Distance

[greggerz189]

For some reason, I feel distant from Ayu right now...It's hard to explain. But ever since (miss) and Startin' came out, I feel that Ayu and I have grown apart. Maybe it's just because she's in her in-between period--between singles, but she feels far away from me. I am usually very dependent on Ayu's music in my life -- I rely on her music to get me through each day and keep my spirits high (I don't think she's a god or anything, she's just theraputic XD), and I used to be able to listen and it would be like she was right with me, consoling me in her own special way even though she wasn't really there (you know what I mean?)...but now, it's like I can't feel her personality as much anymore. I'm not saying that her music lacks personality or anything, but I feel like Ayu is far away right now. I'm not bashing her or anything and I still love her music and think she's #1, but there's lots of distance. Maybe she's off recording her next single? I'm sorry if this sounds confusing, but I was just wondering if anyone else feels that Ayu is distant from us right now? Maybe I'm just feeling weird? XD I apologize if what I said offended anyone or confused anyone, but if you get what I mean, then I would like to discuss it. I guess the biggest feeling I have about Ayu right now is that I miss her. Again, I don't know if this makes any sense whatsoever, but I feel as if she has gone somewhere, and she's going to come back soon, but she's been gone for a long time. Miss....? Yeah, I think I miss Ayu.

[DDR ninja]

^lol wow greggerz that was a long post ^_^ But I know what you mean actually, I think. I listen to Ayu a lot, but lately I've been listening to other artists a lot more and depended on their music a lot more than Ayu's, like Mika, Utada Hikaru, Lee Jung Hyun, Gackt, Rin' and other random artists, but especially T.M. Revolution. I don't listen to her as much as I used to. I would talk more on the subject but I must got to bed... @_@

Don't apologize for what you feel. Always stay true to your opinions even if people beat them up or get offended.

I miss the old Ayumi as well. She's not 'original' nor 'edgy'. She's become bland and doesn't release with the quality she use to.

I've grown apart from her new things as well.

Old material all the way to Memorial Address is loved by me. I don't care what annoying crazed fan says about not supporting Ayumi for every single she releases. If I don't like it, I don't like it.

Cheers to you.

[truehappiness]

That's true though.

I fear the time where I feel I might be apart from Ayu. Her songs are like therapy for troubled souls.. her lyrics reflect many people's emotions at the moment, and there's just about one Ayu song or more for every feeling you can feel. :]

She'll probably come back to you, so don't worry about it

[greggerz189]

Oh I'm so glad that all made sense to you guys!! ::breathes a sigh of relief:: I don't think that the quality of her music has gone down -- I know she's just dabbling in other styles, but I feel like she half-assed (miss)understood. I still bought both versions of the album, and I'll always support Ayu, but like I said--the distance...I think she's just a little too commercial right now--too cookie-cutter. I guess maybe deep down I think that she's lacked originality lately, I just didn't want to come out and downright say it. I mean, generally I don't think that's the case, because some of my all-time favorites of Ayu's are on (miss) like HEAVEN and Bold & Delicious. But I truly feel like she rushed the album.

^^See how confused and conflicted I am!!! XD

thanks a bunch truehappiness--I really appreciate what you said. I'm sure she'll come back to me too. ^___^

Hm...I think I'm going to write to Ayu. I had planned on sending her a set of lyrics I wrote about her and her influence in my life, and I managed to use quite a bit of her song titles and still have the lyrics make sense!! Woot! Anyway, I planned on sending it to her a long time ago, and I think that now that I'm feeling distant, I might. I'll probably write a cover letter saying that my japanese is ICK! and that's why I'm writing in English, but I'm hoping she'll find a translator!

[truehappiness]

It might be quite hard to get mail to the most influential jpop queen in japan! :x

However, I do not believe she half-assed (miss)understood. I think that it feels sort of rushed due to the mass of GEO songs [no offense to GEO]. Ayu had a plan for the album, however her interest in Sweetbox and the staff's intervention of getting GEO caused Bold and Delicious' creation along with the other album tracks. I suspect that the 'team up!' happened in between August and October, since rainy day was already announced for Shin Onimusha by them. :x Plus, the album was done by November! Ayu recorded a bunch of the songs in NY as well. [I suspect she did the GEO songs there..]

[Mad_Cactuar]

The way you said it was like Ayu had died and we didn't know because Avex is covering up to put Ai Otsuka in disguise to act like Ayu and announce to the people that "I am retiring, here's my list CD, A Bestest!" to delude the masses so Avex could profit without Ayu's death getting in theway, and you could feel it.

It's just one single, don't worry, she'll get back soon. Maybe with something like Heaven...

[truehappiness]

No no!

They were speaking of Ayu not feeling like.. usual for the last two releases. [the album + the single]. In my opinion, she generated a sound that is so RADICALLY different that it really doesn't fit her or we're just not used to it because usually we have this one Ayu sound.

Another reason for greggerz confusion can be due to the GEO composition. x.x I want more CREA and DAI and Kazuhito Kikuchi.

[MeMeMeChant]

Ah, yes, I know how you feel.

Ayumi really sparks people's interests and she... keeps them company. Like a lot of people say, she makes people not feel alone anymore and it's great. I'm one of those people.

Her newest single.. the lyrics didn't really reach me like the older ones. Teens is wonderful but the other two are a bit.. meh. I've been experiencing the distance myself, which scares me because she's one of those people I want to keep close, I don't know why the distance is there suddenly, ever since the new year began it seems as if a wall just dropped inbetween us.

My interest for her newest concert has been able to go through that wall and be a little closer to Ayumi again. I'm sure it'll work for you too. Don't worry about it. =]

[truehappiness]

Teens was NOT an Ayu lyrical work. It was done by TRF first. [Ayu covered it in their latest album and the acoustic version is on the single]

I think that Born to Be... and Startin' accurately convey the feelings of the products they were meant to endorse :]

[Mad_Cactuar]

Born To Be... is like her old stuff though, only much better. Much "modern". So no need to feel distance.. Maybe you could listen to all her old stuff again. Memorial Address and Duty are still good even now.

[truehappiness]

Yeah, it is like her old stuff.. but..

A lot of her new things can be listened to now and still be good. You just need to wait a while for them to become like finewine <3

[cause you can't know if something will be good in a year.. in a day,.. o-o] xD

[hallelujah_united]

Don't feel too sad about feeling like this, maybe you're just not getting used to her new style. Plus, you could always enjoy whatever you have now, and put those negative feelingsto one side. Music is meant to be appreciated and enjoyed, not obsessed over.

[Qt Mashi]

hmmmm...i know how you feel and i think i sort of feel the same, i noticed in these past few weeks and it's hard to explain but yeah...i think it's because i was quite dissappointed with her last 2 singles....i just don't feel hyper about her things anymore which makes me sad =(

hope Ayu comes back soon =)

[AyUmIXx]

greggerz189: you must be really a big fan of her..

I just started to like her since 2003...
and now her works are growing into me just now...
everytime I saw her pictures or anything that talks about her...I'll definitely really surprise about it and feel so happy about it...

when there's a singing competition that is being held in one of the Plaza in my country, they are using Ayu's picture, the evolution single one as the singing competition advertisement..it's a very huge picture of Ayu.. even though they are using Ayu's old picture..but in my country, Japanese singers are seldom to be heard or sold...I'm like..OH MY GOD..they're using Ayu's picture.. and I keep looking at the picture for a lot of time..and feel proud about it...

though my friends asked me to attend the competition and sing Ayu's songs.. but.. I think it's not gonna be really good to sing japanese songs in front of the people who don't really know about Japanese songs...

and Yes..I'm growing up into her very deep now!

[DDR ninja]

Originally Posted by AyUmIXx

greggerz189: you must be really a big fan of her..

OH Yeah! Definitely You should see him at school, it's very amusing LOL But I guess I can't say much since I'm a big fan too...

Anywayz, greggerz, as I was saying before I know what you mean. Some of her songs are gonna be good and some aren't gonna be as good as others. Startin' and her My Story album aren't as good as her other albums, but they still are quality! I like all of Ayu's songs to some extent, there may be songs that I don't care for as much as others but there's no Ayu song I absolutely hate, which is why she's one of my top fav artists! ^^ what am I trying to say exactly? aaack! I think I'm a bit confused too.

I think a lot of it has to do with her different style. It seems as if her style is slowly changing ever since her My Story album. Personally, I feel that all though Startin' is a good song it lacks the symbolism and high quality classiness that is common to most of her songs (example: Moments, Fairyland, Heaven, all are high quality-classy-symbolistic PVs) and give them more meaning. Startin' was an interesting PV but I didn't feel like it had meaning like her other songs. But it's just one single. Who knows what Ayu will come up with next! Remember our discussion? She's still got it! She's definitely still got it!

Maybe also we're a bit disappointed that (miss)understood didn't break a million. Ayu's got some fierce competition out there, like Koda Kumi, and she doesn't seem to be the icon we're used to seeing. But like you said before, she's not aiming to be number one, she doesn't even perform on Taisho anymore even though she can because she's giving other artists a chance. And remember you were telling me how she still performed for her fans even after all that drama with her losing her hearing and breaking her leg? There's no doubt she's very dedicated to her fans and also her music. She's not trying to be number one, I feel that she continues her career for her love of music and her fans. That's a good thing! (T.M. Revolution's like that too ^_^ and I remember you said BoA has that same dedicatioin too ^^ awesome artists are like that) Any artist who takes on that sort of attitude is bound to come up with something new that will blow us all awaaayy!! @.@ Have faith greggerz, though Ayu is distant from us at the moment, she WILL come back and when she comes back she will kick butt! Yay Ayu!! You go girl!! XD

Whew, this is a long post, but I had a lot to say ^^; I don't feel distant from T.M. Revolution at all, although I did slightly a little while back only because I hadn't heard from him in a long time becuase the Japanese TV we get here is limited and he stopped coming to HEy Hey Hey T.T But then he came on Kouhaku! Woohooo! And then he released a new album! Double woohoo! And then I discovered the existence of region code-less live concert DVDs. Yaaaaaay!! XD So there's no distance at all now I'm sure the same thing will happen w/ Ayu. Don't worry Oh, greggerz, if you have the time please check out my poll in the gaming section. I highly value your opinions and it would be interesting to see what you would have to say ^_^

[bluegie]

everyone dun worry about that... ayu will be back to your heart pretty soon. i had the same experience during the Dearest --> A BALLADS era. It's funny tho the reason of me (feeling) distant from ayu is kinda opposite. During that period I feel like she's just repeating the same type of song again and again and I was getting tired of them (e.g., Free & Easy sounds like M; Indepedent sounds like her ones; etc.). After "&" suddenly the distance is shorten and now I'm OK with her release (except her pvs.. maybe..). You can't hope that you'll get hyper for every single song she releases. There're some types you dun like. Probly there're 3 consecutive singles you dun really like. But if you can stay tight at this position and not getting further, you'll be back pretty soon from that distance. Trust me, I enjoyed her latest music not because she tries to invent something new. It's just I think ayu is doing something on her own other than making herself as avex vending machine.

[SheFliesHigher]

Well, I can't say I feel the same as you do, but I have been having different feelings as of late. Feelings like sadness and nostalgia because Ayu isn't as popular or influential as she used to be. I think it's a real shame that (Miss)Understood didn't sell 1 million copies, because I absolutely love that album. It hurts me in a way, yanno? Because I feel attached to Ayu. If people talk badly about her or something like that, I feel like they are talking badly about a friend. I don't mean when people say, "I hated this song" etc...I mean when people say things like, "she's not beautiful" or "she can't sing".

I am going to Ayu's concert on April 15th, so I am looking forward to being surrounded by lots of other fans. I think that will show me that Ayu is still well-loved.

[tomoko-stepyou]

Originally Posted by SheFliesHigher

Well, I can't say I feel the same as you do, but I have been having different feelings as of late. Feelings like sadness and nostalgia because Ayu isn't as popular or influential as she used to be. I think it's a real shame that (Miss)Understood didn't sell 1 million copies, because I absolutely love that album. It hurts me in a way, yanno? Because I feel attached to Ayu. If people talk badly about her or something like that, I feel like they are talking badly about a friend. I don't mean when people say, "I hated this song" etc...I mean when people say things like, "she's not beautiful" or "she can't sing".

I am going to Ayu's concert on April 15th, so I am looking forward to being surrounded by lots of other fans. I think that will show me that Ayu is still well-loved.

Yeah, I agree totally.I really don't want to offend anyone but the reason i've felt a little distant is that ayu isn't as popular as she was, and I think it's really sad that happens and I feel so sorry for ayu; I've only known about ayu for a few months so it is kinda hard to judge...I just think that with a new song or two, or a new image (a new haircut will TOTALLY stimulate everyone) is what she needs. It's an awkward way to feel because you feel like she's a friend, but for some reason you're not able to talk to your best friend about how you feel about her.
The main thing that will affect this is just a re-awakening of fans, because I think that the whole atmosphere of the low record sales are getting us down. I just have to keep in mind that with downloads the sales WILL of course go down. Arena Tour will get us through maybe.

[ayu_ready?]

ummm
so, then, greggerz,
what do you supposed to do now?
I hope you still will be fan
(cause one my friend quitted with Ayumi a little time ago,
now she goes for Koda more
(is Koda better than Ayumi so much? ))
well
just everything turned at another-another point
with "INSPIRE"
cause music became so rocky and just different style too, different image too, different lyrics
all these caused another impression, eh?
still, I have to say
that through these years,
Ayumi became better in some ways (performance,exmpl, vocal),
IMO
maybe I'm not right, who knows...
but we do love her!
let's support her till an end!
will we?!

(and one more thing...
Ayumi has grown up, right?
now she looks at things differently then she did
I think this fact influences too...)