her and Utada's rivalry. For each six albums released had six different artworks, each having different close-up poses by Hamasaki. A Best is Hamasaki's first album to embody her "" logo on the front of the cover. Critical responses A Best received positive reviews from music critics. Mori Tomoyoki from Amazon Japan was positive in his review. Tomoyoki stated that, whilst her initial presentation as an artist was described as "idle", he labelled the album's material as "excellent". He also felt the lyrical content, whilst "shocking", represented Hamasaki well. Hiromi Yonemoto from Yeah!! J-Pop! was positive in his review. Yonemoto commended the album's quality, and commented that the album was the "centerpiece" of Hamasaki's sales success, concluding that the material is "memorable." A staff reviewer for Tower Records commended the album's quality and felt that while the album featured more "heart" than her previous work. The reviewer called the album "familiar" and filled with "Ayu charm." Alexey Eremenko from AllMusic selected many tracks from the album as the album and Hamasaki's best moments in her career. Commercial performances Before its release, Hamasaki commented that she was anxious about the album's first week sales. She commented that she felt it might "be my last album... It's possible I'll may never get the chance again". During a competitive week with Utada's album Distance, A Best debuted at number two on Japan's Oricon Albums Chart. This resulted in Distance debuting atop the album chart, making it Hamasaki's second album after her 1999 remix album Ayu-mi-x not to enter the top spot. Hamasaki's album sold over 2.874 million units in its first week of sales, whilst Utada's album sold three million in its first week. This made A Best the second fastest selling album in Japanese music history, just behind Distance at first place. The following week, A Best replaced Distance at the top spot and sold over 510,000 units. This became Hamasaki's first greatest hits album to reach the top spot on that chart, and her fourth album overall. The album stayed inside the top ten for nine weeks, the top 100 for 20 weeks, and eventually lasted 51 weeks in the top 300 chart. By the end of 2001, A Best placed second on the Annual Japanese Oricon Albums Chart with, behind Distance. Hamasaki's album had sold over 4.24 million units in Japan, whilst Utada's album sold 4.40 million. Hamasaki's album sales