Alright, I'm going to start with the necessary disclaimer, since a lot of folk here get triggered by bringing up anyone else's name, etc. I've been a fan of Ayu for nearly 19 years, have been following Hikki since Distance, a fan of Koda Kumi since her second album, and a fan of Namie since around Love Enhanced. So all this to say, I've been following these women for longer than some of you have been alive.
But seriously, I've gone through phases with ALL of them where I've liked them more or less, and feel like I have a pretty firm grasp on their careers, personas, styles, etc.
There's a lot to unpack in these comments. So let's dig in, in no particular order, and with me being to lazy to re-read a lot of the above diatribes.
Myth #1: Being an artist means constantly innovating or pushing the envelope. Nope, nope, nope. Artistry comes in so many different forms, and for many it is about knowing who you are and continuing to to develop that vision (with more or less success). BoA, for example, is a DANCER - she can put pretty much any other performer out there to shame (with the exception of maybe Koda Kumi). As of late her Korean music has been more innovative, but being an innovative musician was never really her deal (and personally I've always found her Korean music to be second-string to her Japanese). For Ayu, she has a very clear image of who she is - and who she isn't. She tries new things here and there, but her artistry is in refining the image of "Ayumi Hamasaki" - there is a certain contradiction here of artistry vs. product, but that's also part of Ayu, isn't is? See my post in the other thread, but I think Ayu is a "genuine/authentic product" if you will. The hypocrisy in orbitalaspect's comments are insane because he bashes Ayu for repeating herself, when he stans for Hikki in her thread. Fantome is nothing more than an Adult Contemporary version of Deep River, and everything she's released leading up to its follow-up has proven to be nothing more than b-sides and rejects from Fantome. I'll give you that even though I didn't particularly like them (see Ultra Blue, Heart Station, etc.), Hikki has always been willing to play with sounds, genres, etc. Even if you look at her tours, which have been far and few between, they're mostly her standing there with horrid vocals - but please, go ahead and bash Ayu for recycling some concepts when she tours every single year. Hell, even Koda Kumi recycles performances, uses the same choreography, etc. - even if the outfits and lighting have changed.
Myth #2: Touring performers are less artistic. It's a well-known fact that touring generates more money than making music, so I'm not going to argue that. And, at the end of the day, as much as any of these women love making music, they're not trying to be poor. Making money doesn't make you less artistic, either. As for touring, I really think Koda Kumi is probably the most innovative of the bunch in recent years, and you can tell she really loves touring and trying new things. Ayu, on the other hand, is again working on refining the image she has in her head - sometimes to more or less success. In recent years she is more focused on incremental improvements or changes, instead of the sweeping changes she made while she was still trying to find her groove. Also worth noting, the music industry has changed and there's no doubt that she has less budget than she used to, so she's probably doing what she can to put on a show. Meanwhile, someone like Namie literally does the same thing over and over again, just with different lights and videos (since props aren't really her thing), and gets applauded for having such a hard work ethic. I love Namie, and I lived for her Finally Dome Tour - but it was also exactly what I wanted, which was her 20th Dome Tour repeated but with more songs from Finally and fewer from Uncontrolled. Don't get it twisted - the videos were stunning, and the lighting was amazing, but there was no plot, no theme, and no coherence throughout the whole thing.
Myth #3: Growing up means losing artistry. I'm sorry if y'all are still angsty AF and have the emotional capacity of a high schooler and are looking for some lyrics that are going to make you curl up in the fetal position and cry about your long-lost boyfriend of 3 months. Love has always been a central theme for Ayu - arguably Love & Freedom are at the heart of almost all she's done. She is a grown woman, and she's not going to be writing songs about not knowing where she fits in the world, or finding her way, or the struggle of moving from adolescence to adulthood. That worked for a while in her career, and it was genuine - but just because she's not struggling doesn't mean she's not artistic. Love is universal, and it is human and she has explored that in so many different ways. She's also written some pretty hard-hitting songs in other ways - sorrows, IVY, mad world, etc. As others have mentioned, PQ has some dark songs too, and lyrically is on point. As does Love Songs. But I find Ayu's lyrics to be much more adult now than earlier - and while certain of her older songs will always hit me someplace that pulls up something from when I was younger, I appreciate the variety of songs she has now - from complicated feelings, to saying screw it I want to party and have a good time.
Myth #4: Sales (good or bad) is any measure of artistry. I see arguments on both ends here, but sales has nothing to do with artistry. Also, if you want to talk about trends and analytics, do some benchmarking - even with greatly reduced sales, the only ones doing better than Ayu are Namie, Hikki, and the AKB family. Calling her recent works a "flop" means that 80% of the Japanese music market is not even relevant.
As for other random tidbits, GUILTY definitely is toward the bottom of her list of albums - there's nothing wrong with it, and it has some solid songs, but it's pretty meh overall. Again, as someone who has been around for most of her career I can say it is NOT a holy grail album, just because a handful of foreign fans think so. It was her first album to NOT go #1, so based on previous logic, it was a flop and the wrong direction to go. CNN Talk Asia was an international program, not a US broadcast. As foreign fans, there really is SO MUCH about the Japanese market, psychology, and tastes that gets lost - yet that doesn't stop people from talking like they know what the issue with Ayu is. And don't get me wrong, there are a lot of different things I would LOVE to see Ayu do differently, or that I think would help her career. But, at the end of the day, I'm not unhappy with her output and I don't think she wants to do those things.