I think there was a lot of negative reactions regarding RAINBOW when it first came out because we had expected Ayu was going in a more grunge-rock direction (like in I am...). I think everyone was just confused for a moment after listening to it. And then there was the fact that a lot of it was very clean and manufactured and pop, and she was using a lot of English in her lyrics. Because she was so huge at the time everyone thought she was "taking a turn for the worse" or "selling out" and people were afraid. Now, 6 years later, we know that's not the case.
RAINBOW is an amazing album. It was just very different from I am... which caused a lot of people to immediately dislike it (because it was different). Yes, Real Me is like, the epitome of a pop song, but its a freaking GOOD pop song. If Ayu does any genre, she always does it right.
