Single Sakurazaka46 8th Single [Ikutsu no Koro ni Modoritai no ka?] (2024/02/21)

It's not guaranteed that a Sakamichi group will top the Billboard chart though. Hinatazaka never topped it for example. It's all about timing bc the Sakamichi groups rely on their physical sales to chart on the Billboard Hot 100. So if there's currently a song that is doing extremely well digitally (like the Creepy Nuts song or Idol) the physical sales won't be enough.

 

Hinatazaka have topped the hot 100 in the past with several singles before the changes in billboard charts for example with tteka.

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Sakurazaka recently topped the hot 100 with the 7th single

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but it will be difficult to top the chart if the song in 1st place is strong in streams and downloads like the creepy nuts song.

 

I think they have increased public appearances in this comeback (tv show and magazine photoshoot, Ten cameo in MV, etc) whether it's effective or not... we need to see it next comeback, sometimes the impact is delayed.

 

Saku 8th single
Ikutsu no Koro ni Modoritai no ka? Oricon first week sale is increased from previous 6th & 7th single sale.. Saku is really strong and this single is the best melody after nobody fault and shounin yokkuu.. Congratulations Sakura chan!!!

 

You might saw the wrong ranking. Here's the link:
https://www.oricon.co.jp/rank/js/w/2024-03-04/

1st week sales was 433,810, a little lower than Start Over and Shounin Yokkyuu.

 

I stand corrected. I did think it was weird but Hinatazaka's previous #1s aren't shown on their Billboard page: https://www.billboard-japan.com/artists/detail/888777 while you can see it on Nogizaka's artist page: https://www.billboard-japan.com/artists/detail/204137 and Sakurazaka's: https://www.billboard-japan.com/artists/detail/935030.

 

I finally listened to the whole album.

I guess Aki-p is in love/s because it's full of love songs.

Ikumodo is an amazing title track that has grown on me since the MV release. A legit banger!

I don't think abura wo sase is that bad. I think it's a nice song that i'm really excited to see the performance.

I love 3ki song instrumental, just amazing. Has some royal road feeling that i love.

Manatsu and Kokoro are surprisingly great, it gave me some old j-pop songs vibes. Reminds me of Plastic Regret.

Koi wa is mid.

Nakasete is by far the weakest. So out of nowhere.

 

Coming back here with meguri charts just to give some great news!ALL 3ki SOLD OUT!

 

The two tour performances at Osaka Castle Hall were triumphant. Unusual stage structure -- open on all sides, with a glowing runway encircling half the arena floor -- impressed a lot of commenters. People said they felt closer to the performers than they ever had before.

And several comments said that the encore call was louder and showed a more unified audience than they could remember.

Takahiro praised the group's performance to the skies. He said it moved him deeply. Repeated rehearsal had produced a performance of high "resolution" [like a sharp computer screen], not like something artificial, but overflowing with life-force. He said it was like a pair of dragons soaring in the sky, illuminating the hall. He didn't know whether it was art or entertainment. He was proud of them, it seems.

 

I guess it's time for Karin to take Sakurazaka back to the top again this summer. She is the strongest 2nd gen member as they came back strong with Start Over! after Sakurazuki was not liked by many fans.

With Keyakizaka you got strong seasons and B-sides I don't feel that with Sakurazaka yet. I don't know if Akimoto is tired but it's definitely not the Akimoto we saw during Keyakizaka. He seems to go back to a generic single every time it's cherry blossom season.

To claim Akimoto is in love he is in love every cherry blossom season lol.

What I miss with Sakurazaka are stable composers because the writing was good for Keyakizaka. Still no Bugbear who is the only who could change Sakurazaka's safe sound. Lack of solo songs in Sakamichi still hurts.

How much longer is Akimoto going to be around writing songs? Just follow what K-pop has been doing. Get other songwriters and let talented members write some songs. Encourage for solo songs too. They are talking about individuality but Akimoto is not letting them have it.

But bring Karin back to the center position this summer and give a 3rd gen member a center position for A-side in the fall. I don't know when the 2nd album is coming. I hope they spend more production this time like Keyakizaka's first album.

 

By what metric is Karin the strongest 2nd gen member? What makes her better than Hikaru, Ten, Hono who have pulled the group from the start? Start Over's success is primarily due to the song's quality, not Karin. Ten is the strongest performer in the group (she's more versatile than Karin) but this song's lack of success (though personally I think it's very good) has got nothing to do with her.

Enough with the Keyakizaka comparisons. It's been four years, move on.

 

SM Entertainment, top agency in South Korea made every artist under them sing super boring bad song that always get a hit due to popularity of the group and not the song.

Reason? Money. By using a song composed by him (lee soo man, the founder), he got royalties = $$$$. They don’t care the quality of the song, fans will still buy it to support their fav idols. It will still be sold, so why buy a song that cost a lot? I must say, not all the song is trash, some is great. But when you forced a person to create too much in a short time, the creativity stuck is there and most song become bland or awful.

Many artists and senior employees dislike it but can’t do anything. But due to that, they lost US market to hybe, because SM always failed to promote there using their trashy song. In the end, the corruption make the artist suffers. They lost so much potential to grow bigger. But after the founder lost his reign, finally the music of sm artist is upgraded now. It’s much better.

Personally, I think if they can buy a good song for other composer outside the circle, sakamichi might get better.


For next center, I will accept any 2 ki as center. 2024 for me is still for 2ki reign over. I might want to see new face for 2025, but not now.

 

Despite agreeing that most Aki-p lyrics are meh, i still think Sakurazaka has their own charm. I can´t imagine another group releasing Shonin Yokkyu or Start Over! Nobody does these songs like them.

Karin is great, but she isn´t the only member that deserves a center right now. Is she the most hyped right now? Yeah, thx to sakurazaka success in 2023 + her acting career success. But i don´t think she needs another center now, her schedule is full and we all know what happens when management overworks a member, we don´t need another Techi. Let her image as a center rest but keep her relevant in media through solo activies seems to be the best solution for me. Perhaps i´m being dramatic, but i just want to let clear that pushing a member to center so many times can backfire.

Look at Runrun, people complained about the fact that had a center song in every single from 1st to 4th + album w-center with Ten, after that management let her image rest a little and she came back much more loved in Shonin Yokkyu.

Following the rule of 4 singles and then album, it´s possible we might see an album release this summer. I will happily accept any center or w-center, just hoping for more new songs this time. Saku 1st album had fewer songs than Keya 1st so i just hope for more this time. This is my only wish.

Now talking about songs. It´s time to accept we will never have another depressing song like Kuroi Hitsuji. Keyakizaka is dead and it´s time to move on but i guess some people will only really accept that after the last 1ki graduates. Their discography(both kanji and hiragana) was gold but that sonority won´t come back., by the way the closest we got to a "keyakish" song is Shonin Yokkyu.

 

Allow me to put my two cents as a recent fan of Saku from Start Over era (I was a casual Keya fan before). What drew me in at first was not the song itself, but it was 100% because of Karin's expressions in the MV. I can't count how many times I have watched the MV and the stage/TV performances just because of Karin. Then I start liking the song more and more, and then before I can realize I have loved the group's discography as a whole and all the other members in the process. Start Over is a good song, yes, but I think its popularity lies heavily in the visual and performance aspects as well, which were executed amazingly with Karin as center. If the song has been given to another member as center, the feeling would have been very different and it may or may not be as popular as it is right now. As for me, I might have liked the song, but probably I wouldn't have became a fan to this extent (well maybe I'm just the minority).

But enough with my personal experience. What I want to say is, Sakura (and Keyaki) songs are elevated to a new level when we can see them performing/expressing the song's worldview either in the MV or live on stage. The members performing a song, especially the centers, are there for a reason. All the songs are good by themselves musically, but without the performances and the center who is heavily featured in those performances/the MV, who is shown to carry the feelings of a specific song, it wouldn't be as great. We can't separate the center and the members from a song. Saku and Keya's strong point, besides the music, are the unique performances after all. All the centers we have got until now did a really good job portraying their respective songs. For the success I think the center (and everyone else) deserve some big credit as well.

Otherwise I agree with you. I really, really love Ikumodo and Tenchan suits perfectly as its center. It's my second most favorite MV for Saku. I think that it should have been much more successful. A song's popularity, however, depends on a lot of things. It would be naive to blame the center for a song's lack of success and hope that changing center position to another person will fix things.

Personally, aside from the slightly weird choreography, I am happy with how Ikumodo is doing. The song is great, the sales not bad at all, we're coming back to Tokyo Dome on our own strength and the members gave their all on stage - wouldn't that be the most important thing?
For the next singles, as we have so many strong performers in the group now, I am excited for whoever is chosen, not only in the title songs but in the Backs' and other B-sides as well. No matter which song it is and whoever is center, I believe that the center will bring forward an exceptional performance that is unique to her together with the other members. I'm really looking forward to the future lives and concerts.

 

I can't say how the public in general might feel, but of course I personally think Karin is the most interesting member of the group, for her graceful, expansive and accurate (not flashy or athletic) dancing; for her un-idol-like refusal (inability?) to force any expression; and for her ability to communicate natural-seeming emotion, by face and dance. Her singing is just okay, and her dancing is not at the professional level of a Shii-chan, but she communicates, at least to me.

Yes, Start Over! was a good song, and the MV was effective, but I think Karin made the MV really work, and I think it was no accident that she centred the song that gave the group its push last year. Actually, my favourite performance of Karin's last year was the simple and graceful Isshun no Uma in the Start Over! mini-live.

If it were up to me, I would put Karin at centre for the ninth single, which could come out in June -- or October, if there's an album. Her movie comes out in early August. I just think she has something special, as shown in Naze Koi, Guuzen no Kotae, and Start Over! But of course I'm biased.

However, I also think that the whole group is reaching higher and higher levels of performance and personality, both the 2gens and the amazing 3gens. Several members, new and old, could make a hit at centre, I believe.

 

Honestly, I can totally relate! This is exactly what happened to me with Ikumodo. I'm just a casual fan who check their releases here and there, but Ten in their MV really blew me away. Her performance is so expressive and engaging, that I decided to binge-watch their content since then. I can't believe she's that young.

That being said, I think I can't really say one member is stronger/more deserving than others since they all bring different things to the table as a Sakurazaka46 member and create the Sakurazaka that I come to adore now. It's also great that they have a lot of options to consider now on how to determine the future direction they'll take since the girls have boundless potentials. I'm seated to see what they'll deliver for the next single to keep the momentum going! It's going to be interesting if they decided to drop a 3rd gen as center.

 

I think one of the reason why nogi management launch new gen audition while they have more active members than saku, is because sakurazaka has stronger members line up.

the fact that 3ki meguri is sold out.
Only 3 from 2ki and 2 from 1ki who lacks selling power. In total it's only 5 members from the entire group. Amazing feed for a group as big as this.

So for center, management really doesn't lack of options. But I always like if it's either for the top 4 of 2ki. (Hono, hikaru, ten, Karin).

Aside that, we also get rei, yui, yuipon, rena, yuuka, risa, miu, shizu, airi, etc as center for other song, so I really don't have any objections for what the agency has done.

 

For me personally as well, I've been trying to get into Sakurazaka for a bit but it wasn't until Karin caught my eye that I paid more attention to the group. I also really loved her in Tsukuritai Onna to Tabetai Onna Season 2 and I'm planning to follow her solo ventures.

 

Does this go in here?

8th Single Backs Live at Makuhari Event Hall, May 9th and 10th.

https://sakurazaka46.com/s/s46/page/backslive_8th