Ayu: Anything Goes [XXI]

[truehappiness]

Last topic filled so...

Conversation was about Duty and GUILTY's leopard print.

Next, why were you considering following up last year's "white Ayu" and "black Ayu" with this CD jacket's "Leopard Ayu"?
A: Because for some reason I just really wanted to do it! (laughs) Before, I kept asking myself "Why do I wanna do White Ayu and Black Ayu?" and stuff but there was absolutely no reason for it, but lately, doing things with no reason isn't so scary to me. So it's just like, "I'm gonna do this!"
http://ahsforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=95766

I see her as beast at the cage.
There was interview somewhere around Guilty, she refers to Duty and that leopard print... Can't find

Basically though IMO I think leopard print = Ayu for her.

[Amalgam]

Originally Posted by truehappiness

Last topic filled so...

Conversation was about Duty and GUILTY's leopard print.



Basically though IMO I think leopard print = Ayu for her.

I've always thought that she wears leopard when she's trying to project boldness/strength.

[himawariii6]

I really love Duty's leopard theme.

[Amalgam]

Originally Posted by himawariii6

I really love Duty's leopard theme.

I love it, but only in relation to the SURREAL PV.

I do like the symbolism of the leopard Ayu - she's the animal at the zoo that's there to sit pretty in a cage, dressed in a tight outfit and in an opulent room.
It almost distracts about one of the bars in the cage being bent, as if she's trying to escape.

[tokyoxjapanxfan]

List bing to STEP you for the first time in a while, and I forgot how good it is! The music itself has so many layers to it. The single was pretty perfect imo. The live version of step you has been played out. And made all cute.

[Zeke.]

Originally Posted by tokyoxjapanxfan

List bing to STEP you for the first time in a while, and I forgot how good it is! The music itself has so many layers to it. The single was pretty perfect imo. The live version of step you has been played out. And made all cute.

Omg yes, the layers are just one reason why that track is so infectious. I have so much gratitude for it, even to this day. I feel honored to have been blessed with it honestly, lol.

I wouldn't agree about the live version though, probably because I always hoped it wouldn't reach that point before I got a chance to hear it live, which I finally did. I think having to watch it constantly via DVD - in that case it may be played out, but I would be happy seeing it every damn year if I could afford to attend her shows annually.

[Earth_maiden]

Originally Posted by tokyoxjapanxfan

List bing to STEP you for the first time in a while, and I forgot how good it is! The music itself has so many layers to it. The single was pretty perfect imo. The live version of step you has been played out. And made all cute.

All I wanted to hear Ayu sing when I went to see her was STEP you and I missed out both times. It was basically the first song of hers that I fell in love with (my friend gifted me miss understood when it came out and after being confused by bold and delicious, this was THE song for me). One day!!!

[tokyoxjapanxfan]

I can't believe I was auto corrected into "list bing"--wtf lol. "Listening"

I just wish the live version was changed up a bit, much like her other songs that get similar treatments each time they're performed.

[!Lawi!]

I guess the premium showcase version was different, more sexy than cute. Step you is my first ever Ayu song, it’ll always have a special place in my little fan heart!

[mi|kshake]

I haven't enjoyed the recent Step You performances as much as the AT05 one. I wish she would perform it like that again.

[truehappiness]

I feel a lot of Ayu's legendary tracks from that era got "dumbed down" a lot. Like what the heck is with live Ladies Night? It needs to be rock, not that... thing.

[Aderianu]

~another night~ is adorable

[Bigtop]

Well, tomorrow is Ayu's birthday (October 2nd), and she's going to turn 39 years old, but things haven't been really interesting in the world Ayu recently for me, and Ayu's next show is on Wednesday, as she's taking the weekend off...

I still have to wonder - what's with those 'mid-week' (e.g. Wednesday, Thursday) concert dates? It's typical mid-week days, and this is from a singer that used to be big at least 10-15 years ago...

Originally Posted by Aderianu

SECOND CHAPTER ~sacrifice~ <Hall Performance>
September 2017 - November 2017
✓ 10. 2017.09.06 - Kanagawa: Pacifico Yokohama Great Hall
✓ 11. 2017.09.07 - Kanagawa: Pacifico Yokohama Great Hall
✓ 12. 2017.09.11 - Fukuoka: Fukuoka Sun Palace Hall
✓ 13. 2017.09.12 - Fukuoka: Fukuoka Sun Palace Hall
X --. 2017.09.16 - Tokushima: Naruto City Cultural Center
✓ 14. 2017.09.18 - Kochi: Kochi Prefectural Cultural Hall
✓ 15. 2017.09.28 - Shizuoka: Shizuoka City Cultural Hall
✓ 16. 2017.09.29 - Shizuoka: Shizuoka City Cultural Hall
• 17. 2017.10.04 - Oita: Oita Iichiko Grand Theater
• 18. 2017.10.05 - Kumamoto: Kumamoto Prefectural Theater
• 19. 2017.10.11 - Fukui: Phoenix Plaza
• 20. 2017.10.12 - Ishikawa: Honda No Mori Hall
• 21. 2017.10.17 - Mie: Mie Prefectural Culture Hall
• 22. 2017.10.18 - Gifu: Nagaragawa International Conference Hall
• 23. 2017.10.22 - Hyogo: Kobe International Hall
• 24. 2017.10.23 - Hiroshima: Hiroshima Cultural Academy HBG Hall
• 25. 2017.10.27 - Saitama: Omiya Sonic City
• 26. 2017.11.01 - Tokushima: Naruto City Cultural Center
• 27. 2017.11.02 - Ehime: Matsuyama City Hall
• 28. 2017.11.10 - Osaka: Festival hall
• 29. 2017.11.10 - Osaka: Festival hall
• 30. 2017.11.17 - Miyagi: Tokyo Electron Hall
• 31. 2017.11.21 - Chiba: Ichikawa City Cultural Center
• 32. 2017.11.22 - Yamanashi: Collany Cultural Hall
• 33. 2017.11.28 - Yamaguchi: Shunan City Cultural Center

[Amalgam]

I wish Ayu's PVs would get some effort nowadays. Last album's PVs were Flower and Mad World but both seemed ... cheap? I wish that she'd funnel her own money to her artistry (and I hate that I'm comparing them) like Taylor Swift does.

[Andrenekoi]

Originally Posted by Luniverse

I wish Ayu's PVs would get some effort nowadays. Last album's PVs were Flower and Mad World but both seemed ... cheap? I wish that she'd funnel her own money to her artistry (and I hate that I'm comparing them) like Taylor Swift does.

MIJ PVs most likely are the way they are out of a aesthetic choice more than lack of budget. The Sixxxxxx PVs seen to have a normal budget for a music video, for example.

[Amalgam]

Originally Posted by Andrenekoi

MIJ PVs most likely are the way they are out of a aesthetic choice more than lack of budget. The Sixxxxxx PVs seen to have a normal budget for a music video, for example.

Is it REALLY aesthetic choice, though?
She just doesn't seem to have the budget anymore, with the one photoshoot for every release, the reusing of Numero magazine shoots for covers, the very "dumbed down" cinematography...

its too noticeable.

I'm not expecting Fairyland for every PV, but there's almost no point in watching her PVs to me nowadays -and I'm a visual person.

[Andrenekoi]

Originally Posted by Luniverse

Is it REALLY aesthetic choice, though?
She just doesn't seem to have the budget anymore, with the one photoshoot for every release, the reusing of Numero magazine shoots for covers, the very "dumbed down" cinematography...

its too noticeable.

I'm not expecting Fairyland for every PV, but there's almost no point in watching her PVs to me nowadays -and I'm a visual person.

This simpler, homemade-like sometimes, aesthetic is probably going to be one of the charascteristics of the 2010's, and you can see it through several pop acts since the late 2000's, even in the work of those known for being extravagant. Beyonce, Miley Cyrus, Sia, Utada Lorde are the names that came to mind right now, but even people like Gaga (Edge of Glory video, all the Joane era ones) and Madonna (Give it 2 me, Turn up the Radio) went there. I can't really think of many of Ayu's videos since Love Songs maybe that don't seen to nod to any current aesthetics if they weren't nodding to her own aesthetic.

Sayonara, Summer Diary, Winter Diary, Step by Step, Feel the Love, the Love Songs triology, etc are all normal to high budget music videos.

Also, a visual production doesn't always take all that money... Fairyland for sure doesn't look as expensive as it is, while videos that have conceptual visuals like alterna, Why, You were... Most like didn't cost that much.

[truehappiness]

Originally Posted by Luniverse

Is it REALLY aesthetic choice, though?
She just doesn't seem to have the budget anymore, with the one photoshoot for every release, the reusing of Numero magazine shoots for covers, the very "dumbed down" cinematography...

its too noticeable.

I'm not expecting Fairyland for every PV, but there's almost no point in watching her PVs to me nowadays -and I'm a visual person.

Mostly, she doesn't really want to be 'big' visually. She could certainly turn it on if she wanted to.

She has said in interviews that she isn't trying too hard anymore with certain aspects because she did it far too much early on in her career up to the point she was married to Tyson [I think].

I'm certain she has the budget there, she just allocates it to tours now. I mean, we can complain about it all we want or whatever but at the end of the day, if she wants to do this or that, she will do it.

[EndOfTheWorld]

I think the focus for Ayu right now and the last few years is on being an entertainer. Most of the attention goes towards performing on stage. Typically the tour supports the album but these days the album supports the upcoming arena tour of the year when it comes to Ayu.

[truehappiness]

I think if she wanted to she would do them 'big', but she chooses to make the concerts 'big' instead.