Four new CDs have been announced and will be released in Japan over the next couple months. Become a Pointer! (やじるしになって!) is the new opening theme for Pocket Monsters Best Wishes Season 2 (ポケットモンスター ベストウイッシュ シーズン2) which debuts on June 21st, 2012. The song is sung by Rica Matsumoto (松本梨香), the CD catalog number is ZMCP-6093 and it will be released on July 18th, 2012 for 1365yen. The CD contains 5 tracks including the 3rd unique ending theme from Best Wishes Seven-colored Arch (七色アーチ) but also the final ending theme from Diamond and Pearl In Your Heart (君の胸にＬａＬａＬａ) which had yet to be released on CD until now.

Also announced was the Nintendo DS Pokémon Black 2 White 2 Super Music Complete (ニンテンドーDS　ポケモンブラック２・ホワイト２　スーパーミュージックコンプリート) CD. The CD will contain game background music from the newest games as well as unreleased tracks from from Black and White, Emerald and Platinum. The 4 disc set will contain 174 tracks and will be released in Japan on July 25th, 2012 for 2,625yen.

The Theatrical Edition Pocket Monsters Best Wishes Feature 'Kyurem VS the Sacred Swordsman Keldeo' and Short 'Meloetta's Sparkling Recital' Music Collection (劇場版ポケットモンスター ベストウイッシュ 長編「 キュレムVS聖剣士 ケルディオ 」&短編「 メロエッタのキラキラリサイタル 」 ミュージックコレクション) CD was also announced and will feature instrumental music from this years anime movie. Once again Shinji Miyazaki (宮崎慎二) and Akifumi Tada (多田彰文) have composed the music for the movie. Not much information has been released about the CD's as that is normal to reduce movie spoilers. The CD's catalog number is ZMCP-6094 and it will be released on August 3rd, 2012 for 2,940yen.

Finally, Aki Okui (奥井亜紀) is releasing a new CD that contains the first ending theme for Pocket Monsters Best Wishes Fanfare of the Heart (NEW Arrange ver.). The CD is called OPENER, its catalog number is ZMCZ-8042, it contains 12 tracks which are mainly other anime themes she has sung, and it will be released on July 25th, 2012 for 2,940 yen.

The CDs have been added to our database and information about them will be updated as it becomes available.

Sources: http://www.pokemon.co.jp/info/2012/05/120525_gd01.html and http://www.neowing.co.jp/

American singer Donna Summer has died of cancer at the age of 63. She is best known to Pokémon fans for singing the song The Power of One which was used in the English dub movie Pokémon: The Movie 2000. Earlier this campaign year, Republican nomination candidate Herman Cain quoted lyrics from the song which garnered widespread attention as he initially misquoted where he got the lines from.

"Early this morning, we lost Donna Summer Sudano, a woman of many gifts, the greatest being her faith," the singer's family said in a statement issued Thursday, May 17th, 2012.

"While we grieve her passing, we are at peace celebrating her extraordinary life and her continued legacy. Words truly can't express how much we appreciate your prayers and love for our family at this sensitive time."

Earlier this campaign year, Republican nomination candidate Herman Cain quoted lyrics from the Donna Summer song The Power of One which was used in the English dub movie Pokémon: The Movie 2000. Now Jason Paige, the singer of the original English dub theme song for the Pokémon anime has remixed his original song to promote Republican nomination candidate Ron Paul and posted it on YouTube.

Jason Paige said on his YouTube comments that: "The Pokemon theme is a perfect song for the Ron Paul Revolution, as he racks up the delegates. Almost all the original lyrics fit as is. I Sang the original theme song in 1998 and thought this would be a great update on a classic. Share if you care. There are MILLIONS of Pokemon fans who'll join the revolution. Go Ron Paul!"


Source: http://jasonpaigeshow.com/

On May 5th, 2012, Shoko Nakagawa, one of the hosts of Pokémon Smash, celebrated her 10th Anniversary in the entertainment business and her 27th birthday by having a concert celebration called "10th Year Celebration! SHOKO NAKAGAWA LV UP LIVE Super☆Outdoor Music Festival (10元突破！SHOKO NAKAGAWA LV UP LIVE 超☆野音祭) at Osaka Castle. She sang 27 songs for the concert and Pikachu was one of the guests. Approximately 3100 people attended the event which started off with a bit of rain but ended in good weather and 25C temperatures. An additional performance was also held on May 6th, 2012 in Hibiya, Tokyo.


Shoko-tan will also be having her first Asia tour to celebrate her 10th anniversary. Concerts will be held in five cities in Asia with her bands, starting in Hong Kong on Saturday, July 7 and Sunday, July 8, 2012. Sunday, July 22, 2012 she'll be perforiming in Taipei, Sunday, August 5th, 2012 in Singapore, Friday, August 31st, 2012 in Shanghai and finally Sunday, Setptember 2nd, 2012 in Guangzhou. She stated about the tour that: "I want to sing to make Japan and the world happy and let people know that Japan is doing well."

A bunch of special CD's were released in Japan on May 2nd, 2012 titled: Shoko-tan Best――(°∀°)――!! (しょこたん べすと――(°∀°)――!!). The CD's have been added to our database as they include the album version of the 12th Pocket Monsters theme 'Antenna of the Heart' (心のアンテナ). There are four variants for sale, each has different things included. Details of each CD set is available in the CD database.


Sources: http://www.oricon.co.jp/news/deview/2011216/ and http://ameblo.jp/nakagawa-shoko/entry-11242536066.html

The idol group Momo-iro Clover Z (ももいろクローバーZ) performed Look at this (Mitemite☆Kotchitchi みてみて☆こっちっち) live at a performance on Saturday, May 5th, 2012 at the Toda City Culture Hall (戸田市文化会館). It was the 8th song in their set for the performance which had 10 songs. The song will be used as the ending theme for Pocket Monsters Best Wishes as of BW81 - Sekka Gym Match! A Battlefield of Ice!! (セッカジム戦！　氷のバトルフィールド！！). It will also be the theme for the 15th Movie Short Meloetta's Sparkling Recital (メロエッタのキラキラリサイタル). The lyrics for the song were done by Akihito Toda (戸田昭吾) and the song was composed by Hirokazu Tanaka (田中宏和). More images from the performance are available on the imageboard thread.


Multiple CD's containing the song will be released in Japan on June 27th, 2012, but they will be Momo-iro Clover Z singles and not Pikachu Records CD's. The CD title is currently not finalized but there is track information and there will be a special Pokémon Version release. Both CD's that contain Mitemite☆Kotchitchi (みてみて☆こっちっち) will sell for 1200yen each and their catalog numbers are KICM-1400 and KICM-1401. The CD's have been added to our database and will be updated as information becomes available.


Sources: http://www.tv-tokyo.co.jp/anime/pokemon_bw/news/index.html#128503 and http://news.mynavi.jp/news/2012/05/06/005/

Momoclo Matome, a fansite for the idol group Momo-iro Clover Z (ももいろクローバーZ), reports that an entry for their upcoming, unnamed CD single at online shopping site Shinseido initially mentioned that the unnamed third track on this CD was both the ending theme to a "Pokémon" movie short and the ending theme to the "Pokémon" TV series. This note has since been removed, presumably due to this being an unintended, accidental leak.

The CD will be released June 27th and retail for 1200 yen.


Sources: http://momoclomatome.com/archives/6229005.html and http://www.shinseido.co.jp/cgi-bin/WebObjects/Catalog.woa/wa/detail?r=KICM-1400

Fashion model and singer Rola (ローラ) will sing the ending theme for Kyurem VS the Sacred Swordsman Keldeo (キュレムVS聖剣士ケルディオ) which premieres in Japanese theaters on July 14th, 2012. The theme song is titled Memories (メモリーズ). Rola is 22 years old and was born on March 30th, 1990. Her father is from Bangladesh and her mother is half Japanese and part Russian so that gives Rola her unique features and is why she is a popular model in Japan currently.


Rola was quoted saying, "I've loved Pokémon since I was little, I always played the games and I love Pikachu, I was very happy when I heard the theme song! Really happy happy! Come see the movie!" 「ポケモンは小さいころから大好きだったし、いつもゲームしてたし、ピカチュウも大好きで、主題歌歌うって聞いたときはすごく嬉しかった！ 本当にハッピーハッピー！ 映画も見に来てね！」

Director Kunihiko Yuyama (湯山邦彦) said about the theme, "Before hearing it, considering the title is "Memories (メモリーズ)", it was a very grand image, but when I heard it I felt a sense of large-scale and it works perfectly." 「『Memories（メモリーズ）』というタイトルからして、聴く前からとても壮大なイメージだったのですが、聴いてみてまさに作品にぴったりの大きなスケール感を感じました」

Rola will also be doing her first voice acting role for the movie as she voices a cheerful and innocent girl named Marin (マリン) who meets Satoshi while he is on his journey.

Source: http://www.zaikei.co.jp/article/20120410/100468.html

Oha Suta - April 12th, 2012

Oha Suta aired a new trailer for the upcoming movie Kyurem VS the Sacred Swordsman Keldeo (キュレムVS聖剣士ケルディオ) on April 12th, 2012. The trailer confirmed the new theme song Memories (メモリーズ) and the Pirouette forme of Meloetta was shown for the first time in anime form.


The pre-order tickets for this summers Pocket Monster Movie 15 - Kyurem VS the Sacred Swordsman Keldeo (キュレムVS聖剣士ケルディオ) go on sale April 14th, 2012 and was showcased on Oha Suta. General admission is 1300yen, youth admission is 800yen and a parent/child combo is 2000yen. The tickets can be purchased at participating: 7/11's, Ito-Yokado, Aeon, Aeon Supercenters, Toys 'R' Us, Apita, Piago, Al-Plaza, Heiwado, Daiei, Fuji, Pokémon Centers and Toho cinemas nationwide. If you purchase the ticket from 7/11, players need to bring the voucher and movie ticket to a participating distribution location as Keldeo will not be distributed at 7/11. Keldeo can not be received by non-Japanese versions of Black and White and it cannot be traded on the Global Trade Station.

The details of Keldeo are as follows:

Pokémon	Info
	Level: 15
	Poké ball: Cherish Ball
	Ribbon: Wish Ribbon
	Ability: Justified
	Held Item: PP Max
	Attack 1: Aqua Jet
	Attack 2: Leer
	Attack 3: Double Kick
	Attack 4: BubbleBeam

Sean Robbins, host of the Japanese popular music radio show The J-Pop Exchange, has informed us that he will be airing an exclusive interview with Naomi Tamura (田村直美) on Saturday March 17th, 2012 at 8PM EST on his show. Below is his news submission.

Quote from Sean Robbins - Host of The J-Pop Exchange

I will air an exclusive interview with Naomi Tamura this Saturday March 17th at 8PM on my radio show, The J-Pop Exchange, which airs on WVCR 88.3 FM. In addition to talking about her background and influences, Ms. Tamura will also go into extensive detail about her experience with writing and performing songs for anime. This includes Ms. Tamura reflecting on her experience working on Pokémon and how this opportunity came to be. As you probably know, she performed 'Ready Go', 'Aratanaru Chikai' and 'Ippai Summer' for Pokémon.

The audio and transcript are now online at: http://www.jpopexchange.net/Naomi_Tamura.htm

Source: http://www.jpopexchange.net/3_10_2012_Playlist.htm

The latest Pocket Monsters Best Wishes ending theme is now available to download in Japan on the Apple iTunes store for 200yen. A forum post on Aki Okui's (奥井亜紀) official website asked if the song was going to be released on CD but the release is pending. No official reason was given but it is probably due to the fact that there isn't that much new Pocket Monsters music to release on a CD.

Starting with the first episode of 2012 and the 63rd episode overall, January 5th's A Subterranean Gym Match! VS Yacon!!, Pocket Monsters Best Wishes featured the this ending, the third unique ending song used in the series but the 5th overall ending when accounting for different verse variants of the first two endings.

Titled "A Seven-colored Arch" (Nana-iro arch 七色アーチ), the ending features a chorus of multiple generations of Pokémon singers; Toshiko Ezaki, the singer of Advanced Generation's Soko ni sora ga aru kara and Smile, Fumie Akiyoshi, the singer of Diamond and Pearl's Together, Kono yubi tomare and Saikō everyday, and Aki Okui, the singer of Best Wishes' Kokoro no fanfare. The ending replaced Can You Say the Pokémon? BW (Version 2) ポケモン言えるかな？ＢＷ (バージョン2) which had been the ending song since BW54.

The song features Dent as its conductor, and is perfectly suited for school graduations and entrance ceremonies, cheering on good friends and compatriots as they head towards their future. Satoshi and Iris are also featured heavily with their Pokémon, so sing along, everyone!

Ending information about Seven-Colored Arch (七色アーチ) can be found in our Opening/Ending database while full song lyrics can be found in our Song database.

TV Tokyo also posted a full lyrics sheet and sheet music for the song last month and can be viewed below.


Sources: http://itunes.apple.com/jp/album/qi-seachi-single/id504249778 and http://pokemon.ani.tv/index2.html

Takeshi Tsuruno (つるの剛士) posted a link on his official blog to a video on his YouTube account of him singing his song Can You Say the Pokémon? BW (ポケモン言えるかな? BW) very very fast. Can you say or sing the Pokémon BW this fast?


Source: http://yaplog.jp/tsurutake/archive/1768