This week in the world of AKB48 (17/10/2012-23/10/2012)

align: center;”>Welcome to the third weekly installment of “This week in the world of AKB48” where we cover the news of the past week in all things AKB. As usual, the article will contain summaries of key news posts and links to the original news post to keep you updated on the happenings of the past week. This week, look forward to a slightly shorter but more concise summary of recent news.
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First up for the week, the third installment of AKB48’s documentary series has been announced for release in early 2013. Entitled “No flower without rain”, the documentary known for covering key moments in AKB48’s career will this time focus on key members including AKB48’s proverbial flower “Maeda Atsuko” although the title likely refers to the recent trials and tribulations that faced AKB48. According to the press release, the movie will cover the graduation of Maeda Atsuko, Yuko’s feelings as the new centre in the abscene of the ace and AKB48’s new goal.
Some also speculate that the movie may deal with the recent Sashihara scandal as much of this happened in the same relative period. Check here for more information, and some of the reactions of the fans.

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NMB48 Team N’s Masuda Shiori has announced her graduation, claiming that she was unable to provide her 100% to fans during a team N performance and that she would return to her normal life. Shiori’s departure will mark the 5th graduation for a regular member in the group since the start of the year as fans become uneasy about the recent departures, although NMB itself seems to be doing quite well having just released the music video for Kitagawa Kenji to mostly positive reception with some saying that NMB48 has found its own “Heavy Rotation”.

To find out more about the graduation and a link to the MV, follow the links below.

Graduation Article

MV Reveal and Reactions

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Kojima Haruna will be co-starring alongside Smap’s Kimura Takuya in the drama “Priceless”.
The show featuring in golden time television will mark the 3rd AKB member to appear in a getsuku drama and also her first to co-star alongside Kimura in a drama. Kojiharu will play the role of “Tomizawa Moe”, a hardcore idol fan who makes a living for herself by selling photos of herself cosplaying as a street idol. Kojiharu herself said that “Because my actual job is an idol, the role is easy for me ….i’m familar with many things about her.” in relation to her new role.
Fans are speculating this is all related to the fact that Kimura has a secret interest in Kojiharu as attested to in the all famous Shukan Bunshu.
To find out more about the show, check it out in this post.

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Enka Specialist Iwasa Misaki has announced her second single currently untitled for release in January.  Wasamin's 2nd solo single was announced during her solo event in Odaiba, Tokyo where she stated that “it would be the most wonderful event ever for her” in relation to the announcement. For those of you unfamiliar with Wasamin’s enka songs, check out the MV for “Mujin’eki”.

For the original article, check out this blog post here.

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The AKB48 waiting stage for the new members for each team have been announced to some amount of controversy, particularly on the choices made for team K which while still remaining home to Oshima Yuko, has had some interesting changes. These are simply starting stages that will change as management decides on different members for performances. Kenkyuusei performances were announced to be continued but under the new system, Kenkyuusei will no longer be attending regular team's performances as unders. Find out about this and more here on AKB48WrapUp.

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Indonesian sister group, JKT48 recently held their first signature event as a promotional event for the release of their photobook “Love JKT”. As usual, those who bought the book were given a ticket and the event functions much like AKB48's own handshake events. Of course members were likewise victim to empty lines. Check out the original post for photos directly from the event.

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In other news

• SKE48 has been unofficially announced to be joining the lineup for the end of year music festival “NHK Kohaku Utagassen”.
• AKB48 Graduate Maeda Atsuko's Blog is closing.
• Check this post out for a recap of the SNH48 behind-the-scenes TV show.
• HKT48 are filming an MV!

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Finally, happy birthday to Amina Sato and Oshima Yuko who have had their birthdays on the 15th and 16th respectively. Find out how Yuko celebrated her birthday here.

Once again, we hope you have enjoyed the news for this week and we'll see you next week for another round of AKB48 goodness!

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