68-459: Diva (stylized as "DiVA" and "DIVA") was a sub-unit of Japanese idol girl group AKB48 that was active from 2011 to 2014. Its members are: Sayaka Akimoto , Sae Miyazawa , Ayaka Umeda , and Yuka Masuda . The group has released four singles that have peaked in Oricon 's top 10. The formation of Diva was revealed to Sayaka Akimoto and Sae Miyazawa on January 10, 2011, and disclosed to public by
136-749: A girl group with its own theater and performing daily so fans could always see them live (which is not the case with usual pop groups giving occasional concerts and seen on television). This "Idols You Can Meet" concept includes teams which can rotate performances and perform simultaneously at several events and "handshake" events, where fans can meet group members. Akimoto has expanded the AKB48 concept to several girl groups within Japan, and internationally in Mainland China, Indonesia, Thailand, Taiwan, Philippines and Malaysia. AKB48 have been characterized as
204-682: A 24-year-old man with a handsaw. The suspect was arrested for attempted murder , and the three were treated at a hospital for fractures and cuts. AKB48 canceled its theater performances through the end of May, and handshake and photo-shoot fan events in May and June were postponed. In response to security concerns, the Manseibashi Police Station of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department asked AKS to conduct security checks of audience members at
272-423: A female group of 11,774,000. On January 22 (the final day of its "AKB48 Request Hour Set List Best 100 2012" concert series at Tokyo Dome City Hall ) AKB48 members performed the new " Give Me Five! " as Baby Blossom, playing guitars, keyboards, percussion and horns. The Baby Blossom members had spent five months learning to play musical instruments, and some had little (or no) previous experience. "Give Me Five!"
340-399: A leaked purikura photo of her with a boyfriend. Kikuchi returned to the group after a 2010 audition. On October 22, AKB48's tenth single, " Ōgoe Diamond ", was released on King Records' You Be Cool label. With 11-year-old SKE48 member Jurina Matsui as the single's center and cover girl, it was the first single featuring a member of AKB48's sister group and debuted at number three on
408-500: A music Blu-ray disc and total Blu-ray sales by an artist. The group set records for the most million-selling singles in a year, best-selling single by a female group and highest-earning female group. AKB48 won the Grand Prix in the 53rd Japan Record Awards for " Flying Get ". Oricon announced on January 6, 2012, that AKB48 had sold 11,787,000 copies of its CD singles, surpassing girl group Morning Musume 's Japanese record for
476-527: A possible three-month extension in February. After the end of the project, 11 of the former Baito AKB members entered the yearly Draft Kaigi event aiming to become full members, while others expressed their desire to take part in the auditions for the newly planned NGT48 group. On December 8, long-time member and general manager Minami Takahashi announced she will leave the group in December 2015 for
544-672: A show at Webster Hall in New York City on September 27. In October, three AKB48 singles ("10nen Sakura", "Namida Surprise!" and "Iiwake Maybe") were certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of Japan . Its 14th single, " River " released on October 21, debuted atop the Oricon Top 10 weekly chart and was the group's first number one. AKB48 released its 15th major-label single, " Sakura no Shiori ", on February 17, 2010. In its first week,
612-438: A social phenomenon. They are among the highest-earning musical acts in Japan, and are the fifth-best-selling girl group worldwide . For example, their 2012 sales from record and DVD/Blu-ray releases reached $ 226 million, earning the group the top spot in the 2012 artist ranking. As of April 2019 , the group has sold over 60 million records, including over 6 million albums. At least 35 of AKB48's singles have topped
680-677: A special audition. The group's second audition was held in cooperation with telecommunications company NTT DoCoMo in February 2006, with applicants submitting audition videos on mobile phones. Of 11,892 applicants, 19 were selected, and 18 joined AKB48 as Team K in April. Team K performed Party ga Hajimaru yo and Team A moved to a new stage program, Aitakatta . AKB48 released its first independent-label single, " Sakura no Hanabiratachi ", in February 2006. It entered Oricon 's weekly Top 10 chart, with first-week sales of 22,011 (a rarity for an indie-label group). On March 31, Yuki Usami became
748-453: A special event. The promotion was later canceled by DefStar Records amid concerns about possible violations of antitrust laws . In June 2008, AKB48 announced plans to launch a sister group, SKE48 , in Sakae, Nagoya . In August, the group moved from DefStar Records to King Records . That month Ayaka Kikuchi was the first member to be fired from the group, for "immature behavior" involving
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#1732786662127816-595: A strong, powerful image. According to an early press release, the group was intended to have 16 members on each of three teams, for a total membership of 48; but its membership has varied over time, and has exceeded 120 people. New members are called trainees ( 研究生 , kenkyūsei ) who are understudies for the group, performing occasionally in the theater as a team. The group members' ages range from their early teens to over 30, and they are selected from regular auditions. Members are not allowed to date, and must be well-behaved; any violation of these restrictions
884-537: Is in the Don Quijote store in Akihabara , Tokyo . The group is split into several teams, reducing its members' workload (since the theater's near-daily performance is by only one team at a time) and enabling AKB48 to perform simultaneously in several places. According to former member Misaki Iwasa , each team has its own theme. Team A represents freedom; Team B is idol-like, with cute costumes, and Team K has
952-759: Is the largest physical music market in the world and the second largest overall behind the United States, and the biggest in Asia, according to International Federation of the Phonographic Industry . Sources that provide the sales an artist or record company claim via press release , rather than certified or reported by reliable third parties such as Oricon , are denoted by a "†". Oricon provides accumulated physical sales of all entries on its singles and albums charts (started in 1968 and 1970, respectively). Note that Oricon does not count sales of
1020-405: Is to be punished, possibly by expulsion from the group. AKB48 has a system that allows members to "graduate" from the group when they are older and are replaced by trainees who are promoted. Monica Hesse of The Washington Post described the AKB48 audition process as "rolling American Idol -esque". In July 2005, Yasushi Akimoto held an audition for a new theater-based idol girl group. Of
1088-600: The Oricon Weekly Singles Chart , with at least 30 singles selling over a million copies each, making the group the highest selling musical act in Japan in terms of singles sold. Their highest selling single, " Teacher Teacher ", sold over 3 million in 2018 according to Billboard / Soundscan . Between 2010 and 2020, AKB48's singles have occupied at least the top two spots of the Oricon Yearly Singles Chart. AKB48
1156-480: The 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami , the group stopped its AKB48 Theater performances and canceled some of its public events. AKB48 began the "Dareka no Tame ni" ( 誰かのために , lit. "For someone's sake" ) project, collecting donations for earthquake and tsunami relief. One of its concert venues, the Yokohama Arena , was used for a two-day charity event beginning on March 26 and 12 AKB48 members attended
1224-502: The Okinawa International Movie Festival that day for the same purpose. On March 15, AKB48 announced that ¥ 500 million would be donated by the group, its sister groups SKE48 , SDN48 and NMB48 and associates of AKS, its management company. Koko ni Ita Koto ' s release was postponed until June 8, with part of the album's proceeds donated to disaster victims. On April 1 the group released
1292-607: The Oricon Top 10 weekly chart. The group released its 11th major-label single, " 10nen Sakura ", on March 4, 2009. Also reaching number three on the Oricon charts in its first week, it was the group's first single to sell over 100,000 copies. The group's 12th major-label single, " Namida Surprise! ", was released on June 24. Promotions included a handshaking-event ticket and a ballot for a member to headline its next single. "Namida Surprise!" sold 104,180 copies in its first week on
1360-407: The 2012 Disney animated film, Wreck-It Ralph , and the group set a Guinness World Record for the most pop singers in a video game (its dating simulation game , AKB1/149 Ren'ai Sōsenkyo ). It won a second consecutive Japan Record Award , for " Manatsu no Sounds Good! ". The group was the number one artist by total sales revenue in Japan in 2012, with ¥19.098 billion. The AKB0048 anime series
1428-473: The 7,924 who auditioned, 24 were chosen as first-generation group members. On December 8, 20 members debuted as Team A in the AKB48 Theater performing "Party ga Hajimaru yo" ( PARTYが始まるよ ) to an audience of seven; attendance quickly increased. In January 2006, AKB48 cafe waitress Mariko Shinoda joined Team A as a "1.5 generation" member when her popularity with patrons prompted Akimoto to give her
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#17327866621271496-505: The New Year's Eve TV program 58th NHK Kōhaku Uta Gassen as a part of the "Nihon ga Hokoru Saisentan! Special Medley". At 43 members, the group set a program record for the most people in one group onstage simultaneously. AKB48 made its first lineup change in December, transferring Kazumi Urano, Shiho Watanabe and Natsumi Hirajima from Team A to Team B as supporting members. AKB48's second major-label single, " Seifuku ga Jama o Suru ",
1564-673: The Oricon charts. AKB48's 13th single, " Iiwake Maybe ", was released on August 26. Outselling rival SMAP 's single, it reached number one on the Oricon Daily Singles Chart and number two on the Oricon Weekly Singles Chart. AKB48's Team A was a guest of honor at the Japan Expo in Paris from July 2–5, 2009, performing an English version of "Ōgoe Diamond". The group made its U.S. debut with
1632-516: The all Diva members at the AKB48 Theater on February 27, 2011. The initial four-member unit consisted of Sayaka Akimoto, Sae Miyazawa, Ayaka Umeda , and Yuka Masuda . All four members are signed by the entertainment agency Flave Entertainment, formerly known as Office48. The concept of the unit is "The first-ever Dance & Vocal unit from AKB48". They were originally scheduled to release their debut single on April 27, 2011, but on April 1, it
1700-440: The box office, and grossed $ 2.2 million by February 17. During a meet-and-greet event for the film, first-generation member Tomomi Itano announced that she was leaving the group. On April 28, after a Nippon Budokan concert, AKB48's general manager announced another reorganization of the teams (including the girls who were also members of its sister groups). Nito Moeno and Tomomi Kasai also made their final appearances with
1768-473: The centerpiece of a Glico Papico commercial. On April 16, AKB48 announced the Otona member: Mariko Tsukamoto, a 37-year-old housewife and mother of two. On May 21 the group released its 36th single, " Labrador Retriever ", which sold over 1,462,000 copies on its first day. On June 7, AKB48 and its related groups announced the results of the annual election to determine the lineup for its 37th single. The winner
1836-591: The charity single "Dareka no Tame ni (What can I do for someone?)" ( 誰かのために -What can I do for someone?- ) on the Recochoku website as a digital download, with all proceeds earmarked for earthquake and tsunami relief. On May 1, AKB48 announced a new sister group: HKT48 , based in Fukuoka , Kyushu , with its theater in the Hawks Town Mall of Fukuoka's Chuo ward. On May 3, The Straits Times reported
1904-745: The creation of Team 4. The 16-member team would be captained by Mina Ōba, and the word "team" was dropped from "Team Kenkyūsei" for the group's alternates. Four days later the group announced at a handshake event that Aimi Eguchi , who supposedly auditioned for NMB48, would join AKB48 as a trainee. It later became known that Eguchi was not a real person, but a composite of AKB48 members' facial features created to promote Glico 's Ice no Mi. On June 28, AKB48 producer Yasushi Akimoto announced plans to create another group as AKB48's "official rival". Nogizaka46 ( 乃木坂46 ) would debut with about 20 members, and Akimoto would join Sony Music Japan to produce
1972-528: The creation of its third overseas sister group, SNH48 , based in Shanghai. It was announced on June 17 that Rino Sashihara would be transferred to HKT48 in July as a "restart" because of an alleged scandal involving her ex-boyfriend. On June 24 AKB48 announced the promotion of six trainees from the 10th and 11th generations and its third rock-paper-scissors tournament (scheduled for September 18) to determine
2040-564: The first member to "graduate" from the group. On June 7 AKB48 released its second independent single, " Skirt, Hirari ", which sold 13,349 copies on its first day. The group made its first television appearance two days later, and signed a contract with DefStar Records (a subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment ) in August. In October 2006 AKB48 announced auditions for Team B, and 13 girls were chosen out of 12,828 applicants in December. The group's first DefStar Records single, " Aitakatta ",
2108-485: The first time, its membership numbered 48. The group's fourth single, " Bingo! ", was released on July 18. AKB48's sixth single, " Yūhi o Miteiru ka? ", was released on Halloween 2007 and sold 18,429 copies (the least of all the group's singles). On New Year's Day 2008, AKB48 released its first album, Set List: Greatest Songs 2006–2007 , a collection of the group's singles and live song lists. The group's seventh major-label single (its ninth overall), " Romance, Irane ",
Diva (Japanese band) - Misplaced Pages Continue
2176-436: The group announced a team reorganization. This included a captain and co-captain of each team, promotion of AKB48 trainees to regular membership (with assignment to the four teams) and the transfer of members between AKB48 and its sister groups. On April 3 AKB48 introduced its 47-member Team 8 as "the idols who come to you". Akimoto announced auditions for an Otona adult member over 30 years old, to participate in events and be
2244-724: The group performed at the Japanese Pop Culture Festival in Moscow. AKB48 performed at the Cool Japan forum in Singapore as part of Anime Festival Asia X, and at the Singapore Toy, Games and Comics Convention. Group graduates in 2010 included second-generation member Erena Ono , who left on September 27 to pursue an acting career overseas. The group's first 2011 single, " Sakura no Ki ni Narō ",
2312-546: The group released its 18th single, " Beginner ". It sold 826,989 copies in its first week, the highest first-week sales for a female idol group single. AKB48 member Mayu Watanabe appeared on the cover of the December issue of the idol magazine UP to boy with Airi Suzuki from the Japanese girl group Cute , the first gravure collaboration between Hello! Project and AKB48. In November 2010, AKB48 participated in several events outside Japan. On November 20, 12 members of
2380-422: The group released its 32nd single, " Koisuru Fortune Cookie ". Its music video had 3,800 extras, the most for any AKB48- and sister group-related video. On August 24 the group announced the restoration of Team 4, with Minami Minegishi as captain and members promoted from the 13th and 14th generation of trainees. On September 18, AKB48 held its annual rock-paper-scissors tournament at Nippon Budokan to determine
2448-500: The group released its 34th single, " Suzukake no Ki no Michi de 'Kimi no Hohoemi o Yume ni Miru' to Itte Shimattara Bokutachi no Kankei wa Dō Kawatte Shimau no ka, Bokunari ni Nan-nichi ka Kangaeta Ue de no Yaya Kihazukashii Ketsuron no Yō na Mono ", and on December 31 longtime member Yuko Oshima announced on Kōhaku Uta Gassen that she was leaving the group. The group was the 2nd artist by total sales revenue in Japan in 2013, with ¥13.254 billion. On January 22, 2014, AKB48 released
2516-475: The group resumed theater performances with security measures similar to those of its sister groups. Security and bag checks were added at the general-election-results event and Yuko Oshima's graduation concert. List of best-selling music artists in Japan The top music artists in Japan include Japanese artists with claims of 15 million or more record sales or with over 2 million subscribers. Japan
2584-560: The group would perform at the Tokyo Dome stadium, one of AKB48's main goals since it was founded. On March 25, longtime headliner Atsuko Maeda announced her graduation from the group. AKB48 announced that Maeda would graduate after the Tokyo Dome concerts; her final performance (and graduation ceremony) took place in the AKB48 theater on August 27, and was streamed live on YouTube. On March 26 AKB48 announced an election for
2652-454: The group's next single and set Japanese records for first-day (942,475 copies) and first-week sales (1,333,969 copies). On June 22, Oricon reported that for the first half of 2011 AKB48 topped the album sales charts and had the best- and second-best-selling singles (" Everyday, Kachūsha " and " Sakura no Ki ni Narō "). The group amassed ¥ 6.66 billion in merchandise sales. On June 7, before its nationwide concert tour, AKB48 announced
2720-601: The group's tenth anniversary. She recommended that Team K captain Yui Yokoyama be her successor. The group ranked second overall in Oricon's Artist Total Sales Revenue for the 2014 year, with ¥ 13.075 billion. At a May 25, 2014 handshake event at the Iwate Industry Culture and Convention Center in Takizawa, Iwate , group members Rina Kawaei , Anna Iriyama and a staff member were attacked by
2788-424: The group. AKB48 released its 31st single, " Sayonara Crawl " (an election single), on May 22. It sold more than 1.9 million copies in its first month, breaking Speed 's White Love 1997 record for the highest single sales by a female group. The election candidates were 246 girls from AKB48, its sister groups and former members. On June 8 the results were broadcast on Fuji TV and streamed live on YouTube,
Diva (Japanese band) - Misplaced Pages Continue
2856-562: The latter with Japanese and English commentary. The winner was HKT48 member Rino Sashihara , a former member of AKB48. During the event, Team A captain Mariko Shinoda (who placed fifth) announced that she would leave the group in July. On July 31, during AKB48's summer concert series at the Sapporo Dome, guest and former group headliner Atsuko Maeda sang her new solo single (" Time Machine Nante Iranai "). On August 21
2924-540: The lineup for its 34th single, with Jurina Matsui the winner. After the event the group announced the lineup and performed its 33rd single, " Heart Electric ", which was released in October. Its music video was directed by Shusuke Kaneko , known for the Heisei Gamera trilogy Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack and the live-action film version of Death Note . On December 11
2992-418: The lineup for the group's 27th major-label single, " Gingham Check ". The candidates were 243 members of AKB48, SKE48, NMB48 and HKT48, and ballots were included with the group's 26th single (" Manatsu no Sounds Good! "). The election was held June 6 at Nippon Budokan , with the results telecast live. Yuko Oshima finished first, followed by Mayu Watanabe and Yuki Kashiwagi . On April 23 AKB48 announced
3060-685: The lineup for the group's 29th single, " Eien Pressure ". On August 15 the group released its second studio album, 1830m , and on August 24 (the first day of its Tokyo Dome concert series) AKB48 announced a reorganization of its teams. Team 4 was dissolved, with its members transferred to the other three teams. Aika Ōta was transferred to HKT48 , Aki Takajō and Haruka Nakagawa to Jakarta-based JKT48 and Sae Miyazawa and Mariya Suzuki to SNH48. Minami Takahashi became general manager of AKB48, with Mariko Shinoda replacing her as Team A captain. Yuko Oshima became Team K captain, and Ayaka Umeda captain of Team B. AKB48 recorded " Sugar Rush " for
3128-400: The main characters, singing its opening and closing themes as No Name. After photographs with their boyfriends surfaced, Natsumi Hirajima and Rumi Yonezawa resigned from the group and were replaced by Jurina Matsui of SKE48 and Miyuki Watanabe of NMB48 . On March 24 AKB48 announced that five trainees would be promoted to Team 4, expanding its roster to 16. It was also announced that
3196-441: The new group. AKB48 released its 22nd single, " Flying Get " ( フライングゲット , Furaingugetto ) , on August 24. It sold 1,025,952 copies on its first day, and became the group's fourth single to sell over a million copies (1.354 million) in its first week. On September 20, AKB48 held its second rock-paper-scissors tournament to determine the lineup for the group's 24th single. The group's 23rd single, " Kaze wa Fuiteiru ",
3264-604: The opening of AKB48's first overseas theater in Singapore. The theater, in *scape Youth Park, would host 16 members from AKB48 and its sister groups for two shows a day two days a month. It had an adjacent AKB48 shop for merchandise and an AKB48 Cafe, serving Japanese fusion cuisine and desserts. In June, AKB48 was invited as a perform guest in 22nd Golden Melody Awards in Taiwan. AKB48 released its 21st major-label single, " Everyday, Kachūsha ", on May 25. An "election single", it contained ballots for determining who would headline
3332-612: The previous single, with over 400,000 copies sold on its first day and over 513,000 in its first week. On April 27, Anime Expo , the largest anime convention in the United States, announced that AKB48 would be a guest of honor, and the group performed on July 1 at the Nokia Theatre . On October 23, AKB48 represented Japan at the seventh Asia Song Festival , organized by the Korea Foundation for International Culture Exchange, at Seoul Olympic Stadium . Four days later
3400-818: The record for being the best-selling solo artist and being the only solo artist to sell more than 50 million in total. The list excludes sales of albums or singles recorded by artists in collaboration with others as part of a singular artist or group's total. The long-standing second world's biggest music market have seen record sales dominated by their local music acts . A selected group of Western acts have achieved certified units of over 4 million since Japan's music certification system inception by RIAJ in 1989. Various of them debuted before that tracking system, selling millions of their catalogue along with thousand of copies for individual titles alone; ranging from Madonna to Michael Jackson according to Oricon 's chart book figures. By other estimates, Western acts like
3468-413: The records that did not enter or fell off of the charts, unlike Nielsen SoundScan . Therefore, it generally shows fewer numbers than reported sales via record labels, and may not reflect the real sales obtained by these artists. In addition, it excludes recording artists like Michiya Mihashi , Hibari Misora , Yujiro Ishihara , and Hachiro Kasuga who had garnered most of commercial success before Oricon
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#17327866621273536-504: The single topped the Oricon chart with over 300,000 copies sold, the most by a Japanese female artist in seven years. This was the group's last single until the release of their first King Records album, Kamikyokutachi , which would top the Oricon album chart and be certified double platinum by the RIAJ for sales of over 500,000 copies. AKB48's 16th single, " Ponytail to Chouchou ", was released on May 26, 2010. Its sales exceeded those of
3604-429: The theater entrance. The man eventually pleaded guilty to charges of bodily injury. Although sister groups SKE48, NMB48 and HKT48 did not suspend their theater performances, they introduced security measures: metal detectors , not using the theaters' front rows, suspending post-performance "high-five" events and increasing the number of security guards. On May 30, AKB48 resumed its television appearances, and on June 2,
3672-447: The third studio album Tsugi no Ashiato . It reached number one on the weekly Oricon Albums Chart , selling 962,000 copies. The group's 35th single, " Mae shika Mukanee ", was released on February 26 and sold 970,413 copies on its first day. AKB48 announced plans for a fifth team, Team 8, with one member from each of Japan's 47 prefectures. On February 24, during the group's Grand Reformation Festival event at Zepp DiverCity Tokyo,
3740-474: Was Mayu Watanabe with 159,854 votes, and Rino Sashihara was runner-up with 141,954 votes. The top eighty candidates were ranked in five groups of sixteen. In August, AKB48 announced the Baito AKB project, which allows girls to join AKB48 part-time using the job search site Baitoru. 13,246 girls applied for Baito AKB, and after several screening rounds, 53 girls were selected to sign a five-month contract with
3808-484: Was announced that the release date had been postponed to May 18 due to the aftermath of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami . The A-side song, "Tsuki no Ura gawa" ( 月の裏側 , Reverse side of the Moon ) , was written by Yasushi Akimoto (no relation to Sayaka), as well as some B-side songs including AKB48 Team-K's theater-performed song "Blue Rose", and one of the songs recorded on Type-B CD, "Information" ( インフォメーション ) ,
3876-591: Was established in the late 1960s. The reported numbers like Mihashi's 100 million and Misora's 68 million records, are highly doubtful and cannot be confirmed by Oricon and RIAJ . The best-selling artist according to Oricon are B'z (more than 86 million), who is also the best-selling artist by a number of albums sold (46.5 million). The best-selling artists by number of singles sold are AKB48 (50.8 million), B'z (35.8 million) in second place, Mr. Children (28.45 million) in third place, and Southern All Stars (25.179 million) in fourth place. Ayumi Hamasaki holds
3944-492: Was founded as "idols you can meet". Japanese idols are entertainers/performers who appeal directly to fans for support. Close interactions between fans and idols allow idols to cultivate and maintain loyal fan followings. The group's chief producer, Yasushi Akimoto, said that his goal was to create a unique idol group which, unlike other idol groups which perform occasional concerts and appear primarily on television, would perform regularly in its own theater. The AKB48 Theater
4012-422: Was only available for download from SoftBank 's mobile phone application, and did not feature Masuda. In August 2014, it was announced that the group would be reuniting before the end of 2014 for the last time to release their final single, their first album, and a farewell concert. Former AKB48 member Masuda's participation was also confirmed. This final single named "Discovery", was released on October 8, 2014, and
4080-464: Was recorded by 20 members of Teams A and K and released on October 25. It debuted at number 12 on the Oricon weekly singles chart, selling 25,544 copies in its first six weeks, and remained on the chart for a total of 65 weeks. On November 3–4 AKB48 performed its first concert, "AKB48 First Concert: Aitakatta ~Hashira wa Nai ze!~" at Nippon Seinenkan in Shinjuku . The group performed "Aitakatta" on
4148-517: Was released on February 15. AKB48's second documentary film, Documentary of AKB48: Show Must Go On Shōjo-tachi wa Kizutsuki Nagara, Yume wo Miru , opened on January 27 in seventh place at the box office and grossed nearly $ 4 million by February 19. An anime series, AKB0048 , was developed by Satelight and aired from April 29 to July 22. It was directed by Yoshimasa Hiraike , with group producer Akimoto aiding with planning and supervision. Nine members of AKB48 and its sister groups voiced
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#17327866621274216-426: Was released on February 16. It sold 655,000 copies on its first day, surpassing " Beginner's " first-day sales of 568,000. By the end of its first week the single sold 942,479 copies, the group's best and the fastest sales in Japan since 2000. On February 21, AKB48 announced its first studio album, Koko ni Ita Koto ( ここにいたこと ) , which would include 11 new tracks and was scheduled for an April 6 release. Due to
4284-451: Was released on January 23 and reached number six on the Oricon Top 10 chart in its first week. On February 27, the group released its eighth major-label single, " Sakura no Hanabiratachi 2008 ", a reprise of its Team A debut single. This version featured ten members from Team A, six from Team K and five from Team B. The single's CD included a poster, and a promotion was planned in which fans who collected all 44 posters would be invited to
4352-671: Was released on January 31, 2007 and debuted at number seven on the Oricon Top 10 chart. Its music video and lyrics hinted at the subject of enjo kōsai (compensated dating, remotely related to escort services outside Japan), triggering controversy and negative reviews. On March 18 AKB48 released " Keibetsu Shiteita Aijō "; debuting at number eight on the Oricon chart, it dropped to number 98 in its second week. The group's second concert, "AKB48 Haru no Chotto dake Zenkoku Tour ~Madamada daze AKB48!~" on March 10, had poor ticket sales. In April 2007 AKB48 posted its Team B roster on its website, with five fewer members than originally announced; for
4420-421: Was released on October 26 and sold 1,045,937 copies on its first day. The next single, " Ue kara Mariko " (released on December 7), sold 1.199 million copies in its first week. At the end of 2011, AKB48 topped seven of 16 Oricon rankings: total sales by an artist, copies sold for a single, total sales for a single, total sales by an artist (for singles), copies sold for a music Blu-ray disc, total sales for
4488-459: Was renewed for a second season, AKB0048 Next Stage , and aired from January 5 to March 30, 2013. In January 2013 AKB48 played its Request Hour Set List Best 100 concert at Tokyo Dome City Hall , announcing future shows at Nippon Budokan and Nissan Stadium (the first show by a female artist at the latter). On February 1, the film Documentary of AKB48: No Flower Without Rain: Shōjo Tachi wa Namida no Ato ni Nani o Miru? . opened in tenth place at
4556-456: Was sold in four different versions. *RIAJ Digital Tracks established April 2009. AKB48 AKB48 (pronounced A.K.B. Forty-Eight ) is a Japanese idol musical girl group named after the Akihabara area in Tokyo, where the group's theater is located. AKB48 has sold more records than any other female musical act in Japanese history. AKB48's producer, Yasushi Akimoto , wanted to form
4624-610: Was written by Tetsuya Komuro . They performed publicly at the Kobe Collection in Shanghai on April 16, 2011. It was announced on the official Diva blog that Akimoto would continue her activities in Diva even after leaving AKB48 on August 22, 2013 at AKB48's Tokyo Dome Concert while her last stage performance was to be on August 28. In March 2014, Diva released a cover version of " Wow War Tonight " by H Jungle with t . The song
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