"Balalaika" Anniversary: 3 Years Later

The "Balalaika" Phenomenon: The 3rd Anniversary

This past Sunday October 25 marked the third anniversary of the release of “Balalika,” the second single from “Tsukishima Kirari starring Kusumi Koharu.” The announcement for its release came less than 60 days after her the release of her first single, “Koi Kana,” which was still on the Oricon charts and eventually went on to sell over 38K units. This was quite surprising in 2006 (and would be now) given that other soloists like Abe and Matsuura were lucky to reach 20K and Goto could not break 30K.

A look at the H!O posts around that period shows how folks on the forum were still getting used to Koharu. The “Balalaika” PV, which capitalized on KK’s unique combination of cuteness, craziness, goofiness that was hinted at in “Koi Kana,” was actually getting mixed reviews at first. Eventually, KK, the PV, and the dance became a cosplay favorite, and a staple on YouTube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYLWe09cOjc

It’s fun and exciting to look at some of the H!O postings during that time and appreciate the gradual realization that something unprecedented was happening:

Eryri Posted on: Oct 31 2006, 05:45 PM
Balalaika has sold 28,000 copies in it's first week on release, that's an outstanding amount. I'm sure she'll top the 38,000 she sold for Koi Kana pretty quickly. Well done Koharu!

wildstarr Posted on: Oct 31 2006, 09:03 PM
She should beat Koi Kana. Balalaika sold 10,000 more copies in the first week than Koi did.
Question is...will this beat Aruiteru?

Eryri Posted on: Nov 7 2006, 01:30 PM
In just 2 weeks, Koharu has sold 38,586 copies of Balalaika. It took Koi Kana 11 weeks to achieve that figure. Who knows what the final sales for the single will be? 50K perhaps?

Jangster Posted on: Nov 7 2006, 05:37 PM
Ok, I had to make my first post in this thread just to show how amazed I am. The sales numbers for Balalaika are unbelievable. She's selling more than any other soloist or group in H!P except for MM. And if the single keeps on selling, she'll beat MM as well. I'm not sure, but I don't think that an H!P solo act outselling MM has happened too many times in the past, if even once... I mean, as if selling better than Gotou and the "super idol duo" GAM wasn't enough, she's going to outsell the flagship of H!P itself...

I have to admit that I never really saw the "miracle" in her before, but if these numbers aren't a miracle, then what is? Props to Koharu for an outstanding job!

Oh and as for the song itself, it's not really something I'd usually listen to, but it really makes me smile, especially the PV. And I just realized that it's the first single from H!P in a long time that didn't make me feel disappointed at all...

Eryri Posted on: Nov 23 2006, 07:52 PM
Looks highly likely now that Koharu will hit over the 50K mark for Balalaika next week, it's already snapping at the heels of MoMusu's Aruiteru in terms of sales (they've sold roughly around the same amount - 47K).

usagi_no_kami Posted on: Nov 29 2006, 11:15 PM
According to Ikimasshoi, Balalaika has broken the 50,000 sales mark in just 5 weeks! :w00t!:
Koi Kana was only at the 33,000 mark by the 5th week and was ranked lower than Balalaika is now.
If Balalaika has the same staying power as Koi Kana had maybe she can reach the 60,000 mark!!
Congrats Koharu!!! biggrin.gif

Qilver Posted on: Dec 1 2006, 04:18 AM
that's fantastic, good for her!anxious for her third release single...if/when she has one. biggrin.gif

wildstarr Posted on: Dec 13 2006, 10:49 PM
Kusumi Koharu has out-sold Morning Musume!!!
Kusumi's Balalaika has out-sold MM's Aruiteru according to wiki.theppn. Look here and here. Koharu is the only H!P soloist to do this. The Miracle Girl has officially earned her name.

Eryri Posted on: Dec 28 2006, 01:20 AM
Sorry to break the topic about Koharu's cuteness but just to inform all of her fans (myself included) that Balalaika is still selling well and it looks certain in the next 2 or 3 weeks to hit the 60k mark, it's already ahead of Aruiteru's sales by over three thousand copies. She's gonna be the biggest seller in H!P by the year's end. Go Koharu!

Za Hitokiri~Guns... post Dec 28 2006, 01:31 AM
Good Lord the world has gon mad :c20.gif:

QUOTE(Alienpyon @ Dec 28 2006, 06:07 AM)
It seemed impossible for me to believe that another H!P artist could ever sell more copies than MM, but then, whatever brings in money for UFA is welcome! Koharu's financial support tho UFA is very very important! These are hard times the music industry is going through and Koharu came out of nowhere to become a substantial source of income (for UFA) and a great MM member / solo artist (for us, the fans).
So, hats off to our girl! :c16:

QUOTE(aiko18 @ Jan 9 2007, 09:58 PM)
But since its an anime song that Koharu is singing, most of her fans must not know her as Kusumi Koharu but as Tsukishima Kirari. Anyways, we are all winners here since she's doing great on her own and she's helping the sales of Morning Musume (since she had more leads in Aruiteru and danced in the front). She might as well drawn a few kids, fans of her anime, to Momusu music as well! biggrin.gif

Airirin post Jan 10 2007, 06:22 AM
Miracle-chan has done it again! Koharu's Balalaika just reached 61,036 singles sold and came back to the 22th rank last monday!!! (while Aruiteru is off the charts)

QUOTE(firefly @ Jan 30 2007, 01:48 PM)
what a great weekend, H!P wise, for me, with the concert and all.

as most of you have read in the H!P 10th Anniversary thread, the concert was a big hit for many reasons. but what i would like to point out though in this thread is how significant this weekend was (at least to me personally) with regards to Koharu.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDwz7_-xtAo

from the concert, i no longer have any doubts about her popularity. she is probably THE most popular MM member at the moment, with Japanese fans. The amount of chants she got during her Balalaika performance was deafening. Tsunku giving her many lines in MM songs, as well as her solo side-stints have also been good for her.

QUOTE(lilangel @ Apr 5 2007, 04:44 PM)
Koharu is really a miracle!

Balalaika - 22nd Week Chart Update:
rank: #200
sales: 392
total: 72,345

No other H!P single since 2006 had broken 70K until earlier this month when MM’s 40th single “Nanchatte Renai” just made it. To find a higher selling recent single, one has to go back to the July 2005 release of KK’s debut, “Iroppoi Jirettai,” which went on to sell 82K. Although UFA at the time probably thought "Balalaika" would do decently given the promise of “Koi Kana,” the “Balalaika” phenomenon must have hit the suits like a bombshell.

Now, in 2009 it seems that Tsunku has been thinking about “Balalaika” as well: In his DohhhUp interview, Tsunku spoke about how he was going for a Russian sound in the 41st MM single, “Kimagure Princess.” And in their recent BayFM ON8 interview, Koharu along with Ai and Lin Lin were asked about the new song:

The host asks for their initial reactions to the song in a single word:
Ai: “Butts? Huh?”
KK: “Balalaika? . . .Balalaika?”
LL: “Bullfight.”

Then they’re asked to elaborate on those reactions:
KK: I thought, “Balalaika” and they said, “No, it’s different, it’s different.” And the dance was a Russian Cossack dance. That’s what I thought at first.
Ai: Definitely.

The host asks the girls what fans should take away from the single:
KK: I’d like them to see my choreography.
[everyone laughs]

We'll see if it breaks 72K.