^There were, and still are, Asian Americans. She wouldn't have had to change the mise en scene to accomodate a non-white family. You're probably right in that the white family communicates "American Nostalgia" to the Japanese audience better than an Asian American family would... but then again, that's what the rest of the mise en scene is for.

This whole video squicks me out, but the fact that there's an alternate version floating around is interesting. Nice find, OP.

I think if the theme of the PV were just about family, there could have been Asian children. But the theme was the perfect American family, set probably in the 50's/60's/70's, which at that time was Caucasian families. It was a dream anyway.

wasnt there is...American Dream kinda thing going on...that retro effect? i guess thats why it was done there. I think the effect worked though? Yes awkward, but the idea to have it that way makes me appreciate the mv more. a normal japanese famiy would kinda...turn out like any other japanese mv.

and yea, it was a dream. a dream to have the perfect family.
i wonder if ayu is thanking her mum, i mean....the dad practically doesnt even appear..cept the bbq...so...makes me wonder...

wow thanks for sharing! Ayu shld get this released too. haha.
but seeing ayu with the 2 kids on the couch is indeed awkward. O_O

Thanks for sharing!! I like this "retro effect" by the way....

I love how in the very beginning the kids whilst stepping in the car they say "Hi Mom!!!" and Ayu just nods xD It's like she's thinking "I am gonna go to the pool and drown you" xD This was fun <3 But I like the original PV -> it's an outside song!!!!

If blonde ayu with the curly hair had done this with asian kids, people would complain that it looked awkward because ayu was too "caucasian" for them and then it wouldn't have fit either way :P :P

I love the version of the song here. The instruments are a lot more distinct. The version we have on the album has this sheen/gloss over it. This sounds so much rawer.

As for the video, its nice to see a different take on the story, but the final edit we have is much better. Some of the scenes are just tacky, the constantly replaying of the kids jumping into the pool gets annoying. The ending doesn't have the impact it did in the final version.

I found it interesting when Ayu wakes up, its not totally silent like in the final version.

Finally got around to watching this, I didn't think it'd be like a completely different version from the official one. Such a great find! :D

Totally! I felt like ayu was caught in the moment of debating if she was supposed to respond or just smile and just ended up looking awkward.

And the couch scene was pretty weird, I think if the girl looked a little more natural or willing to play the happy daughter role, it wouldn't have been so bad. The boy did a good job being a happy son. LOL. Singing along and smiling a bit.

I just thinking, instead of just sitting near the pool, why not she's baking some cookies for the kids? It looks more "mom" I guess. It's just awkward to see her reading book that most moms are not reading when they watch over their kids :shrug

Lol. Good find

I wish the original for this was still up. Endless thanks to the parent that put it on Vimeo initially!

I've got you covered!

https://streamable.com/66c8na
download

^Thanks!! I didn't even know about this until now. :D

Oh there's also the version on YT as well, but thanks!

I mostly wanted to be able to see the original uploader on Vimeo and what they had to say about the video. I kind of wish I preserved it back when this was uploaded, lol. Vimeo just taking it down without having the user information or the description there... at least we have the rough idea that it was a parent of one of the actors. Vimeo is strange for taking it down since there are a lot of other Ayu uploads there but I guess perhaps from the knowledge about it in the fandom, it got more attention?

Also I wonder if someone from avex has ever snooped around here since Timmy and other staff members have made accounts here, lol.

they probably deleted it because it's not an official version, lol

Yeah, could be. I wish they let it stay up though, who knows how many times the actors in the PVs got rough cuts of the songs/PVs and we just never saw it.

I love when we got the background of things like Shake It / NaNaNa from the stylist or someone posting about how they were an extra on my name's WOMEN and giving a lot of neat details. Same for 1 LOVE!

^I want to read those details!

I don't know why her blog is up but she took the entry about my name's WOMEN down

I translated some of her post she did in a forum, her name is Esther and she's from Spain but at that time she was just living in Japan:

"I didn't have to do anything, there was no such a thing as a casting. My agency sent models pictures to Ayumi and she directly selected the girls she wanted to make an appearance in the video."

"The first day of shooting I brought with myself the first Ayumi CD I purchased 4 years ago, but the rules were so strict that I wasn't allowed to ask her for a sign."

I remember there was a thread here but I couldn't find it

^ that's so interesting! thanks