I'm pretty speechless, but it seems that Koda Kumi has finally beaten Ayu. :( :(

^ I feel your pain as well...even though I like Kumi's music, too, Kumi has definitely taken over the J-pop scene recently...seriously, everywhere I go now all there is is Kumi Kumi Kumi. Even my host family says "We see Koda Kumi EVERYWHERE now...we rarely see Ayu these days."

I sure hope once June rolls around (next week) that there will be more Ayu seen everywhere. I kind of need a break from seeing so much Kumi...

oh okay, I thought that Queen of HP would be included under albums since Bold & Delicious was under singles...thanks for tell me though! ^^

In terms of Album?...no...Koda's are BEST album...All the albums above Ayu are BEST albums...except for DefTech...

In terms of Single?...no....Koda's "you" was released so long ago far before from Startin'/BTB... so i would say Ayu's sales compared to her is stronger

weak

Sooner or later, 800K is gonna become the new 'million milestone' with all these piracy and digital d/l problems.

Well, Ayu's always been Ayu. For the last few years, she hasn't done anything '...omg wut?!@#@#121' cause I believe that she's found her place. She's making music that she loves and she's happy with that. She doesn't need all the constant number ones [although they are a bonus.] You can say that she's being 'beaten' but people change.. their interests are easily swayed by others and drift away. Hopefully something about Ayu's next few releases can revitalize her fanbase somehow.

About Ayu being in places..I can't imagine what it'd be like during Dec. or whenver the album will come out :] Ayu album + Japan = omg omg everywhere.

Well, the 'million' milestone is the number that it is because its well, one million xD If you think about it, a lot of people would die to get 800k~

I updated my 1st post with record holders in Oricon.

Hikki's concert is a bit different.. You send postcards (and mails?) to get into the draw. If you get the draw then you can buy the tickets. So you won't hear "sell out a concert w/i 15 mins" from hikki I believe. You will only hear how many people participating in the draw. In addition. It's just announced that hikki's Keep Tryin' has been downloaded over 1.9 million times on the net. Most people buy her music online now rather than buy the cd. So we dun really know hikki's success until the sales of her upcoming album.

I dun really mind about that actually cuz I believe the fact that no one can stand on the top forever. As a female artist, Ayu's still one of the tops, but just not as hot as kumi do rite now. You also see that kumi's music is getting too poppy and radio-friendly lately (which I dun really like... I kinda miss her Secret era..). Ayu, on the other hand, still do whatever she wants. That's alll I want from ayu, trying out different types of music :P. (Although I want some old school thing tho... M... SEASONS... Voyage... LOL)

I think it'd take a few days in Japan to see how much Koda has actually 'taken over' the market. I think she's the artist right now that is going to be 'talked about' during other artists' 'inbetween periods' [the time between singles / albums]

For some reason I think it'd be better to see Ayu everywhere every day .. :p

of course... It'll be fun to see ayu everywhere nowhere (just like back in A BEST :D)

Oricon celebrates its' 40th year. Here are some of the record-breakers.
Largest Single Seller (Male): B'z (33,210,000)
Largest Single Seller (Female): Hamasaki Ayumi (19,840,000)
Largest Album Seller (Male): B'z (41,450,000)
Largest Album Seller (Female): Matsutoya Yumi (29,300,000)
*Ayu is 2nd with 23,500,000*

Most #1 Singles: B'z (37)
*Ayu is 2nd with 26*
Most #1 Albums: Matsutoya Yumi (21)

Most Million Selling Singles: B'z (15)
*Ayu is 4th, tied with 9 other artists with 5*
Most Million Selling Albums: B'z (19)

(Upon Debut) Most Consecutive #1 Singles: Kinki Kids (22)
(Upon Debut) Most Consecutive #1 Albums: Kinki Kids (6)

^ Thanks for the extra news :D

It's been four years since her prime and she still one of the best-selling female artists. That's very impressive..

Seasons sold well too ;D

But, anyway, most theme song singles sold so-so this year. I saw a list and they were all less than 100,000 but two, Ayaka's and Remimoren's theme for N's Aoi. And N's Aoi wasn't an acclaimed drama or a big hit (it did OK).

But then you look at Seishun Amigo, Konayuki, and Planeterium's sales last year and all were from extremely popular shows. This year so far there hasn't been any really big hit dramas yet except for Rondo, which is where the Ayaka song comes from.

Ayu's songs may have sold well on their own, but the doramas that she has been involved with aren't doramas that are really well remembered or ones that swept the nation so to speak.

I think Seishun Amigo sold so much because of the uniting of two extremely popular boys from Johnny's...

Planetarium sold a lot for Ai~ :p Like 300k+ right?

Ayu needs to get tied into better dramas like Ayaka does~:p

/whee

That was certainly part of it, but I don't think it would have sold as insanely w/out the dorama. It's not just that it was two popular Johnny's boys on the single, but they also starred in the dorama too and it won all of the major dorama awards last year. (Though I think 1 litre of Tears should have won.)

I've heard that Ichiritoru was REALLY good.. but then again, Nobuta had the stars. :[

If Nobuta didn't have the two Johnny's boys it probably would've lost a few of the awards to Ichiritoru~

Plus, add to the fact that the 2 B-sides were tied-in with dramas as well (Dragon Zakura and Gokusen 2)