Anime Sales in Japan - 2011

[Westlo]

Originally Posted by something

I can only hope they do their own thing with a second season too... hell I'd probably be happy if they dumped the original story entirely

From what I read of it the Railgun version of the MISAKA/Accelerator arc is fantastic and kicks the shit out of the Index version. Seeing it from Biri Biri's side changes things a lot and is a marked improvement, it would be a travesty if it was never animated.... and as you know from what that arc covers you can see why Saten didn't appear in the Railgun manga for a long time.

Anyway I'm sure J.C Staff will work her in somehow and/or give her a lot of focus in some anime original SOL style episodes at the start of the season.

[Draneor]

Originally Posted by something

Speaking of, I wonder how much the original Negima adaptation could have sold if it had gotten a good budget and better studio. It already did 16k anyway, but can't help but wonder if it could have been much higher.

Negima is precisely the title I was thinking of. I don''t think either Xebec or Shaft (TV) brought out the franchise's true potential. While I love the first few arcs, it's not really until the magic world that Negima hits its stride. And partly because of the changes Xebec made... it was impossible to continue it. More free adaptations can be fine... until you want to make more of it and you realize that perhaps the original author had a reason for not revealing say character x who just so happens to turn out to be the second most popular character in the manga. It's particularly an issue when the best arcs are in the middle. The OADs seem to be doing well, in any case.

Originally Posted by Westlo

From what I read of it the Railgun version of the MISAKA/Accelerator arc is fantastic and kicks the shit out of the Index version. Seeing it from Biri Biri's side changes things a lot and is a marked improvement, it would be a travesty if it was never animated.

I'm surprised we agree on something. My opinion of the Railgun manga has always been that it includes everything that should have been in Index but wasn't.

Oh, and as far as Saten not appearing in two years, the Railgun manga is monthly, if I recall. Twenty-four chapters really isn't that long of an absence (one long arc, basically). It remains to be seen if she'll come back after MISAKA/Accelerator is over. Perhaps the manga will end or perhaps it will diverge. Mikoto is absent for long stretches of Index so it's not like they can't work in more original stories that involve her (especially given feedback from the anime).

[something]

Originally Posted by Westlo

Anyway I'm sure J.C Staff will work her in somehow and/or give her a lot of focus in some anime original SOL style episodes at the start of the season.

I'm a bigger Kazari fan than a Ruiko fan, but more than either, they need to be together to really work. Ruiko without skirts to flip and Kazari without anyone to flip hers... that's a tragic situation. ;_;

[something]

101+ list with approximate numbers was posted for this week. Looks like Arakawa's DVDs ewre only 16 places off the list, though that probably means down around 900. I guess Yakumo is doing around 800 DVDs. Unfortunately there aren't enough "guidepost" totals to make any estimates for, say, Mitsudomoe at #180 even remotely accurate. Still, it's low hundreds of DVDs at best.

Note, this isn't necessarily first week sales for all these titles, though it is for most. Number of weeks on the charts isn't given when the 101+ are posted.

And is it just me or does it feel like Maid-sama has been coming out for frickin' ever?

100　1,016
116　Arakawa Under the Bridge x Bridge v4
119　Shinrei Tantei Yakumo v3
124　*,715
127　*,705
131　Votoms New Generation Votoms Finder
141　.hack//Quantum v3
142　Kaichou wa Maid-sama! v9
164　Bakuman v3
165　Shiki v6
180　Mitsudomoe Zouryouchuu! v1
239　Meitantei Conan Part 19 v3
242　Mazinkaizer SKL v3
256　Seikon no Qwaser OVA Jotei no Jouzo
274　Inazuma Eleven v27
***　Gakkou no Kowai Uwasa - Shin Hanako-san ga Kita!! DVD Box
***　Mujin Wakusei Survive DVD Box v1
***　Mujin Wakusei Survive DVD Box v2

Note: not going to bother making a separate post for the 4/11/2011 preliminary stuff, it's just Gundam UC v3 adding 7k DVDs. No other anime in the early lists. I'll post when the full info is out or something else interesting is revealed before Thursday.

[pianocello]

Originally Posted by something

Bout the same, give or take. First season was low 1.xk range and only BDs charted.

It's a great show. Why isn't it selling?

[something]

Originally Posted by pianocello

It's a great show. Why isn't it selling?

It probably has a fairly niche audience... I don't like toilet humor so I've avoided it, based on what I have repeatedly heard about its approach to comedy. Just not my kind of show really.

As for "great" shows selling or not, well... kinda subjective. I mean, the fact that Hourou Musuko is going to sell absolutely nothing makes me very sad, but I'm not particularly surprised. A lot of shows I consider great do sell very well though (most of my top 10 sold well, with the most notable exception being Touka Gettan) so you win some and you lose some, I guess.

[einhorn303]

Originally Posted by something

It probably has a fairly niche audience... I don't like toilet humor so I've avoided it, based on what I have repeatedly heard about its approach to comedy. Just not my kind of show really.

As for "great" shows selling or not, well... kinda subjective. I mean, the fact that Hourou Musuko is going to sell absolutely nothing makes me very sad, but I'm not particularly surprised. A lot of shows I consider great do sell very well though (most of my top 10 sold well, with the most notable exception being Touka Gettan) so you win some and you lose some, I guess.

It really doesn't spend much time on toilet humor after the excesses of some earlier episodes. It's humor is really based more upon absurd situations created by misunderstandings, and character quirks.

I don't get Mitsudomoe's low sales either. It seemed the manga was quite popular before the anime, too.

And in that vein, "my Hourou Musoko" will probably always be Sora no Woto/Sound of the Sky.

[something]

Originally Posted by einhorn303

And in that vein, "my Hourou Musoko" will probably always be Sora no Woto/Sound of the Sky.

It wasn't a blockbuster by any stretch but it sold probably 5x what Hourou will... Sora no Woto deserved far more than it got but was solidly above the Manabi line nonetheless. About 4k average, roughly a 3/1 BD/DVD split.

I was thinking more of 1k or less shows that don't even rank or only rank with a couple hundred BDs here and there. Examples for me would be shows like Sasameki Koto, Aoi Hana, Touka Gettan, and surely Hourou Musuko. Y'know, unmitigated failures so far as home video sales go. And in Hourou's case, running the worst-ever ratings in the noitaminA block along with the even lower rated Fractale. And it was really low even before the tsunami.

[einhorn303]

Originally Posted by something

It wasn't a blockbuster by any stretch but it sold probably 5x what Hourou will... Sora no Woto deserved far more but was solidly above the Manabi line nonetheless. About 4k average, roughly a 3/1 BD/DVD split.

I was thinking more of 1k or less shows that don't even rank or only rank with a couple hundred BDs here and there. Examples for me would be shows like Sasameki Koto, Aoi Hana, Touka Gettan, and surely Hourou Musuko. Y'know, unmitigated failures so far as home video sales go. And in Hourou's case, running the worst-ever ratings in the noitaminA block along with the even lower rated Fractale. And it was really low even before the tsunami.

...I didn't know it was that bad.

I haven't even watched the show and I still think that's unjust.

[something]

Originally Posted by einhorn303

...I didn't know it was that bad.
I haven't even watched the show and I still think that's unjust.

Which part, Sora no Woto's sales (4k is pretty average) or Hourou's ratings? I assume the latter - I'm not sure how to explain it either honestly. Perhaps Fractale's relative unpopularity (it'll sell more discs than Hourou, albeit still not many) brought it down, I dunno. Maybe serious examinations of gender identity just didn't fly?