^ emiko, I agree with your friend. Ayu is definitely in a different place now and I feel a lot of fans are stuck in the past because they're emotionally stuck in the past and can only relate to the former Ayu. Now a days she's not that lost young woman trying to find her way anymore, she's found herself I think. But that doesn't mean she doesn't put emotion into her music anymore, maybe not the kind of emotion that everyone is use to but that doesn't mean it's not there. However, whether or not we can tune into that emotion or relate to it depends on the individual.
For example, a lot of people disliked GUILTY (and some still do) because Ayu said she didn't have much inspiration for the album, so that's how they view it. But for me, personally, I think it's probably her most emotional album since A song for XX. There's just so much in there I can relate to myself that I can feel all the emotion she portrayed even if she didn't mean to.
And then we get NEXT LEVEL - after the dark cloud that is GUILTY - which was an album she made for pure fun. You can tell from that album she was in a better place and just wanted to let loose and let her hair down. Isn't happiness an emotion? Sure none of the songs were masterpieces and people would claim that the songs are not that good at all but that's personal opinion which no one can argue with.
In Rock'n'Roll Circus, Ayu shows us she still has statements to make with tracks like count down, Don't look back and Sexy Little Things. Songs that portrayed her thoughts and feelings in TOTALLY different ways. I believe RnRC was just a mix bag of songs all with different atmospheres and different things she wanted to express. Yes, there is the generic fan songs like Sunrise and You were... But as I say all the time, Ayu's gems are rarely in her singles (particularly the A-sides). The real music in my opinion are in the albums.
A musician doesn't make music only for the fans, they make music to express themselves. I feel Ayu still does that but it's just not in the format we're all use to. I don't think anything Ayu does is just to please fans (obviously, look at the FIVE fiasco lol) I think she still puts a lot of her views, her opinions, her feelings, her message, her statements and herself in her music. The real Ayu isn't on Twitter or TA, it's in her music.
And I'm not saying you don't see that, I don't know if you do or don't, but I think a majority of her fans (particularly here) do not see that. And I believe it's because they just simply lost their connection to Ayu. And to wish for one thing or the other is silly in my opinion because with Ayu you're rarely going to get it because she expresses herself the way she wants regardless of what we want. I respect her for that. I respect her for not backing down, no matter how stubborn it seems. I don't think she's the type of person who doesn't take criticism when it's maturely presented to her but I think she's the type of person who follows her intuition above all.
As far as her performances, I typically enjoy them. I know a lot of people are frustrated with her over-dramatizing and getting carried away and they want raw-emotional Ayu back but like I said before, I'm not looking to be entertained by her so I don't care.
When she does have a really emotional performance I feel it like everyone else but I won't complain if it's not there. But that's everyone's right and prerogative to be disappointed especially if they're paying for it (concert, dvd or otherwise). So I won't debate with you on that front.
But musically, I'm extremely satisfied with Ayu. I understand if people are not but what I don't understand is that if you're unsatisfied with any musician for a long period of time, why stick around?
There are other talented, wonderful artists out there, one that can provide whatever Ayu is not giving you or ones you don't need whatever Ayu is not giving you. Ayu's my favorite but she's certainly not my only. In the event I'm not feeling her music I simply jam to others. Come back when you're ready and if you don't want to that's okay, too.
Sorry for the novel omg xD;.......