"Dōshitemo Kimi ga Suki da" (Japanese: どうしても君が好きだ, romanized: Dōshitemo Kimi ga Suki da, lit. 'No matter what, I still love you') is the 61st single by Japanese idol girl group AKB48. It is released on April 26, 2023. Member Hitomi Honda served as both lead singer and choreographic center.[1]
This is the first single released under Universal Music label.
Background and release
The first official information about the single was announced on December 7, 2022, during the broadcast of the variety programme "Sayanora Mouri-san", where it was revealed that the winning team of the "Cooking Senbatsu" competition, which began on the live streaming app Showroom on September 29, 2022,[2] will be performing a B-side song in a single scheduled to release the following year.[3] Following a competition to sell the most plates of their specified dish in a cafe event, the winning team and the participating members were announced on the January 13, 2022 broadcast of "Sayonara Mouri-san".
The release of the 61st single, the A-side participating members, as well as the label change from King Records to Universal Music Japan was officially announced on February 27, 2023[4] via a teaser trailer on YouTube. Trainees Sora Yamazaki and Yuki Hirata were selected for the first time, joining fellow trainee Airi Sato who was also selected to take part in the 60th single. Details on the track titles, B-side participating members, and jacket covers were later revealed on March 15, 2023.[5]