IBP Asian Gossips

Idol group AKB48 has finally reached the top. Their 15th and newest single, “RIVER,” achieved sales of 179,000 this past week to give them their first number-one hit. The single also sets this year’s current record for highest opening week sales by a female artist.

Until now, AKB48 has only ranked as high as #2, which they achieved with their two previous singles, “Namida Surprise!” (released in June) and “Iiwake Maybe” (released in August). “Namida Surprise!” was their best overall seller before this, with 144,000 copies sold in the 18 weeks since its release.

AKB48’s competition included new singles by AAA (#2), Ken Hirai (#3), and May’n as the “Macross Frontier” character Sheryl Nome (#5). Kana Nishino ranked #6, while two new “K-On!” image singles also broke the top ten.

On the album charts, GLAY’s best album “The Great Vacation Vol.2 ~SUPER BEST OF GLAY~” came out on top with over 122,000 in sales. This is their 11th number-one album, though their last one was nearly three years ago.

Hexagon All Stars ranked #2, and a Quruli tribute album landed at #8. The only other new release in the top ten was “BEST★SCANDAL,” the major label debut album by the girl band SCANDAL. At #5, they are the first female band to have a Top 5 debut album since ZONE in 2002.

On the DVD charts, Kumi Koda’s new tour DVD sold 59,000 copies to top the rankings. She now has six consecutive number-ones in the music DVD category, which is currently the longest streak by any solo artist.

source: tokyograph