It is an intresting thought...
but i wonder what covers she would of done in london..
which, thinking of... when did she go to london again?
I know it was last year.

Because, that cover (the CD+DVD+DVD) would be much more likely to be seen as cover of a porn movie. I don't mind ayu showing skin and so (or well, a bit, but that's up to her), but this, where she just REALLY shows her butt to the camera, and how you see her butt in the mirror.. I mean, her butt is more in focus than her. And a combination of that, of how thin she is (like.. poor ayu :(), of the boots (!).. I just really don't like the way she is going.
Also, I found this cover while I was in school. I don't like to be embarrassed by looking at her album covers in school.. magazines, fine, but albums.. >__<

^I don't think they're trashy at all. :no But then again, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

I'm not getting the porn cover...
Have you ever seen a porn cover? Ayumi is pretty tame compared to what you can find on porn covers...

^I agree. The CD+2DVD cover is not pornographic. Risqué? Yes. But similar to covers of porno films/magazines/etc.? No. My boyfriend pointed this out to me and I agree that the CD+2DVD cover is supposed to represent her feelings on how Avex uses her as a means to get money. They don't care about her as a person. I would think that Ayu feels dehumanized by this.

I think that the non pornographic cover is very similar to the acting of Ayu in Sparkle. But only in a still image...

Two and a half weeks. Is it too late for her to administer sudden cover change? :D Like in the I am... days.

^Unless a big disaster happens, no I don't see a cover change happening anytime soon.

They reminded me of Sparkle as well. The difference is that Sparkle was actually inspired by porn while Party Queen was inspired by tabloid magazines.

^ where did you read that?

Sparkle was not that hardcore, in my opinion. She was not showing that much of a skin in there. And the latex made her more looking fierce than erotic sexy

At some point a while ago I believe it was general agreement that *the current covers* were a big disaster. Now everyone seems to go bananas for them. Must be ayu's lingerie-donned arse.

isthisLOL? mentioned it in the blog post, I think. That's where I knew it from, at least.

That's not what I asked. I asked isthisLOL? where he had read that stuff.

It's not so much 'read' as much as it is 'seen' since the film in question looks almost exactly like Sparkle but was released quite some time earlier. Like... the same sets and outfits. A lot of the stuff used in Sparkle looks like it's actual outfits used in that kind of film.

And the album cover thing... it's what it said in Misa-chan's translation but I don't know what the original said. It was the "Back to Japan!" entry from December. (Again, translated by Misa-chan!)

Um... No.

I don't know about sparkle.. I dont know much about it, but if it has the same sets and what not then fine, but...
but in general tight leather/plastic whatever does not = porn.

Um. Yes, according to almost everyone who laid eyes on them the first time, which isthisLOL's blog post beautifully illustrates.

Oops, I didn't realize the person above your post was isthisLOL? Sorry. What truehappiness said.

Is it bad that I never saw Sparkle that way? :tconfused I thought that it was supposed to be showcasing the innocent side of people (Ayu) versus the sexual, take charge side.

I thought the same!

I'd say that it's up to the way you want to interpret it.

I think that the actual intention of the video was to illustrate what isthisLOL? had mentioned in his blog post about sexuality since for some people that kind of 'idol' is a huge turn on. The fact that they went with that sort of inspiration for most of the PV makes it very clear imo. Who'd have known that there'd be an Ayu PV that was inspired by such films?

AR (augmented reality) cards are regular-sized cards that show 3D CG images when you view them with a compatible (3DS, cellphone, etc.) camera. The images "pop" out of the card and stand/hover on top of them.

The AR card for "Party Queen" sounds like it's going to be an ayupan standing on a stage.

Now I wonder if she knew about that film or if she was completely unsuspecting (Kazuyoshi Shimomura notwithstanding XD)

Um... No.

I have always liked them and I can name quite a few people that have actually so, no.

And.. ayumi and porn.. I just cant put the two together.. lol

the CD+DVD+DVD covers could be for her male fans. Its not a trashy picture, she still looks classy just that shes in her underwear. Shes 33 and if you cant handle ayu with whatever her choices in her carer are than no better than avex trying to control ayu and if you have seen a porno cover they look a lot cheaper looking trashy unless there the ones that take after normal movies. God even lady GaGa has a full nude shot

ugh so tired of reading posts about how much you hate the covers.

i just wish i could break all of your whiny little fingers so you couldn't type

Calm down, unless this thread will be closed again too :laugh

Thanks for explaining! How sad I don't have such a camera. v_v

OMG... lol, extreme much... (but cool. I like them, they are different and not expected, which makes them COOL)

You really haven't seen any porn movie covers, have you?

omg this is too cute
http://29.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m0...7o1_r3_500.jpg

^^I gotta say, I was tempted to post a few so that people could see the difference lol

I love both ladies but this is hilarious. :roflmao

No offense but you and "quite a few people" =/= the general consensus. According to the poll here on AHS, most members (more than 50%) do not like the covers for the album. :)

this is only in koda kumi's fans dreams. it would be funny if there's at least 50% true in it. this way just looks dumb. its like picture of madonna being waitress for cheryl cole or whatever her name is. I mean - next

:roflmao

Oh, lord not you again.
Besides not everyone has voted. AND AHS is not the whole of Ayu's fandom. AND the 54.48 does not =/= the general consensus either. That general consensus is just the opinion of 279 people.

EDIT:
Plus what truehappiness said!

There's also the fact that a lot of people changed their mind on how they felt about the covers so it's basically 50/50.

I wish that those polls wouldn't be made so soon after something's released because people are very likely to change their minds imo.

it sure is closer to a general consensus though :laugh


Honestly, I still think a new poll would be very close in numbers.

First of all, just because I say one thing that contradicts your statement does not give you free reign to be condescending. I think you're clueless and don't think anything you say or argue through pretty much every time I read a post by you, but I try to be polite because it's the nice thing to do. Learn some manners, k?

Second, I never said that everyone voted or that AHS was the whole of Ayu's fandom, so don't put words into my mouth. I assumed that the person you were talking to was referring to the general consensus of AHS, since it would be absolutely pointless to talk about the huge portion of the Ayu fandom that we don't even communicate with.

And since you admitted that the 54.48% IS the opinion of the 279 people who voted, it's pretty fair to say it's the most popular opinion here at AHS since that poll is all we have to go by.

We should probably re-poll when the album comes out or something.

the shade in this post,omg
you need to stop,with that bogus comparison

/tries not to engage in fanwar


so far it seems SHAKE IT and NANANA will be my faves, I don't even a need a clip I just miss party Ayu

I wonder if things would change. We'd probably get less people responding to the poll though since most people probably went to click "No" because of the shock of it all a few days ago.

The covers are certainly very polarizing. It makes me curious about whether it was Ayu's intention from the start to get people talking much in the way that tabloid covers/gossip magazines like this tend to do.

Reminds me of this (and I think it's really funny :P):

http://s1.directupload.net/images/120306/j7cl4sbh.png

^ hahaahah!!! :laugh

:roflmao that one's great.

I think it was a shock value too. I mean when i first saw them I was like... Oh my, but after staring at them for a bit I liked them a lot. I think my problem with it though was I had one image in my head and it did not fit that image so I wanted to disregard them...

much like some of things I like to disregard.... lol :D
HAHAHA... oh my goodness I laughed so hard at you... lol. :roflmao

If that was her intention she did it brilliantly. The people who cry poor execution are the ones falling for Ayu's tricks! :laugh

I guess the best thing about Ayu's work is you really can interpret it any way you want. I almost prefer it if she didn't say anything about the concept to be honest.

I know Im rude and Ill try to stop since I dont have anything against koda but her fans just keep coming here saying she's better than ayu. her fans really turn off other people of kumi. its like lady gaga thing, you dont wanna be part of that fandom LOL

nevermind really

^ OMG! tell me about it!
I think I have seen that stupid picture in about 5 different ayu threads now... serious? It's not even funny.. and now making new ones?
It's just sad.

Man, not me. I want to know what she is thinking.. I can theorize all day, but I want to know HER intake on it!

^ that proves how we miss interviews with her on album and songs. I miss tv interview.

She still does them in magazines though. In fact, they're more in depth in the magazines normally. There are so many things that we've missed out on since her debut because the interviews go untranslated.

^ She NEEDs to be on TV more! lol... period.
I don't know if there was a correlation or just happened by coincidence that when she started to do less live's and promotion and stuff, her sales started to decline.

I wish she would have at least held out about the concept until later.

I see no reason why she needed to address it now...and so informally.

Cause people were putting up negative comments? Whatever.


And the koda fan thing...I actually find it funny how most of the things brought up here are by people that you don't even see in the koda thread, or are always hating there. Besides ilovekodaa of course. Trolls are trolls.

Wait... was that second one Gaga and Britney Spears?

If that's all you're going to say, I'm just gonna assume you've realized I'm right and we can end this debate. bai

I just noticed that...where the heck did her arm go? Lost in photoshop I guess. I think they should have kept her arm in the picture.

^ I think she is holding the wood thing... if you look at it its not the same color.

Looks like she has three arms in this picture. : O

^^^someone said it's behind the table leg.

I do think maybe they photoshopped any semblance of it out when they colored the wall white....

or...man I dont even know :laugh

I think it was just an unfortunate angle where her head was completely blocking her arm, not a Photoshop error.

That thing is the reflection of her arm, that is beside the table leg. There is one arm supporting her on the ground and it's reflex on the mirror... No photoshop error...

http://img208.imageshack.us/img208/9018/20098303.png
So I circled where I see three arms. One, in the reflection, looks to be raised above her head and touching the top of the table or whatever.
The other, below her and farthest from us, looks to be resting on the ground.
The other, in front and closest to us, is also resting on the ground.

... Sorry, I don't know. Am I insane and in need of sleep?

^Yes. The arm that is going upwards is behind her head and the table leg, so you can only see it in the reflection.

Snowfox, there's a mirror behind her which is why we can see a reflection of her arm/her entire body.

Lord, this topic again.

If the graphic designer of this cover really cut the hands off, s/he can also photoshop her butt bigger and the cover is brought to you by size 38 with double D. However, s/he didn't do that. So that should be the weird angle caused that happening. Period.

Grab a table and try to do the same photo shot by yourself. You will know what I mean.

Holy crap! I am so slow. I'm wondering what the heck this table is you all were talking about because I thought ayu was on a counter. >____<;

Well, it depends on what you mean by "poor execution". For me that would include things like her hair, because I don't think she looks her best. I don't think Ayu did her hair like that to make people upset. Or the tabloid idea that includes leopard print? I don't know what tabloid uses that print, and I don't think that was part of Ayu's "trick". I think what Auy knew would get people talking are things like her positions and her lack of clothing. Not the leopard print, which is what I have issue with.

^^ LOL.. i really have no clue what that thing is, but it houses a mirror.

For some reason the print actually kinda grew on me.

Like, it just reminds me of...nightlife...or something idkwtf lol

So did I at first, then people started talking about a table and I finally saw it, lol. It's a pretty weird table, it has a floor and a mirror inside it. Not very practical in terms of tables.

For me, I just don't think that the covers were supposed to look like they were done in MS Paint. I'm hoping that HQ will redeem them, because I'm thinking the grainy-ness (lol, made up a word) is what's ruing them.

Yeah, I agree. The covers are kinda bad for me just in general lol But I like them anyway.


It's kinda like, how I feel about some kuu songs. They'll be so bad, but I like them, and usually, which is true here, I like them cause they're genuine.

Thank you ;)

I usually love leopard print, but its just so out of place with the tabloid theme. I think it was supposed to make the covers look more "diva glam", but I would have been more happy if she had used one or the other.

50% of Kuu's charm is her genuine cheese.

Tom Punks is right, although in the last 2 days I saw like 10 comments of "Now I like the covers/I don't dislike them anymore." It seems pretty 50/50 to me.

Sure, porn is too much. It is much more beautiful, and cannot be compared to a porn cover. I was just pretty much in a rage moment.. I am very sorry, and I really don't want step on anyone's feet, I just really think it is too much :(

And btw: Many of you says that it can illustrate how Avex uses ayu. I'm sure you can be right, but I'm also sure that could be illustrated somehow else.

No need to apologize; I'd say it's unthinkable to exclude porn the moment one laid eyes on the covers.

Actually, isn't it a closed fireplace that's had a mirror placed over the grate and cover would be?

A BEST managed it beautifully :)

If it were to show how they use her, they wouldnt agree to publish it. Considering the pics were originally for the lifestyle book with someone's perverted idea how to show off her shoe collection. I'm guessing someone at Avex didnt like the book would have sold to mostly women and she was coerced into making it sell to men. There had to be a better way to show her shoes in a lifestyle book. I have no idea what anyone involved is thinking having photos of that sort taken of her to begin with, but using them as cd covers is beyond stupid, because not only will customs stop them in some countries, some stores will refuse to put them out on their shelves, so their greediness and trying to use oversexed to sell may cost some sales. They are highly over estimating the income of her fans thinking we all can buy the cds the dvds the blurays and 4 books.

Yep!^^

Well, I guess Avex will find out just exactly how much they make from fans in Malaysia...or something.

^Only ONE cover of THREE has any "sexual" content... If some countries don't allow Ayu on fours, there still are the crazy drinker and the shoe grabber to sell...

Another reason why i hate this cover!
I was wishing to order the box set
but since this . . . picture is there
I will be in big trouble if i did :(

unfortunately, not any new quality-made conceptual photos now :(
A BEST is just the best ever for me :luv2

the first and last circle are reflections. last circle is reflection of the arm we can obviously see

I think you are missing my point. The point isn't what the cover LOOKS like such as design. But it has people talking and causes a great divide with the "likes" and "dislikes" like a real tabloid. :) When you see a celebrity caught in a scandal of course your first reaction isn't going to be "OMG at least she's gorgeous and her hair is perfect." It's going to be that polarizing emotion the tabloid cover brings out.

Well avex did allow the A BEST covers as well as the alterna PV, Ourselves PV etc. They've allowed "controversial" material in the past - they have to in a sense, since Ayu commands a tonne of their finances.

Come to think of it, A BALLADS also had a "sexually charged" cover, with the two Ayu's embracing in a romantic-like pose. Did anyone have trouble importing that one? Granted that was a CD only, with the DVD included I can see some countries questioning the content, as well as some parents who buy albums for their kids! :spinning

^ No because that cover was shot absolutely beautifully. I have always felt that it is her best album cover EVER. That photoshoot was flawless and I literally bought the album just for that cover and bought 2 promotional posters for it (1 laminated). I think for many it's not about the sexual image here but how poorly it was executed. It is just so God-awfully hideous.

*Oops you were referring to the image and how it's received to overseas fans. Completely different topic. Lol.

omg I just thought of something. why would Ayu pose with a table that's in front of a mirror?

then i think it's a counter maybe for drinks but it's still really weird why there's a mirror below the table.. like who goes down there to look at his reflection?!

omg, ayu ayu!! i wish she have a cleaner image. Although it's not exactly wrong.... For male fans maybe??

Those were my exact thoughts lol.

I really dont think it is a table, it has to be something else, because tables rarely have a bottom like that...

Still don't like the cd+2dvd cover... :no

Anyway, Wish there was a first press edition for the other versions:(

@ilovekodaa:

HQ covers
http://i.imgur.com/mtaXR.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/LycUm.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/BX3Ws.jpg
and a CD+2DVD textless version
http://i.imgur.com/kkKg8.png

thanks for HQ!!! now I think the covers are really funny... in CD-only, she's eating a cube of ice. omg lol, i used to do that when i was 10... oh Ayu <3

btw the covers look like she's in a "messy" surrounding... maybe, we get to see a "crying" version; i would love that

I wonder why the plaster 13th all over the place on the cover.. I know its her 13th album, but it just seems weird to let everyone know that...

thanks for the larger covers!

^It's to add to the tabloid aspect, kind of like if it said "issue/volume 13."

Thanks, Foyuki!


...ayu has a really fine set of a**...


Oh, and what's that thing under her head, again? o.O

hmms, ayu turning into a new koda kumi/ lady gaga?? I've always seen ayu as more conservative celeb compared to artist like gaga or koda kumi....

I mean it's not wrong for her to do that (since it's her chioce). But don't we all picture her as someone who uses her music/lyrics/talents rather than her body?? ( i believe all of us feels this way)

Look at A best/ Iam/ rainbow/secret era.... though she does reavealing shots, those picture doesn't gives you the impression that she's using sex to sell... Rather, it's her music that we are appreciating..

No. Don't judge the book by it's cover. Lady GaGa is beyond vulgar and disgusting when it comes her image. Koda Kumi is doing ero-kakkoi. Ayu doesn't really fit into either of the two. She has never been conservative. She was topless on LOVEppears cover so imo it's not anything new to her and her songs still aren't about sex...

What is this by her face? I still don't get it... >_<
But after trying to find out again and again I come to think that this is really a photoshop failure, 'cos for me it looks like it is the wall in its original color - the wall is extremly white, so I guess it's sure that the wall was made that white afterwards, maybe they forgot this spot?
But then again it is to obvious that someone wouldn't see this, so another option would be that they made this on purpose because of the tabloid aspect?

Finally HQ!! *-*

But I still don't get what's in the mirror in the back... I thought it was a chair, but it's so strange. And I still don't understand what's under her head in the CD+2DVD. Looks like the shadow of her head, but... strange.

And in CD only that's definitely a condom the thing she's holding xD