AKB48 just released their 18th single “Beginner” today and the single is just flying off the shelves right now in Japan! The first day of sales have been tallied and they have sold 568,095 copies, surpassing the first day single sales record by Arashi earlier this year.
Just yesterday, Tokyograph reported that 1 million copies of “Beginner” were being shipped for release, and it was estimated that the 1 million copies will be sold within the first week. This has not happened since Utada Hikaru’s 1999 hit “Addicted To You.”
In addition to the group’s expanding popularity, “Beginner” has also been attracting a lot of attention because of its controversial music video. Directed by Tetsuya Nakashima (“Kokuhaku”, “Kamikaze Girls”), the video had to be edited for television due to its theme of violence. As a result, it was recently decided that the unedited version will only be available through the mobile download service Recochoku.
Here’s the music PV that has been has been uploaded onto the official AKB48 youtube channel:
You might also want to read:
AKB48 Sets New Record With “Beginner”
AKB48 “Kaze wa Fuiteiru” Blows Second First Day Million Seller Onto Oricon Charts
“Give Me Five!” Misses Out on Being AKB48′s Third First Day Million Seller
AKB48 Ships 2 Million Copies of “Manatsu no Sounds Good!” on First Day
AKB48 Album Sells Over 600,000 Copies in First Week
