japanese vs western views on ayu

[thatstacey]

When I was first introduced to Ayu, the exact thing my friend said to me was "she's like Britney Spears; she has good songs, but she's kind of a brat." I think the "diva" image has been integral to her career almost since the beginning (this was the TO BE single). It helps to distinguish her from other artists, but it also runs contrary to the popular image of what a Japanese woman ~should be, hence the backlash. It's one of the reasons I love her, though.

[JackieRos]

most of the asian people I have met specially japanese ones really hate ayumi.
idk why.

Also the non asian don't say anything bad about her, all they ask if I know what she's saying

[PoetGirl]

I see her being diva at the stage, she really rocks it with confidence, its not just the dress. She acts like 'the world is mine' <3

[Sandy]

Originally Posted by Aozora

I hardly call that being strict or pissed off in that video :p. She was clearly angry but with valid reasoning and I think she handled it a lot more maturely than a lot of famous singers in Western countries would.

I agree. She barely Linday Lohaned.
And that was a tough time for her! She didn't even wanna make the A BEST CD and she might have taken her anger on things 'round her. Avex made her go through all that, at least partially.


Luja: What makes her a diva? Well I wouldn't use that word on her, but then again I've never met a diva in my real life, only in movies. So I guess my definition on that word is a bit different than some.

But for me this whole Ayu's fashion-thing is all blaaah. Fashion in my books is nothing but telling rich and skinny people what to ware. I'm sorry if I'm hurting anyone with these comments, not my intension.

She also wears a lot of fur or those with animalprints. (I don't know what the right name is, but I mean this):

Spoiler:

http://www.google.fi/imgres?imgurl=h...w=1366&bih=656

But these does not make her a diva it's just things I don't like about her.
I admire her so much I don't care about the fashion-thing she's got going on. She is a person first, an artist then. How many celebrities are like that nowadays? And how many labels are letting their artists be like that?

[U-GO-BOY]

the only part of her career which she seems to be a diva is the (miss)understood era with her wearing fur and everything..

when I tell people about me listening to Asian songs the first thing I get to hear is "but you don't understand it?!"..
yea, well I can enjoy music without understanding the words and it's not like they understand English songs when they hear them for the first time.. it's just so silly..

[jbrat2219]

Originally Posted by Zelda-Maker

when I tell people about me listening to Asian songs the first thing I get to hear is "but you don't understand it?!"..
yea, well I can enjoy music without understanding the words and it's not like they understand English songs when they hear them for the first time.. it's just so silly..

Ugh, I totally agree! It's so silly that some people refuse to give music a chance sometimes just because of a language barrier.

[ayuuk]

Originally Posted by Sandy

I admire her so much I don't care about the fashion-thing she's got going on. She is a person first, an artist then. How many celebrities are like that nowadays? And how many labels are letting their artists be like that?

Love what you said "she is a person first, an artist then." I used to not like her (way back into her A song for xx and LOVEppears era), but after I saw her CDL 2006~07 and its footage, I completely fell in love with her as a person. There are very few artists who give me such strong feelings.

Originally Posted by jbrat2219

Ugh, I totally agree! It's so silly that some people refuse to give music a chance sometimes just because of a language barrier.

Agree! Even though my Japanese is very basic, I can still feel the emotions in her music. It's a pity that some people refuse to listen to certain music based on language reasons.

[toniayu]

well,she is a diva but...i think that she is a smart woman and a great person and seeing the videos with her fans in LA/london...confirms that she is a good person.
egoist? I think that all the people is a bit "egoist",is a normal thing ^_^,but be excessively egoist is bad...

[Minttulatte]

I think japanese people call her lazy because they're all very hardworking or that's what I've heard/seen (especially during this disaster they have going on), but I wouldn't call Ayu lazy. She's a very hardworking and passionate woman when it comes to her work. Seriously, along with those massive tours she writes songs and records them. I don't think I could do the same.

And I don't think she sleeps makeup on when she's with Mannie. >.> How can someone even think that? She has been with Mannie so long I bet Mannie thinks she's as beautiful as ever with or without makeup.

[njanjayrp]

The people from Japan who I spoke to had really different opinions, so it's hard for me to generalize it. Some said she is charismatic and as opposed to Koda Kumi not a passing trend, the others said they liked some of her older songs and that they aren't really fans, while some others said they just don't listen to her as she doesn't do their fave genres. On the other hand a friend of mine, also from Japan seemed to have disliked her a lot, mostly for her glamorous image.

Imo people who aren't fans assume a lot about her and I figure they read most of it in tabloids and newspaper.

[Andrenekoi]

Originally Posted by drdolce

And I don't think she sleeps makeup on when she's with Mannie. >.> How can someone even think that? She has been with Mannie so long I bet Mannie thinks she's as beautiful as ever with or without makeup.

You can easily see Ayu without make up on any making off video...^^

[ayuuk]

People around me who are not her fans tend to not like her because of the tabloids and newspapers, which often depict her as someone who only cares about going shopping everywhere, etc. I don't like the news media anyway, so I am not surprised to hear such things.

To me she is very hardworking, passionate, and successful. I think doing two sets of live (arena tour and CDL) is very demanding, both physically and mentally. Plus she always has tons of recording, photo-shooting, and lyrics-writing to do. She is incredible to me because I feel she never feels tired. Really admire her energy!

[Chiharo]

I actually admire her for dropping out of school.

[ストロボ・EdGE]

Lol, I've only encountered like three or four who actually liked her. Several Japanese I've talked to have referred to her as an old lady, or more rude things, or that they only know Dearest and Voyage. :/

[Max_ZZZ]

if that's their opinion as hater
i think it's pretty sick that their answer to her being popular is that her songs are good LOL
that's what matters anyways so ayu wins yeyeye

[Sandy]

Originally Posted by Chiharo

I actually admire her for dropping out of school.

I wouldn't use the word "admire" in my case, but it makes me proud somehow. If Ayu and Pocahontas can be without an education so can I! I'm most likely gonna drop out of school at the end of this year (12 years of school is enough, thank you ) and it makes me feel not-that-terrible when I watch Ayu. Not saying that I'm gonna become a singer, but education might be overrated.

Spoiler:

ayuuk: Everyone is a person first, I usually get in trouble for saying that x) But the reason it's so easy to see Ayu as a person is because she wants to be and that's who she is and that's the one and only Ayu that exists.

[Michan]

Idk maybe japanese people disapprove her 'cause she ain't a regular japanese woman. She trod her own path without worrying about what others think.

[tokyoxjapanxfan]

Whenever I tell Japanese people I like Ayu, I usually get one of two responses.

The first one is: "Really? You like Ayu? Why?..."
And the second: "Oh, wow, is she famous in America too??"

Haha.

Generally speaking, the youth now don't really care about her...
But if I talked to late 20's / early 30 year olds, they usually like her more.
She's not trendy like she used to be, and she's also been in the public eye since her debut and people get tired of her.

In other countries, like for many of us here, we don't see her on TV constantly, hear about her on the radio, see her commercials, etc. so we can't really get tired of her, unless it's because of our own doing. While, granted, she isn't in advertisements nearly as much as she used to be, the "like" factor just sort of wore off a bit.

But that's the same for most popular artists. Especially female ones.

[truehappiness]

Another thing that is interesting is that usually the Japanese people's favorite songs [if you happen upon an Ayu fan] tend to be the same. It's usually evolution, appears, M, and a few other classics. Very rarely do they like her more recent stuff, it seems.

Regarding her sort of lack of ~super fame~ nowadays in Japan, I guess that's just the way the cookie crumbles over there. It's hard to maintain a career for so long, and I think despite the dip in sales and casual listeners, Ayu is still doing rather well for herself. She can't exactly compete with some of the other acts that are so "IN" at the moment that it's crazy, but she at least has been able to remain stable unlike many other acts from her time [late 90s] and even some that have debuted recently!

[hsienko]

I think a lot of people are just jealous of her. They see ayu living this famous rich and glamorous life style and they want that but can't have it, so they say mean things about how she's a narcissus, an ego manic, and lazy to try to knock her down a peg.