Jul 14, 2022
Kalafina - Major Solo Single & Album Debuts
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from Malaysia
seen from United States
seen from Germany
seen from Malaysia
seen from Malaysia
seen from China
seen from China
seen from Russia
seen from Chile
seen from Brazil
seen from Russia
seen from Chile
seen from United Kingdom
seen from Türkiye
seen from Pakistan
seen from United States
seen from Singapore
Kalafina - Major Solo Single & Album Debuts
2021/11/01～2021/11/07
Let’s take a look at the ORICON Weekly Single Charts!
A while back I was discussing sales numbers so I thought it would be interesting to take a look at a current example. Hikaru’s 3rd single “The Sacred Torch” was featured in the TOP 50 of last week’s single charts. This ranking is brand new so the number of sold copies is actually featured in the list. If you try to look at older rankings, they will no longer show those numbers. Also, you can only ever check out the ranks 1-50 with a free account, for further information you will have to sign up (monthly fee). If you are interested in stuff like this, it pays off to visit the Oricon site frequently whenever there is a new release by the girls.
As you can see, Hikaru reached the 41st place with roughly 700 sold copies in the first week (the most critical phase for a release like this). The single actually managed to stay in the top 200 charts for another week but now after a third week it’s gone. In comparison, the single on the 1st place that week (2021/11/01～2021/11/07) managed to sell a whopping 500.000+ copies (“A” by INI; WTF!?). EDIT: Rather than comparing Hikaru with an up-and-coming idol boy band (with out-of-this-world sales numbers :P) I thought it would make more sense to compare the numbers of LiSA’s latest single release to Hikaru’s “The Sacred Torch” since they are both female solo artists active in the anisong genre. Surprisingly, LiSA didn’t reach 1st place during the release week but oh well, I am sure she will stay in the charts for quite some time. Still, her single managed to sell almost 45.000 copies in its first week which is pretty neat and obviously a lot more than 700.
I have seen many Japanese fans on Twitter being quite shocked and disappointed by Hikaru’s low rank and admittedly very small number of sold copies. Her debut single “Altern-ate-” ranked surprisingly high in the weekly charts (9th place - even Kalafina only ever managed to reach 4th place with a single) and her follow-up single “disclose” didn’t do too shabby either (24th place). Seems like things are going downhill for Hikaru rather than uphill😢
Possible reasons
Not enough people are watching the anime: Looking at Twitter and YouTube, there seems to be zero interest in “The Faraway Paladin”. In fact, there is a ton more hype for “World’s End Harem”, probably because it’s borderline p*rn. One can only hope that this will positively affect the sales numbers of “JUST DO IT”.
The song simply isn’t good enough: Personally I don’t mind “The Sacred Torch”, it’s a perfectly suitable opening theme for an anime like that and for the most part I have seen only positive feedback but I would say that “Altern-ate” and “disclose” are far superior anime tie-ins.
Lack of promotion for the single: Barely any news coverage, no radio/TV appearances. The marketing campaign didn’t have any appealing incentives (unique perks/benefits). Some of this is owed to the fact that the release of “JUST DO IT” got postponed, forcing Hikaru’s team to quickly adjust their schedule and release “The Sacred Torch” earlier than planned. But still, they could have done a better job of getting the word out there. Right now, the entire campaign seems pretty half-arsed if you ask me.
Unwillingness to buy physical copies: If only half of the people following Hikaru on Twitter had bought a single copy of her CD, she would have reached a much higher place in the ranking (possibly making it into the TOP 5). I know that quite a few of her hardcore fans bought multiple copies but apparently their enthusiasm couldn’t make up for the general lack of interest and investment in Hikaru’s work. Which leads me right to the next point.
Fans are losing interest: Thanks to @a-chan-no-baka for mentioning this in the comment section. It’s been a pretty lenghty dry-spell since Hikaru’s last mainstream release. Her latest two mini-albums received mixed reviews with the overall consensus being, “it’s decent but boring”. Many of her otaku fans and the ones who followed Hikaru for her edgier content have slowly been drifting away and they will continue to jump ship.
Rising popularity of digital music: (Please note that the Oricon rankings are based on physical domestic sales only). While Japan still has one of the strongest physical music markets, one cannot deny that digital music is on the uprise. It’s the much easier and cheaper alternative so of course people gravitate towards that, especially with the digital anime track being available in advance of the physical release. “The Sacred Torch” ranked 65th in the weekly single charts on one of Japan’s most popular digital music sites “mora”, not sure if that’s good or bad.
Streaming services: There is no doubt that streaming services can be a great tool for word-of-mouth promotion and in the long run it can even be a profitable option but in my opinion the disadvantages of putting your music on these platforms far outweigh the advantages, at least in Hikaru’s case (same goes for Wakana and Keiko btw). First of all, artists earn little to no money on those platforms unless they reach an incredibly high streaming count. Second of all, artists are effectively making their music available for “free” which will typically discourage people from making a purchase. Last but not least, most streaming sites seem to have a lot of issues when it comes to providing certain tracks and tagging music correctly which can of course cause a lot of harm to an artist.
Now that we have discussed all of this, I would like to share some useful tips on how to better support Hikaru as an overseas fan:
If you have the means, order at least one physical copy using a proxy service (Tenso, Buyee, etc). These purchases will count as domestic sale and will therefore be eligible for Japanese charts.
If possible, buy high-res digital tracks on sites like “mora” or “Ototoy”
After you have done this, be sure to stream the hell out of her music and also share links on social media.
Join Hikaru’s fan club “Helixes”.
Altern-ate- H-el-ical// Cover
Hello!
It’s been a while.. I don’t even know if anyone is still following me xD
Anyways, as you know Hikaru’s debut single is out and a video upload campaign is being held, so I covered the song!
I recorded all the layers using my phone, so forgive the quality xD
Let me know what you think!
Gleipnir – Opening Theme – Altern-ate-
2022/01/24～2022/01/30
Let’s once again take a look at the ORICON Weekly Single Charts!
Back in November I made a detailed post about the Oricon ranking of Hikaru’s 3rd single “The Sacred Torch”. Be sure to check that out before reading any further. It’s been a week since the release of Hikaru’s 4th single “JUST DO IT” so I thought I would once again take a look at the weekly charts and share her sales numbers with you.
Hikaru debuted at #17 on the release date of her CD which is pretty decent I would say. Overall she was able to reach #35 with a total of 876 sold copies which is a slight improvement compared to “The Sacred Torch” but still worse than her first two singles.
DAILY:
WEEKLY:
H-el-ical// Sinlge Ranking:
Surprisingly, LiSA’s Akeboshi still managed to sell more copies last week even though it’s been out since November (it was released around the same time as “The Sacred Torch”). The hype for Demon Slayer is REAL (Aimer is #2 with her newly released tie-ins).
Oh well, I am glad “JUST DO IT” did a bit better than “The Sacred Torch”, although I would say that has less to do with an improved marketing campaign (since that’s still pretty much non-existent) but rather could be attributed to the fact that a lot more people are watching “World’s End Harem”. Never underestimate the power of p0rn XD
「Miyako Premium Live 2021」H-el-ical// Setlist
Today was the third and final day of “Miyako Premium Live 2021” at ROHM Theatre Kyoto Main Hall.
H-el-ical// was the last artist to appear at today’s evening show. Like all other participating artists she sang a total of five songs, she chose three anime tie-ins (including as of yet unreleased song “JUST DO IT”) and two original tracks from her latest album “Story”.
01. Altern-ate- 02. I am me MC 03. drizzle 04. The Sacred Torch MC 05. JUST DO IT (Source)
Twitter thread | Tweet by EXINA
■ Miyako Premium Live 2021 Details
■ Date and time ・ December 10th (Sat) Open 17:15 Start 18:00 ・ December 11th (Sat) ① Open 11:45 Start 12:30 ②Open 17:15 Start 18:00 ・ December 12th (Sun) ③ Open 11:45 Start 12:30 ④ Open 17:15 Start 18:00
■ Line-up “Miyako Premium Live 2021 -Premium Acoustic Night-” December 10 Megumi Nakajima, Nagi Yanagi
“Miyako Premium Live 2021” December 11 ① ASCA, Akane Kumada, Yuri Komagata, Konomi Suzuki, halca ② i ☆ Ris, Miku Ito, Anna Suzuki, Machico, Haruka Yamazaki December 12 ③ Yuka Aisaka, Ayasa Ito, Aina Suzuki, Mia REGINA, Run Girls, Run! ④ Riko Azuna, EXiNA, Yuka Iguchi, TRUE, H-el-ical//
■ Venue ROHM Theatre Kyoto Main Hall (https://rohmtheatrekyoto.jp/)
■ Kyoto Premium Live Official Site: http://miyako-premiumlive.jp/
Animate Sales Campaign to celebrate Hikaru’s birthday
In light of Hikaru’s upcoming birthday event “H-el-ical//『B-day Event 2021』” Animate will hold a special sales campaign offering customers who purchase H-el-ical// releases an exclusive tokuten.
○ Campaign period: Shibuya Animate Store: July 2, 2021 - July 4, 2021 Animate Online Store: July 2, 2021 - July 11, 2021 https://www.animate-onlineshop.jp/corner/cc/H-el-ical//2021/cd/1746/
○ Campaign content In commemoration of H-el-ical//’s upcoming event 『B-day Event 2021』 a special sales campaign will be held at Animate Shibuya and in the Animate Online Shop. One portrait print (signed at random by Hikaru) will be added as gift to each target product purchase during the campaign period
○ Campaign tokuten/benefit Bromide/Portrait print (signed at random by Hikaru)
○ Target products: ・ H-el-ical// "Altern-ate-" First Press Limited Edition <GNCA-612> 1,980円 ・ H-el-ical// "disclose" First Press Limited Edition <GNCA-629> 1,980円
○ Important Notes: ※ Be sure to only purchase the products designated as 【即売対象】. Other releases are not eligible for the campaign. ※ Be sure to purchase within the campaign period. Orders made outside the period will not come with this special tokuten. ※ Please note that other Animate original tokutens (postcards etc) will NOT be included if you opt for this special sales campaign. ※ Shipping is due in late July. The benefit will be shipped together with the purchased items. ※ The online product page will be available once the order period starts
•————— ♬ —————•
Please refer to the English tutorial provided by Animate if you want to sign up and purchase items in the Animate Online Shop. I have had good experiences with their service as a foreigner. As always you will need a credit card (non-Japanese credit cards are fine!) and a Japanese address since they do not ship overseas. I recommend the proxy service TENSO. They provide a Japanese address for free.
I think I’m gonna sit this one out. I already got a personalised autograph during the “disclose” pre-order campaign by Animate so this new benefit doesn’t seem all too appealing. Then again, it will be a bromide instead of a white paper so I guess it IS kinda nice. Wonder if they will be using a new picture for the bromide or the one they are currently using to promote the campaign....Ughhh, this is so difficult. Also, why are only SOME of them signed and others not? With my luck, I probably won’t receive one with a signature. T_T But hey, if any of you don’t own a copy of “Altern-ate-” or “disclose” yet, THIS is your chance!!
H-el-ical// Music Videos (2020)