[News] Snowy kiss and Wake me up PV (full version)

[channy]

Originally Posted by tasking

I've had to deal with a little bit of domestic violence between my parents growing up. I'd like it a little more if Ayu was trying to bring more awareness to the issue, but it seems she just did it for shock value and for that I have to say for the first time I'm really uncomfortable and disappointed with Ayu's work.

Very interesting! I had to face similar experiences in the past and therefore exactly the same thoughts when I watched this PV. Definitely not going to give it another play.

I appreciate her more natural style lately but sensitive issues should be handled with more care. What they did for "Snowy kiss" is barely reasonable as fighting couples are not necessarily performing pillow fights but other, more serious stuff.

[Andrenekoi]

Originally Posted by js_surrealism

I think the relationship between the 3 videos is quite clear.

In You&Me, she is clearly recollecting the happier times she had with Maro in the summer.

In Wake me up, we see the prelude to what happens in You&Me - she is with that anon hot guy, who then dumps her, and she gets together with Maro.

In snowy kiss, we see the aftermath of the relationship with Maro, which sours, and then it pans back to Ayu on the beach again (cf You&Me), i.e. she's recollecting the same relationship, but different parts of it.

I guess the biggest take away is a theme she has been interested in since appears - the idea that at any one point of time, people only see one facet of the relationship between 2 people, and that there are many untold stories that we are not aware of, that only the 2 people in question are privy to. She explicitly sings about this in Return Road ("futari no koto wa futari ni shika wakaranai" - what happened between the 2 of us, only we will know)

In a sort of indirect way (if you wanna read closer into this), she is essentially telling everybody to stop speculating about her relationships cos nobody really knows what's going on apart from herself (and the men in her life, of course).

Originally Posted by freedreamer

can i just say...the scene where Ayu was on the car singing against the night lights was absolutely stunning in snowy kiss? the Bokeh and there was one particular scene in the bridge where she just turned to the camera...that moment was really beautiful. It was as though she was asking "Do you understand?"

Like most, I believe the story is straightforward but I did enjoy it more than I expected. I think there's something very real abt the plot. I dont know how to explain this feeling but..its like, reflecting something that DOES happen.

Wake me up was really nice. I DO enjoy seeing her so cute HAHA!! I also thought the guy would hit on Maro LOL

And i guess snowy kiss explains itself. Felt a bit agitated seeing Maro treating her like this...aargh lol..i personally dun think they had to show a reason for the fight..i mean...whatever it is, it is what the outcome that really matters...which is that they have fought and broke up and Ayu is alone once again. The main idea is also to drive back to You & Me. I especially loved the throwback scene at the platform. that scene was really symbolic.

This is what I think about the triology.

Ayu is pretty much desconstructing her popstar image since... Five?

[Delicious n Bold]

Appears is so influential~
Song of the century.

[waterballoon]

Wake me up - You & Me - snowy kiss

like what some people have said, it shows her relationship with Maro; how it started, the middle, and how it ended.

little details here and there I liked in all 3 PVs (random model obviously isn't into Ayu and Maro cares for her quite a bit, how they really had "the best time of their lives" in the honeymoon period of their relationship in the summer, and how she just knows she ****ed herself real bad when the fights all happen at the end)

overall, it's a much better trilogy... although I think Ayu should give it a rest. she doesn't do connected PVs well, and I personally thought if you, as a casual listener, were to catchy snowy kiss's PV on TV, you'd find it awkward, and as a fan, I'm somewhat embarrassed she's making herself look like a joke.

it doesn't matter how connected the PVs are, or how "symbolic" us hardcore fans think there are... she still makes herself a laughing stock to passers-by. maybe she doesn't care anymore but I think she's indulging in herself too much lately and forgetting she's a singer for a reason.

snowy kiss was an epic song and it's really frustrating to see her waste it on a video that she wants her new bf to be featured on. Wake me up was a weak replica of Days. she may look great (except she looked 40 in snowy kiss with that God-forbid hair) but yeah... my thoughts on this trilogy.

[channy]

Originally Posted by waterballoon

she looked 40 in snowy kiss with that God-forbid hair) but yeah...

Six years to go. What's the matter?

[isthisLOL?]

She just gracefully looked her age in "snowy kiss" - while looking better than 95% of the people her age.

[waterballoon]

Originally Posted by channy

Six years to go. What's the matter?

I guess my point was that she looked really old and unflattering... lol.

[isthisLOL?]

Unflattering? I can't think of any point of her career in which she looked more beautiful without the need of crazy amounts of make-up or shiny dresses.

[TeamAyu2004]

out of these videos she looked her best in sweet scar

[waterballoon]

Originally Posted by isthisLOL?

Unflattering? I can't think of any point of her career in which she looked more beautiful without the need of crazy amounts of make-up or shiny dresses.

different strokes for different folks.. i just think it's real ugly

[relmy]

Originally Posted by isthisLOL?

Don't get the big deal about the domestic violence in the video though. It's the most effective action to show that a relationship is not working for either partner, so it only makes sense to show it in the video.
Art is free from moral responsibilities for me.

I agree, and don't agree.

If Ayu had portrayed the domestic violence well, which she didn't, then that is fine. There are other ways to show a relationship isn't working. Her portrayal of domestic violence completely trivialised an under reported and very very real issue. It's absurd.

If you're going to portray an issue like domestic violence you need to do it well. If you don't, you look ignorant and shallow and people who have experienced these issues have every single right to call you out. If somebody does it well, credit to them.

So, I think people are 100% justified in calling Ayu out these shambles of a PV.

It's not about morals, it's about understanding the issues you present. Ayu clearly doesn't understand.

[Andrenekoi]

Domestic violence, also known as domestic abuse, spousal abuse, battering, family violence, and intimate partner violence (IPV), is defined as a pattern of abusive behaviors by one partner against another in an intimate relationship such as marriage, dating, family, or cohabitation.[1] Domestic violence, so defined, has many forms, including physical aggression or assault (hitting, kicking, biting, shoving, restraining, slapping, throwing objects), or threats thereof; sexual abuse; emotional abuse; controlling or domineering; intimidation; stalking; passive/covert abuse (e.g., neglect); and economic deprivation.[1][2]

Really... what was showed on the video doesn't fit this IMO... None of them were being abused... They were FIGHTING each other. There's no agressor/victim, but 2 stupid people hitting each other.

[SunshineSlayer]

Originally Posted by js_surrealism

In Wake me up, we see the prelude to what happens in You&Me - she is with that anon hot guy, who then dumps her, and she gets together with Maro.

In snowy kiss, we see the aftermath of the relationship with Maro, which sours, and then it pans back to Ayu on the beach again (cf You&Me), i.e. she's recollecting the same relationship, but different parts of it.

Doesn't look to me like she was dumped in Wake Me Up; looks to me like she starts to cheat on her boyfriend with his friend. They then actaully become a couple in You and Me, but it is short lived and turns violent by Snowy Kiss. Maybe the message is that a relationship that starts out in lies is bound for failure?

[tasking]

Originally Posted by Andrenekoi

Really... what was showed on the video doesn't fit this IMO... None of them were being abused... They were FIGHTING each other. There's no agressor/victim, but 2 stupid people hitting each other.

What? See what I bolded. That was clearly in the video. And when Ayu shoves Maro, she is the aggressor and Maro is the victim and vise-versa. One can also can see it as Ayu defending herself against a man who is bigger than her shoving her around. I'm sorry, shoving a woman down in a car, let alone in any capacity, is NOT okay, stupid or not. It scares me to see what some people's definition of domestic violence is.

[pimenta]

^ I don't think he contradicted himself. The bolded part states "by one partner against another", while Andrenekoi is noting that in the PV both of them are being agressive, just because Maro is stronger doesn't mean that Ayu isn't being agressive to him either.

I agree with Andrenekoi, I really don't think this PV is trying to show domestic violence (like one part showing an abusive behavior towards the other), it just shows a couple fighting with the same intensity. It's not domestic violence, it's just a really bad couple fight with both parts being agressive toward each other.

And it's not that what's happening is stupid, it's that they are being stupid (having a stupid atitude) toward each other.



I actually like those pvs, the way they show the development of a relationship that started in an unexpected way (the girl staying with the friend because her boyfriend was a jerk), had its nice moments, but turned out to have a really bad ending. It's something that actually happens to a lot of couples...

[tasking]

Originally Posted by pimenta

^ I don't think he contradicted himself. The bolded part states "by one partner against another", while Andrenekoi is noting that in the PV both of them are being agressive, just because Maro is stronger doesn't mean that Ayu isn't being agressive to him either.

I agree with Andrenekoi, I really don't think this PV is trying to show domestic violence (like one part showing an abusive behavior towards the other), it just shows a couple fighting with the same intensity. It's not domestic violence, it's just a really bad couple fight with both parts being agressive toward each other.

And it's not that what's happening is stupid, it's that they are being stupid (having a stupid atitude) toward each other.

Which is why I said when Ayu shoves him and vise-versa. But in reality, the majority of the video has him shoving her around. Ayu's natural response is to hit back. Here's the difference: where she's only hitting him in retaliation, Maro is grabbing her and shoving her back into the car, onto their bed, out the door of their room and onto a balcony and throwing a suitcase at her. Maro, being the guy, could cause some serious injury. And in my opinion, whenever that's a factor, regardless if it's one or both, man or woman, it's most definitely domestic violence. That's probably not what Ayu and crew intended, but that's what's being portrayed.

[emi♡]

Think I'm gonna actually have to watch these


It's funny because, at fetlife, we just had a thread about what is "fighting" to you in your relationship.

I feel really really sorry for people who even resort to raised voices. Glad I never had partners like that.


Is it domestic violence if it's consensual

[EVILution]

By Andrenekoi's definition, I could shove tasking around all I like and it would not be domestic violence as long as she shoved me back? In my opinion it is still domestic violence. It's just being perpetrated by both parties.

[truehappiness]

What exactly would 'portraying DV well and with understanding' have looked like anyway? *especially in music video form* I don't really know if there is a right way to portray it without making the audience somewhat uncomfortable. I know that Last Friends did for one of its story arcs but that is a drama and not a 6~ minute music video without dialogue.

[ExodusUK]

I don't think we're allowed to talk about such serious topics like ~domestic violence~. If Ayu started singing about the banned areas of discussion (politics, religions, etc) would the rules have to be changed?