[njanjayrp]

Originally Posted by Bigtop

Thanks for crediting that out. Right now Ayu could only sell some 70,000 weekly in singles, but I'm seeing like some 150,000 or so for AKB48 sub-units/Tomomi Itano, and obviously like Arashi, over half a million for AKB48 itself. Even the NINKI rankings for them are (outrageously) very high. Now there's not only Johnny's to deal with but also with the AKB48 and the related groups (including SKE48), and also to a minor sense maybe YUI, Perfume, Tohoshinki or the new Koreans coming over to Japan this year.

Already she's 32, her peak is far long gone, and with those facts that I stated, while Ayu might have been getting number ones for the past few singles, the dates they picked are the ones that are less risky for her not to get #1 (though even Arashi announcing that they would release Dear Snow a week after Ayu, maybe respecting her for the record-breaker), and when comparing with today's heavier hitters such as AKB48 and Arashi, her #1 is more like #2 or #3 compared to their #1 if placed head-to-head.

Had that Ayu revolution of heavy commercialism did not occur back in the early 2000s (when Ayu reached her peak, such as 2002), Ayu would not be #1 at all times, and she would not be the same Ayu as what it is today.

All that was totally unneeded as we're all well aware of the odds YUI and Perfume would be relatively easy to beat though.