Starting in January, rock band the brilliant green is handling the theme song for TBS’s “Mobile Suit Gundam 00.” The tune is titled “Ash Like Snow” and will go on sale February 6. It was also announced on Friday that new artist Stephanie will provide the show’s ending theme, titled “Friends.” That song will be released on January 30.

mihimaru GT also will be heard on an anime series this winter. NTV’s “Yatterman” remake starts on January 14, and its ending theme is being provided by the popular duo. “diverge” is a reworking of a demo song they wrote in 2003, before their debut. The single will also be released on January 30.

Meanwhile, idol Shoko Nakagawa has been chosen for the ending theme of Fuji TV’s “Hakaba Kitaro,” which premieres on January 10. The ballad, “snow tears,” is Nakagawa’s first time writing her lyrics. The single is also being released on January 30, and a limited number of CDs are being shipped with stickers depicting her as Neko Musume, the character that she is voicing for the series.

Popularity: 11% [?]

The judging committee of the 49th Japan Record Awards has revealed its list of winners. The 10 winners of the Gold Award are:

“Jewelry day” by Ayaka
“LOVE IS THE GREATEST THING” by w-inds.
“Toki no Kakera” by EXILE
“PEACH” by Ai Otsuka
“Kanazawa No Ame” by Miyuki Kawanaka
“Koi no Uta” by Kumi Koda
“Tsubomi” by Kobukuro
“Kiyoshi no Soran Bushi” by Kiyoshi Hikawa
“LOVE LETTER” by BoA
“Hitori Satsumaji” by Kaori Mizumori

The New Artist Award winners are:

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JYONGRI
Stephanie
Satomi Takasugi

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Popularity: 3% [?]

NHK announced on Thursday that the late ZARD vocalist Izumi Sakai will be making her Kohaku Uta Gassen “debut” this year. Like the memorial concerts earlier this year, the performance will combine live musicians with videos of her singing.

In September, memorial concerts for the singer were held in Tokyo and Osaka, and it was recently announced that the show would go on tour. A special performance will take place at the NHK Osaka Hall on New Year’s Eve, and it will be shown live as part of Kohaku Uta Gassen.

It was also announced that a two-disc album titled “ZARD Request Best ~beautiful memory~” will be released on January 23. The 30 songs on the album received the most votes out of approximately 500,000 requests made via mail and ZARD’s official website. More details will be announced later this month.

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Actress Misaki Ito will take on a starring role in a TBS drama series titled “Edison no Haha.”

Described as partly comedy, the series focuses on Noriko Ayukawa (Ito), the teacher of a class of first-graders. One day, a boy named Kento transfers into her class from another school, where he was treated as a problem child. In reality, the inquisitive Kento actually displays potential as a prodigy, and it’s up to Noriko to figure out how to handle him.

The story draws inspiration from the childhood of famous inventor Thomas Edison, who was also considered a problem child by most adults around him.

Ito commented that she loves children, and is actually qualified as a kindergarten and nursery teacher.

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Popularity: 6% [?]

Oricon published the female half of its “who do you want as your lover” survey, and the #1 woman was actress Yui Aragaki, who has seen a large surge in popularity this year. She outranked two other popular young actresses, Masami Nagasawa (#2) and Maki Horikita (#3).

There were ties at #4 (Yukie Nakama and Haruka Ayase) and at #6 (Ai Otsuka and Aya Ueto). Saki Aibu, Aki Hoshino, and Yuri Ebihara completed the top ten.

Popularity: 4% [?]