- Let’s go over the Oricon charts first. On the singles chart, the new Koda Kumi “maxi-single” debuts at the top spot with a strong sales figure of 108,000, while “hip-pop” group Ketsumeishi’s latest is fairly far behind in second place with 78,000 sold. However, Monkey Majik’s theme song for the Saiyuki movie (a little more on that later) dies on arrival with a 20th place debut and selling only 5,400 copies. If the daily rankings hold up, then expect Erika Sawajiri’s first single to top the charts next week.

Things are a little more exciting over on the albums side, as Namie Amuro’s new album sells a solid 250,600 copies on its first week of release, making it her first number one album since 2000’s “Genius 2000.” Meanwhile, new band Greeeen, comprised of current dentistry students (That’s what the Oricon website wrote), saw their first album debut at number 2 with 130,000 copies sold, which is pretty damn good for a debut album’s debut (However, Oricon also calls them a hip-hop group, which doesn’t seem right). Also, Zard’s Golden Best compilation album actually saw its sales go up from last week to 52,600 this week despite a drop in ranking, possibly because of the memorial for Izumi Sakai last week. Lastly, Love Psychedelico’s 4th album debuted at 5th place, selling only 48,000 copies probably due to the lack of any notable single this time around. If the daily charts serve as any indication, the album charts next week should be fairly quiet.

- Kumi Koda’s album “Cherry Girl” has now sold over one million copies, and she is the first female artist since Utada Hikaru to have three consecutive million-selling albums. Not to rain on her parade, but two of those albums are technically compilations…

- Eiga Consultant reports about how The Mourning Forest is doing in its limited release, particularly in Cinema Angelica in Shibuya, Tokyo. On the opening weekend of the 23rd, the film only attracted 905 people for a gross of 1.34 million yen. Considering there are 10 shows that wekeend (5 each day), and the capacity is 104 seats, that means the weekend capacity was only 87%. This is fairly disappointing, considering the film’s success at the Cannes Film Festival. Is it because of the art film stigma? The hi-definition broadcast on NHK? How is it doing elsewhere? We’ll explore this a little bit this weekend on the podcast.

- While a Thai court has overruled the ruling government’s ability to shut down websites at will, the Thai cabinet has sadly approved the new film act which actually still allow the film committee to ban films, despite the establishment of a film rating system. Now the legislation will now go to the parliament, where it will be even harder for activists to continue their cause.

- Thanks to Comingsoon.net, I found out that Andrew Lau’s first Hollywood film The Flock will actually open in Japan on August 4th (it has yet to secure an exact release date in the United States), and the Japanese site for it. There’s a trailer on it, which seems to play up the reportedly extended cameo by pop star Avril Lavigne. As for the movie, it just looks like an Andrew Lau movie with better production values. Blah.

- Speaking of websites for potentially crappy movies, no one has really reported on Saiyuki, the big summer film adapted from the “hit” drama. I didn’t even bother seeking it out because it takes a well-known Chinese fairy tale and twists it for cheap entertainment (Jeff Lau would be just as guilty if I didn’t enjoy the Chinese Odyssey films…but he DID make a Chinese Tall Story). Mostly I just didn’t bother looking for it because I hear it’s flat out not very good. Anyway, the website reports that the movie is coming out next weekend, and it has a trailer if you click on 予告.

- Production for the Korean horror film G.P. 506 has been suspended after 70% of shooting has been completed due to the lawsuit and management battles within the production firm. Film is, after all, a business.