Thank you guys~!!I'm going to listen more tomorrow!!And yes,ayaka has an amazing voice

Yay! My order is now "in shipping process"! Can't wait to get the album delivered to my house!

Get her best album. The whole thing is amazing.

Oh, thanks!

Me too! Bought it through HMV...

The beginning just leaked on baidu! I'm uploading it right now~

320KBPS?!?!?! OH YESS.. :D

...No, 256 AAC, m4a XD

EDIT:
Just saw that KMC added a 320 kbps rip! So I will of course upload this one lol

:banana1 :banana2 :banana1 :banana2

I know what I'm going to do 1st thing in the morning tomorrow :innocent

As I said earlier:

...well, fortunately, my order is under way. Next up: get that package from Tokyo to Seattle...

awesome!! cant wait :)

I have already uploaded and was about to share, then saw this post. Thought it would be rude of me.
Will wait and share my link as mirror once you have created the thread I guess. :)

It's uploaded! http://www.ahsforum.com/forum/showthread.php?p=2809986
And that's very nice of you :yes

EDIT:
album credits. I found them on baidu.

Curses! I wanna listen to it so bad but I'm at school right now :weep.

I'm downloading the album right now and I can't wait to listen to it!! :smitten

And it's sooooo awesome that ayaka wrote and composed all the songs herself!

There's French in HIKARI! There's a guy saying things near the end of the song.
Here's what I heard, correct me if I heard wrongly lol
English translation

Must resist download! It's so awesome to see how much work ayaka put into creating the songs. I want my copy now please!

what the hell, some French in HIKARI?! xD

Halfway through the album. It's amazing! :heart I hope it sells well!

thanks for sharing Luna!!

I already in love with the whole album and yes Hello :luv2

ayaka's melodies are so awesome!! still gonna digest the album even more before I make individual comments but you can feel her melodies have thought and they actually go somewhere instead..there's a feelign generated along with the arrangement.
like for example, HIKARI has similar progressions as Hajimari no Toki..something like that

Love the album! Most songs I love are: アカイソラ, Hello, The beginning, HIKARI and THIS IS THE TIME. :heart :heart :heart :heart :heart

really like The beginning omg

Welcome back ayaka you've been missed ;__; & I so can't wait to get my copy real soon :heart

My copy has been shipped! Estimated delivery to be February 1st at 10:30am!

Favorite tracks: The beginning, HIKARI & 空よお願い

But the whole album is so amazing ;_; I feel like I have to buy it lol.

Pics from baidu

This album is epic! especially Yasashii ao!

this album is great but I can't say I will like it better than its predecessor First Message and Sing to the sky. too many low tempo songs in the album.

Loving the album. It's very cohesive and surprises after a few slower tracks.

I love
Hajimari no Toki
Akai Sora
The beginning
HIKARI
THIS IS THE TIME
Yasashii Ao

Day 1: #1, 37,539

:thud

...which seems...low

#2 YUKI 24,489
#3 スピッツ (SPITZ) 17,247
#4 SUPER☆GiRLS
#5 TV (anime) soundtrack...

http://www.oricon.co.jp/rank/ja/d/2012-01-31/
http://www.oricon.co.jp/news/rankmusic/2006504/full/

(Update on my package status: Earlier tonight my copy has arrived in the U.S.A.! But it appears that it went to San Francisco before going to Seattle, because SFO has mail customs facilities (which the package is in right now) while SEA does not...

It appears that every time whenever I order anything from Japan through EMS, they go through SFO first before continuing into SEA... I have a feeling that it could come to my house either Wednesday or Thursday...)

^ My copy went to Alaska first and now it's in Memphis, TN. Usually my orders stop in San Francisco or go straight to Memphis from Japan. So long as I get it, I'll be happy.

I had hoped the numbers would be higher but this is ok for now.

Whoa...Alaska!? FedEx? (Memphis is FedEx SuperHub)

that's pretty good number for an album that only 2 songs being promoted and don't forget this is indie. I'm quite sure it will sell more than JAPONESQUE

It's FedEx. I kind of did a huh? when I saw Anchorage, AK on the online tracker. Now my order has departed Memphis and headed to me! And I'll actually be home to sign for it.

EDIT: Weeeeee! It's at the destination sort facility in my hometown! Can't wait!

I'M ADDICTED TO AYAKA'S NEW ALBUM! Seriously, I can't stop listening to it. The melodies are beautiful and ayaka's voice is as great as ever!
And I love that she wrote and composed all the songs herself! :heart

My TOP5 from this album:

*Hajimari no toki :smitten
*HIKARI
*Sora yo onegai :smitten
*THIS IS THE TIME
*Yasashii ao

GREAT job, ayaka!!

considering this's an idle release & not released via Warner Music Japan anymore , expectations should be lowered now when comes to sales :shrug

anyway I will be receiving my copy of The beginning tomorrow . I usually get items that I ordered via HMV Japan 1 day after the release date x)

Yeah, this song is soooo beautiful. :smitten I can't stop listening to it!

Sales aren't bad considering everything. I'm sure it will have a long chart run :yes

Photobook pics, found on baidu

^ The pictures are beautiful! :smitten

But I'm kind of sad that there are no pictures of ayaka!

makes me glad that I'm receiving The beginning as a late birthday gift because I seriously am not impressed at the packaging & be it the photobook that doesn't have any photos of ayaka -.-

Frankly if not for my friend that's so kind to get the album for me , I would have bought CD only with regards to ayaka's awesome comeback album

didn't help the DVD only had just 1 PV on Hajimari no Toki too :x

Album is pretty solid :yes...I feel like it over all is a very quiet album compared to her other ones. I think my favorites so far are はじまりのとき, The beginning, HIKARI, and やさしい蒼. I am still getting used to the album but I do enjoy how soothing the music is...not to mention ayaka's oh so beautiful voice to accompany it :luv2. Oh and 37k on the first day is not that bad at all considering she is now indies & has been gone for a couple years. I hope she can keep this good pace going!

T_T seriously ayaka!? , people who ordered the regular edition are brilliant :)

Booklet pics, from baidu as always XD

^ are they in the limited edition as well?

Yes, those pics are from the limited edition :yes On baidu it seems that they all bought this one XD
http://tieba.baidu.com/p/1396454328

Booklet's back cover

So only the "Regular edition" has pics of ayaka? That's funny...! :D

But she looks beautiful! I LOVE the back cover! :heart

Just saw this on Weibo ;)
Album pics and promotion in stores it seems.

Received my copy just now which a friend ordered it for me as a late belated birthday gift :)

http://img267.imageshack.us/img267/5975/img4988n.jpg

Too bad the packaging itself is downright really boring D: but all's all , the music's more important imo

the album itself is a digipak & even though there're literally no photos of ayaka in the Why Sky 40 page photobook , I give her credit in that she's the 1 that took all the photos in the photobook :3

Anyway I've did scans of ayaka that're taken from the CD sleeves

oh well, there are still quite a few pictures of her ♥ and some pretty ones!
Thanks Karen :D

Thanks a lot Karen for the scans!

She likes looking up doesn't she? :roflmao

got my copy today too! I actually adore the packaging, the quality is great!
The extra photobook is a bit cheap though, not like I was expecting much from it, but still..

The album itself is amazing, love it! I'll watch the DVD later on ♥

I just got my copy also too! Except now I'm having a bit of difficulties with DVD playback, because our entire house (even our computers too!) are not familiar with region 2 DVDs...

i love her new beginning. All the songs are rather catchy, good feeling type and there's not one song that I dont like. Have been looping the album for at least 4 times

hows the sales going so far?

1st day: #1 37,539
2nd day: #1 20,457
3rd day: #1 11,641

Total so far: 69,637 copies sold

EDIT:
live at Music Station, Hajimari no Toki.
http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XMzQ4NTg2MTgw.html

omg omg omg I hadn't heard anything until the full album just now and ooooooomggggggggg!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I've fallen in love with her all over again! Welcome back ayaka <3 <3

4th day: #1 9,633

69,637+9,633=79,270 copies sold.

thats some really awesome sales :) not falling too fast. people just start getting warmed up. hope she performs more

Pretty decent here. Maybe she could be one of 2012's potential contenders, and maybe challenging Ayumi Hamasaki in some way...

What are you talking about?

Hey not bad...I'm glad to see she's almost up to 100k :)!

5th Day
12,914　絢香

total : 92,184
Msta gave a little boost to the sales

That's good to hear. Because in a day this is going to be true:
And also in a matter of a day it's going to be over 100,000...

If you mean total sales then it'll take another week or so to pass JAPONESQUE. Also as said before ayaka has had heavy promotion and massive hype surrounding this album release while Kuu had none so those are factors to be considered.

So here we go:
http://www.oricon.co.jp/rank/ja/d/2012-02-05/

Day 1 (1/31): #1 37,539
Day 2 (2/1): #1 20,457
Day 3 (2/2): #1 11,641
Day 4 (2/3): #1 9,633
Day 5 (2/4): #1 12,914
Day 6 (2/5): #1 12,323

Total up to this point: 104,503

ayaka - 37,539 + 20,457 + 11,641 + 9,633 + 12,914 + 12,323 = 104,507
Yayy 100K. very consistent.

very good...the promotion is working

Official count was roughly 108,000, based on this Oricon article:
http://www.oricon.co.jp/news/rankmusic/2006666/full/

Good job ayaka!!!

Congrats ayaka! :)

108176　絢香

wish the beginning can sell 200K overall
5,236　絢香

Yeah, let's go for 200,000 or 250,000 this year!

2nd week sales for The beginning

Oricon Weekly - Albums (6/2/2012~12/2/2012)

*1 170,855 170,855 L'Arc～en～Ciel - BUTTERFLY
*2 *35,241 143,417 ayaka - The beginning
*3 *32,171 *32,171 Van Halen - A Different Kind Of Truth
*4 *20,958 *93,363 YUKI - POWERS OF TEN
*5 *19,351 131,803 Yuki Saori & Pink Martini – 1969 (Total since 11/12/12: 199,228)
*6 *14,117 *62,692 Spitz - Orutana
*7 *14,020 700,675 EXILE / EXILE ATSUSHI - EXILE JAPAN / Solo
*8 *13,921 *13,921 Various Artists – TV Anime 『TIGER & BUNNY』Character Song Album 「BEST OF HERO」
*9 *12,733 *12,733 moumoon - No Night Land
10 *11,990 *82,078 Sonar Pocket - Sonapokeism ③ ~Kimi to no 365 Nichi~

'the beginning' (the song) is seriously giving me life. It's spine-chillingly beautiful. And the lyrics are just....AUGH. Perfect. :luv2 I don't think I ever realized that ayaka composes too, but it seems she composed this one. :'3

http://img41.imageshack.us/img41/673...725cfdab75.jpg

http://www.musicman-net.com/artist/15460.html
http://joysound.com/ex/st/utasuki/campaign329/

I was just wondering. What exactly is ayaka's vocal range? Is she a soprano? Alto?

Wow I'm surprised but ayaka has made a PV for The beginning o_o

http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XMzU4NzI3NDU2.html

Got an email from CDJapan:

WPCL-11081
Ayaka/ayaka Singles Box 2006-2009(Title subject to change) [Limited Release] *CDA
6667 yen US$81/82.19 *Release Date:2012/04/25

So naturally I had to preorder it :)

^ I'm so tempted too.. I'll probably get it :)

Love The Beginning's PV too! this girl can do no wrong ♥

too bad I've already had all her physical singles >__<

Ayaka’s “Kimi e” chosen as image song for ‘WOWOW Tennis’

Singer-songwriter Ayaka’s song, “Kimi e“, has been chosen as the image song for ‘WOWOW Tennis‘ and will be used beginning on April 1st!

“Kimi e” is a track off of Ayaka’s comeback album, ‘The beginning’. She wrote this song after receiving encouragement from fans through letters and Twitter. This time around, “Kimi e” was chosen because the players’ image harmonizes with the song’s powerful theme.

WOWOW is scheduled to broadcast the four major tennis tournaments, ‘Grand Slam’, and its related programs. They also plan to live broadcast ‘The French Open’ in May.

Additionally, Ayaka’s “Tsunagaru Kokoro” is currently being used as the CM song for NTT Higashi Nihon. It will be the 5th song from ‘The beginning’ to have received CM tie-ups.

Furthermore, Ayaka will kick off her nationwide tour, “Ayaka LIVE TOUR2012 ‘The beginning’ ~Hajimari no Toki~“, on April 27th.

http://www.tokyohive.com/2012/03/aya...-wowow-tennis/

===

ayaka Singles Box 2006-2009 has since been cancelled , with no reasons given why this has happened

^ I think they mentionned production problems.

I want a new single already ahah

I wanted that singles box so bad... I want a new single too but it's only been 2 months since her album was released. I'm sure she is getting ready for her tour.

Well, that's quite interesting about the additional tie-ins...but thought that was enough? Ayaka just recently recorded a new song - called "Tsuyoku Omou" - and this one's for Nippon Television's (NTV) "NEWS ZERO" late-night news program!

http://img4.imageshack.us/img4/3254/...0102378550.jpg

Looking forward to that...except that I'm on vacation starting tomorrow at Mexico, for a week. (No Internet, sorry!)

Anyways, if anyone is able to get audio/video extract of Ayaka's new song (and interview(s), if any) out of next week's NTV NEWS ZERO broadcasts, feel free to share it here. Very interested in this upcoming new release...maybe new single coming soon ahead? We'll just have to wait and see...

(because something that says "発売未定" - which clearly says that release is pending - we don't know if this could end up as a single song... And especially when someone said this:

oh production problems ? :O

More like maybe some internal dispute between ayaka & Warner since ayaka's not under Warner anymore

Maybe ayaka doesn't like this idea & blocked Warner from doing this ? I don't know :x cos her singles that were released with Warner , you can just make a pretty box to house them , it's not that hard right ? :3

well ayaka can't say anything, she sold the rights to warner (contract and so on, even if their contract is over, it still applies to the work she released under their name) so they can do whatever they want as far as her name is on the packaging lol

But yaaay, they heard my prayer~~

From JPC
Song preview
http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XMzc2MTY0MTU2.html

She was on April 14th in NHK SONGS and sang
-みんな空の下 (Minna Sora no Shita)
-はじまりのとき (Hajimari no toki)
-Hello
-The beginning

The show is on JPS.
http://img15.hostingpics.net/thumbs/...9715101000.jpg

Ayaka kicks off her tour at Nippon Budokan

On April 28th, singer-songwriter Ayaka held the Tokyo performance of her nationwide tour, ‘ayaka LIVE TOUR2012 ‘The beginning’ ~Hajimari no Toki~‘, at Nippon Budokan.

After a 2-year hiatus, Ayaka returned to the music scene last December by performing on ‘MUSIC STATION SUPER LIVE‘ and the ‘Kohaku Uta Gassen‘. She officially resumed her activities back in February after releasing her new album, “The beginning“.

Before wrapping up the show, Ayaka gazed at the crowd of 12,000 people surrounding her, and said, “Because I came to a stop once, I’m able to stand here now. While holding the sense of gratitude I have for my family, friends, music, and fans who have always supported me in my heart, I would like to take a new step forward.”

Ayaka then started to sing “Hajimari no Toki“, and finished it brilliantly without a microphone. After singing the song, her eyes overflowed with tears.

Ayaka’s first nationwide tour in 4 years kicked off on April 27th at Nippon Budokan. She sang a total of 19 songs, including tracks off of her latest album. When she called out, “I’m home!“, the crowd warmly responded, “Welcome home!“.

Ayaka’s husband, actor Mizushima Hiro was also seen watching over his wife from the audience.

http://www.tokyohive.com/2012/04/aya...ippon-budokan/

Glad that she's back. Now it's back to business...

Ayaka makes her return after four years

http://static.tokyohive.com/wp-conte..._2-600x399.jpg

This past weekend, singer Ayaka made her comeback by performing a 2-day concert at the famous Nippon Budokan. This marked the start of her “LIVE TOUR 2012 ‘The beginning’ ~Hajimari no Toki~” after being absent for four years.

Ayaka just added Osaka-Jo Hall and Yokohama Arena to the tour making a stop in 14 cities across Japan. The tour is expected to bring in 9,000 fans. The singer performed to a sold out venue where her stage was uniquely shaped in a 360° format.

During the concert Ayaka shed tears of joy while yelling, “Tadaima. I’m speechless, tears are coming down.”

She then greeted, “How is everyone? How many of of you dreamed about this day…. Not knowing if I can still sing, I’m very grateful that everyone waited … ‘Thank you’ isn’t enough to describe my feelings.”

The singer sang 19 songs during her 2-day live.

-

< Ayaka LIVE TOUR 2012 “The beginning” ~Hajimari no Toki~ >

2012.04.27 Tokyo Nippon Budokan
2012.04.28 Tokyo Nippon Budokan
2012.05.09 Hyogo Kobe International House
2012.05.12 Aichi Himegin Hall
2012.05.17 Okayama Kurashiki City Auditorium
2012.05.19 Hiroshima Hiroshima Culture Exchange Hall
2012.05.25 Niigata Niigata Bunka Hall
2012.05.27 Ishikawa Honda Moril Hall
2012.06.09 Hokkaido Nitori Culture Hall
2012.06.22 Aoimori Aoimori Civic Culture Hall
2012.06.23 Miyagi Sendai Sun Plaza Hall
2012.07.03 Aichi Nagoya Century Hall
2012.07.04 Aichi Nagoya Century Hall
2012.07.13 Fukuoka Fukuoka Sun Palace
2012.07.24 Osaka Osaka-Jo Hall
2012.07.25 Osaka Osaka-Jo Hall
2012.08.08 Kanagawa Yokohama Arena

http://www.tokyohive.com/2012/04/aya...er-four-years/

Would love to know the tracklist :)

now I hope she'll tour again next year so I can see her >o<
She looks so pretty!

and this is the setlist, reported by fans

　　　　　（About 2h40 of live）
1「The beginning」
2「笑顔のキャンバス」
3「Magic Mind」
MC　
4「アカイソラ」
5「そこまで歩いていくよ」
6「夢を味方に」
7「繋がる心」
8「HIKARI」
9「空よお願い」
MC
10「ツヨク想う」
11「THIS IS THE TIME」
12「Rolling in the Deep / Adele」（cover）
13「手をつなごう」
14「おかえり」
15「Hello」
16「やさしい蒼」
17「はじまりのとき」

Encore
18「みんな空の下」
19「キミへ」

Oooo, Rolling in the Deep!! :D

Any new news on this amazing girl??

^ LOL I was just about to ask that.

I could never find this thread until today... weird.

lol, it took me like 10 minutes but finally just used the find option and went through every page...

I was listening to her best of album (amazing!) and realized I hadnt listen to her newest album (at least on itunes... amazing again!)
I want to know more!


Also I wanted to point out that she didn't have any singles released for this album, but it did amazingly well compared to Ayumis....
the only difference?
Ayaka did something like 4 lives!!!
AYUMI! LEARN!!!

You MUST listen to her new album.
The beginning (song) just... it's amazing. ayaka can't go wrong.

Not to be mean to Ayu, but ayaka just has THE VOICE. That's why it sold so well (imo) and why I need The beginning so badly.

Listen to hajimari no toki, sora yo onegai, magic mind and the beginning and you'll see why it sold well :P

The only thing I check is on Ayaka's Twitter feeds...but she's still busy on her tour...

SHES ON TOUR!!!!!

Aww, man, Im missing it... :*(

And I do like The Beginning, but I think I like Hello the most right now...
its amazing... and her voice is great. But I think a lot of it has to do with the right time, right place and I do hate to admit it, but the Lives help a tone.