Single Sakurazaka 2nd [BAN] (2021/04/14)

Hi everyone i was reading a little more of the thread and got curious, is there a theory for why Ambivalent and Kuroi Hitsuji sold less than Glass wo Ware even though Techi was still there? Was the group past their prime before she left?

 

Reading this, you make it seem like Techi was the reason why they sell lmao.

But well, Techi wasn't taking part in hs so we can't conclude that way. I can't give the exact reason but sometimes things change like that. During Ambi and glasso, ppl were already tired of Techi as center i guess. Can't say abt Ambi but kuroi was a sad one and wasn't really a happy song so idol fans won't have the interest to buy it. Plus the group's unfortunate happenings also started around that time too.

 

I answered a question similar to yours a few pages ago, so I’ll put paste it again here. Hope this help.

Spoiler

 

The group's peak was in 2017. Garasu did well but not as well as Fukyouwaon and 2018 was the start of Keyaki's troubles (or rather Kohaku 2017 was the start). I don't think Techi was the driving force behind Keyaki's sales, idol fans buy CDs for handshakes. Kuroi Hitsuji didn't have Imaizumi who was a very strong seller.

 

Re-taking Oricon daily sales count today (off yesterday)

Day 1 (4/13): 300,704 (1st)
Day 2 (4/14): 31,022 (1st) (331,726)
Day 3 (4/15): 15,856 (1st) (347,582)
Day 4 (4/16): 9,333 (1st) (356,915)
Day 5 (4/17): 9,243 (1st) (366,158)

 

So no 400k first week, huh? Shame.

 

https://twitter.com/billboard_japan/status/1384056953748430849?s=21 Billboard says 400k

 

Oricon daily sales count

Day 1 (4/13): 300,704 (1st)
Day 2 (4/14): 31,022 (1st) (331,726)
Day 3 (4/15): 15,856 (1st) (347,582)
Day 4 (4/16): 9,333 (1st) (356,915)
Day 5 (4/17): 9,243 (1st) (366,158)
Day 6 (4/18): 7,387 (1st) (373,545)

 

NiziU sold 317k first week on Oricon. They gained from previous single without meguri sales.

Oricon only counts domestic sales from retailers from consumer who buys small quantity of copies.

Billboard Japan counts international shipping + big quantity of copies.

NiziU selling more than a AkiP group is concerning for s&f especially for in-chief manager Toru Mogi.

Even with hs sales they wouldn't be close to their growth in early 2017. They have only declined after 6th single. They need to do something about it. Stay with Sakura 8 and 3 center system will not gain anything back.

Hono needs to become center. Her PV has 1.3M views while the other members have 400k and 300k.

 

PV views aren’t everything otherwise Rika should’ve been the centre of Silent Majority. 1.3M views but has that translated to hono’s name being well recognised outside the wota community???
@Rev4 you sound like a broken and tired record.
Niziu had a hit song. So their sales increased a bit. Sakurazaka don’t. Yet. It’s really not that groundbreaking or hard to figure out. And niziu also have meguri for their singles so :/

I don’t know why you continue to ignore the numerous comments about in person handshake and National handshake being the reasons why akip groups sell so well.
“They have only declined after 6th single” and that’s a good thing because ?

 

Exactly. You can search twitter and see people talking about winning NiziU meet & greet tickets too LOL. If you are going to claim something at least check to see if you’re correct @Rev4 . During the Sakurazaka meguri I would see NiziU fans talking about their event too in the twitter tags.

Popular twitter account 478 did a survey among Japanese fans and a huge percentage (around half I believe?) said they did not want to participate in online meet and greet. People want in-person events. The Fortune music app is terrible, this weekend fans were stuck in the identity verification for nearly an hour for a process that takes 10 seconds. And this happened in back-to-back slots. It’s a shitty app, it’s laggy even in Japan, and people don’t want to spend that money they would rather save for in-person events. National handshake events guarantee meeting popular members like Hikaru, Hono, Yuuka who have really low winning rates. Meanwhile the replacement event for the Limited CDs are still lottery-based, so no guarantees they would meet the member they want. Plus it forces fans to plan in advance which non-wota fans may not be able to do/are not aware of usually. For the usual National Handshake you can go buy the most recent single in the local Tower Records, hop onto the train to Makuhari Messe, and attend the event. It’s so much easier than having to order these singles a month ahead for sales rounds that last for less than 48 hours, require shipping addresses, etc. If someone gets into the group after the single is released? Probably won’t be able to attend until the next single. National Handshake is seriously super convenient and contributes a lot to the sales of all Sakamichi groups.

As @miwa said, the driving force behind the physical sales for idols are the gimmicks. This is the truth for Japan with the events, Korea with their photocards and fansigns, etc.

 

Thanks for the answers!

 

Uh...NiziU did have a meguri sales. That's why they sold that amount lol. Yes, they too had meguri sales, just like any other idols now. With kpop selling through hi5s and what not, you wldn't expect them to not have other means to sell too. I do understand you tho. Given the push they've been having so much, i thought their sales were from no other means but their publicity. Until i saw ppl talking abt their meet and greet lol. Imagine my shock too. So we see now it isn't only Akip idols. Jyp's really targeting them and even though it's frightening and worrying, remember that Akip is one very genius producer

 

I love Hono and I'd love for her to be the new center but the reason why her PV got so many views is because it was a love simulation video. The other PVs were not like that, you can't compare them. There's a reason why Nogizaka and Hinatazaka have games like Nogikoi and Hinakoi respectively, or why Saito Kyoko is doing that girlfriend shtick or why so many photobooks have eating scenes (they're supposed to simulate a date). It's what attracts wotas, it doesn't have that much to do with Hono herself (although she's still among the most popular Sakurazaka members).

 

Oricon 1st week sales count: 373,547

For comparison:

https://www.oricon.co.jp/news/2190946/full/

 

Not only that, some of her dancing and moves reminded fans of Neru.

 

After a short hiatus from forums and after checking your comments about sales, numbers and hand-shakes, I have to point out that I, as an international fan thousands of miles away, find Sakurazaka46 by far the most avant-garde group at least among all Aki-P creations (with the exception of his concept on the musical group "Coinlockers").

This is more than enough for me. The 2nd single is quite experimental (especially omotta and microscope), even bold, for the typical J-pop standards and the girls are doing AMAZING performances regarding dancing and expressions. Regarding music, choreo, costumes, presence etc etc we are talking about top-quality stuff, really!

The only thing that should be addressed ASAP is moving 3rd liners forward in sub-groups with own songs, as the group is running a serious risk of being split in half (between "oh THAT girl!!!" and "who's that girl???" teams), which is totally unfair and highly demotivating for the "who's that girl" sub-group. At the same time Saku-8 girls may get some quite-needed rest.

 

I agree, a great incentive for being a '3rd row girl' is for them to get their own songs to perform as a unit. Saku8 system seems good in theory but if we're essentially going to get the same senbatsu dynamic for 3 separate groups that only focus on 8 'fukujin' members while the others get 2.8 seconds screen time..... This formation strategy isn't as good as what we had before..

Personally i would be happy if they did a hybrid of saku8 system, with 3 centers for 3 songs that get MV's (better than the keyaki system where techi centered them all), but then have the next three songs be units or solos performed by the non sakura8 members. It would make the singles more exciting because the girls not in saku8 still have a chance to shine. :/

 

Wow, was Hono attractive in every way on last Sunday's SokoSaku. Of course she's good-looking, but her gentle, elegant manner and seeming lack of artificiality are so attractive. Starting around the 9-minute mark of the show, she did a little turn where they gave her a year and she said where the Olympic Games were that year. But it was her person that was impressive more than her memory.

I'm not saying she should be center. I don't know what's best (and I personally want to see as much Karin as possible, lol). I just wanted to say how good I thought Hono was on that SokoSaku, and how likeable she seems generally.

 

I saw Hono at that Zambi haunted house they were doing in summer 2019. I wasn’t exceptionally familiar with 2ki yet and Hono (somehow) wasn’t a standout for me at that point, but she definitely had a certain presence to her in person that not every idol does. That immediate “oh, this person is a star” presence. I think that’s been made more and more evident in performances and in variety over the past two years.