On August 14th, idol group S/mileage announced their five new members at the Hello! Project concert, "Hello! Project 2011 SUMMER ~Nihon no Mirai wa WOWWOW Live~".

The five new members were revealed to be Katsuta Rina, Kosuga Fuyuka, Nakanishi Kana, Tamura Meimi, and Takeuchi Akari.

Producer Tsunku explained, "They will take part as sub-members instead of official members. Based on their activities, I will decide if they will become official members," before introducing the girls one by one. They received a big round of applause and shouts of encouragement from the crowd.

During S/mileage's first anniversary event on May 29th, Tsunku suddenly announced the new member auditions saying, "There is something missing in S/mileage." Over the past three months, three rounds of auditions were held, and 12 out of 2,000 girls made it to the finals.

Members Ogawa Saki and Wada Ayaka confessed that they were puzzled to hear this announcement in the beginning. Ogawa said, "Honestly, I didn't like the idea," while Wada stated, "I wanted to stay as the four of us." �Later, leader Wada smiled and said, "I want everyone to become official members," showing a promising future for the new group.

S/mileage was originally comprised of Wada Ayaka, Maeda Yuuka, Fukuda Kanon, and Ogawa Saki. The group formed in 2009 after being chosen from Hello! Project Egg, and made their major debut in 2010 with the single, "Yume Miru 15sai".

Check out photos from the event below!

[gallery columns="4"]

Source: Oricon
Photos: natalie