(An Imitation) Blood Orange

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(An Imitation) Blood Orange
Studio album by Mr. Children
Released	November 28, 2012
Genre	Pop rock power pop
Label	Toy's Factory
Producer	Takeshi Kobayashi Mr. Children
Mr. Children chronology
Mr. Children 2005–2010 <macro> (2012) (An Imitation) Blood Orange (2012)

(An Imitation) Blood Orange (stylized as [(an imitation) blood orange]) is the fifteenth studio album by Japanese pop rock band Mr. Children and was released on November 28, 2012.^[1] It was the band's first studio album in two years. The album consists of a total of 11 tracks, including their triple A-side single, "Inori: Namida no Kidou" / "End of the Day" / "Pieces", released in April 2012, as well as "Hypnosis". "Joutoku" was used as the theme song for Ikuta Toma's drama Osozaki no Himawari: Boku no Jinsei, Renewal and their charity digital single "Kazoe Uta", released in April 2011, for victims of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami. This album was released in two versions: a limited CD+DVD edition and a regular CD-only edition, but the same price. The limited edition comes with a DVD including the PVs for "Hypnosis", "Marshmallow Day", "Inori: Namida no Kidou", and "Joutoku".

The album debuted on the Japanese Oricon Chart at number one on December 10, 2012.^[2] It sold over 530,235 copies in its first week of release. It was their 15th consecutive album to top the chart, and 12th consecutive studio album to sell over 500,000 copies during its first week. In 2012, they released three albums, including Mr. Children 2001–2005 ＜micro＞ (over 716,000 copies sold in its first week) and Mr. Children 2005–2010 ＜macro＞ (selling over 732,000 copies in the first week), released back on 10 May 2012. All three albums sold over 500,000 copies in their first weeks. It makes them the first band to achieve this feat.^{[citation needed]} Mr. Children is the first group in four years who had three albums that sold over 500,000 copies in their first week of release since Exile did it in 2008 with Exile Love, Exile Catchy Best (released in March 2008), and Exile Ballad Best (released in December 2008).

(An Imitation) Blood Orange was the eighth best-selling album of 2012 in Japan according to the Oricon Yearly Chart, selling 612,507 copies (total sales for two weeks in 2012). All three of the albums released in 2012 finished in the top 10 of Oricon's yearly chart.^[3]