It's her problem if she wants to fight good thinking! At this point i think she just does not care ... it's part of her story she has the right to share it. In the end it seems this book does not leave anyone indifferent wether it's good or bad. To me it does not affect her talent now we know the reasons that led her to write her beautiful lyrics...

You're being ignorant here. Orbitalaspect already explained why. But I want to add that not only in Japan people would find it embarrassing when you give away too much of your private life in public. For example, I have a friend who is from the US but lives in Germany since a few years. She still has a hard time finding a balance between not telling everyone details about her private life you normally only would tell friends about and not to shut herself off completely. There even seems to be a cultural difference of what is appropriate to tell in public and what not in the US and Germany. People engaging in gossip are seen as superficial and making yourself the center of attention by actively telling people details about your love life is probably what makes people feel ashamed by just listening to you talking.
So is letting someone write a book about gossip of your love life from twenty years ago to make money out of it seen as embarrassing by a lot of Japanese people and that doesn't mean Ayu is just doing what everyone else on this planet would normally do. There are a lot of things which I would criticise about Japanese society, but selling gossip as being seen as embarrassing isn't one of them.

Even though people are hating on Ayu since quite some time now, there were still a lot of those people who saw her as the utahime of the heisei era and who had respect for what she achieved. The reason my friend was asking if Ayu has gone crazy now was because she always was one of those people who saw Ayu as the utahime of the heisei era, who had some love for her old songs, even though she didn't care about what she was releasing lately. Ayu selling her gossip makes people like her see Ayu as someone who herself doesn't respect her legacy.
People are feeling as if Ayu is officially shitting on her own legacy and selling herself cheap. Since Ayu is not just a has been idol but THE Hamasaki Ayumi, people expect her to stand above the gossip and not to sell it herself.
This is hardly a "crazy Japanese standard" normal people can't hold up to.

This also hasn't anything to do with "me taking things personally". There are things which are seen as inappropriate within Japanese society, and that people are actually shocked about Ayu selling her gossip and are still asking if she has gone crazy now, only shows that there are still people who were holding her in high regards when it comes to her being Hamasaki Ayumi and everything that is attached to it. Ayu is actively throwing this away just to make some more money she already has enough of. This is seen as superficial and cheap and makes even people who were pretty indifferent about her see her in a bad light.

Your comment about Utada is pure speculation, but I'm pretty sure Utada actually would never do this, which is one of the reasons people are respecting her more than Ayu.
I never was a big fan of Utada's music, even though I really like some songs here and there. But I always respected her for how she handled her career and private life, especially her mother's suicide, her marriage and the birth of her son.

Don't pretend this is about Ayu dating younger or older guys. This is about power dynamics between teenagers and adults as well as between a superior and a subordinate which turns it from dating into abuse, be it on a sexual or emotional level. If Max was dating Ayu, she did nothing wrong since he was the abuser - if Ayu is dating Pei, she is at fault and this time the abuser.
I never had anything about her dating/marrying Tyson. Tyson was also considerably younger than Ayu, but he was neither a teen, nor her subordinate and apparently also financially well off because of his family background. If Ayu and Max would start dating now, I also wouldn't have anything against it.
But if you really think adults having sex with teenagers is the only way for some adults to not join a covent I don't know what to say anymore.

Absolutely accurate. Have we becomes so used to seeing actors in their 40s and 50s dating 19 year old models that we no longer see it as what it is? It's gross and the older person in the relationship is definitely preying on the younger's hunger for fame and money.

I don't know if it's Ayumi's team that's grossly incompetent or whether it's just her who doesn't listen to anyone but this is really a desperate move (but not a surprising one) . I don't think this was info anyone was really anxious to learn more about and honestly as chibi-chan said previously it will make the Japanese public question whether Ayumi really earned her success or whether her relationship with Max is what got her to that level of fame.

Personally I think it will backfire and Ayumi will continue to be mocked by Japanese society but who knows. If it really gets made into a tv drama and Ayumi contributes decent music to it, maybe it will be her chance to have the public actually care about her again.

The spin, the spin. Like Chibi and I have already pointed out, our perception of Ayu isn't what we're talking about. It doesn't matter what we think in terms of what most Japanese think. If this hasn't struck you upside the head hard enough yet, you need to go watch the extremely confusing reactions Japanese have for Western ideas of cultural appropriation, equality, and self-expression.

So, feel free to have your take on this, no matter how wrong it is rhetorically, but given your own argument that Ayu knows these complexities far better, why in the hell would she think this is a good idea? The same woman who dropped a photographer for his semi-nude portraits of her staff. The same woman who hid the deterioration of her hearing to avoid gossip. Now involved in a book that's pure scandal.

I don't know. You and I rarely agree on anything apart from Cher and Streisand, but this reads like a reach from you among those disagreements.

Someone else pointed out that Ayu is going to do what she wants. That's fair. What few others seem to understand (unless it benefits their actions) is that those actions have consequences, and in Japan, doing something like this reflects poorly on the people involved. Ayu has gone from Heisei Queen to Party Queen to Gossip Queen. And I don't think it's fair that so many people know her as much for her behavior as they do for her music. It's pretty disappointing that Kuu can bring up expiring amniotic fluid and spend 20 years wearing lingerie on stage, and people think she's an icon, but Ayu can't get her personal live together enough to stop feeding the tabloid trolls every year.

Then do not follow her anymore? Look, you are literally following a woman who's songs are constantly about "breaking the rules" or "against the norm", and to be honest, I don't know why you are acting as if you are Ayu herself? Unless Ayu herself says that she is abused then it is incredibly irresponsible to say she is "abused" and that word shouldn't be used lightly.

You are asking a 40 year old woman to conform into a society that she keeps on singing about breaking its rules. An adult dating a teenager may not be a pretty picture, but it exists and it's something that has already happened. Is this a mess? Yes absolutely, but it is nowhere near messy as Party Queen or Maro-era. I don't think Ayu cares at this point. It's fine if we complain and say that this is a bad idea(and y'all are probably right and it WILL backfire), but gosh even to the point of you lowkey accusing her that she will eventually abuse that backup dancer... Smh.

Ayu has always rubbed the Japanese society the wrong way even during her peak and I'm pretty sure she is not going to conform now to their standards. If you can no longer respect her, care so much what other ppl think of her and think that this story (that has been around since the late 90's mind you) would make you forget everything that she has stood for through her lyrics then there are other pop girlies out there who would fit the mold of how a Japanese artist should be. If you're looking for an artist who would follow the rules, then Ayu is not that girl that you should look up to. Self-righteousness is so sickening and y'all are getting having such strong reactions is due to the fact that y'all want to have her maintain a certain image deemed appropriate for the japanese society, is so that y'all can brag about it to your japanese friends without the risk of being made fun of by stanning a has-been. For me it's better to stan a has-been than a never-been. Ppl who admire someone but also ashamed of such admiration can bring so much negativity.

These takes about cultural and societal norms from you and orbitalaspect are not good ones, especially for labeling other points as ignorant...

People who discuss their private life are seen as superficial, lacking self-respect and cause discomfort and embarrassment, but why? What reasons do you have for feeling that way or labeling someone as such besides it just being what your society tells you to feel?

Are they actually superficial? Do they really not respect themselves? How do you qualify for those traits? Why does it make you uncomfortable? We're socialized to feel a certain way and maintain certain values and to me, they are just that. I'd rather check them.

And I will also never agree that I need to respect the way someone views and treats others in their society because of their "culture." I think empathy, sensitivity, and an understanding of the nuance of culture are important, but that doesnt mean I should respect it.

And usually when people say that, they still are only taking about the cultural norms they actually agree with to some extent or that don't affect them lol. I can't.

If people lose respect for ayumi, it's a personal problem, and life will move on. She has done many things that go against the grain, and her life as well continues to move on. She is a has been, a legend, and a human, regardless of what people want her to be.

I dont know how she feels in her own culture aside from things she has discussed over time. I don't know how much she wants to conform to something or not to maintain an image. I dont know if she just doesnt care about certain perspectives in society

Regardless, just because the expectations people have for her are ingrained in society, it doesnt mean they are righteous.

I understanding talking about it objectively, such as "Japanese people feel this way about her because x,y,z," and I think that's some of what you both are trying to say. but I think many ayu fans feel that if someone else finds something embarrassing or "wrong", then that objectively makes it embarrassing or "wrong."

Except she doesn't sing about breaking the rules or going against the norm all that often. The vast majority of her songs are about loneliness and hope. You must be referring to Koda, who by the way, doesn't do crazy stuff like this.

mhhh you say japanese society is different and gossip about personal life is a no-go, but still the book is no 1 at amazon japan.
I have the feeling the japanese has a very big double standart...

Reading some of those comments really triggers headache to me.
Just don‘t interpret things into events you haven‘t been there in person...

I would have agreed but I still can't forget that amniotic fluid comment lmao

@orbitalaspect What Japanese people will or will not think about Ayu actions is both none of our business and a little too much for us to try to pintpoint in a country with 126,8M people. Neither will she be loved by all, or most, or even half of those people, neither should she try to be. Utada's First Love is the best selling album in that market and it wasn't sold to 10% of that population.

Ayu as a public figure was always controversial to some extent, from the topless album cover back in the end of the 90's, to pretty much every single time she was way too much for what they expect from an ideal woman, something she is doing one way or another since the begining of her career. Besides those who jumped on the train when she was big, and left once the was past her prime, her career was never really designed to appeal to someone with much of an idealized image of what their idol should be.

In that sense she has lived and acted more as an artist, testing the bounderies of her own culture, and had been far braver in doing that than her peers.

Her iconic status is safe. Seiko Matsuuda was VERY scandalous for most of her career and she still is an icon. And it's just natural younger generations to know her better for her gossip than for her music, as she didn't released a big hit in a while.

We can say Utada, for example, played her cards better in a market point of view. What also means she isn't singing about several stuff she clearly wanted to, considering her USA releases. We can say Namie also played her cards better, but Namie admitelly was following trends as a way to keep the public coming back until her retirement date arrived.

Ayu wants to be free to express what she wants on the way she wants. Freedom is even a huge theme in her body of work, and on her case, being free will also be scandalous a she herself deviates from the norm of her own culture and already did before she was famous.

Calling her culturally unaware, when she released a full album and tour about this subject not too long ago, or even questioning her mental healthy (WTF?) is really fucked up.

I don't like to mention Chibi-Chan on my posts because I even blocked her. But someone who prides herself on being a feminist questioning a woman's mental health because she is giving her middle finger to how patriarchy wants her to act on her own society totally rubs me the wrong way.

Edit:
primavera♥ is like the best person to ever exist on this forum and God bless, we need her xD

Also, Ayu doesn't frequently sings about breaking the rules, true. She usually just go there and break them.

I am a 100% with primavera and andrenekoi.

I would just like to add that respecting the social norms and conventions 100% would probably still have us stuck in the middle ages. Women wouldn’t have any rights, we would have jails filled with LGBT people.

As it was already said ayu was always a rebel, while she was in, that was acceptable however Japan has regressed in many ways it seems and now you are only acceptable if you are the same as everyone else.

Also guys WOW at those walls of text! We are all busy people here xD

I will go back to being ignorant now ;)

Ayu never was a 'typical Japanese' and she has been doing her thing for years now. She obviously doesn't care about following the rules of Japanese culture/society, and just because Japan's culture 'is that way' doesn't mean it's perfect either (as with any country). It's her career and she should be allowed to do whatever she wants to, even if it's against the 'norm' or what some of us think (something I had to learn myself with other artists). We either accept it or we don't. I get that some don't like what's she's doing but that doesn't mean that she should have to conform to anyone or anything.

I, for one, had my disagreement about Namie and (no matter how irrational it might have been to many people) I just stopped following her. Maybe that would be good for some of you if ayu really disappointed you that much / if you lost respect for her.

Man, I've been reading this thread and boy is it exhausting.

I question the motives in doing things in this medium, and think there's obviously more here than any of us know. It seems a bit messy, but I don't have any major problems with it. To be honest, I'd really prefer another documentary interview with her, or a memoir - but it is what it is.

With regards to any negative feedback, or her going against her cultural norms, I'm not going to write out the same thing I've written in many threads before, so I'll just paste it here.

Oh gosh, each to their own!

I think the issue the Japanese public has is, "why this, and why now?"

As I've mentioned before, the television and music landscape changed, mostly via social media and YouTube: blogs helped disseminate personal thoughts, but the best way to reach out to fans pre-2010 was going on TV. Considering Ayu doesn't make many appearances anymore and the fact that she hasn't released a critically-acclaimed album since possibly Love Songs or Love Again (which were both basically compilation albums of her previous EPs) back in 2013 means her fandom (including us abroad ones) dwindled over the years.

Japanese people still love gossip as much as the next person: why else are there still shufukai (for the housewives and retired ladies) and tabloid publications like Shuukan bunshun and FRIDAY still create impact when a story breaks? Twitter being the second most used SNS platform (after LINE) means they're still interested in expressing their opinion (or reading others').

The real issue was the format choice: why "fiction based on fact," and not a documentary or interview? Granted her relationship with Matsuura must have been tough to talk about if she felt so deeply about it, but from most of the Japanese reactions I've seen, the issues were it was too shallow to call it a "tell-all book" (i.e. the advertising wasn't right) and they really just didn't want to know more about her relationship with Matsuura. Some fans still appreciated knowing the background behind some of the songs/performances, some are defending her works and want people to separate what they may think of her as a person versus what she produced, and some wonder why they were fans in the first place after reading it, but "disgusted" is more of an extreme reaction (vs. an average one).

The other major problem was the fact the story come from her. For Ayu herself to be involved in it was what made it seem "desperate" and "cringey," but had it been an unauthorized work or story, then the reactions would have been more sympathetic.

Personally, I don't see anything inherently wrong in it: sure it's tacky and apparently the content is lacking, but it's already happened at this point. She can't recall the books, and make people forget what they read. The comparisons between her generation mates Utada and Amuro nor her publicized marriages/divorces and lack of children definitely don't help her case, but I imagine the difficulty in trying to create new music is hard to overcome when she's almost completely deaf.

In the same way the Hello! Project girls still respect Tsunku and want to work with him despite his reduced role, I'm sure there are up-and-coming artists (within Avex and their subsidiaries) who would love for Ayu to help them write their lyrics—that would probably be a more productive use of her time if she was pointed in that direction, instead of continuously trying to sell herself.

It did exactly what it was meant to do.
Get her in the news, get people talking.
And it’ll continue when the drama comes out too.

If they tap young, popular actors and actresses, it would be really interesting to see.

There is a lot of different opinions about this release and I understand it but the main goal was to bring her on the news. Is it the right way to do so? Idk but the result is here.
During one week she was on the news and a complete ～all singles～ is again on the top of the Recochoku charts... lol

And btw, even "Mentalist Daigo" (famous psychologist/scientist reading and analyzing people's mind etc...) made a video about it:



Let me summarize what he's saying.
" - Many people may think "why now?" yet I think that this may have been the right moment for her to do that because she felt that her 20th anniversary was a turning point and because Matsuura is her producer again.
For a lot of people, the only way to get rid of their feelings is to create something and/or to put those into words. It's even more effective when you put those into a narration because you can control the flow of it.
Moreover she had to speak a lot about herself to the writer, alone and with Matsuura. That is something that may be compared to a therapy.
Psychologically speaking, I thing that she may have still had some feelings for him until finishing this book. I am sure that now she feel better and more relieved than before. "

He speaks also about how and why people that become famous/wealthy fail to be happy, etc...


By the way, a lot users here and the Japanese public is wondering what songs are about and/or at some point related Matsuura and if every single songs she wrote is about him yet there is an official compilation of those songs released on AWA:



- aeternal
- Immigrant Song (Led Zeppelin)
- A song for xx
- poker face
- YOU
- Trust
- For My Dear...
- Depend on you
- WHATEVER
- TO BE
- Boys & Girls
- appears
- Vogue
- Far away
- SEASONS
- M


Do not ask me why there is a Led Zepplin song in this list. You may found some hints in the lyrics ;)
I am a bit surprised about A song for xx though... lol

^That playlist is avaliable on Spotfy too.

I just don't know if those are the songs written about him, or the songs mentioned on the book being them about him or not.

i hope aeternal is just there because #currenpromo LOL

It wouldn’t be strange if it was. She probably still reminisce about it. It’s normal.

The point isn't whether she'll still be an icon, it's that, as voltron pointed out, people can and will look back on that time differently based on their impression of her now. I certainly wouldn't want someone jumping into "OMG didn't she have like two husbands and date her dancers and then she did some book about having a relationship with her manager..." when I bring up her work. But that's what happens when scandalous stuff is more relevant to an artist more recently than their actual work.

Everyone remembers Akina Nakamori as a huge success, and one of Seiko's biggest rivals, but her failed relationship and her drama with it practically destroyed her career in the late 80s. And while she's still known for that legacy, she's also known for being the idol that had a public meltdown over another idol she dated.

Same case with Seiko and her jealousy of other singers. She's widely known for being extremely jealous of her fading spotlight while other singers, even artists that preceded her, held onto their audiences.

People are human, and it's not like Ayu would never have had scandal one way or another. I mean, we all remember why she wrote alterna. We all remember Microphone. She's been very public through her career about her frustrations with the industry. But stuff like this book, like her love life, is just so easily avoidable. It's all on her that these scandals happen. She could get a therapist instead of desperately rushing into relationships with guys that work for her or foreigners who don't know the first thing about Japan or her career or her fans. Like, talk to someone, don't play this out when you know the public eye is on you like this.

And TROUBLE was not an album. It was a pretty low effort release, even if it had a few great songs. By comparison, KOKIA has nowhere near the resources Ayu does, and she recorded Tokyo Mermaid in the same amount of time, and that album was just as good as the 14 albums she had released before it. Hell, Koda Kumi put out FOUR albums between 2017 and 2018, and all four of them were more effort.

Like how these debates usually go, it's only unfair if we criticize the things you like. And it's perfectly normal for you to criticize the things we defend. The only reason someone would block Chibi is because you can't stand a woman who fully considers what is and isn't within her immediate control before giving her opinion. It's an extra step in the critical thinking process. And to be honest, if any of us had a years long mysterious relationship with our boss, we'd all be asked to get our heads examined too.

^It's not a years long relationship, is it? It's an old relationship that impacted her. The book is not about how Ayu kept on dating Max all over those years, it's about how they were together once and how it impacted the creation of one, if not the, most iconic popstar in Japan's 00's.

And I don't know why to compare her to Kokia or Koda Kumi on those aspects...
Kokia produced 14 studio albums. Ayu produced full 17 studio albums and 4 EPs on the same time spam. Also 26 national tours. Koda produced 15 studio albums and less than 20 national tours in 19 years. You won't get any other jpop star who worked harder than Ayu during ther career and 3 years without a new full album for someone who worked that hard is pretty reasonable. Even TROUBLE, that is far from being her most interesting music release, gave us some pretty personal take on her life nowadays.

I mean... Koda took her time off. Kokia took her time off. Utada took 7 years off. Namie took her time off AND retired. But when Ayu doesn't release a new full album for 3 years and doesn't release new music for less than 2 years after overworking all those women for 18 years, this is some dirty sin, some signal of failure, of shame, of how much of a has been she is. Heck, she didn't even entered on a hiatus and toured non stop during all this time.

Damn you crazy sluty desperate hag who doesn't care about your legacy and can't deliver anymore!

Sometimes it may seen so, but I don't take things personal when it's about taste. I don't care all that much if people don't like her releases I like, or I wouldn't have survived the forum during Party Queen. But I do get annoyed when people say she doesn't care about her career, or that she is lazy, or that she crazy, like you do sometimes, because this isn't disliking her music, or videos or converts. This is attacking her as a human being.

I don't think she sings as bad as Cris says everytime there is a live performance released, based on how I was able to consume her live singing, for example, and disagree with him a lot more than I agree, and there won't be this level of arguing with him over that simply because he is giving his opinion on a technical aspect of her career he trully dislikes, not defending over and over again why she isn't worth of our respect as a person.

About Chibi-chan, I won't discuss over here why things took the direction they did. It's my fault talking about blocking her openly on the forum, but we did had our own share of directly talking to each other out of here before that, so, it wasn't a decision based on forum interaction. :)

I rarely, if ever, agree with you either, and everytime we interact it tend to become a pretty exausting (and I imagine boring/annoying for everyone else) war of wall of texts, and there you are, unblocked.

I actually don't know why Andrenekoi blocked me and it's not that I would care. But I don't think it's fair of him to get all personal (again) so I think I deserve to say something even though it's off topic.
Like I said, I don't know why he blocked me, I only know that he tried to tell me I'm a bad feminist a few times and apparently he still isn't over it. If you would ask if I think of myself as a feminist, the answer would be yes, but I can't remember when I was like "look at me I'm a feminist". Simply because this isn't about getting brownie points but about taking a stand for what I think is right and if others see me as a feminist or not isn't something I care about. Speaking up for what I think is right should be enough to make clear where I stand.
But the reason why Andrenekoi is so hung up since years now (really years! I'm not joking) about whether I'm a feminist or not is that his idea of feminism (and that of most others here at ahs and what is popular on the internet) is not based on actual feminist thought, philosophical or political theory, but on one-liners on twitter and posts on tumblr.
I understand that it is popular in pop feminism to see women like Ayu or Madonna or whomever as "feminists" "showing the middle finger to patriarchy", because it doesn't require any systematic analysis of social structures and power dynamics. If you would apply feminist analysis to the "Max dating teenaged Ayu" situation, you would come to the same conclusion as me. There is nothing "rule breaking" about an adult man dating a young girl, on the contrary, it's the same patriarchal bullshit we see since the beginning of time. There are still a lot of places where men control women by marrying them of as young as possible and therefore robbing them of every opportunity to transition into adulthood by themselves and to become their own person. Age of consent laws are just a way to still grant adult man access to young girls. Legislation around sexual violence and what is concidered as such are usually still based on old legislation that was not suppossed to protect women and children from male violence, but to protect male property. One of the biggest risk factors for girls to end up in poverty and abusive relationships is entering relationships with adult men, because they often drop out of school and also don't work to support themselves ,since their partner promises to care for them. This makes girls very vulnerable.
When women are doing the same thing men do to women (like if Ayu dates Pei), this isn't feminism either. Feminism and therefore the women's liberation movement was called like this because women were (are) fighting for liberation from patriarchy for all women, not to have a seat at the table.
What Andrenekoi and others advocate for therefore isn't feminism, but neo liberalism. They are taking a stand for "everyone can do as they like and if a woman is successful with what she does, she is being a feminist". But in feminism it doesn't matter if Ayu as an individual woman is rich and feels "empowered" by what she does. In feminism it matters if women in general can live a life free of violence and with enough economic freedom to support themselves and not be dependent on men.
I understand that it is popular to be seen as "progressive", "woke" and "feminist". But this ain't feminism. And frankly I don't think everyone needs to be one. If you disagree with my analysis and with feminist political theory, that's fine with me. If you want to take a neo liberal, post modern approach, that's your right. But at least be honest about what you stand for.
This is probably what bothers me most about Andrenekoi and him bringing me up again, that he is intellectually dishonest and lazy in his analysis but has the nerve to go around here at ahs for years now spending his time to discredit me in order to play "who's a better feminist".

This thread has become so tiresome to read so I'll keep it brief just to show support for specific sides.
I don't care about Ayu dating Pei, he is an adult.
I don't care about the book, it can only give me more insight into some of her songs and work purely informatively. It won't change a bit the way I see her.
I find Japanese society unfair and I can understand their norms but in my eyes, this country needs a really controversial figure to shake the scene truly.

I am grateful for the presence of users such as Andrenekoi and primavera whose views I share and who voice opinions of many people who prefer to just observe the whole situation.

I'm so shocked seeing A Song for xx in this list, it's hard for me to imagine the lyrics being directed at anyone but her estranged father.

^According to she herself, it was directed at her mother, actually.

And the reason why I don't know if the playlist is about the songs she wrote about Max, or just about the songs mentioned on the book.

I would like to pretend that aeternal was about Nagase lmao

I wonder if songs like monochrome, Dearest, Days and etc. were dedicated to max... but it's funny to know that M is actually not Maria, but max haha

Actually, it could mean both. In the end, it's a song about ayu confessing to Maria about her ultimate love (and now we know it's Max).

Really loved her J.K. Rowling "I kept this secret for 20 years" complex.

With the book coming out that photo of her and Pei seems very suspiciously timed.

But Ayu and Pei are together since january-february...


I remember that were a lot of comments saying "ayu :luv2 " on the second pic, and ever since that day he deactivated the comments on instagram .... just like ayu ..

https://www.instagram.com/p/BteH6LnhLpd/

LOL I was thinking this same thing ;)

[QUOTE=artcika;

So Ayu is alowing this BS to get released and GACKT is writing business advice books...gosh what are my fave artists doing? What is happening!? lol[/QUOTE]

I'm with you: I'm so angry with Gackt for all his gym videos and nonsense business. Ayu is far more focused on music thanks God

After thinking about it, I assume it doubles both as a song both for one of her parents and Max's divorce (which I assume happened around this time). Depending how contentious it was, Ayu must have seen the effect it had on him.

And after reading aeternal's lyrics, it's quite fitting considering the book's material. Haha.

I'm not surprised by any of this coming out. I'm sad for her in a way because their relationship sounds like it's full of a lot complications and dissatisfying feelings.

I am very interested in watching the drama. I think it's actually a very cool idea.

Hmm, I think in A Song for xx, the person telling her she is so strong is Max. That probably helped develop her feelings for him since it's may have been the first time someone said something positive about how she was dealing with her family situation. Since they allegedly didn't break up until vogue-Far away, SEASONS, I don't think the song was about him.

I find it very interesting that 10/16 songs in A BEST are in that playlist. When Ayu said A BEST "was the beginning of the end", I wonder if she meant it was due to her ending her relationship with Max. Maybe she thought since he would no longer produce for her, this would be her last album with avex. There are instances of producers dropping artists when there is a falling out in a relationship (although different circumstances, Kesha comes to mind).The lone tear on the cover, the commercials, and the monochrome colorway suddenly makes a lot more sense.

Another interesting thought is that she started to take control of her creative direction starting with M, which led to the creation of I am.... It was her first album which she basically self-produced. I think with RAINBOW, she realized she was a better, more independent woman (Real me) after these tough times (no rain, can't get no rainbow).

I hope the TV adaptation explores more about how her albums were created and show how Ayu developed to control her own image and destiny.

it all sounds to me like Max had a daddy figure to ayu and she developed something for him but it was always in the shadows. Could be related to her lack of paternal love i think such things happen. Not entirely bizarre. Who knows how deep it went in real life?

When did she get together with Nagase again?

I think A Song for XX is about her school days. There was a long explanation at the beatfreak or radio interview...

Regarding A song for xx
I guess that the lyrics are not about Max but maybe she wanted to let him know through this song how she was feeling alone and anxious towards her future.

I've always read A Song for XX was a message to her mother. "XX" being her mother.

She's already said the XX is universal and is addressed to no one in particular.

^she actually said it is about her mother. She revealed it a few years ago, but that she chose to use xx so that for others it can be universal, if I remember correctly. But A Song for xx being about her mother makes a lot of sense, since the person she is talking about praised her for being a strong child and in A Song for xx she is talking from the perspective of a child/teen a lot also.

she said in 2010 that Virgin Road and A Song for xx are for her mother.

As someone who lived in Japan 8 years of their life.......errrr I disagree with this. I understand where you are coming from and your points, but tell all books are not out of the ordinary in Japan. For example, there were a number of explosive tell alls from former Johnny's members that describe rapes within the company and drug problems. As with many things, Japan has a double standard about this kind of stuff.

I think you and Chibi are both being a little over the top and actually the ones who are over generalizing a culture. But that's neither here nor there. I just wanted to highlight this statement because Kuu is really not considered an icon in Japan. I like Kuu, don't get me wrong, but she has long been considered fairly irrelevant. And stating something like that makes me wonder if you really have a grasp on the pulse of the culture in Japan.

^ It's just the songs released while they were together I think. Not all of them are actually about him. M was their breakup song and came out in December of 2000. So they were together behind the scenes from 97-2000. She started dating Nagase in 2001.

^but this book isn't a tell all book about serious issues of the industry, but gossip someone wrote a novel about. I don't think this book can be compared to the books former Johnny's members released. Since there is a big difference between someone writing a book about rape and drugs in the idol industry and Ayu allowing someone to use old gossip about her love life as the basis for his novel, I don't think there is a double standard involved here.

There were sold 38 000 copies of this book. So far it's on the first place at the Oricon chart
https://www.oricon.co.jp/news/2141952/

Didn't know oricon also counting book sales

It's selling like hot cakes!
It also got the first place at some point on Amazon and Rakuten Books...

Amazon


Rakuten

Out of print (CDJapan)

It's #1 in its genre, #2 in the general book ranking.

https://www.oricon.co.jp/rank/ob/w/2019-08-12/

I still don't know the extent of Ayu's role in the creation of this book. All I know is that no matter where she comes from, Ayu doesn't have to answer to anyone in this life about this. This is about a time in her life when she took a certain man very seriously, a man who changed her life. She has always been very candid about her personal life through her lyrics, including her woes and happiness. Why is this any worse? If she's ok with this kind of publicity, more power to her. I believe Ayu's life is a story worth telling.

She shouldn't have to be ashamed of her life just because some people can't handle the ugly truths about it. Sometimes people live in very dark, complicated seasons of their lives. Are we to insist that people have to sweep their dirt under the rugs just to hide it from onlookers?

I really want this book to be translated so I can read it. I feel like Ayu has shown us her life as a puzzle, each song adding to the number of pieces. This book, though possibly not entirely reliable, gives us a chance to see more puzzle pieces. I always find myself wanting to know more maybe because I am just that nosy or maybe because I'm concerned.

I'm really wondering how this whole thing is going to effect the fandom on this forum. Is this the kind of "scandal" that pushes fans completely over the edge to the point where they're just done? I'm really asking out of curiosity.

Now that I think about it, I'm pretty sure the song Who... is about Max.

^ No, it was for her grandmother.

Alright, I found these while I searching for A Song for XX ☕️

http://www.ahsforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=98881

http://www.ahsforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=34919

http://www.ahsforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=92145


Little story (or history) on how she became Hamasaki Ayumi...
https://ayumihamasaki.fandom.com/wiki/Hamasaki_Ayumi

get that dough gurl

So, I had a realization that I'm sure has either already been thought of or said here, but I'm starting to think that her bizarrely long tour for TROUBLE may not be promotion for the mini album but rather promotion for this book.

It would make more sense this way, possibly.

They clearly we planning that for a while now... Max posted the photo of the book cover on his insta. That TROUBLE cover where he grabs her boob. The playlist with the songs mentioned on the book appearing out of nowhere...

The way it's being promoted even resembles the TROUBLE promo.

I just wonder if this will injure him at all. This is a freaky way to celebrate 20 years of stardom!!

Well, he is on it too... So he at least agreeded to take the risk

For some reason I find myself somewhat inspired by this whole project and the fact that they mysteriously seem in on it together. I'm excited to find out more.

As much as I hate it, this really makes A LOT of sense... especially since she's touring for an EP called TROUBLE, on a tour with the same name as the album where the current leg has the subtitled "misunderstood"... Ayu told us we'd understand the name TROUBLE by listening to the music, but if this really was all planned out then I think we know exactly the trouble she is talking about now :mischief

is truth :luv2:luv2:D

She's been telling this for every single album she released since I know her :roflmao

I have always felt they were romantically involved, so the news doesn't really surpise me. it's well-known that some women who have daddy issues cling to old men and old men use the situation.
basically, I don't know what is Hamasaki Ayumi anymore. I joined the fandom in 1999 with appears. man, I feel weird about all this. :dead2

I don't understand if it's a PR stunt, if it's for money, if it's both, or if she doesn't care about her career anymore, which is strange, considering how hard-working she is.

all in all, I don't feel that it will benefit her somehow, I can only predict the negative influence.

It’s definitly not for money she is not the author of this book maybe she can earn some royalties because of her name but that’s it ! It seems like she has no intention to give any explanation about it and nor the reasons behind it.

Or you could be seeing it as this is a book about powerful relationships and how they can change and shape you; maybe even into someone that you don't want to be. A book about overcoming that and finding yourself again. I'm sure a lot of people can relate.

It seems most of the opposition to this seems to come from a place of not wanting her to tarnish her image or something. That ship sailed a long time ago. She's got nothing to lose, honestly.

Yup. It pretty much sailed with her Virgin Road performance on Kouhaku.

I don't really understand were you're coming from, to be honest. Ayu didn't write this book herself nor is the book ment to be representing what happened in any way. It is fiction based on gossip. To what extent any of it is true we don't know at all. The gossip part is where people have a problem with.
Ayu can, and did so in the past, express all of what you said through her music, there is no need for a third party to write a made up story about it that may or may not be based on true events.
Rape in the idol industry is a very sad reality everybody looks away from and literally no one cares about. Ironically enough, what happens in the idol industry, men abusing the positions they are in, is basically what Max did to Ayu if this is true. Only Ayu did get lucky and had a major break through, which didn't leave her as vulnerable. Still no excuse for what Max did. Kahara Tomomi wasn't as lucky and also almost died.
If Ayu would have gone ahead and wrote a book herself about stuff that happens within the industry she feels that needs to be discussed, I would be all for it. But this is about her love life she seems to be ok with, and therefore nothing of relevance and just gossip. This is unworthy of every artist who gives a crap about their art and especially for someone like Ayu who apparently thinks of herself as someone who expresses herself through her lyrics and who says she values honesty. Selling your own gossip through a third party is everything but expressing yourself or being honest. It's a cold calculated move to make some cash.

The book put her again on the news. It will generate a drama. There will be people driven to it because of its gossip aspects, as there will be people driven to it because it's a superstar origin story, as there will be people driven to it because of it love story aspect. Knowing she subject matter of some of her most iconic songs will for sure make people to be interested in them again, if for anything else, so they can recognize whatever they read on the lyrics.

Seens like the book already is succesful. If the drama based on it algo gain some popularity, it will for sure help keep part of the public attention on her for some time.

You say the stories about her love life are only gossip and thus mean nothing. But maybe she doesn't feel that way about. If it's irrelevant for you, that's your business but it means something to some of us here.

And getting a 3rd party to write your story doesn't mean it's not genuine. Of course, we still don't know the fullest extent of her participation in this, but worse case scenario is that she had a lot to do with it. Where's the shame in her selling HER story?

This goes way past music. I venture to say that this beyond her being a singer and more about being an icon.

I don't really care about the book, if ayu gets more attention and that means new song then it's a good thing

I mean, is it usual for ayu to promote tour goods on TV? isn't it a first?

Still #1st in his category this week and #3rd overall ! An article mentioned that this book is already a best seller of 2019 for his category !
Total sales : 65,905 copies

^wow, very cool!!

I'd hope she could still sell so much music :o

That would require actually releasing music xD

Wow. That took a while to read through. The AyuxMax relationship doesn't surprise me at all considering the rumors and pictures have been going around for so many years. I don't care at all that Ayu is involved in releasing this kind of book. "Any publicity is good publicity," and as mentioned before in this thread, it does perfectly coincide with the whole TROUBLE album/tour theme, so I'm sure this was planned out. I do hope she gets a boost from this seeing as how the book is selling well even if it's just people's morbid curiosity. Hopefully we'll see some new music from her soon. All I know is, I love Ayu, and I really don't see her doing anything so heinous that will ever change that for me. :shrug

i don't know why but this whole situation just seems sooo kardashian ish. it shouldn't though because ayu's so talented but then again. :/

Sell quite a lot @@👍🏼

Drama adaptation scheduled for next spring and broadcasted on Tv Asahi !! It’s quite a big deal actually lol

This article is also stating that at first 50 000 copies were edited but a total of 130,000 copies have been issued with two reprints. Something unusual for this kind of book in japan apparently.

It’s quite impressive not matter what people think of it ! There are also quite a lot of entertainment people giving positive feedback about the book lately on social media’s.

https://www.sponichi.co.jp/entertain....co/90uwReDUZ3

I didn't read the whole thread and thought you were joking at first.

Yes TV drama!!!
AHS needs DRAMA!!!!

I'll definitely watch it.
Now I want a musical comeback!

She better get advantage of this attention and release something for God’s sake.

Want ayu to create a theme song for this drama =) hope they will not just use M

"Scandal, I looove a scandal, a juicy, juicy scandal!":bshake

I wonder who they'll cast to play Ayu's character...!

I don't know if Ayu is getting direct royalties from the book, but she must be involved. She's always been in control of her career. Her perfectly timed Instagram post that came out as the book did is more than suspicious too. She's involved. I'd bet my left eye she approved it at the very least.

Ayu has spent her life at the center of attention. No one could be unaffected by having so much attention, good and bad, showered on them all the time. If I were in her shoes, I wouldn't know how to function without it. If this book brings her attention, and with it the rewards of that attention, I doubt she'd turn it down.

I'm speculating, obviously. But I think this is what she wanted, and I'm happy for her that she's getting it.

They will probably just use some sort of version of M xD Japan is too lazy when it comes to stuff like that, plus it's linked with the song so, just logical.

It's public that she is involved... The book is based on interviews she gave the author.

Would it possible casting herself be herself in the drama? That would be super fantastic 🤔

^er... i mean she looks great and all but, she's not 18 anymore lol

And based on her MV, she's not a good actress.

But it would be better if a renamed actress portraits ayu, also the theme sung should be M sung by another artist

I hope this helps ayu get the recognition she deserves, how is it possible that TRF has 3 tribute albums and ayu not even a single one?

I’m honestly excited for the drama. I want to read the book as well but I’m waiting for them to release the pocket version (or whatever is called) to save myself some bucks. As @visionfactory said, M sung by another artist or even a cover album would be an awesome idea. Tho I still want some new songs by her lol bring the nostalgia ayu.

We will see when the casting will be announced but I came to think that all of this is well planned since the beginning and the girl who will play Ayu is Kalen Anzai from Avex.
All about this girl seems crafted around Ayu’s image to give a feeling of nostalgia. Even the musical direction.

^This is very early Ayu without looking like a direct copy :0

Oh gosh... Kalen Anzai, huh. I've seen a couple of PVs with her. Hopefully her acting isn't nearly as wooden and vacant as how she presents herself in her PVs. (Her singing voice also lacks emotion).

I was also thinking of Kalen Anzai portraying ayu but I'm unaware of any acting history for her lol.

But she is so reminiscent of her. I saw an old pic of ayu the other day and reminded me of something I saw Kalen post recently. I noticed, although Kalen isn't following anyone now since her page was revamped, it seems she used to like a lot of old ayu pictures on instagram. I wouldn't be surprised if she's a fan or followed her for a while.

Anyway, I would be really curious to see who would play this early 2000s ayu. Curious about all aspects of the show really lol.

Kalen Anzai has the songs but her voice just doesn't have that emotional gut punch - and that's the most important part!!

So true.