I must say... I love them! :luv2

They're so stylish, simple and serene, especially the CD versions which show the dress as well. It's been a while since Ayu's covers have wowed me so much.

hey question. how do they do that mask effect? Is it a real mask? or is it done with digital effects?

Bigger versions of covers are just only more gorgeous. :smitten

wish everyone would shut up about misono

^I agree...I'm sick of the misono/Ayu comparisons. It's just really unnecessary.

I'm excited to hear Virgin Road, but I think I will wait until a little better quality comes out. I can't stand listening to the mic recordings anymore, can't really get a feel for the songs. But thanks for sharing the news~

i think it's photoshop haha~

^I don't know, it might be a real mask, I mean why not? They did real masks with ourselves. It's not that hard to make a mold of Ayu's face. :shrug
But I guess we'll only know the truth if Ayu mentions it in ViVi or VOCE.

^ yeap we'll never know..
But somehow i think it's just photoshop..
yea, let's wait til we get to see the photoshoot clip/photos if there are any :)

I think its a photoshop too.

maybe she held a dummy mask and then they photoshopped her face over the dummy?

I'm almost sure someone else must've come up with this by the 16th page, but I'm way too lazy to read through all these comments.

I think it's really neat though how she has a mask of herself. It's like the mask is the product and the face is the real ayumi. :)

misono's cover is horrible and vulgar, ayu's one is classy

Heyy, that's a great idea! It just might be it. I can't believe I missed that...

I've always loved the "Real Ayu vs. Product Ayu" -thing she does, like in SURREAL, Real Me and RAINBOW PVs. It's one of the things that really got me into her in the first place. I was 16 back then and the idea of having the real you and the public you separately was a relieving thought! I realized I didn't have to have only one solid personality, but many different sides depending on the situation.

So yeah, I got sidetracked :D. But the point was: good thought. Makes me like these covers even more :).

that's what i think they did. in the 2nd CD only it looks very photoshopped on to me.

I love it but the lips, no!

Thanks for sharing!

^ :yes the lips are the problem, maybe ayu don't know how weird she looks with that expression

^ She will if she would visit this forum and look in these threads.

it's so beautiful now!

I wish someone would tweet her about that, or find some way to let her know that we're tired of this fish-lip pose. Twitter spam in 3...2...1...

if the enxt 10 or w/e mags all have fish lips i'm going to shoot myself

I hate these fish lips! Ayu looks so bad :irked I'm glad I don't have to look at the covers when I listen to her lovely music :D

The fishlips will have claimed another life?!
:OMG

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

Vigin Road + Sweet Season..can't wait!

all covers have same fishlips! omg!
the cover is elegant and so diva-ish! love it~

about the tracklist...im still not sure what song behind that title.... @@~

You all are way over dramatic about some lips.

^ I know, right?
I'd still kiss 'em anyday:innocent

why are there 4 covers when there's only 3 versions?

sorry just saw the news only

There's 4 Versions of "L" and 3 Versions of "crossroad".

2cd+dvd, 1cd and ?

EDIT: I saw the thing on official site... Ok i get the 4 versions

I love all of the covers! As someone who was previous a ballet dancer and a current lover of theatre and ballets, I can definetely appreciate the beauty and subtleness of the covers! I'm so glad that she did this theme for her 50th single!

I completely agree! Her lips are adorable! Many people would love to have a pout like that! Some people are just so nitpicky about the smallest things. It's not that serious.

^thats sorta the idea i got of the covers myself. Also same about the lips. :):)

@kiseki89 What anime is that in ur siggy and avatar? The purple eyes and hair on the one character reminds me of Sailor Saturn a little somewhat.

usually I don't like ayu's her lips because she seems do that on purpose, but I like all the covers and her expression! They are good,IMO.

AHS doesn't know how to NOT be dramatic. Most of the time the same people are always running around like chickens with their heads cut off.

:yes

I hope Last Angel is an upbeat song simply for the sake of some peoples sanity lol

i think it's a ballad since Kazuhito Kikuchi supposedly worked on a ballad for this single and we found out the composers of the other two songs aren't him.

@kagami: Like mine. :roflmao

Kaichou wa Maid-sama. It's a fairly new series that's still airing I believe, you can find it on YT. I'd recommend giving it a go. :D

^ I don't mind if it is but I think some people might have break downs if it turns out like that XD

I thought Kikuchi was working on two songs for Ayu though? So there's still a *small* chance (yes, I'm a diehard). XD

They might have been saved for an album...She seems to be working on one.

Sweet seasons - makihara noriyuki
Virgin Road - Tetsuya komuro
Last angel - Kikuchi ?!?!?!

yeah, they'll probably cry themselves to sleep and won't even be able to comfort themselves with a ballad because they're so tired of them :no :P

i honestly don't mind all these ballads. The more the merrier. The album might have a RAINBOW esque flair.

All I want is wonderful great songs that I can enjoy at home on my cd player and out in public on my ipod. And I personally love all sorts of music.:D Sometimes I listen to nothing but ballads to relax or calm myself after a rough day. Still, over all, unless she's planning another A BALLADS type of album, we DO NEED some more upbeat songs for the next album.:)

At this point, I could care less if all of the songs are ballads or not. While I would prefer to always have a mixture of different types of songs, ultimately, my main concern is that the music sounds good. As long as it's something I like, I don't really care what types of songs they are. While I haven't listened to all of the previews, watched all the performances or short version PVs, I've liked what I have heard and seen so I'm sure whatever Ayu has in store, she will deliver good music as usual. But at the same time, I haven't heard much of anything to set any kind of expecations so I'm going to try to stay neutral about it until I hear all of the songs on crossroad and L. While I do understand that the purpose of these threads are to discuss the previews and what we think the new songs will sound like, etc.., I do think that some people set themselves up for disaster with all of their contemplations, which is why I don't participate in these threads much. Some people seem like they are already disappointed with the singles before we even hear the whole thing. And that also applies to people who are setting their expectations really high without really knowing what the singles will sound like as a whole as well. That's why I just peak in these types of threads once in a while and not post much. I'd rather have a nonbiased view before I listen to the full songs and not go into them assuming that I will like them or not.

Since those ballads sound so great I couldn't care less for this ballads streak as well. As long as there will be a good amount of up-beat songs in the album she can release as much ballads as she wishes (as long as they are good). :)

I mainly always get SO excited about her albums and singles, cause I can honestly say that there has NEVER been a song of hers that I don't care for. I like all her songs quite a bit. There's only ever been a few remixes that I didn't like throughout her career, and none of those remixes have come from singles. The remixes I haven't liked have mostly come from the ayu-mi-x 6 albums.

YES THEYRE FINALLY OUT!!!

I think ayu releases Ballad songs for L single, because Japanese loves BALLAD after all!

i like the whole ayu holding her own mask thingy. but her hair.......?!?!?!?

her whole acting cute expression .....?!??!?!? AGAIN!?!?!?

hope the songs are nice though.

Her ballads are really nice, i hope something epic from L, because i can't give my opinion wit LQ previews

I've stopped caring about Ayu covers for quite a while now, but let me just say that the difference between the misono and Ayu covers is that the misono cover, aside from being shoddily made, obviously employs the cheap trick of using skin to sell the CD, and whatever idea of identity as a mask is lost in the process (and the bad humor). With Ayu, the fact that she's wearing a tutu and that the mask is more relaxed than her actual face hammers in the point that identity is both a mask and a performance.

For some reason, I do like Ayu's hair.

nice :)

That mask would be a great merchandising....

i like them but i dont love them mainly because of her hair, if her hair was different i'd love them ^_^ last angel sounds amazing! i cant wait to hear that song~

^I feel the same. To me it looks like ayu has a twin brother & he decided to sit in for her on the photoshoot :laugh

^ lol well i like her with short hair :heart its just this style wavy/curly short hair that i dont like :P but i laughed when i saw your comment haha

:D
Yeah, the short hair would be cute if it weren't wavy like that. And I think it would look good if it were dark dark brown, like in the "Startin' / Born to be..." covers :heart

What's with all these plain covers :/ Looks like she got lip injections. Hopefully Last Angel and Sweet Season will sound good.

Agreed. :) I think if you put your expectations too high or comtemplations, then the music is not enjoyable anymore. :/ Music is supposed to be fun and emotional, yet people seem to be spending more time expecting things too big or picking at things. I know everyone has thier own opinnion, but when an artist I like releases something, I don't want to be a 'fan' who just picks at it because 'I' personally don't like it. I try to look positively at the work that they have spent their time making for me and enjoy the message they are trying to send, even if there are some factors that you don't like. That's why I don't try to judge the song until I know the meaning behind it, as well. Part of being a fan is standing behind the artist and accepting factors about them you don't like as much as the ones you do.

I really liked Virgin Road! The instrumental was different to the usual ballads Ayu brings out and I like the emotion and technicality to it. I haven't heard the previews yet but i'm looking forward to them. :) I'm looking forward to what Ayu is going to release after her 50th, too.

imagine if they sold those in the rock'n'roll circus 7 days special concert and on the dvd you will see the audience with ayu masks on LMAO..that sounds like alot ourselves PV, now that i think about it :shakehead

^it's kinda creepy...LOL

I don't like them

^but oh so cool!!!

The PV for virgin road looks so epic. D: Can't wait to see the full version!

precisely! :yes