It may seem strange that the Japanese interwebs is going mad over a single mom in her mid-thirties, but don't question the power of nostalgia. Because we are talking about Atsuko Maeda, the most famous idol in the original AKB48 lineup, who was ubiquitous in the late 2000s and early 2010s.
She left the group in 2012 to pursue a more serious acting career, leaving music and the gravure weeklies behind. For fans back in the day, her return to gravure is catnip, since they have grown older together, and it's like snuggling up to a former lover.
Maeda is now a divorced mom and has claimed that ...
In mid-February, we shared some initial preview pics from Atsuko Maeda's comeback photo book, Beste.
The 34-year-old single mom, who was a member of the legendary first generation of AKB48 back in the day, looks ravishing in the blue and pink lingerie in the shoot.
The most explicit shots feature Acchan nude except for thong panties, while lying on her front with her hands covering her breasts, and revealing her alluring back and side boob.
It's all nice stuff in the idol-you-can-meet tradition of AKB48, though quite tamer compared to former SKE848 idol Ruka Kitano's recent photo book, ...
Fans of early period AKB48 idols are in for a treat right now with the recent photo shoots of Haruna Kojima, who looks ravishing at 37, and the new photo book by Atsuko Maeda.
Maeda has established herself as a serious actress since leaving the idol group in 2012, having been with it since the very beginning. She also got married, had a child, and then divorced. Today, she's a 34-year-old single mom.
Japanese idol groups are often premised on members with girl-next-door looks and whose fandom emphasizes their normality. This was very much the case with AKB48 too, so much so that it's ...
It feels a bit like we are back in the second half of the 2000s, with all the recent gravure comebacks: Serina of SDN48, Yuka Kosaka, busty actor Megumi Kagurazaka, and Saaya.
And now comes another! Former first-generation AKB48 idol Atsuko Maeda has returned to gravure for the first time in fourteen years.
Her "last" photo book, Beste, is due for release in mid-February next year.
Some initial preview pictures were released on December 26, showing the ex-idol's naked back and her buttocks framed by an alluring thong as she lies on a bed. Don't expect actual nudity but it looks like the ...
Last week, we reported on the gravure side career of 31-year-old comedienne Angor Soncho. This weeks brings news that another female comedian is branching out into gravure.
Are we witnessing the birth of a new trend?
Kintalo. is a comedic tarento (general TV celebrity) and impressionist who is usually seen dressed up in silly makeup and pulling a wacky face. The 43-year-old married mother of two, whose real name is Shiho Tanaka, has decided to make an unexpected foray into gravure.
Even more unexpected is that it's not even her first try. She already did this 11 years ago, she says, ...
If you think something is too good to be true, you're probably right.
That's our advice, which should have been followed by the thousands of men who thought they had the chance to go on a date with Atsuko Maeda.
A 38-year-old man was arrested earlier this month for operating a deai-kei dating website that claimed to offer dates with the former AKB48 idol.
He had fled the country but foolishly returned in late September.
Maeda is now a mainstream actress and cannot even be "met" at the famous AKB48 handshaking events. But that didn't seemed to occur to the 370,000 people who paid ...
After steadfastly refusing to go nude for the enticingly titled film Sayonara Kabukicho (though others in the film did and there is at least one awesome, explicit sex scene from a Korean actress), one-time AKB48 idol Atsuko Maeda has instead decided to tempt us with a glimpse of her bathroom body.
Here she is enjoying a shower and then lounging around at home in her underwear, before landing a kiss on her squeeze's lips.
The scene is from the current TBS drama series Yuriko's Barenaked Diary in which Maeda is a reporter (!) who has a rule to juggle ...
Directed by Ryuichi Hiroki, Kabukicho Love Hotel (Sayonara Kabukicho) came in 2014, promising to be a dark romance.
Okay, let's get something straight.
As you might expect, star Atsuko Maeda may have left her AKB48 days behind her but unsurprisingly she does NOT strip off in this movie. (Apparently after Maeda was cast the script was radically changed.)
Instead we have to make do with modest nude scenes and sex scenes starring members of the supporting cast.
As the title suggests, the film is set in a love hotel in Tokyo's sex capital, Kabukicho.
Actually, the main (and best) sex scene ...
Charlie Hebdo got itself into tragic trouble over its depictions of Islam.
In Japan, an equivalent would be if you tried to fictionalize the Imperial Family. People have tried it and have ended up dead.
But only slightly less powerful is the yakuza-connected entertainment world, which holds a massive sway over the press.
Only the weekly tabloid press, for all their smut, do a fine job in defying the control freaks that are the jimusho agencies. These magazines almost invariably feature a gravure idol on the cover but inside cannot use official press photos of the idols and ...
The tabloids are salivating over the news that Atsuko Maeda, the former starlet of AKB48, may be dating kabuki actor Matsuya Onoe.
Though there have been rumors before and drunken pictures seemingly showing Atsuko in the arms of a young man after some late-night partying, this will be the first public romance for the former AKB48 queen.
After all, AKB48 bans sex and love for its rank and file members, so in theory Atsuko (22) could still be a virgin.
Atsuko's agency has not denied the reports, instead giving an ambiguous statement: "We leave private matters to the person in ...
