I also want to see the real battle between Ayu and Kuu..
I don't want either of their singles get moved forward or pushed backward from the actual release date..
oh well, let's wait n see~~~

Obviously there's no big loss for Kuu; or rather the "battle" honestly doesn't apply to her cos I don't think she has much to lose. But why underestimate her single? Suki de x3 is a 3-ballad single... and ballads are obviously more popular with the general Japanese. Moreover it comes with her remake of walk which supposedly should help with the hype of the single.

Most of the previous posts that say stuff like "Kuu's no competition; Gossip Candy sold less than MOON/blossom despite the former having lots of promotion & the latter having none." But

1) GC had 2 versions, while M/b had 3 versions & more if u count the ones at concert venues.
2) GC is a single from Kuu with no ballad as a lead; her singles without A-Side ballads tend to not sell so well (TABOO, 3 SPLASH, etc)

I'm NOT trying to spark some war here, I'm just trying to make a point that Kuu's Suki de x3 could very well be a threat to crossroad. I love Ayu & Kuu both to death thank you very much, and I would also really want Ayu to keep her streak, and I don't think Kuu has much to lose either.

My point in my previous post, in any case, was:
I just don't want avex to do any tweaking, so it'd be all be fair. And I placed quotation marks in battle for reasons... I don't mean a real battle like it was in 2006 or something... I just mean that Kuu's single definitely has a chance to sell, but so does Ayu. If it's so, then just let it be, so that the Oricon charts would be more exciting than its current mundane & predictable state?...

I disagree so much about the ballad thing. Kuu's summer singles with her upbeat songs are usually her highest single sales all year. Anyway, Kuu hasn't had a high selling ballad single since 2006. Her new version of "walk" is probably the only thing that would make the single sell slightly more than it normally would but I still don't see her as much of a threat. Also keep in mind crossroad has 3 versions again this time and Kumi has two.

yeah I understand what u mean... I want Ayu to get #1 weekly tbh so it's good that the odds appear to be against Kuu :yes

^ you forgot that GC had 3 PVs and live performances including Music Station, while MOON/blossom had 2.5 minute long clip with to be continued aired and no lives :P

I am still not sure why are people worried about crossroad, it can't do worse than MOON/blossom as this time there will actually be some promo to it!

^It can do worse. However, as long as it sells 40~45K first week she should be fine. I'm thinking L will be the more heavily promoted one though.

maybe 2.5 minute "preview" was a marketing strategy, we never know :P

As for crossroad, I am very worried lol... simply because L is released just a week later. But I hope my worries are uncalled for ^^

Yeah I agree.
Though for correction's sake, GC also had a live (in the dream stadium concert) version just loike MOON/blossom though even without this she wouldn't sell that far I suppose, last year Sunrise/Sunset sold 110,000 with just 2 versions and not first press while kuu chan's 3 SPLASH had 3 versions and a compilation album promotion. xD So yeah versions are over-rated.

This will be a taugh battle.

Once the previews for L come out, I have a nasty feeling in my brain that if people have a choice to buy L or crossroad that week, they will choose L over crossroad, maybe causing crossroad's sales to falter? Idk, I just think crossroad might be in trouble. :( I sure hope not, I want Ayu to break the record! :cry

i read somewhere that Kuu's ballad singles always sell a lot more than her upbeat singles~ and it could be threat to Ayu's crossroad and L~

It could be a wild wild guess,

But maybe Ayumi doesn't want to break Matsuda Seiko's record?

For example, we know she admires and respects Matsuda Seiko, so maybe she planned this in a way that there's a chance she might lose to Koda Kumi, so that the record is maintained by Matsuda Seiko??

OR, maybe instead of promoting just crossroad or just L, maybe she will promote both in the magazine ones, and then maybe she will be able to perform like on Music Fair where she can perform 2 or even 3 songs.

Anyways, the reason why I said about not wanting to break Matsuda's record, is that for example I was thinking if that was me, and Matsuda Seiko is an inspiration and like someone to look up to, I wouldn't want to break their records and say "I replaced you!"...

That's hardly the case, if avex didn't want her to do it fast, there would prolly be no project ^^ Breaking a record doesn't mean she is replacing Seiko Matsuda in any way. If they didn't care about the streak and beating Seiko, they wouldn't bother pushing the release date of You were... nor would they fight for Mirrorcle World's #1 the way they did. Ayu's streak isn't just hers, it's her marketing team that plays a huge role in it, it's their success too.

@waterballon - L will in no way affect the sales of crossroad, simply because the fans who intended to buy one will most likely buy both. The general public is hardly interested in buying her physical singles. And the fans who are collecting will get both regardless of their release dates. Not all of us buy all the versions of everything and 2000 yen isn't that much for two CD onlys.

^^OOH NO, i really hope that isn't true. I really want her to break that record. I think as an artist as Ayu she deserves it to break it. With all were she is gone true. She almost lost her hearing at one side, for her fans right? She did everything for her fans, now she has to think not only about someone were she is lookin up to. (if that is true). This isn't only personal but she would fail in my eyes for her fans. We, her fans who always supported her in the long road ( to break that record). If she always thinks about her fans she must try to reach this goal. I think she just need to go for that goal with 200% I really hope what you said isn't true.

Definitely, hardcore fans have kept her afloat this far, no reason they'd be picky about speanding their money now. Also, releases come out every week, if they're fans of multiple artists it wouldn't be too much for them to buy one single on week and another on the next.

U have a point... her stuff aren't really bought by the general public anymore, hmm...

@Tal: I know what u mean, but it's interesting how Ayu's Sunrise sold pretty well & MOON/blossom was.. well don't wanna say it, while Kuu's 3 SPLASH was a shock but Gossip Candy improved much in terms of sales :yes

And about her not wanting to "replace" Seiko Matsuda... I doubt her marketing team cares about that :P

^ Gossip Candy actually sold 2k less than 3SPALSH in it's first week xD

^ but weren't the overall sales higher?

NO ! 3 splash sold more than 90k and i don' think Gossip candy can sell that much .

I think GC is still charting, but in any case I've made a mistake ><" sorry about that

^ yeah it's still charting, not sure if it'll chart long enough to reach 90k though :(