3月3日で5周年♥

Happy Anniversary, Berryz Koubou!

Can you believe how much these girls have grown in five years?



Just think back to year zero: on March 3, 2004 Berryz Koubou debuted with the single "Anata Nashi de wa Ikite Yukenai." There were eight girls then, ages 9 to 12, and the single was a cool, mature hip-hop-style track with a light-hearted and driving B-side. They went on to produce four more singles and an album that year.

On March 30, 2005, just a few weeks after their first anniversary, the girls released a quintessential single. "Special Generation" was a huge success and remained their highest-selling single by far for over two years. That year was the last for one member, Ishimura Maiha. She graduated on October 2, two months after "21ji Made no Cinderella" was released, and the group's line-up came to be what it is still today. In 2005 the girls released their second album, their first mini album, and four singles.

March 2006 saw the release of "Jiriri Kiteru," a mature summer-time track sang over Chopin's Revolutionary Etude, and each of the three singles released in this year sold more than the one before. The summer-themed mini album ③ Natsu Natsu Mini Berryz was also released this year, and it gave us our first ever tracks of Berryz subsets.

Four days after their third anniversary Berryz Koubou released their first ballad single, "VERY BEAUTY." It didn't sell as well as their previous single "Munasawagi Scarlet," but the next release would make up for it. "Kokuhaku no Funsui Hiroba," another ballad, outsold all of their previous singles. They finished up the year with their third full-length album, 4th Ai no Nanchara Shisuu and another single, "Tsukiatteru no ni Kataomoi," which in turn outsold its predecessors.

On March 12, 2008, Berryz Koubou released "Dschinghis Khan," a cover of the German group of the same name's 1979 debut. "Dschinghis Khan" is currently Berryz Koubou's best-selling, and possibly all around best, single to date. It was so popular that they went on to release a mix of the cover with the original as a special single. Their next single, "Yuke Yuke Monkey Dance," failed to outsell the cover and "MADAYADE" sold even less. Their fourth studio album 5(FIVE) was also released in 2008, and it is their best-selling album to date.

And now it's 2009. The girls have already had one musical release this year, their first best of album Berryz Koubou Special Best Vol.1, and their first single of the year drops next Wednesday! Aside from single-handedly buying 30,000 copies all I can do is hope that "Dakishimete Dakishimete" will be the single that breaks the girls out of their sales slump.

Long live Berryz Koubou, and keep up the good work, ladies!

(Also, loving the maid costumes in your anniversary photos!)