Top 48G Members Mid Year 2017

I haven't really been following 48G this year. Me following 48G was always contingent on me buying their singles and albums for my collection, but because I just haven't had the money recently to do so, I've been paying less and less attention to the groups. It also doesn't help that releases have been few and far between for all of the groups.

AKB48

Neither of their singles this year have done anything for me. The B-sides have been meh (minus that SakamichiAKB song). The group has been kind of meh in graduation announcements. I'm semi-excited for Sousenkyou, but if Sasshi wins again I'm going to be disappointed. From my list in December, I lost Kira Takahashi. She should've been promoted and maybe she would've stuck around. AKB has a lot of KKS that really need to be promoted already. Surprised that Miichan hasn't announced yet. She really should (as should Mayuyu and Yukirin). It's time for the original members to leave.

#1: Minami Minegishi (-)

#2: Mayu Watanabe (+1)

#3: Mion Mukaichi (+1)

#4: Nana Okada (-2)

#5: Hijiri Tanikawa (-)

#6: Yuki Kashiwagi (-)

#7: Riona Hamamatsu (NEW)

#8: Nao Nomura (NEW)

#9: Saho Iwatate (NEW)

#10: Hinana Shimoguchi (NEW)

SKE48

SKE has been a non event this year. Sure they released an album, but that was way back in February and still no single yet this year. They were also a non event last year (though I loved Chicken Line). I actually completely forgot that SKE recruited an 8th generation. That's how little I've been paying attention recently. I'm actually surprised I haven't lost anyone from my list last year. I thought for certain I'd lose at least one or two. I guess the graduation torrent from SKE has slowed this year and they're starting to stabilize with the younger gens.

#1: Rara Goto (-)

#2: Oka Suenaga (+3)

#3: Jurina Matsui (-1)

#4: Ryoha Kitagawa (NEW)

#5: Akari Suda (+1)

#6: Marika Tani (+3)

#7: Haruka Futamura (NEW)

#8: Ayaka Ota (NEW)

#9: Natsuki Takatsuka (-2)

#10: Sarina Souda (NEW)

NMB48

Still thinking Sayaka will graduate this year or at least announce. Especially because she didn't participate in Sousenkyou. Has NMB released any singles this year? I can't remember if Boku ga Igai was this year or last year. Shows how much I've been paying attention haha.

#1: Sayaka Yamamoto (-)

#2: Rina Yamao (+2)

#3: Ririka Suto (-1)

#4: Narumi Koga (+6)

#5: Kanae Iso (+4)

#6: Fuuko Yagura (-3)

#7: Rurina Nishizawa (+1)

#8: Mizuki Uno (NEW)

#9: Azusa Uemura (NEW)

#10: Ayaka Yamamoto (NEW)

HKT48

Sasshi can leave now. I'd be good with that. Especially because they're making her be part of HKT, STU, AND AKB songs. Just leave already and leave spaces for girls who need it gosh. HKT released a single this year right? It was that bug song I believe. I don't think I've listened to it yet. Oh well. I'm slightly surprised I lost Haruka from December. Wasn't expecting that. I think Meru's going to be gone by year end. Don't know why, just a feeling. Anna will certainly be gone too. I can't imagine she'll hold out much longer with all the drama surrounding her.

#1: Meru Tashima (-)

#2: Nako Yabuki (-)

#3: Nao Ueki (+4)

#4: Mio Tomonaga (NEW)

#5: Miku Tanaka (NEW)

#6: Haruka Kodama (-1)

#7: Emiri Yamashita (-1)

#8: Maria Imamura (NEW)

#9: Anna Murashige (NEW)

#10: Sakura Miyawaki (-7)

NGT48

I still haven't listened to their debut song. From what I've heard about it, it seems like it will just be meh anyway. We'll probably see one more grad this year, after Sousenkyou. Still surprised that Mizusawa left so soon.

#1: Yuka Ogino (-)

#2: Tsugumi Oguma (NEW)

#3: Rena Hasegawa (NEW)

#4: Reina Seiji (-1)

#5: Mau Takahashi (NEW)

#6: Minami Kato (-)

#7: Miharu Nara (+2)

#8: Ayaka Tano (NEW)

#9: Riko Sugahara (NEW)

#10: Anju Sato (-5)

STU48

Cuca joined a group! I'm so happy for her! Too bad she wasn't included in their debut song, although the song was incredibly boring so meh. Hopefully they do a dance number soon and she gets to shine! I'm predicting one grad this year before a team is formed. They're all new so no positions.

#1: Miyu Sakaki

#2: Akari Fukuda

#3: Miyuna Kadowaki

#4: Yuri Torobu

#5: Aoi Hyodo

#6: Saki Sugahara

#7: Yumiko Takino

#8: Chiho Ishida

#9: Ayumi Ichioka

#10: Nonoka Shintani

Nogizaka46

If not the end of this year, next year there's going to be a mass grad of a lot of first gen. They've been in the group for, what, six years now? A lot are probably thinking about the future at this point. Influencer was ok as a single, haven't heard the B-sides. Then they released an album, which I also haven't heard anything from. Hopefully once things settle down for me I'll be able to catch back up.

#1: Rina Ikoma (-)

#2: Minami Hoshino (-)

#3: Maaya Wada (-)

#4: Miria Watanabe (NEW)

#5: Manatsu Akimoto (+1)

#6: Erika Ikuta (+2)

#7: Sayuri Matsumura (NEW)

#8: Asuka Saito (-1)

#9: Sayuri Inoue (NEW)

#10: Reina Sakurai (-1)

Keyakizaka46

It's the only group that I semi-payed attention to the music of this year! Fukyouwaon was AMAZING. More like that for 48G please. I do predict more Keyaki grads by the end of the year. Maybe from the weird Hiragana system. I wasn't a huge fan of Techi when the group first started but gosh she's a perfect center.

#1: Yurina Hirate (+1)

#2: Yui Imaizumi (-1)

#3: Mizuho Habu (NEW)

#4: Mana Takase (NEW)

#5: Memi Kakizaki (NEW)

#6: Kyoko Saito (NEW)

#7: Nanako Nagasawa (-4)

#8: Rina Uemura (+1)

#9: Yuuka Kageyama (NEW)

#10: Nijika Ishimori (-4)

SNH48

I'm still not sure what to think on all the China48 groups. I haven't heard any of their new music this year. I'll get around to it eventually. I'm actually surprised that more of my positions didn't change from December.

#1: Mengying Lv (NEW)

#2: Beiting Qian (+6)

#3: Yi Zhang (NEW)

#4: Xinwen Sun (NEW)

#5: Jiaying Chen (+1)

#6: Jiongran Liu (NEW)

#7: Rui Sun (-3)

#8: Xiaoyin Kong (-1)

#9: Zhilin Shen (NEW)

#10: Wanqing Hao (NEW)

BEJ48

#1: Xinyi Ren (+5)

#2: Xian Liu (NEW)

#3: Xiang Li (NEW)

#4: Congcong Niu (NEW)

#5: Shuli Tian (NEW)

#6: Shan Sun (-2)

#7: Xiaohui Hu (NEW)

#8: Shuxian Liu (NEW)

#9: Hongyao Li (NEW)

#10: Yixuan Duan (NEW)

GNZ48

#1: Lirong Huang (NEW)

#2: Yirui Long (NEW)

#3: Siyue Wang (NEW)

#4: Cuifei Wang (NEW)

#5: Yuanjing Gao (NEW)

#6: Yuqi Chen (-1)

#7: Lifei Liu (-3)

#8: Qiulin Du (NEW)

#9: Qianqian Liu (-6)

#10: Yihong Li (NEW)

SHY48

#1: Xiao Yang

#2: Feiyan Wang

#3: Siyu Guan

#4: Jiarui Zhao

#5: Yunhan Yang

#6: Shihan Feng

#7: Jiale Han

#8: Zixi Lai

#9: Zhixian Gao

#10: Mengting Gong

25 Days Of Christmas Countdown Day #21: Top 48G 2016

I've already talked about both the music & the members from this year, so let's just jump right into the countdown!

#10

Keyakizaka46 - Futari Saison

#9

HKT48 - Make Noise

#8

AKB48 - High Tension

#7

NGT48 - Kimi wa Doko ni Iru?

#6

NogizakaAKB - Mazariau Mono

#5

Keyakizaka46 - Silent Majority

#4

Tentoumu Chu! - Seijun Tired

#3

AKB48 - Love Trip

#2

SKE48 - Chicken Line

#1

Nogizaka46 - Harukanaru Bhutan

25 Days Of Christmas Countdown Day #4: Top Nogizaka46 & Keyakizaka46

So. I've noticed that all 3 of the entries I've done so far besides this one I've screwed up the title. Wow. I clearly am not having a good week lol. I've been sick all week so that's my excuse.

Nogi & Keyaki are together in this because Keyaki doesn't have enough releases yet to have their own spot.

To me, Nogi hasn't had a super stand out year. Quite frankly all of their releases from this year blend together and I actually had to sit for a couple minutes to even remind myself what they'd released. I haven't enjoyed any of their title tracks this year and their album wasn't interesting outside of Erika Ikuta's solo either. I guess Nogi's music style is not for me at all. However, they do manage to release some really awesome songs once in a while. Like I said on my Top J-Pop post, when Nogizaka releases a good song, it's not just good, it's stellar. They did that this year. Their B-side Harukanaru Bhutan. Whoever did the music for that song, I just want to congratulate them on creating one of the most gorgeous pieces of pop music I've ever heard. I'm so upset that it was a B-side and didn't get a whole lot of attention. It's the best thing that any 48G group has ever put out. It's just too bad that the rest of their music is so bland. As for Nogi themselves this year, I'm actually a little shocked at how strong they are going right now. It looks very possible that they will beat AKB within the next year or two, as long as the idol market doesn't completely crash.

Keyaki is a bit of a mystery to me. I can't figure out if I want to like them more than Nogi or not. Their very first single, Silent Majority, absolutely blew me away. Such a style difference from Nogi's more reserved songs. I loved it and the B-sides weren't that bad either. However, I've been disappointed in their next two singles. I like that they're keeping the faux military concept, but I HATED Sekai ni wa. It's a song. There's not supposed to be that much talking in a song. Make a freaking drama if you want to talk over music don't ruin the song. The B-sides were okay, all though I did really like Yurina's Parco solo. That was cool. Although I don't hate Futari Saison, I find it bland like Nogi's material and the B-sides were very lacking too in my opinion. The group seems to be easily matching AKB's sister groups in sales and will likely surpass them by next year. One thing I do wonder though is how long people will like Yurina being the center. I think she's a rather good center, but as we saw with Nogi, will people start being resentful that she's the only one centering like Rina was? There's already some talk on forums that I've seen where people are wishing for a new center. I'm curious to see if management will stick with Yurina or if they'll try someone new next year.

On to the song countdown! Like last year, it's unlikely that all of the songs will be linked because it's harder to find 48G material online that aren't download links sadly.

#10

Nogizaka46 - Sono Saki no Deguchi (2014: Natsu no Free & Easy, Type A) (-4)

#9

Nogizaka46 - Yubi Bouenkyou (2012: Seifuku no Mannequin, all versions) (-2)

#8

Nogizaka46 - Popipappapa (2015: Ima, Hanashitai Dareka ga Iru, Type A) (-)

#7

Nogizaka46 - Natsu no Free & Easy (2014) (-4)

#6

Nogizaka46 - Barette (2013) (-2)

#5

Keyakizaka46 - Silent Majority (2016) (NEW)

#4

Nogizaka46 - Girl's Rule (2013) (+1)

#3

Nogizaka46 - Seifuku no Mannequin (2012) (-1)

#2

Nogizaka46 - Koko ni Iru Riyuu (2014: Natsu no Free & Easy, Type C) (-1)

#1

Nogizaka46 - Harukanaru Bhutan (2016: Harujion ga Sakukoro, all versions) (NEW)

Only one Keyaki on the countdown...maybe next year they'll feature more.

25 Days Of Christmas Countdown Day #2: Top J-Pop of All Time

So last year when I did this one, I didn't really know many J-pop songs outside of idol groups. This year I've gone more out of my way to find J-pop songs from soloists and bands. I still have a long way to go to get into other J-pop, but it's improving lol. Because of expanding my horizons, this list is much different than last year's. As with last year, this will not feature any songs from H!P or 48G (minus one) because the entire list would be from them otherwise.

#10

One Ok Rock - Mighty Long Fall (2014) (NEW)

Yeah blah blah this isn't technically J"pop" but I don't technically care. The only reason I checked this song out was because I saw their Taking Off video uploaded on the Fueled By Ramen YouTube & I was so confused because I knew they were a Japanese group and didn't know why they were being uploaded on an American YouTube channel. I'm glad I did decide to check it out though because it's such a great song. Reminds me a lot of Fall Out Boy who I love.

#9

Minako Honda - Dramatic Escape (1988) (NEW)

One thing I've really been trying to do over the past year is focus on 80s J-Pop. I really love the sound of it. Unfortunately, I haven't had the time to check out too many CDs, but one that I have is Minako's Lips album. It's SO good. I'm a sucker for great 80s music and it really is awesome.

No YT video, sorry. But you can listen to it on my 8Tracks playlist! (<---Clicky Clicky)

#8

Galette - Brand New Style (2013) (-6)

I DON'T WANNA TALK ABOUT IT GUYS. IT'S JUST NOT FAIR. I was devastated by the news of their disbanding. Well, at least as devastated as I can get with music. I don't get super attached to groups even if I love them so it's not like I was crying over it but I was still upset. They had SO MUCH POTENTIAL. Wasted. Utterly wasted. To be honest I'm more pissed off at their company than upset that they disbanded. But ANYWAY. This song has slipped a lot for me recently. Probably because I overplayed it to death. Still an absolutely amazing song though.

#7

Ayumi Hamasaki - Real Me (2002) (-4)

One of the very few non-English songs I enjoy primarily for its lyrics. Just a lovely song.

#6

Predia - Maboroshi wa Xanadu (2014) (NEW)

So. I feel as though I should be ashamed of myself for not knowing this song earlier. I actually owned it for a year before listening to it. I bought Predia's first album because I liked the singles and then never got around to actually listening to the album itself (which is absolutely fantastic by the way if you like dance pop & good vocals). I either like this or Yakou Chou best on the album but I couldn't decide which so I just went with which one I loved first lol.

No video

#5

Hangry & Angry - Top Secret (2009) (+1)

This really only has a placing because of nostalgia, but I remember this being my first real J-pop song addiction outside of Morning Musume.

#4

Momoiro Clover Z - Mouretsu Uchuu Koukyoukyoku Dainana Gakushou "Mugen no Ai"(2012) (-2)

Another song that's fallen because I played it completely to death. Still love the insane wackiness of the whole thing.

#3

Osaka Shunkashuto - Cameleon Shoujo (2015) (NEW)

When are they going to release a new single? Seriously they need to release something and not just perform all the time. I hate when I fall in love with a group and then they hardly ever release music (looking at you Coco Decoru. One release since 2014.) But at the same time Osaka Shunkashuto is one of the few groups that I actually have watched a couple live performances of, mainly because Maina is an absolute star and owns any stage she walks on.

#2

Galette - Air Summer (2015) (NEW)

Man I miss them. Their whole discography is flawless. They should've released one last single or an album before their end.

#1

Nogizaka46 - Harukanaru Bhutan (2016) (NEW)

This is my one exception. I only put this here because it is my actual favorite J-pop song of all time. It only came out this year, but it's one of those genre defining songs for me. The music is absolutely gorgeous and everything is just wonderful about it. It's actually surprising to me how much I love it as Nogizaka is one of my least favorite groups in 48G. However, when they have good songs, those songs are incredible.

No video :(

Top 48G Members [First Half 2016 Edition]

December's Ranking: Click Here

It really pains me to say this, but in contrast to H!P this year, 48G's music has been utterly fantastic. Not so much AKB, but the sister/"rival" groups. They've had a lot of impressive songs come out this year so far. They've also seemed actually interesting this year. I find myself checking up on news about them more often than usual. I think it's because the big older members are finally starting to leave (like how Takamina FINALLY got the heck out of the group. That was the single most pointless graduation drag out I've ever seen) and new members are beginning to fill the ranks. It's a fun transition time.

AKB48

-It's actually kind of sad how AKB manages to be so mediocre compared to their sister groups. Kimi wa Melody was an ok song, and had some fantastic B-sides, but the B-sides weren't even by AKB except for La La La (which was boring as crap). And Tsubasa wa Iranai & it's B-sides is AKB's management really phoning it in. I applaud them for resisting going back to bikini singles, but gosh can we at least have something with some energy? And if that preview for that new song is actually the Sousenkyou single then I'm giving up on any A-side being good this year from AKB.

#1: Minami Minegishi

#2: Mayu Watanabe

#3: Nana Okada

#4: Hijiri Tanikawa

#5: Mion Mukaichi

#6: Nana Owada

#7: Kira Takahashi

#8: Yuki Kashiwagi

#9: Moe Aigasa

#10: Kiara Sato

SKE48

-I honestly expected SKE to not catch my attention as much after Rena graduated, but really they've been more interesting than most groups. Rara is totally adorable and I'm glad that she's getting the push she's getting. Musically, SKE has released one of their best songs ever this year with Chicken Line. While most of the B-sides to the single were pretty standard pop fare, Is That Your Secret was really great too. I hope they get an album/original stage this year. It's been too long since both.

#1: Rara Goto

#2: Aya Shibata

#3: Nao Furuhata

#4: Jurina Matsui

#5: Kaori Matsumura

#6: Ruka Kitano

#7: Akari Suda

#8: Natsuki Takatsuka

#9: Oka Suenaga

#10: Marika Tani

NMB48

-NMB had some great title tracks last year, but this year's Amagami Hime wasn't really up to par with songs like Must Be Now & Don't Look Back. It's good, but not that good. The B-sides were also rather disappointing. I'm hoping that their next singles this year are better. With NMB, I feel like they're really beginning that major transition phase that SKE seems to be starting to come out of. The phase where older members & popular members are wanting to move on & pass the baton to younger girls. With Miyuki leaving (and in my opinion I believe Sayaka will be gone by the end of next year too), they will have to make the transition to new gen sooner rather than later. They are doing better on that front than SKE did when they began the transition though.

#1: Sayaka Yamamoto

#2: Rina Yamao

#3: Ririka Suto

#4: Shu Yabushita

#5: Fuuko Yagura

#6: Miru Shiroma

#7: Konomi Kusaka

#8: Kanae Iso

#9: Rurina Nishizawa

#10: Ayaka Morita

HKT48

-I've all but given up hope that HKT will ever release good A-sides ever again. Or B-sides for that matter really. However, their B-side on Kimi wa Melody was incredible. Make Noise is the best thing they've ever done. They should totally do that style on an A-side just to shake stuff up because of how boring they usually are.

#1: Meru Tashima

#2: Nako Yabuki

#3: Chihiro Anai

#4: Sakura Miyawaki

#5: Emiri Yamashita

#6: Haruka Ueno

#7: Yui Kojina

#8: Nao Ueki

#9: Haruka Kodama

#10: Aoi Motomura

NGT48

-Well, they haven't really done anything yet so I don't have a whole lot of thoughts on them. Their B-side releases for AKB are pretty boring though. And I really really don't like Moeka. She feels like such a poor choice for center over the amount of girls they have who could pull it off much better. I still can't really rank them with any certainty because they haven't released a single yet.

#1: Yuka Ogino

#2: Minami Kato

#3: Rika Nakai

#4: Reina Seiji

#5: Nanako Nishimura

#6: Yuria Otaki

#7: Mau Takahashi

#8: Marina Nishigata

#9: Rie Kitahara

#10: Hinata Honma

Nogizaka46

-Honestly, Nogi releases music more boring than HKT. They really do. However, as a group they seem to have much more personality. Although Nogi's music borders from bland to blander, they have managed to release one of the best Japanese songs of all time this year. No I'm not kidding when I say that. Harukanaru Bhutan is probably my favorite song to ever come out of the 48Gs, and at this point it's very very close to becoming my favorite Japanese song of all time. The composition and production of that song is just absolutely gorgeous. The alternating between the guitar & the traditional instruments before that last chorus is just a beautiful piece of music. So powerful. When they have songs as good as that in their arsenal, why the heck are they constantly releasing snoozefests? I can't remember how any of their A-sides go as far back as Natsu no Free & Easy because they're all the same flavor of boring.

#1: Rina Ikoma

#2: Minami Hoshino

#3: Maaya Wada

#4: Mai Shiraishi

#5: Manatsu Akimoto

#6: Karin Ito

#7: Marika Ito

#8: Nanase Nishino

#9: Erika Ikuta

#10: Himeka Nakamoto

Keyakizaka46

-I was so incredibly surprised by their debut single. It was so different for the usual 48G stuff! This is what they need desperately. Curveballs. It seems like the Japanese public loved the Silent Majority concept too so that should provide incentive for them to comeback with another great song. I'm still not 100% on my ranking, but my top girls are more or less decided.

#1: Yui Imaizumi

#2: Miyu Suzumoto

#3: Manaka Shida

#4: Aoi Harada

#5: Yurina Hirate

#6: Yui Kobayashi

#7: Nijika Ishimori

#8: Mizuho Haba

#9: Neru Nagahama

#10: Nanami Yonetani

So here's my thoughts, agree, disagree?

25 Days Of Christmas Countdown Day #3: Top Nogizaka46 Songs

Day #3! Now we descend into my top songs of 48G & H!P. I chose to separate them as all of the groups have so much material (and I need enough posts to reach Christmas lol). Nogizaka46 is probably the group I know the least songs from in 48G as they were the final group of the 48G that I followed. As with the last list, not all clips will be in full and some will be links only.

#10: Sekai de Ichiban Kodoku na Lover (2013)

#9: Kizuitara Kataomoi (2014)

#8: Popipappapa (2015)

#7: Yubi Bouenkyou (2012)

#6: Sono Saki no Deguchi (2014)

#5: Girls Rule (2013)

#4: Barette (2013)

#3: Natsu no Free & Easy (2014)

#2: Seifuku no Mannequin (2012)

#1: Koko ni Iru Riyuu (2014)

Enjoy! What's your favorite Nogizaka46 track?

48G Ranking May 2015

Since I just did one on Hello! Project I think it's only fair to do one on the 48s as well. I won't do this as detailed as the H!P one. To be honest I couldn't even tell you why I like certain girls from 48G except for my top ones. I'm only going to list my top ten of each group...if I ranked everyone this post would be 3 pages long xD. I'm not counting kennins during the group rankings. If a kennin ranks it would would be with her main group. The list also will not include any girls who have announced their graduations.

AKB48

#1. Minami Minegishi [Team K]

#2. Nana Okada [Team 4]

#3. Misaki Iwasa [Team B]

#4. Hijiri Tanikawa [Team 8]

#5. Yuki Kashiwagi [Team B]

#6. Mitsuki Maeda [Team 4]

#7. Anna Iriyama [Team A]

#8. Mariya Nagao [Team K]

#9. Nana Fujita [Team K]

#10. Moe Aigasa [Team K]

SKE48

#1. Rena Matsui [Team E]

#2. Aya Shibata [Team E]

#3. Jurina Matsui [Team S]

#4. Ruka Kitano [Team KII]

#5. Nao Furuhata [Team KII]

#6. Madoka Umemoto [Team E]

#7. Akari Suda [Team E]

#8. Marika Tani [Team E]

#9. Rika Tsuzuki [Team S]

#10. Ami Miyamae [Team S]

NMB48

#1. Sayaka Yamamoto [Team N]

#2. Rina Yamao [Team N]

#3. Shu Yabushita [Team BII]

#4. Fuuko Yagura [Team M]

#5. Konomi Kusaka [Team BII]

#6. Yuuka Kato [Team N]

#7. Narumi Koga [Team N]

#8. Kanako Kadowaki [Team BII]

#9. Miyuki Watanabe [Team BII]

#10. Rurina Nishizawa [Team N]

HKT48

#1. Nako Yabuki [Team H]

#2. Chihiro Anai [Team H]

#3. Haruka Ueno [Team H]

#4. Haruka Wakatabe [Team H]

#5. Anna Murashige [Team KIV]

#6. Meru Tashima [Team H]

#7. Miku Tanaka [Team H]

#8. Mao Yamamoto [Team H]

#9. Emili Yamashita [Kenkyuusei]

#10. Aoi Motomura [Team KIV]

Nogizaka46

#1. Minami Hoshino

#2. Rina Ikoma

#3. Maaya Wada

#4. Iori Sagara

#5. Marika Ito

#6. Kazumi Takayama

#7. Nanase Nishino

#8. Misa Eto

#9. Mai Shiraishi

#10. Sayuri Inoue

And that's it! I don't follow JKT or SNH at all so I didn't include them. Post your own rankings if you'd like!

Nogizaka46 - Inochi wa Utsukushii

I'm shocked that I'm getting another newer release done lol. This is Nogizaka's latest single. I'm pretty sad that they ended the Rina/Rena concurrences. Rena worked well in Nogizaka and Rina really seemed to blossom in AKB. It's really a shame that their kennins were cancelled. I still don't get why fans complain about kennins....all of the 48s really are only subgroups of AKB...at least that's how I see it. I believe it's only a matter of time before Nogizaka46 is used in AKB as a tactic to keep them million sellers.

The title track of the single is Inochi wa Utsukushii. Nogizaka's lead tracks tend to be very hit or miss for me (much like the rest of 48G). This song is in the middle for me. It's one of their better title tracks, but I have mixed feelings about it. The verses are really great, which surprises me, but the chorus just seems like a bit of a let down to me. I'm not really sure what I was expecting. The music video is really beautiful. I don't like the dresses in the dance shot though. They're pretty hideous. 4/5.

Inochi wa Utsukushii MV

The main B-side across all versions is Arakajime Katarareru Romance. It's a very typical idol song. Not my thing at all really. If I had a dollar for every J-pop song I own that sounds like/has this feel, I'd actually be able to afford my music addiction. 3/5.

Arakajime Katarareru Romance (Audio)

The Type A B-side for this single is Tachinaorichuu. I think I'd rather listen to Arakajime on repeat than this more than once. It's so boring. Like all idol ballads, I've heard this song at least 100 other times. I swear all they do is mess with the arrangements of one song, retitle it, have new girls sing it, and call them new songs. Very rarely do I hear anything that makes them any more special or different than the others. The music video for the song is really long. Companies, you can tell a story within the length of a song too you know....especially J-pop songs because they're usually 4-5 minutes long. 3/5.

Tachinaorichuu MV

The Type B B-side for this single is Gomen ne Zutto. It's another ballad. Really Nogizaka song choosing people? Really? I think it's even more boring than Tachinaorichuu. Not even the pick up for the chorus helps the song. It's just bland. The music video is so cute though. I'm guessing this is a Nanase solo then? Her voice sounds pretty good if so. I love the childhood pictures/clips that they put in the video. It almost feels like a graduation video even though it's not. I think when she looks back on this time in her life, this video will be really something special. 3/5.

Gomen ne Zutto MV

The Type C B-side for this single is Kimi wa Boku to Awanai Kata ga Yokatta no Kana. It's at least not a ballad. That's what I can say nice about it. Even though the instrumentation is different than the other tracks, I still can't find anything that stands out about this song in a good way. It's easily the most forgettable song from the single. The music video is so run of the mill too that it doesn't make the song any more memorable like Gomen ne Zutto's video does. 3/5.

Kimi wa Boku to Awanai Kata ga Yokatta no Kana MV

The final B-side for this single is found on the regular version of the CD and is called Border. It's actually funny to me that this B-side is the best of the whole single. It's upbeat and catchy. After every 48G release, I always listen to the clips to decide which version of the CD to get (cause I can't afford all at once), and I was so happy that the best B-side was on the cheapest version xD I almost like it as much as Inochi. 4/5.

Border (Audio)

Like I said earlier, Nogizaka's singles are very hit or miss for me, but this is probably the most boring 48G release in a long time. There's almost nothing special about this release. I can't say that I'll come back to any song on this single very often after the new factor wears off. 3/5.

Nogizaka46 - Nandome no Aozora ka

I've officially decided that I will not attempt to embed any more Jpopsuki videos. The reason being is that it just slows down the page a lot. I know a lot of people don't have the best computers or internet so I don't want to cause issues with that especially because of the already high amount of YouTube embeds on this blog.

Nogizaka46 is another one of the groups under the 48G umbrella. Yes, yes, they're called AKB's "official rivals" but obviously that's not true xD Rena & Rina's kennins confirm that Nogizaka is practically another sister group. What's interesting about Nogizaka however is that they are more of a "traditional" group. To be honest, I'm not really 100% sure what exactly that means. I'm guessing their style leans more to 80s-90s J-Pop? I really don't know a lot about J-Pop beyond the 2010s so I'm not sure. Unlike the 48s as well is that Nogizaka does not use the Team system and instead is only broken up by generation.

The title track is performed by the selected Senbatsu members. This single is probably the best title track of the year. It's not my personal favorite, but musically I think it's the best. Kidzuitara Kataomoi was pretty boring for me and Natsu no Free & Easy (although my favorite because it's catchy) is extremely generic and sounds like the vast majority of the 48 group tracks from this year. Nandome to me feel like a mix between Kidzuitara & Natsu. Not musically because none of the three sound like each other, but just in the feel of the track overall. I really don't care for the music video. I also don't really understand the video either xD Another reason I really should stop putting off attempting to learn some basic Japanese. From what I understand, the guy is somehow in an all-girl school, and then the girls sort of gang up on him in the end? I think? I don't know but I feel bad for the guy xD Unless he says something not good in the beginning....but I don't understand what he's saying so yeah. 4/5

Senbatsu: Erika Ikuta, Mai Shiraishi, Nanase Nishino, Nanami Hashimoto, Sayuri Matsumura, Yumi Wakatsuki, Rina Ikuta, Manatsu Akimoto, Mai Fukagawa, Reika Sakurai, Misa Eto, Kazumi Takayama, Minami Hoshino, Chiharu Saito, Miona Hori, Rena Matsui

Nandome no Aozora ka MV

The second track of the single is Toomawari no Aijou. Honestly, this song is incredibly forgettable. It's just another ballad. To me there's nothing really special about it at all. 3/5.

I'll add the audio only tracks later. I just don't have the time right now to search for them/upload them myself. Sorry!

The Type A track for this single is Korogatta Kane wo Narase!. I absolutely love the video for this song! It's the highlight of the release for me. I also love that the announcer speaks in Spanish xD I can understand Spanish at an ok level (Not sure what the actual term would be...) & I was actually able to understand what was being said so I was happy. The song is ok. Certainly not something I'd play a lot without the video. 3/5 (but 5/5 for the awesome video!)

Korogatta Kane wo Narase MV

The Type B track for this single is Watashi, Okiru. I believe this is my favorite song of the release. After last single's fantastic "Koko ni Iru Riyuu", I was really hoping that there would be a track on their next single in a similar style. Although I didn't quite get that, this song has some of the same style. Unfortunately it's nowhere near as good. As for the video, honestly I only made it through about half of it. I really dislike music videos that are a lot longer than the song itself. Although if you like videos like that, you'll probably like it. 4/5.

Watashi, Okiru MV

The Type C track for this single is Ano Hi Boku wa Tossa ni Uso wo Tsuita. This another pretty typical song. It's good, but nothing special at all. Kind of reminds me of Sono Saki no Deguchi from their last single but again not as good. The video again I didn't get through. I like videos with a story but sometimes it's too much. This is a pop song not a drama. 3.5/5.

Ano Hi Boku wa Tossa ni Uso wo Tsuita MV

The regular edition track for this single is Tender Days. It's ok, but another forgettable track. What I do like about it however when in comparison to Toomawari is that this has some "country music" sounds in it which gives it more character. Too bad that it's boring for the most part. They could've gone further with the "country" theme. 3/5.

I'm honestly pretty disappointed with this release as a whole. Maybe I just had my expectations too high. The entire Natsu no Free & Easy single was very solid and had a few high quality songs. This release isn't bad, just pretty boring. All of the songs are pretty low energy and even though I'd be critical of the obvious generic idol energetic pop song, this release really needs one just to up the energy a bit. Or at least some interesting production. There were a few songs that seemed like they were heading in the right direction, but just didn't go far enough. 3.5/5. Enjoy the songs!