Will "ULTRA BLUE" be better in your opinion than "(miss)understood"?

[xdevilsxinsidex]

originality wise ULTRA BLUE wins by a landslide. I did like (miss)understood but it got boring after a couple of listens. One Night Magic turned out pretty decent hah.

[ImpactBreaker]

It's hard to tell how much original ULTRA BLUE actually is. I played This Is Love (my favorite new Hikki song) to my brother and he said: "japanese artists aren't creative anymore...why is she recycling Traveling and SAKURA DORAPPUSU all over again?". I disagree about the creativity part but I agree that hikki wasn't exactly original. The songs in ULTRA BLUE aside from some of the singles such as passion, as much as they sound brand new, aren't really original. I had the feeling of listening to a mix of Exodus+ Deep River - some of the songs have the "march-like" thing from Animato and the mysterious tunes of Deep River. In terms of structure some of them can be rather random that it's quite difficult to actually pay proper attention as the song is totally undecided on what it will turn out to be (yeah, nichiyo no asa).
Aside from that I loved the album! I can't tell which album I prefer though because I need time for the songs from ULTRA BLUE to sink in, in order to judge.

[chibi_sunny]

Maybe its because I have a soft spot for Ayu, but I think that Miss Understood is a better album. That is not to say that I dislike Utada's album, I mean she really has some great songs on there like Colors and Keep Tryin', but overall, I like Miss Understood more.

[pudding]

ur.... i love j-pop more than others.... so i think i perfer UB

[julian]

I don't know, both albums are pretty good... highlights for me from each:

ULTRA BLUE
This is Love
BLUE
Making Love
COLORS <--I know it's old.. but I think it's still timeless
Passion

(miss)understood
STEP you
Ladies Night
is this LOVE?
alterna
criminal
Will
Rainy Day

[My Rainbow]

(miss)understood of course!!!!!!
Ultra Blue is good, but Ayu's BETTER!!!

[ayu_ayu301]

I just listened to the whole Ultra Blue ...

and I guess it's just my taste in music but I prefer (m)U a lot more ... all songs in ultra blue sound almost as if it was the same style of song .. I listened to it for more than 10 times and the only song that stands out to me is This is Love and Passion.

[Zeke.]

I can't even believe this thread I created is still alive! WOW! The results are unbelievably close with (m)u in the lead by ONE VOTE!

Originally Posted by shadow*puppet

after all these years... it's still ayu versus hikki? really, grow up, people!

I love them both, and ultra blue is just as good as (miss)understood... but seriously... this ayu vs. hikki, ayu vs. kuu, ayu vs. the twenty-third member of morning musume blah blah is just really childish. can't we love all of them?

This isn't really a question of who is the better arist, but which piece of work you enjoy better. I love Ayu to death and will stick by her forever. If I could listen to one arist the rest of my life, it would be Ayu... However, I when I created this thread I voted that ULTRA BLUE would be better and after finally listening to it, I think that it is better! That is not saying "HIKKI IS BETTER THAN AYU," because in my opinion, it is the other way around - but in this case, Hikki gets it hands down for an amazing album that had no dissapointing feelings left inside me and didn't leave me expecting more, where as Ayu's (m)u left me thinking "Is this really the final product?"... It didn't feel as complete as MY STORY...

[freedreamer]

this poll is so close...i guess this makes UTADA and AYU both queens

[ayu_fan929]

it was close but i voted for (m)u. ULTRA BLUE was good, i liked songs like Keep Tryin' and basically the 1st 5 tracks of the album. (m)u had great (for the most part) single tracks, but weak album tracks. but since i enjoyed more of (m)u single tracks, i voted for (m)u.

[kimi xx]

Since ULTRA BLUE release like yesterday. I prefer Hikki's album more then (miss) understood. I prefer Hikki's music right now. It's more unique.

[miracleofsuzaku]

This Is Love owns, which makes Ultra Blue the better of the two.

[WalkingProud]

i like hikki and ayu equally but i voted (m)u. ultra blue was such a disappointment for me. i could have bought the colors single four years ago and wouldn't have missed out anything. i don't want to sound rude but hikki copied herself to death and I see a similar danger for ayu. while ayu seems quite fond of angel's song, e.g., july 1st, hikki appearently adores hikari (and hence they "reinvent" those various times). both won't go anywhere when they keep doing the same things over and over again.
oh well, feel free to accuse me of not seeing the "genius" behind it all.

[WalkingProud]

oh, and the design of (m)u apeals more to me.

[Dreamland]

no I dont think it will be better then missunderstood

[cybermoomba]

I don't think either is better. They're both good pieces of work. I like both for different reasons.

[hallelujah_united]

^Having listened to both (UB just arrived last night), I'll have to agree with you. They're both wonderful pieces of work, but for very different reasons. The feel that UB gives off is one that's very surreal, and nothing similar to the strong emotions that's given off in (m)u or other Ayu albums. It was definitely much more calming to listen to this than (m)u.

I'm going to have to give it a few more listens to come up with more detailed descriptions though.

[Mirai Noah]

^ Also agreed. My copy arrived yesterday. The albums are very different styles...

[SheFliesHigher]

I am so in love with Ultra Blue. But I love m(u) to itty-bitty pieces as well. I can't say one is better than the other. I would recommend them both to someone in a heartbeat!

[shadow*puppet]

after all these years... it's still ayu versus hikki? really, grow up, people!

I love them both, and ultra blue is just as good as (miss)understood... but seriously... this ayu vs. hikki, ayu vs. kuu, ayu vs. the twenty-third member of morning musume blah blah is just really childish. can't we love all of them?