MELOS no Michi: AKB48 20th Single [Sakura no Ki ni Narou] Sales

DAY 1: 655,344
DAY 2: 101,304
DAY 3: 51,196
DAY 4: 53,206
DAY 5: 30,801
DAY 6: 27,180
DAY 7: 23,448

FIRST WEEK TOTAL: 942,479

FIRST WEEK COMMENTS
     Who am I kidding, really. "Maybe this one will sell faster, but who can say for sure.". Hahahahaha. Why did I even make that statement. Obviously it will. When the sales figure is as incredibly high as 942,479 just in the first week, there's no point doubting anymore. Why? Because IT'S OVER 900,000!!!!!!!!! How many times have they out do themselves, I do not know. but let's see how much this one did.

     The last time ANYBODY (in Japan) was able to sell a Single with OVER 900,000 copies in it's first week was Utada Hikaru with her Single Addicted to You, 11 years and 3 months ago. But for this millennium, their the first ever. The freaking first! Which makes Sakura no Ki ni Narou the 6th highest first week sales EVER (in Japan). But if you thought that was all, of course not! They are the 2nd group to achieve a streak of 7 #1 Singles. And who are the first? The all famous Pink Lady duo from back in the 1980s. That's 33 years ago!

FIRST DAY COMMENTS
     This is unprecedented. AKB48's latest Single Sakura no Ki ni Narou topped the ORICON Daily Singles Charts with 655,344 copies sold on it's first day. This is the highest ever figure for a Single ever since ORICON started publishing figures for daily sales. Which means AKB48 has broken all existing documented records! Ladies and gentlemen, we're looking here at possibly and probably the highest ever 1st Day sales for a female group (in Japan).

     Compared to their next highest selling Single Beginner which sold 568,095 on it's 1st day, Sakura no Ki ni Narou sold close to 90k more.and judging from the general trend of AKB48 Single sales for the week, it seems like by the end of the week Sakura no Ki ni Narou will reach 900k. The Natsu Style has kindly provided a graph here. At this rate, it will probably reach 1 million before the end of the 2nd week. Beginner too 3 months to do that.

    Congratulations AKB48! With only an initial shipping of 1.1 million, looks like King Records will have to start printing more copies soon. Oh and those of you wondering about the above picture, that is the actual sakura tree used in the PV of Sakura no Ki ni Narou. The famous sakura tree of the Zuiryu Elementary School in Hitachiota, Ibaraki Prefecture. The building of the left of the tree is the same as the one in that scene where Acchan, Yuko, Tomochin, Takamina and Kojiharu walk out of and spot Jurina. I will update this post daily with the sales figures so remember to check back!

Sakura no Ki ni Narou ORICON CHART 1st Day