AKB48′s “Sakura no Ki ni Narou” achieves 6th highest first-week sales in history
Oricon has announced the official weekly sales total for AKB48’s 20th single, “Sakura no Ki ni Narou.” After starting off with a record-setting first day, the single has sold approximately 942,000 copies to achieve the 6th highest first-week sales in history.
The last single to sell more than 900,000 copies in the first week was Utada Hikaru’s “Addicted to You” in 1999, which sold 1.068 million copies. This means that AKB48 is the only artist to reach that level since the turn of the century. Among female artists, the next closest single is Amuro Namie’s “Can You Celebrate?” (1997), which moved 828,000 copies in its first week, though AKB48′s “Beginner” came close last year at 827,000.
Oricon began tracking weekly sales data for singles in January 1968. The only singles that have performed better than “Sakura no Ki ni Narou” are:
“Namonaki Uta” – Mr.Children – 1,208,000
“Addicted to You” – Utada Hikaru – 1,068,000
“Dango 3 Kyoudai” – Hayami Kentaro, Shigemori Ayumi, Himawari Kids & Dango Gasshoudan – 1,026,000
“Winter, again” – GLAY – 956,000
“LOVE PHANTOM” – B'z – 951,000
With “Sakura no Ki ni Narou,” AKB48 has achieved a streak of seven #1 singles. They are only the second female group to do so, after Pink Lady in 1978.
After 20 major-label singles and 3 best albums, popular idol group AKB48 has just announced their plans to release their first original studio album on April 6. The currently-untitled album is expected to contain a total of 16 tracks, including the recent hit singles “Ponytail to Chouchou,” “Heavy Rotation,” “Beginner,” and “Chance no Junban.”
The album will be released in three editions. The first press edition will come with a photobook of approximately 100 pictures taken by photographer Ninagawa Mika, a lottery ticket for a special present, a photo randomly chosen from 14 different kinds, and a DVD with the choreography videos of the aforementioned singles.
The theater edition will include a ticket to participate in the handshake and photo event planned to celebrate the album’s release, as well as a randomly chosen photo of one of the group’s members.
The regular edition will include the same choreography video DVD that comes with the first press edition.
AKB48's “Naruhodo High School” gets golden time slot
Posted on February 21, 2011 by tokyograph
Image from: NTV
Hot on the heels of selling more than 900,000 copies with their latest single, idol group AKB48 has revealed that they will have their own regular television show, starting this spring. Titled “Naruhodo! High School,” it will be the group’s first show in a prized “golden time” slot, airing on Thursday nights at 7:00pm.
The show originally aired twice last year as a special program under the title “Naruhodo High School” (without the exclamation mark). The first one, broadcast on May 30, 2010, achieved ratings of 8.0%, and the second one on October 9 improved that to 11.8%. Encouraged by the results, NTV decided to make it a regular offering, beginning this April.
“Naruhodo High School” is an information and variety show, which also involves the members of AKB48 carrying out various experiments, such as skydiving to determine at what altitude a mobile phone begins getting reception.
It is anticipated that approximately 20 members of AKB48 will appear in each episode of the show. Comedian Tamura Atsushi (37) of the duo London Boots 1-go 2-go will be a regular host as their “homeroom teacher.” Special celebrity appearances are planned for the show, as well as collaborations with other popular NTV programs.
Assamualaikum smua. Akux tau plak ade gak peminat AKB48 ni kat M'sia. Kwn2 aku pun xde sorang pun yg minat. Kpop fan rmai la gak. Aku wat account ni pun psal jumpe thread ni. Aku baru je 4 bulan kenal group ni. Lagu fiorang byk best pastu girl2 byk cute2. Takat ni ade la kat 30 org yg aku ingat. Fav wat mase ni Acchan, Sashi, Yuko, Takamina, adn Mayu. Korang tau tak kat mane ade jual singe, album ke photobook atau ape saje yg berkait kat Msia. Aku try cari kat Penang tpi x jumpe pun (Duk Sg Petani) . Ade cousin aku ckp kat Kinokuniya ade jual PB tpi jrang2 ade. Aku skang ni pun cume ade 2 single ngan 1 album je. Tu pun bli kat Yesasia.
kat Kinokuniya KLCC mmg ada PB, mags nih semua...byk gak, takde la sikit macam yg kawan awak cakap...cuma benda2 lain macam CD tuh takde la plak jual kat Mesia, unless kalau artis tuh bawah Avex mcm Ayu, Kumi, Namie...so mmg semua kena bli online aje
AKB48′s Akimoto Sayaka returns to Team K captain position, forms new unit DiVA
AKB48 member Akimoto Sayaka (22) successfully ran the Tokyo Marathon on Sunday. She finished the course in 6 hours, 50 minutes, and 6 seconds, barely within the 7-hour time limit for the marathon. As a result, AKB48 producer Akimoto Yasushi rewarded her efforts by announcing the reinstatement of Akimoto as the captain of Team K.
Akimoto personally resigned from the captain position last October after it was revealed that media creator Hiroi Oji (57) had spent a night at her apartment, though the situation was apparently innocent. Many fans have been supportive of her since then, sending messages assuring her that she didn’t need to quit.
Akimoto’s re-appointment as captain was accompanied by another announcement that same day. Her management agency, office48, revealed that she will be part of a new 4-member unit called DiVA. She is being grouped with fellow AKB48 members Umeda Ayaka (22), Masuda Yuka (19), and Miyazawa Sae (20). The group is expected to release their debut single this spring.
AKB48 announces million seller, new “Nemousu TV” season, original album details
16 members of the AKB48 family took the stage at Saitama Super Arena on Saturday for one of the group’s mini-concert and handshake events. They set a new personal record for themselves, gathering approximately 22,500 fans for the event, surpassing the crowd of 20,000 that attended their handshake event at Kyocera Dome last December.
Saturday’s event was part of a series of eight handshake events across the country that started on February 20, celebrating the release of AKB48′s latest single “Sakura no Ki ni Narou.” The group has another one at the same venue on Sunday, making the fact that they brought in a record crowd even more impressive.
“Sakura no Ki ni Narou” was released on February 16 and sold more than 942,000 copies during its first week in stores. During the concert portion of the handshake event, Oshima Yuko announced that the single recently passed 1 million in sales.
The members also talked about the renewal of their television show “AKB48 Nemousu TV,” which is now confirmed to start its 6th season on April 24. The week before that, the show will have a 2-hour special aired on April 17, featuring six of the AKB48 research students in Guam.
On the same day as the event, new information was released regarding AKB48′s first original album, scheduled for release on April 6. The album is officially titled “Koko ni Ita Koto” and contains 16 tracks, 11 of which are new songs that have never been released on CD before. This includes the title track, sung by the members of AKB48, SKE48, SDN48, and NMB48.
The limited editions and the regular edition of the album will come with a DVD containing choreography versions of the music videos for “Ponytail to Chouchou,” “Heavy Rotation,” “Beginner,” and “Chance no Junban.”
Author
Post time 22-2-2011 10:59 AM
omedetou 
Image from: NTV
wahhh smpi 30 tu ingat tuh, rspect aar! ;)
