is the third album by the

Japanese idol An is a type of entertainer marketed for image, attractiveness, and personality in Japanese pop culture. Idols are primarily singers with training in acting, dancing, and modeling. Idols are commercialized through merchandise and endorsements b ...

girl group

AKB48 AKB48 (pronounced ''A.K.B. Forty-Eight'') is a Japanese idol girl group named after the Akihabara (''Akiba'' for short) area in Tokyo, where the group's theater is located. AKB48's producer, Yasushi Akimoto, wanted to form a girl group with it ...

. "Koko ni Ita Koto" was released in Japan on June 8, 2011 by King Records. There are three versions available: Limited Edition (catalog number KIZC-90117/8), Regular Edition (KIZC-117/8), and Theater Edition (NKCD-6546). While all the group's albums had been almost entirely collections of previously released material, "Koko ni Ita Koto" took a different approach. Although it featured four 2010 hits, one theatre stage song, and a theme from an early 2011 movie, the rest were new songs. It met with great commercial success, topping the

Oricon , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan and Western music. It started as, which was founded by Sōkō Koike in Nov ...

Weekly Albums Chart and, with just one week of sales, placed second in the list of best selling albums of the first half of 2011 in Japan. In the same month, it was already certified Million by the

Recording Industry Association of Japan The is an industry trade group composed of Japanese corporations involved in the music industry. It was founded in 1942 as the Japan Phonogram Record Cultural Association, and adopted its current name in 1969. The RIAJ's activities include pr ...

for shipments of over one million copies.

Background

The upcoming release of the first

's original album was announced on February 21, 2011. The then-unnamed album would be released on April 6, 2011 and contain the hits "

Ponytail to Chouchou ''Shushu'' is Japanese for scrunchie. is the 16th single by Japanese idol group AKB48, released on May 26, 2010. Promotion The covers and music videos of the single were shot in Guam. The first editions of the single came with a ticket to vote fo ...

", "

Heavy Rotation In broadcasting, rotation is the repeated airing of a limited playlist of songs on a radio station or satellite radio channel, or music videos on a TV network. They are usually in a different order each time. However, they are not completely sh ...

", " Beginner", and "

Chance no Junban is Japanese idol girl group AKB48's 19th single, released on December 8, 2010. Member selection Following AKB48's July concerts at Yoyogi National Gymnasium in Tokyo, it was announced that the headlining "senbatsu" members for the 19th single wou ...

", the rest being new songs. In addition to a regular edition, there would be a limited edition of the album and a theater edition. The limited edition would contain a 100-page photobook shot by photographer

Mika Ninagawa is a Japanese photographer and director, known for her brightly colored photographs of flowers, goldfish, and landscapes. Biography Daughter of acclaimed theatre director Yukio Ninagawa, she first came to prominence in the late 1990s as part of ...

, who was the director of their

music video, a DVD, lottery entry card to win a special present from the band and also comes with a photo in 14 types, while the regular came with 14 alternate changeable covers featuring them in circus costumes and also the DVD which was featured in limited edition and the theater edition would be a CD-only version coming with 14 alternate changeable covers featuring them in school uniforms, a handshake event ticket and a photo of an AKB48 member chosen at random. More details were announced at a group's handshake event on March 5, 2011. 11 of 16 songs on the album would be completely new. "Shōjotachi yo", the theme song for AKB48's movie ''Documentary of AKB48 to be continued'', would also be on the album. On the title track AKB48 would be joined by the sister groups

SKE48 SKE48 (S.K.E. Forty-eight) is a Japanese idol group produced by Yasushi Akimoto. SKE48 is named after the Sakae district in Nagoya of Aichi Prefecture, where the group is based. The group performs at SKE48 Theater on 2F of Sunshine Sakae, a s ...

SDN48 SDN48 (read "S.D.N. Forty-eight", short for Saturday Night 48) was a Japanese idol girl group, created and produced by Yasushi Akimoto. SDN48 was created based on an "adult idol" concept. Former AKB48 member Kayo Noro was chosen as the captain of ...

, and

NMB48 NMB48 (read "N.M.B. Forty-eight") is a Japanese idol group that debuted in 2011 as the second sister group to AKB48, produced by Yasushi Akimoto. NMB48 is named after the Namba district in Osaka city of Osaka Prefecture, where the group is base ...

. Translated from original articles by Natalie and Sponichi Annex. Due to the

2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami Eleven or 11 may refer to: *11 (number), the natural number following 10 and preceding 12 * one of the years 11 BC, AD 11, 1911, 2011, or any year ending in 11 Literature * ''Eleven'' (novel), a 2006 novel by British author David Llewellyn *''El ...

, the album's release date was pushed back to June 8, 2011. Part of the revenues from it goes to the victims of the disaster. Also, handshakes and photos with the group members, that were planned to be a theater edition bonus, were replaced by the right to choose 5 member photos.

Reception

Commercial performance

''Koko ni Ita Koto'' was sold in 601,985 copies in its debut week, topping the

Weekly Albums Chart In June 2011, the album was certified Million by the

for shipments of over one million copies.

Album reviews

James Hadfield of

Time Out Tokyo ''Time Out'' is a global magazine published by Time Out Group. ''Time Out'' started as a London-only publication in 1968 and has expanded its editorial recommendations to 328 cities in 58 countries worldwide. In 2012, the London edition becam ...

gave it zero out of five stars, calling it "wrenchingly awful", and compared it "perhaps to hearing Alvin and the Chipmunks play Stevie Wonder's 'Happy Birthday' on repeat for an equivalent length of time while being force-fed candy floss until your stomach splits open. ... It's J-pop that's been infantilised, reduced to the level of kindergarten songs. That half of the tracks are wedded to the same pachinko four-four beat serves merely to make it all the more deadening." Another review claims that it's hard to experience the full album since half of the songs are bland to him. However, some of the songs are still highly praised. ''Beginner'' was described as "freaking cool" and gave ten out of ten stars. ''Heavy Rotation'' is "perfect pop goodness" and "really awesome", etc. There is a review said that "the music is also fun to listen to and for me that's what counts the most."

Track listing

CD

Limited Edition DVD

Bonuses

Limited Edition

* 100-page photobook by

* Photo of a member (randomly chosen from a set of 14) * AKB48 special present lottery ticket

Regular Edition

* Set of 14 circus clothes alternate covers (7 double-sided pictures)

Theater Edition

* Set of 14 school uniform alternate covers (7 double-sided pictures) * 5 solo member photos (customer selectable from a set of 2100)

Charts

Sales and certifications

Release history

References

External links

Regular Edition details
at the King Records official website
Limited Edition details
at the King Records official website
Regular Edition profile
at the Oricon website {{Authority control 2011 albums AKB48 albums King Records (Japan) albums