Your Relationship with Ayumi Hamasaki

[jbrat2219]

When you look at Ayumi Hamasaki, do you see Ayu, the human being, or do you see Ayumi Hamasaki the Entertainer? Is there a grey area?


I see Ayu the human being. I've been listening to Ayu since I was in middle school and I've always had a connection with her music. I hadn't seen a concert of hers until CDL 05-06 almost 4 years after becoming a fan. So I never really saw her as Ayumi Hamasaki the Entertainer. It was always her music that kept me coming back. My interest in artists as entertainers is very flimsy. I don't invest as much in them nor follow them as closely as I do Ayu.

How do you think that affects what you want from what she does? What do you want from her?

I think that makes me a lot more comfortable with her music direction. I'm not looking to be entertained as much. If I don't like something, I'm on to the next one but there's rarely anything I don't like from her. All I want from her is for her to follow her judgement, if she takes other ideas or influences or criticisms into consideration, cool. But I don't want her to be come the kind of artist whose sole purpose is to please for a pay check. I'd like her to keep her artistic integrity.

Do you think that being so close to Ayu with social media affects your view of
her?

I'm not close to her social media to be honest. I was when she first got a twitter account but not so much any more. It doesn't affect my view of her.

How do you feel about the way other people see Ayu?

Mostly, I don't care. But when they have views that tend to objectify her or are largely very negative about her, I tend to either ignore it or get defensive.

Are you a little pig-headed about your opinions?

I try not to be. If I come off that way it's not personal. Sometimes it takes a while to understand the other point of view when it's so different from your own.

[Coelacanth]

Originally Posted by haikudasai

I actually stopped posting here because whenever I posted a comment about something in particular that I didn't like I'm told to leave, I'm told to go listen to her old works, I'm told that I'm not a fan, I'm told that I always post the same thing when I rarely post here anymore, I'm told I'm a "hater".

I'm sure I was guilty of this back in the day when I was a young stan. I joined here when I was 13, so some of my old posts probably reek of angst and immaturity. It's funny, I think it wasn't until I started forming negative opinions of my own is when I started to understand and start to become more accepting of other people's opinions. Some individuals (including myself) can always be a little stubborn about their own opinions and defend that position until the end.