What Nanami said is right, though. Of all of my Japanese friends, not one of them like Ayu. A few of them even booed when they heard I liked her! But they like the same style of music as me. Some went to A-Nation '03 to support Do As Infinity and BoA, but weren't particularly interested in Ayu.

I hate to use the stupid Britney Spears analogy, because artistically the two are nothing alike. But as far as being a pop-culture icon, they both have huge influence. At the start, everyone kind of could enjoy a Britney Spears song. She was fresh and new and cute. But in recent years it's become almost shameful to be an avid Britney Spears fan. She's just so famous that 1/3 the country hates her, 1/3 the country loves her, and the remaining 1/3 don't commit to either side.

One of my friends, cooincidentally, did like Ayu at a time. She had all her singles and albums. But she stopped after Duty. When I was in Japan, I came to see that pattern for a lot of people. The "post-I-Am..." era is when Ayu started to lose a bit of her mass-appeal and become a love-her or hate-her status artist.