Lets vent about ayu?/why did your fandom decrease

[Andrenekoi]

Again, I love the whole execution of that era, the exepction being the NaNaNa video. Considering everything she did from AT10 to AT12, I have very little to complain.

[Delirium-Zer0]

Ayu just has a huge problem with overestimating how easily fans will find the "sadness" behind some of her outwardly happy material - she said in I think CD Data that the theme of the B&D PV was sorrow, for example... I'm a huge fan and even I can't pick up on that. In fairyland, however, the sorrow hiding in the background was easy to find thanks to the execution of the instrumental parts of the song.

I think the "I am a lonely queen" thing was her getting frustrated that no one was hearing the sadness she thought she encoded into the song & album booklet. I don't blame her for doing it but I can't help but glare and just be like "If you'd produced the song & cd booklet properly in the first place..." >_<

[ayumisrael]

But what was wrong with the CD & booklet excecution on the first place? They conveyed exactly what she wanted it to convey, unless if people take it literally (drinking with minimal clothes in the house partying).

The problem is that most people don't see these things, I myself admit I don't and then I'm like what does it have to do with anything or why doing it like this? But knowing a bit more on the spoken artists, it just can't be that literal and meaningless.

[pchan1986]

ayu will never be the same as she was years ago. she evolves with the time. i must say i'm not fond of her latest album but i love merry-go-round. I like how Amuro Namie who is older than ayumi, continues to surprise me with her wonderful songs. its not about a person's age but a person's willingness to bring beautiful music and videos. I wish ayumi could've done the same. i love ayumi no matter what. as an entertainer, ayu changed. those who've been a fan of her for years have to realize that we too changed.

[primavera♥]

Idk, people reference other artists. But not all of these artists have been on point for their whole careers even if they're super great and heavily adored now. The whole comparison thing will always be off to me. Especially when I look at both the big picture and small details.

I think different biases just create a lot of opinions that don't always seem to make sense to me when I really go back and look at everything.

[Delirium-Zer0]

I agree on the comparison thing... Not to knock Namie down at all, but there are certain standards I expect from Namie and certain standards I expect from Ayu. I EXPECT Ayu's stuff to be very deliberate and high quality and to always be meaningful. So when a video doesn't seem to be any of those things, it's disappointing. Sometimes I'll look at a video or album booklet closer and get the "Ooooh!" moment that makes me appreciate it more, but other times I'll look at it closer and get the opposite, and it'll confuse me.

With Namie's stuff, I expect it to be fun and high quality, but not cerebrally engaging at all. This is a FAR easier standard to live up to. There are occasional disappointments (like the "ALIVE" video), but for the most part as long as the final product is polished & shiny and professional, she's done her job, as have her handlers. I don't expect Namie's songs to fit into my life, so when they do it's a pleasant surprise. I don't expect Namie to do anything especially epic or creative, so again, those are pleasant surprises. I EXPECT Ayu to go above & beyond which is honestly perhaps a bit unfair to her.

I do think some of us (myself included) expect more of Ayu, based on her record of performance whenever we became a fan. I became a fan during the vogue/Far away/SEASONS trilogy - it's entirely possible no one can keep up the hands-on approach she had at the time. Her videos between WHATEVER and Ladies Night were definitely more meaningful than not overall. Even since then though, there was an occasionally meaningful video scattered around among stuff that was at least high-quality and polished, like Namie levels of good IMHO. However, with the videos on "Colours," the polish isn't even there. I mean, in "Angel" at the end, the perspective on the rendered angel wings is so far off it's distracting. If you did that in a computer animation class you'd fail HARD. YouTubers do better CG work than that. And the dancers are tumbling & moving on an obvious axis so you can tell where the harnesses are even if you can't see them. The complaints about Ayu's music video material right now are justified.

Bringing it back to the cerebral element... she used to be much clearer about the melancholy back then. Nowadays she says she finds it most sad when someone is smiling when they're unhappy... fair enough, I certainly agree, but you have to show us the unhappiness too, and not just the smile. You're only communicating one thing, and yet you say you strive to be understood. The execution is just completely wrong lol.

[Andrenekoi]

^It's an album, not a photobook. You can't ignore the way the music influences the perception of the rest of the package.

You only see the "happy" part on the photobook, it's the music that gives it a new layer of interpretation.

[Delirium-Zer0]

And yet until fans like me pointed out the sadness in the booklet, they still didn't notice. And it's not just cuz we don't know the lyrics, either - crazy happy fans dancing during live performances of "Party queen" didn't look like they heard the sadness in that song at all - granted I personally think that one was their fault for not listening closely enough (or simply considering excessive drinking fun rather than destructive), but it is another in a long line of "sadness" presented as "happy" that she's not being clear enough about.

The Bold & Delicious PV will NEVER seem to have a theme of "sorrow" no matter how much I look at it.

[Andrenekoi]

I never heard of her saying B&D had sorrow as theme... There's no sorrow there unless you consider Pride to be paired with it, being B&D when the cameras are on and Pride when the cameras are off...

[Delirium-Zer0]

CD Hits, January 2006 (as translated by Misa):

"'Bold&Delicious' is super high and exciting, and the assertive singing is cool too. But if you can sense the sorrow behind it, then I’ll be glad. That’s why the PV is like this too, because it’s theme is 'sorrow'."

[Andrenekoi]

Them, I would say she links glam life with sorrow.

[Coelacanth]

Some New Yorkers would interpret Ayu dancing around on the back of semi in a fur coat as she passes C-TOWN and 99¢ Depot as being quite sorrowful, lol.

[Zahara]

Originally Posted by Coelacanth

Some New Yorkers would interpret Ayu dancing around on the back of semi in a fur coat as she passes C-TOWN and 99¢ Depot as being quite sorrowful, lol.

[Chris85]

Originally Posted by channy

Hm. The "talkin' 2 myself" era was rough and unsual edgy for a pop singer. I think it was a terrific time in terms of vocals and appearance. Far from being a disaster.

Let me make myself clear, T2M TV performances were AWESOME, I enjoyed them a lot and was completely satisfied with them.
I meant Fated, some of Together When performances and especially that infamous CDL.