Koko ni Ita Koto
Koko ni Ita Koto (ここにいたこと, "We Were Here") is the third album by the Japanese idol girl group AKB48.
| Koko ni Ita Koto | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Regular Edition cover | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | June 8, 2011 (JP) | |||
| Recorded | 2010–2011 | |||
| Genre | J-pop, dance, electronica, hip hop, breakbeat | |||
| Length | 69:27 | |||
| Label | You, Be Cool!/King | |||
| Producer | Yasushi Akimoto | |||
| AKB48 chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Singles from Koko ni Ita Koto | ||||
| ||||
| Music videos | ||||
| "Ponytail to Chouchou" on YouTube | ||||
| "Heavy Rotation" on YouTube | ||||
| "Beginner" on YouTube | ||||
| "Chance no Junban" on YouTube | ||||
| Alternative cover | ||||
_cover.jpg.webp) Limited Edition cover | ||||
| Alternative cover | ||||
_cover.jpg.webp) Theater Edition cover | ||||
"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.[1][2]
It met with great commercial success, topping the Oricon Weekly Albums Chart[3] and, with just one week of sales, placed second in the list of best selling albums of the first half of 2011 in Japan.[4] In the same month, it was already certified Million by the Recording Industry Association of Japan for shipments of over one million copies.[5]
Background
The upcoming release of the first AKB48'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", "Heavy Rotation", "Beginner", and "Chance no Junban", 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, who was the director of their Heavy Rotation 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.[6]
More details were announced at a group's handshake event on March 5, 2011.[7] 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, SDN48, and NMB48.[1][2]
Due to the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, the album's release date was pushed back to June 8, 2011.[8] Part of the revenues from it goes to the victims of the disaster.[8] 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 Oricon Weekly Albums Chart[9]
In June 2011, the album was certified Million by the Recording Industry Association of Japan for shipments of over one million copies.[5]
Album reviews
James Hadfield of Time Out Tokyo 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."[10] 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.[11] There is a review said that "the music is also fun to listen to and for me that's what counts the most."[12]
Track listing
CD
All lyrics are written by Yasushi Akimoto
| No. | Title | Music | Artist(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Shōjotachi yo" (少女たちよ "Girls") | Jun Koami | 4:33 | |
| 2. | "Overtake" | Sho Shibata | Takahashi Team A | 4:44 |
| 3. | "Boku ni Dekiru Koto" (僕にできること "What I Can Do") | SOHO | Akimoto Team K | 4:09 |
| 4. | "Ren'ai Circus" (恋愛サーカス "Love Circus") | Osamu Masaki | Kashiwagi Team B | 3:37 |
| 5. | "Kaze no Yukue" (風の行方 "Direction of the Wind") | Takamitsu Shimazaki | Asuka Kuramochi Rino Sashihara Minami Takahashi Yūko Ōshima Minami Minegishi Yuki Kashiwagi | 5:07 |
| 6. | "Wagamama Collection" (わがままコレクション "Selfish Collection") | Takamitsu Shimazaki | Aika Ōta Ami Maeda Mika Komori Sumire Satō Mayu Watanabe Jurina Matsui | 4:53 |
| 7. | "Ningyo no Vacances" (人魚のバカンス "Mermaid's Vacances") | Okishishi Ueda | Aki Takajō Moeno Nitō Yui Yokoyama Tomomi Kasai Rie Kitahara Amina Satō Yuka Masuda | 4:00 |
| 8. | "Kimi to Boku no Kankei" (君と僕の関係 "My Relationship with You") | DR. OWL, RAY. M | Atsuko Maeda Tomomi Itano | 3:02 |
| 9. | "Iikagen no Susume" (イイカゲンのススメ "Encouragement to Be Irresponsible") | Sho Watanabe | Haruka Katayama Haruna Kojima Mariko Shinoda Sayaka Akimoto Sae Miyazawa Rena Matsui | 4:30 |
| 10. | "High School Days" (High school days) | Takeshi Toriumi | Team Kenkyūsei | 4:36 |
| 11. | "Team B Oshi" (チームB推し "Team B Fan") | Takao Yoshino | Team B | 4:28 |
| 12. | "Chance no Junban" | Hiroko Konishi | 4:19 | |
| 13. | "Beginner" | Yoshimasa Inoue | 3:58 | |
| 14. | "Ponytail to Shushu" | Shinya Tada | 4:29 | |
| 15. | "Heavy Rotation" | Yamazaki | 4:43 | |
| 16. | "Koko ni Ita Koto" (ここにいたこと "We Were Here") | KIS | AKB48 SKE48 SDN48 NMB48 | 4:11 |
Limited Edition DVD
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Ponytail to Chouchou" (choreography videos) | 4:29 |
| 2. | "Heavy Rotation" (choreography videos) | 4:40 |
| 3. | "Beginner" (choreography videos) | 3:57 |
| 4. | "Chance no Junban" (choreography videos) | 4:17 |
Bonuses
Limited Edition
- 100-page photobook by Mika Ninagawa
- 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
| Chart | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Oricon Weekly Albums Chart | 1 |
| Oricon Monthly Albums Chart | 1 |
| IFPI Yearly Global Top 50 Albums[13] | 42 |
Release history
| Region | Date | Format | Label |
|---|---|---|---|
| Japan | June 8, 2011 | King Records (YOU BE COOL division) | |
| Hong Kong, Taiwan | King Records | ||
| South Korea | August 3, 2018 |
References
- "AKB48新アルバムに新曲11曲、SKE・SDN・NMB参加曲も". Natasha,Inc. (in Japanese). Natasha,Inc. 2011-03-05. Retrieved 2011-06-20.
- "AKB48 announces million seller, new "Nemousu TV" season, original album details". Natalie, Sponichi Annex. Tokyograph. 2011-03-05. Retrieved 2011-06-20. Translated from original articles by Natalie and Sponichi Annex.
- "ここにいたこと ＡＫＢ４８のプロフィールならオリコン芸能人事典-ORICON STYLE" (in Japanese). Oricon Inc. Retrieved 2011-06-18.
- "AKB48 ：上半期売り上げ前年2．5倍の66億円 オリコン2冠". Mainichi Shimbun Digital Co.Ltd (in Japanese). MANTANWEB. 2011-06-22. Retrieved 2011-06-24.
- ゴールド等認定作品一覧 2011年06月 [Works Receiving Certifications List (Gold, etc) (June 2011)]. RIAJ (in Japanese). July 10, 2011. Retrieved July 14, 2011.
- "AKB48、初のオリジナルアルバムが発売決定". Oricon Inc. (in Japanese). Oricon Inc. 2011-02-21. Retrieved 2011-06-20.
- ＡＫＢ４８ 史上最多２万２５００人握手会！ (in Japanese). Sports Nippon Newspapers. 2011-03-05. Retrieved 2011-06-20.
- "AKB48、新シングル＆選抜総選挙決定！収益一部を義援金に". Natasha,Inc. (in Japanese). Natasha,Inc. 2011-03-29. Retrieved 2011-06-20.
- "AKB48、モー娘。以来11年ぶり快挙！ アルバム初週実売60.2万枚". Oricon Inc. (in Japanese). Oricon Inc. 2011-06-14. Retrieved 2011-06-20.
- Hadfield, James (2011-06-15). "AKB48, 'Koko ni Ita Koto'/Girls' Generation, 'Girls' Generation'". Time Out Tokyo. Time Out. Archived from the original on 2011-06-18. Retrieved 2014-03-31.
- Unknown (2015-11-14). "Calli Loves Hello! Project: [ALBUM REVIEW] AKB48 - Koko ni Ita Koto". Calli Loves Hello! Project. Archived from the original on 2019-10-21. Retrieved 2019-10-21.
- "AKB48 – Koko ni Ita Koto". 2019-10-21. Archived from the original on 2019-10-21. Retrieved 2019-10-21.
- "2011 music market" (PDF).
External links
- Regular Edition details at the King Records official website (in Japanese)
- Limited Edition details at the King Records official website (in Japanese)
- Regular Edition profile at the Oricon website (in Japanese)