Thoughts after watching Pride PV?
 

Well, I knew this was connected with B&D and while watching it suddenly I got depressed the PV gave me the feelings how it is "behind the scenes" of her career and the PV is very "western-stylish" =) It really got to me and this is a new side of ayu. It´s like an revolution for me. Like when ourselves came or because of you =)=). Three words to describe the PV:

Beatiful
Sad
Western-stylish

What did you think of it? =)

She was utterly stunning. It's a sad PV, but I guess I was too distracted by her. lol

I'm hoping her hair is like this in the upcoming album photobooks.

^haha lol her looks were really western-like in some parts when she was against the wall it looked like it was computer made or is it that I´m too tired right now? XD

Her outfit, make-up, and hair (not the color, but length, style somewhat - not really) reminded me of Lindsay Lohan in "Confessions of a Broken Heart."

It didn't really seem computer manipulated though to me..

^I guess I´m too tired then...
and guess what I kind of know what makes me think that these PV´s (B&D and Pride) is so "western-like" it´s her voice while she´s singing you can notice it on the live performances when she´s going to sing some long vocals she drags her voice out like christina aguilera XD

First impression: Not bad, but not her best. The PV itself is typical of a lot of Western ballad-PVs, which, for me, isn't necessarily a good thing. In the song, there is so much going on in the lyrics and in the music and I wish more of that had been reflected in the PV.

It made me sad. But yeah she looks so stunning there!

And I agree, its like a small revolution :)

it was directed by Luis...so it's not a japanesey guy?

Very interesting though. I likes it.

wow... Ayu+Rain+Drenched Ayu= Good PV for me :D weird huh?

the whole behind the scene thing is okay... I wished they would have quicked that and showed more rain Ayu! That was great... BUT I have a question... near the end with all the wow wow wow's right before the last chorus... the Ayu that's standing in the water isn't singing the wow's... she's singing something else... she does join in on the last wow... but was that on purpose? If so I think they shouldn't have had her mouth moving... but I still loved the PV alot... WAY better than B&D Also was she laughing near the end when she was slamming herself against a wall? That didn't look sad, it looked laughing 0_o

I dind't think the wall looked computer generated... you mean how the rain kinda wasn't really hitting her? I thought she was under an awning :D

Daybreak in negative polarization

I quite like it. =p It's better than B&D to me. It seems more deep. I think it should be played before the B&D PV too, since she is walking back to the film crew. Good PV though. :3

But I think the wall looked fake, not CG wise, but like it was made for the PV, and didn't have a feel of a real wall. LOL It seemed like the cement had random strokes put into them to make it look old, but it doesn't seem so. D: But who knows really?

I haven't watched it yet. Blah.

I noticed the lyrics too. It's like "Bokutachi wow wow wow wow.." or something. I was like "o__o"

I really liked the PV! It's the saving grace for the B&D single, I think, and..er..

At the end, it says "Ayumi Hamasaki - Pride" up in the upper right hand corner in red lights scrolling by, did anyone else catch that? :D

^ the scroll was definitely CGI-ed

I agree with you on the wall thing. If you notice, they never show anything past that part of the wall, leading me to believe it was in a studio or shot somewhere else. I love NY, but there ain't no way you could get a regular person, let alone Ayu, lean up against a real wall like that no matter how many times you blast it with chlorinated water (which is what they usually do to NY streets for movie/video/photo shoots)

In the beginning, the PV made me think of the "Dearest" it's-so-hard-to-be-famous thing. But only in the beginning.

Also, complete directorial abuse of the slow motion video.

lmao ^_^ I think the slow motion goes perfectly with the video, because it adds to that desperate feeling the music has.

I liked the slow motion. There is a scene in near the end and a black car is coming towards the camera and I thought she was going to get hit *_*, that would make for an interesting PV(Although people will probably say that it is copying Be My Last, but the car made a U-turn, lol).

I liked it, but I wish there was more story, :(.

i loved it! americanized but not so much that you lost the Ayu. it is better than B&D tho... and i love the emotion and deepness of this pv... i like the wall. i don't care if itz fake or not lol
Ayu looked amazing (hair and outfit). and i'm lovin the rain and puddles and such. very nice...

a few words -:
wonderful PV
one of the best evar
one of my very favorites


Did any of you notice it's kinda like her getting ready for B&D (with the truck and everything) and then she sings PRIDE before this happy-fun song.
Anyone think it's like the behind the scenes feelings of Ayu?
hmm..i really loved it.
I have to say it has to be on my top favorites.
It was wonderful. And somewhat sad.
But otherwords - i'd like to watch this every day of my life forever. :yes
Better than B&D! but it was a little more soft and not as interesting..but i still love it DEARLY.
Its gotta be up there with Dearest PV and For my Dear... PV

Torn a little.

On one hand I think it's a good PV - I think she looks great, I like the emotion she has, and I actually like how simplistic it is.

On the other it seems like a ripoff of the B&D PV - and I still don't like the song very much.

It's really sad!!! I love the song really very much! I think the dress is prettier than Bold & Delicious

It was actually alot better than I expected.. thank goodness.. ^_^
she looks beautiful.. although there are times when I looked at her.. and thought she didn't look like her at all. O.O;

Ayu looks really pretty!! I love the necklace, dress, hair etc etc. I think the dark-rainy bits were the best part.

I didn't really like the transition from day to night - just seemed a bit weird. And the amount of time used at the start with the make-up people =="

I think I appreciate the emotion of the song better after seeing the PV. =)

sighs....
the lip sync thing really ruin a nice pv like this....

i wonder why all the pv in this single have the same problems... :(

Haha, i thought something like that too.
Kinda like - - - People are doing to omuch for her..
:shrug
I loved both pvs though.
<3
And Yukiko-Chan, True.
I thought it was going to be a copy of B&D with different places in new york.
Kinda what i thought - - but it was much betetr than i expected.

its director is american?

I have to say.. the dress, jewerly and style..really do remind me of lindsay lohan's confession of a a broken heart....

and.. the hairstylist is wack... just flinging her hair around... cant he at least be a little more careful!

If we're lookin for a connection in the lyrics, then it's horrible. Not enough schown.

But as far as the beauty aspect goes, it's actually really well made. I love how sad she looks, and how beautifully she can do it. Beautiful Sad Girls = my weakness.

ohh.. i forgot to mention just how much i want her necklace and bracelet...
.. wish I could reach into the pv and take them... o.O;; they rock.

i think the real director's NAME is LUIS HERNANDEZ
not HERMANDEZ (SPAIN, MEXICO OR CENTER/SOUTH AMERICAN DIRECTOR)

i think this pv was a lot better than bold & delicious.
ayu looked gorgeous, and she did more than just standing on a truck and waving her arms while travelling around NY. (a very pretty city indeed)
she looked absolutely stunning...and made me speechless.
a nice simple PV, that's not boring.

Because they were both made by the same American crew.

it was better than i thought because i thought it would like like B&D except in a different area

the first part was very distracting how these 2 guys kept fiddling with Ayu, they just didnt stop! lol

i thought the PV was rushed as well as B&D, it seems they didnt put much effort in making it lok better

and yup overall it's just a normal PV, nothing special, just like a typical American PV

first thing? Dearest

anyone knows who is "Luis Hermandez"? It is foreigner name, i think it is not american...?

lol yeah XDXD

noticed it now after reading your post =)=)

It's very simple. No special effects except the rain. It's not so bad though since I think the aim of the pv was to portray emotion. It was extremely well planned in my opinion - the images we were given were carefully chosen. Ayu looks beautiful yet tragic at the same time.

I love the effects of the water with rain dripping in it. Creates this image... of nostalgia. Also the reflection was one very clever shot.

The atmosphere she manages to portray is terribly sad though. A lot of emotion is accumulated throughout the pv. I have this feeling she is desperate and depressed throughout it. Very good acting.

Also the red text on the moving thing.. I cannot recognize what it says.. but I think it has an important part in the pv

he must be "HERNANDEZ" (not herMandez) (latin american or spanish)






.

its a really nice PV and very emotional.
when first seeing the preview I tought it was just like a ripoff of the B&D PV, but after seeing it I must say it is really different.
and the dress is really pretty :love

I thought the scrolling marquee was important at first after at one point I saw the words "No One Knows" and "That Girl." Then I studied them closely and besides these two seperate points it's pretty much impossible to read. At the very beginning it says something to the effect of "Check Out Our New Gift Baskets" and somewhere through the middle it mentioned "Soup" I think. (And of course at the end "Ayumi Hamasaki Pride")

That's like twenty minutes of my life I won't ever get back.

I would have loved to see her do something more emotional with opening strains of the song where the music is so raw, but no. Behind the scenes. We get to sit and watch Ayu get primped for the first minute of the thing. *yawn* After that it was great though.

Except for the fake rain. I don't know if that was made to look fake for the PV, or if they were just sloppy. But it was still a pretty effect, and Ayu pulled off the emotions needed to convey the song's message.

But honestly, the PV is beautiful. (I may be biased because I'm in love with the song, though.)

hahahaa :ttongue

The PV was boring.... and have Ayu always lipsync that bad?

I guess this is due to the slow mo
so at times it seems it aint lipsync

I really liked this PV. Beautiful, touching and better than "B&D". Anybody else saw this as "B&D" sequel? It's like, behind-the-scene. Sort of like "I may have looked all happy filming "B&D" but I'm sad deep down." And at the end of the PV, as she stops to sing, it's kinda like she's returning to that side of her life, her celebrity life after saying what she had to say. I think it's a beautiful PV. Beautiful scenes.

One thing that I just think it's weird: The guy in the beginning is taking his time placing her coat. Like this, like that. And then, oh! His taking it off. I don't get it. Why does he have to place it if his taking it off anyway.

Plain. It's just pretty unoriginal. The making-of concept bores me... I wanted something new. Disappointed. At least B&D was fun and added a uniqueness to the PV. CAROLS was better :P

She's lip-synched badly in most of her PV's this year, it really makes it look unprofessional and kinda ruins the PV for me. If you're going to make a simple PV, at least try to lip-synch correctly... It's definitely a PV I'm not going to watch often.

"CAROLS"? LOL, I thought that was her most boring PV ever! :thud

Never watched it twice, lol. Not even from the DVD. I simply skipped it, haha!

^ CAROLS is one of my Ayu favourites. I love both the PV and the song. I think the PV is really simplistic and quite unique in Ayu's videography. It really fits the song's nostalgic athmosphere and that's why I enjoy it. We just don't have similar tastes :P

Ayu fans never have the same taste, hehe! :P

For example, I hated both "CAROLS" song and PV. But you do. But I liked "Pride" PV, but you seemed to think it's was not creative. LOL! HAHA!

I wasn't enthralled with the idea of watching the hair and makeup team fluff Ayu up for a whole minute, but after she got up and walked off things got a lot better. I love the scenes of her holding her arms out and looking into the pool of water. A lot of the time I didn't even see the rain. o.o;

And I never noticed the red marqee until the end. I'll have to pay attention more.

Love the song. Really like the PV. I think I like them more than B&D.

i would be glad if she can dance better..
a dancer..:yes
then her pv's would be much more better than ever.don't'cha think??
hip hop dance would be a change!!:eyebrow
or...NEW JAZZ??!!!SEXXYY~!!

a very nice and simple pv.. yet cant beat the other simple pv such as hanabi 2 :D

Well, I watched Birthday Eve by Koda Kumi first, which is AMAZING. Then I watched Pride, I was sooo bored. So I watched Birthday Eve again ^^

this pv was so boring it's not worth a comment. there's nothing to comment really. it's like trying to comment any typical american pop music video. I'm interested in what all the daybreak haters have to say.

the hairstyle and dress reminded me of lindsay lohan's confessions of a broken heart.

ayu looked gorgeous as usually. the wet look is always good.

I actually disagree with those who say it was boring. I was less bored with it than Bold & Delicious. At least the lyrics in this song have more of a meaning for me.

This slightly resembles the fairyland/alterna formula even; B&D being the "happy smiley" side of Ayu but Pride showing the feelings behind all of the glitz and glamour. The dark, rainy slums of an otherwise bright and bustling city is a great contrast to her "perfection" as this image for the world to perceive... but instead of being led away by her entourage, she makes herself vulnerable to expose her true self. I found the lyrics to be relevant to the PV for once, and thought it was beautiful.

Maybe it seems less "boring" to me as well because I have the subtitles. (You can get them here - they've been posted for nearly 24 hours yet no one has given me any feedback.)

I've used the subtitles! And they're rather fitting to the theme of the song and pv.

Is the Pv continue from Bold & Delicious ?

I liked it.

I agree. With such lyrics and PV like "Pride" and "alterna", I'm starting to know why she decided to call the next album "(miss)understood".

with or without lyrics I found B.A.D boring aswell.

Oh well, you can't really expect a ballad to have extraordinary PV. For a ballad, I prefer a simple PV. Like "HEAVEN". Simple, and it portrays the message from the song. That's really important. And I think Ayu definitely delivered the message through the "Pride" PV, perfectly. The PV didn't need to be more. It didn't need extra content. I think it's was great the way it is.

I'm still unswayed. In my opionon, the song was just too mediocre for me and in the PV, she seems to be trying to hard to achieve that "western" feel.

after watching the PV..all i could think of is how "Cheap" avex is becoming with their PV's..haha..

^lol :P I think that is because ayu decided to do some funny/not serious music/PV för an exchange =)

Pride was serious though.

^I meant B&D but the part about Pride being recorded at the "same" place as B&D is a little cheap I think but maybe there is a meaning behind it =)

Holy crap... I thought my computer was just being laggy... Now I'm glad to see that it's supposed to be in slow motion... *PHEW*

Anyway, it has a very interesting message, possibly.

To me, it means that although celebrities or just people in general lead very glamorous looking lives, it's not all what it seems and that everyone has internal conflicts and has to deal with a more pessimistic force within them. Even celebrities aren't immune to such things.

omg I loved this PV. Ayu is beautiful singing in the rain, and she just looks georgeous!

...You know, once you see the HANABI CM, Ayu singing in the rain and when she was against the wall made me think of a little how the HANABI PV would go in my head.

it was ok...i like her clothes and jewellery more than anything else..

She looked freaking hawt.

I have been away from AHS for a while so this was the first time I actually heard the full version of Pride. It was nice! And, for some reason, I liked this PV, more than B&D. I don't mind it being similar with Bold & Delicious.

Wow, interesting... I'm starting to like ballads again. Thanks, Ayu!