Erika Toda: A few recent mag spreads plus a tad more....

 Wonder if Erika still has many fans out there? Count me as being one but do admit I'm not as huge of a fan as I was five or so years ago but you could say that about most of the gals I've followed for a long time. Erika will always be my #1 gal though, in exactly seven weeks she'll be hitting the age of thirty and very few of the actresses I really, really like are younger than that.
 Last year there were very few posts for Erika, perhaps two or three of them. However this is already her fifth one for this year and wouldn't doubt if there will be at least two more in July. On the 27th of that month the 'Code Blue' movie will be released, so far there's been zero promoting for it but expect to see her and the other main gals in the movie to start appearing in mags, at events, doing web interviews or whatever.

 Was just glancing at the list of dramas Erika has appeared in and was shocked at how many I've seen. The total for now stands at eighteen(!) plus seven TV movies and eleven cinema films. That total will be increasing as I will eventually get around to finishing the third season of 'Code Blue', think this time I may enjoy it more.
 But first up will be be Erika's latest drama "Gakeppuchi Hoteru" which has just finished it's run. The series did get subbed so was thinking about doing recaps for it in August which is when I plan on watching it. Did see the first show though without subs, kind of a quirky drama which Erika is best suited for. Pics here are from the show's Instageram site.

 Erika also has a new CM for Lancome which was released a week ago and it's the video at the top.

 On to the recent mag spreads, all of the pics look superb but miss the days of her doing big photo collections for Sabra, WPB-Net and others. Most of these sets are a bit too small but Erika is looking so terrific again these days. This first spread is from the May edition of Tokyo Calendar and was unsure if I had posted it but even if it was the pics are so fabulous they deserve an encore.

 This set here from the July issue of TV Bros. is for the "Gakeppuchi Hoteru" drama.

 Those above two spreads were okay sized but the rest aren't as Erika definitely deserved more than four pages in the July issue of Oggi.

 Perhaps the best Erika spread of them all is from the July edition of Baila.

 Last up is this five page spread from the August issue of Spur, the fourth pic to me is the best of all of the new ones for today.

SKE48: Magazine scans #4 and new single PV....

 SKE's 23rd single will be released in four days and let's see if they can't break this trend of every single selling a bit less than the previous one. That trend started when Rena graduated back in August 2015, know she was popular but not to the extent where the group's singles are selling two hundred or so thousand less than they once did.
 To me SKE is still the best of the '48' groups and though the singles are selling less all of them have been really good tunes. Above is the PV for "Ikinari Punch" which is the title of the single along with a few covers and promo pics. Jurina is back being the center for a single, she is their most popular member but think it's been four singles since she held that position.

 Besides having the best songs of all of the '48' groups SKE also has had the best looking members over the years, NMB has had some stunning gals over the years but will never overtake the SKE gals. Hopefully there will be a few more mag spreads to promote the new single, not too many for today but all are simply dazzling. Especially this first one which is one of the top sets for the year. Always thought that Akari was such an underrated Idol, she's been one of my huge faves for a while.
 Not underrated to the fans in Japan as she finished second(!) in this year's Senbatsu elections, last year she was eighth. She's been someone who I'd love to see have a photobook, wonder why almost every Senbatsu member in Nogi has one and gals like Akari have been overlooked? This amazing set is from volume 32 of BLT Graph, pic seven is one of the best if not the top one for the year.

 Sarina is a member who has had a PB, that came out earlier this year and was one superb collection of pics. This spread had been missed which is from the March edition of Cyzo.

 There's been a few other spreads but have been for members who are less than twenty, am trying to not have any posts for gals younger than that except for two exceptions who will soon hit that age. SKE did well in this year's Senbatsu elections, five made the top sixteen to be on the next single plus two members finished 17th and 18th.
 In what was a wise choice Jurina finished in the top spot, once she gets to be a bit older can see her taking the top spot on my all time Idol list. Upon further reflection can't see her not taking the #1 position, hard to believe she's still only 21. She leads off this next set which is from this year's 'Senbatsu Guidebook', lot of other SKE members are in this spread. Sarina finished in the 11th position while Nao finally made the top sixteen as she garnered the 15th most votes, she's a member who I really like and not just because of her name. Akane is another who I really dig and she just missed the top sixteen finishing 18th which is her highest position to date.

 Off the topic for a sentence but think the biggest surprise was Miru finishing in the 20th. most had her pegged to be in the top ten. Last spread is a repeat which features Mina, for the first time she's a Senbatsu member as she was eighth in the voting and think she deserved to make it. Luckily that may mean she won't be thinking about a graduation for a while as she is 26, in case you missed this set from two weeks ago it's from the July 6th issue of Young Gangan.