Just watched the live of you were...and you know the song is kinda growing on me...I still don't like it, but I think it's a nice winter ballad to have in the repertoire...

Definitely do not like the TV edit though...man...made it sound like they cut in half and started a new song lol

Her vocals werent that great...but I think she did a good job...I dont mind the vibrato and they were entertaining...the performance was good.

I think...the single is solid...good for her to do...I dont like it lol but that doesnt matter lol

I hope it sells well.

The MS live was a very nice surprise, she sang it very well. It was really enjoyable. I always fear her live TV ballads since JEWEL/Together When... but she's done well since Days.

Just watched the live of You were...

Ayumi, You were... off key and sharp. There was a vast amount of yelling going on as well. Not her best live.

Because we don't know what's real until Shuya finds out the postman is his death. We don't know whether the fantasy world that Shuya's in is real, or if the world of the motorcycle crash is real until the very end. Granted, it can be assumed, but it's an attempt to show it from Shuya's perspective. He's denying his own death, and therefore, is denying the way he died was real. So we see the motorcycle scenes as incredibly fake looking, while the scenes of the fantasy world are very realistic.

Thank you : )
I didn't want to post again in this thread because my aim isn't to create such a drama... :shakehead
Anyway I wanted to thank your support.
Everytime someone post some negative feelings and the majority doesn't agree, there is such unecessary comments popping out here and there that can be "harsh"... Well personaly I don't care but some people doesn't seem to realize...
And above all I even didn't say that I don't like the PV, I agree on this point "I don't think it's horrible, but i do believe ayu's got better videos (you were... for instance)". That's all :shrug ...
I didn't bash other people for saying You were... PV was cheap...
It's just my opinion.

The live of You Were... was pretty good. :) She looked beautiful, her vocals were alright, but most of all, she did her best.

honestly I thought that the mailman would be ayu too LOL BUT YA the only thing that bothered me was how shuya ripped off the mask... OVER DRAMATIC MUCH LOL? I mean come you didn't have to turn with the mask when you ripped it off...

and Honestly is it just me or is ayu starting to look... old (besides the BALLAD pv). I mean, her live, the pv for You were..., it's wierd because just half a year ago for NEXT LEVEL she looked SOOO different

I swear if she got nose surgery imma be cheesed because her nose has been urking me somewhat latelyyy

i just watched the BALLAD PV today. such a beautiful PV. :luv2 i didn't mind Shu-Ya as ayu's lover, lol. it was done very well & i still love the song. it's like the second "days" for me :P

oh I see...that IS interesting.

I think I like it a little more now. It's definitely not a bad PV, by any means.

I think...I just miss her old stuff...I am not a fan of the big ballads thing. I prefer ballads like JEWEL, endless sorrow...hanabi...etc, really makes a difference. So whatever.

It's a nice PV. And she looks really good in it.

Old? No.. I don't think, she starts to look old. Well.. sure.. she becomes older... and she maybee looks more mature.. I think. But really not old.

I agree with the Shuya part, that's what bothers me about the PV. He is just WAY too dramatic at that part.

As for Ayu's looks and nose, we've already had a discussion about that. XD And I think she looks MUCH better right now than she did half a year ago. She just looked horrible, like a monkey or something. x__x

same here,i taught the cat mailmain was Ayu! yea he's like that..XD

i dun think so,she's look younger in that dress just better if the bangs a bit long :P

Well, the music was dramatic as well, maybe that's why. XD

I just really, really hope that BALLAD wouldn't turn into one of her many ballad performances with Shuya twirling in the background, I love him, but not like that T____T

me too..im afraid the live performance featuring shuya with his scarf jumping n dancing like ballerina ..@_@

but i love clock house background in BALLAD PV XD

*oh!,your set so awesome maj! :D

About the "old" discussion...I dont think so...I think she looked more like her younger self in the ballad PV than in most of her recent PVs...especially the motorcycle scenes.

i hope that Ayu can perform BALLAD at NHK Kouhaku~ that will be great..
Ayu is wearing the pink big gown like on the PV, that will be awesome!

Mm, I don't think she looks old at all....in live performances or PVs. But in the single promo pic and the newest magazine scans...ugh. X_x'
And if she got any surgery, it'd be the eyes. :yes (Or ":no", hah?)

you're welcome ;)

I still don't get the hype about the video... LOL :shrug

Now i'm seriously considering to get the single... i guess i'll buy the cd only since i'll buy the album anyway lol :roflmao

My interpretation of BALLAD PV:

Okay... I wonder if anyone noticed that on the mailbox that Shu-ya puts his letters in, there's an arrow pointing up? Right after Shu-ya places his letter into his mailbox, we see what's above his world - Ayu. I think this kinda establishes a fact that Shu-ya's writing all these letters to be sent upward - to Ayu.

Ayu is dressed like a goddess in a very ethereal world. I've been thinking this might be just a "singing" Ayu that has no meaning, but I think... the fact that this Shu-ya is writing these letters to be sent to this singing Ayu... it's something like Ayu is something he couldn't reach this world - almost like a god.

We next get to a scene where multiple Shu-yas drop letters into the mailbox; an indication of his determination to send a message, or a thought to someone... this someone "from above", who should be Ayu, I guess.

Then we get flashbacks of what happened... the two of them on a motorbike and while trying to avoid two really hilarious cartoon black cats, had the motorbike skid and then we ONLY see Ayu lying on the road. This leads to assume that Ayu is dead, and this singing Ayu we see is her spirit or something.

And I think the reason why the background in the motorbike scene is so cartoonish, so as the cats... was explained by GRACE really perfectly. What is real is perceived to be fake, while what is fake is perceived to be real... it's kinda genius imo, and I love this little detail in the PV. :)

Back in Shu-ya's world, we see him in a house that has clocks all over. I think this is quite obvious that he's in a world where time and space are overlapping each other - a world that doesn't really exist per se, and that he also is waiting for something; a reply.

Then a mailman comes along to drop a reply letter into Shu-ya's mailbox, with a down arrow on it, meaning the reply letters into this mailbox should be "from above", or more explicitly, from Ayu. Why I think the letters are a communication between Shu-ya and Ayu is also because the moon in Shu-ya's world, and the flower garden that Ayu is in is the same, so they both belong in this same dimension.

And the first reply letter reads, "Please don't go..." We see Shu-ya looking a little puzzled, but we don't know why, yet.

After that, the mailman sends another letter, which reads, "Please stay with me...". Shu-ya has this perplexed face, like he understands something, and so he chases after the mailman.

An emotional scene follows as Shu-ya rips the mailman's mask, which is cleverly shaped as a cat's face - to emphasize the animal that caused Shu-ya's death/accident.

The mailman turns out to be Shu-ya.omg. At this point, I start to realize that Shu-ya has been trying to write letters to Ayu; but the mailman never delivers them, and instead returns these letters to Shu-ya, like trying to say there's no way he can communicate with her, or letting her know what he thinks and feels.

Then we get to the revelation of the accident - where Ayu is fine, but Shu-ya is unconscious. So this would mean that this whole dimension that Shu-ya is in is his subconsciousness...

Also note that right at the moment Shu-ya chases after the mailman, a flower blooms in Ayu's hands. What does this mean - since a blooming flower represents hope and life, yet ironically for Shu-ya's case, it's the revelation that everything was an illusion to him?

Shu-ya then rips the mailbox open, to find ALL the letters that he has written for Ayu not delivered... it's like they can never be delivered anyway, because it's just not meant to be - which led to emo Shu-ya breaking down.

With the truth revealed, we finally see a sad Ayu attending to an unconscious Shu-ya in a coma. We see tons of letters in that room... similar to what Shu-ya has been writing in his subconsciousness. I think this is the weirdest part because who was it exactly who wrote the letters - the Shu-ya in his unconsciousness, or the Ayu in reality? I can't find an answer to these yet, but it's most likely that Ayu wrote these and the thoughts and feelings were so strong that they reached Shu-ya in his subconsciousness, which led him to orchestrate this whole situation where he's writing letters to an Ayu/a goddess that he adores.

We also see a letter that reads, "Sorry...", which I think relates well to both Shu-ya and Ayu.

Because he can't get his letters delivered to Ayu above, Shu-ya is sorry about it. Because she can't do anything to help Shu-ya, Ayu is sorry.

Finally, the flower in the goddess Ayu's hands scattered its petals... which might make us think it's death of Shu-ya or something BUT I would like to relate this scattering of the petals to the chorus of Moments, where Ayu also sang that if she were a flower, she would scatter her petals... I don't think it's death per se, but something else; like the petals carry a goodwill to be sent to Shu-ya or something.


I also have to say we should view this PV/song in Shu-ya's perspective, how all the "Please don't go..." and "Please stay with me..." could be his thoughts as he thought he was alive in his own subconsciousness, yet Ayu is missing from his life.

---

tl;dr version: Jaejoong's Heaven Postman meets Kuu's Yume no Uta with a tinge of Ayu. :) Brilliant PV, really, and kudos to Ishii. I love him more and more.

thanx waterballon, it's almost perfect! just about the scattered letters in the hospital..but it's ok! ^ ^

beware when Ayu is also taking part in directing the PV..<333