Ultimate Blast (which we received internationally last month as Ultimate Tenkaichi) launched in Japan this past week on 08 December 2011, and the first week sales are in.

The game managed to push 44,593 copies on the PS3 (no 360 sales are reported, as per the norm for Japan and this franchise’s games) between its release date on the 8th and the reporting period’s end date on the 11th.

Last year, Raging Blast 2 pushed 47,610 copies its first week, itself down almost 10,000 copies from the prior year with the original Raging Blast.

Amazon Japan is filled with interesting comments from fans in its home land. While the few five-star reviews are short and to the point, the 57 one-star reviews (out of 100 total at this time) are moderately lengthy, occasionally praising the graphics, while noting “the bad” as “everything else”. Almost every single review notes the rock-paper-scissors basis of the game, something we discussed at length a few weeks back on our podcast while reviewing the game.