It seems it will reach 700k! =D

At the time RAINBOW was released the opinions seemed a lot more energic than the ones over "part of Me".

Well, partially the fact I say those things about part of Me is because of it's blandness. The song isn't mediocre just because I don't like it (I actually said i love the song, but sorry that I typed that quickly and it really made it look like I was justifying that for that reason). It's mediocre because it's generic, because there's nothing new added to the song. Because if you ever listen to H/\L with H/\LNA discography you'll see how much that song is overly recycled and unoriginal. When something has already played in your ears for years and years, when it's compiled into yet another recyclation, the feeling I'll have when listening to it is: oh please, this again? i wanna listen to something new and striking.

Well, it's not my fault then. i can tell when someone cooked something pretty badly or didn't put effort on any other work they should have.

It's just because whenever I come with a different point of view, people will wonder how I came up to certain conclusions. The world is not a fairy tale book where everything goes perfectly in the end. Sometimes, people make it seem like that by saying "How are you sure she didn't put any effort?". Honestly, because it exudes, because it's possibly to tell when something was done without much interest and effort. Not all works in the world are perfect and iyt's definitely possible to judge whether something was poorly done or not.

Sorry but that's nothing more than an excuse. Those covers were bad, rushed and in bad taste. Of course we can always get a piece of junk and say how absolutely fantastic they are (TO BE lyrics actually talk about that hahah) but well, those covers were mediocre and horrid,and most people were actually not satisfied with them, with a reason.

Daydreaming is not a concrete work. And sorry but if work and effort to you is going around in circles and doing absolutely nothing than "WOW", i really wanna have such an amazing job! :)


With all honesty? It is a fact ;)

Sometimes a good concept doesn't equal to "more effort".

A BALLADS concept is like the new ayu facing the old ayu (or in the pv ayu's facing her inside). That is why there were much more efforts --> Making covers showing how two ayus are connected; how ayu had to chase the other ayu (to face oneself?) in the pv; etc.

A BEST series concept is just showing the simple side of ayu. I'm sure that ayu and her crews must have discussed "how A BEST 2 should point to" for many times until they come up with this conclusion. Yes, there are much less time devoted on making the covers (like she didn't put a wig, she didn't have heavy make up, she didn't really have to pose), but the covers really fit A BEST series. When they first showed up on AHS, I was a bit surprised, but at the same time I really like how it connected to A BEST, and the way they express the message of A BEST 2. Yeah there're other A BEST 2 pics used on magazines and stuff, and they may be prettier than the ones on the covers. Yet there must be reason why ayu choosing those four pics as covers.

And for the pv.. I dun really think we can judge how good the pv is by how many actions the artists did in the pv. For example, there're lots of factors making why ayu's standing still most of the time in the pv, such as the Japanese tradition and culture (if you watch some Japanese old movies/dramas you'll know what I mean)... I can't really explain it here (since i'm suck at explanation), but to me I like the art of this pv.

So my conclusion is that we can't really judge on efforts of something based on how much time/energy people devote on. Sometimes too much effort doesn't necessary meaning good. Of course, I'm not disagreeing with you ImpactBreaker. You do have your point of view towards and I'm sure someone must have similar points with you. There's no such thing in the world that every single person will love it.

...

Why dun we stop arguing (or expressing opinions)..? The weather is very good now.. (dunno what I'm talking about LOL):P

I think it will :D, let's say this week sales is around 50000, then A BEST 2 WHITE should reach 630K then. I'm sure it's not too hard to get 70K more copies in the end :).

It'll probably stay at 40k for a while. :D

Daydreaming is not, but visualizing a concept that will later be realized is. Daydreaming makes it sound like Ayu sits around all day imagining what she'll do when she's Queen of the World. XD

But lol, I've already stated my opinion. I'll post again when I have something to say that's relevant to her sales. :P

I say ~25k next week, so that would put it at ~640k.

LOL. Yeah, I think the thread starter should fix that to #6, 7.

right okay...

I think Ayu is doing fine. If this is the CD that she wanted to put out, even if it was avex's decision (i mean if she didn't want it released she could have done something), these are her covers, her songs, her albums, if she's happy with it, I'm happy with it.

Until she comes out and openly says "I'm disappointed with my sales," I won't be. Ayu is ayu, nothing about her greatness will ever change, no matter what sales "say." All they tell us is that there are about 600,000 crazy ayu collectors in Japan.

I wonder if Ayu would still be singing today had her career not been as successful as it had been.. [Like, she loved singing or w/e and that's what kept her and not the money.. which is probably the case now :D]

And would new talents even have gone to avex, with them making a LOT less income without Ayu's high sales?

#3# - x44,239 (#3) - x46,634 (#2)
A BEST 2 sold: 1,235,462 copies (611,650 black / 623,812 white)

Why do i have the feeling that every week equals to halving of the sales?
I really hope these albums will hit 700k at least...

A big drop today.

WHITE is #11 and BLACK is #13??????? wow!! a big drop, from position 6&7. but both A BEST 2 sold 1,235,462 copies, and i think it's good..

^By the end of the week it SHOULD rise....

Honestly, I think people are just so against ImpactBreaker beacuse they think its their job to unquestionly defend their one and only idol. I mean, look at the comments aginst Kuu from these people. Any threat is quickly dashed without reason.

Honestly, A BEST 2 was a huge letdown for me in terms of production. They ommited three of my favourite singles, made a mediocre, unoriginal new song and PV, boring booklet and tiring tracklist. They could have done so much to this album such as new vocals, more effort into the new song and more creative photoshoots (I mean, come on. How many times has that mirror technique been used in this past year alone?). I reckon both BEST ~first things~ and ~second session~ were better products than A BEST 2 -BLACK-/- WHITE -, but that could just be me.

edit: Whoops, forgot about the DVDs. Their all good :P. Ayu's concerts are always great and the idea of a documentary is interesting, but they're only additional features, not the main feature themselves.

I'm not disappointed with the sales so far. If we look at it in a different angle, Ayumi is very successful in Japan this year. This album is currently the 3rd and 4th best selling album of the year and it's very possible that it will stay on the top 10 till the end of the year. She's doing better than 90% of the artists out there. I don't see how that's disappointing.

i think its dissapointing for Ayumi ... she is the goddess of Japanese music. She should be getting 1 million ~ 2 million in first week sales like she used o ... but i know thats never going to happen X__X

Are you serious??! Nobody can sell 1 million in a week, can you imagine a week? Ayu can't, but Koda, Hikaru Utada, Mr.Children, B'z, KAT-TUN can't either.

Back in 2001 when Mr. Children did their dual best, they sold 1 million of each..


But Ayu sold 2.8 million in a week with A BEST that year too, so..

Thats my point. A BEST sold almost 2 million in a week. it dissapoints me ~~

But A BEST also sold almost two million during a time when a million wasn't exactly a hard goal for popular artists to reach..

Look at Hikki's sales from 1999 -> 2003.. D: So scary! Now she's not doing as well with albums..
Had she released her best album a little earlier, it would've sold a lot more than it did..

A BEST sold around 1.5 million copies on the FIRST DAY, and over 2.9 million copies on the FIRST WEEK... :P

I misremembered lol

http://www.oricon.co.jp/news/music/41057/

It's pretty insane how Hikki got no.1 that week..
But thank goodness Ayu got no.1 the week after, cause if I was an Ayu fan at time.. no.2 with 2.8 million would've made me want to smack someone LOL

But we have to consider that many artist now sells less than 5 years before (You know . . . downloads / bootlegs) but there are exceptions.

It'll probably get back into the bottom end of the TOP 10 later in the week.

I think A BEST 2 might stay in the top ten for a month or two.. maybe? :D

Haruki @ JPM

It will probably drop out of the TOP 300 (no sales will be counted) next week.

Ooo, A BEST appears on the chart~ :D

.. that is a big drop.... -.-;

well, again, 500k is the new million right? =).

I think 700K for both will be great. She's not even at her peak popularity anymore either.

Daily Rankings on 3/22

A BEST 2 -WHITE- is back at #7 on daily ranking
and A BEST 2 -BLACK- is back at #8

Good job ayu!

I would say ~650-700k is the 'new' million. Sales haven't declined by THAT much (50%) since 2000/2001...

Last year BEST ~second sessions~ and ken hirai's utabaka were only a few thousand off the 1 mil mark for first week sales. But they weren't duel releases.

Erm... the two BESTs won't make the top 10 at this rate.... but combined her sales will around the same as lasts years if not more.

^They already made it back into the top 10..

I think that Yukitora meant top 10 of the year in annual sales..

whoops, yeh that's what I meant ^_^.

edit: wow, I never noticed my username had a capital Y...

Wow...she is so amazing...went back to top 10..

and cool that A BEST is charting..hahaafter 6 yrs..i think its the new generation

yay..back to top 10..c'mon A best can sales about 50k again this week

Just went to cdjapan....and guess which album is on the cd ranking chart?

March 25th:
A BEST 2 -WHITE- rank 5th (3-5 days)
A BEST 2 -BLACK- rank 6th (in stock)

quite surprised to see them there...especially seeing them instead of ai am best or best b&l

it seems like very few people buy from CDJApan...maybe only those shipped within Japan are counted?

Well CDJapan is mainly used by overseas people while Neowing is mainly used by Japanese people right?

I think alot of ppl do buy from cdjapan coz buying from them suppose to count towards the chart...and now they accept paypal so its gonna get more ppl to buy from them. I do believe theyve been selling a lot of copies of A BEST 2.

up again

maybe due the outcome of the Taiwan concert..? Lots of fans in Taiwan decide to buy the BEST (Jpn version) eventually? :P

^I don't think they would buy it through CDJapan though...

stats?

She doesn't hold the first two titles anymore and she's not the 1st artist to hold #1,2 in the UWC. She's the first female soloist though.

go higher

:thud

Those numbers mesmerize me more than her outfits did for her Taiwanese fans!

Week 4
-WHITE- Rank: *9 / Sales: 22,667 / Total: 646,479
-BLACK- Rank: 10 / Sales: 21,349 / Total: 632,999

=====

Still dropping pretty fast (~50%)

650k almost! :D~

eh, they better reach 700k.

650k is easy now...the next step is 700k!

#4# - x21,349 (#10) - x22,667 (#9)
A BEST 2 sold: 1,279,478 copies (632,999 black / 646,479 white)

Ok it's really halving every week.... I hope it will break 700k

wow i didnt think it will be lower than half!

Still chuggin' along, hopefully A BEST 2 will be on the charts for a long time. ^_^

This is doing really badly for a BEST album. Between this and Koda's failed BEST, there seems to be an anti-best of pattern arising. It's about time too, there's no reason to buy best albums if you have most of the songs already...

There are two best albums out at the same time, what do you expect? :|


800k - 900k? Psh.

Well we can blame avex for this

:eviltongu

Kuu doesn't really decide what she's going to release, avex does. Their over-marketing of Kuu seems to be bringing her career down pretty quickly, i hope she bounces back from Bounce and Lovers.

I doubt that, Avex are not that stupid, however the same cannot be said for some of their artists.

I think next will be BEST OF BEST or BEST Third Sessions

Even though her album that wasn't a best that was released just a few months ago reached 900,000+. Thank goodness for smart people like you~!

I agree. If avex can force Ayu to release A BEST, then avex can also force Kuu to release ~BOUNCE & LOVERS~.

At least it didn't reached #1 and the sales are like Ayu's 3rd week ones :yes
I think Kuu's 2006 year was like Ayu's 2001 year

Shouldn't that go for the other two bests too then? lol

So Avex can force Ayu to release A BEST but Ayu can tell the president of Aves to go **** himself... yeah, ok, she was forced.

.

Spark: She did release an album with BEST on it and it flopped. So putiing a label on it of BEST did'nt work this time around.

*sigh* You know what? It's not even worth discussing anymore.

I'm just going to edit my post and leave this place.

I'm Out.

sales is so bad for a best 2, eventho its a greatets hitls

Dropped to #18/19 today with the 10 new releases.

I guess. It could also be the fact that she didn't release a BEST album in her 1st contract and now they are 'making up' for the lost BEST album now by releasing 3 in a row.

Weren't these events 2 different time periods?

Oh my...

Oh well, I think it might climb back to 13-14 this week.

Go Ai!

pretty much. The "ayu can kick avex" came up when she threatened to leave back in 2004.

Ayu would have got her way about anything from 2000-2007+ so thats why I don't think they can really force her to release A best album if she did'nt want to.

selling the most or not Ayu is the queen-bee of the japanese music industry, she's in a "Beatles" level, she can sell 500 copies with her next release she still going to be the queen, even Namie on her top couldn't have as many #1s as ayu has.

Koda is the top-dog. not the queen-bee, it will take at least some sell out arena/stadiums/dome tours, and something like 25 #1 singles.
but with the way she releases she could have that in two weeks, but it seems to me that she can only debut at #2

Ayu only got the power to stick it to the avex execs after the Matsuura incident in 2004, and that was really only because she had made so much money and generated so much publicity for the company by then that they couldn't refuse her anymore. Koda doesn't have nearly that much power, especially since she was a minor artist for such a long time before getting popular in 05. While artist can play a big part in producing their music, they usually don't decide what they release, when, etc. That's their label's prerogative.

^ Besides all that too, she was thinking of quitting after A Best. When everything happened with AVEX and the president, it was more complicated. Her message made clear that she had the support of many other AVEX artists in choosing to leave if MAX were to leave. So they'd be losing money from their biggest artist, and many of their other ones. I mean, Ayu is friends with BoA, Misono, probably Koda Kumi, and many other artists...that's a lot of power.

03/27 - #19 --- #18

ouch

If it's written in the artist's contract, they are really forced to release it. It's either you release it or you don't sing for the rest of your life kind of thing.

Well, Ayumi was originally going to quit after A BEST if im correct, but 9/11 is what kept her to keep singing.

And Kuu was only popular for a period. Her terms over know. Ayumi is probably going to take 2007 as top-dog i she releases a triple a side in july ...

Oh yeah, even if Ayu is friends with misono, dosentmatter too much. misonos sales are hardly anything ... i think never + land only sold 10,000 if im correct. Although, can't be sure with the validity if wikipedia ...

Ayumi is ALWAYS going to be "queen-bee". I'm hoping [This will NEVERRRR happen] for sales of at LEAST 500,000+ if she realeses a quadruple A side [unlikely]. 400,000 if shes releases a triple a side [still unlikely XD] 300,000 for a double a side [possible] and 200,000 if she realese only an a side [extremely likely]

I don't think she's going to quit. Well @ least not willingly. There's rumors that avex forced ayu to release the best album as her last album and seeing how well the album sold, they kept her and continue to sell 'her'.
A BEST were released during MARCH while 9/11 was during sept of cos =.=" quite a long period so I don't think so...

Wasn't the reason she stayed was because of A BEST's sales?

I don't see avex dropping Ayu pre A BEST, given she was incredibly popular back then. I think she wanted to quit because avex was forcing her to release things she didn't want to release (NEVER EVER, A BEST). She probrably stayed because she loves making music.

I also don't think Ayumi will be top dog of '07, not after these sales. Then again, all it takes is a few popular songs to regain popularity, which i think she can deliver.

hmm ... not really that big a difference 6 months or so? And, to top it off, A BESt was released at the VERY END of March. I had read this is a few articles. I'm not saying its true, im jsut saying its what I believe.

+Why would they fire her when her album before A BEST [Duty] sold nearly 3 million copies? They would be losing tons of future income. They aren't stupid, you know.

I have also read NEVER EVER was also a forced release.

Also, she stated once that [In a TIME magazine interview] That before 9/11, she sang to save herself. Afterwards, She sang for other reasons. Wolrd peace, life lessons, among others. This is also the reason behind the cover of I am ... . She originally had a cover for it already, but changed her mind after 9/11. The cover is ... [Fuzzy Quote by Ayumi] "Representing a peace muse, clad only in vines, in a desert with a white dove on her shoulder, symbolizing love". We all (should/better) know that 9/11 had probably the most dramatic effect on her career and music more than anything. She stated so. "I remember seeing the pictures of the planes crashing into the world trade center over and over again ... It was terrifying."

I read that once her tour was over, since she couldnt just stop it, she would quit avex, and that UNITE! was actually supposed to be last single. Then 9/11 happened. She came back with the single "Dearest" Shortly after 9/11. In that time ~ for Ayumi ~ The wait from UNITE until Dearest was quite long. nearly 2 and a half months. Early July to late September. Then came 'A Song is Born'. That was her charity single for 9/11.

Really. 9/11 kept her career going, not A BEST's sales. It was Ayumi's decision to quit in the first place, not avex's decision to fire her.

Everything points to my theory. Yours dosen't even make sense. Her sales were phenominal. They wouldn't have even considered firing her.

I heard in the past that avex was gonna drop ayu after A BEST but because of the sales, they kept her. I never believed that seeing how well the first 3 albums sold and the numbers kept getting higher.

I dunno, i just don't buy that theory. I don't see why an event halfway around the world would affect Ayu' decision that much. I think she kept going because she loves making music, and she realized she didn't want to give that up.

Well, she hassaid herself.

9/11 had a HUGE impact on her

Ayu's career esentially began in New York City. Why the hell WOULDN'T it effect her??

Agreed. We all know how much she loves New York City.

I mean, hey, "It's not all hierachiel [baddddd spelling] and rule bound like Tokyo"

Ayu just spent a few months training there. While she may love the city, she's been there just a few times in her entire life. I'm sure she was shocked by 9/11, but i doubt it had enough impact on her to change the course of her life. I live in New York, and it hasn't changed my life in such a radical way; 9/11 hasn't had the effect you claim it had on Ayu for anyone but those who survived it or lost loved ones that day. No matter how much she loved New York, it's a stretch saying 9/11 would change her the way you seem to think it did.

She spent 2 years there. I'm not saying 9/11 is the reason. I'm just saying, I'm sure it has a special place in her heart.

Yeah. I'm pretty sure ts her favorite place of all time, by the way she talks about it. She sure dosen't talk about Tokyo that way, OR even Fukuoka.

Anyway, We know Ayu sn't crazy which is my disproof to your theory ~~
Anybody inb their right mind would know they would keep her. I, personally, think my theory fits perfectly. I have yet to find ANY flaws in it.

You don't find the fact that she spent half a year touring, writing material, and had a new album in the works between A BEST and 9/11 a flaw?

no? that dosent even seem relevant in the least.
As i said, She would have her career go on after A BEST, but only until all her things scheduled were over.

I don't understand how that is irrelevant. The question is whether 9/11 convinced Ayu to continue her career after releasing A BEST, yet she was touring and making a new album in the six months between the two dates. If she was going to quit after A BEST she would have done so, not release some more singles, go on a big tour, and write material for a new full studio album. 9/11 happened too late to affect her desicion.

She was already touring. I already explained ALL of this. learn to read a post, jackass.
For the sake of not straining your moronic 8 year old mind; i will restate:

1. The tour was already planned. She just cant not do it. I went over this, like twice or three times already.
2. How do you know she had a full album planned? She could have easily released a mini-album with the material she already had and called it quits.
3. She really only released singles until the end of her tour. Then Stopped. Then 9/11 happened. and then, oh my god? a new single?!
4. How the HELL do oyu know she was writing material? where you there with her? or you her? are you god? do oyu know everything? i think not.

I'm not going to debate you on your point if you aren't going to be civil. If you really want to believe Ayu decided to keep making music because of 9/11, you can do so, i simply think it's far fetched. Please be more respectful in the future.

Well, i would have been fine with you if you didnt ask questions I had already answers, let alone answers that were directed towards you the first time. Now, I honestly don't post here to much, and right now i'm extra drugged up on pills, so im not sure what point im getting to with this post.

She's actually said in interviews that she wanted to quit AVEX, NOT the other way around. At that time she was having a hard time coming to terms with Ayu the product vs. Ayu the person, or something like that. This next part I'm not sure about, but I think the turnout of Dome Tour helped convince her to stay, because of all the love she got from her fans.

And about Misono--she was also part of the group Day After Tomorrow, and they had ok sales. The point is, AVEX has a few really big acts, and tons of well-known ones that don't sell that much. Ayu was going to take a good portion of their livlihood away with her.