HYBE boy bands Seventeen and Enhypen were among the highest-selling artists in Japan in the first half of 2025, according to music chart Oricon's midyear album rankings released Wednesday.

The rankings are based on sales from Dec. 9, 2024 to June 8 of this year.


Seventeen's fifth full-length album, "Happy Burstday," came second on Oricon's Combined Albums Chart and third on the regular Albums Chart — the highest rankings achieved among any non-Japanese artists in this period.

"Happy Burstday" was released on May 26 with the lead track "Thunder." It immediately topped Oricon's daily album rankings before also climbing to the No. 1 position on the music chart's weekly album rankings and weekly combined chart.

The album was certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of Japan for selling 500,000 copies within five days of its release.

The band is now set to release "Where love passed," a soundtrack for the upcoming drama series "Hatsukoi Dogs," which will premiere on Japanese network TBS on July 1.

Meanwhile, Enhypen's ninth EP, "Desire : Unleash," ranked ninth on both the Combined Albums and regular Albums charts.

"Desire : Unleash" was released on June 3, only three days before Oricon concluded its data collection for the midyear rankings.

The EP, which consists of eight tracks including singles "Loose" and "Bad Desire (With or Without You)," sold over 300,000 copies within a week of its release, becoming the band's best-selling album in the country for that period.

Enhypen will also be active in Japan over the summer. The band will release its fourth Japanese single, "Yoi," on July 29 before holding a showcase for the music on July 31.

The "Bite Me" (2023) singers will also hold concerts in Tokyo's Ajinomoto Stadium and Osaka's Yanmar Stadium Nagai in July and August as parts of its "Walk the Line" tour in Japan.

BY KIM JU-YEON [kim.juyeon2@joongang.co.kr]