The new calendar feels pretty amateur compared with the old one. It may be that we don't have scans yet but it feels that way (the colors, composition etc...).
It's really noticeable with both "merry-go-round" pics. The 2003 one was really good, the 2012 one looks random (with cheap effects).

edit: And she is almost always looking at the camera... It's boring and gives this unnatural look.

It looks great!!!

The only pictures from the 2003 that I think are better are the last two. If you were to switch those in for the last two on the 2012, the calender would be perfection. As far as natural vs. un-natural... I'll take my plastic diva Ayu over plain Ayu any day of the week. :laugh

It's uncanny how your perfect calendar is exactly the same as mine~ *highFIVE* :D

This is interesting?! I thought the cover of the calendar looked familiar.. It`s like a re-shoot from the 2003 calendar! All of the pics look updated and re-shot.. Interesting concept...

i usually prefer a more natural ayu as well, but that 2003 calendar is a mess. her clothes, make-up, fake tan, wigs, ass on the head of the merry go round horse wtf. the only picture i prefer in the 2003 calendar is the cover which is natural and gorgeous, not tacky.

^ Yeah, I don't think that calender is a good representation of natural Ayu. It looked very amateur for most of the calender but her style back then and now are drastically different as well. Back then, Ayu tried a lot of different styles but since (m)u I think she found her nitch and stuck with the Diva image. She's worked hard to get where she is so GO 'HEAD DIVA AYU, with your fierce self ;D

Okay, I'm pretty sure people said "2003's calendar is more natural than 2012's", not "2003's calendar is a perfect representation of natural Ayu." :think

Yes, she was tan in 2003's calendar, and two of the pics are flat out horrible. But if you compare the rest side by side, the older one is obviously a lot more natural in comparison. The makeup is more natural. The clothes are more casual. You can actually see her real hair in four of the pictures.

She just looks like such an interesting person in the 2003 calendar, even though she's tan and that year/era isn't exactly the best representation of how beautiful she is. You can tell that there's a lot of depth to her and that she doesn't have to try too hard to be what she is.

In the 2012 calendar, she is clearly trying hard to look young and interesting. The styling and makeup, which is supposed to make her look younger, is actually making her look a lot older in most of the pictures. And she is posing as hard as she possibly can which makes her look really awkward in all but one or two of the pictures.

Sorry, I just don't get why everyone automatically thinks that the word "natural" can only apply to makeup or styling or skintone. It doesn't mean that the pictures are all better or that they're all good. But they are definitely more natural, i.e. more effortless and unforced.

^Funny, cuz IMO her image on this callendar fits an older person far more than her 2003 ones... So, I find it hard to believe she is trying to look younger considering she is dressing older...

I agree, young people don't really wear clothes like in 2012. There's nothing about Ayu's hair/skin/make up that looks "young" either. And I don't see anything forced about her posing or whatever because that's how she's been posing for years so it's obviously very Ayu. Only it's 2006+ Ayu. And who's to say this isn't natural for her? She has a different image than she did in 2003, that's clear. But she's had this image for YEARS so I don't see what the problem is...?

Um, people her age don't generally wear things like the January/February picture. That one really stands out to me as someone who wants to look younger. That outfit doesn't really fit her anyways and that angle is really unflattering. lol The clothes aren't really as important as the hair and makeup imo though. Who in their 30s really wears hair as huge, unnatural, and teased as that May/June picture? @_@ Some women do have big, curly hair, but when they're in their 30s, they don't wear it with huge, square bangs and half of it in a ponytail sticking off the side of their heads. Makeup is really the area where it looks like she's trying to look younger, because she's always wearing makeup to make it look like she has big, pouty lips (which generally you associate with younger people, like children, or older people who try to surgically enhance their features). Plus look how plastic she looks on the cover with a totally frozen face and gold contacts, as if she's terrified of looking human or having any sort of wrinkles. :tired

Mind you, not ALL of the pictures look like she's trying to look younger. March/April is really awesome and mature and November/December is very... Oprah. But the cover with the dead eyes, January/February with that wig that doesn't fit her head and that outift no one over 22 would wear, May/June with the huge, teased hair that no one her age would ever wear, July/August with the short, almost childlike hair and outfit that resembles a tutu, September/October with the incredibly obvious wig... Yeah, sorry, but I am pretty convinced she's trying to look younger than she is and it's making her look a lot older. Because at some point in the past few years (2008? 2009?), she suddenly switched from looking five years younger than she really is to about ten years older to me. And that's not ALL because of her styling and makeup, because she does look a lot older in Twitter pictures and fan pictures to me, too.

@jbrat2219: No, young people don't wear those clothes, but no one her age would wear the outfits in Jan/Feb, May/June, or July/Aug either.

Um... yeah, if you're a glammed out pop star, you would! :laugh

There is nothing age-inappropriate about what Ayu is wearing. She just has an out-there kind of style. She's wore stuff like Jan/Feb and May/June before. She's shown a tendency for punk-rock fashion and we all know she loves those giant dresses. And yes, I could see a 30+ woman wearing July/Aug to a party or a night out on the town or something (obviously not on a Ferris wheel lol). And if you freely admit young people don't wear those clothes then how is Ayu trying to look young because the examples you pointed out are poor at best. She looks age-appropriate with a glam diva twist as she has for the past few years. If she were wearing any of the outfits in the 2003 calender (except for the last 2) THEN I would completely agree with you. But as it stands, I don't see where you would get "trying to be young" from any of those pics.

It sounds like you're confusing Ayu's style with "what a woman her age should be wearing" and since it doesn't match up in your mind you think she's trying to look young, which in my opinion, isn't the case. Ayu is a pop star she's not going to wear what every day women her age are wearing, not only because of her image as a pop idol but also because her style has always been different from what people (in general) would typically wear, even at a younger age. That's why she was a trend setter and not a follower. When I look at these photos it's Ayu being Ayu, not Ayu trying to be what she isn't. :shrug

lol Anyway.

Personally, I love young bad ass "plain" Ayu over new glamour ayu...

but I do think she looks much prettier now than she did back then. Style has changed alot, not only with Ayu, but fashion in general, and fashion is much more flattering these days.

If I were to choose one to put up, I'd probably choose the new one. Just cause, while I like what her style back then represented, I was never really big on late 1990s-early 2000s style.


Her poses used to be A LOT more natural though. I do agree on that count with whoever is arguing it above me. In general. Maybe the forced high fashion doll poses represent her better now, idk.

I think you should pose in what makes you look the best first, and then what represents you the best second. Meh lol the calendar could be so much worse...so, it doesn't really matter.

@tom punks People started with the lips once she started making stupid faces and promoting lip plumper, but that has nothing to do with the 2012 calender as she's only doing it in one picture; a picture where she his also wearing an outrageously big dress and even more outrageous hair :laugh . As far as the posing, we're going to have to agree on only one thing - that the wedding dress photo is a terrible pose :P . But the others... I mean the Jan/Feb looks like she's taking a tourist picture with her girlfriend but cropped that ***** out :laugh . Her face look stiff and her make up horrible. Can't say much for the hair either. March/April looks like she was too lazy to get up that morning. Her hair looks terrible and her clothes tacky as hell. July/Aug... Why is she sticking her ass out? The clothes look "desperate to be young" as I don't know any 20+ who would wear that outfit, she looks to be in middle school. The rest of the photos, perfection. In the majority of the 2012, Ayu looks more put together in my opinion. Like the fierce diva she is xD;

I don't really like the calendar :( I loved 2003 so much more she looks so natural and pretty.

the clothes are hardly more casual. she has like one casual outfit per calendar (sweater dress in 2012 and jeans & tee in 2003). lol she doesn't even look like an interesting person with depth in the 2003 shots to me at all. she just looks like a younger ayu with a terrible stylist. :P

*sigh* Once again, her calendar photos disappoint me. This photos are really bad in my opinion (except that second one!). Oh well, another year without an Ayu calendar.

^IMO she looks like a wannabe model taking bad photos for her Facebook album on 2003 calendar...

The new calendar has more actual professional posing from her, the outfits are more glamurous and even if there is some princessish outfits or hair, this is aimed to japanese consumer... and their aestheticals tend to the kawaii even to manly stuff.

I'm not buying this calendar, but if I were going to, I would prefer fierce professional photos over casual amateurish "natural" ones any day of the week... when I want natural Ayu I look at her blog/twitter pics... for free.

I wonder how they carry that big dress from May-June...

Do they just stuff it in a case? :laugh