Ayumi's PV's lately...

[alternarist]

to be honest, i dont mind connected PVs. but seriously i dont get the link of Love song/Last angel/Virgin Road. To get Virgin Road connected to this was really random and i dont understand at all.. I find it weird, but definitely not disappointed. The only slight disappointment I have for Love song and Last angel PVs is that it's kinda simple isnt it? just ayu being chased after and fainted, and in Last angel, she is still being chased after by someone.

for SLT/Microphone. At least they are both visually awesome PVs so i hv nth much to complain about. But correct.. the link i dont get it. This is unlike vogue/Far away/SEASONS and glitter/fated which both have clear storylines.

[Yukitora]

The thing is Microphone and Slt can be standalone if you want them to be. The connection isn't vital to the enjoyment. So many people loved Microphone before Slt came out, and they didnt even know it was connected.

And people seem to be forgetting her wonderful PVs like dlb, BALLAD, You were... etc etc. Some years she just goes through a dry spell. I think (miss)understood is her best album PV wise!

[love in music]

Originally Posted by Yukitora

And people seem to be forgetting her wonderful PVs like dlb, BALLAD, You were... etc etc. Some years she just goes through a dry spell. I think (miss)understood is her best album PV wise!

I agree with you.. I think the NL period had most of her least impressive PV's.. and some bad ones were on GUILTY as well. since then I think most of her PV's are great. Virgin Road and Don't Look back were both released this year and are some of her most impressive PV's imo. (miss)understood definitely was flawless though.

[YuriChan]

Originally Posted by ~Amy~

Lately it seems like all Ayu's PV's have been connected in some way...

Distance Love (glitter, fated)
Microphone, sexy little things
Virgin Road, Love songs, Last angel

I'm kind of tired of these connection PV's.
Most of the time they make no sense to me.
Does anyone else miss when Ayu had good music videos that don't have some crazy story-line connection?
I mean not all of her conneciton PV's are bad, I just think she should give it a break and try something new. X_x

She has tried something new... Over and over. I hate to say it, but most of her videos have this love story (in exception of her rock, dancy, and emo videos). Her videos are what make ayu unique in comparison to the other J-Pop singers! (^_^)

[Mintkisses]

So, everyone who is annoyed with connected PVs are trying to say they rather her PVs not be connected? Because Ayu dancing around with random people on a boat in the BLUE BIRD PV is more entertaining to watch.

Everyone is being so picky. Ayu connects her PVs so they can have more meaning and to draw the audience in to follow the story line with each song to create a bigger story line. Development you can call it.

PVs such as Free & Easy, Voyage, ourselves, ANGELS SONG, RAINBOW, alterna, etc. all have story lines but it's just limited to one song. I believe when Ayu connects PVs, she wants to convey a story to everyone.

I wouldn't complain about getting storylines and plot development. Just be happy her PVs mean something and you don't have to sit through 3 minutes of watching her lip sync.

[jbrat2219]

I think it just depends, sometimes she can tell a story perfectly in one PV, sometimes she likes to use more than one. But he connected PVs aren't necessarily always heavily depended on each other. You can watch micro+SLT, S/S, B&D+pride separately and it doesn't matter. So as far as truly connected PVs go, she still doesn't have that many lol.

[yamashita.san]

Originally Posted by ~Amy~

Lately it seems like all Ayu's PV's have been connected in some way...

Distance Love (glitter, fated)
Microphone, sexy little things
Virgin Road, Love songs, Last angel

I'm kind of tired of these connection PV's.
Most of the time they make no sense to me.
Does anyone else miss when Ayu had good music videos that don't have some crazy story-line connection?
I mean not all of her conneciton PV's are bad, I just think she should give it a break and try something new. X_x

Sorry, but I don`t agree with you... Ayu always try something new! And I think that her connection PV`s are very intresting. You can watch them like movies. I love all these PV`s

[shizukanaotoko]

hmmm i can see what you guys are saying about the pvs not being able to stand by themselves. i personally was a little disappointed by Love Song and Last Angel PVs though part of it is because Ayu looks.. kinda strange in them.. (doesn't she look a little off from usual?)

[neuteka]

I found that Last Angel and Love song were disappointing PVs not because they were connecting, but because of the content in them. I was expecting so much in them, but they just kind of fell flat to my expectation. Given that, I do like them, just not as much as I hoped. Besides, I still think the Virgin Road PV is a masterpiece. It is pretty pathetic to say "Oh I thought it was a really good PV, but then Last Angel ruined it..." yeah, because the 5 second part at the end of last angel was just so ground breaking, it ruined a whole other Pv...

I don't really get why it matters whether the PVs are connecting to each other or not, I think you guys are really just using that reason as excuse for her videos not meeting your expectation. I generally find her PVs that connect very interesting, and even though the LS+LA fell flat, I don't think the fact that they connected was the downfall.

[Melodie]

I haven't watched the new ones yet (still waiting for Love songs), but Ayu's PVs rarely disappoint me. The only video from the recent years that I didn't really like was Lady Dynamite.

[Shirlaay]

Yeah me too. i mean, virgin road, last angel & love song didn't make much sense to me. It probs has a deep meaning that nobody really understands accept ayu. Her old pvs were so awesome, I miss them so much :'(

[pommy48]

I don't really mind...I thought Virgin Road by itself was great, but then it just got all confusing with Love song and Last angel added onto it X_X

The PVs were kinda boring because it's like the story is being dragged on and just looking at the list of connected PVs that people have posted has made me realize I really don't like any of her connected PVs

@shizukanaotoko: Ah so it wasn't only me! Especially during the parts in one of the PVs where you see her singing behind/between the crowd and she's singing...something about her face looks off? I think it's just because of the way they did her makeup this time

[Pieces_of_SEVEN]

I don't like the videos lately. I mean, ayu looks great and all, but it's like...

OK, the beginning is boring, but oh...looks like something is going to happen! I just have to wait. OK, I'm waiting. Still waiting. Oh, it's over. I guess nothing happened. Hm.

[Sirea]

I really thought Love song/Last Angel/Virgin Road (in that order) went together very well. It was a cool effect I thought because by themselves, each told an entirely separate story than when they were put together one after another. I watched them in backwards order, so Love song really made everything make sense to me, and at the end I actually nodded my head and said "Ohhhh!! Gotcha!" out loud. Haha.

But like I said, watch them separately and they're like little mini stories that kinda-sorta make sense on their own.

[truehappiness]

I like how no one mentions any of her older PVs that made no sense either... it's always whatever came out in the last two years, never what was out during I am... or whatever.

I wonder if people would've been up in arms had NEVER EVER or UNITE! been actual PVs, or if they would treat them as masterpieces that she could only create in the year 2001. With that said though, before 2003 she basically had Wataru Takeishi doing all of her PVs and that is when most people regard her PVs as the best (with the exception of (m)u and Memorial address' PVs).

[freedreamer]

^yes that's true. She has standout PVs but you cant deny that the production of the new PVs recently (incl the connected ones) have been on a different level and feel altogether. I would never in a million years see her doing Microphone-SLT from before.

And i think the confusion adds to the beauty haaha..
unless u rather see Ayu being entangled with 3 men who happen to know each other..then eahc PV can be different..but still connected...

[Sirea]

I don't see why everyone claims to be so confused about the plot of the three Love songs PVs (LS, LA, VR). It seemed pretty simple to me if you watched them in order:

Spoiler:

LS- Ayu seems to be upset at Manny and is leaving him, but it's pretty easy to tell it's cause he's dead. He follows her in spirit because he wants her to stay (maybe he doesn't know he's dead, a la sixth sense). She takes a taxi to a bank where a robbery is in progress by a couple of Ayu and Manny dopplegangers, and since the cops think Ayu's the female, they shoot her instead of the real culprit. She dies. Aww.

LA- Basically Ayu and a bunch of people staring at her dead body on the sidewalk for a few minutes while there are flashbacks with Manny who may or may not have been cheating on her. Or something. Then Manny shows up all dead-person like and they're suddenly in their VR getups, which is a perfect segue for...

VR- Manny and Ayu go all Bonnie and Clyde, possibly while dead or in the afterlife or something, maybe as poltergeists that the living can't see? And this is probably due to the fact that Ayu died by the hands of a Bonnie and Clyde-esque pair of robbers... or who knows, the ones in LS could have been them somehow. This part's fuzzy to me but myah.

So yeah the storyline's weird, but not impossible to follow. It's just like a movie that leaves questions unanswered, but I think here it's done on purpose so that we can draw our own conclusions as I did above and make it into what we want it to be.

Sorry about the lack of spoiler tag... I figured by now since most everyone's seen them it'd be mostly safe to discuss it openly.

[freedreamer]

^OMG SPOILER TAG Please... >.<
almost read it

[truehappiness]

Spoiler:

LS- Ayu seems to be upset at Manny and is leaving him, but it's pretty easy to tell it's cause he's dead. He follows her in spirit because he wants her to stay (maybe he doesn't know he's dead, a la sixth sense). She takes a taxi to a bank where a robbery is in progress by a couple of Ayu and Manny dopplegangers, and since the cops think Ayu's the female, they shoot her instead of the real culprit. She dies. Aww.

LA- Basically Ayu and a bunch of people staring at her dead body on the sidewalk for a few minutes while there are flashbacks with Manny who may or may not have been cheating on her. Or something. Then Manny shows up all dead-person like and they're suddenly in their VR getups, which is a perfect segue for...

VR- Manny and Ayu go all Bonnie and Clyde, possibly while dead or in the afterlife or something, maybe as poltergeists that the living can't see? And this is probably due to the fact that Ayu died by the hands of a Bonnie and Clyde-esque pair of robbers... or who knows, the ones in LS could have been them somehow. This part's fuzzy to me but myah.

It seems that they only shot Ayu because she was caught in the crossfire between "Mannie" / the other girl. There wasn't any indication that the police had seen the other girl's face anyway. (though the other girl was played by Ayu too) It seemed like Ayu was too stunned that the robber looked like Mannie to her, so she didn't move and thus was shot.

And about Virgin Road, it seems like it's the "ideal" end in heaven for both of them since they're running around after marriage having fun robbing banks and all that, haha. PLUS they get away at the end when they shouldn't have really gotten away. Instead of them not really existing in that PV, it seems more like they're just playing around in a reality where they can do whatever they want.

[ll moments ll]

i actually really, really like the Virgin Road/Last angel/Love song trilogy. it's pretty cool and i like the concepts of them. i understood the story after i watched it the first time...everything made sense to me, lol.

but they're just PVs, imo. i have my favorites and some i don't even bother with afterwards. but since we're having a discussion, i really enjoyed her PVs from Memorial address era (even ANGEL'S SONG, haaaah). ...actually 2003-2005 had some of my favorite Ayu PVs.