Lol trust me if they give you freedom on most things...it doesn't mean you have it on everything. She may be a big game in their company but that doesn't mean they won't state their opinions on what she should do and what not. They probably had a thing or two to add to the decision temselves as well.
I mean even GACKT once said that he wanted to change his hair color but his company didn't exactly wanted that so he had to keep it for longer. And this dude isn't someone you can just push around. And he is one of the better selling male artists today in Japan. His stuff always hits Top 10. And someone just doesn't let him change the hair color. I mean....really...

I think it's just pure luck with the numbers and the timing. Change of genertions affect a lot of things.

Oh no :/

I don't care about the chart, it's about MUSIC!! Go ayu! Btw I'm really happy and satisfied with the sales (19k)

Isn't the drop due to new Tuesday releases? Since Ayu released on a Monday this is her second day vs. their first days?

^there are only two new releases obove Ayu on 2nd day sales ^^

^ Oh! Thanks for the info. :P

Hmm... I still felt there is a lack in promotions (apart from the billboard)...? Do we have a 15s or 30s CM about this single...? And I think also due to the fact that ayu didn't do any LIVE... So for this single having such a result, I think is probably quite good already...

Lives aren't really promo that biring sales, at least not on recent years.

Promos that bring sales are great tie-ins like CMs, endorsements, popular dramas etc.
Can't think of anything else that would help nowadays.

Dropping to #8 isn't so bad if the releases above are selling consistently and barely drop.
ayu's single really sold relatively high for the first day, for solo female standarts.
Except for namie who would sell the same or above with a single and only a CD version.

I think ayu is actually doing really good this time. She just got weekly no. 1 on recochoku album chart, and is no. 2 on daily today (new digitals just released). I think this time the single is quite accepted by the general public.

Nowadays you have to look at digital charts as well. Physical sales may not tell 100% how popular the songs are.

Was there a drop? I can only see her first day sale XD

EDIT: Oh nvmind I found it. LOL

I just can't understand why they started counting the sales even before the official release date. The figures "should've been" higher if the started it on 24th. Even so, Kiss My whatever will always rank on top considering the fangirl population here in Japan recently. lol

i'm glad that the single is doinh well digital-wise. The single deserves the recognition. Its the single that I enjoy whole heartedly after quite a long time.

Could u please post the link to the recochoku weeklies?

here http://recochoku.jp/ranking/album/weekly/ :)

Not bad :)

Ugh... :headache

Here we go again - can she even make top five...? I have a feeling it isn't likely...

AGREED! :yes Especially with the change of generations! Everyone gets older, but the younger ones, probably the majority of music buyers in Japan, are the key to sales, and they're preferring the idol image of AKB48 or Johnny's today instead of the traditional soloists of "yesterday"...

Tuesday was a holiday, Emperor Akihito's birthday. Don't know if that's going to affect the numbers significantly.

It is safe to say that she has around 20k fans left in Japan

With an #2 on the first day & then an #8 on the second, I'd say that this single is doing extremely well, so far! :D Which I am very happy about, because I absolutely love all three songs! :heart I think as long as the single continues to chart within the top 10 on Oricon, it'll be just fine. :) Go ayu!

Great first day! The big drop is a bit sad, but I feel the week sales will be quite decent, so I'm happy. The position doesn't matter, it's not like we didn't know Kis-My-Ft2 would get #1...

I agree, at this point I think Ayu is the one who decided she wanted her single to be released on christmas and the amount of promotion she's going to do (though of course the billboards and CMs are on Avex). And I don't even know if it's a "bad decision", I don't think she cares about what position she is in, she just wanted to give her fans a single on christmas, I think that's great.
tbh, I don't think she would have gotten #1 if it was released on a different week anyway. If you look at the artists who topped all previous weeks, it was always idols that she probably wouldn't be able to beat, so it makes no difference (sure, if it was last week she would have guaranteed at least #3 with just her first day sales, but not #1).

She's doing really well on digital rankings, though :)

Somewhat impressed. She's reasonably competing against Namie's single performances right now, which is good considering Ayu still isn't throwing around the same weight as Namie has these last few years.

Holy shit hahaha okay

So ayu's just not trying that hard anymore. She's earned all her past successes working her ass off releasing singles every month. Right now she's just sitting back, more relaxed, coasting, and like, I deserve this after 50 singles, bitch :laugh

Kisumai's previous singles also had multiple editions but their latest single has the most as outta 11 editions , 7 of them are individual covers of each member so you can imagine -_-

Anyway ...

3rd day ranking of Zutto... / Last minute / Walk - #9

http://www.oricon.co.jp/rank/js/d/2014-12-24/