2021: Reflecting on Ayu's career

[bennyshero]

I think the major reason that the general public don't like her anymore is because of her voice. People on this site including me are obsessed with her, and are therefore more forgiving of her vocal issues. But for an ordinary person, her vocal after 2012 is far from enjoyable, and is even less so after 2015.

She and her fans may argue that she sounds bad because she loves singing too much, because she dedicates her all to the stage. But at the same time, the general public will doubt: if you really love singing, why would you allow yourself to sound like that? If you love stage performance, why do you keep recycling old props? This gap of understanding between both sides keeps widening, and both sides refuse to understand the other.

Speaking of genuineness, I do believe the emotional genuineness of her songs, but her words do not always coincide with her deeds. For example, in Mad World, she criticizes how people destroy the environment. But at the same time, she flaunts her extravagant lifestyle which can hardly be deemed environmental friendly. This kind of ambivalence, together with the ambivalence about her love for her career, can be really confusing to the general public who eventually lose faith in her sincerity. Her sincerity, however, is what made her stand out in the first place.