New Milky Way Artists Photos (「☆☆☆」)
New Morning Musume Artist Photos (「☆☆☆」)
New Morning Musume & MilkyWay Artist Pictures (Totally Hello! Project)
Lookie, Lookie What I Found… (Give Me Love)

There are new official photos of Milky Way and Morning Musume and they show off the costumes for their latest singles.

Bri at 「☆☆☆」thinks the Milky Way outfits are cute and says that Niigaki Risa, Kamei Eri and Takahashi Ai stand out amongst Morning Musume.

亜田無 at Totally Hello! Project has the pictures posted.

Give Me Love posted the Milky Way outfits and talks about them as well as the desire to own one of the tambourines that the girls carry around.

Milky Way’s 2nd Single Revealed [Tantantaan!]

Here are some of the particulars of the new Milky Way single, which will be a theme song for Kirarin Revolution.  TH!P also has info on the contents of the LE, and the single V.  I hope this song is as good as their first one!

[Rumour] New Hello! Pro Egg Unit (Totally Hello! Project)
New Eggs Unit! (Donmai!)

Totally Hello! Project brings us news of a possible new unit for the H!P Eggs that will be singing the opening song for Shugo Chara!’s new season. She reassures us Buono! fans that Buono! will still be singing the ending songs, and also has some speculation about who may be in the new unit. She feels that it is quite likely that Maeda Yuuka will be in the unit, but emphasizes that the details are uncertain.

Donmai! is a new Hello! Project blog reporting on the new unit. Ashi introduces herself as well as confirming the news of the Eggs unit. While she is not certain of her translation, she gives us official news from Pony Canyon’s site. Donmai! seems promising, and I hope she continues to make quality posts!

New Morning Musume, Berryz and C-ute tv show (Morningtime)

Yoroshiku Sensei [Yorosen!] New Hello! Project Show (Totally Hello! Project)

Morningtime and Totally H!P have the inside scoop on the new show to replace Berikyuu!  Apparently it will be called Yorosen! and will star the three H!P core groups and Mano Erina.  Everyone seems to be a bit cautious about their enthusiasm since we have no idea what this is going to look like.  But Morningtime sums up my feelings about show’s running time perfectly.

A weeknight timeslot has got to be better than Sunday mornings.  But 7 minutes per show?  And I never saw an episode of Berikyuu! that was more than 5 minutes long.  That is hardly enough time to put together something substantially entertaining.  I wish them luck, they’ll need it!

And if I see the King Baby, Nintendo Wii, or the girls talking into a vase I am changing the channel!

Today’s Releases (2008-08-25)  (Totally Hello! Project)

Totally Hello! Project brings us news of the release of Aibon’s new book, Kago Ai LIVE ~Kago Ai no Miseinen Hakusho~  Aibon describes it as a book for young people contemplating their present and future.  For what it’s worth, I personally still adore Kago as much as ever, and hope that this, and any other future projects are a huge success.

So what is the chance that Aibon will be releasing a translated version for all of her new California friends?  I am really not in the mood to learn Kanji!

5 (FIVE) Covers (Hello! C-ute)
5 (Five) Covers (「☆☆☆」)
Covers for 5 (FIVE) (Totally Hello! Project)
5(FIVE) (H!P Fangirling like Nobody’s Business)

Some low quality photos for Berryz upcoming 5th album have been released. Many people have been talking about BK’s new artist photos on the official H!P site, and the assumption that those outfits would be used on the new cover were correct. However, it looks like people are liking the covers even though the initial reaction to the outfits themselves were more negative.

Buono!’s 5th Single (Hello! C-ute)
Buono! 5th Single (Strawberrie)
Buono! 5th Single (「☆☆☆」)
Buono! To Release 5th Single (2008-11-12) (Totally Hello! Project)

Buono! has a 5th single on the way, which will be the first ending theme for Shugo Chara’s second season. I think the announcement of this single has allowed many Buono! fans to breathe a sigh of relief in regards to the possibility of the group breaking up. I wasn’t particularly worried, particuarly since I saw links to merchandise to celebrate Buono!’s 1 year anniversary a few days ago… If you’re celebrating 1 year, I don’t think you’re gonna kill the group the next day. XD

Berryz Koubou 18th Single (Strawberrie)
Berryz Koubou 18th Single (「☆☆☆」)
Berryz Koubou’s 18th Single (Hello! C-ute)
18th Berryz Koubou Single Announced (Totally Hello! Project)

Many blogs have news of Berryz Koubou’s 18th Single, which has yet to be named. This is coming about a month and a half after the release of Berryz Koubou’s 5th album. All I have to say is that I’m so glad the remix of Dschinghis Khan is only a special release, and not actually a BK single.

Cover for Ongaku Gatas’ Come Together

Totally Hello! Project shares the cover for Ongaku Gatas’ upcoming single, Come Together. To be blunt, I find this cover pretty hot. I guess that’s what Yossy in an orange biker jacket and a tight leather skirt does to me. For any girls who think they like men, this might be one of those turnaround points for you! Don’t be afraid to come out of the closet.

Kago Ai Comeback in Full Swing

It looks like Kago has quite a few things on her todo list and Totally Hello! Project has the details. She’s got an upcoming book and a bunch of television interviews to promote it. On top of that, she’s already lined up a second movie role. This girl definitely has her eye on the prize.

Ayaka Marries! (Totally Hello! Project)
Hello! Online Forums
JPH!P Forums

It was brought to my attention by our own Charmy Renai that former Hello! Project and Coconuts Musume member, Ayaka has gotten married to professional golfer Tanihara Hideto. Totally Hello! Project is on the ball and already has the news up, congratulations, as well as a little bit of pondering on why Ayaka really left H!P.

Links are also provided to the H!O and JPH!P forums where a picture of the article is available. I’m sure those threads will soon be filling up with lots of thoughts, congratulations and reactions to the news.

Finally! New Yaguchi Mari Artist Picture…& Kusumi Koharu. (Totally Hello! Project)
A new single for Mari? (H!P Fangirling like Nobody’s Business)

It looks like the official Hello! Project website has new artist photos for Mari and Koharu. TOtally Hello! Project has both photos up. It looks like Koharu’s been updated for her latest single.

On that vein, DJ_MaiMai wonders if the updating of Mari’s photo is indicative of an upcoming single for the H!P soloist. I don’t know how likely that is, but it’s an interesting thought, nonetheless.

New Berryz Releases (some boys! blog)
Two new Berryz releases! (H!P Fangirling like Nobody’s Business)
Dschinghis Khan Onkochishin Remix (Hello!°C-ute)
Berryz Koubou’s 5th Album (Hello!°C-ute)
Berryz Koubou 5th Album & “New” Single (Totally Hello! Project)
New Berryz Releases (Strawberrie)

Berryz Koubou have 2 new upcoming releases and the news is being reported around our blogsphere. Berryz Koubou’s 5th album has been announced and is due to be released in September. Their 4th album was great, so they’ve got a lot to live up to. However, seeing the upcoming title for their 18th single worries me in that regard… Why would a remixed version of Dschinghis Khan need to be released? Is Tsunku running out of ideas or something? Is it time for his vacation, and Berryz Koubou is the group who can take a little pounding?

I was hoping this 18th single was a joke, but it seems it’s already listed on CDJapan. Is it silly of me to keep on hoping that it’s just a really random (and horribly late) April fools joke?

Three New Hello! Pro Egg Members

All we’ve got so far is their names, but I’m looking forward to finding more out about these girls.

SHIPS - TOKYO FRIEND*SHIPS PV (Totally Hello!Project)
Dohhh Up!

The two totally-straight boys from Kirarin Revolution are done playing with each other on OhaStar and now have a PV. In it, one of the boys does the Sharon Stone move from the interrogation scene in Basic Instinct. Come on, wouldn’t it have been hilarious had he been wearing a skirt or one-piece when he did that? I can’t be the only person who thinks this…

As you’d expect, there were plenty of reactions to Goto Maki joining Avex. I’ll be spreading out the reactions over the next few posts.

Goto Maki Signs with Avex! [Update: Official Website] (Totally Hello!Project)
Goto Maki signs with Avex! (Hello!Girl)
Is it Fate? (H!P Fangirling like Nobody’s Business)
GomAvex! Goto Joins Avex (TokioZimmer’s Blog)
The “Go To” Gal (The J-Pex)

Totally Hello!Project reiterates the news.

Hello!Girl chastises Hello!Project. I feel it is an accurate point when the entry claims that Maki “seems to be the one person from Momusu everyone in Japan names immediately once you say you are a fan or Morning Musume.” I know that the story today is talking about what Maki could possibly do in Avex, but I still feel it is relevant to discuss her departure from H!P.

DJ_MaiMai has what appears to be translated stories on the story. It is really emphasizing that singing is something Maki wants to focus on from here on out. After reading this, it makes it ever the more apparent the difference between idol and non-idol. DJ_MaiMai also muses on the connection between Maki and Koda Kumi.

Ryou of TokioZimmer has the news and lots of pictures to boot.

JPex considers possible avenues for Gocchin. It is definitely interesting to see someone who doesn’t think Maki will turn into the next Koda Kumi. There is an implication in here that there are some people who would be against such a direction and, well, I’d like to meet these people. Pex has an interesting theory on what Maki could become instead of the Koda Kumi clone.

Buono! 4th Single - Gachinko de Ikou! (2008-08-20) (Totally Hello! Project)
Buono! 4th Single: Gachinko de Ikou! (★Strawberrie★)
Gachinko de Ikou! (Hello!°C-ute)

Reports bring word of Buono!’s upcoming 4th single, “Gachinko de Ikou!”, which will be Shugo Chara’s new ending theme, to be released in August. It’s great to see Buono! continuing to dominate the landscape, Natsuyaki’s non-scandal notwithstanding.