Sphere’s third album release called Third Planet has claimed the third rank on Oricon Weekly Album Chart. Three times ‘third’ in the previous sentence, as though it was bound to rank on that place. The estimated number of copies sold in the first week has crossed 21,000. That is a rise from the previous album release, which sold about 16,000 copies in the first week.

Third Planet includes several OP and ED songs from the past year, such as Hanasaku Iroha ED Hazy and Shinryaku!? Ika Musume OP HIGH POWERED, and 4 original songs.

Both the regular and the limited edition of the album are available on CDJapan, but there are only a few copies of the limited edition left, so hurry if you want to get it.

Kitamura Eri is going to release her first album on July 25 and its covers for both the regular and the limited edition have been revealed. The regular edition features Kitaeri in a black outfit, while the limited edition offers Kitaeri in a pure white dress.

The album is supposed to include 4 songs from previously released singles, Happy Girl, Be Starters!, Shirushi, Be a Diamond!, and 9 new songs, adding up to 13 songs in total. The limited edition comes with a photobooklet and it comes in a digipak case instead of the regular one.

Both the limited and the regular edition are available on CDJapan. They still list the first press editions which come with an A4 photo as an external bonus.

Kitamura Eri’s singles have been selling quite well so far, therefore the same could be expected from the upcoming album. By the way, Kitaeri is also going to be performing at Animelo Summer Live this August.

There was an interesting poll on Anime One that asked people what female seiyuu they would like to have as a classmate. Hikasa Youko has ended up on the first place with almost 50% more than Taketatsu Ayana who ranked #2. Iguchi Yuka claimed the third rank beating her good friend Asumi Kana by one vote.

If I were to choose on of the top 10 as my classmate, I think I would go with Yuuki Aoi or Taketatsu Ayana. They are both cute and both of them are very fond of anime and games. Ayachi is one of the girls who like galge, which would make her a great partner for talking. Ao-chan is quite an enigmatic fujoshi who is crazy when she gets into high spirits. Sometimes I’d like to peek inside her head to see what’s going on inside.

The third alternative would be Iguchi Yuka. Yukachi is extremely funny and her Iguchi Yuka no Muuun radio show is an infallible mood lifter. What’s more, she’s cute too and her attempts at acting feminine and sexy are usually lead into great laughter.

After several releases as a member of YuiKaori, RO-KYU-BU, and StylipS, Ogura Yui is getting her solo debut. A 90-second long preview of the music video of her debut single Raise has been streamed on YuiKaori’s official site.

Yui-chan in the PV is not the usual sugary sweet Yui-chan we all know so well. She appears wearing very adult-like dresses and the PV looks more like a PV that you would expect from Mizuki Nana. However, I find this new Yui-chan quite enchanting and I’m curious whether this is only a one-time occurrence or if Yui-chan will have a mature image in her solo career. The latter might indicate producers’ determination to try to make Yui-chan more of a mainstream singer such as Nana is. Time will answer this question and we can do nothing but wait and support her in her career.

Three promotional videos for Kugimiya Rie’s upcoming 1st album have been streamed. Kugimiya Rie has performed many character songs, but this is her debut release credited to her own name instead of a character’s name. Several artists, including eufonius, have contributed to the album. The title of the album is ‘kokohadoko’, written in latin alphabet, meaning ‘What is this place?’, ‘Where am I?’ or something along these lines.

The album contains 6 songs in total. Both the regular edition and the limited edition come with a DVD with three music videos; however, the limited edition DVD has a bonus track with a making-of video.

These three songs didn’t betray my expectations and bring out the full potential of Kugyuu’s serene voice. I like the first one in particular. Now, let’s wait and see what the other three songs are like.

Kokohadoko is going to be released on June 20. Both editions of the album are available on CDJapan. Regular edition (2857 yen). Limited edition (3143 yen).

It’s been a while since the announcement that Iguchi Yuka would release her first photobook was made. Today, some additional information has been finally revealed. The title of the photobook will be ‘Le chouchou’. The photoshoot took place in New Caledonia, a special collectivity of France, which explains why they have decided for a title in French.

It was previously disclosed that the photobook would appear on the market shelves on July 11, that is on Yuka’s birthday. However, there will also be a special event on the occasion of the release which will be held on July 15 somewhere in Tokyo. People can apply for a ticket at Animate, Gamers, and Toranoana starting today; one hundred winners, who will be able to attend the event, will be selected by lottery.

You can already preorder the photobook on CDJapan.

The agency Axl One has announced that seiyuu Gotou Yuuko goes on hiatus due to her poor health condition. Gotou herself has stated on her blog that she suffers from an autoimmune disorder, whose name she hasn’t specified, and that she had similar health problems when she was in middle school. Back then, she was told by her doctor that she wouldn’t be able to attend high school like any other student, but in the end she managed to overcome her disease and live a normal life. This time, her heart, lungs, and circulatory system have been affected; however, even though it is a serious illness, her condition is not that grave according to her doctor.

It’s not clear how long she will stay in the hospital, but it will be at least 2 and half months.

Recently released Taketatsu Ayana Image Video has ranked #5 on the release date on Oricon BD chart. The following day, it even climbed to #3. Not surprisingly, it didn’t do that well in DVD category, because everyone wants to see Ayachi in as high a definition as possible.

The one-hour long video contains footage from Guam, where photoshoots for Ayachi’s photobook took place, and studios in Japan. Ayachi in swimsuit, Ayachi in school uniform, Ayachi in a soldier uniform and many more valuable scenes are included in it.

Ayachi ~Tokyo→Minami no Shima~ BD can be ordered on CDJapan for 4667 yen. DVD version here.

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Toyosaki Aki is releasing her sixth solo single titled Shirotsumekusa (シロツメクサ) on May 23. The PV for this single has been streamed a few days ago and all I can say is that it’s another great song and another brilliant movie clip. The coupling song on the single is called Ringo no Sei (リンゴのせい).

The limited edition includes a DVD with the PV. Both the regular and the limited editions are available on CDJapan.

Presenting news from a friend site/magazine Visual Scene. They have just released a new issue of their eMagazine. Check out their site.

Visual Scene – Issue 2
Your favorite eBook J-magazine is back with even better material and breathtaking artwork. After all, the idea for the title was borrowed from the visual kei music genre and the original artwork of the magazine is supposed to cover all topics related to Japanese pop culture, just as visual kei artists did not limit themselves to one music style and kept on experimenting with their looks… Inside, you will traditionally find reviews of anime, visual novels, music albums and sometimes strange, sometimes crazy, taboo-breaking J-movies.
For those who like to read there are the first chapters of original, richly illustrated light novel series – *Cultured [Only Cold Heart Beating] * and *Yakuza Ties: Spring*, where kidnappings, car chases and crossdressing ensue as usual! In addition, the debut of a four-panel manga series *Namaeketten – the Nameless*.
The central point of our interest is occupied by stories which combine the worlds of magic and technical innovations. However, remember that “Visual Scene” is primarily the eBook J-magazine for you and about you… so be prepared for plenty of interviews with talented artists from deviantART…
Especially for men we introduced *Meet Your J-Playmates* – with ecchi sessions and interviews with hot anime girl characters. Still not convinced? Download the free sample – it is one third of the material for free. All in the most convenient format – individual pages, systematically added on our profile at deviantART, or via our website , or popular hosting website Mediafire
And there is a lot to read. Among other things the issue includes: a struggle with destiny in Broken Blade, more and less perverted characters from Toaru Majutsu no Index and an interview with a visual kei band Orochi. We will take a closer look at Nintendo’s classic, The Legend of Zelda Series over the years and get into a dark, steampunk world of *Sekien no Inganock *-What a Beautiful People-. We will also consider how the sci-fi and fantasy differ in anime and whether the magic in the anime has been lost.
Do not forget about our newly launched forum and website – where you can find duels of UTAUs and VOCALOIDs, the best anime channels on YouTube and a lot of competitions! Check out our writing contest in the world of fantasy and the one for ecchi cartoonists! Remember that each day we add new, cool materials. Do not let updates to you pass you by… and obligatorily visit our profile on Facebook ;)

You can see some samples from the magazine below.

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