Oh, god. Just when you think AKB48 couldn't get any lower. Then this happens.
Following rumors that she had -- shock! -- been on dates and slept at someone's place, minor AKB48 idol Minami Minegishi (20) has been demoted from active member to a kenkyusei (research student) position -- one short of being sacked.
But she also made a bizarre tearful video apology with her head shaved as a sign of penance.
The painful video was uploaded last night and has at time of writing this already been viewed 1.6 million times.
This is so distasteful. Shaving someone's head is what locals did to ...
Anan magazine, the ladies' fashion monthly with a liking for nude or sexy shots of famous girls, has gone after another AKB48 member for its latest publicity-seeking cover feature.
After rather lovely revealing shoots with Haruna Kojima and Yuko Oshima, it has now chosen Yuki Kashiwagi, the 21-year old AKB48 singer and model who has oft stood in the shadow of the limelight enjoyed by the other main members of the Akihabara-based idol army.
She is the fifth member to appear in Anan, perhaps indicating more mainstream fame awaits Yuki.
The seven-page shoot took place at a hotel and, though ...
Police are now apparently investigating Kodansha and the producers of the controversial (or just ridiculous) Tomomi Kasai pseudo-child porn photo where a foreign kid stands behind her, peeking over her naked body while holding her breasts.
Well, nothing's sacred for long -- and certainly not when Japan's Netizens get their clutches on something.
Tomomi Kasai's "hand bra" picture might well have been banned from a magazine ad and from her debut soon-to-be-re-released photo book, but you can now enjoy the sight of her rather generous bust being cupped... Only not by the odd foreign ...
Continuing on from the maelstrom that engulfed Tomomi Kasai's much-hyped photo book release, publisher Kodansha has made a formal apology for the controversial image of a young foreign boy clasping the naked bust of a smiling Tomomi.
"The cause was our checking system for publishing did not get to it," they explained.
Perhaps the big yen signs in front of their eyes, branded there by the AKB management, prevented them from seeing the incredible bizarreness of the image.
Kodansha also publishes Young Magazine, which was set to print a big ad for the photo book with the provocative ...
After a brouhaha that erupted in the last days, including Young Magazine's latest issue being shunted to the next week, the controversy over the Tomomi Kasai photo book continues.
Now Kodansha, who also publish Young Magazine, has announced that the photo book won't be going on sale as planned on February 4th.
Presumably they will pulp the copies and re-print it without the problematic photo.
The provocative image featured Tomomi with her luscious bust bare, with the nipples cupped and covered from behind by a seemingly naked foreign infant.
Certainly people seemed pretty ...
Kodansha, which had planned to put the latest issue of Young Magazine on sale tomorrow (January 12), has been forced to postpone the publishing date to January 21st.
Why? Because it suddenly realised that an ad page announcing a new photo book for Tomomi Kasai, soon to leave AKB48 formally and concentrate on her solo career, was "inappropriate".
Yes, Tomomi and her "hand bra" poses are too sexy for Kodansha (admittedly, the "hands" are not Tomomi's but those of a young boy). The issue would have featured Kasai heavily, including on the cover.
Instead, the next issue will appear ...
Sorry, we're a bit late on the uptake with this but it seems that Japan's least favorite idol group is not just a musical incarnation of Satan, though with a FEW hot girls thrown in (and some right stinkers like Tomomi Itano!) -- it is also an illegal drug!
We had a very big chuckle about this when we heard.
What irony!
The group that is for otaku a real addiction is literally a pharmaceutical substance!
Granted, this is all according to the authority that is Wikipedia, which has been known to be the occasional victim of sabotage. But the Wiki page is well annotated, ...
A survey of Japanese Wikipedia pages has revealed that the most viewed are a list of JAV actresses and then the pages for AKB48 and then fellow idol band Momoiro Clover Z.
If ever we needed yet more prove that the Japanese take their porn seriously and spend all their time online getting horny, then here it is!
According to the survey data, the AV list got an amazing 18,569,543 views, dwarving its Akiba idol rivals with a mere 7,133,542.
That's the kind of internet we like to see. Porn and ...
Although this time it's not due to a sex scandal, AKB48 will be losing another of its main members at some as yet to be disclosed time in the future.
The lovely Tomomi Kasai (21) has announced her "graduation" from the Akiba idol super group. Her first solo single Masaka is also set for release on December 26th.
A veteran of the all-consuming, all-conquering band since 2006, she is now the ninth member to attempt a career outside of the group.
With the main members now seemingly dropping like flies, who will be next?! I guess they are all watching Atsuko Maeda's progress ...
There's hope for us all yet.
We were all a bit sad when SDN48 -- the "sexy" version of AKB48, as if those girls weren't sexualized enough! -- disbanded in March this year.
Megumi Ohori was one of the groups "talents" and she was also a minor member of AKB48 once upon a time.
The 29-year old cutie had a surprise for everyone when she took part in a special public reunion event at the AKB48 Theater to celebrate the venue's seventh anniversary.
She has got married!
She is the first former AKB48 member to get married.
And her choice of partner? Rest easy, ...
