Ultimate idol group "Mori Musu" to promote 2014 au Student Discount campaign <Attachment>

■ Description of new commercial

The "New Members" episode of the new au Student Discount commercial series opens with members of Morning Musume '14 at dance practice. Tsunku enters the dance studio and suddenly introduces Morning Musume '14 to their new group members, Oshima and Kurosawa from the Mori San Chu comedy trio. Tsunku then announces that the group name has been changed to Mori Musu, which combines the names Morning Musume '14 and Mori San Chu.

The group members are shocked at the sudden announcement, and Sayumi Michishige, who is the leader, reacts with displeasure. To Tsunku, she says, "Mori Musu? No way!" She then asks pleadingly, "Why, Tsunku?"
The scene cuts to Tsunku's memory of drinking with the president of CHANNEL au, played by actor Show Aikawa. President Aikawa says, "I've got a brilliant idea. How about Mori Musu?" Unable to refuse, Tsunku replies, "Let's do it!" The scene then cuts back to the present, and Tsunku dismisses Michishige's complaints, saying, "This is an adult matter! You'll learn to like it."
With that, the au Student Discount promotional group Mori Musu is formed.

This new commercial is available for viewing on a special page at the KDDI website. Visitors to the website can also get a behind-the-scenes look at Mori Musu.
http://www.au.kddi.com/mobile/campaign/gakuwari/mm/
(The page is scheduled to launch at 10:00 AM on January 22.)

Notes: Profiles of new characters

• Morning Musume '14

Formed in 1997 on the ASAYAN talent show on the TV Tokyo network, the original group consisted of five runners-up in an audition for a female rock vocalist for the band Sharam Q. The group successfully completed a challenge to sell 50,000 copies of their independent CD single, Ai no Tane, in five days, which opened the door for their major debut. The name of the group aims to convey a sense of expectation for things to come, as well as abundance, great value, and familiarity. Their major debut single was Morning Coffee. Their seventh single, LOVE Machine, was the first to sell over a million copies. From then on, the group repeatedly set new records for a female group. On January 1, 2014, the group adopted their new name of Morning Musume '14.

Top row, left to right:
  Haruna Iikubo, Masaki Sato, Kanon Suzuki

Middle row, left to right:
  Haruka Kudo, Sakura Oda, Erina Ikuta

Bottom row, left to right:
  Ayumi Ishida, Riho Sayashi,　Sayumi Michishige, Mizuki Fukumura

• Tsunku

Born on October 29, 1968 in Osaka prefecture, Tsunku is a musician, entertainment producer, songwriter, composer, and CEO of entertainment company TNX Inc. He formed the band Sharam Q in 1988. The band made its major debut in 1992, and four of their singles sold over a million copies. He went on to produce the popular Japanese vocal group Morning Musume, whose hit song LOVE Machine (1999) sold over 1.76 million copies. Recently, he has written the following songs for the Inai Inai Baa! children's program on the NHK educational channel: Fuyu ga Yattekita!, Bun Bun Bukyuun!, Hashitte Daa!, Kaede no Ki no Uta, and Pachi Pachi Parade! He has produced and written songs for numerous artists, and currently has over 1,600 works registered with JASRAC. He also produced Nintendo's hit Rhythm Tengoku game software series, which has achieved total sales of over 4 million copies worldwide, and is now widely recognized as one of Japan's most popular entertainment producers.

• Mori San Chu

Popular female comedy trio consisting of Kazuko Kurosawa, Tomoko Murakami, and Miyuki Oshima.

• Kazuko Kurosawa
  Born: 1978, Ibaraki prefecture
  Hobbies: Songwriting, dance
  Role in Mori San Chu: Leader and "funny woman" character
• Tomoko Murakami
  Born: 1980, Kanagawa prefecture
  Hobby: Cooking
  Role in Mori San Chu: "Straight woman" character
• Miyuki Oshima
  Born: 1980, Tochigi prefecture
  Hobby: Making clothes
  Role in Mori San Chu: "Funny woman" character

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