Quote:
Originally Posted by Larien
Slightly off-topic, but I thought BRILLANTE really was about Manny (and yes, her career)
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You're not the only one with those theories, but I just don't see that. I feel like those theories are coming from people knowing the "goodbye" part of the lyrics but not any more of the details.
Just so everyone else here understands where I'm coming from...
"I'm writing this with you in my heart...
For the last time, I've decided."
"For just a little too long, I've remained in the darkness, but
now it's time to go."
"What had been two became one.
And then became two again. That's all there is to it.
All we've done is return to where we started, right?"
"The road that continues from here is too narrow,
so I can't walk down it aligned with you anymore."
The protagonist here is an insecure, introspective woman trying to stop herself from overanalyzing what could have possibly gone wrong in a past long-term relationship that ended. She's been at it for years, writing and thinking and trying to sort out her feelings and figure it all out in the hopes that it would be cathartic or therapeutic and would stop the pain. But it never did. So in this song, she's saying "fine, I'm done thinking about it." Whether or not her resolution holds remains to be seen.
For the record, I don't think "You & Me" is about anyone we know of. It sounds like it was a fling, one of the "night of fun, morning of loneliness" situations she was probably referring to in "Last angel," albeit a particularly affecting one that's really stuck with her. That's if it's even about HER, and not about an experience of one of her friends. I don't think the "far off summer" in "You & Me" is the same one talked about in past songs like "fairyland."
ANYWAY back on topic! So sorry for the long post.
As for avex and how it's run. I don't know how many of you guys remember the leadership shift & scandal in 2004. Former CEO Tom Yoda was trying to branch avex out into movies, anime, and games to a greater degree. Well Max Matsuura said "screw that" and quit Avex - he'd founded a company that existed to market MUSIC, and he was concerned the company under Yoda's leadership wasn't focused enough on the love of music. He didn't LIKE the blind pursuit of profit. Ayu and several other artists said they were following Max wherever he went, and effectively left avex as well. Avex's stock plummeted as a result, Tom Yoda was fired (he works for Rakuten now), and Max Matsuura came back to the company so none of the artists had to find new labels. So now Max is CEO, president, and chief shareholder.
In any case, a man who fought for the label's love of music can't really be blamed for the business procedures. He wants what's best for the company too (he DOES own 4.8% of the company too, so yeah of course he wants it to be profitable). That said, this is a 20 year old company. When you work for the same place for 20 years, and that place is your life, it's VERY easy to lose touch with the outside world. Older tech companies of all types have died out due to age, because when you're inside a company like that, you don't realize how fast things are going for other, newer companies, or companies where the leadership constantly changes. At other labels, new businesspeople & marketing people are cycled in & out all the time. Avex feels like a gigantic mom & pop operation, where the people working there are a family & all know each other. There isn't much outside influence coming in, which means avex takes longer embracing new trends (like blu-ray and youtube) compared to other labels. The VAST majority of the other labels are also owned by one of the US Big 4 labels (Sony, Warner, Universal, EMI... big 3 if Universal is allowed to acquire EMI, dunno what the status is on that), which means a ton of west-to-east conversation, trading, and business travel. Not so with Avex. They're, by the traditional definition, an independent label (which is to say, not owned by any of the big three/four).
Anyway, Max, right now, is probably doing more A&R and oversight as CEO of the company. One of the first things he did was sign Ami Suzuki, giving her a second chance when no one else did for nearly five years after her blacklisting. Lately he's probably focused more on working with SM and YG to bring Kpop acts to Japan, since they're extremely profitable right now. Max has a business life outside of Ayu, and he trusts her to do her own thing after knowing her as long as he has. I wouldn't be shocked to find out he's VERY hands-off with her and in fact speaks to her relatively rarely. (I have my theory that the song "Letter," which seems to be a letter to Ayu, may be a summary of things he's said to her in letters recently.)
I, like many of you, am hoping for a very, very big 15th Anniversary. Ayu's 10th Anniversary was FUN. A COMPLETE, ayu-mi-x 6, the long-box singles, the limited edition postage stamps, the TeamAyu stuff, and oh man Ayu10th.com. That site was fun.
At least in its first version. But yeah that whole year was great. I'm really hoping for the 15th anniversary to be a real event. And after the last few years, a big 15th Anniversary would definitely do her some good. I don't really think it was the plan from the beginning for that to happen (it would be WAY too huge a risk to lower her sales on purpose beforehand, the market is extremely momentum-based), but it would be nice if things went on an upswing next year.