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

by tsubasalover
Feb 11, 2014 1:17 AM | 100 Comments

Here are the weekly Blu-ray & CD rankings for February 3rd - 9th

Rank / This week's sales by copies / Cumulative sales / Titles

Blu-ray
*1.　14,477　14,477　Free! Vol.6
*2.　11,871　11,871　Natsume Yuujinchou: Itsuka Yuki no Hi ni Limited Edition
*3.　*9,076　*9,076　Aoki Hagane no Arpeggio: Ars Nova Vol.2
*4.　*6,731　*6,731　Kill la Kill Vol.2 Limited Edition
*5.　*6,071　*6,071　Senki Zesshou Symphogear G: In the Distance, That Day, When the Star Became Music... Vol.5 Limited Edition
*6.　*2,879　*2,879　Kyoukai no Kanata Vol.2
*7.　**,941　**,941　Watashi ga Motenai no wa Dou Kangaetemo Omaera ga Warui! Vol.5
*8.　**,906　**,906　Kyousou Giga Vol.2
*9.　**,864　11,956　IS: Infinite Stratos 2 Vol.3
(cut-off 864)

DVD
*1.　8,177　*,**8,177　Natsume Yuujinchou: Itsuka Yuki no Hi ni Limited Edition
*2.　8,158　*,**8,158　Free! Vol.6
*3.　1,712　*,**1,712　Aikatsu! Vol.9
*4.　1,371　*,**1,371　One Piece 16th Season "Punk Hazard" Vol.3
*5.　1,306　*,**1,306　One Piece 16th Season "Punk Hazard" Vol.4
*6.　1,113　*,**1,113　Kill la Kill Vol.2 Limited Edition
*7.　1,009　*,**1,009　Aoki Hagane no Arpeggio: Ars Nova Vol.2
*8.　*,924　*,**9,505　Kuroko no Basket 2nd Season Vol.1
*9.　*,889　*,***,889　Kyoukai no Kanata Vol.2
10.　*,869　*,***,869　Naruto: Shippuden "Ninkai Taisen - Kanata kara no Kougekisha" Vol.6
11.　*,639　*,***,639　Senki Zesshou Symphogear G: In the Distance, That Day, When the Star Became Music... Vol.5 Limited Edition
12.　*,622　1,237,723　Tonari no Totoro
13.　*,479　*,*23,970　Gintama: Kanketsu-hen - Yorozuya yo Eien Nare Regular Edition
14.　*,362　*,*60,829　Gintama: Kanketsu-hen - Yorozuya yo Eien Nare Limited Edition
15.　*,360　*,**3,449　Tiger & Bunny DVD-BOX
16.　*,342　*,**3,244　Brothers Conflict Vol.6 Limited Edition
17.　*,337　*,530,346　Majo no Takkyuubin
18.　*,301　*,**3,066　IS: Infinite Stratos 2 Vol.3
19.　*,272　*,**7,316　Doraemon: Nobita no Himitsu Dougu Museum
(cut-off 272)

CD Single
*6.　15,129　*15,129　Nourin OP "Himitsu no Door kara Ai ni Kite" by Yukari Tamura
*7.　14,636　*14,636　Inari, Konkon, Koi Iroha. ED & Sekai Seifuku: Bouryaku no Zvezda OP "SAVED./Be mine!" by Maaya Sakamoto
*9.　11,943　*11,943　Magi: The Kingdom of Magic OP "Hikari" by ViViD
10.　10,730　*47,655　Love Live! School Idol Project/ "Takaramonos/Paradise Live" by μ's
12.　*8,823　**8,823　Toaru Hikuushi e no Koiuta OP "azurite" by petit milady
15.　*8,099　**8,099　Toriko ED "Mega Lover" by Rurika Yokoyama
17.　*6,598　*34,425　The iDOLM@STER Movie: Kagayaki no Mukougawa e Theme Song "M@STERPIECE" by 765PRO ALLSTARS
21.　*4,646　**4,646　Witch Craft Works ED "Witch☆Activity" by KMM Dan [Tanpopo Kuraishi (CV: Shiori Izawa), Tsurupeta (CV: Momo Asakura), Twintail (CV: Shiina Natsukawa), Gantai (CV: Yuuko Iida), and Deko (CV: Natsumi Hioka)]
24.　*4,394　**4,394　Nagi no Asukara OP "ebb and flow" by Ray
25.　*4,348　**4,348　Chuunibyou demo Koi ga Shitai! Ren ED "Van!shment Th!s World" by Black Raison d’etre
27.　*4,215　*25,201　Nisekoi OP "CLICK" by ClariS
28.　*3,374　508,293　Naruto: Shippuuden OP "Tsuki no Ookisa" by Nogizaka 46
36.　*2,100　**6,477　Noragami OP "Goya no Machiawase" by Hello Sleepwalkers
40.　*1,753　*10,925　Nourin ED & Inserted Song "Cordless☆Dere☆PHONE/Mogitate ♥ Fruit Girls" Yuka Kusakabe (CV: Yukari Tamura), Ringo Kinoshita (CV: Yukari Tamura) and Minori Nakazawa (CV: Kana Hanazawa)
41.　*1,719　**1,719　Z/X: Ignition ED "Monochrome Overdrive" by Yurika Endou
45.　*1,669　*14,374　Saikin, Chotto Imouto no Yousu ga Okaishiinda ga. ED "Charming Do!" by Yui Ogura
47.　*1,628　**7,126　Chuunibyou demo Koi ga Shitai! Ren OP "VOICE" by ZAQ
48.　*1,604　**1,604　Mahou Sensou OP "Senkou no PRISONER" by Yuuka Nanri
52.　*1,552　**7,694　Inari, Konkon, Koi Iroha. OP "Kyou ni Koiiro" by May'n
56.　*1,438　**6,924　Sakura Trick OP/ED "Won(*3*)Chu KissMe!/Kiss(and)Love" by SAKURA*TRICK
58.　*1,345　**7,350　Sekai Seifuku: Bouryaku no Zvezda ED "Visumania" by Aoi Yuuki
61.　*1,295　**7,893　Miss Monochrome OP "Poker Face" by Miss Monochrome (CV: Yui Horie)
64.　*1,190　**7,084　Tokyo Ravens OP "~Outgrow~" by Gero
71.　*1,071　**3,370　Witch Craft Works OP "divine intervention" by fhána
(cut-off 1,000)

CD Album
*4.　14,036　14,036　The iDOLM@STER Movie: Kagayaki no Mukougawa e OST by Ryuichi Takada
18.　*2,977　17,968　Eir Aoi "AUBE" by Eir Aoi
14.　*3,798　39,509　Uta no☆Prince-sama♪ Gekidan Shining "Tenka Muteki no Shinobi Michi" by Otoiya Ittoki (CV: Takuma Terashima), Masato Hijirikawa (CV: Kenichi Suzumura), Syo Kurusu (CV: Hiro Shimono), Cecil Aijima (CV: Kousuke Toriumi)
32.　*1,911　12,632　May'n "NEW WORLD" by May'n
34.　*1,707　*8,896　Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon The 20th Anniversary Memorial Tribute by Various Artists
65.　*1,078　*1,078　Yun*chi "Asterisk*" by Yun*chi
(cut-off 1,000)

Source: Oricon Youtaiju

Anime Sales Music Sales

20 of 100 Comments Recent Comments

The examples cited as manga/novel fueled (Maken-ki, KamiNomi, Zombie) aren't exactly locks because of their source material. First, Maken-ki has been a consistently 25k-30k selling manga since before season 1 of the anime, and hasn't budged since. Second, there's very little evidence that a second season gives a series a bump, whether the anime is selling well at that point or not. Setting the effects of OVAs bundled with specific volumes aside (which are a big difference maker in KamiNomi's case), even more popular series like Natsume Yuujinchou and Nurarihyon no Mago get at best negligible bumps from seasons after the first planned run (at least based on available numbers). A sequel is much less likely to bring in new customers for the source material, so I'd argue that having a disk total such that the sequel could hit a reasonable target (factoring in the typical 0-50% dropoff) on that front could have been a factor for those 3 series.

There's also some counterexamples; series with similar-tier source material boosts but slightly lower sales that ended up not getting sequels. Kokoro Connect boosted its LNs by about 15k volumes in its initial 2 weeks compared to 25k for Zombie, while averaging 1k less in disks. Obviously, there's no exact cutoff point (Hidan no Aria and Campione did better on both fronts than either), but Zombie's case in particular I would say stands out as a case where it wouldn't be too far of a stretch to argue that the combination of factors pushed it over the hump from waste of money to potential calculated risk. Sequels aren't going to happen for most series in the 2k-4k range regardless, but we do see a few come out of it that aren't split cours and do only moderately well in an auxiliary market every now.

Feb 18, 2014 1:38 PM by Torisunanohokori

jmal said:
If you sell under 2k, not to mention under 1k, that goes well beyond just having some rough competition. Something else would be a better explanation.

That's true for shows deep below 3k, but what about the ones right below it? Sakurasou and Kamisama Kiss both picked up substantial boosts in source material and were right below 3k in averages. Getting an extra 1k in average disc sales would have shifted their odds of their getting a sequel by quite a bit. I'm not big on finagling failed series into relevance in general, but there are definitely cases of low-cost-success high-cost-borderline status out there where the marginal effect of losing a couple hundred buyers can be argued to have made a difference.

scytheavatar said:
There seems to be a change in otaku buying pattern recently, series like Knk/Kill La Kill/Non Non Biyori/(to a lesser extent)Arpeggio spent much of fall season outside of top 100 and shot up closer to release. The otakus no longer seem to believe in preordering months in advance. Think WCW will probably sell extremely well, it's doing better than Arpeggio did at the same episode last season and I won't be surprise to see it outsell Arpeggio.

I'm still skeptical of whether that's a permanent change in buying patterns or beliefs. Stalker data from the last sub-20k season would help validate this one way or the other, but I think it's reasonable to suggest the alternate explanation that the reason shows got those late boosts was because the people who normally buy anime had more of their limited budgets free than normal because no home run series took it from them early on.

Either way, that's still probably good for WCW, seeing as this season is taking place in similar conditions.

Feb 17, 2014 11:26 PM by Torisunanohokori

Hahalollawl said:
Finally, how much stock do we put into the "people have a limited budget" theory? I was under the impression that the more serious fans buy shows fairly early on (whether or not I think that's a good idea...) and that the NagiAsu boost (can we make that a thing like the Manabi Line? pretty please?) was a rare sight.

There seems to be a change in otaku buying pattern recently, series like Knk/Kill La Kill/Non Non Biyori/(to a lesser extent)Arpeggio spent much of fall season outside of top 100 and shot up closer to release. The otakus no longer seem to believe in preordering months in advance. Think WCW will probably sell extremely well, it's doing better than Arpeggio did at the same episode last season and I won't be surprise to see it outsell Arpeggio.

Feb 17, 2014 10:21 PM by scytheavatar

jmal said:
But yes if, say, most people buy 2 shows and a certain show tends to be most people's #3, then yeah it could lose out. But that would require a pretty huge set of coincidences, especially if we try to rationalize sales as low as SSY's or Zetsuten's using it. Pretty sure that if a title were really that broadly popular you'd see it reflected in fanart, doujinshi, and other free or less expensive expressions of fandom.

I wouldn't necessarily agree with that point. Zetsuten's manga specifically got a decent-sized bump from the anime, as did Btoom and Kamisama Kiss from that fall. There have been a decent number of other fairly recent cases (Chihayafuru, Kimi to Boku, Kamisama Dolls) where manga sales went significantly up without a disc-selling anime. The low-budget fans who buy manga and the higher-budget fans who buy anime don't always seem to overlap. That, or there actually is semi-substantial evidence that some series could shut out by strong competition.

The same assertion might be more valid for LNs, where the overlap is stronger and the correlations of LN sales->anime sales->LN sales bump is comparatively tight.

Feb 17, 2014 4:03 PM by Torisunanohokori

The thing about timing is that, while it's definitely plausible and almost certainly a factor, any kind of convincing test would be difficult to do. Each individual 30-show season is a small sample by itself, prone to variances in quality and advertising. Too, they're potentially affected by penny-pinching anticipation for seasons after it and budget crunch caused by seasons before it in a rolling fashion (or lack thereof, in both cases). There are too many cases of big hits coming out in otherwise strong seasons and relatively few hits coming out in otherwise weak seasons for timing to be a particularly dominant factor.

That we're looking right now at a very weak winter on the heels of a fairly weak fall would be an argument against the specific notion of series getting a breakout chance in a weak season - to me, that suggests that what happens when there's no killer series is that people just buy less. It might be more relevant as a limiting factor for hits in seasons with several of them (Angel Beats versus K-on s2 in Spring 2010, possibly) rather than none of them, but at that point quality probably plays at least as big a role.

Feb 17, 2014 3:23 PM by Torisunanohokori

Timing can be a factor.

Two Nobunaga shows right now with characters from history... bad idea though it looks like neither one is stealing sales from anything.

Wizard Barristers, Magical Warfare, Witch Craft Works while Tokyo Ravens is still running? Not a great idea. Looks like WCW is going to win that one.

Wake Up Girls! seems rushed but better to run it now than while LoveLive! or IdolM@ster are on...

Feb 17, 2014 3:12 PM by hpulley

Hahalollawl said:

I guess I have interest in the budget aspect (obviously it differs from person to person, but in a general sense as to how the majority of buyers think) as it leads to the question, can we blame poor sales for some anime on poor timing? I guess it would be a wrong place, wrong time sort of thing. As in, perhaps a show was just in a particularly competitive season and did poorly because of its competition? Fall 2012 would be an example, as hpulley mentioned (heck of a season by the way. PP, ZnT, SSY, etc.). Take Shinsekai Yori for example. If not everyone can afford to buy 7 shows, would it make sense to put some of the blame (not all of course) for its low disc sales on it being in a very competitive season (I agree that Fall 2012 seems to have had a lot of shows that I think many would agree were high quality)? Or Zetsuen no Tempest perhaps?

Or is this just a foolish attempt by me to rationalize poor sales for some shows?

Timing is definitely a factor. However, some shows are less likely to become hits because the genre, themes, or even artwork fail to entice prospective buyers. Where big flops are concerned, there's a good chance that they would fail regardless of competition.

Feb 17, 2014 1:30 PM by Yause

Hmmm, perhaps I could have worded that differently. I meant no offense, I guess it was sort of a playful (and perhaps a bit jealous...) jab at you guys. Though perhaps I shouldn't be making fun of people who are supporting the industry...

It's not that you guys have unlimited funds and buy everything. But on the other hand, (correct me if I'm wrong) you guys don't seem to go into every season thinking "Okay, I'm only going to buy 2-3 series this season so I have to narrow it down to my top 2-3 favorites" or with some kind of specific quota. Rather, you seem to go in thinking something more along the lines of "Let's see how good the shows are this season and maybe that will influence how many I buy".

I guess I have interest in the budget aspect (obviously it differs from person to person, but in a general sense as to how the majority of buyers think) as it leads to the question, can we blame poor sales for some anime on poor timing? I guess it would be a wrong place, wrong time sort of thing. As in, perhaps a show was just in a particularly competitive season and did poorly because of its competition? Fall 2012 would be an example, as hpulley mentioned (heck of a season by the way. PP, ZnT, SSY, etc.). Take Shinsekai Yori for example. If not everyone can afford to buy 7 shows, would it make sense to put some of the blame (not all of course) for its low disc sales on it being in a very competitive season (I agree that Fall 2012 seems to have had a lot of shows that I think many would agree were high quality)? Or Zetsuen no Tempest perhaps?

Or is this just a foolish attempt by me to rationalize poor sales for some shows?

Feb 17, 2014 1:17 PM by Hahalollawl

Hahalollawl said:
Anyways, I still think enticing people into buying merchandise/discs in this age of digital media and the internet is a thorny issue. Fortunately for them, Japan seems to perhaps have a stronger attachment to physical media (you can check out this cnn article on cds in Japan http://money.cnn.com/2013/08/19/news/japan-cd-music/) than some other countries.

We have to be careful with that kind of data. While it's true that in comparison to digital sales, physical media holds up well, the industry's ability to monetize is in rapid decline.

Essentially, the market for CDs continues to shrink (and to some extent, it has always been a collector's market, with the masses renting or borrowing instead of buying), but at the same time, they've been unable to compensate through digital distribution. That's a difference from North America or Europe, where the masses are already used to buying music at a relatively low cost.

taj69 said:
The otaku model is outdated now, the industry for better or for worst has already been saved and is pretty much commercialized now. Dvd's don't even tell how much real profit is netted. Pretty much anything that is even remotely popular or profitable in other mediums gets shipped to anime now since it's much easier to make money.

That's only true for OADs and five minute anime. The industry relies heavily on DVD/BD distributors (often the leading investor) for financing, and those companies depend on home video sales.

If home video were to die overnight, we'd see a massive reduction in full-length anime.

Feb 17, 2014 12:51 PM by Yause

It isn't quite "budget be damned" but if I have to have it, I have to have it. I have decided not to buy a show because I think it is too expensive for what it is, for the bonuses it contains but not because I am already buying too many shows.

I bought 7 full length shows last fall 2012 (plus some shorts) which was CRAZY silly and too much but... I had to have them so I got them. If money had really been no object and I bought everything I even remotely liked then I could have bought a TON of shows in fall 2012, I think that has to be one of my favorite seasons ever. Winter 2013 was second, I bought 6 shows, another absolutely wonderful season IMO.

I buy it right away; if it's a must buy show then it's a must buy NOW show for me. If I'm not sure I need it, if I don't get excited about getting it right away then it is likely that I'll never buy it.

I only bought 4 shows (still buying) from fall 2013 but that is still actually a good season for me. Before the crazy fall 2012 season I tended to just buy 2 series per season but again that's just because that was the number that was so good I had to have them.

So perhaps this is just a return to normalcy for me but I sure wish there were as many amazing shows now as there were a year ago.

Feb 17, 2014 11:50 AM by hpulley

taj69 said:
lol i wouldn't trust stalker since it only graphs pre-orders. This season is a perfect example of so many "decent" anime but not anything that would garner hype or pre-order. Most people have a set budget for anime so they will probably just buy 2-3 anime that they end up liking. In which case, noone has any idea yet of what they will buy or what the sales will turn out.

The otaku model is outdated now, the industry for better or for worst has already been saved and is pretty much commercialized now. Dvd's don't even tell how much real profit is netted. Pretty much anything that is even remotely popular or profitable in other mediums gets shipped to anime now since it's much easier to make money.

Hmmm...I would probably agree with the commercialized part and discs sales not necessarily determining profits. But the other stuff I'm not so sure. What do you mean by "otaku model"?

I thought the dependence on the sales of various merchandise/source material WAS the "otaku model". If so, then isn't that the model that fits the best?

And yeah, stalker is measuring preorders. But until the actual discs are available what else do you have to determine the success/reception of a show?

Also, are we sure that it's so easy to make money through anime (even with all related merchandise taken into account)? I'm not saying you're wrong but how do you know? I thought somewhere around two thirds of anime make a profit (over a long period of time), but still...I'm not sure that's "easy".

And I'm not sure I would call the industry "saved" at this point (assuming you believe it needed saving). What is your definition of "saved"? A market that is no longer contracting? An expanding market? Anyways, I still think enticing people into buying merchandise/discs in this age of digital media and the internet is a thorny issue. Fortunately for them, Japan seems to perhaps have a stronger attachment to physical media (you can check out this cnn article on cds in Japan http://money.cnn.com/2013/08/19/news/japan-cd-music/) than some other countries.

Finally, how much stock do we put into the "people have a limited budget" theory? I was under the impression that the more serious fans buy shows fairly early on (whether or not I think that's a good idea...) and that the NagiAsu boost (can we make that a thing like the Manabi Line? pretty please?) was a rare sight.

I mean, it seems to make financial sense since most people probably have limited funds, but I don't know how most anime purchasers think in terms of the purchase decision making process. It kind of seems like, based on people like jmal and hpulley (yeah not a great sample size, I admit) that people who can afford to buy the discs are already willing to pay quite a bit of money for something they like, and so they buy whatever they damn well please even if there are a bunch of shows they like in the same season (jmal especially, he buys multiples if he likes a show enough right? =P), budget be damned. So how much stock do we put in the theory that people are holding off because they want to be selective?

Feb 17, 2014 10:50 AM by Hahalollawl

lol i wouldn't trust stalker since it only graphs pre-orders. This season is a perfect example of so many "decent" anime but not anything that would garner hype or pre-order. Most people have a set budget for anime so they will probably just buy 2-3 anime that they end up liking. In which case, noone has any idea yet of what they will buy or what the sales will turn out.

The otaku model is outdated now, the industry for better or for worst has already been saved and is pretty much commercialized now. Dvd's don't even tell how much real profit is netted. Pretty much anything that is even remotely popular or profitable in other mediums gets shipped to anime now since it's much easier to make money.

Feb 17, 2014 1:12 AM by taj69

To have easier access to/back-up/archive the estimates I keep track off, I made/revived a forum I made years ago and turned into a semi 'blog'. Just to make it easier for myself.

I'll obviously keep posting the estimates here every 2 weeks on Tuesday in the new sales thread, but since I always put the estimations together on Monday evening/night(GMT +1), i'll be posting on that site on Monday evening/night.

http://rederoin.motionsforum.com/

Feb 15, 2014 7:40 AM by rederoin

scytheavatar said:

Jiharo said:
*1.　27,067　Infinite Stratos 2

PLEASE GIVE ME INFINITE STRATOS 3!!

The odds of there never being a IS3 is pretty high. The anime has caught up with the LN and the author apparently has gone AWOL. So IS is pretty much in the same situation as Haruhi was, especially with the huge drop in S2 sales compared to S1.

Huh? I saw online that the anime have not caught up with the LN yet. IS2 only animate the next 3 volumes of the LN according to what I researched.

So IS+IS2 only animated like 6 volumes out of like 8? The 9th is pending.

If there's no IS3 I'll prolly start reading the LN.

Feb 15, 2014 6:21 AM by Jiharo

Xinception said:

Pfft... You want to pitch Madoka versus Persona? I appreciate the fandom but please. Ain't nothing got their hands on Persona! Persona is GoAT.

And who could hate Hoozuki? It's Gintama in Hell!

I'm not pitching madoka versus persona. When did I ever said that anyway? I just said it outranked Madoka on amazon. Are you saying the two fanbase should go fighting each other just because one is doing better on an online shop? You are too sensitive.

Some guy said it wouldn't sell. I can't remember who. Just because he said it would not sell does not mean he hates it. Again, you are too sensitive.

Feb 14, 2014 10:02 PM by volare1

volare1 said:
Persona 3 looking good early, outranking Madoka rebellion like that. I hope it sells well.
Love Live blurays showing up in the top 100 today. IIRC some volumes also were in the top 100 days ago.
Three versions (DVD, A limited, A regular) of Hozuki volume 1 on the top 200. I remember some guy telling me that hozuki will not do good. I wonder where is he now?

Pfft... You want to pitch Madoka versus Persona? I appreciate the fandom but please. Ain't nothing got their hands on Persona! Persona is GoAT.

And who could hate Hoozuki? It's Gintama in Hell!

scytheavatar said:

Jiharo said:
*1.　27,067　Infinite Stratos 2

PLEASE GIVE ME INFINITE STRATOS 3!!

I'd say give the dude sometimes. I was like him at first too, then came the disappointments and then came the discovery superior series than this crap. So he'll get over it soon.

Feb 14, 2014 9:19 PM by Xinception

Jiharo said:
*1.　27,067　Infinite Stratos 2

PLEASE GIVE ME INFINITE STRATOS 3!!

Feb 14, 2014 9:05 PM by scytheavatar

Persona 3 looking good early, outranking Madoka rebellion like that. I hope it sells well.
Love Live blurays showing up in the top 100 today. IIRC some volumes also were in the top 100 days ago.
Three versions (DVD, A limited, A regular) of Hozuki volume 1 on the top 200. I remember some guy telling me that hozuki will not do good. I wonder where is he now?

Feb 14, 2014 5:57 PM by volare1

*1.　27,067　Infinite Stratos 2

PLEASE GIVE ME INFINITE STRATOS 3!!

Feb 14, 2014 11:54 AM by Jiharo

What the...Am I dreaming or are those excellent sales for Natsume?

Feb 13, 2014 9:49 PM by Riiken

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