[Zeke.]

Originally Posted by isthisLOL?

No, it's logic. Marketing logic. From the songs over the videos and packaging to the promotion this EP is made for people new to Ayumi while her last full-lenght album that did that was...a long time ago. Secret possibly.
I hate it when people make everything out to be solely opinion.

Do you really think FIVE is not marketed at new fans? o.0 Casual fans eat this EP up(just look for reviews on the internet, the ones by people that are not Ayumi fans are far more favorable than they usually tend to be) and I'm pretty sure that was Ayu's plan. She knew progress would get major exposure(just look at how much the game sold in just a few days!) and used that to produce an EP that works well as an introduction to her. And she knew she had to work towards a second peak sometime or her sales will go down alot in the next years, so she did it before it's too late, we'll see if it worked when her next album is released.

She put songs of very different types on it but the only song that is not (japanese) mainstream in some way is BRILLANTE, the last track to be heard after the (pretty much)easy-listening stuff. progress is a ballad then going into anison, ANother song is a typical RnB song which is quite popular in Asia right now, Why... is a typical Ayu-midtempo, beloved is the perfect generic J-Pop song and BRILLANTE...well that one sticks out.
This EP is pretty much a blend of Ayu's "typical" style(- summer and winter single) and what is popular and all of the songs except for BRILLANTE are radio-friendly in Japan. That's probably one of the reasons all of them got videos instead of 3-4. Because all of them have the ability to sell as shown by digital charts where even the worst charting track(BRILLANTE) still broke into the top20. 4 of the 5 tracks can basically be played on the radio and music TV at all times and one shows that she is more than just an average J-Pop singer(talking about diversity, uniqueness and stuff, not quality)

And the marketing supports that. There is one version that basically exists solely for Tales of Xillia fans. Do you really think 1/3 of Ayu fans that buy the EP got that game? Well...at least 40-50k copies of that version were produced and very quickly sold out in most online stores(it was the most preordered version for some time) but they are the least interesting to people not having the game. To people that prefer seeing Ayu on the cover and having a bonus track over a videogame cover and an extra game outfit. So basically to those who first and foremost are into the game(who else would take a game outfit over a bonus track?)
They expected many copies to be sold to people that know Ayu through progress or re-discovered her that way.

FIVE being an EP is also perfect to attract new fans. It's very cheap. People are less likely to buy an album or a single just to try a new artist because an EP tends to be the cheapest of those(calculating price/number of songs), an album is too long and expensive "just to try" an artist and a single with 1-2 songs is not enough for someone to become a fan.

And I love FIVE as well, but fact is quality has little to do with sales. If FIVE is good or not doesn't matter much(and many people would disagree with you that it is good), it is perfect to get new fans into her.

If FIVE is the start of her working toward a peak, I dread what the peak actually will be. I agree it would work well as an introduction, but at the same time - it is not an introduction to Ayumi's music because nothing on this album is her (except progress which is probably her weakest out of the epic rock songs she's released and BRILLANTE which to me is classic Ayumi). This album is so generic it's sickening. It is the complete opposite of "perfect" to get new fans because this is NOTHING like what SHE IS KNOWN FOR. It is a blemish on her music career and I would pick NONE of these songs to showcase her to new listeners.