how cool would it be to be in the same class with Hikki xD

2010 is a year of disbands, taking hiatuses and retirements for me. :(

A bittersweet news... I'm happy that she's finally said something proper to fans and decided to put this album... Of course I can't be glad that we have to wait for her more though. But... I can wait. I'm anticipating really good, mindblowing new songs in the Singles Collection and I'm sure she's going to come back with amazing music. Man, I haven't listened to her for ages... I have a Hikki marathon right now, listening to all albums... First Love is such a masterpiece.

Just read about the hiatus.
I will miss her too, but if it's what she needs, she should have space and rest.
Man 2010 is really a crap year...

What will become of the hikaru threads? We are just kind of moving along talking about nothing for the last few threads, and that was just between february (end of the concerts) and now in august. What will there be to talk about for the next 5 years? Do you think the threads will just die out? I have a feeling, we really do not have enough to talk about for that long without going completely off track. Until this announcement, we were just getting by, by talking about whatever as long as it was hikki related. Who knows how we will be in that long. Imagine all the fans she will lose after such a long wait. T_T

I come here today and find this~

I think deep inside there's a part of my heart that is sad and wants to cry. But right now I'm not feeling it

This! This is bull****. Like wtf, hikki. Like okay. How is that 3 out of 5 of my most fav and touching musicians ever are on like super long haitus for various reasons. All I have left is Ayu (bless her soul) and MUCC. Like wtf?!
I don't think ill miss her much but its a shame. But I'm all for her putting her heart first. And not mer music career. Although I think she's often done that.
Anyhow I only wish the best for her as I always do and look forward to another hikki dominated year as of course anything she releases will sell excellently

I expect this compilation album to be the best selling album of the year.
For one. Its Utada Hikaru. Secondly it has 4-5 new songs (like a normal album might have). Also she hasn't released new songs in a while. The combination of new songs (like album tracks) + compilations always sell well anyway + she announced she's leaving (so what dedicated hikki fan who can buy it wouldn't buy it) will make this album explode on the oricon lol. And if it doesn't then japan has really changed.
I mean this is the most perfect compilation album. It better sell well. And I'm sure hikkis putting all her heart and soul into the new tracks
Damn why can't all compilation albums have all these new songs. Cmon A Complete lol.
Maybe ill make my parents buy this. Although I'd rather have new ayu singles I think

Oh hikki~ such a simple person but one with talent. I wish she had the personal drive to release more but I'm all good
Ill be just fine musically surviving off of ayu and MUCC (and then hikki and others old works)

If this were two yrs ago where she was my number 1 inspiration I might be crying. But nowadays she not and I feel fine strangely.
Good luck to you, hikki, baby. :heart I just want to send her a bunch of love messages

LOL, she's been away from jpop for like 4 years, and now she says she's gonna take some years off?
Dunno what to say really... That's how she is I guess... Her comeback album better be THE album of 2011/12/13/14/15 or whatever!
At least some new songs this autumn, I hope they're awesome and not just something she slapped together to ease her conscience bcz she's having a break lol. I bet they're good! :)

Bittersweet news, but it's her life, and it's not like she has some kind of responsibility for her fans, she didn't sign a contract with us for anything, so I guess it's fair... Gah, still kinda sad news...

The problem for her though, might be if she actually doesn't release anything at all for five years, she will lose alot of fans who will forget about her along the way...
If I see her having new music in 2015, I might not even check it out, you know what I mean? There are artists I liked 5-6 years ago, that i wouldn't even bother to listen to if they had new material today. It's not like people will sit around refreshing her website daily for the next 5 years because she might have news about her music. So when the day finally comes, alot of her old fans might not even bother.

(There, my mini-rant about her break) >_<;;

I dont mind if they die out....as long as they don't become the troll convention that is the Utada Hikaru thread @ JPM forum. :rolleyes. You all know who you are.

Still kind of weirded out by how some people seemed not to be expecting this?

Besides, I'm surprised this doesn't happen more often in Japanese music. Western artists take breaks all the time. Green Day took 5 years between American Idiot and 21st Century Breakdown. Madonna generally takes a good 3/4 years between studio albums. (Granted, they often spend part of these years touring or making videos for singles, but it still means no new music.)

^They're all used to Avex and their monthly cycle :laugh

I'm with you on that. I don't go to another place, but I can think of another Utada place that's nothing but a breeding ground for trolls now. :innocent

JPM is only full of trolls anyway.

Why anyone would love that community is beyond me.

First time that we have essays in a hikki thread:laugh

I'm so surprise in people's reaction, what you didn't know it was bound to happen?

She's beengone for like two years already, it's no surprise she's not coming back. And a lazy best album is no explosive finale :l

I am really sad but at the same time happy for her that she is taking off from her career to focus on real life like we face every day. And OMG a Singles Collection Vol. 2 with new songs! :D

@Polyrhythm: are there really that many people here on the hikki thread at jpm. I never noticed.
------------
Lol guys what's wrong with JPM? Lovely haters/people. Which reminds me I haven't been there since a few days after I joined XD the hikki fans there all have a stick up there a**. And even took the time to bash me behind my back (why can't they say it to my face and not another site lol) for saying nothing rude or offensive. I like this hikki thread and I'm gonna miss it while it fades into oblivion.
Maybe I should visit jpm to check on the reason I don't like talking to hikki fans anymore (although you guys -well most of you- are quite lovely)
I don't even consistently post in the other artist thrads here T.T I need this one

Man its gonna be a long time until the hikki thread can be consistently active. Hopefully ayu doesn't retire :)

At least well axctually have stuff to talk about now :yes

First of all it's not a lazy best because she's including 4 or 5 new songs. Second, you have no idea how explosively awesome these songs are probably going to be. Stop judging music before it's even released. I saw you do the same with Crossroad and L, and I'm sorry but it's ridiculous.

(I'm sorry but I'm a bit agitated after this news, don't take it too personally)

:rainbow

^Agreed. At the risk of sounding like a Hikki-stan... everything Hikki releases is explosively awesome! xD

I agree with you.

But I also agree that it's a lazy release. She could have done more to say goodbye...

Expectation and emotion may not be directly proportional.

As a fan since 1999, I've been encountering hikki's hiatus from time to time. I'm sure most of you have the same experience. We know hikki's release schedule. Sometimes she took a long time to release a new album (First Love to Distance (back then I consider that as a big gap), DEEP RIVER to ULTRA BLUE), sometimes she just came up with new materials in a really short time (Distance to DEEP RIVER, and possibly UB to HS). No matter what everytime I was so eager to wait for her new stuff. After all, she's hikki, the person who dragged me into the JPop World. For every single hiatus she was on, I wait either patiently or getting annoyed or no new hikki songs (not getting annoyed by her btw).

This time, she even releases a statement about the hiatus. It makes me fear of the no hikki songs for another long term of time. It's like... her songs has been around me for 11 years, and even tho she didn't produce anything in some moments, at least I felt like she was doing something about music. Now all of the sudden I see a gap in front of the hikki's bridge. It could be a small gap (2-3 yrs?), or it could be big one (5+). I feel a bit sad and empty, but at the same time I agree that she should explore her life. Looking at her blogs, it's always kuma, music, and some little stuff. Like her said, it may seem like she has lots of rare experience gained as a musician (traveling around the world, being a statue worshiped by tons of people, gotta meeting different types of people, etc). At the same time she's somehow isolated from real world (I think she's less severe than ayu tho...). It may good a good moment for her to put down her music stuff, and try to do something else (e.g., go back to school again, travel around the world to look at beautiful stuff instead of meeting people from the industry, etc.).

When she's back to music, I will stand in line for sure :).

I guess we may let the hikki thread fading out, or make it as a place for hikki fan to talk (hey this is a rather peaceful area compared to other hikki's forum). I dun think hikki will lose tons of fans. You know, when she's been in your hearts for more than a few years (e.g., me 11 yrs), it's hard to wipe her out from my mind. I'm sure that she will release some OMG music, because she's hikki.

That will be the end of my JPop world. Two of my most beloved artists are leaving?? Can't imagine that :'( (I have three most beloved artists: hikki and ayu from Japan, and Sammi Cheng from HK :P)

I thought it was said that this wasn't the last thing and that she would do stuff til the end of the year. Maybe I should improve my reading skills
Like at least do something afterwards...

Regardless I'm excited for the new songs. I wasn't so excited for hikki since TITO (which was average and kinda sad) so I'm hoping this time the excitement is worth it. Worth it being Ultra Blue quality if she wants to go out with a bang. HS quality is tolerable though.
Let's go hikki!

You mean she wasn't already on a break? Lolol.

omfg why is This Is Love on that tracklist? GTFO!

I'm looking forward to the new tracks. And I hope she enjoys her break.

I don't think it's THAT lazy.

My philosophy is, we should be happy we're getting something new. She could have easily just released the compilation by itself.

I'm not gonna give up hope, she did say that during her hiatus, if she felt like it, she would make some more music, she wouldn't just drop it entirely. So i know we'll get at least something during her hiatus, whether it be a new single or a new song.

Not all hope is lost!

yeah.. probly a new single every once awhile.

Or maybe.. are we being too over reacted (or just me lol)? Maybe she feels like she needs to make a statement this time so her fans won't make too much speculation of what she's doing rite now..?

We should enjoy this remaining 2010... sob... hikki's not doing anything afterwards, and maybe ayu's no. 1 streak will be broken after 2010... (for ayu, it could be a good thing for her. She can finally explore some experimental stuff and no to be afraid about that no. 1 streak :P)

Are people seriously still worried about Ayu's streak....I mean she's had other accomplishments more amazing than that...I don't see why THAT streak in particular should be so important. It's not like she'll fade when its broken.

We're not really sure. Look at Seiko as an example. She faded really fast after her streak is broken. Of course I believe ayu won't be as bad. Also, while the streak is not as value as we think, it's the fact that the companies do care about the streak. If not, I dun think B'z or Mr. Children or KinKi Kids or blah blah blah can hold their streak for that long. It'll be good to see ayu making into the history for getting most no. 1 streak in female category (even tho... I admit that the streak thingie is quite stupid in the end.).

Ok my bad I shouldn't mention ayu's streak in my last post haha. Let's get back to hikki!!

Do you think there'll be any pvs this time?

^I doubt it. I'd be ecstatic if there were old PVs packaged with the album since I don't own any of her DVDs....I dunno....she's always been like this....long time periods between releases....it could just stay the same as it's been :P I can only hope

@Polyrythm: its fun to hope the best for ayu. Idk about you but many people like breaking records, being recognized, or getting awards
They don't say that she's the best musician but its cool. Yeah she has other accomplishments. But u can add on. It makes a statement
I wish the best for ayu just as I do hikki. Which is why I hope she will have the best album of the year. Which can easily happen for reasons I already mentioned :D

@blugie: yes we should enjoy it most definitely. That's what I regret not doing with my other fav artists who've stopped. I'm not making that mistake with hikki

I'd laugh if ayu's #1 streak was broken cause of hikki's new stuff. I think her next few things this year will sell a lot because she mentioned that she will be gone for a while. Like if ayu said "I am taking a 5 year hiatus, right after i release my next album." I'm sure that album would fly off the shelves. lol

I hope she can return with fresh music and energy!!!!

I thought Guilty was #2 so how can it be her #1 streak?
anyways **** ayu's #1 streak **** the charts, its the music that counts.

I been a fan since 1999, I'm used to her release patterns but
it's nice to get something new.

I just hate the fact that is a single collection, I didn't even get the first one BUT
atleast we getting new songs this time

Why are ppl complaining about This is love? that song is amazing.

@ Picaflor 7/4: Is hikki gonna release a new single this year? I think it doesn't matter anywayz. As ayu get the record on the 49th and break her own (and seiko's) record on the 50th, the streak is not as important anymore. Of course I will be happy if her streak continues on after that, but if it's broken after the 50th, I won't feel very sad.

@Polyrhythm: I don't own any of her dvds either (in fact, I dun own any singles at all). I only download the vobs of UH3 &4+. So it would be fabulous if UH2 Single Collection has CD+DVD :D.

^are we talking about ayu's single streak or her already broken album streak?

wow another fan from 1999. Is there anyone here have been a fan of hikki since... Dec 1998?? :D

For me.. This is love is ok. Probly because it sounds a little bit similar to traveling (not the melody or the arrangement, but the pattern.. a bit similar). It's quite rare to see similarities in hikki's collection.

I wish she would be Fight The Blues inside instead. Isn't FTB a digital single as well?

@jackie: yes idk why either. Just another awesome song. Get as many ub songs as possible for me
But I never knew this is love could be a problem lol.

One of the few reasons I suggest buying her clips collection is because they are ALL region free. Being able to sit on my couch and watch Passion in full quality on my high definition tv is like *O*. I can't do that with namie, ayu, koda, uverworld, ami suzuki, doping panda, Jasmine the list goes on because they all region encode their videos, but I can do it with utada.

As a matter of fact, besides big bang's clips collection vol. 1, my utada dvd (uh4) is the only asian dvd I own that plays on my dvd player. ;_; everything else is region 2. I love you hikki. T_T

^It IS awesome.

Thats why I region hacked my player lol

Yeah I own some of Hikki's CD+DVD singles, and watching them on TV is amazing! :) I used to have a region-free DVD player but it broke down so now I'm stuck with my region-locked PS3.

By the way, do you guys think that Hikki will break her own habit and release an album in multiple versions? Well obviously she's not doing the avex-cash-cow 4-version thingy, but maybe CD-only and CD+DVD? I hope she does. It's kinda un-hikki-like, but I love having a DVD with an album! And heck, she's already done it for quite some singles, why not stick a DVD with your final (for now) best of :)

Hmm.. now that I think about it.. She hasn't ever done 2 versions. Because for releases like Prisoner of Love, CD+DVD was the only thing available. And with releases like COLORS, the DVD was released completely seperately. I'm curious what she's gonna do.

I think she did 2 versions for Passion rite? or BML? I forgot..

It was both Passion and Be My Last.

Hikiiiiii :weep

If these 2 years without any advancement with her music as Utada Hikaru wasn't even considered a break, then how long will this hiatus be...? Idc however you dress it up Utada, a hiatus is a hiatus and that's how it should be referred to.

At least we'll get those 4-5 new songs... then we'll wait half a decade or more for her return. Most likely none of us will still be on this forum, and maybe some of us will even completely forget about her and go on without even remembering her coming back in the future.

Sad, but embrace that this is probably the last Utada Hikaru release we'll all ever share, together at least.

^Don't worry about me haha. I'll try to achieve my 10th AHS yr no matter what. Hopefully hikki will be back by then... :P

If AHS is still open then. Forums, even long established ones, often close down completely and suddenly.

This news really has me in a negative mood... (.__. )

I don't know... seems like she's been very half-assed to all the fans that have given their hard earned money to support her and her career.

I get the growth aspect but with as much time as she takes off between releases she could be doing all that "human" stuff she speaks of.

Every artist should care about their fan base. The fans pay for the majority of their continuing lavish lifestyles...

Ehh.. I never thought about AHS being close down :dead2. It will be quite a nightmare to me, as AHS is kind of a long established forum for me.

Actually when was the birth year of AHS? 2000? or 2001?

^I believe there was actually one when Ayu first came out...in 98 or 99...and then it moved here in 2000.


Like, I mean, Hikki has pissed me off before with her attitude towards her career...cause I mean, there are so many of us who love her so much, and she doesn't really seem...receptive.

And it is true, any artist should care about their fans, because, without fans, without other people, your art doesn't mean anything.

Well, I hope she learns all that while she's away.

Cmon AHS better not close. But this is why I said I hope ayu doesn't retire. Then the hikki thread here might permanently die and I will miss it

@haikudasai: I agree about the fan thing. I mean she's not a painter. She is a popular musician. I love artists that care about their fans and don't just disregard them as lower beings. They're trying to get they're message across to us (except for artists who just do it for not very inspiring reasons)
I kinda feel bad for japanese fans. She hasn't released japanese works since. 2008 and now 5 new songs and a long haitus. No japanese tour? Like okay there hikki
But a womans gotta do what a womans gotta do.

Maybe in all the spare time she has she just doesn't do anything? Idk. She has been pampered and safe her whole life so maybe its time to step outside of a comfort zone
Its not like ayu who was a high school drop out, lived on her own blah blah blah and was a women
Hikki...well...she was my age and honestly if I were in her situation itd be weird. I like schooling (I don't want to live life uneducated on history and art and music) and living everyday life experiences and just growing up an average girl.
Whatever reasons she has she has the right to have them as she's a human too.

If she doesn't feel its her constant duty to inspire and make music for her fans then that's all her and how she feels
And well just suffer or be happy, yeah?

boku wa kuma had 3 versions. cd only, cd+dvd, and a limited edition cd+photo booklet with pictures she drew of kuma (the one with the white bears repeating on top of the pink background like a wallpaper)

Ymmwtbam also came in cd and cd/dvd format. but only in the UK. http://eil.com/shop/moreinfo.asp?catalogid=371025

Hikki will definitely release a single or two during her hiatus. Even though she is slow, she's never in her career done absolutely nothing. She may go half a year without anything, but up to 5? even that is crazy for her standards. Remember what she said during "Introducing Utada"?

Music really is her life and I really don't think even she can live a few years without doing anything.

Do you guys think that she'll stop blogging too? =\

She's tired of paying high income tax so she's earning nothing for a while :P

Damn, this must be a real sh * tter for Hikki fans. I really was hoping for AN ALBUM. Didn't she say "the vision for the next album was pretty much set" and they were "ready to begin working on it" or something? Christ.
:thud

umm.. she was already taking a break.
well, at least she's announced it now =/

For whoever was wondering how much a signed baseball from the ITF tour is worth...someone has it up for auction...starting at $99....9 days....it is sure to go higher
http://cgi.ebay.com/Utada-Hikaru-Aut...#ht_500wt_1154

FINALLY!!!!
I will buy this album, i love all the songs (except boku wa kuma)!!!!
Hope the new ones are great!!

I agree with CoriKaru.

And damn, how could I forget about the multiple version of Boku wa kuma :innocent

But.. YMMWTBAM? Multiple versions? Wasn't it just a CD-only (that also featured the PV on the CD)? I'm not counting promo-discs and vinyls!

And I never knew Passion and Be My Last had multiple versions. I just have both in CD+DVD and I've always thought those were the only versions.

Oh no....its been about 2.5 years and she suddenly comes back with such news. I mean, i was so looking forward to her comeback. Regardless, an artiste always needs to come to a break for a certain period of time so I understand.

Not surprised she's taking a break. That's pretty much what she has been doing for a while or at least it seemed like it. At least she told us this time.

So you go Hikaru! Enjoy doing whatever, don't party too hard. I hope you still blog about stuff. As long as she's happy and healthy.

Well Hikki does have a family who was or is in the music business, I blame that for her release patterns.

Music is her life sure but I don't see her singing to an old age, I just don't.

And it's such a scary thought that we've grown old since following her music career. Time does fly.

A singles collection is an album.

@Pieces: I think u know what he means. Like a studio album that is inclusive of new singles and album tracks.

However hikkis just combining a compilation album with new songs which along with the news that she's leaving. This might as well sell 50 million.

this single collection has a lot to follow. from wikipedia.

Let's hope this clip collection vol. 2 will do just as well even though that's quite a stretch. But this is hikki after all, her albums never sell less than a million. I'm sure it'll do just fine.

But if u care about ur fans too much and focus on releasing what u think they want, u stop growing as an artist, start recycling ur own stuff and limit ur creation to an already known format... :)

U can see this everytime here on AHS... people never say "I want this singer to release something new", it's always "I want this singer to release something like that song/album I liked"

And after they got what they wanted, the complains about lack of creativity start... So, nops... IMO artists should not release what they think will please their fans the most, they should release what they feel like to, in the end of the day, that's what made people interested on the first place... when the singer wasn't famous, their artistic inspirations was the only thing their had to know what kind of piece to release...

This news has me so sad. but i love Hikaru so i wish her the best on her break. I hope she will keep us updated.

@Picaflor: it has no reason not to sell that well and if it doesn't then the world is getting waaaaay too strange.
Its the most perfect thing she couldve come up with. And she will not be a victim of the crap economy with one I assume.

But I've already reiterated why like a thousand times. Unless like arashi does the same thing and says they're going away then it would have a threat (barely)

Alot of artists do that *No names mantioned* but Ayu comes to mind..lol

^At least Ayu keeps some space for innovation... RnRC has some of her most inventive tracks, but also some of her most generic xD there are people releasing only safe material

If you ask me I seriously doubt she's gonna take another 5 years in addition to the 2 she's already taken. I just think she just doesn't know when exactly she's gonna feel like getting back in the game, and that's why she decided to put up the announcement, just as a sort of "don't expect anything anytime soon cuz it's not happenin'."

OR...

Btw... She released 8 studio albums since 1998 (counting Precious), 8 albums in 12 years. This is more than Britney (6 albums) and if u count her career post 2003, she released more than Beyoncé too (5 Utada albums against 3 from Beyonce)... 96 songs in total (without considering alternative versions of the same song), and considering she write the lyrics, composes the melodies, make arrangments and produces, that's a lot...

If only all of those albums were of great quality. :(

I hope these next songs will be. And not average or low quality

And @adrenekoi: I don't see why to compare to western artists who release very differently. Like releasing an album and releasing singles later..like beyonce with I am sasha fierce. And britneys just not a good example lol knowing her issues.
Of course hikki released a decent amount of songs (including precious I guess)...but comparing her to those artists isn't a good comparison.

^I'm just comparing quantity... I don't think there's anything wrong with that, considering both of them are constant on media nowadays... They didn't released as much as Utada, still, I can see some people saying they should take a break (as I already saw). I just wanted to show that for western music, she is releasing at a very good pace

If we can't compare to those, we can't compare Hikki releases to Ayu's. Seiko's or Koda's too, considering that even to japanese standarts they release too much material...

But ok, Utada released almost as much as Namie (don't know who released more), still, nobody calls Namie lazy :P Namie goes on touring every year, but she almost never composes, while Utada does compose/produces/arranges...

^I have to agree with Strawbari, maybe Beyonce and some other current western artists but Britney isn't a very good example if you're talking about quantity. Earlier in her career, she was releasing at a pace comparable to Asian artists (Baby thru Britney were all released a year after one another then ITZ only two years) and if it weren't for her "issues" and other circumstances (i.e. The Original Doll fallout) she probably would have 7 or 8 albums by now, there's a lot of demos and unreleased material floating around. But I do get the point you're making.

@Ranma: yeah basically.

@andrenekoi: I think her doing all her composing and arranging and etc is not an excuse for her lack of touring. Its really unfortunate that she doesn't do it as I always think live singing is the best way to send an artists message across. Even when she does tour it doesn't seem like she would have to take the time to do a thousand rehearsals and such. And if she does then touring must be complete hell for other artists.
...Also about comparisons. She does release mainly in japan and well if those artists are on top like her then u might as well compare.
I don't think it really takes hikki THAT long to produce her work. I'm sure she has time in between.

I'm not saying hikki is lazy$ its respectable she produces her work and all. That's not an excuse to just do anything else. Since she takes so long anyway she could add things like touring even if she has to take longer to release I suppose.
She's a doll and I love her though

ULTRA BLUE missed one million by a 90k or so.

^That's only Japan sales though. Worldwide it sold something like 1.2~1.4 million if I remember correctly. Plus it got the RIAJ certification for one million copies shipped in Japan.

[edit]
I was looking through her discography on Wiki and...

What's the bolded song? It's from the Honda Wish album... but I've never heard anyone mention it. Does anyone have it or has anyone heard it?

Um does the Single Collection have a release date yet? Just wondering cause I was looking at the jpopstop article and someone changed the release date to Sept. 8

Well... about touring, she just dislike touring... She said more than once that she doesn't see herself as a performer, so, I think it's better for her to focus on what she likes doing than force herself into touring just to make fans happy... I don't think she needs to tour if she doesn't like to, if she doesn't enjoy it... Still, even when she tours, most of the effort seens to go to arrangments and instruments than to performance... Usually her lives have some of her best arrangments but are visually lacking (United is visually stunning, but this has more to do with Kaz than with Hikki) and she really lacks stage presence... *ready to get stoned*

Also, sometimes she commented the time she took to compose some of her songs, and some of them took months or even more than an year, so I really doubt she would make an entire album on 3 months like ayu does...

Yeah, I was expecting more when she said "the vision/direction of the next album has been decided" than "The vision/direction is throwing together singles and adding 4 new songs" Lol.

I have. I thought it was the godson mix of colors and I spent forever (years ago) looking for it, once I finally got a hold of it, I found out it was just an orchestra version. It sound just like that "Jpop meets harmony classics for slow life" album. Instrumental orchestra, and it's slow and boring, they really do mean slow life. :/

@Andrenekoi: I don't feel like elaborating on this much more (not in the thread at least). My finger hurt using my phone like this~ here

A year to COMPOSE one song. Goodness I see why she's so slow. Even artists not trained in music theory and the complexities compose faster. I wonder how long it takes for the rest of the process. I don't see why she can't just finish it in a short time. Composing a song. I'm sure she still has time in between then
I wonder how long she's been working on these 5 tracks

And oh its so unfortunate she doesn't like touring. I didn't know that. There goes my dreams of ever seeing her live
I've learned to connect with her songs more live. Some of them are already enough like ultra blue and deep river tracks. Others not so much
I dunno. Somehow many fans connect to her. I can't really deeply because of this barrier she has (its same with my crazy Lady gaga)
Anyhow I don't know if hikki actually works hard. She does all the work herself yet I don't know if she works really hard to do it. Like what u say about taking over a year for some songs.

Oh well~ hikki is hikki. I operate the same way in school. People think I'm a super hard worker cuz I do all this stuff and put myself in super nerd program. But all I really do is procrastinate and not study. However the outside image looks good on me somehow and people believe it
I feel like its like that for hikki. Except for her instead of smarts its her talent that makes the finished product awesome (sometimes)
Even if she takes a long or short time to do something it doesn't really affect the finished product. It can still be bad
I'm still looking forward to these new songs. Hoping she wasn't wasting her time.

@amorphose: I have also never heard of this song. I would like to here it

Different people have different time... She also finished some songs really fast if I'm not wrong, If i remember well, she said the problem with her songs that took most time is that she got stucked, so, she left them aside and worked on other songs...

I don't think I could ever think she is not hard working... in the end of the day she wrote a lot of songs, made a lot of arrangments, wrote a lot of lyrics and had two big tours, a small one and a serie of concerts on Budokan, promoted some of her singles A LOT (almost every single on UB and HS eras)...

I would say she isn't hard working if she just milked the First Love success to the end and vanished after that, but the fact is: the girl is a hit machine, she oversold every "jpop queen" she ever was put against, Ayu, Namie, Otsuka, Nakashima, Koda... her biggest hits are always bigger than theirs... I really doubt she only rellies on luck and talent to get this... First Love sucess maybe was pure luck, every thing after that, I would say it's the payment for a hard intelectual work...

@Andrenekoi: all I'm saying is that I don't think she works as hard as she let's on. Producing her music...I'm sure she puts a lot of work into that. I just think she does take her time does not feel the need to ever overwork herself.
I simply just don't like when some hikki fans assert that because she produces most of her music herself that she's so much more hard working than other artists (not that u said that) when it wouldn't even make sense for some others to do all that and when they busy themselves just as much if not more on other facets of their career. Imo. Hikki is no working machine. But when she chooses to shell put her all into it, it will just be at a slow to average pace.
At least hikki knows what she's doing. If ayu tried this it would take 50 yrs for 3 songs

Sadly I don't think the success of basically any artist except for those that existed in the 1600s etc is simply based off of them working hard. Even hikki. If u don't have an ounce of talent or to choose songs but work hard it can get u nowhere. It can get u somewhere. But it all depends
It also depends on personal opinions of music. Like I can say TITO had tons. Of hard work put into it but I didn't like it. It still sold well of course. Same for Exodus. Lots of genuine work.
Same for heart station and first love (still not getting the first love situation) but she put lots of work into that too. But its not all about hard work.
But honestly music has so many variables relative to each artist that none of these things are ever set in stone. :)

(Also her outselling other "jpop means" hardly means anything to me. My opinions are usually opposite. Aahh~ like can you keep a secret and m. That's why I don't mind myself with artist competitions no matter who

Also, Andrenekoi, do u mind just pming me as I feel like I'm spamming this thread like this

^spam gives us stuff to talk about ;)
I don't really think Hikki has this problem.

Besides, I wasn't really saying that she should release what is going to please her fans the most.

To be honest, I'm not really sure how much Hikki has grown as an artist, especially when she says she hasn't been able to grow as a human being.

The two go hand in hand.

That being said, her attitude is annoying at times...I mean, I understand that she has her own ways. But, for someone who's been in the business as long as she has, and who grew up in the business, I think it's sort of preposterous that she thinks she can always bypass promotion, and some of the necessary parts of being an artist.

And I'm sure, she's probably just tired of it, and maybe never liked that aspect of the business, and in a perfect world, she could have all the resources she needed, and make music whenever she wanted, and live her live the way she wanted, and not care about anything....but....this is not a perfect world. This is how it is.

I'm happy for her that she's finally gotten to a place where maybe her dreams are possible and she doesn't have to worry about those things in life that make the world go 'round. I mean, who wouldn't want to be there. And maybe that's even why she's taking a break now, and I think it's great.

But I still think that she's a little "out of touch" sometimes. Especially for someone who spends as much time on the internet as she does lol And it's a little disappointing sometimes.

I'd always understand anyway, if someone was disappointed with her, or with the way she views her "role"...but I mean...like strawberi said, Hikki is Hikki lol

I'm waiting for the mass suicides to begin in japan...lmao

@StrawbariSnowAyumi
Relax, the girl is on hiatus! There's nothing else to be said in here! *jk :P*
This will be my final reply on this subject, but I have to say I really enjoyed the discussion =)

I agree she is not overworking other singers... actually, IMO, every successful music act is always working on a aspect of their career they feel it's more important... Namie and Ayu makes everything possible to tour the most they can... This is what they love, this is them: touring, live performance, seeing their fans in the eyes while singing their songs... On the same way, Hikki enjoys working on her music, taking her time, experiementing, trying new sounds, or trying to see how well can she be at already popular sounds...

These are two aways of working with music... Being a musician that sometimes act as a performer, and being a performer that sometimes act as a musician

:thud

"flashy" "FLASHY"

what flashy things she's talking about pleeeeeeease explain!!!

grrrr

Hikki was one of my first J-pop artists, along with Ayu. i hope she takes a well-taken hiatus and enjoys it too. :)

i can't wait for the new songs.

do you think the new songs on the single collection will be released as singles first?

I dunno...maybe as re-cut singles

It would be awesome if she did a little mini album thing...or...EP?

Just so we could have like...a cover and stuff too.

I hope she doesn't just stick them at the end of the album or something.

I wonder what the people sad about her hiatus would have done if they were NIN fans; we waited about 5 years or more for the Fragile and I think about 6 for With Teeth.
Whether she feels that she has lost her creativity and doesn't want to disappoint fans or whether she wants to take a break from the music industry not giving a damn about her fans, good luck to Hikaru with her real life.

@Andrenekoi: thank you ^___^ I enjoyed too. As any civilized discussion. No peasant talk, yeah :yes

-----------

@Beauty1234: so there will be a new single?

That was my guess all along...the singles collection AND THEN a goodbye single.

I feel sad about Utada leaving for a while. Seems like today's environment is far different than what it was a decade ago.

Almost a decade ago, it was all the hype about the rivalry in albums - Utada's First Love vs. Ayu's A BEST.

But now, here's how it stands: Ayu's about to release her 49th and 50th singles (crossroad and L, respectively), while I just found out first on the new JPopStop (http://www.jpopstop.com/) that Utada is putting a "red light" and go on hiatus.

Between the ten years, things went on different strategies for both Ayu and Utada. We know that it was back on March 2007 that Ayu and Utada met on TV the last time. Meanwhile, we are seeing sales declines for the Japanese pop music industry, blaming on economic issues as well as digital distribution. A flurry of artists have popped out, such as Arashi (debuted back in 1999 but popularity has increased since, and now they're on the top over the past three years), Koda Kumi, Ai Otsuka, Ayaka (Iida) and others. Now we feel the sense that things are different: Ayu's still busy, while Utada seems to be dormant, and now I just found out word that Utada's halting for the foreseeable future.

And remember Ayaka last year when she would go on hiatus because of the Graves' disease and marriage with Hiro Mizushima to help her recover? Remember - Ayaka did something on the single that amazes the Japanese pop industry, going as high since Utada's release, yet her magical career had to come to a halt because of the disease that I have never even heard of until I just found out April of last year.

And now, Utada's another victim of going into hiatus for something. Maybe because of the dormant situation it has been for her for so long. I feel sad already especially when after I found out that one of my favorite school friends back in elementary school (a girl, to be exact) has moved to Spokane, WA, and she does not have any more contact. I just feel sad about her leaving the Seattle area.

But the Ayaka news last year - and the Utada news just coming in - is really more of a sad impact compared to my friend's departure, as this really affects the media a lot. We're going to feel sad that Utada is going to leave for the foreseeable future.

When Utada (and Ayaka also) comes back, we won't know how things will be different since the time they're on hiatus and the time they're coming back.

2-5 YEARS!? Omg. I just wish she would have released a full album AND THEN decided to go on hiatus. I've been patient with Utada. Haven't been ripping my hair outta my head over her disappearance but now that I know she's gonna be gone for much longer... *runs to cry and listen to Take 5*

Lol.

Take 5 is like the best song on HS. Like the lyrics are the best and it has aa depth that the rest of the album doesn't have (it feels more like a UB track). I hope to see that sort of depth with these new songs. :D

Totally. It's genius. So other-worldly. I just love the whole feel of it. It really feels like an entirely different universe.

I absolutely love Take 5 ♥ It's an really amazing feeling listening to it on a plane :laugh

News of Utada's hiatus just showed up on Taiwanese news....my parents were watching. It's kind of nice to know what people still care....and she's really going to be missed not only in Japan but all around...being the world class star she is...