When you became an Ayu fan, what was it like?

[polka-dot-jewel]

I thought you had already seen her live, Deli! XD

I believe that every Ayu fan can see her live You just gotta put forth a lot of hard work and determination!!!

[Delirium-Zer0]

....and you have to pay alot of money, which I have never had. XD But my mom says that once I graduate college (which I shoulda done years ago, but i messed up), she'll send me to Japan. I'm gonna try & make that trip during one of Ayu's tours.

[Lanz16]

Nice thread Deli!

WHEN YOU BECAME AN AYU FAN?

I became a fan of Ayu since 2004 and supported her music by buying her CDs in July of 2007.
I was a freshman in high school when I discovered her unique style of music.

Before that happen, I saw a review about her first album(ASfXX) in a now-obsolete anime magazine in my country about 8 years ago. (I still have it until now)
And then I watched her performance in 2002 MTV Asian Awards performing M but I don't like her at first.

In 2004, thanks to the power of Limewire and the dial-up internet I had before, I managed to download Ayu's songs there but I got only few.

The first song I've listened to is A Song for XX.
And I was amazed on what the song lyrics was.
I mean, I've never seen an artist who uses honesty to her music in my whole life and writes all of her songs in an album.

During that time, the pre-release of MY STORY, I got really hooked on the song HONEY and it was the first Ayu song that I gone addicted before B&D.

The first live performance I watched is B&D. But I can't remember the station where she performed. >_<"

I started to save money in high school to buy her CDs but "man! they're all expensive! $30 for a CD, that's insane!!!" I said to myself when I look on Yesasia for it.
Its equivalent for 1500+ pesos, its really huge amount here in my country.
And the worst of all, I don't have credit card to buy one in that website.

I kept searching for a store with a reasonable payment method but it was no use.

2007 is such a wonderful to me when I finally discovered an online store that solves my huge problem on buying CDs online, it was CDJ.
Cash payment is kinda risky at first since I'll send it in a mail.
Thankfully, there's a Registered Mail kind of sending method.

After weeks of waiting, I finally got my very first Ayu CD, "glitter/fated" (CD+DVD).



And the rest is history.



WHAT WAS IT LIKE?

It is very privileged to become a fan of an artist who uses God given talent and she was very dedicated to her fans and to the people around her.

I mean, I was amazed by this woman's strength despite of worst times she's been through.

From over-work on her DOME TOUR and then got hospitalized for a while, losing her hearing in left ear, fall-down on the stairs due to fatigue and losing a dearest friend.

I got a lot of respect from her because of that: being a strong person.
That's one of the qualities that I like about her.

[asmAyumi1992]

Been an Ayu fan for 5 years. Saw her in a vid. A concert.

I don't know which artist is my favorite before this. I just like them but know nothing about them. After knowing Ayu, everything change. I became so obsessed to Ayu. I've waste a lot of my time on searching everything about Ayu. But because of her too, I know many things that goes on around the world and not just her.

[Calico]

I first discovered Ayu in March 2003. (I was 14!)

I had just gotten the internet for the first time that previous fall, and I was already really into anime and the like. I spent most of my time doing anime related stuff and downloading anime songs. Well, one of my fave rotation sites for anime songs also posted some occasional J-pop. I wanted to stay away from J-pop because it seemed way too...daunting. Too big. I was happy with "anime music". Well one day I really wanted something new to listen to and the person had uploaded "M". I recognized Ayu's name but had never listened to her before. So I downloaded it.

Rest is history!

Back then I really didn't know how to go about finding things. I mostly just google searched specific tracks and requested songs at various rotation sites. MP3s were hard for me to find in that day. A BALLADS was just coming out but I ignored that one. & was the first new release I paid attention to. Until I joined AHS later that year i got ALL my info from Primenova.

It's crazy how far my fandom has come. I'm still pretty obsessed with Ayu. I saw her live twice this year wihle I was abroad, and the latter one was single-handedly one of the greatest experiences of my life. She smiled and waved at me during evolution, my favorite song in the whole world. It was like my entire fandom and the past six years of listening to music was validated. It was pretty fackin' awesome.

[LacusClyne]

hmm...i thought i had posted in this thread but i guess i forgot.

anyway, i had been an ayu fan since 2001, i was only 15 years old...

She's more then my idol, ayu actually saved my life
----------------------------------
Back then in 2001, i was being isolated at school, my friends are all in other classes and hardly talk to me, even our recess priod is different. I was put into a class with repeat students and it was horrible....

The boys can't stand me, they found me an eyesore. i wasn't a pretty girl back then, had a horrible haircut, i'm wearing those big and baggy uniforms.They kept bullying me, erasing my completed homework, burning my textbooks, throwing rubbish on my desk, hiding my stuff are consider NOTHING. I had been kicked down from the stairs, and the most serious incident that made me so sad was trying to push me off the barrier from the 4th level, almost killing me.

I have no one to talk too, the teachers are useless, they are scared of them and my form teacher even walked up to them when they are selling pirated VCD DURING CLASS, and BUY from them. I don't dare to go to the principal either, coz i was too worried that the prinicipal will take the teachers' side. My parent are out of the question, my dad grow up in an environment where he was taught that the teachers are always right. He will believe the teacher over me.

My mind was so lost and angry. i had even planned to commit suide, by jumping down after school, i want those bullies to remember my death and be haunt by guilt forever.
I had cut my finger and wrote a letter in blood and stuck it under my pillow for my parent to find it when i passed away.

Just a few days before the day i plan to jump down, i went to a mall with my sis, we walked past a vendor selling pirated cds, and i saw Ayu's A Best. A best was just release back then, and there were plenty of advertisement in singapore about how ayu's lyrics had gave those japanese strength and change their lives.
Out of curiousity, i bought her album and....

the first track, a song for xx... totally wake me up.
I realise i wasn't alone in the world afterall, Ayu's lyrics is exactly what i was feeling.
It's scary, like someone whom you don't know, understands you and shares the same feeling. i feel so warm after reading the lyrics, and i cried so much....It was then i realise my life is more then that.
My parent had been always by my side and i would be very cruel to leave them, and my sister too, she's only 12. how can i do this to them?
i should be the one controling my life, not those bullies, if they are going to bully me at school and no one can help me, FINE! i won't go to school. I end up skipping school for 3 days, going to the library and read. I only go to school for 2 days and we are studying different courses.
NO ONE find out that i didn't go to school, till i got my results, coz i got a low grade and was demoted to a lower class. but i don't care, at least i'm still alive.

i was reborn in 2001, my thoughts and feelings are no longer the same, because of ayu.

as years passed, ayu's lyrics are just like my chicken soup.

I started to buy her albums and concerts since then, it's quite easy to find ayu's stuff in singapore actually. When i started earning more money in 2005, i started buying some concert goodies from a local store. My first ayu's single is [STEP you/is this LOVE?] coz i love [My name's WOMEN] song so much that i want to watch the pv, not to mention that the STEP you pv preview i saw on an entertainment show looks good.
The next year, my dad bought a computer for my sis for her schoolwork so i discover AYUNITE, then AHS. My first download live was Fairyland and i seriously love it!!!!
I started online purchases after (m)u, when i got my first debit card! It was heaven, having my cds in hands before it reach the local shore and all those AYUPANS~~~ OMG~~~ i can't find them in singapore.
There was a time when i was haunting in ebay and YAJ for cheap ayupans and second hand singles. i went overboard and got like 45+ ayupans within the first year....
In 2007 i started to buy her tour merchadies through middleman service and my collection had grow soooo much.

My dream....is to thank ayu for saving my life...i had live on another 8 years because of ayu

and to see her live in concert, be it taiwan/hongkong or JAPAN!!!!!

[asmAyumi1992]

^OMG! You make me cry with your true story! I did really cry! Seriously! It's good to see you alive

[rookies]

@ lacus: That sounds so sad. I'm glad things are better now, and that Ayu helped you overcome that part in your life.

[dreamland2.0]

Wow these stories are so nice!! made me teary eyed...
I actually don't really remember very much about my own experience though... I started out liking anime and all that then just listening to J-pop and I really liked Hikki this was about the latter part of 2007 and I remember thinking that Ayu was Hikki's rival and not wanting to listen to her!! I do remember seeing the Duty cover and thinking Ayu was a skank or something... and I saw some videos on veoh I think I don't really remember what my first one was
I do remember seeing Step you @ cdl 05-06 though. And I guess I kind of decided to download her whole discography one day off of JPS because I was obsessed with discographies in general!! lol and then I started listening from the beginning of her stuff but I didn't like any of it!! and I liked the remixes but they were of all her singles which I didn't like at the time. And so I gave up on that and decided to download her latest album GUILTY and I immediately right from Mirror I loved it so much!!! Then I went to the Pacific Mall again (yes the same one as Neffline!! which is so cool!! hehe it's my favourite mall ever!! It takes me like hours do get there on the bus from my school!! lol) anyways I wanted to buy a CD and Ayu's GUILTY was there and it was first press too, though I didn't know what first press was at the time... and that was when I started becoming a big fan!! I remember listening to RAINBOW in the summer of 2008 and really liking it! And then I was trying to decide if I should order A Complete but then I did like 2 weeks before the release date and it was probably the best thingthat I've ever bought because I immediately fell in love with all her singles!! I watched all her videos on that 10th anniversary video project avex had where they streamed all her videos! it was great!! I remember visiting AHS for some things and finally joined a year ago and I remember being all excited for green/days and going on this site during school and seeing the covers and everything! Quite exciting!
so I'm almost reaching 2 years with Ayu!! wooo time flies by!! She will forever be my favourite artist!

[Lanz16]

@Genie

Wow, I was amazed how Ayu touched your life by the lyrics.
Honestly, Im proud of your strength to move on your pains through it.
As I read your post, I got teary eyed.

I know how it feels to be being bullied and rejected in school.


A Song for XX is a mirror of a person's life in struggle.

[hsienko]

These are pretty neat.


I first heard about Ayu back around 2002 when RAINBOW was first released. I remember at this forum i used to frequent all the people there had like Ayu avatars and sigs and where going on and on about how awesome she was. So i googled her and found pictures of her. I didnt really like her look with the blonde hair and everything but I did like the pictures from the RAINBOW booklet. I never heard any music by her though. And then afterwards the hype dyed down and I forgot all about her.

Then Inuyasha came out in the US like 2004, sure I heard Dearest like everyone else, but for a long time I really hated that song with a passion.

Then in 2006, whenever I first discovered wikipedia (lol), I started wiki-ing like crazy. So somehow I remember Ayu so I typed in "ayu" and I read the entire page on her and everything and I was like "wow" and then I saw the cover for the RAINBOW album and decided to download it because I loved the cover so much (I did the same thing for Kuu, got into the music because of the cool artwork). So technically the first song I really heard was "everlasting dream." Afterwards I was like "ok i heard the album, it's out of my system, that's the end of that," but it wasn't because Free & Easy and HANABI kept getting stuck in my head so oneday I just decided to get all her music till that point (BLUE BIRD single was the latest thing since Secret was about to be released like 2-3 weeks later), I had such a hard time finding her albums and remixes (at that time I was still using Emule and Winmx) and then somehow I discovered torrents and got everything that way (I didn't know about the forums with everythign for download yet) and yeah I've been hooked ever since and it changed my life completely just like everyone else.

I think what really got me was her lyrics and music it was nothing like I'd heard before and her lyrics were exactly what I was feeling.

Whatever I first became a fan I had a really hard time find fansites because the majority of them were deadlinks. The first one I found was Divineayu and then eneabba through a yahoo image search and then I found ayuunite (RIP) and AHS through that site. I was a lurker here till like last month.

[mobius]

@ Lacus: Wow thats a touching story, glad you overcome your struggles. Now I know why your Ayu's collection is so much. My jaw dropped when I saw your post in the Ayu's Collection section.

[theSKYBLUETIES]

I found Ayumi when she was in her MY STORY era and the first song I ever heard was NEVER EVER followed by seasons. At first I thought her voice was very high and unusual. I didn't know how to feel about her music but then I just kept the song on repeat and I slowly got addicted to those song. Then I saw her PV for boys & girls and just kept finding out more about her. I browsed more about her and found other songs from Ayu and found that I liked each of them. What really got me addicted was her performances and how she carried out herself. Her music is powerful and has helped me get through boring times, tough times, every night and day. I was in eight grade and now I'm a freshman in college. Viva la Ayu!~

[ccsharumun]

I discovered Ayu right around the same time I first became interested in Japanese music (other than the songs I had listened to from various anime that made their way to the US). More specifically, it actually began with an interest in Utada Hikaru; I had heard her "Simple and Clean" off of the Kingdom Hearts soundtrack, and after hunting for more of her music I decided to look for other Japanese singers as well. The US mainstream market was becoming so tiresome, and the music was starting to lack feeling to me.

The first song I ever heard of Ayu's was "Evolution". I found it on some Sailor Moon fansite ages ago, and was excited to find a new Japanese artist. The artist had put a little blurb about who Hamasaki Ayumi was at the top, and named her the biggest sensation in Japan. So, I listened to it. I promptly disliked it and shut any doorways of interest to her.

I later heard "Dearest" that was used for Inu-Yasha, and still didn't like her music. I thought she was over-hyped and couldn't understand what on earth people enjoyed about her voice or her music.

In the summer of 2006, I was in Japan and did a homestay in Kyushu for a week. My host mother discovered I liked Utada Hikaru and recorded the 2006-06-16 Music Station for me. When I returned to the States I sat down and watched the entire show to find more new artists to listen to.

That was the first time I ever saw Hamasaki Ayumi perform, and my jaw dropped. I don't know what it was exactly but she just seemed to sparkle and glow with passion as she sing. "Blue Bird" was an upbeat song, less emotional then some of her other hits, but I could still see how she poured everything into her performance. Plus, I liked the song and found it catchy.

I listened to it for about a month, deciding that was the only song of hers I enjoyed, but after that I listened to more of her music from the Secret album and I really fell in love. It was neither US music nor Utada Hikaru music, but something entirely unto itself. After that, I asked for various albums for Christmas and birthday presents, and overtime I watched performances of hers online and was just mesmerized by what she could do.

Now I'm just an addict. She's one of only three artists I've ever wanted to see perform live (the others being the Spice Girls and Tohoshinki--saw the Spice Girls!). To this day, I do not like the songs "Evolution" or "Dearest" no matter how much I listen to them, though they're not repulsive as I once thought of them.

[Aditmi Krisnasaki ~II~]

@ lacus = *cried* really great story. and you still alive! thank god (and ayu)!!
yeah, my story was just a bit like that actually, but i don't really much care with my friends' bullies...^^
so, keep strong dear...^^

[nemesisyume]

I can kinda relate to your story in a few ways lacus.
I tried to commit suicide sometimes... ok I guess that was about all.

but when people tried to stop me I tried to kill them instead and then I got
scared that they would ruin my posters and CDs when I'm dead
I'm a horrible horrible horrible person, even posters are more important
to me than another human being.

I think it was the lyrics of because of you that made me see that
she is something different, not bcos the lyrics would be super unique
but well it's better than ''shake that booty *****''

I can honestly say ayu has changed my life alot

[AyumiBest]

Wow Lacus...I don't what to say. I thought of suicide but I never actually planned it out. It's great that you're alive.

[LacusClyne]

Originally Posted by mobius

@ Lacus: Wow thats a touching story, glad you overcome your struggles. Now I know why your Ayu's collection is so much. My jaw dropped when I saw your post in the Ayu's Collection section.

yup, that's part of the reason why i had a lot of ayu's stuff, considering i had start collecting since 2001, i always put a note at the front, so that other members won't feel so bad, coz i spend years getting them.
While most of the active members now are new fans, mostly are from 2005 onwards, so i don't want to feel like they have to ctach up or anything.

Originally Posted by nemesisyume

I can kinda relate to your story in a few ways lacus.
I tried to commit suicide sometimes... ok I guess that was about all.

just think abot your family, whom had spend their time/love and money raising you, and the thought of suicide won't be so straong anymore. that's what i always remind myself, friend might backstab you, but not your family.

Till now, whenever i feel lost or sad, ayu's songs are just like my chicken soup.
After my dad passed away 2 months ago, i can't stop crying EVERYTIME i heard [Who...], [Memorial Address]. Out of all artists, i find ayu's lyrics closer and like a human who really understand you. No one's lyrics and emotion can ever beat ayu.

[kendelle]

I was sure I responded to this but.....oh well

Spoiler:

When did I become an Ayu fan?
I became a fan in 2004. I was already into Japanese music but I didn't have much access to the internet and my Jpop collection was limited to Dragon Ball Z OSTs, Sailor Moon OSTs and some various other anime OPs, EDs and some random ZARD and Hironobu Kageyama songs. I played these songs to death!! I never really liked English music much apart from the Spice Girls, but that had been almost 5 years earlier and I'd never found an artist I liked as much as them apart from Gorillaz, who weren't even a "real" band! I was pretty dissatisfied with the Western music scene as a whole.

In my art class, I talked to this old (and slightly creepy) guy but he had a friend who was really into trance music. He started talking about Ayu one day, saying she was the best artists in Japan and she did awesome trance albums etc. He lent me his JP editions of RAINBOW and Ayu Trance 2 (amongst some Denki Groove and others). I listened to Ayu Trance 2 first but completely fell in love with RAINBOW.

What was it like to be a fan?
I couldn't believe how awesome it was to have an artist who did good remixes. Even today, Western music remixes are so boring and lazy, I find it so depressing to hear such crappy remixes on our dance music channels....blaargh.

But anyway, I thought her voice was so cute, the Engrish in the RAINBOW album was cute, the photoshoot was AMAZING. I never connected with the lyrics and didn't even bother to look up translations...just Ayu's voice and the music itself is what's held me. I always felt happy when I listened to her no matter what mood I'd been in.

At school I googled pictures and printed them and put them into a folder but I was really conscious of school download limits so I got maybe 1-2 other mp3s but fell for the "Butterfly" trap xDD I also was sent some of Hikki's songs mislabelled as Ayu's through people I met on Yahoo! chat. Geocities and Angelfire sites were how I got most of my Jpop music in those days. I also had some Gackt songs and more ZARD songs too.

First purchase
One day in Chinatown I found a copy of No Way To Say. It cost about $28 but it was the cheapest one they had. Moments was $32, Dearest was $35 and ASFXX was over $50. I found out later they were China Presses but at the time they were authentic to me

Ayu and me online
In 2005 I discovered AHS and joined. I got better internet access and downloaded most of Ayu's discography. I was a wonderful time because there was so much new stuff to listen to. I didn't get to see many PVs because of my slow internet but the ones I saw were epic. I finally saw the RAINBOW PV and cried. Then I saw the PV for Endless Sorrow and cried more. I felt really connected to Ayu then and listened to her 24/7. I stayed up overnight with people here waiting for the B&D PV to air on TV and for leaks from MY STORY. I slowly bought a couple of her singles from Chinatown and tried to import some from Japan but the cost was way too high. When I went to Melbourne I got a bootleg copy of (m)u, just happy to have the album and some of her newer stuff I was missing, and a TW copy of Secret.

In 2006 I lost internet access and my connection to the Jpop world kinda died I stopped listening to music almost completely and naturally Ayu disappeared. I did miss the community here though as nobody I knew liked Japanese music at all When I got my laptop I came back here immediately and enjoyed Jpop once again. I got into Mika Nakashima a bit and some other (mostly female) artists but none as much as I did with Ayu.

Ayu and me today
I still love Ayu but at the moment I rarely have the feeling I used to. I was excited about NL and S/S but S/S was a massive disappointment and NL wasn't quite up to what I was expecting...I have so much hope when I hear songs like Yw/B and D/G but I don't think that excitement of the early days will ever come back. Back then, there was so much exciting stuff happening constantly! Releases can be so slow that I spoil myself before they come out. lol

Being a new fan is the best experience. You have so much material to listen to and it takes forever for you to become bored. If I ever get amnesia I guess I'll bet that experience again?

[Jason]

I became a fan around mid/late 2002.

I was bored one day, and was looking at stupid fan made music videos of Final Fantasy (my favorite video game series of all time, btw ). One of the music videos had this absolutely amazing song, I was playing the video again and again and, little did I know, they actually credited the artist of the song at the end of the video. It was Ayumi Hamasaki - Fly high

So, I looked her up and came across songs such as A Song for XX, evolution, Endless sorrow, Boys & Girls, Depend on you, M, Far away, SEASONS. Every song by Ayu I discovered the more I thought I just came across an artist who's special. At the time, RAINBOW was coming out in a bit and I decided to buy it, I couldn't stop listening to it, it was, and still is my favourite Ayu album. I then bought "I am..." and after listening to that masterpiece I decided Ayu was my favourite artist, So I began to buy all the albums she had out, remix albums and a few of her DVD's. From that point I never turned away from Ayumi

How did it feel? Well, pretty amazing. I found an artist who wrote amazing songs, there wasn't one thing I disliked about her and everybody I knew had to endure me talking about her constantly and had to put up with her amazing music everyday.

I'm also grateful I discovered Ayu. She was the first Japanese artist I discovered and after Ayu came a ton of other Japanese artists I found and in turn, came a severe decrease in my interest for western artists.

I'm very happy I became a fan of Ayumi Hamasaki, she was, is and will be my all time favorite.