AKB48 to perform [RIVER Surprise Kohaku Remix] for Kohaku

The Kohaku Uta Gassen official website has updated their website with the songs that the artists will be singing. The song that AKB will be singing is titled [RIVER Surprise Kouhaku Remix]. This is probably a medley of RIVER and Namida Surprise. I can understand why they choose these songs. RIVER is their best selling single till date and it is Kohaku's 60th Anniversary so that's they went with the birthday song. I would have preferred it if they did a medley of RIVER and Oogoe or Iiwake though. NamiSapu ain't one of my preferred singles. It's great and all but it's not my type. I can't listen to it more than 5 times in a row without feeling bored. Nevertheless, it will be interesting to see how they will pull this off and mix the two songs together. The fierceness of RIVER and the GENKIness of NamiSapu.

In other news, there is unconfirmed news that 100+ members of AKB are going to attend the Kouhaku performance. Seriously... they already broke the record for having the most numbers at Kouhaku two years ago. If the source is true then it will be an awesome show. Just uh add lots more reinforcements under the stage XD. All those members stomping to RIVER. Can't wait for it.

(Credits to S48's ossan, Naomi, chou)

15th single updates: [Enkyorii Poster] and [Choose Me!]

Yesterday evening (Japan time) on BayFM ON8, AKB48 played the songs of Team PB's Enkyorii Poster and Team YJ's Choose Me!.

Team Weekly Playboy - Kashiwagi, Miyazawa, Miyazaki, Oota, Nito, Takajo, Maeda Ami
Team Young Jump - Kasai, Kitahara, Nakagawa, Minegishi, Sashihara, Kuramochi, Kikuchi

Enkyorii Poster aired first. For me, it sounded quite similar to Kimi no Koto ga Suki Dakara. The song wasn't an instant hit for me as Kimi no Koto was though, it was good but I felt it was lacking something. My first thoughts once the song ended was: "That was it?". I mean I was expecting something more. I was a little disappointed.

Then Choose Me! aired. INSTANT HIT. It was kinda of a surprise as we were only informed that only Enkyorii Poster would be played. The song had some 80's feel to it which I liked a lot. It also has this unique feel which I haven't heard in AKB songs for quite some time. I'm pretty much all Choose Me! right now and the song is in currently on infinite loop mode on my playlist. Definitely gonna get the Type B now.
    

AKB4800: Round TWO START

Verbatim has updated their AKB4800 website. So now we can't download any pictures from it any more. This time, we have a brand new game. All 4800 pictures are lined up in a circle and there is a rainbow coloured "Tadaima no Atari" indicator. What you have to do is click on a spot on the circle. It will then zooooom in onto the picture you have chosen and a box will appear. You can still change your choice of picture by pressing the left and right arrow key on your keyboard. (Note: All pictures are the same as in Round ONE). Once you have decided on your picture, enter your email in the box. (Note: Only one email per picture. Multiple emails should be fine). You will then receive a confirmation email from "akb4800@verbatim.jp". Click the link on the email and you will be taken back to the website, and you will see the "Tadaima no Atari" indicator move to the next picture. Everytime an email gets registered on the website the indicator will move. (Note: You will not receive any pictures). This will continue until December 24 2009 (09/12/24) at 24:00 and at that time the indicator will stop. You will have to guess which picture the indicator points to at that exact time. There will be a total of 480 winners and they will stand to win Verbatim items signed by the members. Note: Prizes are probably for those in Japan only I suppose. Not completely sure about that.

Here is the website link again: http://www.verbatim.jp/akb4800/

(Credits to S48's Criss, Whiteyuri, GoGo's HPMS)

More movements in SKE

SKE Kenkyuusei Yanase Aiko has been fired from the group on 9 December 2009 (09/12/09). Also, Yamashita Moe from Team KII will be graduating from SKE48 25 December 2009 (09/12/25).

No reason has been given for Yanase Aiko bering fired. I hope it isn't because of someting stupid such as taking a purikura with a wota like what Nanami Nishikawa from AKB Kenkyuusei did a couple of months ago. I don't know anything about SKE Kenkyuuseis so I'll just leave it like this.

Yamashita Moe will be graduating on SKE's Christmas Concert which lies on Christmas day. The Neko Musume says the she can't realise her dream in SKE48 and will be continuing with her studies. She added that she now wants to be a graphic designer. I (again) don't know much about her. I've seen her performance in Ame no Pianist during the NHK Hall concert 2009 and she is a good performer and has good vocals. I've also seen her in the SKE Gakuen videos and the girl is extremely cute. It would be sad to have such a talented girl leave the group. For more information of Yamashita, please head to Hina's blog. She knows SKE much more than I do.

15th single updates: Setlist and possible costumes

Super late update. So it seems that the two different versions for the single are promotions for the Team Playboy (PB) vs Team Young Jump (YJ) project that had been going on since RIVER.

Team Weekly Playboy - Kashiwagi, Miyazawa, Miyazaki, Oota, Nito, Takajo, Maeda Ami
Team Young Jump - Kasai, Kitahara, Nakagawa, Minegishi, Sashihara, Kuramochi, Kikuchi

The disk's setlist has also been announced.

Type A
DISC1 (CD)
01: Untitled
02: Majisuka Rock 'n' Roll
03: Enkyorii Poster (Team PB)

DISC2 (DVD)
01: Untitled (music clip)
02: Majisuka Rock 'n' Roll (music clip)
03: Enkyorii Poster (music clip)(Team PB)

Type B
DISC1 (CD)
01: Untitled
02: Majisuka Rock 'n' Roll
03: Choose me! (Team YJ)

DISC2 (DVD)
01: Untitled (music clip)
02: Majisuka Rock 'n' Roll (music clip)
03: Enkyorii Poster! (music clip)(Team YJ)

This single will have three songs and each song will have its own PV, for a total of 4 PVs (Type A, Type B, team PB, Team YJ). There will be no making of in either Type A or Type B. The first song and the second song will be the same for both types. The third song on Type A will be sung by the PB girls while the one on Type B will be sung by the YJ girls. Which means that the only difference between Type A and Type B is the cover, the 3rd song and it's PV.

The first song has been confirmed to be a graduation song. With the release date on Feb, this is just in time for the graduation period in Japan (Mar). Also, as you probably have guessed by now, the second song Majisuka Rock 'n' Roll will be used for the opening song of AKB's new drama Majisuka Gakuen.

Now for some strange news. One of AKB's many stalkers has took this picture of them when they were filming for something.

WTH? I'm fine with the Kimonos but what are those wings for?
Coincidentally, the date when the picture was taken falls on the same date which AKB filmed the PV (25 Nov). There's only two possibilities. That there will be a drama again, or that those kimonos are their actual dance costumes. Of course there is the possibility that they are filming for some TV show but with the date so coincidental, it's more possible for that it's related to the single.


Choose Me! will be performed on AKBINGO! 23 December 2009 (09/12/23) by the YJ girls. More information about the single may be announced at the RIVER handshake event at Osaka this weekend.

(Credits to S48's Armitage, Mihipyon, Jasey)

Drama updates: The cast and their . . . nicknames.

The roles that the girls will be portraying in the drama have been announced. And so have their character's names. Their names have lots of references which some of you might not have even heard of. Prepare for massive LOLing.

MAIN
Maeda Atsuko - Maeda Atsuko (Transfers to the school and into 2C)
Transfer student? Wearing glasses? Hmmm reminds me of Mei-chan no Shitsuji where the transfer student changes all the bad girls into good. Well they aren't bad in Mei-chan but you get the point. I'm not sure if 2C is the only class in the school that the girls will be occupying. Also Maeda seems to have some kind of past (look at Minami).
Yuko-senpai - Oshima Yuko (Leader of the strongest gang / wind instruments club "Rappappa")
Leader of strongest gang. So maybe she is like the main boss? Not the final boss but the main boss. She is also the leader of the wind instruments club "Rappappa". I'm guessing the club IS the gang. And WTH is rappappa. After intense Googling, the closest I connection I have found is a trumpet.
Sado - Shinoda Mariko (Subleader of Rappappa, manages the top 4)
Sado = Short for sadist. A sadist eh? Not sure which type of sadist they are refering to. There is the normal sadistic personality and the S&M sadist. Nevertheless this would be awesome. Also judging frm her fur coat, she is more of the rich yankee type.
Torigoya - Kojima Haruna (One of the top 4 in Rappappa, loves chickens)
Torigoya = Aviary/Henhouse. Loves chickens.... Alive or cooked? Well judging from her name she likes them alive. That could mean she is a possible enemy with Onizuka Daruma (Nachu).

RAPPAPPA CLUB TOP 4 (Torigoya above)
Shibuya - Itano Tomomi (One of the top 4 in Rappappa, gal)
Shibuya = One of the fashion centers of Japan. Tomochin is also the image girl for Shibuya 109. . Also gal refers to gyaru
Black - Kashiwagi Yuki (One of the top 4 in Rappappa, single mother)
The name Black could have came from an old AKBINGO episode on 22 April. Kitarie called Yukirin a 'Black Marimokkori'. Also Black being a single mother is going to be interesting. Maybe her past boyfriend/husband will be coming back to haunt her or something.
Gekikara - Matsui Rena (One of the top 4 in Rappappa, absent due to being sent to reform school)
Gekikara = Extremely hot. Rena is known to be the gekikara ace in the Shukan AKB spicy food challenge. Gekikara has also been sent to reform school. I'm assuming she assulted and maybe even killed soemone? Definitely violent. Even her face shows it.

SHIBUYA'S UNDERLINGS
Dance - Yagami Kumi
Kuumin has stated that her special talent is dancing hip-hop.
Anime - Nakaya Sayaka
Anime refers to Nakayan being really in to anime, she also wants to be a seiyuu and idolizes Nana Mizuki.
Jumbo - Tanabe Miku
Jumbo is another nickname that Tanamin has.
Rice - Yonezawa Rumi
Yonechan's last name in Japanese is 米沢, and 米 means 'rice'.
Showa - Katayama Haruka
Haachan loves the Showa era of Japan. Not sure if its the first or the second

TEAM HORMONE (A yankee group that chats in 2C while eating hormones)
Wota - Sashihara Rino (Leader)
Sasshi is well know for her wotagei performances in AKBINGO and has also performed them in front of a live audience of 450 people.
Unagi - Kitahara Rie
Unagi = eel. This could also a reference to an old AKBINGO episode on 22 April when Kashiwagi called Kitahara a 'Unagi-inu'(eel-dog).
Akicha - Takajo Aki
Takajo Aki's nickname.
Bungy - Nito Moeno
She was the fastest to complete the bungee challenge in the Shukan AKB episode. Yeah I'm aware that that is Bungee not Bungy.
Mukuchi - Komori Mika
Mukuchi = reticence or taciturnity (which means silent). Refers to Komorin being silent all the time.

OTHERS
Kabuki Sisters - Kasai Tomomi & Kuramochi Asuka
Kabuki = A type of Japanese performance. The makeup they have on resembles those used for Kabuki.
Nezumijo - Watanabe Mayu
Nezumijo = Mouse girl. Not sure what this means though.
Choukoku - Akimoto Sayaka
Choukoku = Could mean 'sculpt', 'engrave', or 'carve'. Probably related to the fact that Sayaka mentioned that her face is sharp like a chisel (Music Station Iiwake Maybe appearance).
Sansho Sisters - Oota Aika, Oku Manami, Miyazaki Miho (Small, but together they're strong)
Sansho = Japanese pepper. There is a saying that "Even a small bit of sansho is burning hot", which basically means that even someone who is small is someone you might not want to mess with. Hence the note next to it, "Small, but together they're strong". Judging from their clothing, they are also probably the rich yankee type.
Gakuran - Miyazawa Sae
Gakuran = Japanese male winter uniform. Sae could be a tomboy character.
Nekketsu Seito Kaicho  - Minegishi Minami
Nekketsu Seito Kaicho = Hot Blooded Student President.
Matsui - Matsui Jurina
Jurina's surname...
Erena - Ono Erena
..... I don't even need to tell you.
Minami - Takahashi Minami (Involved in Maeda's past)
..... Seriously...... Other than that, she is involved in Maeda's past in some way. Childhood friend? Previous classmate? The girl who stole Maeda's boyfriend? Me likes.
Onizuka Daruma - Nachu (A yankee that eats chicken wings when she wins)
Possible enemy of Torigoya (Kojima Haruna)?

(BIG credits to S48's mihipyon, ossan, GoGo's Hana, hina, SaeYaka)

The Great Kenkyuusei Battle (Dec 2009)

On 30 November 2009, AKB48 management did another Kenkyuusei selection for the 8th gen Kenkyuuseis. The purpose was to filter those girls who have not improved much since they joined from those girls who did improve enough to join a Team. The results were a total massacre and only 3 girls remained standing out of the 13 who once stood. The remaining 10 girls were sent packing.

THE RESULTS
IN: Imai Yurie, Ueki Asaki, Sano Yuriko
OUT: Ishii Ayaka, Ishibe Aya, Kaku Grace, Komizu Nanami, Sakamoto Rio, Tomite Ami, Miki Nicole, Muranaka Satomi, Sugiyama Miku

I haven't seen any LoDs of Kenkyuusei performances yet, only as replacements in the Team LODs. So I can't say much about the 8th gen Kenkyuuseis. But for those who have, it seems that a couple of fan favourites were eleminated and well... The fans aren't happy thats for sure. What confuses me is that why wasn't this done earlier? Or why can't they release the 2010 weekly calendar after they did the auditions? Those girls who were fired got pages in the weekly calendar. Now because of the auditions, those pictures will just bring sad memories to their fans.

Also, AKB official site has updated their Kenkyuusei list with the new 9th gen Kenkyuusei.

Uh..... Those are really bad photos. Really really bad. But then, so are 70% of the profile pictures on the official blog. I wonder when will they finally update the profile pics with the new costumes. I hope they look better when they finally debut and we get to see pictures and videos of them. It has been said that these girls have already been in the show business for some time already so they should have the experience and knowledge to survive in the idol world.

[Kisu no Ryuusei] 1st week sales

Kisu no Ryuusei sold 20,174 copies on the 1st week and ranked on the weekly chart at #8. This is quite good sales for a subunit. Especially since it was released in a bad week. Could this be because of the shockwave of RIVER or has a subunit finally clicked with the general population. Or it also could be with the different music style compared to their previous singles [Relax!] and [Tane]. Kisu no Ryusei seems more mature compared to the genki Relax and Tane.

I wanted post the video of their debut performance here but unfortunately all Kisu no Ryuusei videos have been deleted from YouTube. Damn AKS is going on a deleting rampage.

SKE48 members graduating

Ichihara Yuri from Team KII and Hashimoto Ayumi from SKE Kenkyuusei will be graduating from SKE48 on 30 November 2009 (09/11/30). That's tomorrow by the way. Ichihara has not been performing for a month due to her poor health. However the graduation of the two members might not come as a shock as there have been rumours of their graduation on forums for a while.
To be honest, I don't know those two girls yet. I actually don't even know half of Team S *facepalm*. Nevertheless, any kind of graduation is sad news and they will be dearly missed by their fans. I wish both of them good luck and all the best on their life ahead.

Also, 23 year old Maeda Eiko from Team KII will be transferring to SDN48 in 1 December 2009 (09/12/01). Specific date is unknown. I don't know her either but from her thread, it seems that she was a gravure idol before she joined SKE48. She also had some j-cup breasts before she joined, though she removed them already. That's uh... fitting... for SDN I suppose. And uh... I think she will get along well with Meetan. I don't think this movement will affect me since I don't pay much attention to Team KII and that I'm 16 so SDN is out of the question for me. I wish her too all the best in SDN48.

30 NOV UPDATE: SKE Kenkyuusei Wakabayashi Tomoka has been promoted to Team KII. Her debut performance will be on the 6 December 2009 (09/12/06). This is the same date as Team KII 2nd stage [Te wo Tsunagi Nagara] performance.

No Sleeves (no3b) 3rd single [Kisu no Ryuusei]

The PV for no3b's newest single Kisu no Ryuusei is finally out. Kisu no Ryuusei looks set to become my favourite no3b single so far. Everything about the song and PV is just great. The incredible closeups, the beautiful background, even the fake trees. The release date is on 2009/11/25 (Wednesday). If you haven't preordered it yet, do so now. If you can't order stuff online (like me), well just wait for updates and hope someone uploades it fast.

No Sleeves (no3b) - Kisu no Ryuusei (キスの流星)

Video Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3O-HY1Urmo

No Sleeves (no3b) - Kisu no Ryuusei (Music Japan Performance)

AKB4800

No AKB48 hasn't gotten 4,682 new members and it hasn't changed it's name. AKB4800 is a collaboration between AKB48 and media storage company Verbatim. Most of you will know Verbatim as those blank CDs and DVDs that you buy to store your AKB vids and other stuff. Verbatim will be hosting pictures of the members which will be available for download. FOR FREE! While post of the pictures are your usual photoshoots, there are also pictures from the members childhood, youth and private life. There are also lots of LOL pics for us to LOL at. The total number of pics to download is, obviously hence the name, 4800. Also included are special photos of certain members. Luckily both Amina and Sayaka are included. Be warned. These photos are a total killer. Amina's special photo is 4547 X 10039 pixels. Yes you read that right. The normal pictures are 1280 X 960

The pictures are neatly arranged for us according to members and are then further arranged into various folders. Now these pictures are insanely large and high quality. The best part? One picture is only few hundred KB. That's insanely small! The total space for all 4800 pics is only 824MB. Now thats what I call awesome. Good news for those people with shitty computers which do not have enough space for regular sized photos(like me). Seriously this has got to be the most awesome news since I joined the AKB fandom.

Download yours now: http://www.verbatim.jp/akb4800/

To download, just find the folder of the member whose pictures you want to download. Blue folders will lead to more subfolders and orange folders are where the pictures are. Then all you have to do is click the big download button and there you go. The rainbow folders will have to be unlocked by beating some games inside the website.
Here are the links for Amina's and Sayaka's pictures, credits to STAGE48's flippin'patty.
Sato Amina
Akimoto Sayaka

[RIVER] 3nd week sales

Sorry for the very late post. Got the flu and have been very sick for quite some time. Ok anyway lets get to the main point.

RIVER is somehow still staying in the Oricon Daily top 30 charts for this week, mostly hanging around the 20+ region. Weekly position is at #12. This week's sales count to 9,483 sales. Now if you remember correctly, total sales up to last week stands at 195,522. This means that RIVER has finally broken the 200,000 mark. Congratulations girls. Total official sales is 205,005 copies.

Other than that, there isn't really much happening with RIVER sales.

TOTAL WALLETRAEP AMOUNT (as of 04 November, 2009)
Week 1: 178,579 X 1,600 yen = 285,726,400 yen or 3,137,167.46 USD
Week 2: 16,943 X 1,600 yen = 27,108,800 yen or 298,194.01 USD
Week 3: 9,483 X 1,600 yen = 15,172,800 yen or 169,674.57 USD
TOTAL: 205,005 X 1,600 yen = 328,008,000 or 3,667,984.43 USD

[RIVER] 2nd week sales

Haven't posted about the RIVER sales for some time. In future I wouldn't post about the sales if the single isn't in the top 10 until the end of the week.

The daily sales of Week 2 was a rollercoaster ride with AKB coming in and out of the ranking few times. They started week 2 day 1 at #18 to then charge back in at day 2 to #4. They then went back down to #11 on day 3. Day 4 and 5 were at #9 and went up 1 spot to #8 for day 6. Then there was a sudden drop back to #19 on day 7.

Week 2 sales scored pretty high despite the release of other big artists like KinKi Kids, UVERworld and Morning Musume. KinKi Kids's [Swan Song] took the #1 spot as usual with 160,407 sales, Morning Musume's [Kimagure Princess] at #4 with 36,274 and AKB48's [RIVER] took #5 with 16,943 sales. That brings the total sales to 195,522. Only 4,478 copies left until it breaks the 200,000 mark. That should be reached hopefully by the end of this week. Incredibly, RIVER's week 1 sales beat Swan Song's week one sales by 18,172 copies. That is a big achievement. Great job girls.

RIVER starts week 3 on a good note at #5, behind BIGBANG. Kanjanni8, another Johnny's group, took the #1 spot with 84,078. #3 sales stands at 7067. On an interesting note, Kimagure Princess dropped all the way to #28.

TOTAL WALLETRAEP AMOUNT (as of 04 November, 2009)
Week 1: 178,579 X 1,600 yen = 285,726,400 yen or 3,137,167.46 USD
Week 2: 16,943 X 1,600 yen = 27,108,800 yen or 298,194.01 USD
TOTAL: 195,522 X 1,600 yen = 312,836,200 or 3,441,154.68 USD

AKB48 [RIVER] Music Station Performance

AKB48 performed recently on Music Station their song RIVER. It's the shortened version unfortunately, so no chanting in the beginning. Nevertheless it was an awesome performance. Great camerawork by the cameramen. Everyone had their share of screentime and there isn't any camera hogging. However, not all was good. There was a small problem with Takamina's skirt. It seems that it was too short, but luckily she was saved by those black shorts they always wear under the skirts. (Like those in Skirt, Hirari). Her performance is unaffected though, I must applaud her for that.

AKB48 - RIVER (Music Station Performance)

Video Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JO9Q2lw3t-s
Note: Sayaka, Sae Yukirin absent.

[RIVER] Week 2 Day 1 and 2 sales

AKBN48's RIVER starts Week 2 very slowly on 13th place on the Oricon Daily Charts. Quite low but it isn't bad for a start on Week 2. 10nen Zakura started Week 2 at #18. So #13 isn't a bad number. In fact, We should start associating the #13 with good luck not bad because, look whose back.

RIVER rises back to the Top 10 and claims the #4 spot, smashing Morning Musume's sales at #5! This is incredible! AKB48's Week 2 day 2 sales passing Momosu's day 2 sales! We don't know how much is AKB's and Momosu's sales though but I think they are close. Like separated by only 1,000 or so. We also don't know the sales amount since both are out of the Top 3, except that they are less than 13,317. They could be anywhere between 6,000 and 13,000.

KinKi Kids represented Johnny's Entertainment and challenged the girls to an epic showdown, continuing the never ending fight between the two idol groups. The good news is that so far in the 2 days, their sales reached only 112,000. AKB's 2 day sales was a staggering 141,844. The bad news is that the sales of Day 3-7 went down quickly and sold only 30,000 copies. KinKi Kids 2nd day sold 40,000 copies. They can easily beat 30,000. I'm worried for the girls but If AKB can beat KinKi Kids, they will make history AGAIN.

I can't help but think the AKB wotas have been storing their money just so they could blast it all out back on Week 2 and beat Momosu. That could explain the sudden drop in sales during Day 3-7. The sales are sure to go down by tomorrow which means Momosu may or may not overtake them. Nevertheless, this event has caused quite a stir among Momosu wotas. Now back to RIVER, if my estimations are correct, RIVER's day 6 and 7 should sell somewhere around 4,000 to 5,000. Week 1 day 1 may have sold around 1,000 to 2,000. Week 1 day 2 is around 6,000 to 13,000 so I'm guessing 10,000 sales. That amounts RIVER's sales to around 194,000! That means only around 6,000 copies left to sell before it reaches 200,000!! That should be reached by the end of the week!!! This is incredible!

[RIVER] 1st week sales

RIVER's sales on day 3 is a massive drop from the previous 2 days, going at only 14,259. What's more worrying is that the 4th day sales aren't any better and dropped to 4,707. If this goes on they might lose their #1 spot on the Daily charts. This does not look good for AKB. At least they still hold the #1 spot for now. Hopefully their sales will increase after their appearance on Music Station on 2009/10/30 (Friday). Their appearance on Music Fighter didn't do much difference to the sales sadly. 200,000 is highly unlikely for 1st week but there is still hope for total sales. Maybe they should change their tactics and start showing Kimi no Koto ga Suki Dakara and Hikoukigumo on advertisements and not just RIVER. After all, in my opinion Kimi no Koto is better than RIVER. Wotas who haven't bought your RIVER single yet, DO SO NOW!!!

In other RIVER news, RIVER is at the top of the Recochoku daily download rankings, and interesting to note that Iiwake Maybe is on the list at #13, up from 28. Maybe due to the high RIVER sales that people decided to check out their old singles?


5th day sales of RIVER went up from 4,707 to 7,085. Any increase is great news. Especially with the low sales of Day 4. RIVER still stays at #1 in the Daily charts. Current total sales stands at 167,895

However, RIVER didn't hold on to the #1 spot and in day 6, they dropped 4 spots to #5. Oricon doesn't update us on daily sales if the single is not on the top 3. So all we know is that the sales is less than 3,684, which is the sales of the #3 single.

7th day sales didn't do any better. RIVER managed to keep it's 5th place position at least, but with sales below 1,832, it doesn't look good for 2nd week sales.

However, not all is lost. Official sales for 1st week is 178,579!!!! That gives them the NUMBER SPOT ON THE WEEKLY CHARTS. Well we all knew that since the monster sales of day 1. Not only that, RIVER is now the BEST SELLING FEMALE GROUP SINGLE SINCE 2003. That's SEVEN YEARS. The low day 4 to day 7 sales don't matter any more cause they have made music history. I am so glad to be part of those sales. A big

CONGRATULATIONS

to you girls for being so awesome and making the #1 spot, and not forgetting Aki-P. You are a genius. A freaking genius. I am sorry for ever doubting you (though I still doubt you for some things like the shuffle). You have earned my respect. OTL. Oh and congratulations for walletraeping us too ^^.


TOTAL WALLETRAEP AMOUNT (as of 28 October, 2009)
Day 1: 87,795 X 1,600 yen = 140,472,000 yen or 1,536,468.33 USD
Day 2: 54,049 X 1,600 yen = 86,478,400 yen or 946,088.46 USD
Day 3: 14,259 X 1,600 yen = 22,814,400 yen or 249,909.64 USD
Day 4: 4,707 X 1,600 yen = 7,531,200 yen or 81,836.78 USD
Day 5: 7,085 X 1,600 yen = 11,336,000 yen or 124,471.89 USD
Day 6 + 7: Pending due to an unknown error in the numbers. Currently trying to resolve the problem.

Week 1: 178,579 X 1,600 yen = 285,726,400 yen or 3,137,167.46 USD
TOTAL: 178,579 X 1,600 yen = 285,726,400 or 3,137,167.46 USD
We have hit 3 million baby. Aki-P is rejoicing.

AKB48 14th Single [RIVER] 1st & 2nd Day Sales

AKB48's 14th single [RIVER] was released yesterday, and for the first time ever AKB48 achieved 1st place on the Oricon Daily Ranking Chart. The exact no. of copies sold was 87,795, almost double that of their preceding single [Namida Surprise].


Second day sales were even more exciting. While there was a drop of 30k down to 54,049 copies sold, the total sales for the 2 days reaches a staggering amount of 141,844 copies sold,  more than what Namida Surprise sold in it's whole 1st week! This is history in the making! Damn am I glad I joined the AKB48 fandom in time to witness this prosperity.


Will AKB48 be able to sell enough on the next couple of days to break the 200,000 barrier? Only time will tell. They have an upcoming performance on Music Station on Friday (091030) and that might give them the boost that they need.

MELOS no Michi is LIVE!

MELOS no Michi is LIVE!


Welcome to MELOS no Michi, my new blog for AKB48 fanboying. Who am I you might ask? My name is Joshua, but I go by the nickname of Melos on the AKB48 forum Stage48.

I have been an AKB48 fan for just half a year, joining the fandom soon after 10nen Zakura was released. During that time, I have witnessed the difficulty of finding information about the group and their works. Information can be found on forums, but it is tucked away somewhere within the threads and hard to backtrack.

It is for that reason that I created this blog, to archive each and every single activity for the non-Japanese speaking fans, so that if the need arises in the future, the information will always be there for them.

Of course, I also have my personal reasons of creating this blog. I find it difficult to keep track of an artist or group if I'm not actively doing something for it.

I don't have much else to say, other than wish me luck :)