Oricon Chart: KinKi Kids' J Album is No. 1 on Weekly Album Chart

Congrats to KinKi Kids!  J Album topped the Weekly Oricon Chart for Albums with total sales of 170,183.

Day 1 (8 Dec):   71,836
Day 2 (9 Dec):   37.095
Day 3 (10 Dec): 20,492
Day 4 (11 Dec): 13,412
Day 5 (12 Dec): 10,417
Day 6 (13 Dec):   9,696
Day 7 (14 Dec):   7,235
TOTAL:           170,183

1st Week of Release:  No. 1 on Oricon Weekly Chart for Album

1st Day of Release:  No. 1 on Oricon Daily Chart for Album

Oricon Chart: KinKi Kids sets a new Guiness World Record with their 29th Single 『スワンソング』 (Swan Song) Topping the Oricon Chart!

Congrats to KinKi Kids!  Their 29th Single 『スワンソング』 (Swan Song) tops the Oricon Single weekly chart in the first week of release with sales record of 160,407.   KinKi Kids holds the Guiness World Record for the most number of consecutive singles which topped the Oricon charts on the 1st week of release and their record is now updated to 29 singles with this new 29th single.

Oricon Chart: KinKi Kids' 29th Single 『スワンソング』 (Swan Song) is No. 1 on 1st day of release!

KinKi Kids' 29th single 『スワンソング』 (Swan Song) took the No. 1 spot on the Oricon Chart Singles Daily Ranking Chart on their 1st day of release (28 Oct 2009) with sales of 72291.

I was at first quite pleasantly surprised when I compared to the 1st day's sales figure of Yakusoku which was at 42094, especially considering the Oricon's expectation points are lower this round. Well, I found the answer for this mystery on another fan's blog (ZAN). It seems that Oricon has recently changed its point/rating measure, which means that we are not comparing apple to apple...... Zan has done the adjustments to the Yakusoku's sales figures and it turns out to be 76747 for the 1st day.

Anyway, no matter what, KinKi Kids have achieved a good sales volume again with their 29th single and should be on their way to further increase their Guiness record. Please do buy the single if you have not bought it yet. The songs in this single are really excellent!

Oricon Chart (Expectation): KinKi Kids' 29th Single 『スワンソング』 (Swan Song)

KinKi Kids' 29th Single 『スワンソング』 (Swan Song) is No. 1 on the Oricon Chart (Expectation) with expectation point of 170.50. This is however slightly lower than Yakusoku, so I guess the sales might be slightly lower this time.

I must say the songs are really nice in this single. The main song - Swan Song has a really catchy anime-type of melody. As for the other songs in the single, I really like the 2nd song - 『サマルェカダス ～another oasis～』(I think the katagana is read as Samarueka Dance; don't ask me what it means......) as well as the 3rd song in the regular edition - 『面影』(I think it is pronouced as omo-kage and the meaning is face mask).

『KinKi you DVD』 is No. 1 for 2nd day sales on Oricon Daily Ranking Chart for DVD

Yeah yeah yeah! KinKi you DVD (Limited Edition) is at No. 1 on the Oricon Daily Ranking Chart for both DVD (mixed) and DVD (music).

『KinKi you DVD』 is No. 2 on Oricon Daily Ranking Chart for DVD

KinKi you concert DVD (Limited Edition) is no. 2 on the Oricon Daily Ranking Chart for DVD for the 1st day sales. The no. 1 is the DVD of the Korean group - 東方神起. Haiz......such a pity. I thought since the limited edition was out of stock so quickly on the online purchase sites as well as in the Japanese music stores on the 1st day, KinKi you DVD should be no. 1. Well, never mind, ranking does not determine the merits! I am still looking forward to my DVD! Please please come soon!

Oricon Chart: Koichi is No. 1 on Oricon Singles Weekly Chart

Congrats to Koichi! Koichi's newest single - "Ayakashi" tops the Oricon Singles Weekly Chart with total sales of 151,093 for the week from 28 Jul to 3 Aug! Impressive!




Koichi's 1st day sales was 64,948, throwing all the other musicians way behind for that day.

1st Day - 29 Jul 2009


Not surprising if we look at the expectation rating for Koichi's single.

Oricon Chart Ranking: Tsuyoshi's Atama no Naka is No. 7 on Fashion Books Chart for 1st half of 2009

Tsuyoshi's Atama no naka is No. 7 (with sales of 52,168) on the Oricon Chart for Fashion Books for 1st half of 2009. For those who haven't bought the book yet, I would highly recommend that you grab a copy. The photographs track Tsuyoshi through his twenties and you have the gorgeous and kawaii Tsuyoshi during 2004, the plump and moustached Tsuyoshi during 2006, the less plump and thank goodness moustache-less Tsuyoshi during 2007-8, in all his various shapes and styles. This is really a must-have for Tsuyoshi's fans.

Click here to see the Oricon chart.

Oricon Chart Singles Ranking For 1st Half of 2009

The Oricon chart singles ranking for first half of 2009 is out! KinKi Kids' Yakusoku is No. 10 with sales of 210,510. Congratulations to KinKi Kids!

Tsuyoshi's single 空～美しい我の空 also made it to No. 47 with sales of 63,015. Unfortunately, his album and DVD both didn't make it into Top 50 for the album and DVD ranking charts. Oh well, he did say that he didn't expect the sales to be too good as his new music style is unconventional. I hope more and more people will be willing to give Tsuyoshi's music a chance and listen to it. It's that type of music better appreciated when you are alone quietly sitting in your room or driving on a long empty road. The only qualification would be that you be careful not to fall asleep whilst driving cuz his music is quite sleep-inducing!!! Hahahaha!

Click here for the Oricon chart ranking.

1) 645,913 Believe／曇りのち、快晴 嵐

2) 555,875 明日の記憶／Crazy Moon～キミ・ハ・ムテキ～ 嵐

3) 451,629 愛のままで… 着うた(R) 秋元順子

4) 377,097 RESCUE KAT-TUN

5) 350,298 ひまわり 着うた(R) 遊助

6) 331,248 ONE DROP KAT-TUN

7) 276,341 恋のABO NEWS

8) 253,261 THE MONSTER ～Someday～ 着うた(R) 特集 EXILE

9) 231,122 弱虫サンタ着うた(R) 特集羞恥心

10) 210,510 約束KinKi Kids

11) 190,891 Days／GREEN 着うた(R) 特集 浜崎あゆみ

12) 178,143 化身 着うた(R) 特集 福山雅治

13) 160,237 浪曲一代 氷川きよし

14) 147,947 今宵、月が見えずとも 着うた(R) ポルノグラフィティ

15) 139,324 Share The World／ウィーアー！ 着うた(R) 特集 東方神起

16) 134,555 Don’t say “lazy” 着うた(R)

17) 130,816 Rule／Sparkle 着うた(R) 特集 浜崎あゆみ

18) 124,219 歩み 着うた(R) 特集 GReeeeN

19) 121,305 Cagayake！GIRLS 着うた(R)

20) 117,183 WILD／Dr.　着うた(R) 特集 安室奈美恵

21) 116,533 明日がくるなら JUJU with JAY’ED 着うた(R) JUJU

22) 110,717 Bolero／Kiss The Baby Sky／忘れないで 着うた(R) 特集 東方神起

23) 110,602 again 着うた(R) 特集 YUIl

24) 107,288 鏡花水月 The SHIGOTONIN

25) 102,842 10年桜 着うた(R) 特集 AKB48

26) 102,007 milk／嘆きのキス特集aiko

27) 101,422 SAY YOUR DREAM 着うた(R) GLAY

28) 101,016 ワンルーム・ディスコ 着うた(R) 特集 Perfume

29) 99,077 It’s all Love！ 着うた(R)倖田來未×misono

30) 98,460 虹 着うた(R) 特集 コブクロ

31) 97,352 刹那着うた(R) 特集 GReeeeN

32) 95,808 嘘着うた(R) 特集 シド

33) 95,231 逢いたい 特集 ゆず

34) 94,920 遥か 着うた(R) 特集 GReeeeN

35) 92,383 Survivor ～090325 4th Album “The Secret Code”Pre-Release Single～【初回限定生産】 着うた(R) 特集 東方神起

36) 87,678 Journey through the Decade 着うた(R) 特集 Gackt

37) 83,850 I am xxx 着うた(R)GLAY

38) 82,520 安芸の宮島 水森かおり

39) 78,149 手紙　～拝啓　十五の君へ～ 着うた(R) 特集 アンジェラ・アキ

40) 77,175 ノクターン／カンパニュラの恋 着うた(R) 平原綾香

41) 75,229 WAO！ 着うた(R) ユニコーン

42) 71,816 愛・革命 滝沢秀明

43) 69,454 Love Forever 着うた(R) 特集加藤ミリヤ×清水翔太

44) 65,898 星に願いを 着うた(R) 特集 flumpool

45) 65,657 stay with me着うた(R) 特集倖田來未

46) 63,658 I GOTTA KICK START NOW 着うた(R) 特集VAMPS

47) 63,015 空 ～美しい我の空 剛 紫

48) 61,078 深愛 着うた(R) 水樹奈々

49) 60,141 眠り姫 特集 Acid Black Cherry

50) 60,096 泪のムコウ 着うた(R) 特集ステレオポニー

Oricon Chart: KinKi Kids is No. 1 for the most often listened to artiste when commuting to work

I must say the Japanese seem to love to rank anything and everything!

In this 2009 ranking exercise, people were asked to rank the artiste they most often listen to on their music player when commuting to work. And the No. 1 is KinKi Kids! Yeah!!!

Credit to since1997★ for the news source.

http://career.oricon.co.jp/rank_agency/

KinKi Kids' 28th Single is No. 1 on Oricon Singles Weekly Chart

Congratulations to KinKi Kids! Their newest 28th single CD - Yakusoku has topped the Oricon Singles Weekly Chart from 28 Jan to 2 Feb with a total sales of 171,412.

KinKi Kids have been holding the record in the Guinness Book of World Record for having the most number of singles consecutively topping the Oricon chart upon release. With the latest sales, this means that KinKi Kids' every single from the 1st to the 28th have all hit No. 1 on the Oricon Singles Weekly Chart upon release. This is an achievement that nobody else can even rival or come close to.

Notwithstanding the achievement, there have been many disappointing voices heard from fans on the internet. I can of course understand why. The sales volume of KinKi Kids' singles have unfortunately been dropping steadily over the years, and this can be seen from the data below.

This newest 28th single was thought by fans to be much better than the previous few singles and they were hoping for better sales this time round. Unfortunately, the sales for the latest single set a new precedent for the lowest sales ever. Fans felt aggreived as they are of the view that KinKi Kids' agency - Johnny's Entertainment, did not do a good job in terms of the promotional campaign, the PV, the CD cover, the availability of the CD at shops, etc. And the perception that JE is devoting its resources to the other younger groups at the expense of KinKi Kids naturally stirs up greater frustration and anger.

Of course promotional campaign will help to improve sales. However, I believe that there are many reasons that contributes to the declining sales for KinKi Kids.

1) KinKi Kids have been around since 1997 and it is not surprising that their popularity has declined over the years. The fact that they are still able to hit no. 1 on the Oricon chart after being around for 10 odd years is already an amazing achievement by itself.

2) KinKi Kids originated as an idol group and the original target market would naturally be attracted to them due to their good looks and dance moves. With their music styles moving away from the pop music genre, lesser (or nil) dance moves and the mere fact that they are no longer young, the original target market would definitely shrink.

3) People then argue that there are other music groups which continued to generate high sales volume despite being around for many years, like Mr Children. Unfortunately, KinKi Kids are perceived as an idol group and their fan base would be very different from that of a serious music group like Mr Children. So what gave KinKi Kids the rise in popularity when they were young and what is now causing their decline in popularity is the one and same reason - they are seen as idols and idols only.

4) Of course it doesn't help that their agency JE is one that focuses on idol groups. Hence, it is only natural that they will now focus their resources on the younger groups that can attract the target market for idols, and to build up their pipelines for standby to replace the current popular batch. Hence, JE would aggressively market Arashi, Kat-tun, News and Hey Say Jump as they are now at their prime and idol marketing is JE's forte. To JE, I guess they would assume that KinKi Kids is a shrinking market and hence, there is no point wasting too much resources on marketing them. The only exception seems to be SMAP, but then again, SMAP is afterall the heavenly group of Japan.

5) I nearly forgot to say this. The effects of the economic depression this round should not be ignored.

After all the long-winded talk above, what am I trying to say?! Well, I don't really know either. I just wanted to ventilate too! =.=

I had also wished that this 28th single could have done better, not just in terms of the sales but more importantly, in terms of the regard from the serious music front. KinKi Kids have been venturing into different music styles in order to break out from the pop/idol genre, and I personally think that Secret Code and Yakusoku are good and unique music pieces. These songs are not easy to sing and KinKi Kids have done a good job performing these songs. However, we don't seem to hear much feedback from the music sector. Instead, we keep hearing fans commenting that the music is not nice, Tsuyoshi is singing too much, they are not dancing, etc etc etc. These are comments that would be made by fans (or maybe I should say enemies?!) of a pop or idol group. Where are the serious music critics? How come KinKi Kids are not appearing on the more serious music magazines that the other musicians appear in when they release new songs?

I am also upset by the fact that the other songs in this 28th single CD have been put to waste as they are all very good songs. I personally loved "Tabidachi no hi" and "Loving" but I wonder if the masses even had a chance to hear them out.

Anyway, if KinKi Kids want to break out of this downward spiral, they need to have a breakthrough so that people can look at them with new perspective. A friend of mine, who is also a KinKi Kids fan, feels that the breakthrough could come in the form of an album that is made up of music composed and written by them. I am also beginning to agree with her view. I would like to think that Tsuyoshi is already perceived as a serious musician in terms of the alternative music market for funk music. It would be wonderful if KinKi Kids can one day also be perceived as serious musicians for mainstream music. I can understand why Tsuyoshi wants to come out with an original KinKi Kids' album written by themselves and why he would prefer not to have to dance in their new songs. They need a breakthrough.

Congratulations to KinKi Kids! 28th Single CD Yakusoku 約束 is No. 1 on Oricon Singles Daily Chart @ 27/1!

<= Limited Edition <= Normal Edition

Congratulations to KinKi Kids! Their newest 28th single - Yakusoku 約束 has obtained the No. 1 spot on the Oricon Singles Daily Chart @ 27/1 with a score of 42,094. I'm not sure whether this means that they have beaten their own Guinness Book of World Records, but no matter what, this is a good start! Yeah!!!

Please click here to listen to the songs in this single.


Oricon Singles Daily Chart: http://www.oricon.co.jp/rank/js/d/