AKB48 will release their 67th single “Nagori Zakura” on February 25, and the coupling song “Hatsukoi ni Niteru” — with lyrics by Rino Sashihara — will be available for advance digital distribution from midnight on February 17.
“Hatsukoi ni Niteru” is performed by eight research students from the 20th and 21st generations. The 21st generation research students who joined last December are participating in a single for the first time with this song. The track will be included on the regular edition and the Official Shop edition.
Sashihara, a former AKB48 member, won the Lyricist Award at the 67th Japan Record Awards for =LOVE’s “Tokubechu, Shite.” This is the first time she has written lyrics for a song credited to AKB48. Sashihara said that through her activities with the single “Oh my pumpkin!” last year, she spent time with active members and wanted to convey the “confidence cultivated through effort within humility” she felt, and she wrote positive lyrics. She also proposed the center choice and vocal assignment. She commented, “I’m happy that my name will appear in an AKB48 work in a different form. I hope it becomes a song loved by everyone.”
The center for “Hatsukoi ni Niteru” is Saki Kondo, who will turn 14 on February 23 and is the youngest AKB48 member to serve as center. Kondo said, “I am truly happy to serve as center for the first time with ‘Hatsukoi ni Niteru’. When I heard that Rino Sashihara wrote a song for AKB48, I never imagined that we would be the ones singing it, so I was very surprised! I am so happy that I was chosen as center.”
The single also includes the title track “Nagori Zakura”, the graduation song for Mion Mukaichi, who will depart from AKB48 this spring. The release will come in five versions: Limited Edition TYPE-A, TYPE-B, TYPE-C, Regular Edition, and Official Shop Edition, with the Limited Editions including Blu-ray discs featuring 18 selected performances from AKB48’s 20th anniversary concert at Nippon Budokan.
