Idol group AKB48 announced at their concert at Saitama Super Arena on Saturday that they will be releasing their 26th single, "Manatsu no Sounds good!" on May 23rd and performed it for the first time.

The colorful, uptempo song was sung by the largest number of senbatsu members in the group's history, with 36 members in total. Out of the 36, 15 are making their first senbatsu debut, including 11 members of AKB's Team 4 and HKT48's Kodama Haruka.

The record for number of senbatsu members in an AKB single was previously held by the 26-member "Everyday, Kachuusha".



At the concert, during the opening number "Ue Kara Mariko", center Shinoda Mariko became the first AKB member to challenge a flying performance. She sang in a pure white dress while suspended at a height of 15 meters, and said happily afterward, "I was really nervous, but the view was great and it was really fun."

[gallery columns="4" orderby="title"]

["Manatsu no Sounds good!" Senbatsu Members]

Team A:
Kuramochi Asuka, Kojima Haruna, Sashihara Rino, Shinoda Mariko, Takajo Aki, Takahashi Minami, Maeda Atsuko

Team K:
Itano Tomomi, Oshima Yuko, Minegishi Minami, Miyazawa Sae, Yokoyama Yui

Team B:
Kasai Tomomi, Kashiwagi Yuki, Kitahara Rie, Watanabe Mayu

Team 4:
Abe Maria, Ichikawa Miori, Iriyama Anna, Shimazaki Haruka, Shimada Haruka, Takeuchi Miyu, Yamauchi Suzuran, Iwata Karen, Kato Rena, Kawaei Rina, Takahashi Juri

SKE48:
Kizaki Yuria, Matsui Jurina, Matsui Rena, Takayanagi Akane, Kimoto Kanon

NMB48:
Yamamoto Sayaka, Watanabe Miyuki, Jo Eriko

HKT48:
Kodama Haruka

Source: Daily Sports Online

Tip: Katherine