Good she was able to reach 20k+ again. Hope she doesn't drop too much 2nd week.

wah ! congrats her ! the sales went up ^^ !

oh come on, she's doing alright. You have to consider that Ayu isn't a new artist, she's been around for a decade now. And it's not like she doesn't release an album every year, so there's no novelty factor.

The US is THE largest music industry and when Kelly Clarkson released her new album, it sold about the same in its first week as Ayu's. And in the second week it sold about half that amount.

Of course there are some Japanese artists who manage to sell over a million/2 million albums a year but if you compare the top selling albums last year with let's say 5 years ago, it's a HUGE drop in sales.

Another increase, really good news! ^_^

wow about a 1k+ increase..thats gd

Yay go ayu!
omg DBSK is 3 with only 8k in sales :l

I also saw a comment on NEXT LEVEL's Oricon page and there was a comment saying how every time Ayu does the same thing again and again. He also stated how this isn't the NEXT LEVEL ._.

NEXT LEVEL currently is being rated 73/100 on Oricon too. GUILTY's was 98/100.

Nevertheless I'm glad to see the slight increase in sales. Shall see how it will fare in its second week.

Good to hear the sales went up ^_^

Yay! Another increase!!!
Maybe it's some evident for a good consistency :D

I feel ayu is taking a different direction with her music but unfortunately, it's not the kind of sound most people like or want from her. Anyway, she had rock successes like Because of you and is this LOVE? but i feel the standard of her more recent rock songs just doesn't excite. I don't know what's lacking, i can see where the reviewer is coming from but i can't put a finger on it. Ever since M(U), there hasn't been an album that made me go "WOW". But maybe i'm just nit-picking. I'll be getting the Next Level nevertheless.

Really happy to see an increase in sales. Hope it can be as consistent as DCT for the next week. Does anyone know why DCT is enjoying such persistently high sales by the way?

great sales!!

keep it up gurl!!!!!!!!!!! ^^

great that she got #1 for so many days! i hope she can keep it up!

NEXT LEVEL has been #1 for the whole week so it 100% will be #1 weekly!
I'm so glad that after GUILTY that got #2 she has a new original album that gets #1!
9 #1 Studio albums, that's great!

oh goess...i'm soo happy to know tht the sales increase againnn!!
go ayu gooooooooo!!!!!
my copy has just arrived..so happy that i got the big poster!! YAYYYYY!!

Good last day sales.

Now we have to see whether it's going to be a consistent seller. A COMPLETE was, so it's not all lost. And Rule/Sparkle didn't too bad considering it came out a month before the album.

Yay for Ayu!! Seriously, I do believe that NEXT LEVEL will outsell GUILTY. I don't think there's much reason for it not to.

Yay! Great job Ayu!! Keep it up :)
hopefully she's stay at #1 for another week.

yea A COMPLETE was a good indication i feel...unless Ayu decides to go WILD in her 3rd stage

x->1->1->1->1->1->1 - Hamasaki Ayumi - 99,200 + 48,318 + 24,935 + 17,208 + 18,089 + 20,167 = 227,917
total 1st week sales 25K lower than TRICK

At least #1 weekly is safely in the bag.

Also, I think what turns people off with NEXT LEVEL is the style that the album is going to... and to a lesser extent, the covers?

Well, we already know the lyrics in Sparkle aren't exactly appealing, so there might be various factors that alienate this album from NEXT LEVEL.

To many of us, NEXT LEVEL is quite the fresh air and refreshing or something, and GUILTY is just boring etc. But to Japan, apparently, GUILTY hits home more with the raw emotion or something.