About that name too, "form the MASTER" is a mastering studio that a lot of the Ayu staff is from.

https://form-studios.com/studio/master/

I think Naoki Yamada is from here alongside Koji Morimoto?

I personally think they spent more money in the remastering than what would have cost Ayu to re-record some of the songs and we’d be more pleased lol It’s good to see they put some effort into it, he is a big name.

The first one is from my TV btw. lol

I never realized that they can fit so much content into one dvd disc!

files got smaller over the years

^^It's not that surprising if you think about it. After all, they managed to fit all 2,5h of CDL19-20 on one disc. :)

EDIT: The Haru Yo, Koi PV has surpassed 500K views! :love

This was posted on Facebook:

【A BALLADS 2】
4/8発売『A BALLADS 2』の
全形態、全DISCの収録内容、曲順を公開しました♪
TeamAyu/mu-moショップ限定盤には「Virgin Road」の紅白歌合戦の映像も収録決定！
https://avex.jp/ayu/discography/​​
ご予約はこちらから
https://avex.lnk.to/aballads2​​
#ABALLADS2
#春よ来い

Google translation says "Teamayu / mu-mo shop limited edition will also be included in the ′′ Virgin Road ′′ Red and white singing song!" - does that mean it would be a new version of the song? My Japanese is non existent so that might be completely wrong! :confused

I just finished listening to the songs according to the DISC 1 set list and I found that it flows quite well. especially surprised by how well JEWEL fits right after Virgin Road. who knew. onto DISC 2 now.

no. it means the second DVD/BluRay contains the Kouhaku (red and white year-end song festival) performance of Virgin Road.

^I think it means the Virgin Road live performance at Kohaku, guess it's also "rare" footage, but I'm not sure.

Yes, it’s the performance from the 61st Kohaku :)

XD I got it from weibo

Nothing to do with that. Just lower bitrate for DVD video, worse quality. I remember bootleg DVDs where they managed to fit 4 movies into 1 disk.

Seeing the compilation today made me realized again how chameleon this woman is :laugh

u sure? I sear I have some crappy PVs from 2005 who are like 200 MB and much better quality ones from years later in the same format only 1/4 the size. In the end they only burn data on a Disc.

after listening to the tracks of DISC 2 in order, it flows alright but a little awkward. like, I think some of the songs need an extra second or two of silence before proceeding to the next.

I also find it weird that much of the lesser-known ballads are dumped on the latter half of DISC 2 instead of being slipped in between the big leagues.

still, 春よ、来い makes a fantastic grand finale.

春よ、来い video has already 540k views on YT and it's growing. It's doing much better than the last 2 singles.

I haven't tried listening to all the songs in order but based on the track list, I share your feeling and also wish the lesser-known tracks could have been spread across other songs.

Yup! I think that's why she has such a variety of people listening to her! I mean I'm a goth at heart and i'm still sticking around lol

Has anyone created a playlist for "A BALLADS 2" yet? I would like to listen to it and anticipate the real thing coming next month.

I don't like the tracklist because of how it flows - or how it doesn't at all. 春よ、来い is great and I love it. But a single release would have done more for me at this point
I'm still desperately clinging on to that hope that they will be rearranged. lol Otherwise I will probably buy it for my collection in some years at book off for 500 ¥.

I don’t think they will be rearranged - if they are, the official track list will use rearranged names right? Like A Ballads ....

It's remastered, so it's clear since day 1 that they are the original versions.

Me on April 9th: “But maybe they will rearrange the songs...”

I just realized how annoyed I am that Hanabi episode ii was left off lol.

Maybe the digital version will have bonus tracks as well as A BEST 15th anniversary ver.

Literally me

Maybe I'm just being too kind to Ayu but I feel like this release makes a lot of sense and it has its place. For Haru Yo, Koi to be a part of this feels just right, too, imo.
I would have liked* a few rearangements (but re-recordings more than that, tbh) and maybe PoM18 on the TA DVD but other than that, I'm really happy with what we'll get. I'm not one to scream for "A BEST 3" or stuff like that but the covers are great & the tracklist is full of good songs. Obviously, Haru Yo, Koi is the crowning jewel of this album.

Having said that, the Haru Yo, Koi PV just reached 600K views on YouTube! :love

*

^ I personally agree! If compilations like A BEST 2 and A BEST 3 can have their place in ayu's discography, then there's nothing wrong with releasing A BALLADS 2. I feel like A BEST 2 was even more of a money grab than A BALLADS 2, because she released it as 2 different albums, which is more expensive, and only one of them had new content (only one new song as well)

I just wish they had thrown some old acoustic/orchestra/classical versions to add a different flavour/value to the album (or to simply make it a bit more "similar" to the original A BALLADS concept) but oh well... Guess I will make my own playlist with different versions then :(

I think rearrangments would have been nice. I don't think any of the songs need rerecordings. The first could have been done without ayu too.

That said, when the remasters are top-notch, they might add something I'll keep.

HANABI ~episode II~ NEEDED to be on this.

aaah thanks!! haha cheers Google!:rolleyes

Absolutely. It’s truly a crime what they did.

Omg true!!

Apart from that, I'm happy with the tracklist :)

I agree with HANABI ~episode II~, and I also wanted Pray to be included :(

A BEST 2 had the BEST of CDL attached to it and not just a single new track...

She just posted this picture (and half of another where she's looking at a different direction) and she looks breathtaking! :luv2

https://i.imgur.com/VLINfGC.jpg

I meant the album itself (music), as I view DVDs as just a bonus/extra

I like how the reflection of the silhouette in her eyes make them like cat's pupils lol

Me don’t like. The kimono shot should’ve been the promoting one imo. Anyway, the girl is inspired, hoping for something fierce or at least different for future things. Shimoko, don’t let us down.

She looks so good. :heart

Love those shots!!! She looks so... fierce and feminine and womanly haha

I'm assuming these are in the photobook and I approve.

Just pre-ordered a 2CD+DVD on Cdjapan. Japan post does airmail shipping to my country so yay ^^ So excited!

She looks STUNNING in those new pics.

Original A Ballads has few hidden covers. Any chance those pictures related to it?

Could be. Or back cover/booklet... or SPECIAL BOOK? Maybe we'll get some disc art too? Did any of these have a slipcase?

Those shots are perfect, should have been the covers :(

I wonder why this isn't doing so well on Amazon Japan? Usually, BEST albums shoot all the way to the top in preorders.

I feel like Avex isn't doing much to promote this album.

I ordered from mu-mo/TeamAyu so I won't be counted there. The LE is hard to miss tbh!

Last I saw there were some stock issues. Can't even look at or buy from Amazon.jp properly unless you're in Japan but I assume a lot of fans just got from mu-mo vs. Amazon.

Stock issues? Then it's an AVEX problem. They have got to get it together.

mu-mo itself has the luxe version at number 1 atm. I dunno if Amazon.jp is ever really a good indicator anymore unless you have a tie in.

I think with the flow of the album is just from the times we live in :P artist sadly no longer make much money off albums since the rise of digital content. Artists get very little from that. They probably did most to what they would be best for profits over making it the best they can :P Concerts and tours are were artist make money now. They really say if you want to support your artist nowadays, go to their show because they make money off that :P To which ayu does very well with :) iTunes killed the album business :P PVs, singles and cms and all that were investments into the physical item, which now no longer makes nearly as much as they used too :P

"Haru yo, Koi" PV has over 635k views at the moment. That is very good!

I agree! I love that song SO MUCH.

Even I sometimes forget about it but whenever I give it a listen- wow.

Yeah, it's like... a true experience. I love listening to it so much when it comes up.

Wonder how long till a million~!

What if My All Chinese version will be a bonus for overseas print?

Haru Yo, Koi has passed Ohia no Ki in terms of views now! (Although Ohia had a short version which probably didn't help + the video came out almost a month later)

Haru Yo, Koi just hit 700K on YouTube! It's been only 4 days (?) so it could be her fastest MV to reach 1M views, let's keep watching and sharing it!

Thanks for tracking!

At this rate, "Haru Yo, Koi" will debut at around number 25 on the Oricon Weekly youtube chart. Pretty good. (Utada Hikaru is probably going to debut at #1 since her video has over 10 million views. But she has a HUGE tie in with EVANGELION.)

I didn't know Oricon had an YouTube chart!

Here is a link

https://www.oricon.co.jp/rank/yt/w/2021-03-04/


Ayu should debut in the top 25 next week.


We have to keep playing the video lol

In a way, I'm jealous that Hikki reached 10 million vues with her new song in a such short period...

^Hikki is world-wide popular on her own but if you add her colaborations with Evangelion and Kingdom Hearts it's pretty much impossible to "defeat" her lol

can anyone make out what or who is reflected in her eyes here?

^It's most likely Kazutaka Nakamura.

lol okay so it's just the photographer then. I really thought there were some hints/clues/otherwise 'message' behind these shoots :laugh

anyways, here's my contribution to the "I'm sad these ballads did not make it to A BALLADS 2" collective grievance, in no particular order:

:( Pray
:( Will
:( do it again
:( crossroad
:( HANABI ~episode II~
:( Return Road
:( WORDS

I also just realised that there is no song from either Colours or sixxxxxx :tired

Yeah, it's impossible to compare both releases. They are not on the same level of popularity and excitement from the average public. People are way more excited when Hikki releases something new especially if it involves Evangelion. Also Hikki's song is co produced by overseas famous producer A.G. Cook and it made headlines everywhere redirecting to the video. Even tho some people love to compare Ayu and Hikki, it's impossible nowadays.

I am surprised they did not include ''Hello New Me'' considering it was one of her best-selling songs of the decade. Even though, I am not a big fan of it.

And to reply to Pedronekoi, Ayu also collaborated with many famous overseas producers, but it never really worked out for her, it was even seen as negative for her.

Haru yo koi is doing well for itself though despite no tie in really. Part of why the other song is doing so well is well.. Evangelion. It's the number 1 movie in Japan at the moment and so on and has been waited for for... YEARS.......? If anyone is thinking "Why isn't Ayu doing those numbers...?" well... the director of all the Evangelion films and stuff like Shin Godzilla directed that video, the song is all over the place because the movie that's been like a decade in the making finally came out, just not really comparable by any means. If the tables were turned I think Ayu could still do rather respectably in the same scenario.

A fair comparison is with Hikaru Utada's "Time". She's arguably more consistent in terms of YouTube views compared to Ayu, but without a strong tie-in ("Time" is a theme of an asadorama, if I'm not wrong), she garnered 3 million views with that MV. It's still stronger than "Ohia no Ki" and "Dreamed a Dream", but less than "One Last Kiss" phenomenon.

I wonder if allowing comments would push Ayu's videos (engagement etc.) but I'm really happy with how well Haru Yo, Koi has been doing. Over time, more and more people will discover her fantastic cover when they look for the song. :)

EDIT: typo

I was thinking about that for a while. Disabling comments was bad, even if its purpose was to protect her.

Definetly. But also Ayu and Hikki have different places in Japan nowadays, in my opinion. While Ayu have kept very passionate fans, Hikki kept the interest of the general public. So anyway it is impossible to compare both releases (and both singers as well).

Hikki for sure had stronger tie-ins over the years. Ayu last big tie-in was Pray for the Buddha movie that ended flopping. Also, Hikki's sound and voice are WAY more comercial overseas, and this gives her a huge advantage in stream numbers as, unlike Ayu, she still has a small but loyal global fanbase.

It's like when you see a kpop video for an artist that doesn't have much of an international appeal, it has like 10M views, and it's a massive hit in Korea, while idol groups with a stronger global following can easily hit 100M views.

Sony music is investing in digital releases for a while also and some reports in Japan said that avex only took this approach after seeing by themselves that physical sales wouldn't be as strong as they thought. I think that this plays a big part also. Even so, Utada's won't reach 100K sales for this mini-album/EP in the first week. I also believe that ayu is still growing her Spotify/YouTube audience base I mean that's only my opinion and what I see but I don't know how much impact this have for like right now. Aiko's new album was imensily marketed on digital platforms since the first single of the album and still she ended up selling 50K in Oricon. To be honest Ohia No Ki is beautiful but lacks production and Dreamed a Dream is really nice in my taste but I don't see it as strong as Utada's last singles and I hate to admit it.

It's all about promotion, it doesn't matter how good her single/album is. Even though, haruyo is doing really good on YT.

This is actually a very common marketing misconception. You can sell bad products with a ton of promotion, but people most likely won't give the same product another chance after that.

Considering Ayu is on the market since 1998, if her releases were subpar, she would be far gone by now.

I hope her recent TA post would manifest in some kind of Renayussance in terms of music, videos, and their overall promotion.

^love the "Renayussance" ♡

So has anybody noticed that part of Me has been getting heaps of views on Youtube lately??? Ever since Haru yo koi was announced/the preview came out. I reckon it must be because of the similar aesthetics :)

I loove both songs/music videos so much. Ayu should release a traditional Japanese inspired album someday... Hopefully after A BALLADS 2 :P

:love manifesting :love

As much as I love this discussion it feels like its getting out of topic for this thread lol

Less than 15K views to hit 800K on Youtube! In Chile we have this channel called ETC TV where they air anime, doramas and geek TV shows, in between shows they also air a lot of japanese and korean MVs, they have showed many Ayu videos the past years like Zutto... Song 4 u, evolution, real me and many more but the most recent that I recall is Zutto... so yesterday I asked them on Twitter if they could air Haru Yo, Koi! I didn't get a reply but they liked my tweet so I have some hope!

The MV just hit 800K views on YouTube!

That is nice!

Shimomura just shared this picture of them both, I wonder if it's a new picture because I don't remember her with such a long hair unless it's from last year during DaD or something lol it would be cool if they were working on something else again!

https://i.imgur.com/LY3nfdB.png

Very nice pic!

Love the style !

Oh I love that style! It's fierce and feels fresh, I would love it if she would do something like this for a change for a cover.

oh she looks stunning.

anyway, do you guys think there will be any more announcement concerning A BALLADS 2? the fact that the final set list has not been officially put on the 'NEWS' section on her website makes me think that there might still be more announcement to come (but what?).

I would even take that pic for a cover of a release tbh.
By the comment he made, I think it is for something new.

Maybe other clips to add to second dvd/BR? The virgin Road live clip was added to rare lives dvd after the setlist order video last week.

oh you're right, so the track list does not seem to have been completed, after all. I'm still holding onto that slim chance that there are more surprises to come :laugh

Please be a new album, please be a new album, please be a new album

maybe something about Pray for You (finally)?

This look is everything :luv2