Single Sakurazaka 4th Single [Samidare yo] (2022/04/06)

The only person out of 2.5ki I can see getting a centre is Rena. I think Pon or Sugai will centre their 1st album lead song. I personally am hoping for hikaru to centre 5th or 6th single. Speaking of which I really loved Hikaru’s coupling centre for 4th. It was broadcasted today. Bias aside it’s really fresh and quite Perfume like. Looking forward to the mv. Although it’s taking a lifetime for the title mv to be uploaded in the first place. So far for the three centred songs it’s hikaru first for me followed by the risa centred song and then the title song. but overall I’m enjoying the main songs more than 3rd.

 

I think Rei could center a song too eventually, I really liked her Naze Koi version.

 

if the video does not show watch the video here
coupling song Shakan Kyori

 

I was worried about pons slots too, but it seems that it's in fact more remarkable that she's selling these slots, because she had a whole 30 slots from 3rd single go unused, and she's currently doing make up sessions for those 30 slots. So for her to have already sold an additional 32 slots, and will undoubtedly sell out the remaining 4 slots by round 3, just shows how popular she really is. I had a conversation about it with tam on twitter and she explained this very well (im simply regurgitating it lol).

So I wouldn't worry about Pons popularity, just as I wouldn't worry about the rest of the girls who haven't sold out yet. Look at Ten, she is absolutely one of the most popular members but she always takes a while to sell out her slots. It doesn't mean she's less popular than say Rena or Rei who have been selling out in rounds 1/2 for a while. I'm hoping to see more sold out slots from Akiho and Hikari, they both have lots of potential. I also think Kaichou and Uemu's senbatsu rankings will make them sell out a few more extra slots than usual from fans who want to congratulate them or for fans who only follow senbatsu members and are curious to know them more. Just because their not sold out doesn't mean they're unpopular, it just means they're less popular than the ones who do sell out.

 

The point is, if Risa (who I could say is even more popular) didn't get an A-side center, why should they give it to Pon? A coupling center is likely instead.

 

That's a good point. I think it's because management would rather go all in with 2ki rather than "waste", so to speak, time and effort on a 1ki center. We forget that 1ki have been in the group for six years now. I'm sure the 3ki audition will be announced after Hinatazaka is done.

 

If there's one this single, I'd like to see zonorei center backs song

 

"1ki looks more like a gen that is representing the transition from previous group to Sakurazaka instead of really being Sakurazaka's face.". Well, even the 2nd gen had a foot in Keyakizaka46 somehow. Technically speaking, the 3rd gen will truly have a 100% start in Sakurazaka.

 

Snf should know better than us how many will graduate in Sakura this year and it seems only Aoi and Risa took that decision if we go by Hinata's 4ki audition before Sakura's 3ki audition.

After Risa and Aoi graduates in the summer they have 21 members left for a first album or 5th single. Hiragana could release an album with 20 members in 2018 so I don't see that as a problem for Sakura either.

Ozono makes sense as a center but before she even becomes a title song center she has to first make it to Sakura 8 where Rena is now. First album will be very important to experiment and I think Nazca should by then debut in Sakura.

4th single clicks with me so far and Samidare yo is the first A-side I would consider a great A-side from Sakura. It will take some time to build a new fanbase around Sakura's brand.

 

3rd round sales is out with many more sold-outs. I hope MatsuRina does it soon too, she deserves it!

Overall they're doing really good and is a significant increase compared to 3rd round from previous single. Happy for them and well deserved, they're getting better and better

 

Nice to see so many people wanting to send Hikari best wishes on her birthday! I hope she continues to increase her slots for the remaining ones. At this point I think Kira is well overdue a senbatsu position. I feel like while they probably added Kaicho and Uemu to senbatsu because their elegance fits the a-side so well, I also feel like they probably chose Kaicho or Uemu to try and boost their sales a little more because they know Kira would sell out. Overall, the states look good, I hope to see more increase next round! Come on Marino!!

For anyone curious, here are the increase/decreases for each member for this single's 3rd round compared to Nagaradema's 3rd round.

Harada Aoi 1/36 - 36/36 +35 slots (graduation)
Matsumoto Kira 26/36 - 36/36 +10 slots
Uemura Rina 1/36 - 8/36 +7 slots
Endo Hikari 1/36 - 6/36 +5 slots
Inoue Rina 9/36 - 11/36 +3 slots
Onuma Akiho 0/36 - 2/36 +2 slots
Seki Yumiko 13/36 - 14/36 +1 slot
Ozeki Rika 0/36 - 1/36 +1 slot
Saito Fuyuka 2/36 - 1/36 -1 slot
Kousaka Marino 1/36 - 0/36 -1 slot
Matsuda Rina 33/36 - 18/36 -15 slots
Takemoto Yui 14/36 - 8/36 -6 slots

Obviously this could all change drastically. By Nagaradema's 4th round, Takemoto had 21/36 sold out but Inoue has 14/36. Yumiko was also at 21/36, so this could indicate her sales are more stable than the other two? These three girls all sold out by the end of 3rd single's rounds, so it doesn't really show anything except for who is more in demand for particular season or who has a special occasion around their handshake event (like Hikari). Uemu clearly had a push compared to all previous three singles, so senbatsu is clearly a good thing for her. Despite this, i thought it would be interesting for you guys to see (and also because i'm procrastinating on work lol)

 

It's definitely interesting to see, thank you @minaeshi. I vaguely remember Yumiko having lackluster sales in the past so seeing her sales now makes me really happy. Hikari too. Hopefully Marino manages to improve. I think Backs Live had a big impact on some of the members when it comes to handshake results.

 

I really love this uniform. So elegant and refined. They look like princesses.


Also, seems like MV will come tomorrow. So hyped!

 

MV Snippets! it looks so beautiful!
https://twitter.com/sakurazakaclub/status/1501650624265723906
https://twitter.com/sakurazakaclub/status/1501676738468003841

 

Love it already.

Tenchan is so stunning. She really seems like an international fashion model, this girl really has a bright future. Girls look so good and MV seems usual Sakurazaka high-budget.

I love this group, they're giving me everything I want.

 

MV is out!

I think it's totally different from previous singles even from songs like Buddies and Omotta yori Sabishikunai which Ten-chan also centerd in and I think it's good for the group to try on different genre.
I even thought for a moment that I'm watching a Nogizaka MV.

 

did somebody say MV


if the video does not show watch the video here

 

By far, the best music video and song combination. Really love it.

 

this is one of the most beautiful mv’s I have ever seen, it’s beautiful, the song, the choreo wow! Also habu looks beautiful with her hair

 

Sakurazaka has bloomed beautifully, everything is perfect.