STEP you/Shake It!<3 costume got the biggest applause & ovation @HLS. People loved it.

<3 Yes I absolutly loved this outfit *_*

kawaii culture is a massive part of japanese pop culture. i'm surprised people on this forum don't know that this applies to people, too.

So sad that there's no Ustream this year :( is it true that the Ameba Pigg stream only works if you're in Japan?

so adorable! :D it looks like the pink dress in the CDL photos from last night's show is kinda similar to it.

I've been wondering that too. that really bums me out that the New Year's show nor the final night of HLS were broadcasted for international fans, nor even considered. not right if you ask me :no

This!

I don't care if japanese culture loves it or not. It isn't only ridiculous when a grown up woman acts and looks like a 14 year old girl, actually I think it's degrading, and why a strong and independent woman like Ayu does it, I don't get it. Ayu doesn't have to put up with this.

^ its not something you have to put up with or her. this is something she likes doing because it brings her and others joy.

its like demanding a meat eater to not eat meat because you dont agree with it. It's ridiculous.

^^
Maybe because she like that !! It’s their culture ! Japanese have probably a lot of things they find ridiculous in western countries. It's like that lol http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kawaii "A study by Kanebo, a cosmetic company, found that Japanese women in their 20s and 30s favored the "cute look" with a "childish round face""

If it's fun for Ayu or not to act like a child and make herself appeare immature and naive (and somewhat dumb) doesn't change anything on my opinion: I think it's degrading and Ayu should stop it.

Well, as much as some people may not like it, the Japanese fans LOVE it, so she is not going to stop any time soon. They are her main audience after all, so she might as well perform in a manner that they love seeing and saying "Wow, she's so cute!!!!!!!" at.

I'm proud to see how the cultural differences are respected here.

^
yes :/

but in the japanese culture it doesn't make them immature and naive.
You are taking your western ideas and placing them in the japanese culture and its not making any sense.
Its COOL to do that.

You need to put it in more of a perspective of something that you do in your culture that is cool and other people think is stupid or uncool.

You need to respect others opinions, and we will respect yours.

In my opinion; I don't think its degrading at all. Why should people be forced to act all grown up if they don't want to? Ayu still has a childish and girly side to her - good for her! I think Ayu is a strong and empowered woman; and she can do whatever she wants. I never wanna see the day Beautiful Fighters is performed in a "normal" outfit.

Also, consider the biggest female solo-artists in Japan, they all have their thing.
Koda is sex-sex, Namie is dance-sexy, Utada is all "seriousish", AI is innocent style. Not sure about YUI, but Ayu is definitely the cutsy-cute one.

Actually this isn't a question of cultural differences. It's common to present women in advertising, pop culture etc. as childish as possible, Japan is just the country which carries this to the extreme.
Not long ago the scientific community found women to be only second-class humans because supposedly women weren't able to surpass the mental stadium of a child and therefore women had no rights.
Presenting women even today as childish as possible just shows that societies still like their women as dumb and dependent like 100 years before.

Edit: I'm not saying that adult women should always be serious and act grown up. But the way Ayu does it often and Matsuda Seiko and so on is such an extreme way of saying "I'm immature and just a little girl" that it has nothing to do with just having fun and not being serious.

Sometimes I wish the world would have endend on the 21st. q

Wow! You know, I think I was saying the same thing to you...

How ironic.

Anyways, yeah, sad to say that being cute is the ultimate selling point in Japanese culture. There's a reason why Ayaka, who is one of the best vocalists right now, can't outsell AKB48.

^ no you weren't.
and please dont bring something into a current conversion that was weeks ago.

actually it is and you are just ignoring it.

Excuse me, but this is the whole point of it, also in Japan: to make women appear immature and naive.

I love the stage.