I might need some analysis here, but first of all, the thing is that if fans are expecting for a possible album, it might be coming up later on maybe in August or such, as usually if this is just a single song in a single and that's all, and maybe before then there will be an upcoming album that the single is actually in the album, this single might just be considered by myself "useless"!
Here's how my analysis goes among "summer singles" (any Arashi singles released in July or August)
- Typhoon Generation (Pony Canyon) - #3
- Jidai (Pony Canyon - last one under that label!) - #1
- Hitomi no Naka no Galaxy / Hero - #1
- Aozora Pedal - #1, 154,832 (remember - this was the time that Arashi was not as popular as it is today!)
- One Love - #1, 313,976
- Everything - #1, 342,070
And when we take a look at Troublemaker's second week sales: #2, 64,632
What about Ayu's second week sales? Remember, her last single "You were... / BALLAD" had a
double week in their first week, but I decided to put it here for reference; the last one that was regular was last year's "Sunrise / Sunset ~LOVE is ALL~" - here's the stats:
- Sunrise / Sunset ~LOVE is ALL~ - first week: #1, 75,352 (I don't know if this is quite concerning...)
- You were... / BALLAD - double week as first week: #1, 103,351
I don't know if this is quite concerning, but I think Ayu can make it through. The fact that Arashi's song is quite a bit slower tempo compared to the "Troublemaker" and "Monster" singles released earlier this year, as well as greater (earlier) planning for Ayu's 48th (MOON/blossom), 49th and 50th singles (which can equate that people are starting to buy this such item all because they want that preview for the 49th single!), I hope Ayu can get #1 there. But already Arashi's single is sold out for pre-order, while Ayu's still not, though with four choices and the first press releases are still available, I think she can make it, and there's still time (longer time) that the first press can sell out.
At Arashi's pace for summer singles on the other hand, they don't produce such 500,000+ sales, but they're still going to be great hits for summer; however, Ayu's much more planned and I hope her fans will be really crazy for this single. (And I hope both Ayu and Arashi come on Music Station at the same time for the summer!)
And already, this would be Arashi's 5th single since not releasing an album (except All the BEST! 1999-2009, which did not include "Everything"), and five singles are MORE than enough to fit in an album! (Except there's only five A-sides for Arashi, and generally Arashi does NOT release B-sides of their singles into their albums; Ayu only released two singles that would be in the Rock'n'Roll Circus album, but both of the singles were double A-sides, and as always, Ayu's B-sides are also included in her albums; as such, "RED LINE ~for TA~" was included in the RnRC album!)
Also, I have another thing to say: Are all of Arashi's works (along with other Johnny's artists such as Hey! Say! JUMP and KAT-TUN) available on iTunes (including Japan) or not? And if not, why?