New single「Summer Again」(1.7.22) - Page 18 - Ayumi Hamasaki Sekai
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  #341  
Old 3rd July 2022, 10:51 AM
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surprisingly it's a grower. not a fan of the song and the video for the first time. but after hearing it 4x, it is a bop. the layers of the sound make it catchy.
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  #342  
Old 3rd July 2022, 11:38 AM
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I really like Summer Again. It's different from the bittersweet summer tracks that Ayu is known for, and it's topical!

I disliked the PV however, as I'm not enjoying Ayu's choreography (or lack thereof) and overacting. I understand her desire to want to present oneself as an iconic diva, but her overuse of hand movements and staring intently at the camera is coming across too inorganically for me. The best parts of the PV were the small moments where she was moving/acting naturally, and not appearing so rigid and static. I think she needs better direction. I did like the concept of the PV, however!
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  #343  
Old 3rd July 2022, 11:57 AM
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we are blessed to have new summer song again from AYU! how many years has it been?!
been playing it non-stop since. just wish that we got instrumental and remixes.
PV is great too although not the best but she get the message across. #samagen
can't wait for the new album!
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  #344  
Old 3rd July 2022, 12:31 PM
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Wow I really love the song and the video! Definitely has replay value for me, and the video is her best in a while imo
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  #345  
Old 3rd July 2022, 02:26 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Aderianu View Post
I listened to this song few more times and I like it even less. Can't force myself to watch the video. The whole thing is huge disappointment and I prefer to think it never existed
The song was playing in my head on the way home just now. I guess it's a good sign. Definitely not the worst song Ayu has put out. Maybe the video will make the song better for you?

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Originally Posted by 280301 View Post
I understand her desire to want to present oneself as an iconic diva, but her overuse of hand movements and staring intently at the camera is coming across too inorganically for me.
You know, watching the video, Mirrorcle World PV came to mind. She's been doing this act for so many years, I am used to it.
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  #346  
Old 3rd July 2022, 02:30 PM
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^it has catchy parts i guess, but justs because it's catchy doesn't mean it has a staying power. I can't remember any of it except for the intro flute thing lol and i've listened to it for a few times now. Also i always find it weird when people say the video will make it better, but like, i'm not gonna listen to the song on a daily basis with the video playing along while i'm watching it. It may work with the song but it won't make the song sound different. And yes, her overreactions and theatrical gestures have been there since i don't know how long. It works with some songs though.

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Originally Posted by Aderianu View Post
I listened to this song few more times and I like it even less. Can't force myself to watch the video. The whole thing is huge disappointment and I prefer to think it never existed
I can feel ya~ I just hope that the album won't be THIS. The video isn't horrible. It's pretty visually. But yeah i can't wait for something else to come out, i just hope it won't all be what this was. I wasn't a fan of Nonfiction either, but i'd take it instead of this one anytime.

Last edited by BlackSilence; 3rd July 2022 at 02:35 PM.
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  #347  
Old 3rd July 2022, 02:32 PM
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I listened a few times now and it growed on me ! Summer Again stucks in my head !
The PV is beautiful and summerish ! As for Ayu who can't dance, it is not true, she can
In the PV, she is not static all the time, I think the choreo is nice.
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  #348  
Old 3rd July 2022, 02:54 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by minkAYuko View Post
...

it is a copy woman's world!...
It absolutely isn't. The beats in the verses definitely have a similar progression pattern but they're not the same. Plus, Ayu's turns into a longer repeat pattern where it goes lower and then higher again at the end (which Cher's doesn't have).

Such similarities are bound to happen within the genre but beats aside, the songs are very different. Just compare the bridge in both songs or the way the pre-chorus is sung (Cher's is full of power and much longer, for example).
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  #349  
Old 3rd July 2022, 03:18 PM
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Originally Posted by BlackSilence View Post
Also i always find it weird when people say the video will make it better, but like, i'm not gonna listen to the song on a daily basis with the video playing along while i'm watching it. It may work with the song but it won't make the song sound different.
I was talking more about overall package impression. Like if you listen to a podcast it's one thing, but if you can also see people talking it makes it even better theoretically. But anyway, I personally liked the song better thanks to this good music video. It's like the video gave colours to the song and now I can enjoy the song more separately from the video.
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  #350  
Old 3rd July 2022, 03:23 PM
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I like the song, its a nice summer song which puts me in a good mood and thats what I was hoping for
The PV is okay. Its looks nice but for me its boring. I dont think I will watch it a lot. But who knows maybe it will grow on me
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  #351  
Old 3rd July 2022, 09:15 PM
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Summer again yehhh
I can't stop listening to it in my mind, does anyone have the lyrics in English? please <3
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  #352  
Old 4th July 2022, 02:19 AM
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I really like the song!
I may be part of a minority but I would have been so fed up by a classical and safe ayu summer song. To be honest I've never really enjoyed her summer hits post fairyland as they sounded to me like pale imitations (to some exceptions). So even if Summer Again is not reinventing much in itself (music-wise) it is a great addition to her discography and something I would never expect after all those years.
The arrangements are quite good and fresh and I'm not surprised tasuku is behind those! Love the 80-90's vintage beat and the african / middle eastern type of sound throughout the song. They make those parts cleverly contrasting with the choruses which are more classic, so the whole song still has her mark all over it. It's definitely an ayu song.
To sum up, Summer Again is a really strong follow-up to Nonfiction! She really surprised me once again.

As regards the PV, I expected something like that.
Like a lot of opportunities to do many interesting things kind of wasted. Could have been cool like many said to have more of that dark haired ayu, more scenes in the caves (I've been dreaming about them since we got the first dark haired ayu candid shoot), more scenes in the water, within the greenery, some fire on the beach during night scenes, even some kind of cult and ritual etc etc... But well I expected it to be that simple, so eventually I'm pretty ok with the PV.
Yet, I'm less ok with her acting and lip-synching. They are once more really distracting to me. It was so good before... Why...
As regards editing I have to say it's quite a mess. She looks SO GOOD on all the off screen and candid shoots and then we have that blurry, featureless version of ayu. They really don't do her beauty justice. And like on Nonfiction PV, I noticed they sometimes scaled the picture vertically so that (I don't see any other reasons) she appears thinner, like they're trying to pay tribute to Anastacia's I'm Outta Love PV. I absolutely hate that. It makes her face look really off and her body quite strange on some parts when she has her arms gesturing around her (basically she looks elongated with tiny arms).
Oh, and I'm SO GLAD there are no drone shadows to be found unlike in the teaser haha! At least I may put that good point on the late extra editing!

Can't wait for the album !!!!!

edit : anyone noticed ayu and her magical blurry armpits (at 1:19 for example and on)? ... SWEET BABY JESUS, WHY ANYONE WOULD DO THAT??? ToT

Last edited by hidekirby; 4th July 2022 at 02:29 AM.
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  #353  
Old 4th July 2022, 04:32 AM
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I like it a lot. NONFICTION and Summer again are really great, much more better than the generic ballad songs.
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  #354  
Old 4th July 2022, 05:41 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by hidekirby View Post
I really like the song!
I may be part of a minority but I would have been so fed up by a classical and safe ayu summer song. To be honest I've never really enjoyed her summer hits post fairyland as they sounded to me like pale imitations (to some exceptions). So even if Summer Again is not reinventing much in itself (music-wise) it is a great addition to her discography and something I would never expect after all those years.
The arrangements are quite good and fresh and I'm not surprised tasuku is behind those! Love the 80-90's vintage beat and the african / middle eastern type of sound throughout the song. They make those parts cleverly contrasting with the choruses which are more classic, so the whole song still has her mark all over it. It's definitely an ayu song.
To sum up, Summer Again is a really strong follow-up to Nonfiction! She really surprised me once again.

As regards the PV, I expected something like that.
Like a lot of opportunities to do many interesting things kind of wasted. Could have been cool like many said to have more of that dark haired ayu, more scenes in the caves (I've been dreaming about them since we got the first dark haired ayu candid shoot), more scenes in the water, within the greenery, some fire on the beach during night scenes, even some kind of cult and ritual etc etc... But well I expected it to be that simple, so eventually I'm pretty ok with the PV.
Yet, I'm less ok with her acting and lip-synching. They are once more really distracting to me. It was so good before... Why...
As regards editing I have to say it's quite a mess. She looks SO GOOD on all the off screen and candid shoots and then we have that blurry, featureless version of ayu. They really don't do her beauty justice. And like on Nonfiction PV, I noticed they sometimes scaled the picture vertically so that (I don't see any other reasons) she appears thinner, like they're trying to pay tribute to Anastacia's I'm Outta Love PV. I absolutely hate that. It makes her face look really off and her body quite strange on some parts when she has her arms gesturing around her (basically she looks elongated with tiny arms).
Oh, and I'm SO GLAD there are no drone shadows to be found unlike in the teaser haha! At least I may put that good point on the late extra editing!

Can't wait for the album !!!!!

edit : anyone noticed ayu and her magical blurry armpits (at 1:19 for example and on)? ... SWEET BABY JESUS, WHY ANYONE WOULD DO THAT??? ToT
they wanted to hide ayu's back?, was it too sexual? haha or maybe a little back roll? (alyssa edwards: BACK ROLLS? O_O) xD. The fact that that it's supposed to be 1080p and still looks 240p doesn't help. The dancers armpits are blurred too.
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  #355  
Old 4th July 2022, 07:04 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by hidekirby View Post
I really like the song!
I may be part of a minority but I would have been so fed up by a classical and safe ayu summer song. To be honest I've never really enjoyed her summer hits post fairyland as they sounded to me like pale imitations (to some exceptions). So even if Summer Again is not reinventing much in itself (music-wise) it is a great addition to her discography and something I would never expect after all those years.
The arrangements are quite good and fresh and I'm not surprised tasuku is behind those! Love the 80-90's vintage beat and the african / middle eastern type of sound throughout the song. They make those parts cleverly contrasting with the choruses which are more classic, so the whole song still has her mark all over it. It's definitely an ayu song.
To sum up, Summer Again is a really strong follow-up to Nonfiction! She really surprised me once again.

As regards the PV, I expected something like that.
Like a lot of opportunities to do many interesting things kind of wasted. Could have been cool like many said to have more of that dark haired ayu, more scenes in the caves (I've been dreaming about them since we got the first dark haired ayu candid shoot), more scenes in the water, within the greenery, some fire on the beach during night scenes, even some kind of cult and ritual etc etc... But well I expected it to be that simple, so eventually I'm pretty ok with the PV.
Yet, I'm less ok with her acting and lip-synching. They are once more really distracting to me. It was so good before... Why...
As regards editing I have to say it's quite a mess. She looks SO GOOD on all the off screen and candid shoots and then we have that blurry, featureless version of ayu. They really don't do her beauty justice. And like on Nonfiction PV, I noticed they sometimes scaled the picture vertically so that (I don't see any other reasons) she appears thinner, like they're trying to pay tribute to Anastacia's I'm Outta Love PV. I absolutely hate that. It makes her face look really off and her body quite strange on some parts when she has her arms gesturing around her (basically she looks elongated with tiny arms).
Oh, and I'm SO GLAD there are no drone shadows to be found unlike in the teaser haha! At least I may put that good point on the late extra editing!

Can't wait for the album !!!!!

edit : anyone noticed ayu and her magical blurry armpits (at 1:19 for example and on)? ... SWEET BABY JESUS, WHY ANYONE WOULD DO THAT??? ToT

I am sorry I miss her summer songs like UNITE!, independent, HANABI
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  #356  
Old 4th July 2022, 07:10 AM
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Originally Posted by kotora View Post
I am sorry I miss her summer songs like UNITE!, independent, HANABI
I think most of people miss this time (I miss it too...) but it was 20 years ago and this time is over. There is no chance to listen this kind of song now in Ayu's discography.
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  #357  
Old 4th July 2022, 07:47 AM
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PV's got 251,999 views on youtube already
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  #358  
Old 4th July 2022, 09:09 AM
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That's great !
I can't wait for the album ! With this song, nonfiction, 23rd monster, it will be a dynamic album I hope !!! (not too much ballads please!)
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  #359  
Old 4th July 2022, 12:05 PM
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Originally Posted by summerain View Post
People saying her dancers don't know how to dance... Do you even know what are you talking about? lol
I was thinking about it when driving home last night....
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  #360  
Old 4th July 2022, 12:25 PM
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Originally Posted by minkAYuko View Post
they wanted to hide ayu's back?, was it too sexual? haha or maybe a little back roll? (alyssa edwards: BACK ROLLS? O_O) xD. The fact that that it's supposed to be 1080p and still looks 240p doesn't help. The dancers armpits are blurred too.
Yeah I really don't understand the point of this. But it's pretty obvious they poorly tracked them as its blurring the surroundings too... Whoever did the edit must be replaced asap, or somebody really has to convince ayu she's ageing gracefully and looks waaaay younger and way beautiful and natural without all those cheap edits. It's really so sad. Or I just hope it was a one shot decision (for whatever reason) as Nonfiction PV didn't suffer that much from all of this.

Another funny thing I noticed, her arms and back are greener than her head in some shots (I was even wondering if there was any greyish paint covering her body for artistic reasons or else). Like they poorly applied a selective color filter on her face to make it more orange but forgot the body. Please no more last minute edits...
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