Empress of J-Pop to withdraw from Japan, and focus on the US and Europe [Theory]

[y_nathz]

whoa thx for posting ^^
this is interesting !
i hope she can speak english well ~ not 'engrish'

[maikaru]

Even if this is fake, you should remembered what she said to CNN.

"If people will listen, I will go anywhere in the world."

[truehappiness]

I always remember that, but I don't think it'll be any time soon.. maybe her 15th/20th anni.?

[Mirrorcle]

Originally Posted by truehappiness

I always remember that, but I don't think it'll be any time soon.. maybe her 15th/20th anni.?

20th!? She'd be about 40 then. D;

[keikeiaznqueen]

Yeah... IF Ayu is going to tour or even just create some kind of presence outside of Asia, it's gotta be now, or in the next couple of years, otherwise the timing won't work out.

Also, this is Ayu we're talking about. In her TA post, she said to believe in her whatever she does. So I'll do that. I think that Ayu understands the kind of image she has, and what she can and cannot do if she is to expand her market beyond Asia. Now, one of the first things she probably already understands is that she can't do the same thing that BoA and Utada has done-- namely changing their image to try and suit mainstream American taste. This would pretty much destroy Ayu's image in Japan which made her successful for so many years in the first place. Ayu's known to be honest and reflecting. Look at what happened when the Sparkle lyrics were first released and how that was received in Japan (and even on this forum)? Do you really think that a hormonally charged US album in English would work well for Ayu? Her loyal fans who fell in love with Ayu for her signature music style probably won't fall in love with a BoA/Utada-esque debut in America. I think Ayu understands this herself. There's no doubt that Avex and Max Matsuura will consider all this information because they just have to think about all this before they do anything.

So yeah, I don't think there's any need to be afraid that Ayu will try to be someone else in order to gain popularity in the US. Also, the comparison to J-rock visual-kei bands is rather weak because as people have already pointed out, VK bands don't have much money in all this even in Japan anyway. That's why they branch out. Ayu is pretty much the complete opposite. She has all the money in Japan. If she is to branch out, it's to meet her fans outside of Asia, purely because she has the desire to do so and not because she wants the money. For these reasons I think it's likely that she will be herself.

Also, good viral marketing on the internet by Avex would be great. I know Avex has a crazy marketing force. If they manage to do what they did during A BEST, but in an evolved way to suit this even more digital era, then hey, you'll never know what can happen then.

As far as this goes though, it'd be nice if Ayu can as a result hold a few extravagant lives outside of Asia. I'd love to see that happen.

[AyuHamasaki01]

Eeh, this is probably good news right? if it's true of course.

[aqua_crystal]

"Ayu is slowly falling out of the entertainment industry"? Is that really true? She may not have as many fans, but her concerts, autographs, releases are still worth something right?

Anyways, she should NOT focus on outside of Asia. She doesn't belong there.

[freedreamer]

Thing is...I dont want her to make English songs just to get into the market....She should still do Japanese songs...(which has ALREADY gotten her fans from the WORLD)...She can make more promotions there but I hope she would still retain her roots and stuff....

<3 her

[krazeyo]

This isn't from FRIDAY It's a newspaper from China saying that FRIDAY was thinking of these theories. He said/she said stuff China/Taiwan tend to print a lot of trash about stars in their newspapers, so I wouldn't believe this article. The things about the apartment/diamond toilet (an old TA post had it!) seem plausible though.

[C+R+E+AYUMI]

mmmh..too beautiful to be true...

[Dan.C]

Originally Posted by truehappiness

It's rather funny how people still think that her touring was what 'caused' the hearing loss, haha.

Then what was it?
I don't like to be Ayu's fan and not know what caused her ear to cease functioning. Enlighten me.

[nanakopy87]

if its true,it will be very surprising...but i don't hope she'll do so...i still prefer she stay in ASIA only...

[zyoeru]

Originally Posted by Dan.C

Then what was it?
I don't like to be Ayu's fan and not know what caused her ear to cease functioning. Enlighten me.

It was probably tinnitis, but she carried on working, even when the doctor told her not to. So in part it was her touring that caused the deafness.

[Tony G]

This sounds like bull to me. The whole "secret boyfriend" stuff just disproves the rest of the article. I wonder what her "big decision" is but.

And she is branching out into Asia, yet this tour she's done more dates in Japan than ever and not a single date outside of Japan.

[zyoeru]

Well, we can only speculate until Ayu decides to give us a definite answer.

[douggn]

I hope she does well if she does trie go out of asia but I thought rule was a flop in drangonball Z movie, not the song but everything they did with it like taking it out of the US trailer and blah, but I can't imagin her singing english but she probably test with a song/tour or something like that before she fully trie and make her move from asia but this is just rumor at the moment so we just have to waid and see I think it will good to see ayu on my tv without putting her on

[njanjayrp]

Even if this is true, I hope she'll keep writing her lyrics, I also hope she'll be working with the same composers and that her lyrics won't turn into mediocre garbage. In other words I am hoping she'll be doing everything the opposite of what Utada and BoA did. But I guess it's better to wait for a credible source

[CoriKaru]

Nah, this isn't true and if it were it'd be bad news.

[Meat Pao]

The moment I saw that the article was from China I couldn't be bothered to read the rest of it

[njanjayrp]

Originally Posted by Meat Pao

The moment I saw that the article was from China I couldn't be bothered to read the rest of it

FRIDAY is a Japanese magazine