New single「Summer Again」(1.7.22)

[kotora]

Originally Posted by hidekirby

I really like the song!
I may be part of a minority but I would have been so fed up by a classical and safe ayu summer song. To be honest I've never really enjoyed her summer hits post fairyland as they sounded to me like pale imitations (to some exceptions). So even if Summer Again is not reinventing much in itself (music-wise) it is a great addition to her discography and something I would never expect after all those years.
The arrangements are quite good and fresh and I'm not surprised tasuku is behind those! Love the 80-90's vintage beat and the african / middle eastern type of sound throughout the song. They make those parts cleverly contrasting with the choruses which are more classic, so the whole song still has her mark all over it. It's definitely an ayu song.
To sum up, Summer Again is a really strong follow-up to Nonfiction! She really surprised me once again.

As regards the PV, I expected something like that.
Like a lot of opportunities to do many interesting things kind of wasted. Could have been cool like many said to have more of that dark haired ayu, more scenes in the caves (I've been dreaming about them since we got the first dark haired ayu candid shoot), more scenes in the water, within the greenery, some fire on the beach during night scenes, even some kind of cult and ritual etc etc... But well I expected it to be that simple, so eventually I'm pretty ok with the PV.
Yet, I'm less ok with her acting and lip-synching. They are once more really distracting to me. It was so good before... Why...
As regards editing I have to say it's quite a mess. She looks SO GOOD on all the off screen and candid shoots and then we have that blurry, featureless version of ayu. They really don't do her beauty justice. And like on Nonfiction PV, I noticed they sometimes scaled the picture vertically so that (I don't see any other reasons) she appears thinner, like they're trying to pay tribute to Anastacia's I'm Outta Love PV. I absolutely hate that. It makes her face look really off and her body quite strange on some parts when she has her arms gesturing around her (basically she looks elongated with tiny arms).
Oh, and I'm SO GLAD there are no drone shadows to be found unlike in the teaser haha! At least I may put that good point on the late extra editing!

Can't wait for the album !!!!!

edit : anyone noticed ayu and her magical blurry armpits (at 1:19 for example and on)? ... SWEET BABY JESUS, WHY ANYONE WOULD DO THAT??? ToT

I am sorry I miss her summer songs like UNITE!, independent, HANABI

[M.A.X.]

Originally Posted by kotora

I am sorry I miss her summer songs like UNITE!, independent, HANABI

I think most of people miss this time (I miss it too...) but it was 20 years ago and this time is over. There is no chance to listen this kind of song now in Ayu's discography.