LE SSERAFIM achieved the title of “Best Rookie” during their official debut in Japan.
In the recently announced Oricon Annual Ranking 2023 for the period of December 12, 2022, to December 10, 2023, LE SSERAFIM claimed the top spot in the ‘Rookie Ranking’ for artist sales in Japan.
During the counting period, LE SSERAFIM achieved sales of 2.12 billion yen (approximately 19.3 billion KRW). This remarkable feat places them at the top of the ‘Rookie Ranking’.
Interestingly, it has been 20 years since a female group surpassed 2 billion yen in sales, with the last group being the Chinese female crossover group Twelve Girls Band in 2003.
The Rookie Ranking, which has been in place since 1969, determines the rankings by combining the sales of singles, albums, streaming, and music DVDs. SOURCE MUSIC, the agency of LE SSERAFIM, mentioned that the overall achievements of the group in Japan last year would be even greater.
This is because their first solo tour, which attracted 60,000 viewers in Japan alone, as well as various performances and advertising fees, were not included in the calculation.
Looking at the group’s Rookie Ranking sales breakdown, streaming takes the lead with 49%, followed by singles at 31%, albums at 18%, and downloads at 2%.
According to the Oricon rankings, both the title song ANTIFRAGILE from their 2nd mini album in April last year and the title song FEARLESS from their debut album in May surpassed 100 million streams.
Their Japanese debut single ‘FEARLESS’, released in January last year, broke the record for first place in the Japanese debut album rankings. Not only that, but it also became the first debut single by an overseas female artist to ship over 500,000 copies and receive ‘double platinum’ certification from the Recording Industry Association of Japan.
In addition, their first Korean full-length album UNFORGIVEN, released in May last year, debuted at No. 1 on the Oricon weekly album rankings and stayed in the Top 100 for 21 weeks. Their popularity was further confirmed when they were invited to NHK’s Kōhaku Uta Gassen, Japan’s representative year-end special broadcast, for the second year in a row.