People said that we couldn't compare LOVE again with JAPONESQUE because of the one year gap, they said we need to wait till Kumi's new album be out, we didn't know it would take another whole year. But now we can't compare Bon Voyage to LOVE again because of the same thing. I hope ayu will release something soon so we can see how their fandoms are acting around their new releases... It's not a competition thing, it's just fan/market analisys.

Anyway I'm really happy she got that #1 :heart

I wonder if there will ever be another J-Pop Mega Diva in the future? Able to outsell all other acts? Well, even if there was, she probably won't sell a lot of physical copies as they are almost obsolete . If Oricon keeps insisting on only counting physical sales, we may never know when she is among us :P

Ha, I suppose I did.

Digital sales in Japan in general has seem to plummet as well and I don't think that digital album (as albums) ever sold well in Japan but mainly individual songs so I'm not sure how they would add to the sales anyway. At least we know the physical numbers, and even though AKB for example, sell millions consistently because of great tactics, they still sell huge numbers physically.
RIAJ certifications for chaku uta/full songs legal downloads are not big as they used to either.

But why should people compare JAPONESQUE with LOVE again if Party queen came 2 months after the first one? Both albums got almost the same numbers in the long run.
I think Bon Voyage if released one year ago should have sold the same amount. The drop for Kumi and Ayu albums is pretty similar since some years ago. Anyway, as you stated, it's not a competition thing, it's just fan/market analisys.

i can listen to the introduction & interlude on rpt for 84 years. i hope they do something really cool on the tour with those.

First of all congrats to kuu in snatching number ! yo gurl! ♥ the album deserved it imo. About the whole thing of digital/physical releases I won't add anyting useful to the discussion because I agree with what of many of you said, just wanted to say tho that I still prefer physical copies as I love seeing my collection growing little by little phisically! I guess it's like books. Nothing can replace for me the smell of a good new book or to feel the sensation of the booklet of my fav album in my hands. ebooks and digital copies may be useful and more comfortable in the long run but...I guess I'm old school <_<

Just wanted to say that it looks like kiary's last single flopped. It topped at 9th position and then just went down, like her previous singles... considering she's only at her 8th single I don't really think she's that much of a megadiva. She's already experiencing declining...it's a pity tho, she was something new at least. Kana is stable with her sales, she sells like kuu/ayu/namie in general but not above that and her peak is over as well. I think that the era of soloists is over in japan. For now, it's groups/idols moment of glory

There were always Japanese divas solo females that were the most popular of the year, minimum sharing with a popular boys band or be on the top of the top.
seiko matsuda, matsutoya yuming and akina nakamori on the 80s, ayu and hikki on 1999-2004, kuu on 2005-2007 and namie in on 1996-1997 and 2008-2013. But it looks like it's over. Namie can still sell well (300,000s) but it's not on the top level and on the spoken years no one could touch them or get close to them, even no other very popular solo females (and there were way more). As you said, it's Idol groups/Johnny's who rule nowadays and there is no heir solo female. I always have this speech when ayu, kuu, namie or kana decrease in sales lol. They are my favorites after all, but all of this is actually true.

Nowadays International Female Solo Artists in Japan sell way better than J-Pop ones, look at Taylor Swift (274k), Lady Gaga (188k), Avril Lavigne (168k), Katy Perry (69k) and Ariana Grande (56k) last album numbers and you'll see that they're experiencing good longevity and having better numbers than they used to.

ooh I completely forgot about Party Queen, sorry.

Interesting discussion. It's sad somehow. I miss that enthusiasm shown by the mass of fans regarding a female solo artist. Maybe it is still not over but only a transitional period of time. I hope for a great 2014 regarding the jpop queens. Kumi started the year in great form with her album Bon Voyage and I hope ayu will impress us as well! Maybe even Namie will release a new album in 2014. For Utada I have no hope in releasing new material.

I seriously don't find any of the groups in Japan that awesome. I have listened to some of them (I used to be obsessed with KAT-TUN for a while too) but these days they all just suck. When it comes to groups I go for K-Pop because they make songs that I really like. I wish the solo female artist domination would return. That was the most amazing thing ever imo.

And congrats for Kuu's another chart topping album♥

japanese rock bands are getting better and better imo, UVERworld, SPYAIR, ONE OK ROCK are just a few names I can say, but there's a lot of them. And yeah, japanese pop groups are just getting worse :@ I also go for the korean ones when it comes to pop groups, but I prefer when they to japanese versions of their songs..

So, like Ayumisrael already posted in the Ayu threads, RIAJ updated their digital certifications till January 2014.
Kuu got quite a lot of it.
Here the list of new certifications:

Single track (full songs)

Triple Platinum
Moon Crying
Double Platinum
Suki de, Suki de, Suki de
Platinum
Aisho
Ai wo tomenaide
Anata dake ga
stay with me
TABOO
Lick me
Lollipop
Gold
Koishikute
FREAKY
Poppin Love Cocktail feat. TEEDA
POP DIVA
Love Me Back


Ai wo tomenaide was a much bigger hit than we thought.
It was so weird back then, when it was at No.1 on recochoku for 3 weeks straightand only got Gold.
Koishikute go certified as well. Together wit Go to the top the only song with genereal public success for the Bon Voyage album.

I do have a list of all her digital certifications if somebody wants.
Though it's really, really long. :D

I'm not surprised for Ai wo tomenaide's popularity. That song is awesome♥

I'd like to check out that list, Corvina~ :33

Wow I didn't know the Japanese public liked Aisho lol that song seems so forgotten among Kuu fans.

Here's the full list of official digital certifications made by RIAJ till now:

PC downloads:

Gold
Ai wo tomenaide
Ai no Uta
Moon Crying
Suki de, Suki de, Suki de.

Chaku Uta

2 million
Koi no Tsubomi

Million
Yume no Uta
Unmei
Ai no Uta

Triple Platinum
Cutie Honey
Butterfly
you
Someday
I'll be there
BUT
anytime
Moon Crying

Double Platinum
hands
flower
Promise
No Regret
WIND
Futari de...
Cherry Girl
stay with me

Single track (former Chaku Uta full/ full songs)

Triple Platinum
Ai no Uta
Moon Crying

Double Platinum
Suki de, Suki de, Suki de

Platinum
Yume no Uta
Butterfly
No Regret
Someday
Koi no Tsubomi
Unmei
anytime
BUT
you
It's all Love!
Aisho
Ai wo tomenaide
Anata dake ga
stay with me
TABOO
Lick me♥
Lollipop

Gold
Cutie Honey
Promise
you
Lies
WIND
Futari de...
WON'T BE LONG
girls
LAST ANGEL feat. Tohoshinki
Taisetsu na Kimi he
Ningyo Hime
Koishikute
FREAKY
Poppin Love Cocktail feat. TEEDA
POP DIVA
Love Me Back

List is ordered by the time RIAJ certificated the songs.
Just put in the new certifications before posting.

Surprised to see Lies in the list. That song was so ignored by Kumi.

Glad to see Aisho. I didn't know either the song was that popular <3

Nice to see Kuu with those great digital numbers, and happy she managed to get #1 with Bon Voyage <3 Congrats, queen

On another topic, my copy of BV seema to have disappeared, I got no news on its tracking since it was sent from Japan :( I'll wait a bit more and then maybe complain about it, but I really hope it arrives soon

I also miss when J-Pop was dominated by female singers :/. Her digital sales are really impressive tho

Unfortunately, I think it's gonna take a while until a female solo will be that big again. And it most likely won't be anyone we know, lol.

Congrats on Kuu for getting #1!
This is such a fun, fresh and adorable album, it so deserved more than these sales.
Oh well.

Woah, Ai wo Tomenaide was so popular! lol
Not really surprised, it's the kind of ballad japanese girls die about. Literally.
I kind of love it too, tough, it's so sweet and Kuu's voice singing is so warm and pleasant!