Ikuta Erika (Ikuchan) / 1st Gen

Wow she beats Maiyan's! If Maiyan release another photobook will it go another neck to neck with intermission? I hope one day other Nogi members can overtop these two, someone or more from 2nd gen onwards

 

I heard Maiyan's Passport has sold about 350k copies(?)

 

Yeah, Maiyan's Passport sold 229K in 2017 alone. It has reached 300K by the end of 2018. Not sure what's the number now.
In the long run, Ikuchan's PB might beat Maiyan's total number, we'll see....
Congrats Ikuchan!!

 

i wonder what is the factor for ikuta pb to be sold like a hotcake?

 

I don't remember if it was actual photobook sales or just her fans, but there was some TV program that showed data that she had a proportionately much higher amount of women and older demographics vs other idols. A lot of them probably know her through musicals.

Edit: Just looked up some news articles. So apparently idol photobook sales are usually 10% female, but Intermission was 30% female. But Passport also sold to 30%+ female buyers. I can't find numbers for other members, so it seems like the publisher only releases these figures if they're particularly high.
(Also, obviously Ikuta sells like hotcakes because she's a beautiful Nogi ace, but I was looking for more unique factors)

 

I think ikuchan beside her unique proportion in demographic also because it came at right momentum. Nogi already got right amount of publicity at their current peak+she as popular member. I'll say maiyan's pb(and sakamichi in general) publicity as best seller also indirectly boost people curiousity for her pb. It was well balance of hype and buzz i think

 

After winning JRA 2 times back to back, Nogi is at the peak of their popularity, also Ikuchan is at the peak of her musical career. She is actually very popular to the general public, second only to Maiyan. In this year's Nikkei talent power ranking, she came in 2nd place among Nogi members. And in 2018, she was 3rd after only Maiyan and Ikoma. Which means she was even more well known than Asuka and Nanase.
And of course, the content of the photobook itself speaks volume.

 

Ikuchan and Maiyan individually is already that powerful. How much more if they get paired up to be W-centers.

 

that would be a good idea since naachan already graduated from the group and looking forward to it, what kind of synergy they would make.

 

I would think they would be strong favourites if management decides to give pushing the new gens a rest (as if...)

 

Ikuta is the poster girl for Reiwa

 

Or at least give Ikumai a duet with awesome MV.

 

What does it mean?

 

Sakamichi’s brand + Kodansha publisher + top member + nice figure + cute/beauty face + have enough courage to take hot pics = successful.

- Among the factors above, pls remember that all top 3 best seller individual PB of 46G were all being published by Kodansha (Maiyan, Ikuta and Neru).

- Nice figure is really important too. Nacchan and Asuka are also all top members, but compare to the top 3, their figures aren’t really that great.

 

Think i prefer more for figure like nachan and asuka, but yeah ikuchan has developed the holy curve that many 'll prefer

 

if the video does not show watch the video here

Ikuchan performed in FNS Festival 2nd night with her co-actors in Your Lie in April.

 

My comment is not really about Ikuchan, rather this is about the play itself.

Spoiler: Comment

I have watched the anime since it was first released and having known the story and characters by heart. Somehow, this performance doesn't feel right
I also expected that they would at least use a song from the anime though I'm not sure if this is possible with things like copyrights and such.
I know it's a musical but still, I've always thought that the story leans on the "serious poetry with music" route.
Kousei's memories (and trauma) with his mother, Kaori's "lie", Tsubaki's feelings, etc...
Maybe the actual play is different. Really, I feel weird watching this performance.

 

This is FNS Festival though. Even if they would use that perf in the play, I don’t think there’s something wrong with it. I’m sure that is not the only performance that they would have for the play if they really have that included.
And it’s a musical adaptation afterall, so it could mean they might have some other stuffs (music and performance wise) included there that is not found on the anime.

And so far, I haven’t seen any negative thoughts about the performance last night. Intl fans of the Your Lie in April as well as Japanese fans in twitter enjoyed the perf and are all excited for the stageplay so it means that they don’t see any problem with the perf last night



On the other note, saw this on twitter and I think it shows how Ikuchan trended on twitter last night? Lol. Hers is the yellow one