I'd say it was 2009, which seems relatively late (though even that is no 5 years in the past, whaaat).
The first time I heard Ayu's songs was a year or two before, but I really became a fan after NEXT LEVEL. I heard the album and got interested enough to try and find some more of the same good stuff. Sunrise/Sunset passed me by, but by the time You were.../BALLAD was released, I was following her actively. When Rock'n'Roll Circus came out, I was pretty deeply immersed in her previous works and definitely a fan.
