i think that gesture was or is quite special for her, if i got it even a tiny bit right from an interview she did a while back, (i dont speak either japanese note chinese) was as if at the last moment of the concert she wanted her voice to reach people without being filtered through microphone, as to make it more real and truthful, like as direct as it could possibly be, that's why she did all those "thank you's" like that, i guess it made it more personal for her. I used to think it's a really sweet thing to do.

Because all her japanese fans have been talking shit about her since 2010 and leaving the Ayu fandom so now she's like "ok no more ~thank you's~ for you ungrateful little bitches"

^ hahaha xD

Yep, what attractive nausea said! I hadn't actually noticed tbh!

How good is the Stephane Pompougnac remix of Jewel? I am loving this right now!

And she's paying dust to her actually loyal fans?

*insert britney worried gif*

she doesn't throw wristbands to audience either anymore

^ They can't afford that anymore.

^ omg :laugh

Pray for Slavex.

hence we have WARNING. Damn, I'd love to know her true feelings on certain things sometimes. In a conversation, not just through her lyrics. I would think she gets quite frustrated with Japanese fans at times.

I can't stop watching old Ayu clips. It really, really makes me so nostalgic. Like, I'm immediately the 13 year old me again lol.

Ayu's played such a role in my life it's so weird how she's so linked to my past!

That feeling of finding new videos on the Internet at 2 in the morning knowing that I have to wake up for school the next day but continuing to tell myself "just one more!" Or having to download multiple parts of a video and joining them together, and dealing with the frustration of a broken link!

The Internet was still so new at that time haha.

Now I'll occasionally find a never seen before video or interview, but the excitement is largely gone.

Or building up my picture folder with all her magazine shoots and making live journal layouts and icons lol.

Everything felt so...juvenile haha.

Also, Von Dutch hats.

omg my thirst for Von Dutch hats used to be unquenchable :laugh

God, early-2000s fashion was so tragic

The western fans are the one complaining directly at her on twitter when they dislike something or giving her bibles when trying to save her soul...

Her fanbase is annoying, not only the Japanese one.

I was lucky on my trip to Japan. I heard two Ayu songs playing in stores (I felt like a little girl when I just randomly heard Ayu).
I had the TV on in the background at the hotel room, and suddenly Step by Step was playing! The drama started.

Weird moments:
A TV show who asked me why I was in Japan asked me if they could follow me when going to Ayu's concert in Yoyogi on the 6th. I said no though, I'm too shy for that!
On the train back to the airport; I was sitting behind Maro O_O I checked his Instagram when I came home to see if it really was him, and it was. It felt so weird XD

^ omg. Did he bring a bag of grass on the train with him to snack on?

Haha, I'm sure he had the grass hidden in his backpack! He'll maybe try the grass in NYC to see if it's tastier over there :D

Omg was it You wa Nani shi ni Nihon e? (Youは何しに日本へ？)--which means What did you come to Japan for? essentially haha

If it was that's a really popular show where they find random foreignors and give them a camera crew and follow them around haha omg I wish you'd have done it :-p (if it wasn't this show, I wonder what it was...)

oh DEFINITELY. I didn't mean to single out any one group. I don't think it's acceptable, some of the tweets that I've seen sent to ayu. So fucking arrogant to think that's OK.

I heard boys & girls, namie's think of you, and a few other songs I recognized while shopping in tokyo also! mainly book off! haha

WAS IT NHK NEWS?! Cause they found me and interviewed me after the concert on the 6th! lol I wish I could see what ended up getting broadcast!!

I remember at the time there were many strong rumors about still alone, it was originally called Survivor and Naturally was called NATURAL, and NATURAL was the original 4th album title instead of I am... and both songs would come with PVs.

What happened and caused the changed? 911.

That makes sense to me because Survivor sounds like Survivor in 911..

OMG the original version of still alone :luv2 I'd forgotten all about that - its soo good. I remember her saying in one of those track by track interviews that still alone was the album problem child and they had to redo it a few times and so it went from having a sad morbid tone to a more cutesy sound.

I miss the old days when everything when there wasn't so much transparency with releases and there would be rumors and speculation for months before the official announcement.