People aren't obligated to buy what they don't like. I am sure that if she had a huge drop in sales she'd give some though to what she is doing.

Now it spilled some light on the shadow! Thanks ayu!

I love that woman, I don't care if she uses Naoya for this a-nation anymore XD

Now I also understand why all of the artists' setlists are majorly "bad".

Nice idea, but avex will not copy Danger Crue records with their 'Jack in the box' event.

...Not all people would agree with you though :laugh

When I wrote it I knew that I share my own opinion and not everyone's, it's always like this. ^_^

Actually, I think that would have gone down a lot better if they had said something...

I never really understood why a-nation wasn't more collaborating...I mean, it is all avex artists gathering together...Last year was kind of neat. If there's ever going to be a time for people to get together, uh, here it is lol

Maybe no one has time.

Words out of my mouth. People are pathetic for thinking ayu owes them anything. If I was ayu I would have cut back on so much activities to spend time with my husband, but she is still selfless as ever.

Any single word in reviews about how Ayu looked? What did she wear?

It's just a summer festival people. Let her have fun for once and not repeat the same setlist of all the others years. She's doing something different, and even if you don't like it, you should notice it's something DIFFERENT.

THERE'S NO BOYS & GIRLS after all xD

I'd like collaborative a-nation, but Ayu and Naoya isn't that. If she worked with 3 or 4 other artists, they all sang each others songs, sung together and stuff, it would be awesome. But, still singing some of their own works, and doing it solo. That big collab last year was cute and fun. :)

I typed out a rant about Ayu's reasoning, but I don't care any more and it was too incoherent. All I will say is I don't agree with her, and I think her reaction to the criticism is childish.

I'd rather no a-nation to one where the artists are all compromising their performances and feel they're delivering lesser quality performances. Tbh, this a-nation with the title and Ayu's collabs feels like a rather large advertising campaign for AAA.

Except thats not quite true. When you buy a product from the store, and something isnt to your satisfaction, lets take shampoo for example, we are able to take it back for a full refund. Unfortunately to say, Ayus music albums, concert tickets and all items which bear the A mark are PRODUCTS. We are not buying the PERSON.

Ayu has had the same Anation format for forever. And that format is to sing ALONE. If ayu had said before anation that it was going to be different, then thats fine. You can choose not to buy the tickets if you wish. However, changing your format drastically without announcing it first leaves the consumer of the product in a bad situation. The consuner can take it well,but most repeat consumers would like relatively the same format with different variables, those being the songs and costumes, etc. If the consumer has already been to the Ehime live and they were not satisfied with this drastic change, what can they do? They cannot receive their money back, even though the product they were expecting was not what they were sold.

And we cannot say, if you were an AYU fan, you wouldnt say that. I am an APPLE fan, but when my computer did not come with the programs i expected, i didnt simply say "ohh well, im an apple fan so i just should accept it." Thats insane. And its the same with the Ayumi Hamasaki brand.

I love her attitude about this so much. :heart

A lot of fans were criticizing Power of Music but now they ate their own words and can't stop raving about it.

I don't like the setlist, I probably won't enjoy it at all and I wish she'd done something different but what's done is done.

If you think she should change how she do things, you're stupid.

Just to note, the a-nation title comes from WEIDER which is a sponsor, and the AAA song was likely titled with that slogan in mind.

I don't think it's childish really, she's being firm in her decision. There's really no time to do anything at this point anyway.

Nobody said people should accept, just that is not Ayu's function or duty to do what her fans want her to, but what SHE wants to...

If u dislike it, don't watch it...

And using your own thoughts... watching the first date of a tour because u like an artist is the same as buying a product u know nothing about cuz u like the brand... On both situations you have a big chance of getting a bad surprise...

I'm not really all into the decision of doing duets for all the songs, but really? It's just a concert... nobody will die because of it, and as hard as is it for some people to notice, there's more in life than Ayu's career...

I'd call it stubborn.

I should explain rather than just accusing. I dislike this, "people will hate it anyway" mentality that she used as her justification for doing this new type of set list. Rather than basing her reasons on solid facts and situations Ayu appears to have based it on an idea that has no groundings outside what she perceives to happen. Yes, there was a risk of people not liking something she could put together so quickly, but doing something AYU found fun for her surely seems like more of a risk? I don't quite understand WHY. It seems like a bit of self gratification...?

Of course, if I had liked this new set list, I wouldn't be saying this. However, her reactions to such heavy criticism is not what I expected, whether I like it or not. Power of Music had reasons for the change - a theme, an idea, a concept - a message she wanted to portray. Something to stand her ground on in the face of criticism. Not simply "well you'd hate what I was going to do before anyway, so I'll just do this 'cause whatever really". It seems like an excuse for covering up a risky decision that hasn't paid off...

...or that Avex asked her to promote Naoya and she won't outright say it beyond hints of annoyance at management. At least, that is the impression I got from the "they said this or nothing" comment posted a while back. Or maybe Ayu wanted to help? Idk. This is all so dodgey, and not just the bad (imo) choice of songs and Ayu attitude drama. :/

Wow, great setlist. I didn't expect something like this, seems like a good idea to do things differently this year. I want to hear ANother Song. And *lol* at the reactions on AHS. This is so funny.

lol Ayu's always been in her own world doing her own thing.


Maybe this is like, one of those times where, knowing too much information, and being too close to her, is actually a bad thing for some people.

Wow, you didn't read ANYTHING I wrote did you. You buy a product from a brand because you are familiar with the format and quality of the brand, even if it's first buy to buy a particular product, or whatever number of times you bought it. Ayu has never done this kind of concert before, and since it's radically different from the format and quality that everyone has been accustomed to and were expecting, without so much as an announcement before, then it leaves a bad taste. If Apple announced "we're gonna radically change the iPhone this time" before time, people have the choice to buy or or not buy it. But if Apple doesn't say anything before hand, and when people expect the iPhone to be almost the same as previous iPhones with different version ups and whatever, and are met with a radically different iPhone that they didn't know was coming, that's bad business and it leaves a poor taste, and a lot of upset customers.

Anyways, the point of my entire thing is I understand why people are complaining about the concert, especially the ticket holders. If the tickets were 99cents, then I would be like "Ok, well..." but we all know that A-nation tickets are so expensive! Can you imagine paying so much money for something, and be VERY disappointed in the end? I want people to understand this, because I hate the tunnel vision that is always apparent on this board, even myself included sometimes. This time, A-nation was very much promoted under false advertisement. It said "Hamasaki Ayumi." Not, as I said before, "Hamasaki Ayumi and Friends." It's as simple as that.

Ayu herself has already stated that the name "Hamasaki Ayumi" is a business and product. If a company doesn't listen to the customers and patrons of their business, what else does a business have left? What kind of music and concerts that the business side of Hamasaki Ayumi creates is not connected to the feelings we have with the personal side of Hamasaki Ayumi, because we must separate our personal feelings for the artist from the goods that we are buying. If something is bad, or disappointing, then you must call a spade a spade. If someone says "I am very disappointed with this concert," it doesn't translate to someone saying "I hate Ayu." And I think that's the reasonings many people on this board resort to in the end. That statement ACTUALLY translates to "I paid money for this concert ticket, and I am not satisfied with the product that I have received."

And what many of you guys don't seem to understand, but I'm gonna give the benefit of the doubt that you do, in Japan, your customer is God. You MUST please them, because that's your duty to do that. They are paying their hard earned money for your service and your entertainment, so you must produce entertainment that is entertaining for your customers, to fulfill your duty for them paying you. If you do not produce this, and you do not at least listen to what your customers want, then you are not an entertainer, and you might as well stop entertaining. Ayu saying "I think you will understand why I did this" is not a good enough reason for someone to not be upset or disappointed. It doesn't matter if we understand or don't understand, what matters is if we are entertained. It sounds harsh and cold to say it like this, but it's the truth. And that's why I hate when people bash on the people who have gone to the performance and don't like it. "You shouldn't have gone." "You shouldn't go see it." "If you don't like it, don't watch it." What a stupid and childish response to have. In the end we are all Ayu fans, and we enjoy the format and content and quality we are used to having, and we want to continue to enjoy said format and content in the fashion that we are accustomed to. Why should we simply look away and turn our eyes if something is disappointing in our opinion? If she is what we have invested a lot of time and money in, should we not continue that patronage and offer feedback and criticism to her? Edit: If you were a business, wouldn't you want to know when your most loyal customers are unsatisfied? That would mean you are doing something that doesn't work, and you need to fix it. Saying you shouldn't watch something is counterproductive to this logic.

And I don't think Ayu herself would even want to build a world where no one offers their opinion and criticism about her work, because there would be no need to grow or evolve. In the end, this criticism will help her build a product that will satisfy everyone's entertainment levels, including her own, in her own way. But I think Ayu, above everyone else, already understand herself that she has built a product, and she needs to entertain her loyal fans, because that is the job that she chose for herself.

Why is that so hard for people to understand and accept? Why do I even have to write rants and essays about this? I thought this was general common sense.

Edit: And I want to also say before someone says something, I am all for her doing collaborations and whatever. But tell us when the entire set or concert will be only collaborations with one person. Give that person the credit he also deserves as well. What I'm saying is this should have been advertised in advance, and if it doesn't meet with the expectations of your customers, do something about it. Don't be stubborn and sit there and make up excuses. Take the responsibility, which I know she will do. At least, that's what she's been singing about all these years.

^ I really like your comparison to Apple. It works well because Ayu has the same principle.

A certain standard you expect, a formula you know that is part of the norm. Both Ayu and Apple are allow to change - but they can't be sprung upon customers/listeners.

It also works in reverse - you can argue that you're really paying for the Apple brand when you buy a product, not the content. Likewise, people can argue that going to see Ayu at a-nation is paying for Ayu the person, not whatever she sings or how she does it.

I guess it all comes down to which you prefer - the fact that it IS Ayu or the fact that it's irrelevant when you don't like the content - the set list in this context.