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Most of these are just be rambling, and they're all very minor disappointments, just things I've noticed but didn't really affect how I feel about Ayu... and definitely nothing that's made me go WTH.
1. The release of A BEST. I think that this was a good financial move for Avex, but really left Ayu questioning her capability to make decisions for her music that her fans would appreciate.
2. That no PVs exist for HANABI and July 1st. These are two of the most incredible songs Ayu wrote during that time of her career, not to mention the last million-selling songs she's written, and I wish that we had PVs to help us see how Ayu visualized those songs.
3. JEWEL wasn't a single. I know a lot of Ayu fans who feel this would have been a strong single release prior to Secret. It's my favorite song from Ayu's entire discography, and I think it's one of the strongest both lyrically and production-wise.
4. The quality of Ayu's interludes since Rock'n'Roll Circus. One of the most awesome aspects of Ayu's albums were her interludes until the release of Rock'n'Roll Circus. On RnRC and Ls, the interludes feel like scraps from the cutting room floor compared to previous interludes from almost every album.
5. Leaving PVs off the single, but recording them for the album. This was just a disappointing move for me. Ayu did this with Sparkle and Last angel, and I felt like the fans got ripped off. She also kind of did this with blossom.
6. PVs are very uneventful these days. I can't remember the last time I saw an Ayu PV that shook me... in a positive, non-violent, non-convulsive way. Maybe GREEN or Days. But since those, I need a drink after new PVs. She's clearly not in a hoveround chair, so why is so little actually happening with her in the videos?
7. The PVs for Born To Be..., BRILLANTE, Sunrise/Sunset, You were..., blossom, and VR/Ls/La. Ok.
> I'm still trying to figure out what exactly IS IN the video for Born To Be.... I thought I saw a person doing stuff, or running for their life...? Too much light. I feel sorry for whoever had to pay the electric bill that month.
> BRILLANTE was beautiful until someone pointed out that the girl is a boy. I'm gay, but this was too much. People get very insensitive views of people like me *because* some people go over the top, to the point where it becomes very uncomfortable for others to watch these things. I understand he was playing a role, but if you're going to dress and behave like a woman, you should cover your chest too. Androgyny is gender illusion, but at the end of the video Tim is clearly a wolf in sheep's clothing. (I know some people will say that there is freedom or that I'm being fascist about this, but equality isn't making people choke on your values. If people like me ever want that respect, we have to come at this from respect for the values of others first, and have patience by allowing people to close the gap between differences in their own time.) I'll say it alongside a number of others: The gay thing is OK once in awhile but I'd like to see it used in a tasteful way if it is used, and rarely if ever, and never like this again.
> Sunrise/Sunset. I would have loved to be there for the shoot, but it's definitely not the same experience to watch it. Not even from a distance. And when you do this with two significantly underwhelming songs, it just makes it worse.
> You were... a crazy doll iceskating around with a bra on its head? I like experimental things, but this wasn't an experimental song. The dress was pretty, but I wasn't sure if I was watching a horror movie or an Ayu PV. The only amazing parts for me were the dress and the initial dark shots of her face.
> blossom. I'm still trying to figure this out, so WHY is Ayumi not in the PV? Why was this filmed like a stale K-drama?
> The Virgin Road, Love song, and Last angel series was deeply confusing. Which starts where on what timeline where who is doing what with who in order to accomplish which purpose? What was the message, or the point of all the plot of the videos? And why did Ayumi move around in the ballad videos, yet stand around in the epic trance video?
8. Thank U, glitter, BLUE BIRD, My All, momentum. I'm still trying to figure out how they aren't all the same song.
9. MOON, You were..., together When..., beloved I'm still trying to figure out how they aren't all the same song.
10. Last Links and count down. She did the two things I really didn't expect. She gave us 10 seconds of auditory abuse as an intro to a song (count down), and I have no clue what her creative process for Last Links was... probably something like "I just saw MTV Unplugged... and I want THAT."
11. SEVEN DAYS WAR I don't mind cover songs... from Matsuda Seiko. In all honesty, I would rather hear Matsuda do a cover song instead of a '(1.4 x (10^80))th Party!'. I know that Ayumi has not ran out of songs to write. When she hits album #22, nobody will really care if she does a cover album. But for right now, she's still relevant... and cover songs are about as interesting as an A KARAOKE release.
12. The Judgement Day Um... Ayumi... You forgot to include the rest of the song? (I really wanted this to be a full-length track like Mirror.)
13. No A BALLADS 2, 3, 4, 5...19. Ayumi does A LOT of ballads. Where is another A BALLAD compilation? Why has this concept been swept under the rug since 2003?
14. Up until Love songs, there was a recent disturbing trend of boring songs. Almost everything Ayu's released as a very epic feel to it, like there's a deep story to the song. Much of Secret, GUILTY, NEXT LEVEL, and Rock'n'Roll Circus was like standard J-pop. Then when Love songs came, she went back to her element of having beautiful intros to most songs and very drawn out experiences. progress and BRILLANTE and maybe beloved are like this, but the other 2-3 songs on FIVE are typical pop stuff that I wish Ayu would go back to doing only once in awhile instead of jamming a slew of them into her records.
15. a-yu-mix 7 Only a handful of newer songs were included. (Hi Ayumi! You've released more than the same 40 songs in your career, please remix some of the other songs!)
16. Ayumi hasn't rapped since 1996. If Ayumi could get a mini-album of rap music put out in the 90s, she can probably still rap today. I want to hear her do this again before she retires. I don't want an album, just a song. And I think this would be a great way to tie in some relevance of NFN to everything she's done since.
OK...... So I know it looks like a lot. And there's some sarcasm in there...... But for the most part, I've never really been truly disappointed in Ayu or her career. There are definitely things I think could have made a big difference, or changed the direction she ended up going in, but those are and will always be my little observations.
Except for the thing about BRILLANTE. That really was a bit over the top, and I'm sorry for those of you who were uncomfortable because of it.
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