ANGERME Prays for the Success of Their 1st Single; Gets #2 Oricon Ranking!

| Hello! Project | Posted by Kai Okudara on Feb.06.2015

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ANGERME (formerly known as S/mileage) went to Atago Shrine in Tokyo on February 4th to pray for the success of their first single “Taiki Bansei / Otome no Gyakushuu” (A Late Bloomer/A Girl’s Counterattack) which was releasing the same day. The single ranked in at #2 on the Oricon sales charts.

Despite wearing the short-sleeved outfits and high heels from the video “Otome no Gyakushuu”, they eagerly marched up the steep “Stone Steps of Success” (Shusse no Ishidan) to reach the shrine at the top of Mount Atago. Showing their solidarity, they walked up the stairs while holding hands and linking arms.

At the top of the stairs, they commented about how it was a little bit difficult to climb such a steep staircase but how it was a good experience as they made a fresh start with a new name and 3 new members. Leader Ayaka Wada said, “I’m happy to have the opportunity to do something like this. Because it’s the ‘Stone Steps of Success’, I feel that the song will become a big hit.” New member Maho Aikawa added, “Since the three new members joined, this was the first time to have something this big, to pray for the success of a release, so I’m overjoyed.” Meimi Tamura reflected, “There were many times (before the new members were added) when our dance and vocal instructors would scold us for not being focused. There were also times when it felt like we had hit rock-bottom so, to have this chance is like a dream.”

When asked where the group wanted to go from here, Wada answered, “I want us to be able to do a hall tour, return to the Budokan and have a much bigger concert, and become the #1 group in Hello! Project!” Even though Morning Musume. ’15 is still the flagship group, with the graduation of Sayumi Michishige in November of 2014, Wada has been in Hello! Project for longer than any of the current members of the group so her sense of rivalry is more than justified.

It looks like things are off to a good start for ANGERME in 2015. Perhaps this sort of thing will become a regular practice on the release date of all their future singles?