[koumori]

Originally Posted by saigodansu

Really? Where's the huge decline in sales for Ai Otsuka and Kumi Koda then?

Ai's new band debuted at #25 on the Oricon. That's a huge drop in interest for her. Of course, it's natural..she's been away for a while, and it's not a solo comeback. But it still skews it so she can't be used as a comparison artist. Her situation is very different to Ayu's. And since Koda's is too, I'm tempted to write her off the comparison artist list too. Sure she married, and popped out a kid, but she's kept the wedding out of her career since it was confirmed and continued to release things throughout her pregnancy and make a comeback as though she was never gone. Her personal life really didn't affect her career, and so it never had a chance to irritate the fans. Koda worked really hard, probably to ensure it didn't have a negative impact on her career - and it worked!

Although, I agree with Emi. Neither of them have ever reached the height of Ayu's popularity, and so what they do will always be shrugged off in favour of the media pointing fingers at Ayu. It's just reality.