Let’s turn back the hands of time as we look back at the songs that made the Japanese music industry what it was on the Oricon Weekly Chart. This week we look back at the second week of April for both 2010 and 2015, when boy group NEWS and mega idol group SKE48 reigned supreme with “Sakura Girl” and “Coquettish Jūtai Chū”, respectively. But just what exactly made these songs so great?

“Sakura Girl” - NEWS

“Sakura Girl” was the fourteenth single by NEWS, who in 2003 released their first single, “News Nippon”, which hit number one. NEWS has consistently released number one songs since their debut and it is easy to see why with this track in particular. “Sakura Girl” has a fun, catchy melody sung expertly the guys. It’s got a light and whimsical feel which is enjoyable for the listener. “Sakura Girl” was written by Heroism along with Hacchin 'Maya and was composed by Heroism. The track sold over 195,000 copies in its first week and would go on to hit platinum.

“Coquettish Jūtai Chū” - SKE48

“Coquettish Jūtai Chū” was the seventeenth single released by the ever-popular idol group SKE48. Debuting in 2008 as a spin-off to the super popular idol group AKB48, SKE48 has always had a huge fanbase and it is easy to see why with “Coquettish Jūtai Chū”. This is one fun, high energy number that really gets the listener going. You can truly hear the fun energy that the girls give off here. The song was written by Akimoto Yasushi, composition was done by Fujimi Takafumi, and was arranged by Yu Sasaki. “Coquettish Jūtai Chū” would go on to sell over half a million copies in its first week on the chart, easily taking the number spot for this week in 2015.

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