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#161
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I agree. I love Parody because I think it's such a fun song and kind of an affable slap to the face of her own career like 'yeah, yeah, I'm famous. So famous someday I'm going to release a music video of me doing the dishes for four minutes and you're going to love it. Now go away.' But the rest of the album is just... not for me? I suppose.
Actually Fantome is my new favorite of hers (still can't get over the amazingness of this album). Ultra Blue is a near second. ------------------------------------------------------- Anyway, I just wanted to randomly say: I had no idea A BEST had six different covers. I thought it only had the one with the tear. I wonder how Ayu felt driving around everywhere seeing all this advertisement for an album she didn't even want released. (Though I'm sure she was too busy/exhausted/in pain because isn't that when her ear problems began?) to even care all that much. But still.
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#162
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^Here are you can see those six different covers (just scroll down a bit).
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I know why you think her peak was at the 2nd and 3rd album, as both sold better than I am... and RAINBOW. But I can tell you that both were yearly no. 2. This means at that time, all album sales in Japan declined. Also, you would still not be able to avoid seeing ayu everywhere during 2001 and 2002. She was still on her peak until 2003 I think. Remember that H was the yearly no. 1 album, and that was released in 2002. It was the only single that could sell over a million copies in that year. (I know... three limited editions and one regular edition, then one called "million copies celebration edition". Still, if her fans were not that crazy, she wouldn't be able to achieve that). Quote:
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And I agree that Distance is my least fav album.... The Vinyl version didn't release until July. I can't remember if the vinyl sales counted in the cd sales though.
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... ... ... . Last edited by bluegie; 16th October 2016 at 03:08 AM. |
#163
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I really hope they will release Fantome on vinyl before the year's end! I know they skipped the vinyl versions with ULTRA BLUE and HEART STATION but Fantome NEEDS one!
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#164
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Now with that bolded part. That would not surprise me in the least if avex did something like that. I mean, it's obvious with all their promotion they REALLY WANTED Ayu to beat Utada while Utada was just chilling and flossing like Captain Picard. I mean, they put so much money into those promotions and work for Ayu at that time, you can bet your good money that they wanted to get her an 'official' number one no matter what. I mean, like you said, I'm fans of both too so it really shouldn't bother me but it kind of does. xD But, you know, this could all be hearsay. I shouldn't even be adding to this theory but the forum-loving side of me had to say something. Besides, this was fifteen years ago. It's not like it matters much now.
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Finally, I can stop dreaming.... Last edited by Miduhyo; 16th October 2016 at 03:45 AM. |
#165
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More about March 2001 - http://deliriumzer0.com/?p=189 Last edited by ExodusUK; 16th October 2016 at 04:08 AM. |
#166
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But I can totally see Ayu having that type of mindset and thinking 'if I'm going down, I'm going down with a bang.' Luckily it wasn't her last album. I don't know what my life would be like if I hadn't heard the album I am... that brought me here and introduced me to Ayu. (but that's a conversation for a different thread) But it's good that things have cooled down for her/for them both. I've been learning a lot about this time from this conversation and I find it a lot more interesting than I did before. I didn't realize just how much was 'at stake' (in Ayu's mindset at least.) and I'm gaining more appreciation from these artists and why Ayu is so protective of taking control of her career. I knew that she bashed with avex at one time but I didn't know exactly when it was and why. Now I do. and thanks for that link as well. It's an interesting read.
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Finally, I can stop dreaming.... Last edited by Miduhyo; 16th October 2016 at 04:33 AM. |
#167
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She has been bashing avex for like... a few years, and we must admit that avex squeezed every single energy from her during those golden years. Of course, ayu got benefits from those as well (fame, money, prizes, etc.), but at the same time we saw her cracking voice got worsen from early 2001 to the mid 2002 (Arena tour, then Stadium tour. Lots of promotion, etc...)
Hikki is luckier in this aspect, because she has her dad to manage her music business. So she can do whatever she wants. She's also lucky that most Japanese like her (or at least, respect her). I can't remember who mentioned it awhile ago in this thread. There were not many artists (esp femaes) that could escape from negativity when they got divorced. Hikki was pretty much one of the rare exceptions. Her popularity actually bounced back. Her popularity has already gone downhill since BML, and Ultra Blue couldn't pass a million copies. Her single sales were not that great and I was expecting her to get dimmer as time went on. But when FOL released, she got popular again. And the moment she announced her divorce, it was around the time she went on MSta. Then the sales on weekend bounced back and every media said it was a rare thing to see. She's quite a Godtada...
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... ... ... . Last edited by bluegie; 16th October 2016 at 05:34 AM. |
#168
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I believe she didn't want single collection vol 1 to be released.
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#169
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I thought she didn't want her best of compilation of English songs released.
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#170
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^ Yeah, I didn't hear she didn't want SC1 to be released. I just know she didn't want UTADA BEST to be released.
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#171
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But why do I wonder, I also don't understand the special appeal Utada's music seem to have in general.
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#172
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I was so bored out of my head yesterday that i downloaded Fantome. Utada was never my cup of tea, but I've got to say the years did some good stuff to her voice. That whiny thing she used to have was nagging at my nerves quite a bit back in the day. This is much easier on the ears, actually lovely, it's still a bit whiny, but i don't mind that flavour at all, since it's more subtle and gives the voice a bit of spiciness. The songs? I still don't hear anything groundbreaking. It's pleasant and light on the ears even though quite monotonous as a whole piece, however it makes a nice relaxing background music with pleasant vocals. I'm not mad at this at all, i might grow to liking it a lot, but i don't think I'd do backflips over it, i don't think it's a masterpiece. It's a simple, safe and light album. There's nothing wrong with that. I think it's been so long that people were craving it enough to be jumping out of their skin for it. The anticipation had a lot to do with how the album is received by the audience.
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#173
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^^ Some people are congenial/popular, or easily attract others. There's no reason behind. It's all about fate. Or if you really ask why, maybe because hikki is more low profile than ayu? And hikki was never in Japan in beginning. She was born and raised in the US until maybe 13 or 14?
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#174
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A few years ago a couple of japanese friends told me that Utada was so successful because japanese people really love western things. Her songs had so much (good) English with a native accent that it felt like listening to both japanese and western music.
They also said that she has kind of a privileged status in the minds of japanese people: she's one of their own but at the same time she can't be judged by their standards because she grew up abroad. Kind of like a foreign family member. |
#175
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I have to warn you guys though, under this spoiler is a LONG message. I go off topic a lot, blabber, and may even have some facts wrong or just downright confused since I don't necessarily follow gossip as well as I follow music. Anyway, this is my essay as to why Hikki doesn't get all the backlash Ayu does even though they both pretty much have done the same things: Spoiler:
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Finally, I can stop dreaming.... Last edited by Miduhyo; 16th October 2016 at 01:06 PM. |
#176
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Give me an award then cuz I read the whole thing lol.
Just to respond a few questions from your paragraph: - If my memory is correct, Manuel did that "porno" photobook because Leslie Kee lured him into it. He convinced Manuel to do it as a gift for ayu, or he told him that ayu would like it. That was really the first time I thought Kee was cheap and dirty. (And he proved himself by doing lots of thing ayu hated and ended up breaking their relationship, whether friendship or business... But now ayu is back with him and I don't know what's on her mind). - I think I mentioned above. Hikki was promoting Flavor Of Life when she released the statement of getting divorce, and I think that was the day she had to perform FOL on Msta. The single sales bounced back instead of going down the next day (I know, usually weekend sales bounce back, but it was slightly higher than usual). Even oricon mentioned this bounce on the website. I don't think we can use the word "forgiven" on her because Japanese didn't feel negative towards her divorce. Low profile is pretty much the key factor for her popularity, even though I think there's more than that. Like you said, lots of artists are low profiles as well (Namie is a good example. Kuu is not, cuz she was practically banned or under suspension from her agency due to that incident. It's not like she has a choice anywayz). Only hikki could actually gain popularity instead of getting trashed by the public. And I forgot a point when replying Corvina's message: Yes hikki married a foreign guy, but she didn't take him everywhere. I don't mean ayu did that on purpose (obviously she was just hanging out with her husband), but she's so high profile, so probably in Japanese eyes she's doing a show. I think people in Japan are willing to believe that hikki will try her best to maintain her marriage. Meanwhile, they probably think ayu's just fooling around... sigh... __________________________________________________ __________________ Anywayz, 10.10: No. 1 - 13,155 10.11: No. 3 - 7,836 10.12: No.1 - 6,053 10.13: No.1 - 7,536 10.14: No. 1 - 5,733 10.15: No. 1 - 7,942 Est. weekly sales: 48,255
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... ... ... . Last edited by bluegie; 16th October 2016 at 02:10 PM. |
#177
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Being low-profile probably helps, but if this would be the key, other artists would be much more popular as well. Also Ayu was just an example, divorce is never really good for female artists.
And isn't Utada having Twitter and posting personal stuff as well? Or is this new for her? And thanks, dreamalley, this was interesting. But from what I experienced, mixed Japanese people have it harder most of the time, not to mention foreigners. Guess it really is just a mix of things and good timing for Utada. Anyway that's just one thing I totally dislike about her, that she seemingly can do whatever she wants without getting negative backlash. And well, this isn't something she can control, so nevermind.
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#178
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We can go back to square one. She's lovable, and people find her congenial. It's hard to explain but probably her aura is like that .
But then, she seldom does stuff that could create backlash. All she does is to post Kuma pics, or completely random weird stuff like a potato, a pair pliers, a wheel cover, etc. She's more like a nerd in people's eyes . And she only appears when she does music, then she goes back to her cave.
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#179
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It's really funny how... (I'll call it destiny, fate, but you can call whatever you want) life is, isn't it? Yesterday after my Japanese classes I was talking to my teacher (Japanese from Kyoto living in Brazil for seven years now, female, 29 yo) about Fantτme and she was praising Utada and told me she was not exactly wowed about the many copies it was selling since she is really the queen of Japanese music (her words). And then, out of the blue, she says she isn't like other female superstars like hamasaki, and asked me if I knew her. I told her I really liked her work. Then she told me what is really shines about hikki's career and what ayumi doesn't have as much as utada is female fans. While back in the day utada would have tons of fans both men and women, ayumi used to have a male fan base mostly. I asked her why was that and she said she felt ayumi was too exposed, while utada was more reserved, or in this topics words: she was low profile. Ayumi wasn't (and isn't).
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#180
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I think it was one of the reasons why with vol 2 she released a few new songs. Last edited by Zahara; 16th October 2016 at 09:02 PM. |
Tags |
hikki, jpop, utada hikaru |
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