No Way Man

Announcement of the single was announced through the group Showroom channel on September 24, 2018. It revealed the participating member from across AKB48 Group that based on Japan to feature in the single main song with total of 23 members.[1] Every top 20 Japanese contestant from Produce 48 also participated in single main song, thus marked members Hitomi Honda and Miu Shitao to participated in A-Side single as first time performers. This single also marked member Miyu Takeuchi to participated in A-Side single since her last participated A-Side single in 2012 with Eien Pressure.

The single released in 5 different physical version which contain a CD, DVD and CD booklet. Every physical version also issued in two different issues, regular edition and limited edition version which contain an additional ballot for participating in group annual Request Hour event. Any released version contain a different track list and different photo cover. The single also issued Theater Edition version which contain a CD only with additional song and a solo cover from Sakura Miyawaki as center performer. In total, the single is released in 11 different physical version.[2]

The digital version from this single is released in 6 different version credited as Type-A, Type-B, Type-C, Type-D, Type-E, and Theater Edition with track list staying same as physical version, thus the cover album is using physical Limited Edition version's cover.

The whole single is featured by 124 members divided by 62 members from AKB48, 17 members from HKT48, 15 members from NGT48, 12 members from NMB48, 10 members from SKE48, and the last 8 members from STU48.

No Way Man was first listened through the group radio show, AKB48 no All Night Nippon on October 24, while the B-side that sung by PRODUCE48 Senbatsu listened on October 31 at the same show. Another song that included in this single later listened on bayfm ON8+1, a radio show that guided by member Miho Miyazaki.

To further promote the song, the chosen members whom participated in No Way Man appeared on several Japanese music shows around 2018 including annual Best Hits Kayosai by Yomiuri TV, Best Artist 2018 by NTV,[3] Count Down TV by TBS, and Music Station by TV Asahi.

Because of three chosen members were an active members of Iz*One, there has only been one performance ever of this song featuring all originally chosen members on FNS's Music Festival.[4] To replace the original performers, the group sometimes choose rotational members to fill the position. In special occasions like for Best Hits Kayosai performances, the group held a special audition first before selecting the members to perform.[5]

The "No Way Man" music video was released on October 26, 2018. A Billboard Japan review claimed the video showcased the group's most demanding choreography to date.[6]

The official music video[7] was published on the official AKB48 YouTube channel.[8]

The music video features dramatic performances by the chosen members backed by an array of colors and flashing lights.

"No Way Man" debuted at the top of the Oricon Singles Chart on its first day, with 1,173,015 physical copies sold.[9] The single stayed at the top of the chart on its second and third day, and dropped to number three on its fourth day.[10][11][12] The song debuted at the top of the chart in its first week, with 1,205,009 physical copies sold.[13]

By October 28, 2018, "No Way Man" surpassed 2.5 million views on YouTube. Within the first 24 hours of being posted online, it accumulated 1.39 million views.[14] The music video also the most viewed music video among any 2017-2020 releases from AKB48.

On November 28, Billboard Japan reported that the single sold 1,313,247 copies in joint sales on its first day, becoming the fourth single released by AKB48 in 2018 to surpass the one million mark on its first day (followed by "Jabaja" with 1.1 million copies, "Teacher Teacher" with 2.58 million copies, and "Sentimental Train" with 1.31 million copies sold.[15]).

The song debuted at number 70 in Billboard Japan's Hot 100 for the week ending December 3, 2018,[16] and topped the chart in the following week.[17]

"No Way Man" is the fifth best-selling single of 2018 on Oricon.[18]

"No Way Man"
Single by AKB48 Team SH
from the album 365nichi no Sustainable
Released	March 25, 2019 (March 25, 2019)
Genre	C-Pop
Label	Shanghai Shangyue Culture Development Co., Ltd.
Songwriter(s)	Original Japanese lyrics: Yasushi Akimoto Chinese lyrics: Composer: Junya Maesako Yasutaka.Ishio
Producer(s)	Yasushi Akimoto
AKB48 Team SH singles chronology
"Shonichi" (2019) "No Way Man" (2019) "Kimi no Tsuite" (2019)
Music video
"全新单曲No Way Man 帅气上线！" (New single, No Way Man) on YouTube

"No Way Man" was redone in Mandarin for AKB48's sister group in China, AKB48 Team SH, as the group's second digital single.[22] It was available for digital music platform on March 25, 2019.[23] The group showcased the song for the first time at AKB48 Team SH - The First Fanmeeting in Shanghai on March 23, 2019 as closing performances.[24] Later, the music video was premiered through the group official YouTube channel on the same day of official release.