Rie Kitahara: Two recent mag spreads plus more....

 Do have a pair of newish Rie mag spreads but for 2017 there was such a shortage of them, think there may have been two of them if that many. However there's many from previous years and will get to them before Rie's graduation which there hasn't been an official date set yet. She's now the captain of NGT and their third single will be coming out on April 11th so would think the graduation may be taking place a bit after that.
 Was counting up the '48' groups and there's now a total of eleven of them!!!! I can't keep track of them and these days seems SKE is the only group that still puts out quality singles though the ones from HKT aren't too bad. Rie has many fans around her, the post for her first and only photobook "Soshite" has been among the most viewed posts for the past month and think it's in the fifth position. It's first week out it was the second best selling PB on the Oricon charts, it dropped to sixth in week two selling 7,000 copies in those two weeks.

 Many other AKB members over the years are suited better to be a gravure model than Rie is though I thought the PB was quite good. After the graduation acting appears to be Rie's next career, she's been in many films and dramas outside of AKB though it'll be tough for her to beat her role as a Team Hormone member.
 At the top of the post is a trailer for Rie's new film which just came out today, title of it is "Sunny/32" and more info further on down the post. On to the pair of mag spreads and both are promoting the photobook as the pics appear to be outtakes from it. First off is from the December 19th edition of Flash and it's the only time I've seen Rie have a solo cover.

 Second set is also from Flash and is brand new from their February 27th issue.

 In the "Sunny/32" film Rie has the lead role of Akari in it, really looks to be an interesting movie. Akira is a teacher who is kidnapped by two men who seem to think she's a woman they follow on the internet which isn't the case.
 On January 18th the first screening was held for the film at Wald 9 in Shinjuku. As you can see in the top pics Rie is showing the audience how she was tied up in the movie and sure a few males had their imagination running wild during that segment.

 Wald 9 was also the location for the film's premiere which took place today. The female dressed in white above and black below is Mugi Kadawaki and I've come so close to doing some posts for her but have never got around to it. Mugi plays the real Sunny in the film, now that I think about there were probably many screenshots of her as I reviewed the "Schoolgirl Complex" film and she had one of the starring roles in it. Many pics here from today's premiere followed by a video of it.
 Oooops, made a mistake as I didn't review that film and wonder why as I really enjoyed it. That being the case will move it towards the top of my 'need to post' list.

Rie Kitahara: "Soshite" photobook scans

 This is someone who has rarely been seen around here and like others in the vein there's no good reason for it except for the fact my fourth arm hasn't completely grown yet. However breaking the ice usually leads to more posts and that's something to look forward to if you're a Rie fan and think she has many of them. The last AKB election she finished tenth which is her highest ranking ever and sadly it'll be her final election.
 Rie has been consistent as three times she's been thirteenth, also she's finished 12th and eleventh. Said final one as Rie has announced her graduation, no official date yet but think April or May is when it'll be taking place. Will have more info about it in her upcoming posts as there's no doubt there's plenty of things from the past five years to post about her.
 Rie has been in a few mag posts but they've always been with her offshoot group Not Yet who had five singles. But she's also been in the posts for season one of 'Majisuka Gakuen' which was easily the best season. What made the show so terrific was Team Hormone, to me they've been the highlight of all six seasons.

 Huh seemed to be the most common word they used, a high IQ was something none of the team was born with. On to the photobook but before more pics from it Rie had a fan greeting session for the PB on the 22nd. Like so many of these events it took place at the Fukuya bookstore in Shinjuku, pics here are from it though no video of the event as I don't think the ones on YT will be there long.

 Rie has been with AKB since 2007 so it's hard to believe this is her first photobook. Must be a graduation present which has become so common these days when a popular member leaves a group, she's also the captain of the newish sister group NGT. Can't keep track of all of these sister groups, don't know why there isn't one named BLT which seems like a tasty name. Pics for the PB were taken in Vietnam which is not a country where you see many Idols travel to for their photobook.
 Perhaps AKB is thinking of expanding to that country, seems they have most of Asia already covered. On to the pics which are quite superb, Rie isn't the most attractive gal in AKB's history but then again it's not her fault as there's been so stunners who have passed through the group. Total of 88 pics here from the PB and will be back soon with a few more posts for her. The book was released on the 17th, in it's half week out it sold 5,417 copies to rank second in sales.