been no consideration of casting new leads.
Shooting starts next month in Hokkaido, a first for the series. The guest cast this time includes Keiko Matsuzaka, Kazue Fukiishi, and Takashi Tsukamoto. Theatrical release has been scheduled for December 26.
The "Tsuribaka Nisshi" films first began in 1988, and a new film has been released approximately once a year as the franchise grew into a national institution. The movies portray the relationship between a fishing-obsessed pair consisting of salaryman Hama-chan (Toshiyuki Nishida) and his boss Su-chan (Rentaro Mikuni). The director of this final picture is Yuzo Asahara, who has been in charge of the series since #14.
According to producer Hiroshi Fukazawa, it was decided three years ago in discussions with Nishida and Mikuni that the franchise would come to an end with #20. The decision was said to have been a reflection of the difficulty of continuing the series with both characters past retirement age. Fukazawa denied the suggestions that the actors' health was a factor, further stating that there has been no consideration of casting new leads.
Shooting starts next month in Hokkaido, a first for the series. The guest cast this time includes Keiko Matsuzaka, Kazue Fukiishi, and Takashi Tsukamoto. Theatrical release has been scheduled for December 26.
Wed, April 8, 2009 (12:32am EDT)
Singer Nezumi Senpai (36) has just launched a new punk band called The Super Rats, which includes the former drummer of The Blue Hearts. So far, Nezumi Senpai is best known for the hit song "GIROPPON," which was released last year as his first major label single.
Other than Nezumi Senpai, the band features three established punk musicians: drummer Tetsuya Kajiwara (The Blue Hearts), guitarist NAOKI (LAUGHIN' NOSE, currently with SA), and bassist Masami Suzuki (De+LAX). Nezumi Senpai himself was part of a punk band when he was younger, but he later gave up on that dream.
The Super Rats will release their first single digitally this month. "PPP - Punch Perma Punk" will be available for mobile phone downloads starting on April 8, followed by PC downloads on April 22.
Other than Nezumi Senpai, the band features three established punk musicians: drummer Tetsuya Kajiwara (The Blue Hearts), guitarist NAOKI (LAUGHIN' NOSE, currently with SA), and bassist Masami Suzuki (De+LAX). Nezumi Senpai himself was part of a punk band when he was younger, but he later gave up on that dream.
The Super Rats will release their first single digitally this month. "PPP - Punch Perma Punk" will be available for mobile phone downloads starting on April 8, followed by PC downloads on April 22.
