Japan's Weekly Blu-ray & CD Rankings for Aug 19 - Aug 25

Kaioshin_Sama said:
That season was glorious for BD news if for no other reason than because it shut the stupid Shaft/Kyoani fanboy wars up for the first half of the year, which I'm really sick of hearing about. Then this season comes along and basically reignites it as far as the western community is concerned. It's pretty irksome....

VioLink said:
I think you're making this studio war thing bigger than it is.

symbv said:
It has been 3 weeks since my previous Stalker analysis so it is about time to have another look at the Stalker estimate of the 1st week sales for anime in this season. By now, the season is past the mid-point and most series are now entering the final stage in terms of story. This is a good time to look at the relative popularity of the titles before the ending of the season comes to have a final impact on the sales prospect.

Observations:

- Monogatari NekoShiro v1 has been hovering in a rather unspectacular position at around #30-#45 and it has quite some impact on its sales prospect. Almost 20k (or more than one third) of the earlier sales estimate has now gone. As far as I see, I do not see any particular strong negative feedback for the series - in fact many seem to be happy with how NekoShiro arc is wrapped up. So I am not sure if the fall is a real drop or Amazon starts to get further underestimation of the sales.

- Free! is slowly but steadily building up support, both among male and female anime fans. And it is also reflected in the noticeable increase in its sales estimate.

- Shows that have shown substantial improvement in sales estimate (above manabi-line)
Kimi no Iru Machi has its sales estimate increased by a whopping 258% (from 2.4k to 6.2k) after the announcement of manga as an extra to its BD/DVD vol.1
Uchoutn Kazoku has its sales estimate jumped by more than one third (from 2.8k to 3.8k) after a succession of universally acclaimed episodes (particularly ep.8 for its emotional depth and skilful direction).
Love Lab has its sales estimate jumped by more than one third (from 2.2k to 3.0k) after the male characters started to make appearance.
Kiniro Mosaic saw its sales estimate improved by around one fourth (from 3.8k to 4.7k) as it built on its reputation of high quality production and consistent mood of humor and warmth.
Fate/kaleid Illya saw its sales estimate jumped by around one fifth (from 4.7k to 5.6k) after the episodes that depicted stunning battles against Caster and Saber were aired.
Dangan Ronpa and Symphogear G also saw noticeable gain in sales estimate.
Brother Conflicts and Servant x Service also showed improvement in sales estimate, probably because they were close to release date.

- Shows that have shown substantial improvement in sales estimate (below manabi-line)
Fantasista Doll saw its sales estimate jumped by more than one third (from 0.8k to 1.1k) as the last few episodes were deemed particularly interesting and funny.
Teekyuu saw its sales estimate jumped by around one fifth (from 2.1k to 2.5k)
Blood Lad saw its sales estimate jumped by around one fifth (from1.5k to 1.8k)
Senyuu saw its sales estimate jumped by around one fourth (from1.2k to 1.5k)
Kintakubu also saw its sales jumped from 0.5k to 0.8k as fan feedback for the last few episodes saw substantial improvement.

- The only other show that has shown substantial drop in sales estimate in the last 3 weeks is Devil and Realist which could be due to the fading of boost effect coming from BD/DVD extras.


First Week Sales Estimation according to Amazon Stalker (BD+DVD)

Aug04 -> Aug26 (Date when estimates were made)

57.5k -> 38.9k Monogatari 2nd
14.1k -> 14.6k Free!

6.5k -> 6.5k Highschol DxD 2nd
2.4k -> 6.2k Kimi no iru Machi
5.6k -> 5.9k Symphogear 2nd
7.2k -> 7.6k BroCon xxxx 9.9k (+30%)
4.7k -> 5.6k Fate/kaleid Illya

4.4k -> 4.7k Dangan Ronpa
3.8k -> 4.7k KinMosa
2.8k -> 3.8k Uchouten Kazoku
3.8k -> 3.5k Tamayura 2nd
3.7k -> 3.1k Devil and Realist
2.7k -> 3.0k Servant x Service xxxx 4.2k (+40%)
2.2k -> 3.0k Love Lab

2.5k -> 2.6k Neptunia
2.7k -> 2.5k Rokyubu 2nd
2.1k -> 2.5k Teekyuu 2nd
2.2k -> 2.2k Rozen Maiden
2.2k -> 2.2k Silver Spoon
1.5k -> 1.8k Blood Lad
1.7k -> 1.6k KamiNomi 3rd
1.5k -> 1.6k WataMote
1.2k -> 1.5k Senyuu 2nd
0.8k -> 1.1k Fantasista Doll

0.7k -> 0.9k Genei wo kakeru Taiyou
0.7k -> 0.9k InuHasa
0.5k -> 0.8k Kitakubu
0.6k -> 0.7k KamiNai
0.7k -> 0.6k C3-bu
0.5k -> 0.6k Genshiken Nidaime
0.7k -> 0.5k Futari wa Milky Holmes
0.2k -> 0.2k Gifuu Doudou

xxxx means it has already gone for sale. Actual first-week sales data are provided on the right with deviation from Stalker estimate given in parentheses.

Kaioshin_Sama said:
As for how I think they are negatively affecting diversity, it's by showing that pandering and just rehashing the same gimmicks over and over again and having the right name on the product label is pretty much a safe bet while actually showing some ambition to do something outside the box is likely to net you a loss.

Kaioshin_Sama said:
Kyoani can just keep pumping out these slow paced slice of life shows and people will praise them for their artistic merit and shit on shows that actually show some ambition in their storylines and character development cause they don't look as nice (or so they forever claim), then these people turn around and expect me to somehow champion that. Then you have Shaft with it's singular director who used to be kind of avant-garde, but now says things like he just wants to make a show that will sell well and just abuses cheesy fanservice gimmicks, head tilts and bizarre backgrounds (which admittedly usually look kind of nice sometimes) to critical acclaim season after season.

Kaioshin_Sama said:
Together the two represent to me the absolute pinnacle of crass gutless commercialism and style and appearance over substance that if unchecked and allowed to be the sole recipient of success will doom the industry to a lack of creative passion and diversity before long.

Kaioshin_Sama said:

See above parts about why I continue to fight people on these same points week after week. You being the prototypical fanboy that lords these names over all others and claims nobody else can match up even in this very thread are pretty much the sort of thing I'm trying to resist and point out here by the way.

Yvese said:
It depends on your standards really. If you're used to shounen battles then sure, it was nice. In terms of actual choreography ( e.g length of fight with no interruption - Martial Arts movies like Jet Li's Fearless and Ip Man are good examples of how fights should be ), I'd say it was lacking compared to the Illya vs saber fight.

Progeusz said:
I agree Kaleid has much better fight than anything we ever saw in F/Z. Everything in F/Z is talking heads 80% of the time. The only exception is . Some fights in F/Z are also horribly butchered like . Not to mention F/Z used just a Madoka's Magia remix (The Battle Is To The Strong) for most of its battles which quickly got repetitive while Kaleid used .

symbv said:
This fan finishes the marathon of buying ViviPan and I must say the collection, with the storefront extra, looks pretty impressive
http://brunhild.sakura.ne.jp/up/src/up600740.jpg

ssjokg said:
So you ignore the fight itself because they also move the plot and chars?

ssjokg said:
And because they use a "remix" that not everybody notices?

ssjokg said:
and the fight itself was basically Archer vs Berserker from FSN only with different chars and kamehameha style Excalibur.Explain again what is so great about it in comparison with FZ's fights.

symbv said:
I remember telling you that if a forum is so full of mean and nasty studio fanboys you should seriously consider leaving the place. I don't know where you spend your time when it comes to anime forum, but at least in MAL I do not see much of "Shaft/Kyoani fanboy wars". And if you did not post your own take and complaint about such fanboys here (and I have yet to see much of these fanboys in this News Board) the noise about "studio fanboy wars" would have been even less.

Kaoshin_Sama, I think you really need to take note of this. None of us, be it me, jmal, VioLink, hpulley, bippo, Ejc etc is any studio fanboy, and we all think you are more responsible of whipping up studio animosity in this place than any real or perceived studio fanboy around. I have pleaded with you in private comment that you should get more relaxed about this studio fanboy thing, and I am again asking you to not to view the whole sales expectation or sales performance in this twisted perspective. If you cannot shake this off, it is not just how misguided you are going to interpret the sales data/estimates but your repeated voicing of such frustration (which to many here is starting to sound petty and misdirected) would only erode any support, goodwill and patience people here are holding towards you. I do not want to be the last person to defend your earnestness and sincerity here, so I really hope you could let that "fanboy wars" view go and try to see the anime market in another angle and level. It is much more valid to talk about taste or diversity issue, for example; on the other hand, as I said, zealous studio fanboys keep buying a studio's output is just a myth nothing more.

symbv said:

DVD
24　Gyrozetter DVD Box v1

Kaioshin_Sama said:


You ask me to do this and then right after your post without any provocation on my or anyone elses part is a shining example of what I'm talking about so again it's kind of hard to just ignore so yeah.....all I can say is pay some attention to the way people talk and act strictly when these studios are involved and how important it is that they be successful at the expense of all others and you'll see why I argue these points regarding studio fanboyism and conflict. It's not just a matter of isolated cases either, it's practically a culture unto itself and it's guess what.....kind of annoying. As for my criticisms of Kyoani/Shaft shows, that's just kind of the way I've come to see it at this rate.

Progeusz said:
Shaft's unique style which only SilverLink tried to get close to).

Progeusz said:
PA Works (every anime is same combo of drama in SoL)

totoum said:


Studio Deen has also gone for the shaft style recently, see Sankarea and the new rozen maiden (a former shaft employee is directing them) , not that I want to counter your point, just wanted to point it out in case you'd be interested.



Well that's really vague but even so I don't think Canaan or Another would fit that description.
Uchoten kazoku, Angel Beats and Red Data Girl might (kind of) fit that description but they're still all very different shows.

The ones that really fit it are True Tears,HSI and Tari Tari but that's hardly all their shows

VioLink said:

Me and you are obviously focusing on two different things when it comes to choreography, you don't want characters talking while I'm paying more attention to how the sakuga animation looks, visuals, and what the character's movements are during the clashes. Also my standards are pretty high when it comes to fight scenes and I don't think liking shounen battles lowers it all (if that was what you were trying to imply), I enjoy fights from Gintama, FMA:B, and HxH just as much as I enjoy fights from non-shounen like Sword of the stranger, Samurai Champloo, and Cowboy bebop.

Kaioshin_Sama said:
You ask me to do this and then right after your post without any provocation on my or anyone elses part is a shining example of what I'm talking about so again it's kind of hard to just ignore so yeah.....all I can say is pay some attention to the way people talk and act strictly when these studios are involved and how important it is that they be successful at the expense of all others and you'll see why I argue these points regarding studio fanboyism and conflict. It's not just a matter of isolated cases either, it's practically a culture unto itself and it's guess what.....kind of annoying.

Yvese said:
That's exactly what I'm paying attention to during fights and is exactly what choreography is.

F/Z only has visuals most of the time. Fighters spend more time staring/lecturing each other than actual fighting. There's not much choreography in the actual fights since they have to stop and talk every 10 seconds.

I used Martial Arts movies as an example since that's how fights should be done - you talk before you start fighting, then beat each other up until one of you goes down ( And they have awesome choreography in their fights ). That's exactly how the Illya vs Saber fight went down which is why it was better than any fight in F/Z for me.

VioLink said:

If a character is not moving and instead they are talking/thinking then there is no choreography involved there is nothing to judge.

VioLink said:

To you a non-stop fight is better, to me it doesn't matter if its non-stop or the characters take breaks to say something informative or cool since its the portions of actual movement that I judge. That is why I liked the Saber Alter vs Archer Illya fight because it looked freaking awesome, if they would have stopped for a couple of seconds to talk I would have still found it amazing.

ssjokg said:



I see more hate,from people like you,than fanboyism.It is important to them(and to you)that those studios MUST fail,for the supposed "good" of the industry.You are right.It is a culture and very VERY annoying.
People,fanboys or regulars, being happy when a HIGHLY SUCCESSFUL studio creates a show is hardly weird,bad,irrational,"fanboyism".What people like you do is.
You criticize them and their fans because the content of their series isnt to your liking and think it would be good "for the industry" if they didnt go well and/or if the fans werent happy with their works.
That good will come only for you,aka those that "dont get what they want" from the industry.

Your criticism is based on people(fanboys according to you)loving EVERYTHING those studios make,when this isnt the case.So if you came to see it that way it is time to reconsider your views.
I am not telling you to like them but all that unreasonable hate,because we,fanboys or not, "dont see the bigger picture",must stop because yeah this doesnt exist.If another studio except those two makes something good it will sell.But I am sure that unless if that studio has created good to you series before or if the series doesnt appeal to you at all,you will say the same things again.

StopDropAndBowl said:
@Kaioshin_Sama

I'm not gonna argue with your perception at all, but I think you should definitely consider that anime is not that bad in terms of diversity compared to other art forms. Look at the consistent top sellers in movies, music, books... it's almost universally going to be populated with pulpy mush/shlock that is easily digestible with some bright gems scattered here and there. However, unique and new movies, music, books come out all the time, in part subsidized by the pulpy bestsellers. So even if the anime industry is as dominated and single focus as you say, that isn't necessarily going to drive away creativity and diversity.

symbv said:
The thing is, I am sure that a lot of people here see you overreacting. The posts in this thread do not come across me as anything like fanboy. And this creates the impression that you are acting more like those people you harshly criticize and use a language and tone that fanboys also use. Looking at all the posts so far, VioLink said you are making the studio fanboy thing much bigger than it is; ssjokg stated that you seem to exude more hate than even the fanboys (and he also reiterated my points that studio fanboy consumers do not really exist, and a lot of your hate seem to be based more on studios making things people love but you dislike, and you seem to want to think that making things you like is good for the industry) And then we have posts by hpulley, jmal, progeusz, hoppy addressing your posts... none of them holds radical view on what studio or genre they want to support -- even though jmal could only write fighting words now, I remember there was a time when he was reasonable and patient in trying to engage discussion about anime sales and market trend with you. What changes is how you could not look at the anime sales and popularity with a view of some nasty blend of no-good trend, no-good fans, no-good studio even though the truth is far from that. And instead of interpreting the criticisms towards you, which just in this thread these already came from more than half a dozen people, as all acts of unprovoked hostility from fanboys, perhaps it is time to give some self-reflection on whether some of your views may be baseless and whether your repeated lashing out is actually overreaction more than any valid complaint.

rederoin said:
So, are you guys going to do this every week?

Kitchiri said:
People, stop feeding Kaioshin_Sama. Just ignore him. He is like Zubat just there for the sake of annoyance.

NeoAnkara said:
This is easier to understand.

Kitchiri said:
People, stop feeding Kaioshin_Sama. Just ignore him. He is like gigantic wall of maria which is just huge, easy to break, but just there for the sake of annoyance.

Kitchiri said:
Problem = Zubat has good hearing.

Unit-01 said:
If you're trying to insinuate that Kaioshin_Sama is some sort of troll, then perhaps you are misunderstanding him and what exactly he is trying to prove.But either way your derogatory remark was completely unnecessary, but I do agree that lately he has been getting out of hand.

Ghostalker said:
Seriously, I think Kaioshin_Sama is fighting a war that exist only in his mind, or he is trying to bring the fight HERE from somewhere some other forums that what he claims exist actually exist but simply doesn't exist here or (I hope not) he is a very skilled troll that he is just making up things for the purpose of instilling hate and annoyance for his own gratification, I remember some people is kinda cool responding to Kaisohin_Sama before but look at it now.

Ghostalker said:

Kaioshin_Sama: Reverse Studio fanboyism??? Anyone?

VioLink said:
I wonder how the numbers for Gatchaman Crowds OST, Dangan Ronpa OP single, and Watamote OP & ED singles will look next week along with Anohana's secret base ~Kimi ga Kureta Mono~ 12 years after special package single.

symbv said:
Just to give you a glimpse. The following are the daily sales ranking of singles in Oricon. The number to the left is for 28th; the one to the right in parenthesis is for the day before Aug27th.

8(8)　SymphogearG character song 5 Tsuyomi Shirabe
11(9)　Toyosaki Aki - CHEEKY　
12(20)　TeniPri FEVER　
17(28)　Yamato2199 TV OP
18(17)　WataMote OP
21(27)　Detective Conan ED
22(26)　Railgun2 OP2
23(21)　Anohana - secret base ~Kimi ga Kureta Mono~ 12 years after
25(34)　Shingeki ED2
26(31)　Love Live! μ's Printemps: Pure girls project
27(36)　Anohana movie theme song
30(24)　WataMote ED
32(41)　Shingeki OP
35(39)　SymphogearG character song 4 Tsubasa
40(48)　Free! ED
45(49)　Gatchaman Crowds OP
48(-)　Railgun2 ED2
49(-)　SymphogearG ED

VioLink said:
Oh wow I just realized Yamato's UVERworld OP has been released. And its doing decently, nice!

symbv said:
28, *2,695 *2,695 AT1st ~Persona3 & Persona4~Club Arrange

NeoAnkara said:
I really need to read movie LN before watching Index movie. And it seem many place still only have it raw.

symbv said:
---- Manabi Line (2899) ----

Xaliuss said:

Road to Endymion is only LN preque to the film, they are not directly connected.

Index film 50k+ first week?

Kitchiri said:
Just a question symbv, how did you actually get so called 'manabi line' as a specific value? I originally thought manabi line is somewhere near 4000, but seems value has taken a shift, or I just had a wrong information. I've always wondered how people actually figure out this stuff.

symbv said:
Just to give you a glimpse. The following are the daily sales ranking of singles in Oricon. The number to the left is for 28th; the one to the right in parenthesis is for the day before Aug27th.

8(8)　SymphogearG character song 5 Tsuyomi Shirabe
11(9)　Toyosaki Aki - CHEEKY　
12(20)　TeniPri FEVER　
17(28)　Yamato2199 TV OP
18(17)　WataMote OP
21(27)　Detective Conan ED
22(26)　Railgun2 OP2
23(21)　Anohana - secret base ~Kimi ga Kureta Mono~ 12 years after
25(34)　Shingeki ED2
26(31)　Love Live! μ's Printemps: Pure girls project
27(36)　Anohana movie theme song
30(24)　WataMote ED
32(41)　Shingeki OP
35(39)　SymphogearG character song 4 Tsubasa
40(48)　Free! ED
45(49)　Gatchaman Crowds OP
48(-)　Railgun2 ED2
49(-)　SymphogearG ED

VioLink said:

Oh wow I just realized Yamato's UVERworld OP has been released. And its doing decently, nice!