Your Ayu origin story

[mi|kshake]

I became an Ayu fan in 2004 after listening to Hikki, BoA & Kuu, Ayu seemed like the next logical step. Got to admit I was a bit wary after reading about her vocals but thought I should give her a go. I was in a bit of a ballad mood after enjoying BoA's Winding Road and fell in love with the A Ballads cover. after looking up her albums for reviews on YesAsia.

As soon as I heard the opening of Rainbow I was in even if this was the only song I liked on the album. I love the CD booklet and design too - so elegant! And I've been a fan ever since.

Also I love how your origin story ties into Chrono Cross - I am currently playing it for the first time!

[sxesven]

Originally Posted by mi|kshake

As soon as I heard the opening of Rainbow I was in even if this was the only song I liked on the album. I love the CD booklet and design too - so elegant! And I've been a fan ever since.

I can imagine, the RAINBOW artwork is my favourite to this day. I also remember being amazed at the song itself (and the bit of confusion over how RAINBOW, the song, was NOT on RAINBOW, the album, haha).

Also I love how your origin story ties into Chrono Cross - I am currently playing it for the first time!

Oh, wow, I hope you're enjoying it! It's probably still my favourite game of all time. Everything about is just massively amazing. The first time I played it I was 15 and I played it with a friend, it was so much fun. I've played it a bunch of times since and I also really enjoyed watching a great Let's Play of it (by lucahjin).

I'm curious, how did you encounter Hikki, BoA and Kuu? While I had a vague notion of the existence of J-pop I knew nothing about it (let alone any artists) and my infatuation was just the lucky result of downloading randomly some stuff in KaZaA. I didn't even know where to look though!

Originally Posted by lizzylovesongaku

My origin was really simple. I was a kid, 10-12 probably, staying up too late to watch Inu-Yasha (my favorite anime at the time) on Adult Swim. I heard "Dearest" for the first time and thought it was really pretty. I think, at first, I was more into the Do As Infinity stuff (so Fukai Mori and Shinjitsu no Uta), but I did some early internet research on who these songs and performers were. I remember finding a website solely dedicated to Rumiko Takahashi and all her works (InuYasha included).There was a whole section dedicated to the singers / bands that provided songs for the series. I found out Ayu's name and found more songs from there. I remember very distinctly going on Windows Media Player (y'all, this was the early 2000's, okay?) and looking her up and finding "M" and "evolution". I loved "evolution" right away, but was absolutely gobsmacked at "M". I literally thought it was the most beautiful song I had ever heard. I've kinda been obsessed with Ayu ever since lol

Super cool. So young too! Thinking back to these times on the internet is so nostalgic, haha. Uncovering something like Ayu was like finding a rare gem, you made your way through this web of obscure fanpages and websites to arrive at - well, who knew? (Ayu for all of us, fortunately )