The End?
 

Let's see the upcoming ayumi hamasaki products:

1) Complete Clip Box- Compiles all the promotional videos from her debut to now.
2) A Museum Concert- Sang all (most) of her hit singles from her debut to now.
3) Moments/ Memories Single

I'm optimistic, but is the day most Ayu fans fear coming? :eyes :weep

scary to think but it could happen... who knows Ayu is weird, she gets everyone on teh edge with these relases and she over works herself.. one of these days its just gunna go **POOF!** it could mean shes gunna take a break... but whatever she does i support her, and what she has done is already legendary heh.. i still listen to her first works...

We'll just have to stick around and see till teh end :thumbsup

uh..it could be but i dont think any of those reasons are part of it..o_O.

a museum was just celebrating the 30 single mark right?
and the clip box is just..all teh clips from the 30 singles. lol o_O who knows.

oh well... it could be. chances are slim though

Weeeelllll, let's just hope that it's not. I can't really say... arr....

in the words of Mai K "Wish You The Best"

... i doubt ... this is just the start.,... of a whole new AYUMI...

I was just about to say that Tetsuo. Hopefully a more mature Ayumi. The expiration date for most idols is suppose to be 25 right? How old is she now?

25?

Hmm...a few people at this other forum I go to kept saying that Ayu was immature and baby-ish, over-rated, etc. I tried not to burn fire on them. Even though I have seen a change (obviously we all have) in Ayu's music, I can't be too sure if this really is something like a "new Ayumi". For all I know, Ayu's music is very mature, wonderful, and mesmerizing.

1 year is a long break?! lol
Well i guess it is considering this is jpop. But still 1 year isnt too long of a break. American artists usually take at least 2 years off.

I don't think Ayu's quitting anytime soon, since there wouldn't be any real reason to leave now. Even if she married Nagase, she could still release CDs and hold a couple of concerts, so it's not like that'd end her career. With AyuReady supposedly ending on March 20th, Ayu will find other things to do (like hosting the show "FUN"), and her tours last well into April. I just think that she's a bit busy these next few months and not because she's quitting or anything.

Well, when avex released "A BEST" she didn't quit. She has plenty of energy left inside of her for a couple more years !!

energy doesn't equal quality music, look at Morning Musume for example.

Ayu has low sales? When did that happen? I never noticed that, Ayu's sales are pretty high in my opinion........She always gets first place on oricon charts even if it's for a short moment. Why do some people consider it low sales goes beyond my imagination though.
This ending of career stuff.....Some people were saying Memorial Address would definitelly be the end of her career, her last album since it was a mini album and the word "Memorial" and things like ayu saying "this is a present to fans" made some people quite sure it was the end of her career...did it end? Of course not. Now that I think about it, thanks god she never made an album cut for "Over" or else a lot of people would have thought it would be her last release LOL:laugh
If Ayu likes what she does, I don't see why she would quit...because of sales? OLIVIA has gotten pretty low sales for her album if compared to people like ayu and she still plans to release more stuff, she still plans to get better and better at what she does....Why does everyone see ayu as a weak, loser? The girl has shown a lot of times that she's quite strong, that she goes way ahead in order to ahieve what she wants why will she give up just because all of the albums salings have gotten pretty low lately? Plus a lot of artists endure the fact that they don't sell well and still release stuff (which is not ayu case because, once again, she's selling pretty well imo) why does it have to be different with ayu? Why does she have to necessarily quit while she's at the top?:shrug

oh geezz..even if she died otu i dotn see these as valid reasons. i think we're trying to look deep into what's not really there. its just what's happening, no hidden meanings.

LOL wth..?!? your tired of her? simple thing to do is just to not watch it. eventually you'll miss her. its not like she's forcing u to get her stuff right away. bsides, how are u tired of her? i do believe this is the least-releasing-year ever since she's been with avex. only what..10 songs? a little off topic, geez i really dont get how people are saying she's too busy nowadays when she's been releasing so much less. (not pointing fingers..lol)

I think people mean lower sales in comparison to newer sales, but with Japan's economy, along with the mass usage of MP3s, I guess that somewhat affects why some people think her sales are lagging. First is first, whether she sells 100,000 or 1,000,000 CDs. And even if it's not listed on Oricon, Ayu's CDs are still selling somewhere in the world.

But you're right about how other artists endure, even if they're not on the charts. One can only wonder what people would say when Ayu doesn't debut in the top 10 stats, or her CD sales barely get above 100,000 in a year. Does that mean that she suddenly became a horrible artist? No. As long as you like it, I think that's what matters more than stats and sales info.

Her Concerts are a bore. I agree she ALWAYS sings the same old songs. Honestly, I'm tired of seeing her singing evolution and the other same songs. She could add some variation like have her fans perform girlish with her...THAT would be interesting. Plus she could start singing her less well known songs, just for the sake of variation. It has nothing to do with her album/singles/PVs releases though.....just her Concerts since she always perform the same stuff. The last of her concerts I wtched was the old Stadium Tour and I only plan to watch her next cooncert after she releases a whole bunch ofnew songs so that I won't see her performing the SAME old songs....at least I hope so.

lol..unite, boys/girls, evolution, trauma, independant, and audience(& sometimes surreal) will always be there, mr. impact :laugh u cant really escape those!

:wtf
H sold 990,000 and a couple of extras that pushed it barely into the 1,000,000 mark. SMAP has their single sell over 2,000,000 - The economy in Japan doesn't kill cd sales. They have had over a DECADE of depression, CD sales haven't collapsed at the same rate as Ayumi has. If they did, the entire Japanese music scene would be collapsing. Ayu's time is ending, :dead Someone who once sold over a million to somebody who can't sell even a fraction of that with singles?

Here's some info off the oricon site: & was the 8th best single, quite a drop. The next one is 32 then 36. That's not good by Ayu standards. Rainbow for 22 weeks, I am - 27 weeks and a lot more sales, A best - 45 weeks, Duty - 27 weeks. MA - 10 weeks. She also no longer holds #1 for more than a week. She drops like a rock. Other singers are able to hold the #1 slot. It isn't the economy its the crappy music she is releasing. If the music is good, it will sell.

:bringit

EDIT: For Ayu, sales matter. Her music isn't whats selling her cd's, its slick promotion. If she doesn't sell enough, she won't get it. That means her sales will fall even further. She is an IDOL first and foremost, not an artist. She is an idol who has taken on artist aspects. We're not talking about Shiina Ringo here who can explore other aspects of music and survive, we're talking about the most commercialized singer in JPOP, who sings pop. The differences are quite striking.

I sure hope she doesn't quit... :cry

lmao so true so true :roflmao :roflmao

Yeah i only seen a few ayu tours but i notied that there some songs where she alway sings in most of her tours. It would be nice to see her sing those not so popular songs in her tour.. also for ayu end, let just hope that a long time away from now......

what do u mean "next one 32, next one 36"? lol..gues im missing something. as for the albums, MA had 8 songs. it was a minuiture. it did incredible for a mini-album. "&" sold just fine, and the reason all the singles lately have been doing poorly is because they went down to 4 track singles. avex isnt focusing so much on singles anymore. would u relaly expect say..voyage to outsell Seasons? no. ayu doesnt have "standards". so her prime time is over. but she's still there, and i doubt she's going anywhere.

AyuDearest1, not getting to be number 1 at oricon charts is not a FACT that the artist will quit. A LOT of great artists don't get to the top of the oricon and they still release stuff. Ayu might be dropping on sales indeed but it doesn't mean it's the end of her career. Decreasing of sales is not a linear graphic. The fact that ayu might be losing fans doesn't mean she will lose all of her fans in an aritimetic/geometric progress. She has quite a strong fanbase and there are still a lot of people that admire her work.

And if the music is good it will sell, I don't think SMAP music is really that good :rolleyes

Sekai no hitotsu dake no hana might not be a great song, but it's the message of the song that made it go to #1 in 2003. I mean, if it's taken figuratively, it's a really inspiring song, especially in a country that's been going through a recession for a decade.

Slight chance, but I doubt it. Those new release are yet again more money-makers. :shrug If it is the end, I'll be hella sad..

AH That explains it all! I knew that there would be something very special behind that release to make it sell a lot.

I think the key thing to remember here is correlation does not equal causation.

In other words, one thing does not have to equal the other thing. Just because things MIGHT be connected does not mean they are.

Ex: writing a will does not mean a person has a deadly disease and is counting on dying soon.

I also think SMAP sucks but look at people like hajime chitose and naotaro moriyama. They both had great songs and were were 3 or 4 track singles. They were also near the top in their respective years. Ayu is also different from other singers. She was completely created through marketing. That makes her one of the most expensive artists to maintain, avex won't shell out the money for her if she isn't profitable. Ayu wouldn't survive off a smaller label or one that isn't as screwed up as Avex. If nobody has noticed, Avex burns through their singers quickly. Globe it seems is no longer existant. Amuro stays around because she could pretend to be R&B, something that Ayu could never do. Also namie is still around because she is hot. Ayu on the other hand is becoming a mask of makeup quite quickly.

Does anyone here think that Because of You came cheap? Ayu is all flash and no substance, she needs to be at the top to survive. She is Japan's Britney, neither has much time as their sales drop. Nobody wants a second or third tier. Example: Jessica Simpson, if she didn't get her show, she would be long forgotten by now. Ayu will suffer the same fate and rightly so. Even Ayu admits that her time is short. Someone younger, hotter, and better will emerge and take her crown.

All flash? I dunno about that, as Ayu doesn't dress with skin-tight clothes or dress like a prostitute to get sales. Sure, "Because of You" is somewhat about that, but Ayu wasn't doing anything "over the edge" like some American artists have done. Also, Ayu didn't need her own show or anything to be well-known. If anything, I think she was more known without it, and now that she'll be hosting a new show, who knows how that'll affect her status in the jpop world.

On a different point, youth plays a pretty big role these days, but it doesn't mean that because Ayu turns 30 or something that it has to spell the end of her career. A good example of this is Seiko Matsuda. While she isn't on the top of the charts these days, she's been singing for a good 10-20 years now and hasn't given up yet. While the majority of people probably want to hear a 20 y/o sing vs. a 40 y/o, I don't think Ayu would just quit because she got older. The only ways I'd see that happen would be if she's not a viable asset to Avex, or if she decides to start a family, but she has yet to even get engaged to Nagase, and her CD sales are still raking in quite a bit.

Don't even say that this is still true, look at the clothes she wore during the Greatful Days perf at A Museum.

What I mean is that she isn't showing massive cleavage or dancing on a pole. It's one thing to wear something like a bikini top (H), but it's another if she was naked (or looking naked) in a PV like Britney's Toxic (not to bash Britney fans, but it's just an example).

LOVEppears - a topless Ayu
Appears - topless Ayu again
Duty - Skin tight leopard suit and stripper pole and cage
I am - Leaves and more leaves
Unite! - Topless Ayu again
GQ mag - S&M Ayu
Ayu's years as an idol

She has worn some very revealing and/or prostitute style clothes. On some shows, I've seen her with a piece of cloth on her lap so you don't see more Ayu than you bargained for:eek

I see the point of the skin thing, but these claims are just plain ridiculous. It didn't look raunchy at all and like Unimatrix said, it wasn't like she had huge cleavage. I think they were artistic.

I know that Ayu's done such things, but I don't think that she did it all for selling sex like some artists do. The day I see a video that has Ayu looking like she's having sex with someone, then I'll probably think far less of Ayu, but the closest I think she's gotten to something sexually-themed would be those shots from the GQ magazine. But I think this topic is going slightly OT from the end of Ayu's career to what she wears, so I guess that'll be it for now :)

A stripper pole and cage aren't kinky enough for you?

Aguilera's Stripped cover is in the same vein as LOVEppears and Appears but is viewed as raunchy by the general Ayu populace. Let's say you have never heard of Ayu, would you list the previous cd covers as raunchy? I know I would. When Britney was as flat as Ayu, she was able to act randy in a similar way. Ayu just doesn't have the tits but she can be as rauncy as she wants;)

..there was a meaning behind because of you's prsotitutes, and since when was she not aloud to wear tight clothing? she was a SWIMSUIT model before this dudes.

uh..lol..somebody's in a whole nother world tehn i. raunchy..? haha..to me thats far from being raunchy.

Can you honestly say that you look at those covers and think about them in the same way as you would look at Britney Spears in her Toxic video? No. It's because you know that Ayu isn't doing it because of lack of talent, it's because she's doing it for artistic purposes. I agree with jerms, there is no way you can take those covers as raunchy.

I was actually really bewildred when i saw the LOVEppears cover....but then once u understand her and all dat it doesnt really matter...

~_~ lets not think about this now ~_~.......

lets just Enjoy her music .. till she says she will no longer release..

Hmmm... I dunno. I mean she's still selling tons of copies of everything, and she'ed sell a lot even if it was crap. So, I dont think its the end.

But if it was, then what can we do?

How did we get on the topic of Ayu's breasts? O_o;;
Well I like her breasts so... :P

Come to think of it, it is kind of strange...

Moments/Memories
A MUSEUM ~30th Single~
Clip Box

They all sound soooo... "farewell-ish" :shrug

Wow, I never knew Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, and Ayu all came here :rolleyes How can you say Ayu was doing it for art? Are you her? Have you ever listened to her? She knows she is a product, she says so herself. Was her swimsuit video for art? All the covers serve one purpose, and one purpose alone - to attract attention. Same thing with all the others. It's all done to attract attention. Ayu isn't exactly renowned for her symbolism or her artistic skills. This is the musical equivalent of analyzing harry potter. It's just a dumb thing to do. :P

and i think we're forgetting "Memorial Address"

OMG... thats even worse...

I really hope she stays around... :cry

geez. how can u say ayu was doing it for raunchiness? how can u say she's being provocative? are YOU her? do u even like her?

Everyone else says Britney and Christina do it for raunchiness so it swings both ways:thumbsup If an albino flat-chested girl is posing topless on the cover of an album, that is provocative:rolleyes I can go buy Maxim to see that. The recent hooker outfits she has worn recently are raunchy or she is losing it.

Also your location is tied to Ayu's bed. I don't know what kinky stuff you want Ayu to like to do with you:cool

infinity.

yeah i agree with jerms

AyuDearest1: stop sexisme and back to the topic ok

Perhaps this is the end and perhaps it isn't. Perhaps she knows that her current music isn't as good as her old and can't seem to revert back and so is ending it.

Or maybe people look too deeply into symbolism to realize that maybe it isn't the end and she is making titles like these for a whole different reason.

Sometimes things like these happen and people will look so deeply into it that a blind idiot(no offense to anyone, I'm just making an example) could see the true meaning.

Like the Simpsons when lisa thought she was getting dumber everyday. She looked so hard into that little riddle that even Ralph could solve.

I just say, wait and see. Don't get too excited if it isn't the end and don't get too depressed if it is the end. One generation dies, another is born.

This topic got pretty weird

::adds to the OTness of this topic:: I hate the Duty cover... it's the only CD cover that Ayu did which I thought was distasteful =/

as for her career.. it's possible she might be nearing the end -.- but she should go out with a bang! =\

ee..never thoguth i'd agree with ya lx, but BINGO! did i mention that people are looking into what's not there?


lol..this is pretty much exactly what i think. there's no inner story or correlation on her quitting or not. if her career ends, then so be it, but wait til theres u know..obvious evidence instead of these "hidden meanings". i doubt she's slowly putting out symbols, etc. lol..u just nailed my thoughts. thanks :thumbsup

You're absoleutely right... now I feel better, Thanks! :laugh

fish...?

.........................

That is the sound of no one objecting to your post, Deli (well, me at least) ;) ! I'm not sure where the idea of Ayu quitting comes from (her recent CD titles, AyuReady supposedly getting cancelled, lower sales than previous singles, etc), but I guess it's human nature to speculate and come up with "what if" scenarios,

"What if Ayu quits?"
"What if Ayu get married?"
"What if she leaves Avex?"
"What if her next single is her last?"

At times, I wonder about these things as well, but if it happens, what can we do? Absolutely nothing. Zilch. Nada. The only thing we can do is to either accept ir or not, but it's not like saying "Ayu, come back!" will bring her back. She decides things on her own. If she leaves, so be it. While I might be a bit disappointed, I won't agonize about it for all eternity. You've just gotta get up and move on with your life, since crying over spilt milk won't do you anything.

I agree...lets just apretiate what we have availiable to us now. What happens happens. Why worry about something there's really not even a hint about.

Why would Ayu quit?!

What, to get a careet? I don't thinks so. She hasn't even graduated from high school.

I know this is the best thing Ayu's got, and I think she knows as well.

*cough* i beat lx ayu to that idea but didnt go into as much detail as him *cough*

Is it possible to consider that maybe Ayu just wants to slow down? Granted, her entire career has been very busy and flamboyant, so maybe this is a way of her celebrating her sucess and beginning a new stage of her career with less releases?

I really wish ayu wouldn't quit for a long time to come. I would be sad if she decide to slow down to get a new feel for herself about the music, but I guess it could do her good if she ever decide to do that. Just to refresh herself and come back maybe in half a year with amazing songs.

But whatever her decision is, I guess we should respect that since it's her life. :thumbsup

well there will be a time where she will take a break so that we can spend some quality time :D

i hope she takes a little break very soon. i have run out of money :D

umm..i dont think she gets to control all her releases..like a best right? i could be wrong..

I told you, when I get serious my points are well said.

Ayumi has some control over what she is allowed to release and how much of it, but basically it's Avex who decides what Ayumi does. As long as she works for them, she is under their control. Maybe they think too much Ayumi isn't good, maybe the music industry is slow everywhere and this is part of the effects. For instance gas prices in the US. When they rise, everyone's prices rise, when they lower all the gas prices lower. Music, when it speeds up with different artists, they need to pump out more music to stay on top, when there is less competition then they will slow down on making outstanding songs and albums. Why over work yourself and your workers if you don't need to?

ayu....!!! i'll buy moments for sure!!!