Japan's Weekly Blu-ray & CD Rankings for Sep 30 - Oct 06

I'm still kind of dumbfounded by the sheer longevity of Love Live. I remember saying at the start of that season I figured it might be popular but I never expected it to become basically Sunrise Studio 8's most popular series to date. When my one friend who came back from Japan during the summer said it was crazy popular over there (he even had a Love Live wallpaper on his laptop) he really wasn't kidding.

Listed character designer Kumi Horii didn't work on IS but seems to be getting the only main character designer credits at least on the official page and the credits for episodes 1 and 2. CHOCO just gets 2nd Mecha design credit in episode 1 and 2's opening credits when clearly CHOCO draws characters on the novel covers at Overlap. No one gets original character design credits which is a strange one to leave out but I think it should be okiura. Will be interesting to see if they change it for the Blurays. And hopefully this doesn't cause any disputes leading to delays or anything like that.

Very good question. I also wonder how the character design deal works in IS2. And I am also confused about CHOCO's role in IS2. The wiki page gave CHOCO the original character design for IS2 but this role is absent in the official anime website http://www.tbs.co.jp/anime/is2/staffcast/ . CHOCO is only given the mecha design there.

The other major difference that caught my eyes is that in wiki the series composition role moves from a single person to the combined effort of the LN author and "IS Staff" but this role is absent in the official website. The new role of Series Director, on the other hand, is stated in both the wiki and the official anime site though.

But CHOCO is given the original character design credit for IS2. And the character designer didn't work on IS either. Did Overlap buy the rights to the original character designs to avoid trademark issues etc.?
With the sales of the first White Album series (both cour) being terrible I wasn't sure what to expect but I loved the first episode and then was just as pleased and surprised when episode 2 was as good. I am glad that at least temporarily the reaction of Japanese fans has also been good. I don't expect it will do that well in the end but if it does well at all I will be happy for it. Unless they !@#$ it up, I plan on importing it myself.

So, are Little Busters, Kill La Kill and Valvrave ever gonna get solicited?

One very key reason, judging from what I read in Japanese forums, is that the character design in the anime has not changed at all even though in the LN a new illustrator with new character design has been used. I would even say it is a critical factor and if the character design had changed, a lot of the original fanbase would have been lost.

White Album 2 got a timely boost right after a new episode aired last night. It needs a few more days to see if this boost is going to stay or it is just temporary effect...

I guess we've found our other top sellers.... beside SnK, Monogatari and et cetera

I am most pleased to see White Album 2 in there! I am surprised that IS2 has retained its fanbase so well with the publisher change etc.

Finally IS shows its real prowess and overtakes KuroBas2 in Amazon ranking:

***,*27位/***,*27位 ★ (**1,699 pt) [*,**8予約] 2013/12/25 IS<インフィニット・ストラトス>2 Vol.2 [Blu-ray]
***,*28位/***,*29位 ★ (*16,029 pt) [*,*70予約] 2013/10/30 IS<インフィニット・ストラトス>2 Vol.1 〔ロング・バケーションEDITION〕 [Blu-ray]
***,*70位/***,*65位 ★ (**1,835 pt) [*,**7予約] 2014/01/29 黒子のバスケ 2nd season 1 [Blu-ray]
***,*93位/***,*91位 ★ (***,385 pt) [*,*15予約] 2013/12/25 WHITE ALBUM2 1 [Blu-ray]
***,*94位/***,*90位 ○ (**1,378 pt) [*,**4予約] 2014/01/29 黒子のバスケ 2nd season 1 [DVD]

SYMPHOGEAR G GIGA STRONG. Go, Tachibana! Go, Bikkie! Go, Hibiki! Spread the yuri love by singing your extremely energetic songs and punching the living shit out of any villain all while gracing us viewers with your perfect butt!

Oricon Daily All-Genre Top 30 DVD/Top 20 BD Rankings for Oct 7~13.

DVD
**7 **8 **9 *10 *11 *12 *13　 週
*** **3 **2 **4 **2 **5 *11 | -- | Free！2
*14 *** *** *** *29 *21 *** | -- | DBZ Kami to Kami Regular Edition
*25 *** *** *** *** *28 *** | -- | Tonari no Totoro

BD
**7 **8 **9 *10 *11 *12 *13　 週
*** **1 **2 **1 **1 **2 **3 | -- | Free！2
**4 *18 **8 *14 *11 *13 *14 | -- | Love Live！7
**2 *17 *10 *19 *13 *12 *16 | -- | SymphogearG 1
*12 *** *** *** *** *20 *** | -- | Shingeki 3
*** *15 *** *** *** *** *** | -- | Genshiken Nidaime 2
*17 *** *** *** *** *** *** | -- | Eva 3.33
*18 *** *** *** *** *** *** | -- | JoJo 9
*19 *** *** *** *** *** *** | -- | UtaPri 2000％ 4

Look at that tail on Symphogear G 1! I'm happy about that, wonder how much it can add on this week.

Oricon Daily All-Genre Top 30 DVD/Top 20 BD Rankings for Oct 12.

DVD
**7 **8 **9 *10 *11 *12 *13　 週
*** **3 **2 **4 **2 **5 *** | -- | Free！ 2
*14 *** *** *** *29 *21 *** | -- | DBZ Kami to Kami Regular Edition
*25 *** *** *** *** *28 *** | -- | Tonari no Totoro

BD
**7 **8 **9 *10 *11 *12 *13　 週
*** **1 **2 **1 **1 **2 *** | -- | Free！ 2
**2 *17 *10 *19 *13 *12 *** | -- | SymphogearG 1
**4 *18 **8 *14 *11 *13 *** | -- | Love Live! 7
*12 *** *** *** *** *20 *** | -- | Shingeki 3
*** *15 *** *** *** *** *** | -- | Genshiken Nidaime 2
*17 *** *** *** *** *** *** | -- | Eva 3.33
*18 *** *** *** *** *** *** | -- | JoJo 9
*19 *** *** *** *** *** *** | -- | UtaPri 2000％ 4

Nice to see that Shingeki Vol 1 is going 80k next week. Any chance of this surpassing Vol. 1 of Madoka (80k+) and Bakemonogatari (82k+)?

OH MY GOD I'm so proud of them right now. Their comeback was really enjoyed, eh? :D

Maybe you should look into the word 'mostly' and its meaning. Cause it certainly does not imply 'only this group of people' are buying the show. Obviously people who like swimming and are general KyoAni fans are more than likely buying it.

Did I say it was yaoi? No.

Thrilled to see Love Lab get a 3rd week after all. Now to hope that it doesn't drop too much with the upcoming second vol.

Full week's list is out. WataMote v1 sold around 1.2k. And vol.1 of Highschool DXD New, Fate/kaleid Illya, Neptune, Rokyubu SS and Uchouten are charted for the 2nd week, vol.1 of Love Lab for the 3rd week and Free! vol.1 for the 4th week.

Here is the new ranking. Uchouten now climbs above Makai Ouji and Fate/kaleid Illya climbs above Dangan Ronpa. Love Lab v1 is now above 5000.


2013 Summer Preliminary First Volume Sales

Key: Total - # Weeks Charted - Title - Format ranked - Release Date

31,456 *4 Free! [BD+DVD]: 2013/09/11
12,384 *3 Brothers Conflict [BD+DVD]: 2013/08/21
10,982 *1 Senki Zesshou Symphogear G [BD+DVD]: 2013/10/02
------ 10,000 Line ------
*9,676 *2 Highschool DxD New [BD+DVD]: 2013/09/25
*6,963 *2 Kiniro Mosaic [BD]: 2013/09/25
*6,898 *2 Fate/kaleid liner Prisma☆Illya [BD]: 2013/09/27
*6,650 *3 Dangan Ronpa the Animation [BD+DVD]: 2013/08/28
*5,473 *2 Kimi no Iru Machi [BD+DVD]: 2013/09/25
*5,375 *3 Servant x Service [BD+DVD]: 2013/08/21
*5,001 *3 Love Lab [BD+DVD]: 2013/09/20
*4,356 *2 Choujigen Game Neptune the Animation [BD]: 2013/09/25
*3,682 *2 Ro-Kyu-Bu! SS [BD]: 2013/09/25
---- Manabi Line (2899) ----
*2,601 *1 Gin no Saji: Silver Spoon [BD+DVD]: 2013/09/18
*2,399 *2 Uchouten Kazoku [BD]: 2013/09/25
*2,370 *1 Makai Ouji Devils and Realist [BD+DVD]: 2013/09/18
*2,072 *2 Rozen Maiden (2013) [BD]: 2013/08/30
*1,205 *1 Watashi ga Motenai nowa Dou Kangaetemo Omaera ga Warui! [BD]: 2013/10/02
**,932 *1 Genei wo Kakeru Taiyou [BD]: 2013/09/25
**,908 *1 Fantatista Doll [BD]: 2013/09/20
**,809 *1 Genshiken Nidaime [BD]: 2013/09/04
**,656 *1 Kamisama no Inai Nichiyoubi [BD]: 2013/09/25
**,558 *1 Kitakubu Katsudou Kiroku [BD]: 2013/09/18
**,455 *1 Inu to Hasami wa Tsukaiyou [BD]: 2013/09/20
**,267 *1 Stella Jogakuin Koutou-ka C³-bu [BD]: 2013/09/18
**,*** ** Blood Lad [BD+DVD]: 2013/09/27
**,*** ** Recorder to Landsel Mi☆ [BD+DVD]: 2013/10/02

(not yet on sale or sales data not yet available)
Futari wa Milky Holmes [BD+DVD]: 2013/10/16
Monogatari Second Season [BD+DVD]: 2013/10/23
Senyuu2 [BD+DVD]: 2013/10/25
Teekyuu2 [BD+DVD]: 2013/10/25
Gifuu Doudou!!: Kanetsugu to Keiji [DVD]: 2013/10/25
Kami nomi zo Shiru Sekai: Megami-hen [BD+DVD]: 2013/10/30
Tamayura: More Aggressive [BD+DVD]: 2013/10/30
Gatchaman Crowds [BD+DVD]: 2014/01/22

Are you referring to Uchouten Kazoku?

If you go back few pages earlier, actually people weren't surprsied that it doesn't sell, rather they were disappointed. You know, that repulsive, irritating feelings that emerge from the bottom of your heart upon knowing a series with strong writing and huge potentials getting treated like second rate pulp fictions

I guess by your definiton, Sekaiichi Hatsukoi is not a yaoi too then.