Theory: LOVE again PV story

[waterballoon]

I have a concept of the PVs in LOVE again and how they are linked together as a whole story.

1) The Trilogy
a) Wake me up

We start the story in the early summer days where Ayu goes on a road trip with her Caucasian bf (whom I think represents Mannie) and Maro, and she ends up falling for Maro and betraying Mannie behind his back in the end

b) You & Me

With a new found love, Ayu & Maro embarks on a wonderful and dreamy summer love adventure in an island; at the beginning with her facing the ocean, Maro comes over to pick her up (very very important symbolism imo), but not all is well as toward the end we find that as exciting and happy as they appear to be, they don't seem to get along with fighting and it's only a foretelling to...

c) snowy kiss

In winter, Ayu finds that she can no longer sustain a love that derived from lust with Maro. Flashbacks of them fighting and the constant arguments along with an image of her back in the summer facing the ocean, but without anyone to pick her up. I think she realized by then that she left somebody to be with another person, yet at the end she's still alone.

2) Sweet Scar

I believe this PV comes right after the trilogy as the outfit she's wearing here is identical to the one in snowy kiss (white button-down shirt and jeans). Over here she's alone like how the story has developed so far but she begins to feel the passing of time (hence the different seasons backdrops); her doe-eyed look to the camera also shows emptiness and a really solemn sadness.

3) Missing

After realizing how alone she is in her home, she begins to lament. Notice how in the corn field, there are two floating men - I believe they represent Mannie and Maro; her lost lovers she can never get back and all she can do is to cry alone.

4) Song 4 U

As time passes, her wounds heal and now she has one last battle to fight - the one against herself. This explains the chess game and the "good vs evil" theme going on in the game. At the end, neither side wins because she has to embrace both her good and bad side and live life as it is. I think the end where the White and Black queen face each other is a sign of her resolution to be strong and embrace everything.

5) Melody

The story ends with a view to her inner self - the calm and peaceful song and video further symbolizes her finding peace with herself. After all the drama and unhappiness from her relationships, she has learned that she has to love herself before loving anyone else, and that inner balance/peace is a key to a happy mind.

An unlikely comparison/theory is the similar kaleidoscope effect to the TO BE PV, where the theme for TO BE is "if you weren't there, this is nothing", to symbolize that without Mannie and Maro, there wouldn't be this story to tell.

In the end, she has to literally "love again". Not with another man, but with herself.

---

I didn't like this album much and I thought the PVs were okay at best but after a year and watching the PVs in this order I felt some sense and concept was present, so at least she hasn't lost her spark completely. She, however, still has really shit execution lol.

[Andrenekoi]

You could have posted it on the concept thread...

[waterballoon]

Originally Posted by Andrenekoi

You could have posted it on the concept thread...

I totally forgot, sorry. if the mods could move it there it'd been amazing sorry!!

but you DO agree right

[Isicio]

I agree is really interesting

[orbitalaspect]

I like your theory! I have one for the Colours album.

Feel the love
This is the first sign that Ayumi feels like a heavyset white woman trapped in a tiny little Asian body. Though she has symptoms of body dysmorphic disorder, she inevitably continues chasing one really hot guy. At the end of the video, he is surprised to learn that Ayu sees herself as a heavyset white woman. We learn by the end that Ayu must employ an entire staff of people to change her appearance each day so that she feels acceptable to attractive men.

XOXO
Ayu starts the day by having an entire staff of people show up for hours of hair, make up, and outfit preparation so she can take a few selfies. Wanting to spice it up a bit, she heads out to the street, where she is accosted by someone who tries to steal Ayu's phone to take THEIR selfies. This erupts into a war whereby the two decide the best way to settle it is to go to the nearest club and have a dance-off. After grinding on men for several minutes, Ayu ultimately loses and this person, whom we now know is a dangerous, ninja dancer, is declared the selfie queen.

Angel
Out of a job, Ayumi changes into much different clothing and laments her fall after being kicked out of the club through a back door. The song is a farce, as while the lyrics talk about wanting to be someone else's angel, Ayumi is really referring to the people who liked and shared the selfies she would post online. White-clothed dancers appear to add dramatic effect to her fall from selfie stardom. At the end, she is lifted by crane, a sign that the fall has caused her to develop body dysmorphic disorder, thinking she is so fat she can only be moved by the help of three men and a crane. She is carried away to a rooftop.

Merry-go-round
On a rooftop, Ayumi continues lamenting her downfall as the selfie queen. Over the course of the video, however, a rapper lets her know that she should think better of herself, as she is a very talented dancer and selfie queen and no one can take her confidence away from her except for herself. By the end of the video, Ayumi is on the rooftop taking a few moments of self-reflection before disappearing again.

Lelio
Ayumi uses magic special effects to laugh her enemies into oblivion. In Lelio, she comes to accept her body and image and her dancing skills again. She wears whatever she likes, even if it looks horrible. At the end of the song, she has laughed everyone away and moves on to her next adventure in life.

[waterballoon]

Originally Posted by orbitalaspect

Lelio
Ayumi uses magic special effects to laugh her enemies into oblivion. In Lelio, she comes to accept her body and image and her dancing skills again. She wears whatever she likes, even if it looks horrible. At the end of the song, she has laughed everyone away and moves on to her next adventure in life.

you're my new favorite member

[orbitalaspect]

Originally Posted by waterballoon

you're my new favorite member

Seriously though, that's the best I could come up with. I LOVE your theory though. I feel like it makes the album make sense. (I remember when LOVE again was going to be released, I said I wasn't going to believe it would be a bad release... I thought it would be a little different, but I believed it was worth looking forward to. I talk a little crap about the technical details surrounding it, but it actually did turn out to be quite a thoughtful album.)

[sitara]

Originally Posted by orbitalaspect

I like your theory! I have one for the Colours album.

Feel the love
This is the first sign that Ayumi feels like a heavyset white woman trapped in a tiny little Asian body. Though she has symptoms of body dysmorphic disorder, she inevitably continues chasing one really hot guy. At the end of the video, he is surprised to learn that Ayu sees herself as a heavyset white woman. We learn by the end that Ayu must employ an entire staff of people to change her appearance each day so that she feels acceptable to attractive men.

XOXO
Ayu starts the day by having an entire staff of people show up for hours of hair, make up, and outfit preparation so she can take a few selfies. Wanting to spice it up a bit, she heads out to the street, where she is accosted by someone who tries to steal Ayu's phone to take THEIR selfies. This erupts into a war whereby the two decide the best way to settle it is to go to the nearest club and have a dance-off. After grinding on men for several minutes, Ayu ultimately loses and this person, whom we now know is a dangerous, ninja dancer, is declared the selfie queen.

Angel
Out of a job, Ayumi changes into much different clothing and laments her fall after being kicked out of the club through a back door. The song is a farce, as while the lyrics talk about wanting to be someone else's angel, Ayumi is really referring to the people who liked and shared the selfies she would post online. White-clothed dancers appear to add dramatic effect to her fall from selfie stardom. At the end, she is lifted by crane, a sign that the fall has caused her to develop body dysmorphic disorder, thinking she is so fat she can only be moved by the help of three men and a crane. She is carried away to a rooftop.

Merry-go-round
On a rooftop, Ayumi continues lamenting her downfall as the selfie queen. Over the course of the video, however, a rapper lets her know that she should think better of herself, as she is a very talented dancer and selfie queen and no one can take her confidence away from her except for herself. By the end of the video, Ayumi is on the rooftop taking a few moments of self-reflection before disappearing again.

Lelio
Ayumi uses magic special effects to laugh her enemies into oblivion. In Lelio, she comes to accept her body and image and her dancing skills again. She wears whatever she likes, even if it looks horrible. At the end of the song, she has laughed everyone away and moves on to her next adventure in life.

this theory gives me life!! that was hilarious and at some points even believeable

[sitara]

Originally Posted by waterballoon

I have a concept of the PVs in LOVE again and how they are linked together as a whole story.

1) The Trilogy
a) Wake me up

We start the story in the early summer days where Ayu goes on a road trip with her Caucasian bf (whom I think represents Mannie) and Maro, and she ends up falling for Maro and betraying Mannie behind his back in the end

b) You & Me

With a new found love, Ayu & Maro embarks on a wonderful and dreamy summer love adventure in an island; at the beginning with her facing the ocean, Maro comes over to pick her up (very very important symbolism imo), but not all is well as toward the end we find that as exciting and happy as they appear to be, they don't seem to get along with fighting and it's only a foretelling to...

c) snowy kiss

In winter, Ayu finds that she can no longer sustain a love that derived from lust with Maro. Flashbacks of them fighting and the constant arguments along with an image of her back in the summer facing the ocean, but without anyone to pick her up. I think she realized by then that she left somebody to be with another person, yet at the end she's still alone.

2) Sweet Scar

I believe this PV comes right after the trilogy as the outfit she's wearing here is identical to the one in snowy kiss (white button-down shirt and jeans). Over here she's alone like how the story has developed so far but she begins to feel the passing of time (hence the different seasons backdrops); her doe-eyed look to the camera also shows emptiness and a really solemn sadness.

3) Missing

After realizing how alone she is in her home, she begins to lament. Notice how in the corn field, there are two floating men - I believe they represent Mannie and Maro; her lost lovers she can never get back and all she can do is to cry alone.

4) Song 4 U

As time passes, her wounds heal and now she has one last battle to fight - the one against herself. This explains the chess game and the "good vs evil" theme going on in the game. At the end, neither side wins because she has to embrace both her good and bad side and live life as it is. I think the end where the White and Black queen face each other is a sign of her resolution to be strong and embrace everything.

5) Melody

The story ends with a view to her inner self - the calm and peaceful song and video further symbolizes her finding peace with herself. After all the drama and unhappiness from her relationships, she has learned that she has to love herself before loving anyone else, and that inner balance/peace is a key to a happy mind.

An unlikely comparison/theory is the similar kaleidoscope effect to the TO BE PV, where the theme for TO BE is "if you weren't there, this is nothing", to symbolize that without Mannie and Maro, there wouldn't be this story to tell.

In the end, she has to literally "love again". Not with another man, but with herself.

---

I didn't like this album much and I thought the PVs were okay at best but after a year and watching the PVs in this order I felt some sense and concept was present, so at least she hasn't lost her spark completely. She, however, still has really shit execution lol.

great analysis, maybe ayu really intended the pvs to tell a story like you described.

i always found it really odd how ayu decided to show her relationships. neither mannie nor maro pvs were really fully happy (maro's pvs were even worse with all the abuse displayed) isn't this what you call a self fulfilling prophecy? it's too sad!

[alternarist]

the LOVE again PV story is interesting! thanks for sharing!

[DonkeyKongRemix]

Recently, Ayumi stated in an interview that she does things without worrying about whether it's cool or not. I can't help but get the vibe (I might be wrong, which is ok) that she hasn't always felt this way. In LOVE again, I think she wanted to hold onto a little bit of her artistic merit, so her PVs, while not perfect, still retained some deep meanings behind them. By the time Colours came out, she seems to just be having fun and has tossed aside her worries about whether her PVs and songs are cool or artsy.

I really like the theories you came up with for LOVE again. ^_^ I really want to get that album soon.