'sixxxxxx' covers

[koumori]

Originally Posted by Andrenekoi

"Oh Ayu, why so much photoshop?"
"Eeeew, there's no airbrush!"

Ok...

They said hairbrush, to brush hair. Not airbrush

[Andrenekoi]

Originally Posted by Koumori

They said hairbrush, to brush hair. Not airbrush

Ooops! My bad! xD

[truehappiness]

Originally Posted by Koumori

They said hairbrush, to brush hair. Not airbrush

In which case it's a bit funny since Ayu's hair looks brushed at least IMO.

[orangeakira]

Originally Posted by Chibi-Chan

Don't like them. Can't stand this hypersexualised "come and fuck me" gaze female popstars love to make.
Covers like LOVEppears, Duty and RAINBOW are brilliant for example, because they are not just Ayu being sexy. Those covers have an actual meaning. The new ones have not. Even though it's just her face and she's not naked those covers sexualise and objectify her a 1000 times more.
I'm really disappointed.

really? you think this cover is objectifying and oversexualizing her? If anything, I feel like Party Queen is the album cover that's guilty of that, not this. She's in her underwear crawling on all fours on the ground, wearing 6 inch leopard print heels on that cover. I didn't even think she looked sexualized on this cover when I first saw these covers. From the unbuttoned shirt and the messy hair, to me it looked like she just woke up. Also even if "sexual" is the intent, maybe she's the one that decided to do the "fuck me" look on the covers, we can't just assume Avex is trying to objectify and overly sexualize her.

[JackieRos]

I don't see how ayu looks "sexualised" on these covers.

Originally Posted by melissalove

When ayu's covers look a lot like namie's feel covers.

Oh heeeeeell no. Not in the least. FEEL covers are super sophisticated and
classy. Six covers are awkward.

Originally Posted by Andrenekoi

Spoiler:

Originally Posted by tokyoxjapanxfan

You guys have Internet connection right? You can find the same mouth from like 15 years ago.

Spoiler:

Can we talk about how similar the Sixxxxxx covers are to this picture?!

These are the worst examples and have nothing to do with the covers.
They are not similar in the least, the "duck lips" in all of these pictures look
natural and not too awkward like the six covers.

[thomas]

I'll be getting the CD only one~ I like it. Whenever I buy CD's I never look at their cover for more than a few seconds though.

That being said, I still tried to photoshop the duck/fish/sparrow lips to get an idea of what could've been.

[Delirium-Zer0]

Another new set of photos, another bunch of unproductive whining about the fish lips ayu has done for a gazillion years lol

I think the fish lips themselves are a bit irritating but as long as she's not making big buggy stupid eyes I'm okay with them.

The issue I have with the covers is that they use a wide angle lens. It makes it look like her eyes are too high up on a too-round head and like her nose is a big potato someone just stuck on there. I corrected it in photoshop to see if it makes them look any better and yes, yes it does.

[pimenta]

^^CD+BD looks fine, but the other two look much more weird imo... I personally can't imagine the CD+DVD only with her mouth closed, I like it the way it is.

Originally Posted by JackieRos

These are the worst examples and have nothing to do with the covers.
They are not similar in the least, the "duck lips" in all of these pictures look
natural and not too awkward like the six covers.

I'm pretty sure tokyoxjapanxfan was just trying to show that the shape of her lips in the covers is not different at all from her normal lips since some people were mentioning her lips shape looked weird...

[tokyoxjapanxfan]

Yes sorry I meant mouth shape.

But she also puts a lot tension in her mouth in some of the pictures. It's not a pucker, it's not natural. She's definitely pouting, and a pout is one step away from duck lips. She starting showing her bottom teeth around Guilty/A BEST 2?

[kotora]

with these covers, sixxxxxx implies horny and sex.

IMO

[Pieces_of_SEVEN]

Ummm no you're not gonna remove my post that did not violate any rules. Grow up.

And watch this. Pay attention.

[Andrenekoi]

Originally Posted by JackieRos

I don't see how ayu looks "sexualised" on these covers.

Oh heeeeeell no. Not in the least. FEEL covers are super sophisticated and
classy. Six covers are awkward.




These are the worst examples and have nothing to do with the covers.
They are not similar in the least, the "duck lips" in all of these pictures look
natural and not too awkward like the six covers.

To each their own, I guess? I think she looks as stupid on most of them.

[truehappiness]

Originally Posted by tokyoxjapanxfan

Yes sorry I meant mouth shape.

But she also puts a lot tension in her mouth in some of the pictures. It's not a pucker, it's not natural. She's definitely pouting, and a pout is one step away from duck lips. She starting showing her bottom teeth around Guilty/A BEST 2?

Around then. It got really overdone in 2008~ or so. I think Shimoko got her into that habit after first working with her in like 2005 and then getting to work with her again in 2007 onward.

[Beauty4123]

I don't think I was expecting such a "dark" theme for the covers, but I love the fact how they're more classy & dramatic for a mini-album, that's being released in the summer. Ayu is looking gorgeous in each of the covers! My favorite is the CD+DVD. I really like the font, as well! Overall, I truly do love the covers.

[Zeke.]

How can anyone deny the similarity between Ku's "Suki De..." covers and Ayu's covers for this album? Sure, their facial expressions are different, but the balance as far as where their body is placed, the slightly disheveled hair, the color (not that it's just black and white, but the exact same values of black and white saturation and contrast). They are so similar that if they were sitting side by side on a shelf, one could grab the wrong CD and not even realize it!

And this is not a matter of saying "SHE COPIED KUMI;" it's that people are so bullheaded that they can't even admit to someone making the observation that they look similar. A basic observation and people feel the need to make a fricking case about it.

And that's not even the real problem with these covers... As I said when they were first revealed, these covers make her look like she's trying really hard (to be Kim K), maybe not deliberately, but that's who they remind me of; these shots make her nose look particularly unflattering; and, her hair styling makes it appear as if the shoot was done in the salon chair, mid-cut. And the entire concept of "the real ayu" "the natural ayu" needs to be dropped ASAP! They've been hawking that shit for like 4 years now! Every shoot she does and every magazine piece she appears in tries to use this same concept!

[orbitalaspect]

Wow. Strong feels all around on these covers. Glad to see a mix of strong feelings, let's just cool it on attacking each other, thank you. I think everyone who loves and hates them have made great points.

These are far from flattering, almost lazy, especially when compared to A ONE; these are too similar to A ONE and that's my primary gripe. We just did the face close-up shots for covers, and I expected something not almost identical in style. That said, I am concerned, as my second point, that these covers will not be well received by Japanese fans and, as a result, sales will not be good at all.

On the plus side, positively unique among her history of covers. These are a very different feel, more original than A ONE, much more natural.

Overall, I think the font fits the style, a nice detail that again following A ONE, proves that there is at least better consistency in the art style and typography.

Now, my opinion: Bad. My first reaction, when I saw them on Facebook, was, "Are you fucking serious, Ayu?" Brusque, short, nothing like my reaction to PQ covers (I will always harp on Ayu for the bawdiness of PQ, and especially for making a photo of her, leaning her head on a shoe, a cover.) Her mouth looks unnatural, like she has a major overbite and talks through her nasal cavity, or even might have a bad lisp. The photos look messy, like they were shot with a webcam, and after she woke from a nap, and while she has a cold. Again, they are original mood, style, but too similar to A ONE. I will probably replace them with a fan cover.

I don't think these should have turned out this bad. But they just come off sloppy, disorganized, and blatant, also lazy due to those similarities with A ONE covers. She has, however, managed to be consistent with these covers, her third in a row without major typography awkwardness or other clear design inconsistencies.

[truehappiness]

The inner booklet stuff should be good if it's in the vein of things that would be published in Numero.

Japanese fans seem to like them since she looks 'cute' to them and detractors obviously have their issues with them as they usually do seem to find issue with just about anything Ayu does. This is probably the most Japanese she has looked on a recent cover IMO.

[chocopockymaster]

Originally Posted by orbitalaspect

She has, however, managed to be consistent with these covers, her third in a row without major typography awkwardness or other clear design inconsistencies.

I agree with this 100%. Zutto... popped up on my iPod earlier and I was reminded of how much of a home run the TA version cover was for me. And 2/3 A ONE covers were good. Now we're here with really only one cover that's acceptable, imo (CD+DVD) but I agree that there aren't any blatant design-related issues with the entire series of covers we've gotten this era.

That said, the more I look at the CD+Bluray, the more I'm like...how the fuck could anyone think this is an acceptable cover??? You're telling me there weren't better options from the rest of the shoot. Oy frikin vey.

[Delicious n Bold]

^ and the first world problem part is that now I collect cd Blu Ray editions because I can't handle lower quality anymore yet that cover is the worst for me. I actually like the cd + DVD edition but that dvd quality tho. If I were crazy I'd by both and just switch the covers but we don't live in a perfect world

[truehappiness]

It's funny reading impressions since everyone seems to have different covers that they favor or loathe. CD only or CD+BD seem to be getting the most mixed reactions.