Single Sakurazaka 5th Single [Sakuratsuki] (2023/02/15)

Wow, the 3ki mv was really something special. It definitely gave me the same feelings of wanting to support the girls just like I felt when I saw Sekaini MV. The youthful school setting is always a good concept, and it's probably why I love MV's that have that kind of set up. The director did a great job at making them all stand out and shine in their own way. Giving the softer verses to the more shy/timid girls and focusing on them during the MV, and the more bolder personalities getting heavy dance moments during the chorus. It really is the best of both with this gen haha. I have to give thanks to Takahiro too, that dance sequence in the hallway was so so good! It's so fresh but so sakurazaka. The school auditorium dance at the end reminded me of Samidare Yo, and when you look at these girls in comparison to our senbatsu, they really are newbies lol but I'm so excited to see them all grow like our 1/2ki have. This year is going to be such an exciting and fun time for all of us!

 

Japanese comments from YouTube:

Spoiler: Japanese comments from YouTube, including some new ones not in previous posting:

• Taniguchi-san’s expressiveness is outstanding
• Is it only me who is so happy they could cry, seeing Endou-chan?
• Good song, good expressiveness, good MV.
• The dancing of the two unrevealed members is very, very good
• The dancing of the two unrevealed members was at an extremely high level. I look forward to them!
• The song is perfect for newbies, but I was moved that the dancing is not that of newbies at all. Thanks to all of them for working so hard.
• The quality of the dancing was genuinely not that of newbies.
• I don’t know why, but no matter how often I watch the dancing in the corridor, it brings tears to my eyes.
• Seeing the girls who couldn’t dance at all in ep1 of the documentary dance magnificently was so moving.
• Seeing Endou-chan and Odakura-chan, two girls who had such a struggle with dancing in the documentary, dancing with all their might in the MV was moving.
• Their singing was not like that of Sakurazaka, but their intense dancing was.
• This first MV was well thought-out to give camera angles that showed the faces of all the members.
• This bewitching dancing…. After seeing the documentary, you would have thought it impossible. Amazing. I cried.
• For Endou-chan, who had such a struggle with dancing, to dance with such apparent pleasure made me love her. I support her (=make her my oshi).
• Matono-chan’s voice adds depth to the sound.
• Taniguchi-chan’s dancing, expression, movement…I love them all.
• Murayama-san’s dancing was intense and kakkoii (“grand,” “ravishing,” “handsome,” “so cool”?)
• Everyone’s expressiveness was incredible.
• Matono-chan dancing all-out with no concern for her hair flying about was so cool! It’s impressive to see these girls, still with some of their simple naturalness, going all-out to practice and then succeed in an MV.
• Compared to the documentary, seeing them all with a determined understanding in their eyes of what it takes to do this made me want to cry.

new comments:

• They all have awesome expressive power.
• In the last hook (sabi), the way they all sing naturally with smiling faces is lovely. They're all both cute and cool (kakkoii).
• The song is a standard ("royal road") idol song. But the perfomance already seems like Sakurazaka.
• The song is an idol-idol song, but the dancing is solid Sakurazaka.
• To take words from the documentary, they feel like newbies who have gone from dance that is "watchable" to dance that is captivating. This is Sakurazaka46.
• How can they be so perfect. I thought Airi would be a convincing centre, but every one of them drew your eye. The song is an idol song, but the dance is Sakurazaka.
• The choreo has a groove feeling, and I think they could really get going and raise excitement live. I want to see them do the choreo of that long cut sequence, advancing forward, on the hanamichi (the "flower road," the stage extension straight out into the audience).
• To say it straight out, the groups that do this "schoolgirl feeling" all the time are not to my taste. But the difference here is that they do feel like Sakurazaka. All the 3gens have given us a fantastic performance, and a wonderful MV.
• Thank you, 3gens, for working so hard.
• I hate to say it, but this is the best song on the release.

The MV has 290,000 views in 16 hours (edit: now 315K in 19 hours). Not overwhelming, but it seems solid to me. We'll see how things go. I had hoped the MV might be on the release, but I only see the audio on Type D. Is there something I missed, or is that it?

Today is not just a good day for the 3gens. Sakurazaka's -- and particularly Rena's -- performances broadcast Friday on Music Station and Buzz Rhythm were excellent. And the long dresses seemed to me to work better live than in the MV.

 

This 3rd gen MV and song, along with Rena's main and Rei's whimsical one, solidifies the 5th single as a very good one overall.

 

I see a Japanese post setting out the senbatsu for the 3gen video:
Taniguchi
Matono, Murayama
Ishimori, Endou, Kojima
Odakura, Nakajima, Mukai
谷口
的野、村山
石森、遠藤、小島
小田倉、中嶋、向井

I think this is what I saw, too. I was kind of bowled over by last row Mukai's couple of solo dance scenes. So flexible/light/quick/slender. More to come. More to come from Endou-san, too. She can look awfully pretty sometimes.

I was realizing that the 3gens have had almost six months of preparation. The documentary followed quickly by the MV compressed the time. They have been working on this for quite a while.

I've translated the lyrics of Natsu no Chikamichi and made subtitle files (download) you can use with downloaded YouTube files (1080p mp4 version, at least). There's a text translation in that link, but for ease of viewing, here is my translation in this spoiler:

Spoiler: Natsu no Chikamichi translation

Sakurazaka46 (3gens) - Shortcut to Summer (Natsu no Chikamichi)
______________________________________________


On the shortcut to summer, I raise my right hand
Against the wind and the sun's rays (there will be some)
Every day seems the same
But the sun keeps setting later

Were you that close to her?
On the way home, her smiling face and yours
Why do they make me sad?
Tomorrow I'll come early (early)
Early (again)

This way, I'll never catch up
The two of you will walk ahead of me
As I wait for a chance to speak
To invite
You (you) to go to the sea (the sea)

The shortcut to summer where will I find it?
The opening of a door to the next season (long wait)
Because love is always something to be impatient for
Show me a map (a map) to the future (the future)

On the shortcut to summer, I raise my right hand
Against the wind and the sun's rays (there will be some)
Every day seems the same
But the sun keeps setting later

Someday I'll invite you
So far, I haven't been in a hurry
But suddenly I am today
The distance between our hearts (the distance)
I have to rush to close it (right away)

Spring-summer-autumn-winter come in turn
But I want to skip ahead
And how unfair it is
That you (you)
Do not bridge the gap

Taking the long way to the summer rains when will I get there?
To when rain seems about to stop and never does (rainy day)
Sunlight flashes through a break in the clouds
And I think I see the place (the place) where we'll meet (meet)

The way to the summer rains is long
Always chasing a miracle (a miracle)
If I turn the corner just in front of me
There will be a door into midsummer

I want to fall in love with you slowly
But since I have a rival, there is no time

A shortcut to summer where will I find it?
Opening a door to the next season (long wait)
Because love is always something to be impatient for
Show me a map (a map) to the future (the future)

On a shortcut to summer, I raise my right hand
Against the wind and the sun's rays (there will be some)
Every day seems the same
But the sun keeps setting later
And right there is a door into midsummer.


______________________________________________
Natsu no Chikamichi 夏の近道
Lyrics by Akimoto Yasushi 秋元康
Music by Inoue Tomonori 井上トモノリ

 

Thank you for the translation! It seems English subs were added to the official video recently. Also, 460K views in 2 days, not bad!

 

Single now streaming on Spotify. I feel like there's an identity that S46 wants to have, but each song just barely doesn't "go there". Maybe that's the goal? Slightly less than generic pop?

Regardless I like all the songs, first time I can listen to a 46 single through its entirety without being okay skipping a song.

Cool -> Liar -> Sonohi -> Saku -> 3ki -> Moshika = Munen

 

Day 1: 285,277

https://www.oricon.co.jp/rank/js/d/2023-02-14/

 

The whole single is absurdly good, we could perfectly say that all the songs are a side-a camouflaged as a side-b, my ranking:

Cool-->Munen-->Tamashii-->Sakurasuki-->Moshikashitara-->Natsu

 

Cool is like Hanshinhangi but if it was done by the OG Keyakizaka46, at least lyrically and perhaps even the sound. The song is great but the music video is even better; simply amazing and quite a bit of creative effort for a b-side MV.

Cool > Sono Hi (is this cheating) > Sakuradzuki >>>>>> Moshikashitara = Munen > Natsu > Tamashi

I honestly found the other b-sides somewhat lackluster compared to their previous releases but I like Cool and Sakuradzuki enough to not mind lol.

Lowest first-day sales so far but I guess not too far from BAN, and not too surprising after graduations.

 

Yeah, after we lost two sell out idols compared to last single (samidare yo), and two veteran 1ki who although never sold out all slots, we'll never know if they were always consistently 80% sellers for all slots (for example), so I expected the decrease. One thing is for sure, this single is solid and with 3ki here and already capturing the hearts of many fans, I can see them easily hitting 325k first day sales for the next single.

Excited to see msta! the girls are posting off shots and it looks so pretty

EDIT: 6th round sales are out, Chukemon sold out, and for the 3ki, Miu sold out
Tbh, Apart from Inoue, and 3ki Rika (and potentially Reina and Mio), I think that's it for all the fully sold out members, but I hope to see the rest of the girls selling slots over the next few rounds too.
https://twitter.com/sakuzakacentral/status/1625909532697427969/photo/2

According to Billboard, they made 364,823 sales over the last three days (13th-15th).

 

Oricon Day 2: 33,306
Total: 318,583

https://www.oricon.co.jp/rank/js/d/2023-02-15/

 

Sakurazaka46 members visited Shibuya, signed autographs on panels of Sakurazaka46's 5th single and wrote comment cards, but there were some problems with some of the fans. It was no big deal but still made the news https://streamable.com/zggp4x

Sakurazaka 46 fans go wild!.... the mannerisms problem broke out again.
https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/3e21d6c0f82d5808d364d786fe2c3a27592b69d5

 

The article is not available here... someone can explain what happened? Thanks

 

Oricon Day 3: 10,507
Total: 329,090

https://www.oricon.co.jp/rank/js/d/2023-02-16/

Don't know, but are you aware that Yahoo! Japan isn't available in Europe due to GDPR?

 

I meant what happened at the event... not why the article isn't available for us lol

 

LOL desu yo,ne?

And me, after your post, was waiting for a reply about what actually happened there?

 

@Philosophy Senpai we'll never know

 

I can access Yahoo! Japan using a VPN but once an article from there has been displayed it nearly always turns out that it's been taken from another news source. In this case the article has been taken from 'Weekly Women's Prime' and it can be viewed there without any GDPR issues at the following link:

https://www.jprime.jp/articles/-/26904

Basically it's about the poor behaviour of fans at a release event for the new single at TSUTAYA in Shibuya including people gathering around a bus carrying members. The article mentions this appeal published a few days ago on the official Nogizaka site asking fans not to stalk members. It includes this rather blurry image (I think from CCTV) which gives an idea of what happened regarding the bus incident:

 

Is this a case of "bad publicity is still good publicity"? What if no fans showed up? I don't like fans swarming around the bus and making members uncomfortable, but in a way, it makes more people aware of Sakurazaka46.

 

Oricon Day 4: 7,024 (#3 - AKB48 is #1, NCT DREAM #2)
Total: 336,114

Unless otherwise noted, I assume Sakurazaka46 is #1 for the day - not so today...

And, really? Rude fans off the bus? Why?