New digital single 'Mask' out November 18th, 2022

[maxikot]

PV is stunning I can't wait to see it in blu-ray quality. I absolutely love this whole era visually. Every PV has its own identity and I dig all of them.

[Deep snow]

I like the PV - it was nothing special, but it was colourful and dynamic, just pretty and harmless. I don't think she's fake crying though because that looks like the way she cries in concert and that always looks pretty genuine lol

also, this might be poor Google translation, but what scene is she referring to when she said "don't miss the shocking last!!" in her Tweet/on Instagram? the last scene doesn't seem very shocking to me

Originally Posted by Sky High

I don't have a problem with fake crying and lousy acting. I wish Ayu gives a chance to new producers instead of TK.

I agree wholeheartedly with this. he is just such an unsavoury character; at this point literally anyone else is preferable.

[douggn]

I feel like a lot happens but at the same time nothing happens, it is a nice pv but nothing too special expect she used a mirror room and some projections which do look very nice I feel like it could of had more of a story to it, except it looks more they are doing what they are doing for just the looks over context. I feel like there is almost a story to it maybe struggling with your mind. And the dress. We almost get a full shot of ayu in that plastic outfit but they don’t quite show it with a fade over effect on screen though we might get it in a tour

[kotora]

Originally Posted by Foyuki

fake crying again hahahaha
This PV should release higher quality video

We should go to Teamlab Planet for the best quality of the exhibition.

[SunshineSlayer]

Song is just so-so, unfortunately. Sounds like an album track, not a promo track.

[thinkingoutloud89]

This is the most Komuro thing I heard since the last 90s

[KPL]

I like MASK, but I still feel NO FUTURE is a better song - similar vibe, but executed much more sophisticatedly in arrangement and vocal

[love in music]

Originally Posted by SKYia

I think it's getting worse and worse. It was so bad during one concert in the Just the beginning tour chapter 3, I don't remember if that was Kobe or Nagoya, but ever since it amazingly gets worse and worse. Like she lost any taste in what looks good and what is too much.

I did notice it getting worse in her concerts, but haven't noticed it getting to this level in music videos until now.

I feel like the only way I can be okay with the music video is if she makes a statement saying the over the top bad acting was intentional and this inauthentic acting is a sort of "mask" she wears to not show her real emotions.

But that's kind of a stretch lol.

[M.A.X.]

Originally Posted by douggn

I feel like a lot happens but at the same time nothing happens, it is a nice pv but nothing too special expect she used a mirror room and some projections which do look very nice I feel like it could of had more of a story to it, except it looks more they are doing what they are doing for just the looks over context. I feel like there is almost a story to it maybe struggling with your mind. And the dress. We almost get a full shot of ayu in that plastic outfit but they don’t quite show it with a fade over effect on screen though we might get it in a tour

Exactly !

This is a OK PV, pretty and a nice collab with TeamLAB at odaiba. Nothing more...

[ayumisrael]

Originally Posted by M.A.X.

Exactly !

This is a OK PV, pretty and a nice collab with TeamLAB at odaiba. Nothing more...

It’s not in Odaiba it’s TeamLab Planets in Toyosu.
Borderless in Odaiba was just recently closed. Planets will also at the end of the next year.
After watching the PV it made me want to go there again haha. I really loved Planets more than borderless.

I felt that the chorus should have the same feeling as the verses and outro since it’s up beat but I suppose that it was on purpose since it wasn’t meant to be a ballad but I LOVE the verses and outro.

The collab PV with Planets was great! The question is what message is implied in every detail

[Ruan Borges]

The Pv is really cool, not her best, but it stands out in her recent videography!

[natalaxie]

Ok I really can't get the song out of my head now!!!!
And I really enjoyed the visuality of the PV and thought Ayu and everyone else's costumes etc were stunning! The only thing is when you can see the lines between the mirror panels on the floor in the 2nd or 3rd scene, it kind of breaks the fantasy.
I love the ending as well!

[natalaxie]

And re the message, I wonder whether that scene with Ayu on the floor is a reference to her being ishiki-fumei (unconscious) when she had anaphylactic shock?

[Foyuki]

Originally Posted by kotora

We should go to Teamlab Planet for the best quality of the exhibition.

and it should be in HDR too
SDR is not enough for teamlab

[M.A.X.]

Whouaa almost 300k views for MASK. I think it’s better than Summer again at the same time.

[BlackSilence]

Originally Posted by love in music

So, there were some parts of the video that were visually pretty, but I could not enjoy them because of how cringe and bad her acting was. I don't think I can watch this video again because of how embarrassing her acting was.
She has been in this industry a long time and it actually amazes me how she hasn't improved her acting skills, especially when it comes to fake crying.

This was me the whole time watching the mv. I mean she was always quite fake but this was worse than before. I don’t think her exaggeration of the movements fit the song, it all just felt so out of place.
The video was ok, nothing special.

I wish they used the latex costume shots more, it’s such an expensive and fragile material and i feel like they didn’t use it enough.

BTW for anyone thinking the latex outfit could show up on tour…. I don’t think so. It is not a material made for quick-changes. Unless it’s a coat..it would be like trying to put latex gloves on a wet hands. You need powder to put garments like that on if they are form fitting. It’s not an easy piece to look after either.

[kotora]

Originally Posted by Foyuki

and it should be in HDR too
SDR is not enough for teamlab

You are right. I don't want to post 4K because the toxic fandom here will ask me to hide the 4K picture.

[ayu_fantasy]

Originally Posted by ayu-fan

Oh god i cringed at her fake crying even when she posted that part on her ig. Wth was she thinking it’s good? Even worse than Days lol. Funny that her crying on Return Road was actually really convincing.

Her PVs are getting boring. Maybe it has something to do with budget cutting?her old PVs were so much better in quality and almost always artsy in a way.

Yea man! I wonder what happen after guilty album. Rock and row circus was still ok… but everything after that was plain boring. It makes her just like any other artist.

I miss the days when she’s truly ayu.

[tokyoxjapanxfan]

Guilty was the first album I was only “meh” about. I listened to it, bought it of course. But I wasn’t excited by it. It’s a very dark album. Even the summer songs are dark, with night shots taking up the majority of the videos (from my memory at least haha).

Looking back on it I can certainly appreciate it a bit more, I mean… it’s pretty cohesive. And if I listened to it out of context I’d probably enjoy it more. I mean, I think fated is one of her best ballads—highly underrated.

But because when I listen to it now it reminds me of that tinge of disappointment I felt back then, it’s definitely an album that I rank mid-tier in my list haha. But saying all this, now I want to relisten to it lol.

In any case, I feel like after this album, her release pattern changed.

[LOONAppears]

Originally Posted by tokyoxjapanxfan

Guilty was the first album I was only “meh” about. I listened to it, bought it of course. But I wasn’t excited by it. It’s a very dark album. Even the summer songs are dark, with night shots taking up the majority of the videos (from my memory at least haha).

Looking back on it I can certainly appreciate it a bit more, I mean… it’s pretty cohesive. And if I listened to it out of context I’d probably enjoy it more. I mean, I think fated is one of her best ballads—highly underrated.

But because when I listen to it now it reminds me of that tinge of disappointment I felt back then, it’s definitely an album that I rank mid-tier in my list haha. But saying all this, now I want to relisten to it lol.

In any case, I feel like after this album, her release pattern changed.

what a coincidence! i was just listening to guilty today. it’s not one of my personal faves, but it’s still very good and i can’t help but just appreciate all the raw emotion that went into it. ayu was going thru a really tough time in her life and that record really reflects that