Maaya's.net

Maaya in magazines:

・3/10　Animage
・3/10　Animedia
・3/10　Seiyuu Animedia
・3/10　Seiyuu Grand Prix
・Already on Sale　Boys Newtype
・Already on Sale　NEWTYPE

The thing is though, even when she peaks high up at the Oricon, Maaya just does not have the power to move over 200,000 copies like most of the other mainstream artists can.

Don't know about everyone else, but I'd love to hear Maaya's voice move a couple hundred thousand copies.

Unfortunately no one these days except the huge established acts like SMAP and Mr. Children and B'z etc. have the power to shift those kind of units. Certainly the only female shifting that amount right now is Koda Kumi since her boom from 2005. Black Cherry is on it's way to a million (whether it deserves to or not is another matter)...

Yuunagi LOOP sold 32,000 copies in it's first week, however since she dropped off the chart pretty quickly, I can't really say how many it sold in total.

im not reading anything,,
it's time to get home already.. im too late
too bad... a lot of new messages since i came here last time,,

so.. is it the time already that maaya would have a groom?? i wish her good luck. i must get stronger,, *wtf am i saying right now,,,*

.....

*why can't i be him anyways??!!* XD

[quote="dillpops"]
I have to disagree with you, it's nothing to do with her management. Maaya has been in the music industry long enough to have full control over what she does - she chose to not work with Kanno and she can also choose what songs to sing etc. There's no one over her shoulder saying 'yes, you will do concept album because bwa ha ha ha everyone will want to be ripped off by such an artist vision being charged at such a price'! It also has nothing to do with her fanbase, Maaya's fans may have a majority of otaku - but they don't influence her.[/quote]

I agree with you whole-heartedly. Even though I didn't much enjoy Yuunagi LOOP, I do, in general, enjoy the style of music Maaya chooses to sing. (Shonen Alice is my very favorite album; I think it showcases her vocal range spectacularly.) Judging from the clips for 30-Minutes Night Flight, I think Maaya is exploring the new sound she first put out in Yuunagi LOOP and is now doing more with it. I'm excited for her. She's still a growing artist, and I'm sure she won't stop surprising us the the new choices she'll come to make. I also really feel this is her art and her career, and she's the one in charge of it. :3

God, I love her so much. ;.;

I downloaded the Universe ring tone that was advertised on Maaya's official site, it's really nice - 32 seconds of the Universe chourus...

Unfortunately it's copy protected to prevent me uploading it

[quote="dillpops"]Unfortunately no one these days except the huge established acts like SMAP and Mr. Children and B'z etc. have the power to shift those kind of units. Certainly the only female shifting that amount right now is Koda Kumi since her boom from 2005. Black Cherry is on it's way to a million (whether it deserves to or not is another matter)...

Yuunagi LOOP sold 32,000 copies in it's first week, however since she dropped off the chart pretty quickly, I can't really say how many it sold in total.[/quote]

Shiina Ringo? :O Her new album was #1 or thereabouts for a week. She's a solid female artist who can sell/move a lot of copies.

But I mean, can we get real here? Maaya is an anime singer, of the idol type, who most Japanese people haven't even heard of. Why in the world should we even expect or care about chart numbers?

Also, to get back to the 'debate,' I know it's Maaya's choice what she does. That isn't even what I was talking about. I'm looking at the people who arrange her songs--they are not her. She may write some songs, but other people will also write things for her, and they will arrange them for her. Yes, she can say "I'd like it to be this way, that way" but as she isn't the music director (the role Kanno had) and does not even have the music background to be able to do so, her powers -are- relatively limited.

She does get final call, of course, and she does organize a cohesive vision for most of the albums, but I'm not going to be naive and think that's all her doing. If Maaya suddenly said "I want to make this a hard rock style" her staff would laugh in her face. That's what I was talking about--her inability to do something like that.

Maaya is nothing like Bonnie Pink and Shiina Ringo. Do you know why? Because she is still closely tied to anime, as a seiyuu and as a singer of ending themes and so forth. Because of this, she is MUCH more limited when it comes to what she can do. I'm not saying her fanbase itself holds her back--but there are things she can't do. She can't dress like a nurse and touch girls in a PV like Shiina Ringo, and she isn't a singer-songwriter like Bonnie Pink. Bonnie Pink did do one anime ending song early in her career, but never again, so she wasn't 'typecast' as an anime singer. Both of them are freely out there in the music world, but Maaya is limited (figuratively) to the anime world. She can release albums that have no songs related to anime at all, but the only people that will know who she is and buy those albums are people who know her through her anime work.

I will say it again, the average Japanese person has no idea who Maaya Sakamoto is.

This sounds cynical, but I'm just being a realist. If you really think Maaya is a true artist out there in the mainstream with mainstream listeners who can do whatever she wants and isn't tied down at all by her music managers who are tied to the anime industry--think again.

However, it isn't impossible for her to break out of that, I'm not saying that--this is just the way things are going now. As someone suggested on the earlier page, if she could get some singles on TV, etc etc, it would really be good. But considering what's selling now (Koda Kumi) it would require a major change in image/sound for her, I think. And who knows if she even wants that? She seems pretty content with what she has.

frecklegirl wrote: But I mean, can we get real here? Maaya is an anime singer, of the idol type, who most Japanese people haven't even heard of. Why in the world should we even expect or care about chart numbers?

I will say it again, the average Japanese person has no idea who Maaya Sakamoto is.

Frecklegirl you are one for debates, aren't you you seem to monger it wherever you go.

As for 'can we get real' chart numbers are indeed an indicator of popularity. Whether you deny it or not, entering the top 20 or indeed the top 10 like Maaya does requires at least some sort of moving power outside of anime. How often do seiyuu get such high ranking numbers. No one is saying she isn't limited to anime but it's just the fact that she's not just solid otaku fans.

To get number one you only need to sell 2,000 copies first week these days - which shows you how awful the music industry is. The bigger artists are getting bigger numbers of course - Utada Hikaru's latest single got number one with 156,000 ish.

But oppositely, even if sales are so poor - Oricon chart numbers show popularity because you don't sell no CD's if no one is buying. Of course it doesn't show exposure to the general population but no one's saying that - but it is a fairly reliable indicator of where Maaya stands. And to deny it as such is to completely void the reason Ayumi Hamasaki fans and Koda Kumi fans get so worked up over it You get prestiege from your Oricon ranking. Especially if it breaks top ten.

You don't need to 'say it again' as we all know the average Japanese people have no idea who she is - we come in contact with this numerous times :lol: . And no one is saying 'omg she is t3h amazing popular and stuffz' apart from a few foreign fans who have no idea about the jpop industry.

To call her an idol is pretty poor :lol: she may have begun as an idol but typically idol definitions are people who have no involvement in the production of their music apart from vocals/use looks not talent. Maaya has consistantly moved away from that, but idol is where she started from, I'd say it was only from easy listening+ that she really got away. Idol elements in her career are balenced out with her other works and involvements. But really, I'm only arguing semantics, idol by name but not by nature would be a preference.

I don't know when idol got to be such a dirty word

Argh, I have to leave for Tokyo in two minutes.

But this:

Maaya is nothing like Bonnie Pink and Shiina Ringo. Do you know why?

Because to put them in the same sentence is hilarious :lol:

And I guess that will demonstrate your point to a T that Maaya's image is a problem. But who suggested they were alike....?

argh we always end up arguing...oh frecklegirl, you wound me with your arguements :lol:

EDIT: ha ha I dunno why I always get so flustered when I end up in debates but I can never remember my points by the time people have replied and then I end up cancelling myself out XD XD XD damn it!! hate them ha ha

EDIT 2: Just thought, Ayumi Hamasaki used to be given pieces of music from the composers who would do the music for her lyrics. She'd choose her favourite and then try to fit the lyrics to it. Maybe Maaya does that...

Universe PV on air!!

I don't even know how frecklegirl said has ANYTHING to do with what I said (even though she consistently referred to my post?) so I'll just keep my mouth shut this time. XD

I got the edition vision and poster today
There is an "AIR UNIVERSE NIGHTFLIGHT passport" inside

[quote="Tsubasa~"]I got the edition vision and poster today
There is an "AIR UNIVERSE NIGHTFLIGHT passport" inside [/quote]


PICTURES ![/size]

Please [/size] XD

NINKI says thas Maaya will sell (approximatively) 31000 copies and will be 3rd ! It's a joke for me, more than AAA ? She has never sell more than 30000 with a "normal" album !

Wait and see...

http://www.oricon.co.jp/rank/na/w/

I don't know, AAA kind of sucks lately so it's possible.

But more than Jyongri? Psh. I wish!

But this is a minialbum so it might not sell as well as it could.

Maybe they went and interviewed a sample in Akihabara!! But thats interesting...since the NINKI is based on a random sample of something like 400 people - and they ask which album they are most interested in buying. Maybe they just got a bunch of anime fans by accident.

Speaking of which, Akihabara love - yay otaku, it was all rather exciting. Posters in nearly every shop my boyfriend dragged me to XD and in Animate they were playing whole tracks from the album! Exciting...gotta love Akihabara - possibly the only place outside Travel Cafe you can see this Maaya promotion:

EDIT: also, Animate orders got a special clear file present *poo*