NMB48 [Zetsumetsu Kurogami Shoujo] 1st week sales, bloomers are a no go

NMB48's debut single Zetsumetsu Kurogami Shoujo, just released last week, made quite a splash in the Oricon sales chart, selling an incredible 218 thousand copies and of course securing the 1st place in the weekly chart.

Zetsumetsu Kurogami Shoujo
Day 1: 131,654
Day 2: 15,719
Day 3: 7,532
Day 4: 50,240
Day 5: 3,736
Day 6: 3,751
Total: 218,441

This is an incredible feat for any artist. Not only did they achieve 1st place in the daily and weekly chart in their debut single, but this amount of sales makes them the female group with the highest debut sales in history. The previous holder was Kaoru Amane with her single "Taiyou no Uta" back in 2006 with 150k for it's 1st week.

NMB48 of course had the help of being part of the OOO48 umbrella, giving them a huge advantage in promotions. Nevertheless this sales is amazing. They were up against Korean super boyband TVXQ (known in Japan as Tohoshinki). Honestly I was quite worried when I heard who NMB was up against.

And of course not forgetting the main point of this entry for some, NMB48 would have to perform a full stage show in bloomers if they failed to clinch the 1st position for the weekly chart. But since they did, the bloomer show will not be happening.

OR SO WE THOUGHT. Turned out that during one of their stage shows they appeared in bloomers and performed Zetsumetsu for the fans as a thank you present. Well it's not a full show at least. An official apology by the NMB48 members about the surprise bloomer show has been posted up on the official website.

Official post: http://www.nmb48.com/news/etc/etc_2011_07_29_01.html

Thank you for always supporting NMB48.
Our debut single ‘Zetsumetsu Kurokami Shoujo’ managed to get the No 1 spot on Oricon and thanks to you all we achieved the best debut.
Thank you very much.
We were anxious that maybe people would not buy because they want to see the bloomers show, but we are very thankful that we got such an amazing debut that blows away all this (anxiety).
This is thanks to the support of you all. Thank you very much.
At this point, members and staff discussed and decided to perform only one song as a surprise with feelings of thankfulness to the fans who supported us in mind.
But afterwards we heard through the staff the opinions of many fans who supported us so that we do not have to wear bloomers. What we thought up might have put all your feelings to waste and we are very sorry for that.
Because we are doing our best with all power so that you continue to support us from now on too,
Yoroshiku onegaishimasu (sry, I never know how to find a good word for that…).

All NMB48 members

However despite me being happy for NMB48's incredible sales, I can't help but feel that they got it too easy. 218k sales for their debut single and also they have already participated in the highly popular annual show Kouhaku Uta Gassen, which only the most famous artists attend.