Neither of us has any evidence to the contrary. This is all speculation.

LOL


this is just not fair for the ones in the chart.... they're not solo artists like most of the others.... is just not fair to compare!



and I really don't believe in their sales... I mean, come on! not even the top artists in Japan get to sell THAT GOOD! I just don't believe that half of a million "fans" went to a music store on the first day and bought the thing xD something is just not right...


EDIT: Its like a really bad joke xD

well, some of them are models in gyaru magazines. like Asuko Maeda is a model for Popteen, one of my favorite magazines.

actually they can. Recently their singles sales are VERY high, even higher then ayu. that's why i'm happy that ayu's single release date is not crashing with them.

and for this single, i contribute one of the sales too. i quite like their songs, it's catchy, but not those over-sugary-pop type.

in fact, they will be releasing another single, Kokoro no Hane on 21st July, with 11 versions. I'm getting Asuko Maeda version. these are all the versins

■初回限定盘・前田敦子ver
■初回限定盘・高桥みなみver
■初回限定盘・渡辺麻友ver
■初回限定盘・大岛优子ver
■初回限定盘・板野友美ver
■初回限定盘・小嶋阳菜ver
■初回限定盘・柏木由纪ver
■初回限定盘・チームドラゴンver
■初回限定盘・ドラゴンボール改ver
■通常盘・チームドラゴンver
■通常盘・ドラゴンボール改ver

Well of course it is. I was just saying what I thought about it. I never intended to start a debate >_>

wow, 3 of ayu's singles made into the list too?

I couldn't be happier~~ :D

This is first week right? Not first day? XD
anyways I heard the song on Music Station and it was just meh to me, but I can see why they're popular I guess. With groups like this there are more people to like so more fans of each member.
I think they have too many though XD

^
1st day sales: 354,403

The only thing that's true it's that the manager of AKB48 is in acknowledge that at least 5 fans bought 800 copies of the single each :yes

Seriously? That's sick. Buying each and every version once is already borderline crazy, but buying 800 each is just ... I hope they enjoy their collection in their mother's basement.

Not only their crazy wota fans are buying all up the singles, they have casual fans as well :| Also Kokoro no Hane isn't really a single from the main group, but from a subgroup so it'll be interesting to see how that sells. I really don't see why it's so hard to believe that AKB can sell so well, either o_O They work hard and their music is good. I'm so happy they've become this popular <3

LOL. I don't think people living in their parents' basement can afford to shell out near a million yen like it's nothing.

The power of obsession! And it is precisely people that live in their parent's basements/homes than can afford to do things like this since most of these people generally have no living expenses to pay for.

Well some otakus are rich, they might not have a proper job, but in japan there are other ways to earn good money, like through gaming. Even in Singapore, i know a few people doing this, to other's they look like they are jobless, but actually they can earn like USD$5000+ a month!

If you have a group of people who haunt online rpg games, to farm gold and rare items that people want, these can earn good money. But doing this is illegal, most gaming don't allow players to buy from illegal sellers, but there will always be players who are willing to fork out money for it.
A rare piece of good weapon can reach USD$1000, now this money is more then enough to support the otakus' hobbies, let alone buying additional versions of cd.

i for one am happy for the girls, enough of the boygroups, make room for the girlsgroup ^^ and i would buy a copy for the only reason to help them beat the boygroups, cuz i doubt im gonna be liking their music XD

I like how everyone's like....wow 500k copies....must be all them otakus. They must be soooo obsessed and buying so many copies. Can't we use that same psychology for other artists too?

It's true though that groups like these have a relatively large otaku fanbase, just like the boybands have a relatively large CRAZED FANGIRL fanbase.

I don't think anyone's suggesting that ALL their sales and success comes from otakus though. Of course they're getting more and more casual fans ; )

^i for one, is a casual listener. I like some of their songs, but part of the reason why I buy the singles, other then I like the song, is to help them with the sales record and to beat the boybands' sales!!!

Yeah, of course not all of their sales are from otaku/overly obsessed fans, but a cute idol group, full of MANY girls, is bound to get quite a few of those fans, to say the least.

And wait. Wait wait wait. Are you guys serious about the 800 copies thing!? I thought you were joking. Please be joking....... 'Cause that is some seriously super-unreal ****. :thud

^ Apparently there was this one guy who bought 700 copies so his favorite member could make it into the ranks for the senbatsu elections.

Anyway, not all AKB48 fans are Wotas. I've heard from people who've seen them live that they actually have a good amount of just plain old fans a good amount of who were female.

I'm really glad for the girls.

It's not a joke... They do have some crazy fans who are really rich and buy hundreds of copies....
Just their last single, I saw someone selling 100 copies of it for 10000 yen in an auction, so each single is like 100 yen only

Yeah, this is a picture of that guy, he appeared on TV :tipsy it's crazy

http://i488.photobucket.com/albums/r...uroso/wota.jpg