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Nogizaka46's Anthem of the Heart Song Is Japan's #6 Single of 2015
posted on by Rafael Antonio Pineda
The Nogizaka46 idol group's "Ima, Hanashitai Dareka ga Iru" single is ranked #6 among Oricon's best-selling singles of 2015, selling 686,539 copies. Sony Music Records released the single on October 28, and it ranked #1 in its debut week. The single's title song is the theme song to The Anthem of the Heart (Kokoro ga Sakibetagatterun Da.) anime film. The film's Japanese website previously streamed a trailer featuring the song.
Four AKB48 singles occupied the top 4 ranks, which, from top 1 to 4, include "Boku-tachi wa Tatakawanai," "Halloween Night," "Green Flash," and "Kuchibiru ni Be My Baby." SKE48's "Coquettish Jūtai-chū" single ranked #5.
The Anthem of the Heart opened in Japan on September 19 on 142 screens, and as of November 1, has sold a total of 744,901 tickets to earn 1,025,293,050 yen (about US$8.5 million).
T-Joy screened The Anthem of the Heart with English subtitles in four theaters in Japan from October 17-23. Aniplex of America and Eleven Arts opened the film in select theaters in the United States and Canada on November 1.
The film reunites staff members from the anohana and Toradora! anime. Tatsuyuki Nagai (A Certain Scientific Railgun, Waiting in the Summer) again directed the film at the studio A-1 Pictures. Mari Okada (M3 the dark metal, Hana-Saku Iroha) wrote the script, and Masayoshi Tanaka (Highschool of the Dead, Joshiraku) designed the characters. Like the anohana anime, the story of the new film is set in Chichibu.
