Now, it's second chapter.
AKB48 is a Japanese idol group under AKS/King records. The group was founded based on the 'Idols you can meet' concept so they have their own theater located in Akihabara, Tokyo and perform there daily basis; the fan would always be able to go and see the girls live. Other than that, the group also hold handshaking events regularly which allow the fans to shake hand with the girls they like. This concept made them different from other idol group in Japan and made them popular. The group has more than 60 members divided into 3 teams - Team A, Team K and Team B. They also have the trainee members called 'Kenkyusei'. With this amount of members, AKB48 is the World's Largest Pop Group.
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AKB48 had a theater debut in 2005 with only 20 members and released debut single 'Sakura no Hanabiratachi' in February 2006. This single made into Oricon Top10 weekly charts, a rarity for a group on an indie label.
In October 2006, they had a major debut with 'Aitakatta' under DefStar Records. In late 2007, the group was invited to perform on 'kouhaku Uta Gassen' for the first time as part of the Akihabara Performance segment. In 2008, the group changed their record label to King Records and released first single under new record label 'Oogoe Diamond'. This single debuted at no.3 on Oricon weekly chart, becoming AKB48's first single to achieve a top 3 position on the charts. |
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Their 14th single 'RIVER' was released on October 2009, it debuted at no.1 position on Oricon weekly charts. This single is their first single from the group to rank on top. All singles that released after "RIVER' always debuted at no.1 on Oricon. In 2010, they released their biggest single 'Heavy Rotation'. This song ranked no.1 on Karaoke charts for 2 years. Following their success, they released their first million-seller 'Beginner' on October 2010. Its first week sales was 826,989 copies making it the highest first week sales of AKB48, as well as highest first week sale ever for a female idol group single.
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In 2011, they released 21st single 'Everyday, Kachuusha' with 1,333,969 copies sold making it AKB48's first first-week-million-selling. The single released after this all surpassed 1 million sales in its first week. The 22nd single 'Flying Get' sold a total of 1,025,952 copies on the first day of release. For the year of 2011 it was also announced that the group broke the all-time recoreds for the most singles selling over 1 million copies in a year, the best-selling single by a female group and the highest-earning female group. AKB48 won their first 'Japan Record Awards' for their song 'Flying Get'.
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In 2012, they released 25th single 'GIVE ME FIVE!'. For this single, 18 selected members spend six months learning how to play instruments so they could perform this song live as the band 'Baby Blossom'. At their concert held on 23-25 March, Maeda Atsuko - an ace of the group - announced her graduation from the group. This announcement was widely reported in the Japanese media. In May, they set new record with the release of 'Manatsu no Sounds Good!' which was sold 1,616,795 copies its first week sales. It became AKB48's best-selling single.
In August 2012, the group held their dream concert at Tokyo Dome 'AKB48 in TOKYO DOME~1830m no Yume~'. 3 different shows were done in the time span of 3 days, 24-26 August 2012. It was the last concert to feature Maeda Atsuko with AKB48. Performing at Tokyo Dome was one of AKB48's main goals since its founding, they achieved after 7 years from their debut.
In August 2012, the group held their dream concert at Tokyo Dome 'AKB48 in TOKYO DOME~1830m no Yume~'. 3 different shows were done in the time span of 3 days, 24-26 August 2012. It was the last concert to feature Maeda Atsuko with AKB48. Performing at Tokyo Dome was one of AKB48's main goals since its founding, they achieved after 7 years from their debut.
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For the year of 2012, all of their 2012 singles ranked no.1-5 Oricon yearly charts with more than 1 million copies sold. Continuing from last year, they won another 'Japan Record Awards' form the song 'Manatsu no Sounds Good!'
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Discography
