Looking ahead to Renai Hunter's competition

Like I usually do for special or memorable releases, here's a look at next week's competition for Risa's last single as a member of Morning Musume.

The above screenshot is next week's Ninki poll. According to the Japanese Oricon readers that were polled, the top 5 artists for next week are Sexy Zone, Perfume, 2AM, Morning Musume, and ASIAN KUNG-FU GENERATION.

Sexy Zone will take #1. Their last single (which was also their debut - you might remember that Mobekimasu faced off against them) sold 173,000 copies.

Perfume will be in the running for #1, but unless Perfume has a sudden upward surge in sales (or Sexy Zone's single sells way lower than expected), they will take #2. Their last few singles sold around 80,000-94,000 copies in their first week.

And so that leaves the battle for 3rd. Despite what the Ninki poll says, it's Morning Musume's spot to lose. 2AM's Japanese debut single sold 26,000 copies and they'd have to double that in order to compete with Morning Musume. ASIAN KUNG-FU GENERATION usually sells less than that (20,000 or so). And the person ranked 6th in the Ninki poll is a seiyuu (K-ON! fans will recognize her) that poses an even less threat than ASIAN KUNG-FU GENERATION.

Although the numbers to the left of the artist's name do not represent predicted sales in any way, this time around they should be pretty close - at least for the top 5.

My guess is that the week ends up like this:
1. Sexy Zone (195,000)
2. Perfume (97,000)
3. Morning Musume (45,000)
4. 2AM (30,000)
5. ASIAN KUNG-FU GENERATION (16,000)

If you want to ensure Morning Musume gets that #3 spot, you can buy this single!

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Busu ni Naranai Tetsugaku gets weekly #4, sells pretty well

Mobekimasu's first ever group single earned a weekly #4 and sold 49,429 copies. And the best part is that the promotion isn't even over yet (like the live Niconico stream of their event at Yomiuri land which will be streamed in about 11 hours from now).

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Looking at Mobekimasu's competition

Next week on the 16th, the Mobekimasu Busu ni Naranai Tetsugaku single will release, so let's take a look at some of the other artists releasing that same day.

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Morning Musume debuts at #2

So, I expected them to debut at #2 but the first day sales are amazingggggg. They almost sold more than Mikan sold in it's entire first week. This single's first day sales are even higher than the magical Nanchatte Renai single! And the best part of it all is that we almost, almost beat EXILE - something that no one thought possible. EXILE is selling lower than expected, so if Morning Musume can keep up sales like this the whole week (it's unlikely but...) then we might just be able to snatch #1 away. Yay wotas (and everyone else who bought copies!)!

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Berryz are #1!!

For today at least, Berryz Koubou are ranked #1 on the Oricon daily charts, selling 5893 copies.

To my knowledge, this is the first time Berryz has ever gotten a #1 ranking (even for one day). C-ute did it right before Erika left (Everyday Zekkouchou!!) and of course Morning Musume has accomplished that feat multiple times.

Congrats Berryz - you deserve it! Especially outselling the likes of Arashi and AKB48 (if just for one day). After a couple of rough spots (I didn't really like Maji Bomber or Shining Power), Heroine ni Narou ka is right up there with some of my favorite Berryz songs of all time.

If you want to help this single outsell Shining Power (about 8000 more copies are needed to be sold), then you can buy it!

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Aitai Lonely Christmas 1st week sales, rank

Ranked at #6 for the week, C-ute's 14th single Aitai Lonely Christmas sold 23,682 copies.

This is C-ute's highest selling first week since Everyday Zekkouchou. In the coming weeks, it will definitely surpass their other three singles from this year and become C-ute's highest selling single for 2010. It is also the second highest selling first week for a H!P single that isn't a Morning Musume song (Otakebi Boy/Tomodachi holds first place).

Good job C-ute, way to end the year strong.

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Aitai Lonely Christmas debuts at #6

No huge surprise here. Sandaime J Soul Brothers ranked higher than I would have guessed, but I honestly don't know anything about them.

If J Soul Brothers is consistent with their sales, C-ute will probably end up at #6 for the whole week. I doubt they will outsell Sid, T.M Revolution, or Yuzu (and definitely not Kinki Kids).

But what matters more are total sales. The first day estimated sales are a little over 9000 (lol). That's good for C-ute. If those numbers are accurate, then Aitai has a good chance of selling well.

Of course, you don't have to leave things to chance. You can do your part and buy it!

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Onna to Otoko no Lullaby Game second week sales

They sold 4,799 copies for their second week, bringing Onna's total to 47,204. It is now officially their highest selling single since the awesomeness that was Nanchatte Renai. If they have a couple more strong weeks, they can outsell Naichau Kamo and Shougani Yume Oibito.

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Today is awesome news day

It's been a while since I did a news roundup post, but so many great things have been announced lately (especially today).

• Former C-ute member Kanna opens a Twitter account

I'm not a fan of Twitter at all (my long blog posts and the rules of Twitter do not agree with each other), but with so many people that I care about opening Twitter accounts, I may just have to give in one day. Kanna's message in her first tweet is clear: "i am kanna!!! ^^follow me ^3^". I reckon those with Twitter accounts should do what she says.

It's definitely real because she announced it on her blog. For those that can't read Japanese, let me attempt to translate.

"Twitter

I have opened a Twitter account. ^^

The account is

kanna93_coco

♪"

•  Chisato continues to be a hot topic

Pictured above is the cover of the limited edition of Chisato's first photobook. To get that special cover, you must pre-order the photobook from the Wanibooks store for 3000 yen. You also get three other extras for ordering from Wanibooks, but I can't read the kanji to figure out what exactly they are. But any Chisato extras must be awesome right?

Also, the official C-ute channel has uploaded yet another Chisato dance cover. This time it's Massara Blue Jeans (complete with a pair of jeans in the background). How much more awesome can one girl get?

• Shimizu Saki to finally get a photobook

I never thought the day would come. I seriously didn't. So when I heard the news, I had to let out a yell of joy. It was announced on her blog as well as some staff member's twitter account. All of these new releases makes me wish I was rich (or at least not broke). It is set to release January 12th, along with a DVD that will soon follow.

• Aitai Lonely Christmas Ninki Poll

 Just in case you missed my explanation of what the Ninki poll is, you can read up on it here. As you can see, C-ute is ranked 5th. Kinki Kids will definitely get number one. T.M. Revolution usually sells in the 60,000 range and will probably take the #2 spot, but Sid (#4 on the Ninki poll) and Yuzu (#3 on the Ninki poll) both have hit 60,000 before. #2-4 is really a toss up. C-ute will likely get the 5 spot, which is good considering the competition.

• Morning Musume Alo-Hello 4 Blu-Ray

I had given up all hope on finding more H!P Blu-Ray isos (or even Blu-Ray DVD rips), but some kind wota uploaded the Morning Musume Alo4 BDISO a couple of days ago. Looking forward to watching it in full 1080p HD (and uploading it to Youtube sometime later). If the Shocking Live Blu-Ray ISO would be uploaded, today would be as close to perfect as possible.

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Onna to Otoko no Lullaby Game weekly Oricon ranking

Morning Musume's 44th single, Onna to Otoko no Lullaby Game, received a weekly ranking of #6 and sold a total of 42,405 copies.

It's a little off from my predicated sales, but it is still a solid number, especially for one week. Sales aren't as high as I had hoped, but Onna to Otoko no Lullaby Game is Morning Musume's highest selling first week since Shougani Yume Oibito and sold higher in its first week than nine of their last thirteen singles (that's four years worth of singles).

This single is definitely a success in my opinion and we haven't even gotten into its second week. There is still a Music Japan performance on Sunday, which will help boost second week sales. Even though they didn't reach 48,000 - 50,000 in the first week as I had hoped, Morning Musume can certainly get to that mark in their second week and possibly even surpass it.

Onna to Otoko no Lullaby Game is a great way to end the year for Morning Musume.

Also, just in case anyone is interested in how the other artists stacked up against Morning Musume this week, here is the top six ranking.

1. KAT-TUN (230,829)
2. SKE48 (119,913)
3. Kobukuro (82,143)
4. Arashi's single's 2nd week (50,229)
5. AAA (46,014)
6. Morning Musume (42,405)

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Onna to Otoko no Lullaby Game Ninki poll + corrections

The Ninki poll for next week's releases is up.

The Ninki poll is a poll that Oricon does every week, basically asking people which new singles and albums the Japanese public is interested in. It's not a prediction of how songs will do; it's just a way to somewhat gauge how much interest Japanese people have in the new releases.

Before I go on, I'd like to bring to light a correction I made in my last Onna to Otoko no Lullaby Game post. I completely forgot about Kobukuro releasing on 11/17, and they almost definitely will rank higher than Morning Musume, so my new prediction has KAT-TUN #1, SKE48 #2, Kobukuro #3, MM #4, and AAA #5.

The Ninki poll disagrees with me. KAT-TUN is 1, Kobukuro is 2, SKE48 is 3, AAA is 4, and MM is 5.

We'll have to wait until next week to see who is more accurate.

Also, back to my last post for a minute. I wished that Morning Musume would get on Music Japan and/or Melodix, and the former has been announced. The Music Japan episode they will appear on is the November 28th show.

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