Thoughts on crossroad PV [full]

[sugarbasil]

I thought it was so boring. And the song was really boring to me, too. The whole package was bad. The whole song+PV=D+.

[emi♡]

I liked it.

It was beautiful, though I'm still upset about her koda hair, which does not look good on her no matter how you look at it.

The TV Ayu was pretty enough to keep me interested...her eyes were <3...

I like the song, and I feel that, if you get into the song, it's enough to carry the PV...

but it was a bit anticlimactic, and I think the concepts for this song could have been a lot more "epic" lol, but I don't mind the "quiet" atmosphere the PV has...it's very mellow, and reflective.

[JackieRos]

She spended one heck of a time sitting in a sofa doing nothing.
Nothing really happened but the song makes me forget how sucky the pv is.

[octocoffee]

I personally thought MOON had a similar concept, but MOON pulled it off better. Not to say that I hate it, but I certainly have my qualms. Of course, everyone's going to bring up her lips. More than anything else, I just found the size distracting. The quick cuts to the roses and stuff were pretty, but I thought it seemed really rushed and bright; it didn't really match with the rest of the video. I liked the matches and fire, but it started far too early, and the little explosion at the end? Um, no. And I really liked the red dress and the idea of Ayumi in the television. Kind of a throwback to the poker face MV, I think. (And she was drop dead gorgeous.)

This could have been a really great, dynamic video, but the slow pace didn't really cut it for me this time. It would have been nice for her to set herself on fire sooner, break apart into the petals, and then have a 'rebirth' of sorts and emerge from the rose petals, like a phoenix. I know it's much more obvious that way, but essentially I just think that the burning could have been shorter and more of a twist at the end, in any way, would have created a more effective PV.

Nevertheless, I adore the song.

[ImpactBreaker]

The PV does show a bit of what the lyrics mean. That when you chose paths in life, sometimes they cause changes that never can be restored. That's what happens when you light a match. It burns along the trail until all that's left is ashes (The decision made and the past turning into ashes). Once match has be lighten, it can light other matches (opens roads to new decisions) and once the new roads are chosen, those trails will also get burned and turned to ashes. So what if red dressed pyromaniac ayu was not set into fire? What if she had lighten other matches instead of the ones she did? would her life have been different? If she thinks about the past, she can remember the warmth of the fire they once were, but still, they've just become ashes now. Did the decisions she make turned her into a rose or a burnt rose? While she just stands there thinking, she's made her own decision of yet starting a new road on fire, and in the end the path was traced and all the contemplation becomes ashes. This proves this last paragrpah:

Originally Posted by lyrics translation by masa

"Even this moment when I think like this is
You see, turning into the past, too"

Also from the lyrics:

Originally Posted by lyrics translation by masa

"What on earth have I lost
As I grew old ?
What on earth is this that's increasing
As I'm growing old ?"

What was it that just became ashes and what is this part of the match that is burning right now? I kinda interpret it like that lol.

The PV was not full of excitement but that's what the lyrics are about, getting melancholic and contemplating about decisions (crossroad) and the past; it wasn't that bad. I'm digging the song more now.

[ownsarai]

^Thanks for that interpretation, honestly. It makes the PV make more sense to me now.

[ストロボ・EdGE]

Booooring. This coming from someone who even liked MOON. The TV Ayu scenes were nice though.

Kept on waiting for a climax that never came.

[TeddyGrahams]

I really like it. It's one of my favorites this singles project and it's way better than blossom/moon. The pv is easy to understand, at least I think so. Lastly, Ayu in the red dress is so hot that she's on fire! LOL. I love the styling there, it doesn't look even like Ayu at all, but a beautiful young woman.

[freedreamer]

Originally Posted by ImpactBreaker

The PV does show a bit of what the lyrics mean. That when you chose paths in life, sometimes they cause changes that never can be restored. That's what happens when you light a match. It burns along the trail until all that's left is ashes (The decision made and the past turning into ashes). Once match has be lighten, it can light other matches (opens roads to new decisions) and once the new roads are chosen, those trails will also get burned and turned to ashes.

Yea! thats what i thought about in the short version. I made references to the "momentum" PV. That a flame represented a person's life. If the flame could be passed from one candle to another, it just showed transitions and movement in a person's life.

[Love Appears]

I actually love it. While there isn't a lot going on plot-wise, it is very symbolic and reminiscent of her older PVs, and in my opinion, one her most creative (visually) in years.

[zoomzoom]

I liked it. Not a PV I can see myself watching a bunch of times, but I didn't feel bored. And I've gotten more used to her ridiculous looking lips, so I'm more or less over that. Even pretty TV-ayu had the lips, but she looked amazing.

Only thing I didn't like was the fireball, it looked sort of cheap compared to the fire on her.

[kendelle]

I thought it was a very interesting PV, the fire effect looked amazing at least to me......lol until the end, which was kinda cheesy but oh well....

Maybe it's becuase I'm watching HeartCatch Pretty Cure at the moment but there was a lot of interesting use of flowers in this PV, making it pretty interesting! ^_^

While watching crossroad I kept in mind something called flower language. There are two different versions of this: the old Victorian/English version and the Japanese version called Hanakotoba (lit. Flower Words).

Here's a list of flowers I saw in the PV, with their meanings in brackets:

Red Rose (To fall in love)
Azalea (Patient/Modest)
White Camellia (Longing)
Lavender Rose (Love at first sight in the Victorian language, nothing in Hanakotoba)
Fern (In Folklore, ferns are often used to grant riches and treasure)
Sunflower (Pure and lofty thoughts in the Victorian language, nothing in Hanakotoba)
Black Rose (Rejuvenation or death in the Victorian language, nothing in Hanakotoba)
Ivy (Dependence in the Victorian language, nothing in Hanakotoba)

I think I saw the Crysanthemum (Imperial), Lavender (Faithful, and either devotion or mistrust in the Victorian language), Freesia (Childish/Immature) and a White Poppy (Rejoice)?

(I also saw a lovely cameo of our AHS member pommy at 1:09.....is that a pomegranate? lol You can read about symbolism of pomegranates on Wikipedia)

There may also have been a strawberry in there. In dreams, seeing fruit apparently represents new beginnings for the seeds they carry (and is used in the Bible and other historic texts to symbolise a fresh start), red fruit in particular points to being transformed, rejuvenation, creativeness and success.

I found it interesting how the flowers faded in and out, or appeared on screen partially covered...perhaps symbolising conflicting feelings or her broken feelings are under repair? Also that fire is often thought to cleanse the mind and spirit. Keeping this in mind, isn't this PV is basically about forgetting past feelings, cleansing your spirit and starting anew?

I noticed that the Ayu dressed in red's image is sometimes replaced with that of the red rose. Perhaps it symbolises that she's moved on from love or is burning an old love to renew it. Red Ayu is the love burning away, cleansing to be reborn. TVs return, which usually indicate reflection in Ayu's PVs (at least as far as I know). Maybe Red Ayu is part of Ayu's subconscious, or is in her heart/mind?

Either way, I think I'll end up screencapping this entire PV sometime soon...I swear I saw hands in the PV for a split second with massive claws.... o_O;

[perfectodub]

i think ayu burning and ayu singing in the tv are not enough material to make a 5 minutes video... this video needs an additional secuence or more story

[~StarCatcher~]

I really like the PV, no big story but it was beautiful and a little bit fitting to the lyrics.

crossroad single is way better than MOON/blossom single.

[milky_way]

That red dress was beautiful

[viomarionette]

I LOVe THE PV!!! Not just because it is Ayu's but the message of the video was so great!!!
As I notice how the flame of one match transferred to other, and the flame of the match spread in to Ayu, I arrived to this realization:

"It's funny how one's fire touches the other, it gently spreads in you and gives you the warmth that satisfies you, elates you and diverts you from solitude."

My opinion about the flowers is that it is a representation of her memories. ^,^

[anayufan]

don't quite like the pv. of course tv ayu was beautiful and maybe unlike most i did like ayu in the dress and her lips xD

i'm all for symbolism and videos with meaning but for me, probably just being so interested in music, i need there to be a big connection to the style of music. that's probably also the reason i didn't like Don't look back because you can hear world instruments in that song and they put her in such a dull modern uncultured room...

with this song i hear sweeping strings and a driving beat and so i expect a video with that same pace. but slow burning ayu is so SLOOOW T__T the instruments make me picture ayu in a high place looking down, the camera revolving around her, and some powerful wind blowing through her hair (preferably during the b-section =P). but nope again she's in room and something is happening to her and too many times have we seen that scenario.

OH maybe that's it! i just want ayu to go outside again! i like expansive scenery vs enclosed! like Free & Easy was in a room but they took her outside and she really travelled around that place before her death...

but don't get me wrong! you can do something completely unexpected from what you hear in the song and pull it off... but i don't think ayu's done that with crossroad. and it only makes sense that my favorite pvs of hers are ones where they match what i pictured in the song (like Part of me, M, BALLAD)

[Mirrorcle Monster]

The red dress was beautiful and she looked great inside the TV, but the whole thing was quite boring/empty, for me the worst PV of the trilogy

[bluegie]

Originally Posted by kendelle

While watching crossroad I kept in mind something called flower language. There are two different versions of this: the old Victorian/English version and the Japanese version called Hanakotoba (lit. Flower Words).

Here's a list of flowers I saw in the PV, with their meanings in brackets:

Red Rose (To fall in love)
Azalea (Patient/Modest)
White Camellia (Longing)
Lavender Rose (Love at first sight in the Victorian language, nothing in Hanakotoba)
Fern (In Folklore, ferns are often used to grant riches and treasure)
Sunflower (Pure and lofty thoughts in the Victorian language, nothing in Hanakotoba)
Black Rose (Rejuvenation or death in the Victorian language, nothing in Hanakotoba)
Ivy (Dependence in the Victorian language, nothing in Hanakotoba)

I didn't see different types of flowers in the pv because they flashed in and out quickly. But while watching the pv I saw the sunflower on the tv and wonder what it symbolized. After reading your post I think there are more hidden meanings in the pv. Even tho I dunno anything about flower languages, the meaning of each flower is an quite interesting topic .

And I love ImpactBreaker's analysis of the matches.