Do you think...

[phoenix_c]

...BoA will be a true star singer in Japan? I know that she sold a lot for her albums and single in Japan. But, according to what i've read from the book. It seems that as a foreigner, we must keep in mind that we are a foreigner. Indirectly saying that, they will still devoted Japanese singer to be number one. Is that true?

[ImpactBreaker]

Well, BoA is a true singer in Japan LOL She's got a large fanbase, of course not as huge as koda kumi or ayu, but for a foreigner she surely does have a lot of status there.
I'm not sure if the fact she's not native japanese interferes in her career, but well, I think her success matches the work she's been releasing, she's definitely not underrated there.

[miracleofsuzaku]

She's aleady a true star in Japan. In fact, I heard that she's more famous in Japan than in Korea. Maybe it's because she does more promotions in Japan.

[LacusClyne]

^ i agree with you that she do have more fans in japan then Korea. she is already counted a star there.

[sexysaucestar]

I think she is probably more of a true star in Japan than in her home country...sometimes some artists have more fame in foreign countries than in their home countries. Take for instance, a lot of western singers (such as, say, Mariah Carey); she has a lot of Japanese fans apparently (well, not sure about the present, but I know she had a large Japanese fanbase in the past).

Random fact: Most of the Japanese I have talked to here only like Western music now o_O As in, they're not so interested in J-music anymore. It's just like us Westerners losing interest in our music back home and venturing into J-music.

[Halla]

^ I think Mariah Carey is the most popular western artist in Japan. at least the best-selling

Isn't BoA like the third most popular female singer on Avex , after Koda Kumi and Ayu ?

Ai Otsuka is popular to but BoA has released more

[sexysaucestar]

^ Thanks for confirming the Mariah thing....my sister is a huge fan of hers and was trying to tell me about how Mariah was/is pretty popular in Japan. ^^;

[bluegie]

Most people share the same problem. They dun like some of the stuff in their own cultures, while something in other cultures are special. For example, if we talk about electronics, we'll think of Japan; Hollywood movies are always big seller. For me, I dun like Western Pop anymore, their lyrics are quite shallow. I dun really like HKPop (I was born in Hong Kong) as well.. It's not about the music, but lots of artists there aren't that attractive, and most important is that they're not professional at all.

Back to the topic. It's obvious that BoA's popularity keeps declining. Total sales wise she must be better than Ai-chan cuz she's released more singles and albums than Ai... But I dun consider she's the top 3 anymore at this moment. Just look at her current single... It was only sold 36K this week. I think Ai-chan can easily sell over 50K at least on the first week nowadays. Now it's obvious that the top 3 avex female artists are ayu, kumi, and ai-chan..

[phoenix_c]

Is it because of her identity as korean that makes her declining in sales of her single in Japan? It will be very sad for her then.. >_<

[sexysaucestar]

^ It shouldn't be...I mean a lot of Japanese actually like Korean culture/singers/actors nowadays. o_o

[bluegie]

yeah i agree. It's not she's the only person declining in popularity. It's just that she was never extremely big before, so her lost in popularity is like making her fall into the lower rank in the popular class...

For Ai-chan, well her sales are consistent at this moment so we won't see a fall on her that early.

[phoenix_c]

Oh I see... Thanks for the information. I thought that outsider (not japanese) will not survive in the japanese market. I'm wrong then... >_^

[bluegie]

she does survive. I think she's still doing good at this stage. Her singles never sell as much as albums do. We'll have to see her next album's sales to determine her "survival" . I would say if her next album's first week sale is around 50 - 60% of Ayu's, she should be ok...