Single AKB48 58th (Ne mo Ha mo Rumor) [2021/09/29)

Naachan says out loud what every fan has been thinking..

Cr: Twitter

 

not only have they lost out on sister group support, but also physical handshakes. every other idol group has also made a loss in sales due to the fact that fans dont go for virtual hanashikai as much as physical akushukai

 

I don’t think they should feel too bad if they end the streak. It’s been a rough couple of years for everyone, even in the music industry. I like the single and I’m proud of how passionate the girls are, regardless of management’s mistakes.

 

300k first day is my bet, let's see.

 

Yuiri, Yukirin and Miion visited the main record stores in Shibuya today to promote the new single:
https://twitter.com/yuirii_murayama/status/1443121405382447106

 

There will be a live broadcast on TikTok today, with a full dance number
https://twitter.com/uwasaAKB48/status/1443123407751507969

 

Naru and Miu dance to 'Rumor':


if the video does not show watch the video here

 

320,489 copies sold on the first day.
https://twitter.com/HEARTSTATION648/status/1443138651496402945?s=20

 

There might still be time for a large increase for the weekly figure because AFAICS the CDs from the resale rounds at Chara-ani haven't yet been sent out, nor the ones from the Limista signings, so presumably they're yet to be counted.

 

Considering the current times, this is great number.
At least in my own expectations

Edit because i have a preference for direct links

https://www.oricon.co.jp/rank/js/d/2021-09-28/

 

Do we even want them to sell a million copies?

First day sales
450,171 Nogizaka46
445,852 Nogizaka46
408,815 Nogizaka46
384,973 Hinatazaka46
320,489 AKB48
300,704 Sakurazaka46
178,048 SKE48
177,046 SKE48
161,148 STU48
128,237 NMB48
120,109 HKT48
73,010 NGT48

Can we finally start acting like an idol group instead of K-Pop wannabes?

 

I don't think it will increase much.

Not gonna lie. AKB kinda needed to 'flop' so now what, management will do better next time?

 

They knew that without the SG members and with the pandemonium the sales would take a hit, so this "flopping" is somehow manufactured to be their worst possible result. It's a pity that we never got an AKB-only single before the panini hit to see how much the AKB girls actually sold and how much was the SG pulling the boat.

But alas, we now have a narrative. They've officially been surpassed by Nogi & Co. Now, what are they (management) gonna do about it? Cause I swear to god if I have to see another Zoom PV I'm gonna start swinging.

 

Sales Are ok. Time to move on managment. better release some good music/idol stuff than trying to rescue their damn million strike

 

I mean... they're not bad per se and they'll be #1 for the week. But selling 100k less than rival groups with half the number of members... something has to change.

But again, I feel like management did their "best" to make this a flop. Hanareteitemo taking up space, the lack of proper PVs except for the A-side, that cover... did they even try? fff

 

I think it’s ultimately good for them to have broken the streak (by quite a large amount too) Hopefully it encourages management to stop being so complacent and to actually put effort in again

 

Worst 1st day sales since Sakura no Shiori in 2010. Maybe now AKB members will realise how much sister groups have carried them since the golden age.

I don't think there's any magic bullet to rescue sales, it's going to have to be done by word of mouth. A good start would be members improving hs service whether physical or online. Can akb afford to carry salty chicks like Myao anymore?

 

Honestly I don't think the cover (and it's just one cover that people criticized) had an impact on sales. I agree that they should have done more music videos and songs (and I don't mind that they included Hanarete Itemo but the fact that there are not many songs and no other music video is bad), however I also don't think these things would have made a big difference.

I actually think management tried to promote this single, the dancing videos, the individual versions of members dancing to it on TikTok, and many other things. They did get praised and many people saying that they want to support AKB. But honestly I think the problem is somewhere else. First, I don't think AKB is in the situation (in terms of popularity) to have so many members. I think they would benefit from having less members. I saw many japanese people say that they want to support AKB because they seem to try their best, and then this is also Hitomi's first single since return so it could bring a few more international fans. However it's not very attractive for any potential new fans that AKB has almost 90 members with very little being popular members. Having less members overall would also help to promote the members individually better and increase the fans for each girl (and so for the group as a whole).

Some other things they need to work on is creating better content, their latest new show didn't get positive response at all. I don't think it's that hard to give good content, I watched some of HKT and NMB's shows and even if they don't have a lot of budget (and mostly air online), they still make fun activities and it's good content. I don't know why AKB doesn't do more of it.

Hopefully they'll release singles more often from now on because one single by year (for two years in a row) doesn't help them at all.

I hope the members don't get discouraged by the sales, personally I don't think it's that bad, considering the pandemic and not having sister groups, it's kinda the numbers I expected. I hope management doesn't take this as a sign to give up but instead they'll think of better ways to promote the group and the girls and to make better decisions. Even if AKB is not as big now, they still have a big fanbase and literally everyone knows them (by name, the "AKB" brand). it would be really a waste not to try to rebuild the group properly.

 

320k in a single day is not bad at all. I honestly would like to have more AKB48 members only singles like this. They can always include sister groups in the senbatsu to create more sales and continue their streak but they chose not to with this single so I love that they took a risk here. The song is good, the dancing is amazing and they promoted the hell out of that song online so overall a great single.

 

Limista has just opened a new sale for the single in conjunction with TIF2021:
https://limista.jp/projects/2376

However this is different to the previous one in a few ways:

• *All* senbatsu members are included (including Yuihan, Megu and Momoka)
• It looks like the covers won't be signed? even though they're the same designs as the autographed ones
• Everyone will also receive a TIF2021 official bromide folder
• You only have to buy 2 CDs, not 3 (can be A+B, A+C or B+C) so the price this time is 3,400 JPY for each one
• Sales are FCFS with a final purchase deadline of 23:59 JST on 10/2 for any members who do not sell out before then.