[Official Message] A BEST -15th Anniversary Edition-

[truehappiness]

DAI is also unfortunately struggling to stay relevant... even more than ELT does, tbh.

[js_surrealism]

^......yeaahhh, not the point of the post. We were discussing merits of each release, not the inherent popularity of artists. By that logic, we would all be totally okay if Ayu wrapped her poop in paper and released it, but we clearly wouldn't be (at least I hope so).

[truehappiness]

I know, but there isn't much that they can do with their material IMO since they already did a sort of COMPLETE BEST and attached their entire video catalog to BRAND NEW DAYS.

I think it was a delightful move and the music is awesome, but unlike Ayu, they had already done stuff similar to what this rerelease entailed and I think Ayu will probably pursue a similar project later on, just NOT with A BEST.

Personally I'd have preferred an additional disc with remakes, but maybe for 20 years?

[Andrenekoi]

Originally Posted by truehappiness

IMO, I think this is partly being made because A BEST keeps doing incredibly well on those download charts EVERY YEAR.

Still it didn't sold even 100k on digital copies...

[truehappiness]

Originally Posted by Andrenekoi

Still it didn't sold even 100k on digital copies...

Are the phone copies counted? That is still pretty low for digital sales if she is doing so well on that chart all the time.

[js_surrealism]

At this point I guess the remastering is still something to look forward to, since there's absolutely nothing new coming up yet (aside from the tour, which 90% of us won't be attending live). I can get behind higher quality versions of songs like A song for xx and the Loveppears tracks, if it's actually noticeable.

[Next_Level29]

i remember clearly that jpopasia spread the news that sixxxxx's (because they consider six as a full length album) sales are ayus lowest album sales since ever. im wondering , if abest will sell better than ayus usual albums, if jpopasia will spread an article with ayus sales increasing again ---

[Yoake]

Originally Posted by Raiu-Ayu

I actually like that theyre using the old cms lol it just adds to the nostalgia of it all lol

This. The marketing behind A BEST 15th Anni is based on the nostalgia. It would be useless and incoherent to reshoot the cover and made a new CM when you want people to remember the emotions they felt when A BEST was announced and released. Using new pics/shoot won't have the same impact that to see the original work.

[js_surrealism]

Was super hyped when A Best first came out. Feel nothing now. It's great if it works for other people, but for me, all I can see is "wow, THIS was considered high production values in 2001?! damn we've come a long way".

There are different ways to use music to evoke nostalgia. Straight up rehashes are a pretty lazy way to do it. Bands like SPITZ, Mr. Children, Southern All Stars, singers like Yuming, all evoke nostalgia without having to necessarily re-release the exact same album.

[LONJJONG]

I wonder if the CMs are played in TV channels too? Though it technically says "TVCM"..

[axmish87]

I just hope that the Limited Edition of A BEST will be around for some more since I am waiting for my payment hopefully at the end of this month.

[Pieces_of_SEVEN]

It must be quite nostalgic to be in Japan and if you were an ayu fan back then...and I guess even if you weren't, since you really couldn't do anything without seeing promo or advertisements for something. Wish I could have been in Japan around that time!

[Andrenekoi]

Originally Posted by truehappiness

Are the phone copies counted? That is still pretty low for digital sales if she is doing so well on that chart all the time.

Aren't phone copies also certified once they reach 100k? A Best still has no digital certification.

[oaristos]

I don't mind the fact that they're using an old CM to promote A BEST. I mean, I'm glad they even had the effort to write "15th Anniversary Edition." Promotion is important right now so I'm not going to complain

[AyuGAME]

OMG

nostalgia...such an old CM, but the CM still looks so interesting, modern and cool, not looking old at all, High quality production that still relevant even to these days.
I wonder if they will show the whole CM...this A BEST CM has countdown version right?



I think they will show it all day by day...
After saw that CM, I feel so excited for this release...

[tokyoxjapanxfan]

I wish they did the logo version too lol

[Delirium-Zer0]

Originally Posted by js_surrealism

Correct me if I'm wrong but it seems like fans who want to buy the physical release (with all the freebies and stuff) won't get any of the 'new' music (i.e. the acapella tracks) which will only be available on the digital version, which seems silly.

The very least they could have done was to throw in some unreleased footage somewhere somehow. Maybe a DVD of the recent TA tour. Even Utada Hikaru's anniversary version of First Love had unreleased tour footage accompanying it.

I don't disagree with blatant cash grabs but there are LITERALLY SO MANY WAYS to do it better...

SERIOUSLY. And maybe it's unfair to compare this to "First Love" but it happened such a short time ago, and was so full of great content that the parts that were rehashed (like the remixes that appeared on singles) didn't detract from the set's value.

The "First Love" book was this huge nice hardcover that included a TON of old rare photos and behind-the-scenes reports & info. Considering how much A BEST era "making of" photos & content aren't available on TeamAyu's website anymore, this book would have been a great place to reproduce that old content, and yet so far we've been given no indication that those sorts of things will be included (although I'd imagine the "A BEST" wallpaper photos - which are from the making of the CD cover & CM - will probably, hopefully, be there).

It was awesome to see reproductions of ads, flyers, and concert passes in "First Love". It's really hard to find magazine ads in decent quality for Ayu's older singles so it would have been awesome to learn A BEST had some of that stuff here.

"First Love" had those demos, so early mixes or earlier recordings or the TeamAyu preview track would have been SO COOL to include here audio-wise... It's already upsetting that only the digital release gets the vocal tracks.

The inclusion of Hikki's first tour was a HUGE bonus on First Love, and I have to admit, the fact that this A BEST reissue doesn't include Secret Live at Akasaka BLITZ is a huge blow to my anticipation of the release. I'm holding out hope for a 20th anniversary release of some sort that includes at least some footage of it (because honestly all I can figure is that there's no surviving footage of the concert at this point), but it would have been such an awesome addition to this.

Not only does the A BEST set pretty much ONLY include one thing I'm interested in (the book), the inclusion of both DVD AND Blu-Ray (OH MY GOD SERIOUSLY WHY DO THIS. WHY.) makes it way too easy for even the biggest fans to classify it as a lazy cash-grab, which is a reeeaaalllly big issue from a PR standpoint, especially such a short time after the 15th Anniversary LOVE/again/LOVE again content duplication fiasco.

And the t-shirt seems lazily "designed" and probably won't fit me anyway so that's not a selling point for me at all.

[lastminute]

Originally Posted by Delirium-Zer0

The inclusion of Hikki's first tour was a HUGE bonus on First Love, and I have to admit, the fact that this A BEST reissue doesn't include Secret Live at Akasaka BLITZ is a huge blow to my anticipation of the release.

SAME.

This reissue could've been so much better, that's a fact. However, I'm still looking forward to the anniversary book and the t-shirt.

[truehappiness]

I wonder if Ayu wanted to keep that Secret Live out of people's hands, lol. However, that's assuming that the full concert is even recorded anywhere in watchable form...

Personally, I think if they were going to put Secret Live on a release, it'd be a special version of ASFXX with multiple discs.

[ayu-michan]

Hey did anybody download the CM of a song for xx that was on her channel a few days ago? I forgot to and since the vids are limited time, THEY'RE ALL GONE NOW ((( It was such HD quality too!!