(Group) Passpo☆

[PASSPO]

Oricon 1st day sales:
Single - #13
DVD - #10

Oricon 2nd day sales:
Single - #17
DVD - #15

[qwiksXnd]

Lol, it's been a while since "Weird Makoto" made an appearance.

^ "Weird Makoto"

About their first two days: Idol group sales always fluctuate up and down during the week. Remember CHECK-IN, it went 11 -> 15 -> 18 -> 20 -> 23 and then disappeared. Ok that was a bad example .

It has been more than 6 months since their last single though, so maybe some of their fans just didn't realize they released a new single. Other groups have also gotten much more popular since then. PASSPO was the "it" group last year, and now it's Super Girls.

[Decreez]

Anyone going to their event tomorrow and on the 12th ? I am going alone, kinda clueless on what to do except bringing my still sealed CDs...

[qwiksXnd]

Cool, hope you have fun. It's kind of a weird experience going to an event by yourself, but I think you'll notice that a lot of people at events are actually alone also (it's usually the concerts where friends go together). I would recommend getting to the venue as early as possible, especially if it's during the weekends when trains don't run as frequently and may not stop at the station you need to get off at.

Are you going to the March 31st concert? I was really considering going to that concert, but I'm going to just try for something in the summer.

Edit:
Day 3
#7
Analysis: PASSPO fans reacted very favorably to Weird Makoto's return.

[Decreez]

Thanks there ! Nah, unfortunately  I'll be leaving Japan next week
Yeah, I'll try my best to make my way there, thanks again !

[PASSPO]

Due to the rain, the live was canceled but the girls still did a handshake event. I hope you had fun Decreez!

I'm amazed that the single rose by 10 places. Amazed in a good way of course. 

[Decreez]

It was my first time seeing a lot of the members, so yeah it was great !
The rain and wind were crazy though

Next stop, tomorrow's live and handshake

[PASSPO]

Oricon weekly sales ranking for PASSPO's new single: #17 with 11,205 copies sold.

From 2ch, a comparison between the first week sales of this single and ViVi Natsu (their previous single):

[qwiksXnd]

That's shocking. That's YGA and Fudanjuku level. Maybe the single will sell more over time leading up to their concert at the end of the month... but I don't think there is any reason to believe that.

For random reasons I'm not really conscious of, I wasn't interested in this single... even before I watched the horrible PV that made no sense (I still don't get why they're running away from Naomin, Yukki, and Natsumi. Why are they making fun of the least popular members? And most importantly why does Naomin run like an old lady?). I ended up buying just the normal "ugly cover" edition ... because it came with a poster and I've been conditioned to buy most things PASSPO-related.

Without sounding emo, I think a lot of the PASSPO "magic" is gone. I noticed this at the November concert, everyone was subdued compared to the July concert. The fans were acting like rabid psychopaths at the July concert, but like brain-dead zombies at the November concert. When CHECK-IN came out a month later and sold horribly, it just confirmed that something was up with the fanbase. Albums sell less than singles, but CHECK-IN should have sold way more than it did. The album was amazing and barely sold more than Idoling's last album. 

One of the reasons I think they've dropped in popularity:
With the exception of Anna... none of the members have improved since they joined Universal. Out of the "talented" members, only Anna has leveled-up. The shy ones are still as shy as they've been since day one (Why is it that almost two years after their debut the only members that talk during their MCs are Morishi, Anna, and Sako? Kaho used to be in this category, but no one took over for her. And the two most popular members are practically invisible at their concerts).

I think there are other reasons (related to their management), but I'll keep that rant to myself.

Fortunately Misa is going to be their miracle member.

[PASSPO]

It really makes me sad and I feel bad for the girls too since they must be blaming themselves for these sales, but they've been working so hard. They've been holding lives and other mini events along with working at CD stores the past week to promote the single.. I know a lot of Japanese fans have lost interest or stopped being obsessed with PASSPO with Kaho's graduation and the shock announcement of these 8 new girls we know nothing about (at least back then). A few Japanese wota I follow no longer tweet or blog about PASSPO anymore too.

In other PASSPO news..

Tomorrow a 300 limited DVD will go on sale. More details here: http://passpo.wordpress.com/2012/03/14/passpo-dvd/

300 limited copies! This is outrageous. This cannot be beneficial to the group or fans at all! They also made those two 1,000 limited DVDs at their Zepp Tour. Why put a limit on these DVDs? If they were widely distributed, many fans and not just from Japan would be buying them which is not a bad thing.

[qwiksXnd]

PASSPO + bikinis



I really think their management messed up their image. The ViVi Natsu PV, the three image videos, all the pervy gravure stuff Makoto does, their calendar, and the Young Magazine/WP photo shoots are unnecessary. They have a girl fanbase that I doubt is into any of that, and honestly I don't think most guys want PASSPO doing that either. I still remember when they debuted the VN PV and fans were upset that they sold out and did a bikini video. And why does a PASSPO documentary have to feature them wearing bikinis on the cover? It's like someone is intentionally sabotaging the group.

And I feel bad for the girls too. At the time when they are showing weakness, their two main rival groups are selling a lot more.

PASSPO got popular because they were so different from the other groups. They are a lot less different now. And if Universal keeps trying to make them more mainstream, I think they are going to continue to lose fans.

I'm kind of a broken record when it comes to this, but they need to release a real concert dvd. Super Girls has their second concert dvd out in a few weeks. They've done like 8 concerts, and they already have two dvds. Afilia Saga East released a video of their first concert. Idoling has released every single one of their concerts on dvd. Why can't the best live group release one?

Sorry for lying about not ranting.

[SomethingWild]

300 limited copies! This is outrageous. This cannot be beneficial to the group or fans at all! They also made those two 1,000 limited DVDs at their Zepp Tour. Why put a limit on these DVDs? If they were widely distributed, many fans and not just from Japan would be buying them which is not a bad thing.

This. I think part of AKB48's success is the amount of freebies with each release. Getting free photos encourages collecting, trading and getting to know the group. This results in a stronger fanbase and better sales. In other words, make stuff easily available in large quantities!

In addition, AKB48 sold a mook in 2009 at a cheap price of 1000 yen which really helped their market position. My problem with most of these newer or lesser known idol groups are the high merchandise prices. Afilia Saga's DVDs and PBs are insanely expensive. I understand they have to break even somehow and that it's hard to gain fans, but wallet raping the existing fans isn't the way forward. Selling a lot of something cheap can still result into profit, plus it makes more fans happier and it attracts new fans more easily. No casual/semi-interested J-pop fan is going to buy a 7K DVD.

they need to release a real concert dvd. Super Girls has their second concert dvd out in a few weeks. They've done like 8 concerts, and they already have two dvds. Afilia Saga East released a video of their first concert. Idoling has released every single one of their concerts on dvd. Why can't the best live group release one?

This. Regardless of who is the best live group, I have never seen a proper Passpo concert and would love to have a proper DVD release.

I don't mind Passpo in bikinis, I have no problem with this lol

This. OK, some of them are better suited for it then others, but I really enjoyed watching their 'Passpo no Po' IV release (despite the wacky editing).

[shurastriker]

lol i think Afilia Saga are the only ones that sell insanely expensive stuff and yet their fanbase is a bit bigger nowadays... with passpo i'm not sure why they aren't selling more but maybe they aren't promoting in the right places? also if they want them to go mainstream then they should promote like AKB with all the girls half naked in magazines but seriously guess japane already have enough gravure units out there... anyways it' time for them to release a DVD with their 1st one-man live or anything with proper rockin passpo flying (like what they should have do with graduation... just saying)


do you think all this silly videos in youtube will help at leaast a bit?

[qwiksXnd]

Differences in opinion and perspective is to be expected between hardcore and casual fans. When a groups first single sells 43,000 and their second sells 43,000, and their third sells 11,000, it's reflective of a significant change in the hardcore fanbase.

do you think all this silly videos in youtube will help at leaast a bit?

I think they should put a little more thought into what they are doing. The videos are so random and make them look like an after-school club just messing around (while in reality they are extremely hard working). There's nothing wrong with them looking like dorks, but they should balance it with content that shows other aspects of their personalities. In comparison, I think Predia's channel has much more interesting content (rehearsal videos, concert promos, new song previews, Akane and Rumina singing random songs, choreography lessons, etc).

[muppet]

From the For What It's Worth Department:

Passpo has seemed to lose a little of the big Mo' (momentum) but spring and summer is coming up and concert season can rev up the fan base as well as attract new fans. 

There was a time when Momoiro Clover released a PV that really pissed off a lot of fans- they were licking ice cream cones, suggesting far less innocent themes, and fan reaction was "this is creeping me out".............Momoclo has since rebounded with some fantastic PV's and lives and are picking up a lot of momentum lately.

Passpo has got a lot of skill, and a unique concept, so the seeds of future (further) success are there. Not sure if any group for a long time will approach the saturation level that the AKB48 has reached, but  not quite reaching that point doesn't mean other groups can't have success in their own right. (and being wildly popular does not make AKB48 a bad group)

Looking forward to the continued growth and success for Passpo, as it is indeed a group of hardworking, beautiful, and talented members!
 

[PASSPO]

If you have received your copy of PASSPO's single and haven't voted, do it soon! The deadline is tomorrow / March 18 11:59pm JST.

Here's a guide on how to vote: http://passpo.wordpress.com/2012/03/17/how-to-vote-for-a-passpo-candidate/

Hope it helps! If you need to see the candidates then you can find them here: http://passpo.wordpress.com/8-candidates-announced-20120109/

[PASSPO]

The 'PAIPON' song. 


PASSPO in 2 idol mooks:

J-POP GIRLS Kyun! vol. 3


Gekidou! Idol 10 Years Book

[hydeo1]

Lol these girls haha

[pigmin0239]

They release a official pen light finally
Put this on Yesasia please!

[zont]

【BOMB】2012.04


[Young Magazine] 2012 No.16