HKT48 4th Single [Hikaeme, I Love You !] Tracklist and Covers

HKT48 will release their 4th single [Hikaeme, I Love You !] on September 24th. The covers and tracklist for this single have now been revealed.

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JKT48 7th Single [Papan Penanda Isi Hati] Released & Pajama Drive Revival

JKT48 have released their 7th single [Papan Penanda Isi Hati] on 27th August 2014. The release time shares the same date with AKB48's version of the song [Kokoro no Placard] just like [Koisuru Fortune Cookie] last year.

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HKT48 4th Single and Additional National Tour Concerts Announced

During a handshake event on August 3, HKT48 announced the release of their 4th single. The single will go on sale on September 24th. Further details will come out on a later date.


Also, HKT48 will hold a national tour this fall. A few concerts had already been announced before but now additional venues were revealed. Concerts in Taiwan and Hong Kong are planned as well but dates have not been set yet. The full tour schedule is:

09/21 Ishikawa Prefecture, Honda no Mori Hall
09/28 Iwate Prefecture, Iwate Prefectural Hall
10/04 Niigata Prefecture, Niigata Terusa
10/11 Yamagat Prefecture, Yamagin Hall (Yamagata Prefectural Hall)
10/18 Tokushima Prefecture, Naruto Bunka Kaikan
11/01 Ibaraki Prefecture, Yuki Shimin Bunka Center Across Big Hall
11/16 Kanagawa Prefecture, Yokosuka Arts Theatre Big Hall
11/18 Fukuoka Prefecture, Fukuoka Sunpalace
12/23 Hiroshima Prefecture, Aster Plaza Big Hall

Dates unknown: Taiwan, Hong Kong

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SKE48 15th Single [Bukiyou Taiyou] First Week Sales

SKE48's 15th single [Bukiyou Taiyou] has finished its first week and once again SKE48 took the first rank in the Oricon Weekly Charts. The single sold 324,076 in week one.

The previous single [Mirai to wa?] already had lower sales (first week: 397,874) than other recent SKE48 singles but [Bukiyou Taiyou]'s are even lower by more than 70,000 copies. But theater version sales rounds are still not all finished so sales are hard to compare.

Soundscan sales have gone down as well but not as much as total sales: SKE48 ranked on #2, #5, #6 and #7 with a total of 102,722 copies sold (previous single 118,750).

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AKB48 37th Single [Kokoro no Placard] Tracklist+Covers

AKB48's 37th single [Kokoro no Placard] will be released on August 27th. Covers and tracklist for this single which features the elected members from this year's election can be found below.

The main song [Kokoro no Placard] is centered by election winner Watanabe Mayu who also gets two solo covers. Apart from the election-related songs, the single also contains the song [Sailor Zombie] the title song for the drama of the same name, the Papico CM song [Oshiete Mommy] with Tsukamoto Mariko and Team 8's first own song [47 no Suteki na Machi e].

AKB48 37th Single
Kokoro no Placard
心のプラカード
27th August 2014

Type A Limited 1,524yen

Type A Regular 1,524yen

[CD]
01. Kokoro no Placard (Senbatsu)
02. Dareka ga Nageta Ball (Undergirls)
03. Hito-Natsu no Hankouki  (Next Girls)
04. Kokoro no Placard (short version)
05. Kokoro no Placard (off vocal)
06. Dareka ga Nageta Ball (off vocal)
07. Hito-Natsu no Hankouki (off vocal)
[DVD]
01. Kokoro no Placard (MV)
02. Kokoro no Placard (choreography video Type A)
03. Dareka ga Nageta Ball (MV)
04. Hito-Natsu no Hankouki (MV)

Type B Limited 1,524yen

Type B Regular 1,524yen

[CD]
01. Kokoro no Placard (Senbatsu)
02. Dareka ga Nageta Ball (Undergirls)
03. Seikaku ga Warui Onna no Ko  (Future Girls)
04. Kokoro no Placard (short version)
05. Kokoro no Placard (off vocal)
06. Dareka ga Nageta Ball (off vocal)
07. Seikaku ga Warui Onna no Ko (off vocal)
[DVD]
01. Kokoro no Placard (MV)
02. Kokoro no Placard (choreography video Type B)
03. Dareka ga Nageta Ball (MV)
04. Seikaku ga Warui Onna no Ko (MV)

Type C Limited 1,524yen

Type C Regular 1,524yen

[CD]
01. Kokoro no Placard (Senbatsu)
02. Dareka ga Nageta Ball (Undergirls)
03. Chewing Gum no Aji ga Naku Naru made  (Upcoming Girls)
04. Kokoro no Placard (short version)
05. Kokoro no Placard (off vocal)
06. Dareka ga Nageta Ball (off vocal)
07. Chewing Gum no Aji ga Naku Naru made (off vocal)
[DVD]
01. Kokoro no Placard (MV)
02. Kokoro no Placard (choreography video Type C)
03. Dareka ga Nageta Ball (MV)
04. Chewing Gum no Aji ga Naku Naru made (MV)

Type D Limited 1,524yen

Type D Regular 1,524yen

[CD]
01. Kokoro no Placard (Senbatsu)
02. Sailor Zombie (Milk Planet)
03. Oshiete Mommy
04. Kokoro no Placard (short version)
05. Kokoro no Placard (off vocal)
06. Sailor Zombie (off vocal)
07. Oshiete Mommy (off vocal)
[DVD]
01. Kokoro no Placard (MV)
02. Kokoro no Placard (choreography video Type D)
03. Sailor Zombie (MV)
04. Oshiete Mommy (MV)

Theater Version 952yen

[CD]
01. Kokoro no Placard (Senbatsu)
02. Dareka ga Nageta Ball (Undergirls)
03. 47 no Suteki na Machi e  (Team 8)
04. Kokoro no Placard (short version)
05. Kokoro no Placard (off vocal)
06. Dareka ga Nageta Ball (off vocal)
07. 47 no Suteki na Machi e (off vocal)

For Senbatsu, Undergirls, Next Girls, Future Girls, Upcoming Girls line-up please see the election results post.

Sailor Zombie - Milk Planet
Team A: Iwata Karen
Team K: Yokoyama Yui
Team B: Watanabe Mayu

Oshiete Mommy
Team A: Kawaei Rina, Shimazaki Haruka
Team K: Kojima Mako
Team B: Owada Nana, Watanabe Mayu
Otona AKB48: Tsukamoto Mariko

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SKE48 15th Single [Bukiyou Taiyou] First Day Sales+Covers and Tracklist

SKE48 released its 15th single [Bukiyou Taiyou] on July 30th. The single topped the Oricon Daily Charts selling 67,786 copies.

The last single sold 273,740 copies on its first day so the current first day sales are extremely low for SKE48. But it seems this is due to delayed shipments of the theater editions.

SKE48 15th Single
Bukiyou Taiyou
不器用太陽
30th July 2014

Type A Limited 1,600yen

Type A Regular 1,600yen

[CD]
01. Bukiyou Taiyou
02. Houkago Race (Team S)
03. Coming Soon (Boat Pier Senbatsu)
04. Tomodachi no Mama de (Selection 10)
05. Bukiyou Taiyou (off vocal)
06. Houkago Race (off vocal)
07. Coming Soon (off vocal)
08. Tomodachi no Mama de (off vocal)
[DVD]
01. Bukiyou Taiyou (MV)
02. Houkago Race (MV)
03. Special Footage: Team S no Kiseki~SKE48 Hatsu no Sokaku (2013.04.13)->Zepp Nagoya (2014.05.12)~ documentary movie

Type B Limited 1,600yen

Type B Regular 1,600yen

[CD]
01. Bukiyou Taiyou
02. Sayonara Kinou no Jibun (Team KII)
03. Coming Soon (Boat Pier Senbatsu)
04. Tomodachi no Mama de (Selection 10)
05. Bukiyou Taiyou (off vocal)
06. Sayonara Kinou no Jibun (off vocal)
07. Coming Soon (off vocal)
08. Tomodachi no Mama de (off vocal)
[DVD]
01. Bukiyou Taiyou (MV)
02. Sayonara Kinou no Jibun (MV)
03. Special Footage: Team KII no Kiseki~SKE48 Hatsu no Sokaku (2013.04.13)->Zepp Namba (2014.05.13)~ documentary movie

Type C Limited 1,600yen

Type C Regular 1,600yen

[CD]
01. Bukiyou Taiyou
02. Banana Kakumei (Team E)
03. Coming Soon (Boat Pier Senbatsu)
04. Tomodachi no Mama de (Selection 10)
05. Bukiyou Taiyou (off vocal)
06. Banana Kakumei (off vocal)
07. Coming Soon (off vocal)
08. Tomodachi no Mama de (off vocal)
[DVD]
01. Bukiyou Taiyou (MV)
02. Banana Kakumei (MV)
03. Special Footage: Team E no Kiseki~SKE48 Hatsu no Sokaku (2013.04.13)->Zepp Sapporo (2014.05.15)~ documentary movie

Type D Limited 1,600yen

Type D Regular 1,600yen

[CD]
01. Bukiyou Taiyou
02. Koi yori mo Dream (Da~su~, Tsu~ma~ & Ni~ta~)
03. Coming Soon (Boat Pier Senbatsu)
04. Tomodachi no Mama de (Selection 10)
05. Bukiyou Taiyou (off vocal)
06. Koi yori mo Dream (off vocal)
07. Coming Soon (off vocal)
08. Tomodachi no Mama de (off vocal)
[DVD]
01. Bukiyou Taiyou (MV)
02. Koi yori mo Dream  (MV)
03. Special Footage: SKE48 Shin-Chiimu Iseki & Kennin Member no Kiseki~7-nin Sorezore no Shin-Tenchi de no Chousen~ documentary movie (about transferred and concurrent members)

Theater Version 1,000yen

[CD]
01. Bukiyou Taiyou
02. Coming Soon (Boat Pier Senbatsu)
03. Tomodachi no Mama de (Selection 10)
04. SKE48 15th Single Medley
05. Bukiyou Taiyou (off vocal)
06. Comin Soon (off vocal)
07. Tomodachi no Mama da (off vocal)

Bukiyou Taiyou - Senbatsu
Team S: Azuma Rion, Oya Masana, Kitagawa Ryoha, Futamura Haruka, Matsui Jurina, Miyazawa Sae, Watanabe Miyuki
Team KII: Oba Mina, Takayanagi Akane, Furukawa Airi, Furuhata Nao, Yamada Nana  
Team E: Iwanaga Tsugumi, Umemoto Madoka, Kimoto Kanon, Kumazaki Haruka, Sato Sumire, Shibata Aya, Suda Akari, Matsui Rena
 
Coming Soon - Boat Pier Senbatsu
Team KII: Oba Mina, Takayanagi Akane, Furukawa Airi
Team E: Sato Sumire, Shibata Aya, Suda Akari, Matsui Rena
Kenkyuusei: Matsumura Kaori

Tomodachi no Mama de - Selection 10
Team S: Azuma Rion, Kitagawa Ryoha, Matsui Jurina
Team KII: Oba Mina, Takayanagi Akane, Furukawa Airi, Furuhata Nao
Team E: Kimoto Kanon, Suda Akari, Matsui Rena

Koi yori mo Dream - Da~su~, Tsu~ma, Ni~ta~
Team E: Suda Akari, Tani Marika
Kenkyuusei: Matsumura Kaori

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French Kiss Announces New Single

On July 15th, Kashiwagi Yuki's birthday, AKB48's subunit French Kiss announced the release of a new single. The single is called [Omoidasenai Hana] and will be released on October 1st. It is French Kiss' 6th single and their first single in more than two years. The last one was [Romance Privacy] which was released in July 2012.

Surprisingly, [Omidasenai Hana] will be a folk song, the first one in the AKB48 Group. It is also the title song for Takajo Aki's drama SAVEPOINT and French Kiss' TV show 'French Kiss no Kiss Tabi'.

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SKE48 15th Single Title and Senbatsu Announced

On July 30th SKE48 will release its 15th single and now the title and senbatsu have been announced. The single is called [Bukiyou Taiyou] ('clumsy sun').

For the first time in SKE48's history senbatsu consists of 20 members. Iwanaga Tsugumi, Kumazaki Haruka and Futamura Haruka make their senbatsu debut. Transferred/concurrent members Miyazawa Sae, Watanabe Miyuki, Sato Sumire and Yamada Nana also appear for the first time in SKE48 senbatsu.

SKE48 15th Single [Bukiyou Taiyou] Senbatsu
Team S: Azuma Rion, Oya Masana, Kitagawa Ryoha, Futamura Haruka, Matsui Jurina, Miyazawa Sae, Watanabe Miyuki
Team KII: Oba Mina, Takayanagi Akane, Furukawa Airi, Furuhata Nao, Yamada Nana  
Team E: Iwanaga Tsugumi, Umemoto Madoka, Kimoto Kanon, Kumazaki Haruka, Sato Sumire, Shibata Aya, Suda Akari, Matsui Rena

In: Iwanaga Tsugumi, Kumazaki Haruka, Sato Sumire, Futamura Haruka, Miyazawa Sae, Yamada Nana, Watanabe Miyuki

Out: Ishida Anna, Kizaki Yuria, Yamada Mizuho

Official Announcement video:

 

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AKB48 Tops Oricon First Half 2014 Ranking

Oricon has released its rankings for the best selling releases of the first half of 2014. As expected AKB48 takes the Top3 spots with [Labrador Retriever] on #1. #4 and #5 are taken by Arashi but on #6 Nogizaka46 already makes an appearance with [Kizuitara Kataomoi] ranking higher than any AKB48 sister group singles. 

In the album ranking AKB48 also took the top.

All 48/46 relevant rankings are:

Singles
1. Labrador Retriever- AKB48 1,764,489
2. Mae Shika Mukanee- AKB48 1,151,372
3. Suzukake Nanchara- AKB48 1,086,491
...
6. Kizuitara Kataomoi- Nogizaka46 538,090
7. Mirai to wa?- SKE48 502,835
...
9. Takane no Ringo- NMB48 443,069
...
11. Sakura, Minna de Tabeta- HKT48 322,186
...
30. Barette- Nogizaka46 91,800
...
39. Sansei Kawaii!- SKE48 72,887
...
50. Koi Suru Fortune Cookie- AKB48 55,626

Albums
1. Tsugi no Ashiato- AKB48 1,036,751
...
25. already- Not yet 85,844

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New Announcements: AKB48 Group Tokyo Dome Concerts+ NMB48 2nd Album

As announced on June 19th, AKB48 will again hold concerts in Tokyo Dome. Three concerts are planned for August, one by AKB48 alone and two by the AKB48 Group. This is the third time for the AKB48 Group in Tokyo Dome and the first time an AKB48-only concert will be held.

The dates are:
August 18, AKB48-only
August 19, AKB48 Group
August 20, AKB48 Group


One day earlier NMB48 also had news to announce. The group will release its 2nd album on August 13. The title is yet unknown but several contents have already been revealed. The album will include all singles from [Bokura no Eureka] and songs for the new teams. The DVD will have the following extras:
-MVs for [Ibiza Girl] and the new team songs
-theater shows: [Koko ni Datte Tenshi wa Iru], [Idol no Yoake], [Tadaima Renaichuu]
-concert: [NMB48 Request Hour Setlist Best 50 2014]
-NMB48 feat. Yoshimoto Shinkigeki Vol. 9

A short PV for the album's lead song [Ibiza Girl] has already been put up on the NMB48 Youtube Channel:

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AKB48 36th Single [Labrador Retriever] First Week Sales

AKB48's newest single [Labrador Retriever] was released on May 21st and finished first in the Oricon Weekly Charts selling 1,662,265 copies.

Being an election-ticket single it sold a lot more than the previous singles (for example [Mae Shika Mukanee]'s first week sales were 1,091,406) but the single could not reach the sales of last year's election-ticket single  [Sayonara Crawl] which sold about 100 k more in its first week (1,762,873) despite higher first day sales of [Labrador Retriever].

As usual AKB48 also dominates the Soundscan ranking taking all top 8 spots with the singles different types. The limited types A, K, B and 4 took ranks #1~4 and the regular types A, K, B, 4 ranks #5~8. Total soundscan sales amount to 488,019, so the theater edition sold approx. 1,174,000. copies.

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NMB48 Request Hour Setlist Best 50 2014 Results+New Song and Senbatsu Revealed

On May 21st and 22nd NMB48 performed their [NMB48 Request Hour Setlist Best 50] in the Orix Theater in Osaka. This is the second time NMB48 holds their own request hour event and the first time 50 songs are featured.

This year's winner is [Almond Croissant Keikaku], former Team BII's team song. Last year's top ranked song [Kesshou] dropped to #26.

Transferred member Ogasawara Mayu performed both days, former concurrent member Yokoyama Yui as well as former Team BII members Akazawa Hono, Umehara Mako and Kobayashi Rikako made guest appearances on the second day.

During the event, NMB48  also performed a new song for the first time. It is is called [Ibiza Girl] and will be released on June 25th. It has the highest number of senbatsu members in NMB48's history: 22 girls. Ota Yuuri as well as all new transferred/concurrent members make their NMB48 senbatsu debut.

NMB48 [Ibiza Girl] Senbatsu
Team N: Ota Yuuri, Kashiwagi Yuki, Kato Yuuka, Kotani Riho, Jonishi Kei, Murashige Anna, Yamamoto Sayaka, Yoshida Akari
Team M: Shiroma Miru, Takano Yui, Tanigawa Airi, Fujie Reina, Murase Sae, Yagura Fuuko, Yamada Nana
Team BII: Ichikawa Miori, Umeda Ayaka, Kadowaki Kanako, Shibuya Nagisa, Takayanagi Akane, Yabushita Shu, Watanabe Miyuki


The full  results are listed below, last year's rank is indicated in brackets.


NMB48 Request Hour Setlist Best 50
May 21st~22nd
Orix Theater, Osaka

Day 1 (Ranks 50~26)

50. Renai Higai Todoke (18) (Akagumi)
49. Junai no Crescendo (new) (Kamieda Emika, Kurokawa Hazuki, Muro Kanako)
48. Nagisa no Cherry (new) (Yabushita Shu; background dancers: Ishizuka, Kono, Miura)
47. Mikazuki no Senaka (12)
46. Prom no Koibito (new)

45. Doshaburi no Seishun no Naka de (new) (Shirogumi)
44. Haru ga Kuru Made (new) (Ota Yuri, Kushiro Rina)
43. Hajimete no Hoshi (new) (Ichikawa, Ogasawara, Shiroma, Jonishi, Yamamoto, Yoshida, Watanabe)
 ---MC---

42. Namekuj Heart (20) (Chou Idol Senbatsu)
41. Saigo no Catharsis (28) (Shirogumi)
40. Koko ni Datte Tenshi wa Iru (new) (Team N)
39. Kitagawa Kenji (6) (Team M)
38. Kamonegikkusu (new) (Team BII)
37. Oh my God! (10) (Team N)
36. Nagiichi (7) (all)

---MC---
35. Uso no Tenbin (new) (Umeda, Ogasawara, Shiroma, Jo, Jonishi, Yamada, Yamamoto)
34. Todokanasou de Todoku Mono (new)

33. Doryoku no Shizuku (new) (Shirogumi)
32. HA! (5)
31. Takane no Ringo (new)

---MC---(Kotani Riho announces her third solo talk event to be held on June 28th)
30. Hoshizora no Caravan (9) (Shirogumi)
29. Bokura no Eureka (new)
28. Chotto Nekoze (new)
27. Kuchi Utsushi no Chocolate (new) (Murakami Ayaka, Yamagishi Natsumi, Yamada Nana)
26. Kesshou (1) (Shirogumi)

 ---ENCORE---

EN1 - Mae Shika Mukanee (New Team N)

EN2 - RESET (New Team M)

EN3 - Sakaagari (New Team BII) 

Day 2 (Ranks 25~1)

25. Sobakasu no Kiss (new)
24. Mou Hadashi ni wa Narenai (new) (Namba Tepputai Sono Yon)
23. Seishun no Laptime (2) (1st Generation Members)
22. Kimi to Deatte Boku wa Kawatta (new)
21. Namida no Shounan (new) (Ueda Mirei, Kamieda Emika, Kusaka Konomi, Kushiro Rina, Yamauchi Tsubasa)
20. Tengoku Yarou (24) (Azuma Yuki, Ishida Yumi, Uno Mizuki, Odan Mai, Kawakami Rena, Kinoshita Momoka, Nakano Reina, Nishizawa Rurina, Mita Mao, Yamao Rina)
19. Sunahama de Pistol (17) (Namba Teppoutai Sono Ichi)
18. O-new no Uwabaki (new) (Ichikawa Miori, Kondo Rina, Shiroma Miru)
17. Jungle Gym (3) (Yamamoto Sayaka)
16. With my soul (new)
15. Nandeyanen, Idol (11) (Main: Kadowaki Kanako, Kinoshita Haruna)

---MC---
14. Faint (new) (Ishizuka Akari, Kusaka Konomi, Kato Yuuka)
13. Kono Sekai ga Yuki no Naka ni Umoreru Mae ni (new) (Kishino Rika, Koga Narumi, Kono Saki, Yamaguchi Yuki )
12. Toki wa Katarihajimeru (new)
11. Yume no Dead Body (new) (Yamamoto Sayaka)

---MC---
10. Kataomoi no Taikakusen (new) (Azuma Yuki, Okita Ayaka, Yogi Keira; background dancers: Ishida, Odan, Nakano, Nishizawa, Matsumura, Yamao)
09. Nando mo Nerae! (new) (Ogasawara Mayu, Kadowaki Kanako, Kinoshita Haruna, Kotani Riho, Hayashi Momoka)
08. Itoshiki Natasha (14) (Kinoshita Momoka, Takano Yuki, Tanigawa Airi)
07. Warukii (4) (Watanabe Miyuki)

---MC---
06. Sunglasses to Uchiakebanashi (new)
05. Fuyushougun no Regret (8) (Namba Teppoutai Sono Ni)
04. Dazai Osamu wo Yonda ka? (19) (Yamada Nana, Yamamoto Sayaka, Yokoyama Yui)

03. Yama e Ikou (new) (Namba Teppoutai Sono Go)

02. Zipper (new) (Jonishi Kei, Yoshida Akari, Watanabe Miyuki)
01. Almond Croissant Keikaku (16) (Original Team BII, including graduates Akazawa, Umehara and Kobayashi)

 ---ENCORE---

EN1 - Ibiza Girl  (new single) (Senbatsu)

EN2 - Teppen Tottande (all)

EN3 - NMB48 (all)

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AKB48 36th Single [Labrador Retriever] First Day Sales

AKB48's newest single [Labrador Retriever] went on sale on May 21st and ranked first in the Oricon Daily Charts. The single, which also contains voting tickets for the senbatsu election, sold 1,462,156 copies on its first day.

Sales surpassed those of  [Sayonara Crawl] (1,450,881 on day one) which up until now were AKB48's best first day sales by a bit more than 10,000 copies and make [Labrador Retriever] the new first day sales record holder.

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NMB48 9th Single [Takane no Ringo] First Week Sales

NMB48's 9th single [Takane no Ringo] was released on March 26th and now finished its first week ranking first in the Oricon Weekly Charts. First week sales amount to 406,579 copies.

Sales improved compared to the previous single [Kamonegikkusu] which sold 374,644 in its first week. Overall [Takane no Ringo] has the second best first week sales for NMB48, only [Bokura no Eureka] had a better start with 481,843 copies in week one. [Takane no Ringo] first week sales also beat those of SKE48's [Mirai to wa?] which was released a week earlier and sold 397,874 copies in the starting week.

In the soundscan ranking, NMB48 also took the top position, as well as 3th and 4th rank. Sales are 80,328 so the theater edition must have sold about 326,000 copies.

Sales on first day (when the theater versions usually ships) for NMB48 were already 368,719 copies, so the rest of the week wasn't that overwhelming. Also overall sales of NMB48 are higher, but in Soundscan SKE48 sold more (118,750), maybe because they had a type more. In fact, NMB48's soundscan numbers are on the same level as HKT48's (80,088). This shows that the theater edition accounts for an even greater portion of sales for NMB48 and seems to be even more important for them than it is for the sister groups.

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AKB48 36th Single [Labrador Retriever] Senbatsu

During AKB48's concert in the National Olympic Stadium on March 29, the group performed its new single which will be released on May 21st and will contain voting tickets for the senbatsu election. The single is called  [Labrador Retriever].

As usual for a pre-election single, the number of senbatsu members is higher than usual: for this single a total of 36 members were selected, the highest number for AKB48 together with [Manatsu no Sounds Good] which also featured 36 girls. Center is Watanabe Mayu. 17* members from AKB48, 7 from SKE48, 6 from NMB48 and also 6 from HKT48 were selected.

AKB48 single senbatsu newcomers are: Owada Nana, Okada Nana, Nishino Miki, Kitagawa Ryoha, Yabushita Shu and Shibuya Nagisa.

*all numbers follow the new team system, concurrencies not counted

36th Single  [Labrador Retriever] Senbatsu
AKB48
Iriyama Anna, Okada Nana, Owada Nana, Kashiwagi Yuki, Kato Rena, Kawaei Rina, Kizaki Yuria, Kitahara Rie, Kojima Haruna, Kojima Mako, Shimazaki Haruka, Takahashi Juri, Takahashi Minami, Nishino Miki, Minegishi Minami, Yokoyama Yui, Watanabe Mayu
SKE48
Oba Mina, Kitagawa Ryoha, Kimoto Kanon, Suda Akari, Furuhata Nao, Matsui Jurina, Matsui Rena
NMB48
Ichikawa Miori, Shibuya Nagisa, Yagura Fuuko, Yabushita Shu, Yamamoto Sayaka, Watanabe Miyuki
HKT48
Ota Aika, Kodama Haruka, Sashihara Rino, Tashima Meru, Tomonaga Mio, Miyawaki Sakura

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NMB48 9th Single [Takane no Ringo] First Day Sales

NMB48's 9th single [Takane no Ringo] went on sale on March 26th marking the end of the 48-related release rush. The single took the top spot in the Oricon Daily Charts selling 368,719 copies.

Sales jumped up from the previous single [Kamonegikkusu] which sold 270,447 copies on its first day, almost 100,000 less that the current single. [Takane no Ringo]'s first day sales are the second highest for NMB48, only [Bokura no Eureka] sold more on day one (420,906 copies).

NMB48's daily sales are close to SKE48's weekly sales and most probably NMB48's first week sales will surpass SKE48. I didn't expect that at all...

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SKE48 14th Single [Mirai to wa?] First Week Sales

SKE48's 14th single [Mirai to wa?] finished its first week selling 397,874 copies. The single ranked first in the Oricon Weekly Charts, the 10th time in a row that SKE48 takes the top spot in this ranking.

Sales dropped compared to the previous single. [Sansei Kawaii!] (first week: 449,003) sold about 50,000 copies more in its first week. In fact, [Mirai to wa?] has SKE48's lowest first week sales since [Oki Doki] (first week: 382,802) back in 2011.

[Mirai to wa?] also tops the Soundscan ranking, taking rank 1~4. Total sales amount to 118,750 copies which tells us that theater edition sales must be approx. 280,000 copies.

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AKB48 Group 37th Single Senbatsu Election To Be Held in June

This year again AKB48 and its sister groups will hold an election to decide senbatsu members. The 37th Single Senbatsu Election will take place on June 7th in Ajinomoto Stadium. Voting tickets will be included in the 36th single which will be relased on May 21st. This 36th single will also include an Oshima Yuko graduation song called [Kyou made no Melody].

Again this time, there will be a candidate system for the election meaning that the eligible members can decide whether they want to participate in the election. Eligible are AKB48, SKE48, NMB48 and HKT48 members but also former AKB48 members who are now members of overseas groups, i.e. Nakagawa Haruka and Chikano Rina. For the election, the new shuffled team system will be used.

A novelty this time is the number of ranks: 80 ranks instead of 64. The ranks 65~80 will be the 'Upcoming Girls'.

The 37th single with the elected members will go on sale sometime in August.



AKB48 37th Single Senbatsu Election
June 7, Ajinomoto Stadium

Eligible Members
1) AKB48 SKE48 NMB48 HKT48 Members (except members who have announced their graduation until March 22nd)
2) Former AKB48 members who have completely transfered overseas (Nakagawa Haruka, Chikano Rina)

Time Period for Announcing Candidacy 
March 31st, 2014 4:30 pm~April 6, 2014 11pm

Rank System
37th Single Senbatsu: 1~16
Undergirls: 17~32
Next Girls: 33~48
Future Girls: 49~64
Upcoming Girls: 65~80

Eligible to Vote
1) Members of AKB48's Official Fanclub Nihon Hashira no Kai
2) AKB48 Mobile members
3) Members of AKB48's Official smart phone app
4) AKB48 Live on Demand monthly subscribers
5) AKB48 OFFICIAL NET members
6) SKE48 Mobile members
7) SKE48 Live on Demand monthly subscribers
8) NMB48 Mobile members
9) NMB8 Live on Demand monthly subscribers 
10) HKT48 Mobile members
11) HKT48 Live on Demand monthly subscribers
12) Voting tickets included in AKB48's 36th single (title TBA) limited/regular/theater edition

Voting Period
May 20th, 2014 10 am ~June 6th, 2014 3pm

Official Election Homepage
http://www.akb48.co.jp/sousenkyo/37thsingle/ 

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SKE48 14th Single [Mirai to wa?] First Day Sales

SKE48's latest single [Mirai to wa?] was released on March 19th selling 273,740 copies on the first day. The single ranked first in the Oricon Daily Charts.

Sales went down for SKE48, [Mirai to wa?] is clearly behind the previous singles. [Sansei Kawaii] was sold 349,835 times on day one and [Utsukushii Inazuma] even 416,341 times.

Those numbers don't look too well compared to SKE48's recent sales. For the past singles, first day sales broke the 300,000 mark clearly and once even surpassed 400,000. Is this because of the AKB48 Group serial releases with all sister groups releasing within a month? 

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HKT48 3rd Single [Sakura, Minna de Tabeta] First Week Sales

HKT48's 3rd single [Sakura, Minna de Tabeta] was released on March 12th and has now finished its first week. The single topped the Oricon Weekly Charts selling 276,799 copies. First day sales amounted to 227,322 copies.

[Sakura, Minna de Tabeta] has HKT48's best first week sales, slightly higher than those of [Melon Juice] which sold 268,897 copies in week one.

Looking at the Soundscan numbers, the single's different versions take rank 1, 2 and 4 selling a total of 80,088 copies. Which means that as usual the Theater Version was sold the most by far, with almost 200,000 copies.

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