I don't know why the people is so crazy, we can see one of three covers, and which is the diference between covers, her expression ??

I'm happy with the cover!!!

No, it's not still down :P It was down for maybe 90 minutes yesterday but has been up since then. It's just they haven't updated with the new covers. The whole updating the covers at noon thing was a misunderstanding/mistranslation. We don't know when they'll update them now.

KAWAII!!!!!!

Exactly. Since Rule / Sparkle, the only difference in her covers seems to be her expression. Or to be more precise: her expression is exactly the same, but the angle is slightly different.

Though I hope she'll pull a Rule/Sparkle and make the two CD-only's very different from the CD+DVD! :)

Well the expression for the CD + DVD is what's really not the greatest regarding this covershoot. It's too awkward. I'm hoping the others will be better :)

I like this cover :yes

LOVELY! :) The background reminds me of Carols

^i was wondering if I was the only one who got a carols vibe from that part.

i don't like close-up pictures.
the CD only edition will be awesome!
i preffer the long shots pictures, i think the cover will be like that.

o.O
CD only cover announced?

Me too. I want to see more of what she's wearing (or not wearing). :lech I think a far away shot (like BB) would be stunning.

Of course, we'd have to see the rest of the covers first to confirm that. :thud

same here, i would love to see the full body shot,and from different angle,not the one she's staring at us :D

well,patiently waiting for the other 2 covers :yes

the more i see the more im loving this cover.. her eyes is gorgeous.. not a -wow- cover but a good one,

far and FAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRR more interesting than S/S ~love is All~

i love the eiko set and the quote "you are not the flower of hell" she is second favorite singer after ayu of course

hehe, same here. :D The cover is so simple yet oddly distracting, I'd never get anything done with that on my wall. lol

She looks very good...but does anyone else think it makes her look older?

Not AT ALL, imo.

If anything it makes her look younger in my opinion.

her hand position look weird....

it almost looks like she's holding on her dress/blanket but it's not

i love the peach colour in the background!

she looks to plastic and fake, too much like adoll ontop of the stupid pout that she loves to do. The color scheme used for this isn't particularly intresting either... honestly the No Way to Say cover is way better than this. I wasn't exactly expecting it to be jaw dropping awsome but I wasn't wan't expecting to to be mind numbingly boring either, which is exactly what this cover screams.

Bette cover concepts for this single would have been (but aren't limited to):
CD Only A:
she could have been laying casually on a park bench in an area where there were some kind of cherry blossom trees taken at night under the glissoning moon on a starry night.

CD Only B:
she could have even been in water with blossom petals surrounding her at night under a lit moon with fireflys.

CD + DVD:
she could have been laying in a field of flowers blossoming at night and having the photo taken as such an angle you could see the moon.

I am starting to like the cover more, it's really growing on me a lot. At first I thought 'she looks pretty and it's simple', now I think she is stunning, and I still love the simplicity of it. I do hope there is a shot that is further away, though.
I really like the deji deji pictures of the cover shooting. Cannot wait to see the other covers. :)

wow! kind of blurry, IMO. but pretty nevertheless.
and she's using the same font as "M", did anyone else notice this? (Medici Script, if I'm not mistaken)

After my total win and success with RnRC (not watching any PV or listening to any song) I wanted to do it with the singles too... and even more now I'll get them so fast with EMS XD

I'm not sure about the covers... I can avoid fb... but TA website?? XDD

But I'm gonna try and not watch the PV or listening to any song ^^ For me that MOOM 3min previews is also enough ^^

@aura~: I always do this.

I order the new release(s) (thanks to EMS I get it VERY fast too! :heart) and only allow myself to look at the covers.
I listen to previews, but not to the whole song(s) and I also don't watch the PV(s).

It's hard, but totally worth it!! ^.^

Wow, the problems people can have with a cover D :

It's a picture. A picture of Ayu looking like ayu but with a new haircut. No terrible font, no terrible poses, no terrible props, I don't see what could be the problem. Not every cover can be a work of art.

Let's all be glad it just isn't Sunrise/Sunset ~love is all~. I don't hate it as much as some do, but it just looked fake.

She looks less plastic and fake in this cover than in many other covers/pictures lately. :thud In fact she looks incredibly natural to me. But maybe that's just me?
I'd find it boring if the cover was anything like those examples; I don't find the current cover boring, I find it aesthetically pleasing and relaxing, and very fitting for the songs AND the season.
Sakura + moon + water= done a thousand times before. And the second example makes me think of "glitter/fated"-covers. Not to mention that the moon + flowers concept is predictable, and MOON/blossom is only the titles after all, not the songs themselves, and the current cover feels like it goes better with the songs than if it had been just a moon and some flowers, but that's my opinion. You're of course allowed to have your own.
Agreeing to disagree:
The color scheme is very beautiful in my opinion. Fits perfectly.
I don't find the pout stupid, and I'd much rather have this pout than the S/S pouts or the No way to say pout.
I don't find it boring. I just think some people thinks about how noticeable the cover is (ie flashy, crazy outfits, colorful make-up and glittery backgrounds) instead of the actual art. Just like some people find Mozart incredibly boring and instead wants the dance-beats of some modern club music.
This is my opinion, I stated it as you had stated yours. :) Not meaning to raise arguments, just trying to bring up the positive points of the cover instead of having the same "the cover should have been with a moon and flowers and a long shot, the cover is too boring"-stuff.

But the songs are NOT about moons and blossoms so to have these concepts would be pointless. Since WHEN does Ayu's recent covers represent the titles in anyway? I'm not sure why people were actually expecting moons and blossoms and then being extremely disappointed. Why does everything have to be so literal with you guys, seriously xD. Please, take it for what it is, not for what you want it to be. Otherwise, you will ALWAYS be disappointed.

I'm actually pretty shocked at all the hate this cover is getting. And I'm surprised it never struck anyone that it just might be simple in order to follow up with the rest of the singles to make a visually cohesive cover project. If that were to be the case, moons and blossoms for one and then horses and rainbows for another would just look tacky.

You always see people saying things like "I want her to do this!", "I want her to make a song like this!", "I want her to look like this!"

There's no problem in fantasizing and all that and being disappointed once in a while, but it's sometimes as if people can never be satisfied. Besides, what exactly do you like about Ayu if you want to change everything she does? D :

I wonder about that too... Sometimes, I can be extremely disappointed with some things she does, and really wish it could be changed (-->S/S covers) but 99% of the time, I accept how things are, how covers look and how songs sound, and most of the time I find that I like it, or I grow to like it. Sometimes I get tired of some stuff and lose interest in it, and sometimes I gain interest in things I never took notice of before. But in the end, I still love Ayu and most of what she does, and accept the things I don't like. No one (not even Ayu) is perfect after all, and no one can please everyone all of the time, but Ayu pleases me most of the time which is more than enough for me. :)
That's simply how life is.You can't change it, so accept it, and it might not be so bad after all. :yes

don't start again...

You can't change covers so STOP COMPLAINING! If you don't like it you don't have to look at it!

^This is a forum sweetie. :) Don't forget that.

My opinion on the cover:

Pros.- 1) It's simple

2) pretty

3) she exudes vulnerability and fragility. And i like that. :)

Con.- the photoshop. AGAIN. :rolleyes there's a lot of it.

so, the photo is ok for ayu standards. :) Nothing amazing, but not horrible either.

And unfortunately, im afraid that some of you guys here need to understand that not everyone can love the covers. I mean, as long as people don't use offensive connotations to express their opinion, i don't see any problem at all. And people believing that users expressing their thoughts have to be shot need to grow up :rolleyes and get a clue. It's just a cover.

Have you visited AHS during the past few days? This thread was a mess, we had posts and posts of spam and the tags were apocalyptic. So yeah while this is a forum and all, people shouldn't spam and keep repeating what has been previously said many times, especially considering their opinion won't change anything :yes Imo pathetic and retarded are some quite offensive words.

^ no, i haven't and no, i'm not talking about spam. I'm talking about the opinions being expressed, as i clearly stated in my post above. as far as i'm concerned that's the purpose of a forum. :)

^ some ppl calling Ayu retarded or whatever harsh just because of the cover haha XD

That's alright :) and that is the purpose of the forum as long as people express their opinions in a civil way which wasn't the case yesterday.

Anyways I wonder how different the rest of the covers will really end up being. The CD+DVD is rarely my fave when it comes to singles, so we might be nicely surprised.

:yes:yes:yes:yes:yes

i wonder if people reacted to vogue this way LOL

@ njanjayrp and AyuMixx: Ok, i've checked the pages, and well... what can i say, i guess you're right. It's just sad. Calling her retarded because of a cover? Oh my God... :rolleyes.


Also, for achange, it would be nice ayu could create something super artistic for a cover ( i really liked you were... and sexy little things videos, for instance :luv2). I know i'm asking for too much since's she's always busy, but i would like that, definitely. :)

Yeah, I'd like if her covers didn't always have to feature her on them or at least her not posing, but doing something else ^^

yep, definitely we want something different and uncommon theme for the covers...like what she ever did in the past..
but still..what's done, it's done~

Thanks!!!

I dont get her expression. Is she trying to looks sad/vulnerable or confused?

Yeah, she definitely reminds me of AZU now :D

^ Hm, just a TINY bit. :yes

well.....a little bit disappoints me

My god, would people please stop saying that. It's gotten so old. Yes, we should thank the gods this wasn't a SS~lia~ disaster but let's be perfectly honest here, it's not that hard to avoid a atrocity like that.

SS~lia~ was just a rare collision of everything NOT to do in a photo shoot: tacky green screen, unflattering outfit, absolutely fake looking hair, choosing a picture with a weird expression on the subject's face, and top it off with terrible photoshopping that made her look 5 shades darker and you got SS~lia~. I can't think of a single cover she's done before or after that that is worse.

Not saying there hasn't been bad covers or there won't be in the future but there'll probably never be another Ayu cover THAT terrible. It was a rare occurrence. Are we really going to be saying every time an Ayu cover is revealed: "at least it's better then SS?" It just seems like a sorry way to excuse any problems that might be had with her work.

Btw, this is all not directed at you personally but this is like the 20th time I've seen someone say something like this in this thread and I just had to speak my mind. :P

^ Well they were just a year ago.. if people are still mentioning them by next year it'll be annoying, but I think it's okay here - it was last years summer cover and this is this years summer cover. And yeah, you can't deny this is a huge upgrade even if you don't like it. :P

Yeah, when you say it like that it's perfectly reasonable and it is a major step up from last year :yes but I feel like this will probably become a habit with people with future releases and it's kinda annoying. I'm liking this cover more and more but that isn't the case with everyone who's "meh" about them and I feel they should be able to say what they feel without having something from the past constantly bought to their attention.

Yeah it has kind of been like that with every new photo shoot/cover that came out after S/S. But it still was just a year ago, it will take a little more time I think. I wasn't around during the (miss)understood release but I imagine it took fans some time to get over that too lol. I do support the bashing of members who say they prefer the S/S style to this though..:innocent

Oh god, I can't even imagine the reactions to m(u) lol. I wasn't around then either but if their reactions were anything like mine when I saw them years later... :laugh

And I'd have to say I would support that as well. :innocent

I'm probably the only one who doesn't hate S/S ~lia~ covers. I mean, she looks even sexy on the CD+DVD imo, the only problems were the setting and the fugly pose

Tbh I only have issues with the background and the over-all design of the package. Her pic is weird but alright.

I actually don't mind them that much either (S/S) . She looks okay. The concept was good, the execution not so much. But nevertheless she looks very good.

Kinda reminds me of Yuns Ito's 3rd album more.

http://image.yesasia.com/assets/26/0...1019609926.jpg

Actually I think the hate wasn't that... passionate ^^
It wasn't because of bad editing and so on... It was just a "bad" picture (weird smile)...
And we had (m)u CD+DVD cover to say "this one is not that bad though". It wasn't the case for S/S :D

Back on topic: What are they waiting for? I mean 2 days ago they were trying to upload the remaining covers on TA isnt it? Even if the site crashed, it should be ok by now? Shouldn't it?
I don't like impatient people who are asking these kind of things... But now I can't help! Sorry! (RNRC release all over again :innocent)

It's a pretty girl, with a neutral expression, on a neutral background, with a neutral attire. Oh, and there's a neutral font being used. Along with neutral colors.

What's there to be upset about? And don't give me any "people are entitled to have an opinion!"-blah. I'm asking because I'm really blank here. Like, I don't have any idea why people dislike it so much.

I personally think that the CD+DVD cover for this single is very pretty. It's soft and serene just like the moon and a blossom and the tone was set perfectly to represent the singles. But to be honest, I was expecting a little more out of this cover since it is part of the series of singles leading up to her 50th single. I was hoping for something a little more dramatic that would incorporate both the moon and a blossom in a beautiful night scene but obviously they wanted to go for something a little bit more simplistic which is fine. Overall, I'm satisfied with the cover but not blown away.

Is TA still having problems? I wonder if they are making changes to the other covers. I really hope we'll get a full body shot for one of the covers. I like her dress!

Are people comparing the cover to other artists' covers because they think she's being unoriginal or that she "stole" it from them or...? I'm just wondering, because I don't particularly think comparing this specific cover to that of others has a point. There's nothing really unique about this cover that makes it original, so I don't think there's a point to compare. :shrug If people are just saying, "her hair looks like this person's" then I'm cool with that. :) But otherwise I just don't get it.


About the cover itself, I like it. It's warm and inviting. It's not breathtaking or the new sliced bread. But it has a fuzzy feeling. I'm cool with that. :) Her hair is pretty, and I think there's something up with her eyes (wth). Though I'm really not seeing this photoshopping everyone's talking about...

^I think people are comparing her appearance on the cover not the covers themselves what what I can tell. Did that make sense? As for her eyes, I think they've always been like that. I first noticed it on the cover of A BEST.

I think it's the sort of soft focus-y effect that gives her skin a bit of a blurred appearance that people are calling "overphotoshopped"... aie.

^I think what they used was a very light layer of gaussian blur for a style caused the Orton effect. I personally like it on the image.

Edit: Also very bright lights can cause the same effect. Which I think may be the case since part of her shoulder and hair are blown out.

I can't believe we're all talking about MOON / blossom on MOON / blossom's thread!
This is ridiculous. :no

:P

LOL

@KanZaki88: Well, some people just don't like simple or neutral. I agree it's not worth going "omg she looks retarded!" or "I'm cancelling my order!!11!" over but it's understandable why some people wouldn't be impressed by it.

And personally, I don't think the font is "neutral". Neutral to me means something very middle of the road that doesn't really stand out but the effects used on this were very bright and the gradients are a bit overpowering. I rather have had something more "neutral" for the font. :innocent

@sugarbasil: I don't think anybody's trying to imply that she's "ripping off anybody" they're just saying what her look reminds them of. Not that I agree with some of the comparisons. ;)

I se that we are getting to 500 posts without the other 2 cd only covers!
When are they going to be out ???

:yes

in photography we do have special lenses that give this kind of special effect, soft and blury.

so GUYS, please don't always easily say its over-photoshoped

agreed!:D
a little bit blurred and soft in photography called... "Bokeh" its not over photoshopped...since photoshop can't make effect like that... :)

^Well if I'm not mistaken bokeh is where the foreground of the image is soft but the main story/subject is blurred out in the background so I don't think the cover qualifies as bokeh since the whole image is slightly soft.

ah isee i see, you right~ :D...maybe we can see wehre the blurred part in this cover if we have bigger n HQ cover^^
and i think arond her hair little bit blurred...

weren't the original photos she uploaded in TAdiary quite soft and blurry too? Unless she tampered with them too, I think it's a lens effect rather than a photoshop one.

^They were a little soft and I agree I don't think it was photoshop but I'm not sure if it was a lens either. I think the soft look may be due to the intense lighting that was going on behind her. I think it might actually be a result of lens flare.

@majrakun, I love your signature :O
I like how you made her eyes blue *_*
and how ayu stands out more and isn't so...light haha

All this photography talk is making my head spin. XP lol

OMG its almost reach to the 500 post but we keep talking about the lighting,the colors,angle etc XDD

n wth the other 2 covers? =.=

Maybe they're still shooting the other covers since they're supposed to be different with flowers and stuff.. idk.

I like the cover..

Nah, they were all done at the same time. They might just be waiting to release them all at once on the official site and TA or something.

The CD+DVD cover we have isn't even on the official site yet, huh?

Oh, I would have love for something like these to be the M / b covers! That girl is ridiculously cute.

oic but.. there's supposed to be flowers right? I didn't see any from the offshot pics anywhere lol

They might be added in post production or something? Who knows, really...

I just want to see them so I don't have to guess, haha.

i wonder if theres gonna be anything special about the obis this time :)

The cover is beautiful *O*

I think it's a bit strange that the cover isn't on the official site yet but already at YA. :laugh Just saw it there yesterday.

I love how she's looking here... But this font is big NO to me.

Her eyes look kind of weird, I don't like her face there at all.

I really think it's her mouth that just throws it all off for me. If I cover her mouth, it looks ok. The upper lip part underneath her left eye is higher than the right side.

http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/b...g?t=1277374544

I guess her right eye could look better too. It looks like the curve where the tear ducts are is awkward compared to the position of her left eye.

I know I'm picking it apart and really, what good will it do? Nothing. Idk, just critiquing I guess. Lol.

hmm, not too bad I guess. There's been worse lol

about her mouth..
i think it's just a trend to have such mouth-pose...
i saw many girls doing the same thing..not only in Japan..just girls in Asia~

Damn, this has to be the most over-analyzed cover ever.

Even for S/S we just all agreed it's ugly.

I like this cover, I think it's gorgeous, but it looks more like a magazine shoot which disappointed me a little. But hey I'll get over it, especially cause the PV is gonna be awesome!

thanks....but i don't like it....looks like a porn star's hairstyle

LOL

omg... now I've heard/seen it all :thud

LMAO

hahahahaha

Out of all the things you could possibly say about her, you say she looks like a pornstar??
That's ridiculous! I didn't even know pornstars had particular haircuts.

Epic quote! :laugh

the font/text sucks!!

Indeed. It would be another thing if she was doing this

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_BY5Z9C6Ecg...rst_things.jpg

I've never heard of so cold porn-haircuts and even if they do exist I think they are referring to the hairstyles in the places which thankfully Ayu hasn't had an urge to show us ^^

You can know the people who watches way too much porn in this thread :D

So my cousin and brother (a pre-teen girl and a teenage boy) saw me looking at the cover. So I asked them to critique it. They don't know ayu well so no bias.
They said her eyes looked weird. Her nose was ugly and strange...it was okay but they were just so messed up
I was surprised at their response. I asked them about the mouth. They thought it was pretty and gorgeous and fine. When I mentioned that's what most are complaining about they were bewildered.

Just a weird occurence for me. So in vivi. The photos look nice as far as poses go. I hope the alternate covers will have those

I always ask people and they always say she looks pretty :/

so meh people is always overreacting... SPECIALLY in this forum... not sure why lol



this forum is like a magnet for... interesting people O.O

What's the problem with the font? Some people...they're never happy! The font is one of the best ever...and I really mean it.