X~Dame/Crazy Rainbow single is No.1 for the Weekly Oricon Style single charts, with 65,613 copies sold. I know many are depressed about the sales figures, and honestly, I don’t know what went wrong too, coz this is the nicest single yet!
*chotto… let me rant* ALL 4 songs are so nice! SADAME is my favourite song at the moment~ it’s so damn nice!!! And EDGE is my favourite Tsu Solo!!! and I LOVE Crazy Rainbow!!!! AND X~Dame is so catchy and cute too!!!
*switches to pojitibu mode* But let’s all congratulate T&T coz they DID achieve that Number One spot desho!! At least it goes down on the records that “X~Dame/Crazy Rainbow is a No.1 single”. So, just for this reason alone, cheer up, minna-san!! *FANDOM HUG* ♥ ♥
OMEDETOU~!! GOOD JOB, T&T!!! *insert something that only ribi understands*
And if you were one of those who DID NOT buy any of their singles at all, Takitsuba fan ja nai! You really really REALLY oughta be spanked and banished to outer space!!
OMEDETOU T&T! Otsukaresama deshita! ♥
Switching back to ribi mode:
*dies laughing*
I didn’t really think you would write what you wrote but you did! I am proud of you! *sniggers*
YESH, please buy the T&T single, it’s really good!
Being a fan really means supporting T&T by buying their releases – it’s the ONLY way! Even 1 version will do!
*sniggers with ribi* arigato ne, and yup, this is also wat i think lor, that buying their original releases is the ONLY way to show our support, coz i think it’s the only feedback Johnny-san gets as to how big (or small) their fanbase is…
everyone was so sad about the sale figures
that more i read the more i get even sad-er..
but let’s focus on the fact they got no.1 !! that good ne
that mean they sale more than so many people
yay~ omedetou ^^
Mmmm…
I will admit to sharing the same confusion as all other T&T fans re: the sales figures, because I thought this was a particularly catchy single release, and I really love the solo stuff, particularly EDGE, which is becoming my new favourite song of all time.
I am really new to all this, but I don’t think you can say that JE isn’t supporting T&T as much as the other units. All the Johnny’s singles releases appear to be carefully staggered so that everyone has at least week to clinch Number One sales. And Tackey and Tsubasa have been all over Japanese TV and radio promoting the socks off this thing. But even with the anime tie-in, there seems to be little impact on the sales figures, which are just heading in a downward direction with each new single. I didn’t really see any T&T One Piece promotion at the Tokyo Anime Fair this year, I thought maybe you would hear the single playing around the place, or better still, T&T on the main stage, but no.
There was a big One Piece display at HMV in Shibuya, but no T&T tie-in.
T&T sales penetration is roughly relatable to their general cultural penetration. As you look around Japan, Yamapi and Kat-Tun are everywhere. There is a huge Do-Co-Mo billboard at every Ekimae plaza in Japan, with 30 metre high images of Kame and Bakanishi. Yamapi is in every carriage of every train in Tokyo, selling something or other from the poster on the wall. When you walk down Takeshita dori in Harajuku, all the latest fashion mannequins have a picture of Yamapi or Kame from a magazine pasted on the front in the same or similar clothes, to show you that you too can be wearing what they wear.
Takki has his commercials, and his doramas, and he and Tsubasa are moderately represented in the magazines or posters on the walls in fan merchandise outlets, but they have nowhere near the penetration of Yamapi or Kat-Tun. That has to translate somewhat into sales success. They’re just kinda not the current flavour of the month.
But they appear to have a high profile on the various talk shows, so you can’t say Johnny’s isn’t hawking them about as much as everyone else. Especially when you watch a lot of old Johnny’s concerts from 6 or 7 years back, Tackey and Tsubasa got heaps of promotion. It’s hard to imagine how all that momentum didn’t translate into bigger record sales. Look at Yamapi, his golden boy junior status and potential has really brought dividends now he’s older, but for some reason I look at him and he always looks tired and stressed and a little on edge, with huge bags under his eyes. He was in 4 Tops with people he liked, and then yanked out of that and thrown into News with guys he hardly knew. And then as the leader of News had to apologise for the various public transgressions of the group. I don’t know whether it’s altogether desirable to be a Yamapi. Even Tackey looks tired and stressed sometimes with all the pots he has on the boil. Then I look at Tsubasa, and it’s like he’s blossomed recently with a kind of inner calm and confidence. It’s really very attractive. And by comparison, he’s the least personally successful out of all of them. But he’s obviously earning enough to support his other interests, and gets to indulge his various passions. I dunno, despite the sales figures, Tsubasa just looks to be in a happy place to me from my admittedly newbie perspective.
My friend and I were entertaining the theory for a while that maybe the prominence of the T&T furitsuke was a bit “daggy” as we say here (“naff” for the brits, I dunno what it is in America or Singapore and the Phillipines :)) because there’s not nearly so much furitsuke-ing at a NEWS or Kat-Tun concert. And when you’re at your first T&T concert, you’ve practiced the dance moves like crazy and you’re excited to get a chance to do them yourself, but you still feel a bit intimidated that everyone else there knows them heaps better than you do. And it’s not as spontaneous an environment as I’m used to at other concerts. You do the dances where you’re supposed to, and you sing where you’re supposed to and there is a great sense of repetition and ritual about it all. Maybe that’s off-putting to a lot of people. Then again, you go to a NEWS concert, and there’s a whole pile of girls outside doing any furitsuke they know, so I don’t think that’s a very sound theory.
Then you watch Kat-Tun and their funky PVs, all leather and hair and wind and brooding looks and rap. T&T are a lot more, er, comfortable, than Kat-Tun. Not quite so edgy. Maybe they need to get some Edge happening. Speaking of which, did I mention I really love “Edge”. Aah yes, I see I did :)
And while T&T are performing very poorly compared to their Johnny’s brethren, on a Japanese music industry standard, they are still right up there. And of course, not all Johhny’s are with the same record label. You’d need to more closely examine other prominent Avex artists (Ayumi Hamasaki, Do As Infinity, Exile etc.) to decide whether T&T are keeping their nose above water with their record-label.)
I don’t hang around other blogs so I have no idea what other Johnny’s fans in general think of T&T or their music. You’d have to ask them seriously why they decide to buy the singles they do, and skip T&T. I can look at News and see that half their vocalists are better than Tackey and Tsubasa. But nobody’s voices harmonise quite so beautifully as T&T’s and I really like that. I look at Akanashi Jin and can acknowledge that he is a shit-hot singer and dancer, in a different league to most other Johnnys. One of the most naturally gifted Johnny’s ever. But I don’t think I’d last long in a sit-down conversation with him. I love a lot of News songs, but News looks like it’s been hard work and like I say, Yamapi always looks drained to me. I watch Kat-Tun’s back stage specials and they just don’t make you smile the way T&T or Kinki Kids do. T&T and Kinki Kids have this whole shared history that’s heart-warming and fascinating, and most of it is on film somewhere. I have liked watching them grow up and develop. I enjoy more about them than just their music.
Kinki Kids seem to be a little more in charge of their own destiny. They have all these projects going on, and a solid string of hits behind them. They have Domoto Kyodai which keeps them in the forefront of the public eye, the same way that SMAPx Smap revitalised SMAP. I know Tackey’s doing his Zubari appearances and all his doramas. And they were parading him around the Hong Kong movie people with a view to debuting him as an international actor in a Jackie Chan movie. What’s happening with all of that? Because to be honest, neither singing nor dancing are the best things that Tackey does. He’s best at being Tackey — this bright, friendly, hard-working, determined soul around whom all the light in the room just seems to pool. And if Tackey’s angling his career into acting and TV hosting, where does that leave Tsubasa? They must surely think about these things more than we do. Why does Tsubasa always look so happy and content these days if his career is teetering on the brink of collapse?
So where am I going with this? I guess to say that a string of Number 1s and 2s on the Oricon charts is still a success, it’s just not success in the same glowing terms as other Johnnys. But then, you look at the other successful Johnny’s like Yamapi and News, or Kat-Tun, and I’m not sure they are living an altogether desirable life. Maybe moderate success with someone you like and get along well with, with room for other projects and personally rewarding challenges is better than chart-topping superstardom and massive stress.
I personally think someone needs to bottle whatever it is Tsubasa’s doing at the moment and start selling it, because I’d by it. And it could be worse. In the old days it used to be Tackey, Tsubasa and Subaru all on the fast track, then Subaru somehow got shuttled back to Kansai and relative obscurity. And now Kanjani seem to be having more fun than just about anybody else.
I just think “success” needs to be measured in more ways than just chart numbers. I wouldn’t be a Yamapi or a Kame if you paid me. Too fraught. But I’d happily hang out with Kanjani or T&T. It just looks like more fun.
thanks for the comment, leaping lucas. i quickly read thru it (coz i’m in office now)… and i do agree with many of the pts you make…
i think johnny knows how much they can sell, tats why he chose the particular week to release the single.. vs ho! summer when they competed with stronger competition… altho ho! summer sold abt 20,000 more than Dame/CR in the first week, it did not clinch the no.1 spot that week. so thumbs up to johnny-san for this move. i guess it’s a mixed feeling kind of thing, but T&T’s fanbase is about slightly less than 20,000? (by “fanbase” i mean ppl who actually BUY their original releases) this is based on the pv dvd sales… so if each person buys 3, 20,000 x 3 = 60,000. so a 65k figure is kinda expected ne. i was afraid they couldn’t even pass the 50k mark ne… so to be honest, i was very happy when i heard that the weekly figure was 65,613. but ya, i’m happy that it’s a no.1 single ^_^
the special thing about T&T is their cons!! it beats all! really saikou!! and you are so right about the backstage thing as well~~ juz go and watch that kuricon FC MOV that bonnie posted!!!! I DIED MANY MANY MANY TIMES THIS MORNING JUST WATCHING IT!!!! all the memories flowing back…
hi michelle, first time commenting here ^^
I’m glad that I’m the only one who is positive thinking and then I read leaping lucas entry (every word!) and I can’t agree you more! I’m happy T&T as they are now. I don’t think I want to see Takki or Tsubasa’s faces in every carriage of the train! *scared* and I remember that both of them are not the kind of people who wants that kind of popularity (esp tsubasa). as long they can do what they want to do and they are having fun, that’s all that matters. and I do believe johnny-san does care about them. no need to blame the old man all the time ne. ^^
michelle,
yes, I have a day off today, but I phoned my girlfriend (the one that was with me at the T&T con) and said, “wait to you see this footage, it just brings back so many happy memories).
As I say, I’m only new to the online T&T fandom, but the comment I see posted most often is “T&T makes me happy”.
And that’s exactly it in a nutshell. I don’t think you can underestimate the importance of “happiness” as an ingredient in “success”.
My friend is also a big Yamapi and News fan, and they have indeed experienced amazing chart success. But my friend was ill the day I went to the Johnny’s shop and I wanted to bring her a Yamapi thing, and I looked around all the new uchiwa and photos of him on the wall. He’s a good-looking boy but I swear he looked “terrible”. I just couldn’t buy her any of them because he looked so dead and tired in them all, with huge bags under his eyes. And he’s only, what? 22? 23? He’s had a lot on his plate lately.
Then we were watching all the Kat-Tun, “Jin is back” stuff, and you can’t help but wonder how it will affect their group dynamic, which has seemed a lot more relaxed since Jin went on his US sabbatical. I don’t mean to diss Yamapi or Jin or Kat-Tun, because they are phenomincally talented, it just often feels tense watching them all interact.
I don’t really understand it. Most of News songs are just as boppy and poppy as T&Ts. I think the Swedish song-writing efforts or whatever get pretty evenly distributed amongst the Johnnys. I think the JE promotion machine swings into action behind everyone in turn. I don’t really sense any favouritism, and I think Tackey at least is still a very valuable and saleable commodity, because he’s Tackey, and I imagine he will find a way to succeed at anything he wants to do — as long as he doesn’t burn himself out along the way, or fall over and break his face again.
I used to worry more about Tsubasa, because he seemed to have much fewer options than everybody else. And then he goes and looks so darned content and happy all the time lately. Either he is a better actor than we thought he was, or he really is that happy. And I think I’d rather be a Tsubasa than a Yamapi. I could be a Jin, but then I wouldn’t have been able to write nearly this much :).
gomen. made a mistake.
correction : “…I’m glad I’m NOT the only one….”
Leaping Lucas, I nodded my head so hard reading your comments. Tsubasa to me, seems truly happy where he is even though he doesn’t have a lot of opportunities like his kouhais in terms of endorsement deals and other activities but it is exactly this sense of happiness and reassuring vibe that he gives off that attracted me to him (besides the sex-hot dancing of course).
We wouldn’t give to be Yamapi’s and KAT-TUN’s fans too but commercial success is measured so shallowly that sometimes, I cannot help but worry for the boys, that their next single/album will be their last coz they don’t do as well as their kouhais.
For JE, it’s about the numbers and happiness, really is for the boys to find themselves and balance out.
Do you happen to have a blog or something where you write these views out? I’d love to read them. ^^
Mich, I died watching that fancam that Bons posted up.
I really… am speechless..
Remember my last linejust over the phone?
“Tsubasa’s smile is so wide.”
He is indeed the happiest with aikata-kun. *hugs*
i so agree with leaping lucas ^^
(tia~ i also read every word too!)
i feel that too but i could not put it into words like u do ..
i love tt the way they r now!
i like that they r not too much popular cuz it like i got to know something special that other people dont[and they really r something special][it selfish i know but i dont want they to be any more popular if they hv to working too damn hard
but also if they r,im happy for them
[atually i think they r already that popular ne~[they r no1 in the chart!] just not as much as P or KT
[but i would never ever heard of P or KT if they r not related to takki ^^]
~&read u guy talking about concert make my craving for con come back argghh
yesterday after i read ling’s blog i was so depress
but b4 i go to bed i watch that fancam bonchan post too &and saw their happily big smile and i know they r gonna b alright~
remember i was so sad when i read takki’s essay that he never enjoy concert during his leader-jr period T_T
goog that is with his aikata kun now ne~~~^O^
you…
“remember i was so sad when i read takki’s essay that he never enjoy concert during his leader-jr period T_T”
yeah.. i rmembered reading somewhere that he’s not actuaLLy happy with aLL the popuLarity and stuff… i wonder why…