Japan's Weekly Blu-ray & CD Rankings for Jan 21 - 27

by dtshyk
Jan 29, 2013 12:25 AM | 52 Comments

Blu-ray
*2, 24,247 24,247 Sword Art Online vol.4 Limited Edition
*4, 10,839 10,839 Toshokan Sensou: Kakumei no Tsubasa movie Special Edition
*5, *6,670 *6,670 Hyouka vol.8 Limited Edition
*6, *5,537 *5,537 Hidamari Sketch x Honeycomb vol.2 Limited Edition
*7, *5,197 *5,197 Psycho-Pass vol.2
*8, *4,860 *4,860 Dog Days' vol.5 Limited Edition
10, *3,961 *3,961 Shoujo Kakumei Utena Blu-ray Box
11, *3,853 23,029 Girls und Panzer vol.1
14, *3,407 *3,407 Muv-Luv Alternative: Total Eclipse vol.5 Limited Edition
15, *3,327 *3,327 Joshiraku vol.4 Limited Edition
20, *2,137 *2,137 Sakura Taisen: Katsudou Shashin Limited Edition

DVD
*1, *,**8,343 *,**8,343 Yorinuki Gintama on Theater 2D Shinsengumi Doran Hen Limited Edition
*2, *,**5,462 *,**5,462 Sword Art Online vol.4 Limited Edition
*4, *,**2,192 *,**2,192 Beast Wars returns DVD Box
*5, *,**2,003 *,**2,003 Bleach Shinigami Daiko Shoshitsu Hen vol.6
*6, *,**1,703 *,**1,703 Yondemasu yo, Azazel-san. (TV) DVD Box
*7, *,**1,679 *,**1,679 Dog Days' vol.5 Limited Edition
*8, *,**1,562 *,**1,562 Sengoku Collection vol.12
*9, *,**1,557 *,**1,557 Psycho-Pass vol.2
10, *,**1,543 *,**1,543 Sengoku Collection vol.11
11, *,**1,461 *,**1,461 Toshokan Sensou: Kakumei no Tsubasa Standard Edition
12, *,**1,183 *,*40,302 Kuroko no Basket Fan Disc
13, *,**1,105 *,**9,780 Initial D Fifth Stage vol.1
14, *,**1,096 *,**1,096 Hidamari Sketch x Honeycomb vol.2 Limited Edition
15, *,**1,027 *,**1,027 Zetsuen no Tempest vol.1 Limited Edition
16, *,**1,022 *,**1,022 Hyouka vol.8 Limited Edition
17, *,***,867 1,178,315 Tonari no Totoro
18, *,***,834 *,***,834 Shirokuma Cafe vol.7
19, *,***,777 *,***,777 Chouyaku Hyakuninisshu: Uta Koi. vol.5 Limited Edition
20, *,***,770 *,***,770 Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun vol.3 Limited Edition
21, *,***,756 *,***,756 Smile Precure! vol.8
22, *,***,719 *,***,719 Magic Kaito vol.4
24, *,***,659 *,***,659 Joshiraku vol.4 Limited Edition
26, *,***,632 *,***,632 Busou Shinki vol.2
27, *,***,609 *,***,609 Natsuiro Kiseki vol.7 Limited Edition
28, *,***,596 *,***,596 Muv-Luv Alternative: Total Eclipse vol.5 Limited Edition

Single CD
*5, 19,870 19,870 The iDOLM@STER Cinderella Master vol.13 Airi
*6, 19,159 19,159 The iDOLM@STER Cinderella Master vol.11 Miho
*7, 18,481 18,481 The iDOLM@STER Cinderella Master vol.12 Riina
*8, 16,790 16,790 The iDOLM@STER Cinderella Master vol.14 Mizuki
*9, 15,271 15,271 The iDOLM@STER Cinderella Master vol.15 Mio
12, *9,509 *9,509 Love Live! School Idol Project "Bokura wa Ima no Nakade"
18, *5,531 57,746 Hunter x Hunter: Phantom Rouge "Reason"
19, *5,454 *5,454 Kotoura-san "Sonna Koto Ura no Mata Urabanashi desho?"
21, *5,002 *5,002 Minami-ke Tadaima "Shiawase☆High Tension↑↑"
23, *4,240 *4,240 Minami-ke Tadaima "Kyusekkin Lucky Days"
25, *4,136 *4,136 Sasami-san@Ganbaranai "Alteration"
27, *3,449 *3,449 Tamako Market "Dramatic Market Ride"
31, *3,052 *3,052 Da Capo III "Sakura Happy Innovation"
33, *2,940 *2,940 Tamako Market "Neguse"
34, *2,728 *2,728 Shinsekai yori "Wareta Ringo"
36, *2,590 *2,590 Senran Kagura "Break your world"
50, *1,774 14,557 Hanazawa Kana "Silent Snow"

Source: Oricon Youtaiju

20 of 52 Comments Recent Comments

Excellent Dog Days' is doing just fine Can't wait for season 3

Mar 4, 2013 11:27 PM by SupernovaMane

japan loves soa haters gunna hate xd

Mar 4, 2013 4:53 PM by AForgottenSoul

zenjamibu said:
Girls und Panzer Vol. 1 still going strong, I see. ^_^

And from the daily ranking published by Oricon, it will appear again in the weekly ranking coming later this week too !!

Feb 3, 2013 10:32 AM by symbv

Girls und Panzer Vol. 1 still going strong, I see. ^_^

Feb 3, 2013 9:40 AM by zenjamibu

Shadow-Chan said:

phoenixalia said:
Zetsuen no Tempest...how can people not appreciate this awesome show? At the most, I guess less than 2k? great.

Seriously and I thought it could sell higher because of the character CD included. Still glad to see that the 1st volume made it to the list. 2nd volume will have the OST vol1 included, the OST is another reason why this show should be appreciated as well. Looking forward to the creditless OP and ED.

Very expensive series to own. Two cour usually means three or four episodes per disc but Zetsuen no Tempest is just two episodes per disc meaning twelve discs to buy at ¥7350 each!

By comparison, Bodacious Space Pirates was 26 episodes on seven discs, about half the price per episode.

Jan 31, 2013 4:43 AM by hpulley

phoenixalia said:
Zetsuen no Tempest...how can people not appreciate this awesome show? At the most, I guess less than 2k? great.

Jan 31, 2013 4:25 AM by Shadow-Chan

SAO as always... *sigh*

Jan 30, 2013 2:23 AM by DeletedAccount_

I feel bad for Toshokan Sensou movie(but still descent sales) and I feel really bad for Shinsekai Yori ED-single cause both songs are really good.

Jan 29, 2013 6:16 PM by Nachtwandler_21

symbv said:
There are two major trends in anime world since around 2000: 1) The rise of midnight anime, which actually means that in terms of flexibility anime has more freedom of expression and arguably this led to more variety than the past. 2) The business model shifted and anime got more incorporated in a bigger world of cross-media sales network. This means we see more anime that have links with LNs or games, and the sponsors came to see anime more as a loss-leader for boosting the sales of linked products like LNs, games, manga or merchandise. If such linked products do not exist, the sales of the BD/DVD can become very important since the old model of depending on TV ratings (and thus CM sponsor) does not hold for midnight anime. Hence the increased focus on the BD/DVD sales data nowadays, something that we never bothered paying attention back in 2000 or before.

I would also add 3) Anime tend to be shorter (1-2 cour) nowadays which affects complexity of plot and pacing. This point is related to new business model but I think it's important enough to stress out as well.The only longer anime are kiddy stuff, some battle shounens and Precures/Jewelpets. Space Brothers being amazing exception.

Jan 29, 2013 4:46 PM by Progeusz

ThangLong said:

cat_clan said:
I really need to watch Girl und Panzer someday. Besides that, I think the less than 10k units for Love Live OP is impressive, but at the same time a bit disappointing. I mean we are talking about an Anime that's focused on the music aspect, that kind of stuff should sell more in my eyes. Also yay for Sakura Taisen making it to the rank.

I think it's disappointing too, but understandable. Idolm@ster was a big hit in the idol sub-genre with a complete sets of Visual Novel, Manga, OVAs, and Anime. Whereas Love Live! only has some OVAs and now getting an anime adaption. So name recognition is a big factor that causes Love Live! to lose aganist Idolm@ster. However, it did beat other OP from the more popular series like Tamako Market and de Capo III, so it's not all bad. As the anime getting more traction, subsequent CDs will sell more

Love Live has a manga.

Jan 29, 2013 4:42 PM by Hoppy

Kaioshin_Sama said:
Games have an indie development software and a community that supports them, movies have a thriving independent film sector...I guess with anime the doujin sector is certainly thriving though if 2ch and the like are any indication.

There is also the indie avant-garde animation. It is a niche that is totally out of sight as far as anime fans are concerned (but there are anime production staff who come from that background) -- it is humming along but definitely not commercially big (not unexpectedly).

As for Doujin, it is indeed thriving, and indeed it carries a lot more variety. That said, if you take a closer look at what sells there, you may still find it not to be the genres or styles that you may deem worthy. Instead you may see even more "otaku pandering" there, because even more than the commercial anime, they are anime made by otaku for the otaku without much of an attempt to appeal to outsiders.

Kaioshin_Sama said:

If there's any trend in anime I notice that's different compared to a decade ago it's that light novels seem to have taken over manga and original products as the primary source of ideas for anime. Whats popular in the light novel sector almost seems to dictate what's popular in the anime sector now.

There are two major trends in anime world since around 2000: 1) The rise of midnight anime, which actually means that in terms of flexibility anime has more freedom of expression and arguably this led to more variety than the past. 2) The business model shifted and anime got more incorporated in a bigger world of cross-media sales network. This means we see more anime that have links with LNs or games, and the sponsors came to see anime more as a loss-leader for boosting the sales of linked products like LNs, games, manga or merchandise. If such linked products do not exist, the sales of the BD/DVD can become very important since the old model of depending on TV ratings (and thus CM sponsor) does not hold for midnight anime. Hence the increased focus on the BD/DVD sales data nowadays, something that we never bothered paying attention back in 2000 or before.

Jan 29, 2013 4:37 PM by symbv

jmal said:

Kaioshin_Sama said:
Tempest, Shin Sekai Yori, Btoom, Jormungand

May I ask how many of them you purchased?

I use Crunchy Roll to cut down on bandwidth usage with good quality so 6.95 a month CAD. I try to avoid physical media and outrageous import prices if the option presents itself too.

symbv said:

Kaioshin_Sama said:
True, but very little looks as bad to me as the anime market when it comes to what buyers will pay money for and what they won't and it just having little to do with general quality.

While I agree that some of the good works do not seem to be rewarded with good BD/DVD sales, (note: it does not necessarily mean it is not successful though, otherwise we should never have seen a 2nd season of Chihayafuru for example) I must also stress that when it comes to "general quality" it can be something not as objective as we may want to think. What we think as unimaginative may well be something fresh and cool to those who pay money for it. I guess in some way it is like other forms of popular entertainment, like pop music, where we may want to judge from our high horse how "innovation" or "new idea" is lacking but yet the picture is rarely as grim or hopeless as the doomsayers put. There are always many factors at work, some are more adventurous while some more about seeking to ride on whatever is currently popular.

Kaioshin_Sama said:
For the record I realize that this is sort of the case for a lot of mediums of entertainment, but with anime it just seems magnified somehow. It's probably cause of just how small and insular the industry has become since the total collapse of anything that resembled an overseas marketing scheme.

There is indeed some truth in it, but I would argue that compared to published media like novels or manga (comics), anime (animation) is always going to have less variety, not least because the amount of capital and effort required compared to getting a novel or manga/comics published, and this is not limited to Japan. The only trend that I see that may be more Japan-specific is the increased number of works that are adaptations, and this may be one crucial factor in the relative lack of variety in anime being made these days, as the kinds of genres that result in anime adaptation may not have that much variety (for example, I mentioned some time ago that a lot of seinen manga get adapted into live-action movie/drama instead of anime).

I still see it as a closed door mentality though because it's just so hard for certain ideas to break out nowadays that I could see being reasonable hits in the early parts of the 21st century. I can't think of any other entertainment medium where it's this hard. Games have an indie development software and a community that supports them, movies have a thriving independent film sector...I guess with anime the doujin sector is certainly thriving though if 2ch and the like are any indication. If there's any trend in anime I notice that's different compared to a decade ago it's that light novels seem to have taken over manga and original products as the primary source of ideas for anime. Whats popular in the light novel sector almost seems to dictate what's popular in the anime sector now.

And no it's never hopeless, just a total crapshoot. Sometimes you get your Tiger and Bunnies and Jojos and sometimes you get your Tempests and Shin Sekai Yoris

Jan 29, 2013 1:30 PM by PeacingOut

Glad to see Psycho Pass there, even if it just doing okay

Jan 29, 2013 12:24 PM by hiromee

SAO is still dominating the sales charts while R;N didn't even make it on the list? Oh come the fuck on.

Jan 29, 2013 11:54 AM by Rachmaninow

Jan 29, 2013 9:46 AM by ThangLong

mitch3315 said:

dtshyk said:

Single CD
*5, 19,870 19,870 The iDOLM@STER Cinderella Master vol.13 Airi
*6, 19,159 19,159 The iDOLM@STER Cinderella Master vol.11 Miho
*7, 18,481 18,481 The iDOLM@STER Cinderella Master vol.12 Riina
*8, 16,790 16,790 The iDOLM@STER Cinderella Master vol.14 Mizuki
*9, 15,271 15,271 The iDOLM@STER Cinderella Master vol.15 Mio

Them idols are a gold mine.

Nina Ichihara track When?

GuP needs that second season announcement and it should be announced after ep 12 in March.

Jan 29, 2013 9:35 AM by Hoppy

I really need to watch Girl und Panzer someday. Besides that, I think the less than 10k units for Love Live OP is impressive, but at the same time a bit disappointing. I mean we are talking about an Anime that's focused on the music aspect, that kind of stuff should sell more in my eyes. Also yay for Sakura Taisen making it to the rank.

Jan 29, 2013 9:31 AM by cat_clan

phoenixalia said:

hpulley said:

RyanSaotome said:
Anime is a niche industry that focuses on what its hardcore fans want, moreso than nearly any other medium. Who are we as outsiders to say what they should make for that hardcore fanbase when most of us don't even import? We're just outsiders who should be happy we are able to watch it at all.

I import! If more westerners did we might get more of what we want. Not sure they know how many of amazons shipments end up going offshore but they know how many Sentai et al sell. Give them an alternative market not just a little top up and they might care what we like.

Believe me, when I grow up, finish school, finish college and get a job, if there are anime airing at that time which I like, I will buy it for sure!
It's not like I don't WANT to import.
I still buy manga from time to time to support the manga which I like.

That's great! Do what you can! Buy the manga, a figure, a CD, every little bit helps.

Jan 29, 2013 9:10 AM by hpulley

hpulley said:

Jan 29, 2013 9:01 AM by phoenixalia

That's so true, anime outside of Japan is like a youtube video, readily available with no costs whatsoever (some websites do stream anime with subscription but still, it's dirt cheap compare to what people have to pay in Japan) Therefore, I find it hypocritical for some people to watch anime for free and then go on the internet to bitch about it. But that's for another discussion.

I can see why many are interested in the rankings. Because most people here have no impact on the survival of the industry, we look at the rankings for three reasons: what's popular in Japan to keep an eye on, self-fulfillment when our favorites do well, and most importantly, rankings strongly influence whether or not a particular series get another season, OVAs, etc.

Jan 29, 2013 8:53 AM by ThangLong

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