Japan's Weekly Blu-ray & CD Rankings for Sep 3 - 9

Bumping a week-old thread....



Precisely as jmal said, what you think of boring, many find engaging; what you think as irritating, many find understandable and sympathetic; what you find stupid, many find it thoughtful. If you cannot empathize with the characters then most likely you won't enjoy the anime (the same can be said of any anime - especially often there is a culture barrier in terms of interpreting behavior shown in anime)
Just a few things that I gathered from reading Japanese fan comments:
- The big boost to popularity of Tari Tari happened after ep.5-6 which you just put down as "Minchi-cone" although I have never seen any comparison of Wakana to Minchi in any Japanese site or forum. That arc of Wakana is broadly praised among fans in Japan of smartly directed, carefully and sensitively written and realistically acted. By comparison, Sawa's arc looks a lot more forced and the feedback from fans is not as enthusiastic.
- Why people would buy the BDs? Many factors can contribute: Characters, the artstyle, the animation, the music, the screenplay, the directing, the setting... Tari Tari is especially strong, according to comments I read, on character design, the art and the animation. It also pulls in fans from both genders because it has characters that girls can identify with and guys who are the usual distorted types featured so often in light novels and moe anime. Many fans also give high praise for the active inclusion of many adults who may not be always positive as well as affirmative portrayal of the bonding within a family, a community and close knit group of friends.
- As for Hanasaku Iroha, actually quite a number of the fans in Japan think Tari Tari has more realistic characters than Iroha. And EVEN if it is a clone in terms of art, some may find a story with high school and a music setting more appealing than one with a ryokan at a remote place, so I don't see why it is necessarily redundant.



I am a AKB fan so I would like to comment (which is the main reason why I bumped up the thread). The cash-strapped comment is indeed a reason often mentioned by AKB fans in Japan, but it is for the No Name CD (that has AKB0048 OP and ED), not the anime. Late July and the whole August was full of releases from various groups of Group48 - sub-units from AKB48, AKB48 itself, NMB48, Nogizaka46 and solo singles. Fans need to prioritize their spending. After the release of the "election single" back in June, which resulted in many fans buying multiple copies of the single in order to vote for their favorite members, shortage of resource was indeed getting real. Then it followed around one month of recuperation time, but the packed schedule from late July onwards strained fans resource, and it resulted in a clear drop of sales in all the singles released during that period. No Name is the most obscure release among the horde of singles released then. It did not even get much push in AKB shows or other media (except for a few sporadic performances). So at the end it did not sell much more than Watanabe Mayu's solo single (Mayu is also a member of No Name, who are all from Group48 and voice act in AKB0048) but compared to other anime songs, its sales is squarely in the top tier (although still far from what Mizuki Nana can sell).

As for the anime, the "nobody buys it but fans of AKB" is not really correct. I have seen blogs in Japan written by non-AKB fans who are quite positive about the anime. In terms of sales, if we forget about the AKB involvement, its sales is actually really respectable. So far it is around the 5th best-selling title for its season. The problem with AKB0048, in terms of catching its fans, is:

1. Anime fans and idol (AKB) fans do not always overlap. Many idol fans are not interested in anime at all. And among the girls who participated in the anime, only Mayu is very well known to a casual fan. Unless the fans are very dedicated to a certain girl, they may not like the idea of only listening to her voice if they do not really like watching anime. Among AKB fans who watch the anime, the feedback has been very positive, but those people are not the usual people who usually buy anime BD -- such things are usually done by dedicated anime fans, and for those people....

2. On the other hand, there are a lot of vocal AKB haters among anime fans in Japan. The trashing of the anime started right from the announcement that a AKB anime would be made. Too many fans just refused to even watch one episode but kept on mocking and dissing the anime whenever the topic was raised. One result is the anime was not brought up as often in dedicated anime forum sites compared to other anime in the same season.

3. Its broadcast region is very odd and unfavorable: It not only started 3 weeks after the start of the season, but even after the delay it did not broadcast to the biggest population centers in the country: No Tokyo, no Osaka, no Nagoya, no Fukuoka. It was only after another month passed that it finally started to broadcast to Tokyo and satellite.

4. Some might expect AKB would organize events to boost sales, just like many other anime did. But very surprisingly, not a single event, be it concert or AKB's (in)famous handshaking events, was organized.

With this heavily stunted exposure (and hostile territory in the anime fandom), I would say that the sales could have been worse. The risk of it sinking into oblivion is quite real too. Fortunately the solid efforts from the screenplay by Okada and directing by Kawamori prevented that.

Some people considered Tari Tari the best of this season, I don't see a problem with it selling well.

Translation: Why do people like what I hate?! I don't understand it omfg! Stop buying what I don't like Japan!

nobody buys it but fans of AKB(the idol group). fans are strapped for cash because the real group just released an album and a single a couple of weeks ago. as for the rest they just watch it on tv.

Yeah, I know. I'm just unable to comprehend how is it possible for so many people to like it this much that they are even willing to buy BDs. This show has nothing exceptional. Okay, there is Sawa, but as soon as anime finally concentrated on her (after many episodes of idiot Konatsu and bitchy... Minchi-clone, oh, Wakana was her name), they threw her in some cheap streak of escalating drama. And, it just so happened that they went this path the exact moment Wakana stopped being irritating. Goddamnit, stupid PA Works. They always have to fuck up badly and it's especially annoying when one clearly sees they should have the ability to do much better (absolutely perfect beginning of Hanasaku Iroha, kinda great ending, wonderful Ohana; Sawa's character before ep6, Wakana's character after ep6...)
Buying it for art is kinda redundant as it's basically Hanasaku Iroha clone. Another was at least amusingly bad at parts but TT is just boring/irritating.

Why would people be surprised about Tari Tari selling well? Cute girl shows from PA Works nearly always sell. Only reason Another didn't is because horror stuff never sells regardless. It would be a bigger surprise if Tari Tari DIDN'T sell well, PA Works is gaining some pretty strong studio loyalty these days.

Wow, Kuroko is still doing great. Over 20k average possible? And there I was, thinking only SAO and Horizon II could have more thank 10k.

People. Buy. Tari Tari. I don't believe it. For sure it's not out of pity towards P.A. Works - Another sold much worse. So, why would they do it? The show certainly is watchable but... there are many better ones out there. TT is just full of stupid forced drama. Even Moretsu's success makes much more sense for me. Oh well.

Poor Moyashimon, I lost the will to watch the first season...

I know Nichibros bumped manga sales but it deserved 3k at the very least imo.

AKB 4k... I thought it would sell a little bit better. Still pretty nice. Anyone knows what Japanese fans thought about it >in general<?

Hum... the problem is the novel will end only next year.

Vol 7 isn't even adapted in this anime.

Wonder if it will ever have a conclusion someday.

What about Fate/Zero? It's releasing next week and I'm curious how it's stacking up to the first box set.

How much do you guys think Jinrui wa Suitai Shimashita is gonna sell based on stalker?

- Tari Tari sales can be seen as a success after all the crap it got for being a ripoff of Iroha, but for those who follow Stalker it is a huge disappointment. I'm shocked that it only did half of what Stalker was projecting, Stalker usually isn't THAT bad unless the show spends a considerable amount of time at #1.

- Moyashimon Returns sales are terrible. Absolutely terrible. The first season did well, but that is just horrific.

- Lol @ AKB's sales collapsing.

- Nobuna sales are okay for Madhouse standards.

- I think people are going to be disappointed if they're expecting Madoka level sales for SAO. I'd bet on 30k at least and 40k seems reasonable, but we will have to see from there. I'd love to see big sales numbers though

Just subscribe to youtaiju like everyone does. 1000 yen per month is low. Or you can use those 2ch readers that have refreshers so you can watch a thread. Usually the data is posted on poverty but on a jpg file uploaded via uproda. The uploader usually deletes the data pic so you need the 2ch reader. I also think dvd/bd wiki website days is numbered as well.

I know how you feel. As soon as I found forum threads on Anime Sales stats... i've been having fun looking at the anime sales every week xD

I like looking at anime stats..it's fun! I sound like a dork..tehe

The MAL news team may be able to provide a list with better format, but someone has just posted the top50 BD list for the previous week (Sep 03-09):

*4　--　7,758　*7,758　*1　TARI TARI 【1】
*5　--　6,773　*6,773　*1　Moretsu Space Pirate #7
*6　--　3,479　*3,479　*1　Oda Nobuna no Yabou #1
*7　--　3,157　*3,157　*1　AmagamiSS+ plus #6 Morishima Haruka
*8　--　2,942　*2,942　*1　AKB0048 VOL.03
17　--　1,459　*1,459　*1　Acchi Kocchi #4
19　*4　1,303　*8,338　*2　Hyouka #3
20　--　1,220　*1,220　*1　Danshi Koukousei no Nichijou #6
21　18　1,132　10,072　*3　Kuroko no Basuke #2
24　--　*,993　**,993　*1　Moyashimon Returns #1
29　--　*,803　**,803　*1　Seirei no Moribito Blu-ray BOX
30　*9　*,787　50,942　*3　Nisemonogatari #5 - Tsukihi Phoenix 2
39　*5　*,604　*7,544　*2　Accel World #2
42　15　*,560　28,390　*3　Persona4 #10
45　*7　*,532　*5,716　*2　Senki Zesshou Symphogear #6
46　*3　*,524　*8,110　*2　Boku wa Tomotachi ga sukunai #6
50(*,485)

Nisemonogatari is STRONG and Accel World is still doing quite well. The "real route" for the last volume of P4 and the "event ticket" effect for the last volume of Symphogear is clear: Both sell significantly more than their previous volume.

Yesterday there was quite lengthy discussion in 2ch (by 2ch standard) about the sales prospect of Dog Days 2 versus Yuru Yuri 2. There are good arguments on both camps: Those for DD2 said the first season sold a lot more than predicted by Amazon stalker; while those for YY2 pointed out that it has gathered more points than DD2 at current point and for a second season there are far more YY fans who reserved their BD at actual shops in order to get the special item that is not available for sales online. It is hard to say who will run at the end. And on top of that we have the dark horse called "Jinrui wa suitaishimashita" who has moved up to the top 20 of BD ranking in Amazon JP after the announcement there will be a short story included with the BD (in which "Watashi-chan" seemed to have gone back to stone age).

Tari Tari #1 and Nobuna #1 are still hovering at around 20th-odd and 70th-odd position in the BD ranking which should allow them to appear in next week Oricon top20 BD sales list as there are almost no new anime BD which may sell at least reasonably well next week.

Hm... i'm actually interested in those 2 now. I'll marathon them in my holidays in a weeks time. Thanks for the information :)

The light novel is done as a first person narrative from Kirito's perspective so character development goes much deeper for Kirito than any other character. Some of the short stories are viewed in other character's perspective (like the one with Liz the blacksmith) but I have to agree with you that Asuna can be better portrayed. One thing that fans of the light novel gripe about is Asuna did not get to tell her past hardship and struggle before she became the celebrated vice-captain of the most famous guild there -- she used to be a girl who was so overwhelmed by the desire to go back to the real world that she thought nothing else but to perfect her skills so that she could clear each level as quickly as possible until she met Kirito and started to find other attractions to life in the virtual world. Her duel with Kirito was not depicted in the anime, and neither was her transformation from a strict disciplinarian to the character we are seeing in the anime (though she made some mention of it in the anime). Anyway, after what happened in ep.10, the two will always appear together and support each other, which is the main appeal of vol.1 in the light novel anyway. That said, I would not say Asuna is the "equal" of Kirito in combat. She is one of the topmost in terms of fighting skills but as seen in the fight with The Gleam Eyes she is not really an equal to Kirito as far as combat is concerned.

BTW, jmal, since MAL allows PM only after 3 days have passed since registration, I cannot send a reply to you yet. So let me borrow this public space to reply (other readers can skip to the next section if they are not interested)

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In fact before coming to MAL I first came to mania.com and I actually tried to register there. However the server is VERY SLOW and my attempt to register timed out after several minutes. Loading the pages was also painfully slow. Is it always the same there? I wonder if it is temporary or it has anything to do with my location.

I checked the poverty thread in 2ch after the usual places failed to post the sales data as usual but even there the data are no longer posted in a full list format but only in piecemeal fashion. The data as posted in MAL are much fuller than what I saw in poverty thread.

I also hope to see the top 50 BD list tomorrow. BTW, I think what Oricon offers on Tues is top 20 BD of all genres, not really the top 10 anime BD. I doubt the subscription feed has a dedicated list for anime BDs.
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Well, the brief jump of NakaImo is definitely related to the news that a nude poster is to be included in the BD (although the introduction of a new character Houshou may also be a factor). The jump is brief as boost from such poster is always going to be limited. No information as to what "extras" are to be added to subsequent volumes but it can be expected that similar items may get included in other volumes.

It is not clear if it will drop more as days go by. Past experience is that when the actual release date draws near, the ranking of the title always go up, and once it is past the release date, it will start to fall, but how quick it falls depends on how broad its popularity is. Titles with broad appeal, like Nisemonogatari, stay on relatively high position longer. So it is good news that both Tari Tari and Nobuna are still in a good position more than a week after their release date. Perhaps we may even see addition sales figures from the two titles next week.

NakaImo is interesting itself because its appraisal by fans in Japan actually improved after the "DNA test" episode when it makes that scene so silly that it is hilarious to watch. Otherwise I think it is nothing too special about the show, though I would commend its character design as well as its music.

I remember seeing somewhere that NakaImo's first volume would have nude posters of the imoutos....is this for all the volumes or only for volume 1? it jumped up to rank 84 on stalker but then it dropped again....now the first volume is averaging between 150-250 and will probably drop more as days go by.

guess not even nudity could save that show. not that I mind. imo, even for a fanservice show, I didn't like it.

I don't usually read the 売りスレ as I am quite contented with the list posted on matome sites but when I want a full BD list (top 50) sometimes I went to the 売りスレ (Uri thread of 2ch) to get the data. However after the threat from Oricon, no site is posting a full list and the piecemeal data is posted in makeshift format that varies from one site to another, so I searched around the English-speaking sites and ended up here :p Actually I wonder how you guys got the list? Does someone subscribe to Oricon youtaiju (you大樹)?


How very true, indeed. If I am asked to define MOE I think I would say that it is certain attribute, mostly but not always assigned to a female character, that is deliberately added to increase the appeal of the character to a certain segment of the fans who watch it, so we have "megane moe" eyeglasses moe, "tojikko moe" clumsy character moe, "maid moe" maid dress moe etc etc. Those moe attributes may not be necessary for the storytelling but are there to make the character more appealing to the fans who are particularly receptive to them. Fans who are not receptive would just bypass it (for example, treating a character who wears eyeglasses just like one who does not wear them).



My best guess is still Hakuouki as it was selling over 10,000 even at its third season. However, so far the anime has not made much wave but it is easy to underestimate it: as a fujoshi anime its popularity is hard to gauge in the usual anime forums or even the Amazon JP ranking.

Besides Hakuouki, the candidate list for the 4th place include: Yuru Yuri 2, Dog Days 2 and Total Eclipse
Obuna is supposed to be a candidate too but the recent result definitely calls this into question.
Yuru Yuri and Dog Days are not shining much in Amazon JP ranking but the theory is that both are the "brick and mortar" type that sells proportionally more in real shops compared to other titles, but it is hard to tell, as a sequel, how much they are selling because a sequel is almost always expected to do less well than first season.
Total Eclipse is significantly undermined by its sakuga problem, which has become a kind of ongoing joke in Japan forums. And of course there is the factor where fans who are expecting the same gory heavy fighting as in the first 2 episodes are deeply disappointed by what they see afterwards.



It is good to have expectation set before watching SAO. I did my homework before starting SAO so I am enjoying it pretty well. Many are turned off by misplaced expectations -- and they cannot be blamed because it really looks like it is an anime about fantasy role-playing adventure that involves real dead-or-live encounters with monsters. Those people are severely disappointed by what they see, and this is not helped by the limitation placed by the original light novel, which is made up of a bunch of short stories and a main story that jumps too much in time and skips quite a bit of character development. Personally I take it to be a story about Kirito growing out of his shelled self and, more importantly, a straightforward love story between Kirito and Asuna. Taking this into perspective, there is little doubt that episode 10 would prove to fans of the original novel that it is really what they want after all. That said, SAO is pretty lazy in terms of sakuga and directing, and in terms of combat animation it is actually less well done than, say, even Campione (not to say Nobuna), though I guess for the real fans these matter less than seeing their beloved hero and heroine actually acting out the story they read in the light novel.

For me, KoiChoco follows the standard treatment made to a 18x visual novel when it is animated where it strives to incorporate various key episodes from various routes in the game to make a single story thread, and by expelling all the sex bits make the story more like a pure love story. How successful it is will have to base on how successful it is in picking the specific elements from various route and makes it appealing to fans of various heroine, particularly those who have played the game. Anyway, I do not think it will sell more than its predecessor (anime adapted from a 18x visual novel) like Fortune Arterial or Mashiroiro Symphony.

The clearest evidence that TT's jump in popularity does not have to do with MOE is fans' comments in Japan after ep.6 that mostly praised how considerate and caring Wakana's father is and how loving her mother to Wakana despite her rebelliousness, nothing of which has anything to do with MOE.



KC was planned with a length longer than the usual 1 cour (which is 12-13 episodes) from the very beginning as the production was forced to make it known that there will be a 14th episode (in order to placate accusations that the supposed victim of the "ijime" was forced to promote the anime without getting a job in being a seiyuu for the anime), so my guess is it never has much plan for a 2nd season unless its sales is really much better than expected (like what happened to OreImo).



Jinrui mixes surrealist setting, black humor, social criticism, unorthodox story telling with VERY CUTE heroine (who is often more cynical than heroic) and a bunch of fairies with unpredictable powers. It is something I have never ever seen in an anime. Although many fans in Japan find the anime to their liking for whatever reason, they do not think such contents would sell but over time its ranking in Amazon JP has been moving up and now is one of the top titles in the ranking.

As for Nobuna, at first I thought it is just a show about Sengoku warriors in female bodies doing cute things (like Sengoku Collection) but to my pleasant surprise it really goes through the actual history of the Sengoku period but with its own twists. Since I am a fan of Japanese history, the adherence to the actual history line is very appealing to me. I even learned quite a number of things about real history by watching the anime. The female characters of course do cute things as well as fan service but they also stick to their historical role and can fight like a real soldier if the situation demands it. The character design is superb and the sakuga, be it the still depiction or motion animation, is top-notched. The music is also atmospherically fine. The only gripes I have is that the protagonist can sound really annoying at times and I would like the heroine (Nobuna) to be mentally stronger than it is depicted in the anime/light novel.

It is hard to tell why it is not selling better. Some said it may be hurt by Amazon's running out of stock for a while last week but I am not sure how much impact this has to the sales figure. Other possible reasons may include: 1) many do find the protagonist annoyingly know-it-all (quoting from game too often) 2) the heroine not "moe" enough 3) too many loli (despite what many westerners think, there are more anime fans in Japan who are turned off by loli than attracted by it) 4) otakus in Japan do not usually like sengoku period stuff and therefore the story line, which sticks fairly close to the flow of the actual history, is actually an obstacle to broadening its appeal.

To me it is a really great (and unique) anime and I am tempted to buy the anime BD to show my support (as I have done to other anime that I intensely love like Madoka, Bakemonogatari and YuruYuri) I really hope Nobuna will get a second season despite the not too encouraging sales figure. The anime covers up to the end of volume 3 and currently the light novel has 9 volumes, enough material for 3 cours.