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The story
The BD/DVD release of Hello! Project group Juice=Juice’s nationwide tour “Juice=Juice Concert 2026 UP TO 11 MORE! MORE!” opened with first-week sales of 4,834 copies, sparking discussion on 5ch’s “Hello! Project” board. That’s roughly on par with the previous release, “Queen of Hearts Special Flush,” which sold 4,968 copies, and still the top number among current Hello! Project groups. However, while the previous release sold out shortly after launch, this time stock remained available at stores and online retailers. Thread opinions were split between those arguing the group’s core fanbase has grown and those arguing that many new fans aren’t translating into actual purchases, with recurring complaints about talent agency Up-Front’s promotional efforts.
What people said
Weekly *4,968 copies — Juice=Juice Concert 2025 Queen of Hearts Special Flush
Weekly *4,834 copies — Juice=Juice Concert 2026 UP TO 11 MORE! MORE!👈
4,834 Juice=Juice
3,067 Uma Musume
1,554 Togenashi Togeari
1,412 TrySail
4,077 Blu-ray
757 DVD
New fans clearly aren't growing at all lol
Guess you can't read it as the base level rising
They're already in a league of their own within Hello! Project
This time stock is plentiful and this is the result
If people could buy it in week one, there's no room for it to grow from week two onward
Very on-brand for this crappy agency that won't even cross a bridge after tapping it to check it's safe (overly cautious to a fault)
I'm sure the base has risen, no argument there
But it's also true that it's down from the last release, isn't it
Probably some fatigue from the relentless string of TV appearances too
The best one was last spring
It's still backordered on Rakuten right now
Maybe people figured they didn't need to buy the BD/DVD on top of that
Setting other people aside, if it's not something you yourself could surpass again anytime, better not to use it as a bludgeon
If they'd found the sales interesting, they'd be taking measures to sell even more
Since they have zero intention of selling Juice=Juice any further, they won't take measures to boost sales again either
Thanks to the afterglow of that success, outside work offers are still pouring in, but it seems Up-Front's "assistance" hasn't gained them anything
Saying they'd be better off leaving Hello! Project isn't wrong either
If anything, it feels like Up-Front's attitude is more "we'd rather Juice=Juice kept selling less and less"
Live footage uploaded to YouTube from the spring big-venue show
1 MM Fantasy
1 ANGERME Vanilla
2 J=J Kurakura, Fiesta
3 BEYOOOOONDS Saikoo, That's LIFE!, Hai to
They showed up, but as non-paying new fans
That was most of them
That's really all there is to it
So it's that so-called "shrinking middle class of music consumers" hypothesis
If real estate is where they make their money, stick to that
It's disrespectful to the talent
I think this is just Up-Front being Up-Front as usual
That was just the afterglow of the golden era gradually fading while hovering around that level — once the generational lineup changed, it dropped sharply all at once
They're doing nothing with the Amore boom either
They're surely aware that Juice is underwhelming
In relative terms within current Hello! Project groups, they're the best-selling, but if you're talking about a group meant to keep breaking out further beyond that, it looks weak
Background and Key Points of Discussion
As the ranking against other groups shown alongside these numbers (see post #2) makes clear, this release still ranks among the top within Hello! Project. Even so, the strong “down from last release” narrative stems from a key difference in conditions: the previous release, “Queen of Hearts Special Flush,” saw demand strong enough to sell out after launch, whereas this time stock was adequately supplied throughout — meaning a simple comparison of unit numbers alone doesn’t fully capture the real picture. The thread’s debate largely splits into two camps: one holding that the core fanbase has grown, and the other arguing that most new fans are watching for free and aren’t translating into purchases — though neither side offers conclusive evidence. Whether environments like Hulu, where fans can stream the live footage through a flat-rate subscription, are affecting the motivation to buy physical discs was also discussed, but this too remains speculation.
※This article is compiled and summarized from the 5ch (Hello! Project board) thread “[Breaking] BD/DVD ‘Juice=Juice Concert 2026 UP TO 11 MORE! MORE!’ Opens at 4,834 Copies.”
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