AKB48 24th Single Tracklisting/Kaze wa Fuiteiru Sales Update

The title for AKB48’s next single (janken senbatsu) which is released on December 7th has been released at today’s handshake event and it’s called “Ue kara Mariko” – a song named about the tournament winner! The PV for the single was also shown for the masses that turned up which we’ll see soon I imagine – it’s got a school theme apparently to it. There are 4 versions coming out: Type A, Type K, Type B and Theater Edition. Tracklistings are as follows:

Type A

CD
01. Ue kara Mariko
02. Noel no Yoru
03. Rinjin wa Kizutsukanai  (Team A)
04. Ue kara Mariko (Instrumental)
05. Noel no Yoru (Instrumental)
06. Rinjin wa Kizutsukanai (Instrumental)

DVD
01. Ue kara Mariko PV
02. Noel no Yoru PV
03. Rinjin wa Kizukanai PV
04. 24th Single Senbatsu Janken Tournament Documentary (1st Part)

Type K

CD
01. Ue kara Mariko
02. Noel no Yoru
03. Zero-sum Taiyou  (Team K)
04. Ue kara Mariko (Instrumental)
05. Noel no Yoru (Instrumental)
06. Zero-sum Taiyou (Instrumental)

DVD
01. Ue kara Mariko PV
02. Noel no Yoru PV
03. Zero-sum Taiyou PV
04. 24th Single Senbatsu Janken Tournament Documentary (2nd Part)

Type B

CD
01. Ue kara Mariko
02. Noel no Yoru
03. Yobisute Fantasy  (Team B)
04. Ue kara Mariko (Instrumental)
05. Noel no Yoru (Instrumental)
06. Yobisute Fantasy (Instrumental)

DVD
01. Ue kara Mariko PV
02. Noel no Yoru PV
03. Yobisute Fantasy PV
04. 24th Single Senbatsu Janken Tournament Documentary (3rd Part)

Theater Version

CD Only
01. Ue kara Mariko
02. Noel no Yoru
03. Hashire! Penguin (Team 4)
04. Ue kara Mariko (Instrumental)
05. Noel no Yoru (Instrumental)
06. Hashire! Penguin (Instrumental)

To update you about the situation regarding Kaze wa Fuiteiru and how sales went today, it’s certain now they won’t break the weekly record as only 26,912 copies were sold today to bump the total up to 1,221,631. For those interested to see how that fared with Flying Get at the same stage – it sold 54,518  and the grand total was 1,259,909. So Kaze wa Fuiteiru is 38k behind and I can’t see sales picking up now. I’m not complaining though. AKB48 have still sold a shedload this week so I cannot see Aki-P or management bemoaning that fact.

AKB48 – Kaze wa Fuiteiru 3rd Day Sales

Believe it or not, Kaze wa Fuiteiru is now trailing Flying Get when you compare sales figures sold after the 3rd day for both singles. There was a big 50% drop in sales today with this single selling 49,190 copies, still way ahead of the rest of the other artists with new releases this week.

If we compare Flying Get and Kaze wa Fuiteiru figures for the same stage, this is what you’ll get:

Flying Get

1st Day – 1,025,952
2nd Day – 113,656
3rd Day – 65,783
Total – 1,205,391

Kaze wa Fuiteiru

1st Day – 1,045,937
2nd Day – 99,592
3rd Day – 49,190
Total – 1,194,719

So KWF is nearly 11k down on FG. I know it’s not a lot down but I really thought that KWF would sell a lot more than FG because IMO it’s a better single. Unless things pick up over the weekend, KWF is unlikely to break the first week sales record by FG.

 

AKB48 – Kaze wa Fuiteiru 2nd Day Sales

Just a small update on what happened with sales of Kaze wa Fuiteiru today. There was a huge drop as we expected with sales dipping just under 100k – the final figure being 99,592 copies sold to bring the overall total to 1,145,529. At the same stage – Flying Get sold 113,656 and the grand total was 1,139,608 so Kaze wa Fuiteiru is still ahead but only just. They are exactly 5,921 copies ahead to be exact. I’m just wondering now if this single can outsell Flying Get at the end of the first week or have things ran out of stream?

NMB48 Celebrates Their 2nd No.1 Single

AKB48 aren’t the only ones celebrating today, let’s not forget the achievement of their sister group down in Osaka – NMB48 who scored their 2nd no.1 single in the Oricon Charts.

NMB48’s Oh My God outsold their debut single by nearly 50k to post a very impressive figure of 265,435 copies for the first week. Zetsumetsu Kurokami Shoujo sold 218,441 during the same time.

Other great news for the group is that they’re the first female group to sell 200k with their first two singles.

Congratulations to all of NMB48.

AKB48 – Kaze wa Fuiteiru 1st Day Sales – Another Million Seller!!

I thought that the first day sales of Flying Get could not be topped but AKB48 have proved me wrong by selling a million copies once again on the first day for Kaze wa Fuiteiru and increasing their sales by just shy of 20k. The final figures sold for the day is 1,045,937 copies whilst Flying Get sold 1,025,952. Usually I give a prediction of just how much they are likely to sell for the week but I’m usually wrong. I thought they’d break Love Machine’s record with Flying Get but they didn’t so I’m not going to say anything with this single but I fully expect the first week figures to be around 1.3 – 1.4 million.

Well done to AKB48 on their remarkable achievement. Consecutive million 1st day sales of a single is unheard for and I’m just wondering how many more records are waiting for AKB48 to break. Just how much of a drop will we see tomorrow in sales?

AKB48 Request Hour Best 100 2012 Voting Begins

Most of us will receive our copies of AKB48’s 23rd single Kaze wa Fuiteiru tomorrow but for those lucky enough to buy it today in Japan, you can now vote for your favorite song (excluding subunit songs) to appear in next year’s AKB48 Request Hour Best 100 2012.

So which song(s) will you be voting for? I’ll have 2 tickets to vote but I’m not too sure which songs I’ll go for. I’m leaning towards Seishun to Kizukanai Mama to take 1 vote but as for the other – Beginner (which I voted for last year), Heavy Rotation, Sougen no Kiseki? Decisions, decisions – I’m sure I’ll have decided before the weekend which ones I’ll finally be voting for. But what about the rest of you guys – which one(s) will be getting your important vote?

HKT48 1st Generation Finally Unveiled

Those that came to AKB48’s handshake event at the Seibu Dome today got a nice surprise when the first generation of HKT48 (all 21 members) was unveiled to the 15,000 fans in attendance for the first time. They’re not on active duty yet but they are going to debut at their theater in Fukuoka at the end of the year. What’s surprising about HKT48 is just how young they all are – the average age for the group is only 13.8 years old with the oldest member only 17 years! They’ll be the youngest out of all the 00048 teams. I just hope the expectation placed on their young shoulders won’t affect them. They did get a chance to perform Skirt Hirari and show what they’re made of.

AKB48 23rd Single – Other PV’s Released

Now you’ve had a chance to have a look at Kaze wa Fuiteiru, 3 more PV’s from the single have now been uploaded onto Youku as well.

The first which is Kimi no Senaka focuses mostly on Suuchan and Lovetan with Suuchan leaving town due to something happening between her and Lovetan – it revolves around a boy who plays baseball. Nice song and PV. Actually I’ll be paying a visit to the station shown in the PV next month – Gokurakuji as it’s also the location for one of my favorite anime series Elfen Lied so I’ll be going on a little anime pilgrimage there.

Kimi no Senaka PV

The 2nd PV is Gondola Lift which is my personal favorite of the 3 PV’s that you’ll be able to watch. It’s a slow ballady type song with plenty of shots of Ayaka Umeda who I’ve really taken a shine to during the past month so I’m happy that there’s some focus on her in the PV. Actually I’d say this song is even better than Kaze wa Fuiteiru.

Gondola Lift

And finally we have Vamos which is a great fun song with the PV turning it’s attention on Team 4 and other underused members such as Kana Kobayashi and Mayumi Uchida. I thought I wouldn’t like the song at first when it first began but I really got into it by the end.

Vamos

Overall, I consider Kaze wa Fuiteiru and all of it’s b-sides to be a very strong and solid single by AKB48. There isn’t any song that I dislike. Aki-P has come up trumps once more.

AKB48 – Kaze wa Fuiteiru Full PV

You’ve seen the dance version PV which everybody thought was the only PV for AKB48’s newest single, now the full and proper PV for the single has been uploaded on Youku and the link for the PV is below. I love it and the fact it has an environmental message attached to it makes it even better hence the planet Earth on fire.

Take a look at this fantastic PV by clicking on the link.

http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XMzE1MTYwOTEy.html

Naruhodo High School Gets Renewed But With Changes

Naruhodo High School which stars AKB48 has been doing well in the ratings so it’s getting renewed but the format of the show will be changing.

The show has been mostly quizzing AKB48 members on certain stuff and learning new things by performing experiments. This format will now be scrapped starting from the October 20th broadcast and be replaced by asking members whether certain things are truth or false. New segments in the show will be one called ‘Gachi Gase AKB’ in which guests on the show have a chance to guess who the AKB48 member is and another is called ‘Ninki Bunkajin Naruhodo Gachi Kensho’. In this segment, AKB48 will have an opportunity to check the ability of some experts in their chosen field. One of the experts that Acchan wants on the show is Aki-P as she wants to know how he writes all his songs or does he cheat (he has other people write for him but he takes the credit). Takamina went further by wanting him to write a song there and then on the show. I wonder if he’ll take up the challenge and appear with them?

I’ve never watched Naruhodo High School so I can’t comment on whether it’s any good or not. I just don’t have the time to watch every show that AKB48 are on and even with this new format I doubt I’ll take a look. I’ll stick with AKBingo, Shukan AKB and Ariyoshi AKB Republic.