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Courtesy of Billboard JapanKis-My-Ft2’s “Fear” bows at No. 1 on the latest Billboard Japan Hot 100, dated Sept. 13 to 19.
The theme of a suspense drama series starring member Hiromitsu Kitayama sold 137,484 copies in its first week to top physical sales and look-ups, which counts the number of times a CD is ripped to a computer. The track also came in at No. 3 for Twitter mentions and No. 34 for streaming
Debuting at No. 2 this week is YOASOBI’s new single called “Taishou Roman.” The breakout duo’s latest track was written based on the winning story in a creative writing contest -- hosted by the online creative writing site monogatary.com that launched YOASOBI’s career and Futabasha Publishers Ltd. -- which invited submissions for the next narrative to inspire the J-pop pair’s new song. The winning story by Natsumi was expanded into a novel with the same title as YOASOBI’s new track and published on Sept. 16.
“Taisho Roman” was digitally released on Sept. 15 and racked up 28,042 weekly downloads to rule the metric, while also coming in at No. 20 for streaming (4,045,151 streams) and No. 8 for video views (1,084,171 views), having only five days during the chart week.
The Billboard Japan Hot 100 combines physical and digital sales, audio streams, radio airplay, Twitter mentions, YouTube and GYAO! video views, Gracenote look-ups and karaoke data.
Check out the full Billboard Japan Hot 100 chart, dated Sept. 13 to 19, here.
KATSEYE have officially begun a fresh chapter with the announcement of their forthcoming single, Pinky Up.
The K-pop girl group sparked curiosity online after sharing a string of mysterious posts that quickly had fans trying to piece together the clues.
The first teaser, posted on March 30, featured the Mona Lisa gently raising a hot cup of tea with her pinky finger lifted. The next video, uploaded the next day, showed an arcade claw machine labeled with the group’s name pulling a sword from a mix of sparkling plush toys and a single teacup. Making things even more intriguing, the caption stated: “We’re screaming from cloud nine!!”
Their third update finally revealed the song title along with its cover art. The image showed a figure kneeling on a rug next to a teacup and a toy cat, while the title appeared in bright hot pink text across the visual. The group also confirmed the release date as April 9.
Pinky Up will arrive just one day before KATSEYE appear at Coachella on April 10, which will mark their first time performing at the famous festival.
The single also marks their first comeback since HYBE and Geffen confirmed that member Manon Bannerman would be stepping away for a period of time to prioritize her “health and well being.”
In a message posted on Weverse, they shared: "Hello. After open and thoughtful conversations together, we are sharing that Manon will be taking a temporary hiatus from group activities to focus on her health and wellbeing."
The group expressed that they “fully support this decision,” and added: “KATSEYE remains committed to showing up for one another and for the fans who mean everything to us. We look forward to being together again when the time is right.”
While she is away, the group will continue promotions with Daniela Avanzini, Lara Raj, Megan Skiendiel, Sophia Laforteza and Yoonchae Jeung.
They closed their message by saying: “Thank you to our EYEKONS for your continued love, patience, and understanding.”
