AKB48’s 21st single, “Everyday Kachuusha” has reached the million sales mark on the May 25th Oricon Daily Singles Ranking chart with a total sales figure of 1,085,000 copies. In just 2 days, the group has broken the record for first week sales by a female artist, which was previously held by Utada Hikaru’s 1999 single, “Addicted to You” (1,068,000 copies). Only four singles have ever reached a million sales in just the first week, the other two being the children’s song “Dango 3 Kyoudai” (1999) and Mr. Children’s “Namonaki Uta” (1996). This is the third time AKB48 has reached the million sales mark with a single, and also their third consecutive time (following “Beginner” and “Sakura no Ki ni Narou“). “Sakura no Ki ni Narou” became a million-seller on the 14th day, so “Everyday Kachuusha” is now the group’s fastest to reach a million to date. The 21st single comes with a vote in the 3rd AKB48 Senbatsu General Election, which may have influenced the outstanding sales number. Source: Oricon, Tokyohive
