Why when I watched the preview for Mad World, Don't Look Back comes to my mind? In DLB, she stands in front of her old pictures. Now, she stands in front of her old videos. I like how simple she is at the beginning. I can't wait for the full version.

I like what I saw. But it would be better if Ayu wears kimono at the beginning because of the 'geisha position' plus the music also sounds oriental. But what is that on her dress? Butterfly?

I wonder if I saw the same previews that people here are calling meaningless videos? If those are meaningless then y'all probably can't stand pop artists, I guess, ayu is really giving us concepta here from titles to looks

I think both PVs are actually go back to that A ONE idea of her coming back to her fans. She's trying to build the connection again.

in M(A)DE IN JAPAN, like someone mentioned, the whole idea is that...Ayu was a product MADE IN JAPAN but in the core of it all, she remains ayu. Maybe that's why the A is encased. And maybe another throwback symbolism to A ONE (ALONE).

in FLOWER, she seems to portray herself all so ideal and japanese. But then she's destroys all of that image. She doesnt want to be that product and put on that kind of facade.

in Mad World, everything seems natural. And then we have the scene of her made pretty, standing in front of a screen, devoid of emotions whereas on screen, she has SO MANY emotions. Smiles, Fierceness, Joy. But that's ON-SCREEN and she feels so helpless and alone standing there. When she is in her slacks, she cries. But when she is dolled up, she has to endure and and not shed tears. But she crumbles when the ink stains her.

I think it's all tying back together.

Same here. I also immediately thought of her older videos and so far I really like what I saw.

Apart from Moon, Mad World reminds me oof Moment, where she laid in the black ink/stain. I love the beginning,where the REAL Ayu is shown and then we see how those people in the industry "make" her and create the product of Ayumi Hamasaki and she fell into the Mad World. The background screen is soo nostalgic, they choose the right ones, like from her peak era,during stadium tour, until her in the gym for AT07. loved those!

Flower, at first feels like recorded from a handycam, so raw. like some, I still prefer her wearing red kimono and would love to see many angles and screen transitions

I'm in love with both of them!
Now I can see a conection between both, but I have to wait till get them in full to see.

With FLOWER I thougt about don't look back and Mirrorcle World covers, with Mad World I thought about many past things, but the ink reminds me Moments too (like AyuWorld said)

A lot of people here believe that she doesn't care about how other people (even fans) see her so... why to expect that she's putting any REAL emotions (if she don't care)? She's trying to portray herself as a victim of music industry but why anyone watching it should feel sorry about her? That she has to wear a nice dress or change her hairstyle for performance? She was always free to quit but she didn't, instead she became one of the most rich and influenced people in Japanese music industry.

I meant to post my thoughts a few weeks ago, but I forgot. XD So after hearing this album in good quality, I ended up REALLY liking it over all.

As for the PVs, they both share similar themes but I love them both. This is the Ayu I've known and loved, and it's bittersweet to see her back (I don't like seeing her so upset, but I feel like she's gotten in touch with her true self after a few years of wandering off). Yes, these concepts were explored in previous PVs (i.e. Don't Look Back, alterna, etc.) and may not be the most original concepts, or have the most expensive budgets, but I love the execution in both PVs, especially FLOWER. I can’t wait to see what happens in that one, especially. I'm also surprised that neither PV is the PV for the song Breakdown, since that's what's happening in both PVs XD

At first I agreed with your posts, but what you said here ^ makes it pretty clear to me you think the videos are "meaningless"/"emotionless" just based on personal bias against the story she's telling.

She is a performer. Expecting her emotions to be real everytime she is performing is like wanting an actor to really become a drug addicted in order to play a role.

Also, the most we can all agree she had and has a pretty privileged life, and that she is on a better place than almost everyone else in the world, having every little aspect of your personal life analyzed by a random of strangers with nothing better to do, being pressured to keep, by herself, the gainings and attention of the biggest music companies of the 2nd biggest music market (as she did until 2005), pressured to have a certain image, of releasing a certain number of works every year and being aware that it doesn't matter what she archieve, it will always be looked down compared of something she did almost 2 decades ago isn't really easy. Artists half her size tend to have huge emotional breakdowns they sometimes never recover from. And I'm not even going into how her body deretiorated over the years because of her job (the deafness being the most obvious part of it).

Do I think she is some poor victim of the world? Nops (but it does sell music). Do I think she had it easy? Not even close.

I don't think it's too much of a stretch to view of the overdramatic acting in the video as part of the point. The exaggerated movements at the start, the way she rips the dress etc... Of course, we don't have the whole video yet, but she is teasing us with what we've seen.

It's as if her actions are part of the mask alongside the headpiece, hair, dress. Almost as if she's being over the top because when she's simple people always say "I want more".

Or it could just be that's how she acts. But she was very dramatic in Last Minute, and that felt very different to the almost on purpose way it's done in FLOWER. I'm excited for the rest.

Angel PV prepared me for overacting in FLOWER. Almost prepared.
Still nice to see new videos, I never expect much from her PVs anyway. Too spoiled by Mylene Farmer early music videos.

For a pop star IMO Ayu is actually a pretty decent music video actress... People are always bitching that she is too over dramatic when videos like Flower are released, but she actually does have pvs were her acting is more natural and more subtle (Sweet Scar being a good example of one-shot pv with more subtle acting) on the same way she has videos were her acting is more caricatural (Mirrorcle World).

Either she wakes up some days being able to act or not being able to act, or the way she acts on the videos is part of the idea.

But people around her tends to mistake not liking something for something being poorly done, cheap or rushed, so...

You cannot seriously say you expected more when this era is all about doing "simple". So far she hasn't really had one thing that has been super extravagant promotion-wise aside from the tour.

And if it's missing artistry, then I think you need to perhaps rethink what 'art' is. It doesn't always have to smack you across the head obviously to be artistic.

That's why I think it's done on purpose. She has far more videos where she looks totally natural and comfortable than awkward or unrealistically dramatic. This video is overdramatic in a totally different way to something like the Snowy Kiss/Wake me up saga. Right down to her hand movements in FLOWER - it's all part of giving us the message. She probably knows people call her overly dramatic!

Considering that the preview for Mad World isn't the normal first 2 minutes of the clip deal, she's really making sure nobody can misunderstand her with these videos and the album. You can really tell everything came together for her on this album.

Everything about FLOWER is horrible. The lighting, the composition, the acting, EVERYTHING. Such a travesty for one of her best songs in a long ass time. I'm legitimately SO embarrassed for her. This is right down there with XOXO for worst things she's ever put out.

Mad World looks good so far tho.

...

Ayu isn't as overdramatic as her fans. That's for sure................

Hmm, I liked them. I didn't hate them, that's for sure. They aren't her best work but that's ok because I can see that part of the point is just wanting to be her.

There are things I could've seen going differently for FLOWER but oh well. One thing I wanted to comment on is the fact that it's one shot adds to the feelings conveyed. I feel like doing the video that way forces the audience to want to breathe, or blink. It almost creates this claustrophobic feeling.

Btw, I really like the super dark hair on her in that PV along with her makeup. Pretty, though I know it all ends up looking pretty wrecked at the end. XD