What was happening when you became a fan?
 

The Fairyland PV had just came out~

Memorial address was about to come out (i think a few weeks...)
I had enough time to preorder it anyways.

you were/Ballad was released since 2 weeks ^^

I first heard of Ayumi back in Sept/Oct 2004 (through ~ayu-cake~), but it wasn't until the glitter/fated PVs came out that someone else introduced me properly to her music. I've been listening to her music since then. :)

However, it wasn't until some time shortly after L came out that I really started to consider myself a fan of her. I listened to her music regularly and I even had a poster of her on my wall, but I felt more like a casual listener of her music than a fan. But after I listened to the tracks on L that was when I became more interested in her as a person and purchasing albums I hadn't heard, watching her PVs/concerts, etc.

Party queen meltdowns
Enough said

^ you know, its kinda cool that ayumi is still getting fans this late into her career!

I already mentioned Memorial address and I still cant believe its been this long for me, lol. No way to say was all over the place, Memorial address CM's... Ahhh, the good old days...
I also didn't know about this place and relied on http://ayumi.primenova.com for all my news (which i just tried to go there and its down. :thud)

Rainbow had just been released.

It was her 10th Anniversary I think. GUILTY was recently released. Mirrorcle World came out. It was really amazing. I remember she almost lost the weekly #1.

At first, it was on my older brother's computer back in 98-99 and that was "Depend on you". Then, my best friend introduced me to "evolution" (at the time, she had a Japanese penpal) in late 2002. That was around the time that forgiveness was either being released or it was just released.

I watched fairyland in the middle of 2008, but it didn't really grab me.
Then later that year I watched some of her 2006-2008 PVs and quite liked them.
The GREEN PV aired 2 or 3 days after I started getting into her, that video turned me from a casual fan into a stan in 5 minutes. The AT08 TV broadcast was out around that time, too.

STEP you/is this LOVE? was just released

glitter/fated was just released~

bold & delicious/pride was released and being performed on Music Station.

Same time as me! I wasnt really into Japanese music before and I got lost over all those different versions for the single nor understood why there were so many b-sides :laugh

A lot of things happened, I don't really remember.
A part of me had just gotten a PV
A Best 2 was announced
Together when.. / Talkin' to myself was also around this time.

Loooved it

Memorial address was about to come out and RAINBOW was released 8 month ago I guess.

Mirrorcle World had just came out~

First started listening to her sometime before Secret, I think. Became a real fan of her after hearing GUILTY, I remember waiting for Mirrorcle World to come out :)

i think i joined AHS around Moments release, but i became a fan of her work around &/forgiveness.

glitter/fated was released. I remember thinking, "This woman has the largest eyes I have ever seen..."

And they weren't even that large (in comparison to 2010/2011) then. XD

Endless sorrow!

When I she became my top favorite artist and I really started to follow her releases it was during the gap between Startin'/Born To Be... and BLUE BIRD, so BLUE BIRD was the first single I remember seeing her release. Before that I just knew random songs of hers from random years of her career...

Moments CM had just recently come out :-) glorious times.

The H single was going to be released shortly

Sometime between startin/born to be and blue bird. I was just randomly looking at the different international iTunes, happened across (miss)understood by random chance and 6 years later she is still my favorite artist

I listened to Ayu since 2003 but I became a more dedicated fan in 2005, then STEP you / is this LOVE? single came out and I thought it was the most amazing thing on earth.

I don't like STEP you that much now :)

I actually don't know. For the longest time I didn't really keep up with her releases, just downloaded stuff as I found it. I wasn't aware of forums and such :P When I finally did start following her consistently and properly the first singles of (m)u were being released.

When ayu announced Rock n Roll Circus Album.

A BEST 2 just released, I suppose.

when i was wrong buying album
LOL

I was getting into inuyasha theme song "fukai mori" by D'A'I
but when i read the info in the end of the anime it's written "dearest" Ayumi hamasaki"

i was searching on cd shop and found a-ballad cd n dearest on it
purchased it n listening it right after arriving home
anddddd i listen to it till the end and there's no fukai mori on it
LOL...

but i keep listening it n finally i got into Appears....

i start become a fan since then until now....

startin'/born to be was about to be released

Before Together When... came out

Same. I think it must have been in between Rainbow and Memorial Address...

but I really didn't know what was happening with her until I joined here...by then, Fairyland was being promoted.

I remember everyone loving how pretty she looked on the covers when they came out.

I remember not commenting because to me they were "just covers" for "just a single" lol

I found her VERY intimidating at first, something it ticked me off. But I was looking stupid when I found out she sang Dearest ( this was in december of 2002), THANKS TO Inuyasha I felt so bad... I only stuck with a few more songs until 2006 when I really got into her! If it wasn't for that song, I wouldn't be around here. Also thanks to Youtube and downloading music.

dearest was happening

glitter/fated was released. I had just bought MY STORY because it was the most recent Ayu CD available on iTunes US.

Bold and Delicious had just been released.

Secret had just been/was about to be (I forgot now, haha) released.

LOVEppears had just come out

The "No way to say" single had just been released.

it was the release of dome tour 2001 and i caant watch it because we dont have big download files and fast internet before haha

right after Secret! jewel and momentum ensnared me and i went and bought my story, missunderstood, and rainbow. then a best 2 came out with part of me, glitter, finally i remember being so excited because GUILTY was my first ayu album to live through! it didnt get number one and everyone gasped lol pretty funny. thinking back its so funny how every album was like this auspicious event and they were all amazing. i even hated party queen and i remember how funny it was when the covers got released. cant wait for feb 3rd!!

when i starting going to conventions in 2002, they always played evolution in the jpop pv rooms. that was when i was first aware of her.

then i was on an asian music web site with all the charts and current singles at the time and }{ had just come out and independent was number one on oricon! woo! and then the rest is history.

GUILTY was just released and Mirrorcle World was just announced.
At first, I didn't like MW, and I heard MW actually before the GUILTY album :laugh
--> kinda ironic, I listened to Mirror after listening to MW lol

something along these lines.

i did became afan earlier but then drifted away for quite some time and when coming back fully i think it was GUILTY....I only remember GUILTY plastered all over the forum...:innocent but i i just really dont' remember xD

One week after How Beautiful You Are was released as a digital single.In February 2012.SOOOOOOOOOOO LATE!!!!:tipsyThe first song that I listened was Far Away ~Orchestra Version~ or Forgiveness.

I can't really remember because at the time I was in denial about liking her (I used to hate her :thud). It either around Blue Bird or right before Secret was released

I remember I saw the PV of Boys & Girls in a mexican magazine in 2002/2003 I don't remember xD

After that (3 or 4 years) I saw a performance of Boys & Girls in the Arena tour 2003-2004, but it was deleted from youtube .____. so I have to wait another year to remember what concert was that and I downloaded it with A BEST 2 BLACK & WHITE, but I remember I didn't like the songs xD (I only liked evolution, B&G and Humming 7/4) at this time the biggest news about ayu was she losing her hearing, just after the CDL07-08...

It was until the A COMPLETE was out when I became a fan... At this time I had already bought the AT05, CDL07-08, A museum and AT07 MIYA record bootlegs, and that's all xD

It was around the middle of 2002 when I discovered her but I had no knowledge of anything she was releasing at the time (I found this site nearly 2 years later :P).

So I'm gonna assume she was releasing/released the H single around that time...

When I first started to look for other songs by Ayu beyond "evolution," Moments had just been released. It wasn't until INSPIRE/GAME was being promoted that I became a serious fan. =)

A bit after Rule/Sparkle had been released :)

Secret was released and promoted
CDL 06-07
A BEST 2 -BLACK & WHITE-

Dome Tour was about to start.

It was between Free & easy and H. I remember feeling late, I seriously regretted that I missed her A BEST era :laugh lol now it seems like I've been her fan since almost the beginning of her career.

It was 2000 (March i think..) a japanese friend showed me this video...


i didn't like her voice but the song get stucked in my head for days...

I became a fan when SEASONS was released..

at that time she was touring with "Concert tour 2000 vol. 2" i think...

I'd heard of Ayu quite awhile ago but never super got into her like I am now until Party Queen was announced.

I became a fan in September 2006... so BLUE BIRD had just come out, and Secret was to come out two months later.

I had found "Because of You" on YouTube, and well... I instantly fell in love :) <3

I think it was in 2002? I can't remember really -- I know that "evolution" was the song that got me listening to Ayu, so I'm actually wondering if it was closer to 2000/2001 when I started listening to her.

Anyway, it's been a good 10+ years lol.

When Thousand Arms was released in 1999 was the first time I hear Ayu's song. Man, her voice was screechy, but it got stuck in my head. I started replaying the intro over and over again just to hear that song.

Then the dorama "Long Vacation" started airing in 2000 and i got stuck with a japanese syndrome. Found Hikki's "First Love" cassette next to a girl in an animal print ("Duty album"). I bought them both and was so happy with Hikki's album and started singing to First Love. However, this haunting voice kept bugging my head as if I've heard it before. 2 months later, I forgot about First Love and found myself singing to SURREAL.

in 2001, I bought both "Distance" and "A BEST" cassettes (they still don't have the CDs here) and then I discovered that it was ayumi hamasaki who sang the song on Thousand Arms and became a fan ever since.

First came across Ayumi Hamasaki in a bootleg VCD of ArenaTour2002, and was quite impressed with her outfit in I-am (a weird title for a song, i thought). And her voice, which I didn't like initially. Thats some time 2003. Forgot which CD i bought first. I believe it's A-Best, or Memorial Address (PVs in VCD, not DVD yet), starting from 2004.

I've known about her since 2002 but it wasn't until a few years ago that I became a fan.

There was a recently released new single that everyone was talking about and I decided to check it out - it was "Blue Bird"! :P

I became a fan in December 2002... so RAINBOW had just come out.

Well my first Ayu song would be "Dearest" from Inuyasha
And that was spring 2007 that I was watching that
So I guess when I first discovered Ayu A BEST 2 was being promoted
Then I didn't listen to anything else by her until Rule / Sparkle and then I listened to her first two albums but my computer crashed badly so she was put on hold
Then You were... / BALLAD was coming out and I liked that
But R'n'R Circus turned me into a stan

I started exploring Ayu's discography at around 2010, when Rock n Roll Circus came out.

But I didn't become hardcore Ayu fan until the start of the 50th single project. It all started when MOON/blossom was released :) Then crossroad, then L. Then Love songs. Those were the days... :)

I still remember when I got a nervous breakdown when Ayu's crossroad was competing with Kuu's "Suki De, Suki De, Suki De." It was such a tight race, and i would refresh AHS and Oricon every hour to see if Ayu got the #1.

Well, I became a fan of Ayu in late November/early December of 2006, and around that time Secret was about being released, but I wasn't really paying attention to the promos (the song that I loved early on - "JEWEL"; I also used to watch "1 LOVE" music video as well) mainly because I was way too new to Ayu at that time...

Secret was being released, I think. I used to dislike her before I actually became a fan, though. Have no idea why!

Memorial address just realesed and GAME/INSPIRE single was very close :) I remember I didn't had internet and my bestie had, and I was beging him to download a single after I saw a cm!! I was like a crazy racoon like GIMME GIMME GIMME I NEED THIS AWESOME ROCK SONG I HEARD IN CM!!! And I also discovered Moments back then, just right before MY STORY :) so MY STORY was first album that I downloaded in complete xD

but tbh I became "a fan" maybe a little before Memorial adress... maybe it was after RAINBOW... Cause I didn't know the schedule of her realeses and I just downloaded everything I found on Kazaa and fan websites. It was stuff from ASfxx to RAINBOW and then Memorial adress singles (forgiveness)

but first songs Ive discovered was RAINBOW/Connected on some Manga Magazine audio-cd. But tbh I wasn't a fan after listening to them. I just thought they were OK. Then I downloaded (I was looking for japanese music in general, and I was downloading by names I had on this audio-cd list) NEVER EVER / Daybreak and then evolution and I was like WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAH I NEED EVERYTHING SHE REALESED. I even loved Trust back then :)

I remember that I had this acoustic POWDER SNOW ver. on my A Song for xx album folder and I never knew that there is original version. I thought that the one I got is original. After I discovered my mistake, I really liked POWDER SNOW :)

The first Ayu song I heard was SEASONS at some point in 2002, and I can remember the first time I heard it I thought "omg that heaux, she totally ripped off so-and-so" (in retrospect, the song my twelve-year old self was comparing SEASONS to was not at all similar, and in fact the inferior of the two, because SEASONS is flawless)

...and then at some point later on, I was on CDJapan and saw that they had a blurb about RAINBOW coming out on December 18th. Which is my birthday. I decided in that moment that if she was releasing an album on my birthday, I couldn't NOT listen to it...so I did a little more digging around, and fell completely in love with her.

Who knows where I'd be if not for the strange reasoning skills I had as a 12-year old? lol

Secret was about to be released~

Evolution was the single when I became a fan.

In around the year 2000-2001, wanted to hear some Japanese music so I downloaded (on NAPSTER!) one of the songs that came up then I searched for 'Japanese pop' - it was Powder Snow (or PS II?). I didn't really like it, and forgot about it. Then sometime probably 2002ish I became friends with one of the Japanese exchange students and told her I wanted to hear some Japanese music - so we swapped CDs. She gave me Ayu's A BEST, and a CD by Kuraki Mai. I was a fan after that, and joined this forum a year or so after :)

I was very confused about how the music industry worked back when I got into Ayumi Hamasaki, which may sound strange. I had no comprehension of singles or anything. SO, I did not think at the time to look at her singles and stuff to see what she was doing at the time I first became a fan.

I do know what the first song was. It was Memorial Address. I was hooked INSTANTLY. That song really, really captivated me. I think it must have been about the time of (miss) understood though, because I remember seeing some of those songs, such as Heaven.

Now, when I actually started buying music was when she released GUILTY and the singles box set. I have a terrible memory, though, so it's all a bit hazy. (even though that was seriously only five-to-six years back...)

I became a fan late 2003-early 2004 around the Memorial address/MY STORY era. I was watching Inuyasha on Adult Swim and Dearest got me interested in her music. However, Naturally was the song that made me a fan.

Late 2003-early 2004 was also special for me because not only did I become a fan of Ayu, this was when I completely stopped listening to rap/hip-hop music (and American music in general) and started listening to J-Pop regularly (though I've slowly gotten back into American music recently). I remember people I talked to on anime message boards sending me random songs, and then searching for it on my own.

I feel nostalgic now. :p

During 2000... 2001... I started getting interested in anime, manga and animesongs.
When I was 11 I made friends with 2 otaku sisters and they slowly started to brainwash me into jpop. :B During 2002 they burned me some CDs with random jpop tracks from big acts of that time... Hikki, Ayu, BoA, some 90s Namie tracks, ELT, etc. I completly felt in love with Hikki and BoA, and really liked the Namie tracks... I found Ayu stuff to be ok, but not really interesting.

During 2003 I asked them to burn Hikki's discrography to me (easy, just 3 albums at the time) and I started to dig deeper on jpop, reading about the singers and stuff. This time I discovered Ayu was the anti-Utada and all the "perfect princess" girl vibe she gave me turned me off... Also, her singing on A song for xx (the track a site recommended) sounded like a dying cat, so, meh.

I started downloading her stuff from times to times on Kazaa, together with stuff I liked better like Hikki, Hitomi Shimatani and BoA... When I went for her videos, some stuff was pretty amazing, like Rainbow (her first video I loved) or Because of You... Some just plain sucked (Seasons video, or her changing outfits during Dearest)... But I didn't really see much depth on her... and then I read about her themes being deep, the website citing endless sorrow song and pv... The song didn't make much for me (damn ~gone with the wind version~ from hell), but once I saw the video and listened to that version, she got me again.

Those friends of mine downloaded AT03-04 and I got curious to watch it... It was during a time I was really interested on watching concerts thanks to finally discovering Madonna's Drowned World Tour... And I got REALLY impressed by her as a performer! This time, at least as a performer, I was a fan! Too bad her music sucked :B I kept following her for her live performances while liking a song here and there... AT05 made it pretty clear to me she was one of the best performers I would ever see (funny now I dislike this concert), and after liking most of (miss)understood singles, I couldn't really stop listening to the album once it was released. There was the time I became a fan of Ayu the musician. Now I like most of her music releases.^^

It was 2002 I believe.

I stumbled onto some of the remixes from ayu-ro mix, and I listened to some of those tracks to death.

Through the online DDR/StepMania community, I was introduced to songs like evolution, Naturally, and Connected, and I gradually grew to appreciate her songs. ayu trance 2 truly made me a fan.

RAINBOW kind of disappointed me after all that epicness, but from Memorial address and on I pretty much loved (still love) everything she does.

I became a fan of ayumi in late 2005 , around the time when I chanced upon BLUE BIRD's PV on MTV Asia's Asian Takeaway back time when they still had it in the show lineup

Ah those were the days

It was in 2003, when Connected was released in germany. I saw the PV on tv and really liked the song. So I googled her, found out who she is, listened to more songs and became a fan.

I became a fan right after MY STORY came out. I remember becoming SUPER excited for the single STEP you/is this LOVE? to come out.

When rock'n roll circus was out.
I had listened and loved evolution previously (some months before, had seen the perfomance of at07) but never bothered to listen more from her because I was into jrock.
Then I got to hear "microphone" and "countdown"
And I thought "uh this girl sure rocks." Then Sunrise/sunset and it was love.
I became a stan around the release of L. yes. And with love songs the work was complete XD

When I first heard of Ayumi Hamasaki back in late 2006, I was way too busy with space shuttles (which have since then retired)...

Her appearance, voice, and even the tattoo (!) made me think I want Ayu to start my J-pop portfolio. But at that time she was 28 years old, which makes me want to regret about it...but without Ayu, I wouldn't discover a whole new range of artists (such as Arashi, Ai Otsuka, Sayuri Sugawara, miwa, Leo Ieiri...and even Yanawaraba!)!

I think it was a month or two before Memorial address' release, and a friend sent me Depend on you and I listened only to it for like a month. Then I tried some other songs and mainly songs from LOVEppears and A Song for xx popped (some Duty too) and I just loved everything I heard, it wasn't just that 1 song (Depend on you). XD

I got to know about the forums (AHN and then AHS) around after Moments' release.

I was studing Japanese for few time and I went to Anime Event in my city.
I didn´t know Ayumi and I bought a CD, Rainbow. I became a fan at time! :love

It was in 2005

In Spring 2000 my sister downloaded "TO BE" by accident... Between the time of "Far away" and "SEASONS"'s releases I started clicking around & learning more about her... mostly for my sister, cuz SHE was the fan at first, not me XD

But omg she was so CUTE! I started looking for info & mp3s & pictures for my own benefit instead of for my sister after awhile.

I liked the stuff from her first two albums that I heard, but it ended up being the combination of "TO BE," "Far away," "vogue (HAL's Mix 2000)," and the lyrics to all the songs on her first two albums that made me a fan... once I started downloading videos, I knew I was hooked forever. "Duty" was the first album of hers that I was excited about the release for.

I'm not really sure since I sort of discovered Ayu on accident via Napster/KaZaA and I wasn't really attached to the 'news'-side of things since there weren't many places around at the time though there were a few forums here and there.

But when I was into the fandom, RAINBOW had just come out and Real me was playing a lot. I also recall being around for the release of ourselves on MTV Japan.

Sometime during 2012, I got addicted thanks to M :heart And I've been wondering where have I been living all my life to join Ayu fandom so freaking late.

Blue Bird had just been released as a single and I was obsessed with the (miss)understood album.

Around Party Queen Era :)

A BALLADS was just released in my country, probably around time she released forgiveness

It was early 2004 and I was only listening to western rock music and thinking that pop music was hardly worth a listen. Memorial address got a good review from this magazine I was reading and someone just let me listen to end roll which I thought was beautiful so I bought memorial address to give it a chance.

Loved the tracks, loved the A Museum clip and it was full steam ahead from there.

Few months after poker face was realeased

Summer 2010, soo... Rock'n'Roll Circus Tour era I guess.

Those days I couldn't stop watching the funny encore sections on youtube. :laugh

I became a fan later in December, right after Love Songs~ :heart

I just realized my memory is quite hazy when it comes to thinking about this but I can say that it was somewhere between (miss)understood and Secret in 2006. I remember listening Ayu nonstop that summer because she was so awesome. I was also very obsessed with Hikki at the time. :D

Hmm... Damn, I can't remember it well. I only remember it got something to do with wikipedia. I was surfing there and ran across Ayu's page and I just ended up reading it. Then I thought she must be awesome if she has this many hits and decided to download first three albums. LOVEppears and Duty completely blew me away, A Song for xx... not so much. I also downloaded few remix albums which were awesome too. I even heard remix versions for evolution, UNITE!, Endless sorrow and NEVER EVER before I even found the originals. It also took me a while to find those because I wasn't aware of AHS. I wish I had been tho. x3

//I feel old when I read how some people got into her in 2010 or so. For me this is my 8th year with Ayu. :D

STEP you PV just came out, I downloaded it through winmix. you know you're old if you remember winmix.

I think I knew her songs beforehand but I didn't care about who she was I just liked the songs.

I don't think I've posted in this one before, but I joined prior for B&D's PV coming out. I remember staying up all night waiting for that darn PV hahaha!

I really love it and it's got a great memory for me as well :)

It's nice to see how ayu got fans in all the points of her career.
Sometimes I think I'm the only one loving ayu after her peak but I see a lot of people here who are like me.
And for those who supported her from the very first, I'm so envious!!! You're truly quite the fan there!
Next year will be my 5th year with ayu.

Early Summer 2012, so party queen had been out a few months and I just happened to discover Tell Me Why on Youtube and been hooked ever since!

Bold & Delicious was released :3

The Arena Tour Rock'n'Roll Circus was announced.

My life was being slayed by alterna and Connected atm :butterfly

I don't remember when I start to be Ayu's fan because my feeling to her started with hate. Yes, I used to hate her. Why? Because our name is almost similar. Then my brother knew about it, he downloaded Ayu's songs and forced me to listen the songs (by that time, I don't know how to delete or add songs into my mp3. All is with my brother help). I think it is miracle because until now, she is the only person that I used to hate and turn to be love. After that, I proud to call myself as her fan. I don't remember the exact time but around 2002-2004.