AKB48 News: Charity , Online RPG & achieve first #1
Charts: AKB48 achieves first #1
Idol group AKB48 has finally reached the top. Their 15th and newest single, "RIVER," achieved sales of 179,000 this past week to give them their first number-one hit. The single also sets this year's current record for highest opening week sales by a female artist.
Until now, AKB48 has only ranked as high as #2, which they achieved with their two previous singles, "Namida Surprise!" (released in June) and "Iiwake Maybe" (released in August). "Namida Surprise!" was their best overall seller before this, with 144,000 copies sold in the 18 weeks since its release.
AKB48's competition included new singles by AAA (#2), Ken Hirai (#3), and May'n as the "Macross Frontier" character Sheryl Nome (#5). Kana Nishino ranked #6, while two new "K-On!" image singles also broke the top ten.
On the album charts, GLAY's best album "The Great Vacation Vol.2 ~SUPER BEST OF GLAY~" came out on top with over 122,000 in sales. This is their 11th number-one album, though their last one was nearly three years ago.
Hexagon All Stars ranked #2, and a Quruli tribute album landed at #8. The only other new release in the top ten was "BEST★SCANDAL," the major label debut album by the girl band SCANDAL. At #5, they are the first female band to have a Top 5 debut album since ZONE in 2002.
On the DVD charts, Kumi Koda's new tour DVD sold 59,000 copies to top the rankings. She now has six consecutive number-ones in the music DVD category, which is currently the longest streak by any solo artist.
source: tokyograph
AKB48 sub-unit ties in with online RPG
Watarirouka Hashiritai, the four-member sub-unit of idol project AKB48, is set to release their third single on November 11, titled "Kanpeki Gu~ no ne." It has now been revealed that one of the songs on the single is getting a tie-in with an online role-playing game.
The song, called "Bouken Et Cetera," will serve as the theme of Grand Fantasia, a game developed by EASYFUN Entertainment Corp. and licensed to Aeria Inc. In addition, a limited edition of the "Kanpeki Gu~ no ne" single is being released, featuring jacket art with the group's members in cartoon form, plus a ticket for a premium in-game item. There will also be in-game avatars for the collaboration, as well as a lottery for Grand Fantasia players to attend a special event with Watarirouka Hashiritai.
Besides the Grand Fantasia limited edition, the "Kanpeki Gu~ no ne" single is also being sold in a regular edition, a "regular" limited edition, and a FAIRY TAIL limited edition (the title song is the ending theme of the "FAIRY TAIL" anime series).
source: tokyograph
Atsuko Maeda raises 1.25 million for charity
Popular AKB48 member Atsuko Maeda (18) recently auctioned off three autographed personal items for charity, and she managed to raise a total of 1,256,000 yen for the Japanese branch of Green Cross International.
The auctions were conducted through Yahoo! Japan between October 19 and October 26. The items on sale were a bench coat available only to AKB48 members, a set containing a pajama top and two scrunchies, and a bag she used during junior high school.
The bench coat sold for the highest amount, opening at ¥28,000 and closing at ¥501,000. The pajama set closed at ¥404,000, even though it opened at only ¥1. The bag attracted the least bidding, but still sold for ¥351,000 from an opening price of ¥35,000.
source: tokyograph