don't rly care bout the sales too.. no one last forever so...
as long as any of her new releases are not debuted out of top 10.. then i shouldn't be worried.
her music and her lyric which make me love her, that's enough for me <3

and i'm happy that she got 2nd!
i'm totally impressed with "again" minial.

Do you know that even the Japanese people don't think hard.

They just didn't like it, that's it! Relax guys.

http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_mc...4o9_r1_250.gif

Seriously AHS..I don't understand why you are crying over these sales.
The goal wasn't to get as much profit as possible, this is gift for the fans.
Yes, the sales aren't that good, but I don't care at all.

28,460 which's EXILE's EXILE BEST HITS -LOVE SIDE/SOUL SIDE- while for again being at #2 , it sold 12,764 copies

http://www.oricon.co.jp/rank/ja/d/2012-12-07/

she went up, good news.
I guess people WERE confused over the release date.

haters gonna hate.

Okay that's nice but this is all about how people are bummed about Ayu's love life, and if it went deeper than that, then hey! Guess what, you aren't boycotting the mini album because of her love life. You're boycotting it because of deeper reasons. I mocked, and will still mock, people who won't buy this album because of who she's dating. I won't mock, and quite frankly don't give a toss about, people who have deeper but related reasons to not buying it.

Also your last sentence is really ironic considering what you're doing lol.

ETA: More freakin' importantly, look! She got #2! We can all calm down. Take a bong hit, drink some camomile and just RELAX.

I just think its horrible that people feel the need to boycott because of who she is dating...
its horrible funny, because who cares? And if you do, why? Why try and control her, to what ends can this bring you happiness?

these sales are a good thing if they make Avex & Ayu change their startegies and many other things. but, frankly, I'm sure they wouldn't

I by no means understand the last 5 years of Ayu's career and they seem like wtf period to me

but telling the Japanese fans they need to change their culture and 'adjust' to Ayu situation or any other ridiculous thing she & Avex might be pulling off after or now is just too much either

I am on the side of the Japanese fans. just for the thing, that THEY made her who she became, not foreign fans. we should show them some respect. if they dissaprove, that just might be a sign that she needs change. nothing more, nothing less.

I don't think they're boycotting of Maro. I think that, in fact, they don't probably like many things and are purely irritated, starting from Mannie-Timmy and Maro now was probably like the last straw

if ayu doesn't care about sales, why should I care?

but, oh well, it makes me sad a bit :laugh

You may be right. Mind the people that insist on their illusion, though. It's all about dreaming. Publicity stunts have always been part of Ayu's career. The "A BEST" rebellion against Avex including the poorly staged interviews were just as fake as the relationships with Manuel Schwarz and Maro. You cannot force people to see through your own eyes whatsoever but I admittedly notice you won't give up anytime soon :lech

^ off topic, but staged interviews for A BEST? could you tell me more about them?

12K today?
thats a 33% increase

If they really wanted to give a gift to the fans and didn't care about sales I'm they could have stuck a SINGLE in there somewhere.

I really loved this documentary but I much rather consider it as a very entertaining movie. Parts of it relate to the time during A BEST and how Avex "forced" Ayu to release this album, including the story around her tear on the cover, recognizing herself as product etc. This documentary is far from being unpopular but just to make sure:



Edit: Not going to start a discussion whether this might be completely real or 20% fake etc - I don't care. I just mentioned that to me it appeared a little unbelievable and I am gonna hug you no matter what you think about dat x

^ i didnt realize people thought that was fake... o.O.

You guys have way too much spare time rofl

I don't want to spread my opinion upon everyone, I just wanted to state that I sensed a strange feeling while watching the documentary. I don't hold an evidence in my hands to prove it fake, actually I didn't even want to call it like that as I always loved this documentary. Perhaps I should retract my first statement and call it partially suspicious rather than fake xD

Is the rest of the interview with English subs available anywhere else, channy?

I tried to find something in the download section on AHS, but everything seems to be down (Megaupload links O.o). Can't you watch it on YouTube?

Part 1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v727-t0fv44

Part 2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KqWBPX0IRBM

Part 3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epnmpeC6mHs

Part 4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMNCImkkBFE

Part 5 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0USF5lu1cP4

It's not necessarily a boycott. If you don't like a product, you aren't going to buy it. Simple as that.

Oh I didn't even see if there were other parts! I was on my phone. Thanks so much for pointing this out to me!

this lol
forever
and always
the end

@Channy Yes parts of that were very staged. They even made the interviewers give one recorded interview back to her staff and redo the interview another day. The whole rebelling against Avex was just thrown in as part of her image or it never would have been allowed to air either.

Dude, why are you even on this forum.

Would be lover scorned~

THIS

totally agree...

Right? :innocent

I sat and watched the whole documentary and it left me feeling like I really have had no clue who this person is that I have idolized for 6 years. And at the same time, it made me feel like I don't do enough to make the most of my life. If Ayu kept going because of us back in 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, I honestly don't know why I am just sitting here expecting the future to come to me.

totally agree too... True native Japanese fans and even Asian fans are not dumb, they know whats going on... i read the China fans who had commented... u can really see nasty true real comments, not just a bunch of haters but fans whom have been following here all along or in one way or another as from the Japanese fans or public... this is the reality.

^ yall do realize there are 2 more releases?

Today's (Sunday) sale should be interesting. 1st and 2nd day (1st official day) roughly add up to how much LOVE sold on its first day. So she needs about 16k to keep on par with that release, ie. another increase in sales from previous day.

About a single not being a part of the 5 releases, I don't think she's going to release any singles for a while. The next two releases could probably be a DVD/BD release and another album.

I don't have a problem with it really since singles generally have less image content than minis but I've never really cared what is released as long as it's something new.

i really hope for another mini with 5 tracks and then finally a best with all the collected content from the minis.
that would be 12 tracks and then another 2 or 3 new tracks.

I don't care what people say about ayumi and maro relationship, about why ayumi not releasing single, or else about her personal life. What I really care about is her music. I just love her musics, I grow up with her music. Don't care what format she used to release her music( single or album or mini album or ep). I JUST LOVE HER MUSIC!!! I WILL BUY IT BECAUSE I LOVE HER MUSIC!!! She is human being like us, sometime do mistake, have a relationship, have personal liFe,etc. that's all **** three haters.

I think that you should read posts more carefully. I think I've made a distinction between die-hard fans, casual listeners, and the general public. And it seems as if you haven't really kept up with Ayu's release patterns as well.

If she were to release an album containing the main promotional tracks from the minis, why would a casual listener or the general public shell out their pockets for remix tracks, instrumentals, or some nice photos? Hence, I stated that the sales for again is more likely an indicator for the amount of die-hard fans that would still purchase a single, rather than general album sales.

If she were to release a best album in continuation from A BEST 2, it'd contain material all the way back from the Secret album released in 2006. Even if she were to have a concept for the best and release a multi-disc, why would casual listeners buy these singles in disguise now? They know that the main material they hear on radios and see videos of would eventually be put on a bigger release that is much more economically priced than these minis.

I personally hope that I'm wrong, and that many of the original mix tracks will stay exclusive onto the minis, but the chances are slim.

5th day @ #6

http://www.oricon.co.jp/rank/ja/d/2012-12-08/more/2/

5th Day
Position: #6
Sales: x
Total Sales: 21,851 + x

Judging from the Oricon website, I'd say around 7,000 sales today, bringing the total to approximately 29,000. With drops like that it won't even approach the 80,000 of LOVE.

End of the world...

^^

I love that song!!!

Wow, i would never imagine this for ayu. Its very sad, but its pretty clear that she needs to stop and take a rest. 15 years are too many years of continuous releases, scandals, concerts... A hiatus would give her the chance to rest her vocals, rest her mind and come back happier. It would also make the fans miss her, which is something that would make her good

maybe it's just me but I guess some people always have this assumption that whatever ayumi put out , will be a sure thing that she will get #1 but as soon as they see something coming from her that's not #1 , they will make a massive big hoo ha about it ?

already it's evident this year as it will be her 1st time none of her releases will not get #1 but she already said for her 5 back to back monthly releases by doing this , her main purpose was not to get #1 but rather to thank everyone for having her back for the past 14 years or so

so does this mean all the blame should be put on ayumi for doing this in destroying this somewhat 'perfect #1' image she had for people all this while ?

I really dont know what you're talking about... My post had nothing to do with your post. I wasnt even talking to you.
And personally you should read post more carefully because I never said that the collected material from the mini's would be the only think on the best.

I have said many times that what I want to see (get the words there.. this is what I want, not what will happen) is a best that will include the tracks from the minis. It's a 2 CD set.. we have Abest 3 and the 2nd CD...

and I have kept up with her release. If anything this year shows that anything is up for grabs. Releasing an album without any singles. then just a plain summer best 2 minis then a remix and then 2 things that we dont know... she has no pattern right now.

It makes perfect sense to gather all the original material onto 1 album and slap it together with a best album. It's perfect for those casual listens that you are so die-hard about.

Generally I take statements like this released by Ayu (Avex?) with a pinch of salt. It's true #1 thing was definitely not meant to happen due to the slew of strong releases toward year end but releasing to thank the fans..? Personally, I feel this is to garner attention and lead up to her 15th anniversary. This being a very profit-driven industry and I wouldn't be at all surprised if Ayu releases a compilation of the songs in the minis at the end of it.

Anyway, I still really want Ayu to do well. I think the quality of her music is still there and hope she is able to get the budget to do the awesome stuff she normally does. I'm quite sad and disappointed with Love and Again sales TBH, this being 15th anni and all that. Guess there's nothing for it but to look forward to the future releases and hope for the best.

i hope it's not gonna be "NOTHING FROM NOTHING" all over again~ just kidding!!

crap sales....

this is only something like 3 days... thats what half of LOVE had and its about on par with LOVE...

Wow, she's doing so well.

:no

I just hope she passes 50k

It will. no worries there. I think in the long run it will do rather well...
I think with these types of songs however it looks like we are going to get song 4 u at the year end show... :*(

I don't understand hm... ./////.
Today is 9th December :s
5th day??

---------------------------------------
1st Week
1st Day
- <-------------- First day sales: 0k?

2nd Day
- <--------------- Second day sales: 0k?

3rd Day
Position: #4
Sales: 9,087 <------ And then.. third day 9k???

4th Day
Position: #2
Sales: 12,764
Total Sales: 21,851

5th Day
Position: #6
Sales: x
Total Sales: 21,851 + x

^ it didnt appear on the charts till friday.

You were referring to my post, as you responded to ever_free with "^ yall."

Party Queen did have a single, which was hbya, although only released digitally. It's nothing against your ideas of what you want Ayu to release, but I think you missed the main points of my posts, which is that the sales for again are not good indicators of how she'd sell for a real mini album. And also that even though these minis are penned as "gifts for fans," the reality is that most domestic fans are irritated that they'd have to pay more for extra photos of Ayu with Maro, on top of the news they're bombarded with.

I wasnt talking to you. I was talking to Zeke. and ever_free about the single, there are two more releases.

besides that, a digital single doesnt count in the eyes of oricon and that includes a ton of people. So she didnt have have a single for Party Queen.

And as for sales, you really cant judge just yet... its been released for 3 (maybe 4 days) and if you look at sales for again and compare them to LOVE they are about the same right now.

as for paying more... you are not. You pay for what you get. Label it whatever pleases you, it will still cost the same. She could of called it AYUMI'S GODLOVING MINI/EP/SINGLE/ALBUM/I'MAYUMI***** I CAN CALL THIS WHATEVER I WANT TO. it will still cost the same.

but now that I think of it her next title should be: AYUMI'S GODLOVING MINI/EP/SINGLE/ALBUM/I'MAYUMI***** I CAN CALL THIS WHATEVER I WANT TO.

it has a nice ring to it.

I want to think that people forgot that this mini was relesed in a weird day and they plan to buy it next week...

^ that's wishful thinking. No chance this is going to match LOVE's sales.

Trying to pinpoint the reasons for such a sharp drop in sales in ONE MONTH, could only be two things:
- the controversy with Maro has angered some of ayu's loyal fans, who have boycotted this release
- this release came out so close to the release of LOVE, therefore there really isn't the same amount of anticipation here

I'm thinking its a combination of both factors, but more likely the negative publicity has hurt Ayu. It's really telling through these sales. Generally, sales go up closer to Christmas.

Can't say lack of promotion is to blame, or the release not having enough original material, as on both those points this mini has over LOVE.

Can't wait what will come after "A CLASSICAL"! "LOVE" was great...but I think "again" is more better! I love "Wake Me Up"...it's been on repeat, and i haven't start listening to the second track~!!!!

I bought LOVE but not again. Reason? It's December, and I've had to spend quite a lot of money thus far on presents and preparations for Christmas. Those things are a priority, and I can see other people having a similar mindset. (I'm not really talking about the quality of the release, but my reasoning behind a purchase of this kind in general at this time of the year).

i dont see how you can say this when we dont even have the first full week of again's sales... just in the first 3 days of sales we are at about 30K thats half of what LOVE had in the first week.

Wait till it has a full week of sales before writing it off.

I think it's a pretty safe bet, Ayu's sales very rarely rise exponentially in the 2nd half of the week they've been on sale. Plus there's no promotion to trigger such an unlikely event. This is being realistic. The only chance it has of surpassing LOVE is with some sales longetivity, not quick gains.

we are looking at 40-50K for five days and thats not bad for what this release is. after 7 full days it might even be close to 60K..
Love was 64K in the first week...

i never said anything about exponential sales, I'm going by the first 3 days and stuff off of LOVE sales.

Actually, I disagree. If we took the same concept and applied it to FIVE (127,000 FW Sales), we would see that the sales from FIVE were a good indicator of where Party Queen (98,000 FW Sales) ended up falling on the charts. Ayu's sales have been steadily declining, and "again" honestly is a good indicator of where Ayumi's next LP may end up on the charts. Hell, we saw the same shift in sales after Memorial Address going into MY STORY. The only thing we could honestly look at and say wouldn't be a good indicator is a single vs. an album.

I honestly doubt that the Japanese listeners are irritated because of Maro. They're probably uninterested because Ayumi isn't a 96,000-Member Girl Group, isn't a shirtless Korean boy band, and hasn't made a coherent and lasting shift in the style of her music. Like with Mariah Carey in the US, people get really tired of hearing the same thing over and over again and simply stop buying the records.

They choose to not buy the albums because Ayu is old, she's not a young idol anymore, she hasn't really changed her style (unlike Namie, for example), and she really doesn't put as much effort into her newer releases (unlike Namie, for example). One of the first things I noticed about the videos for Wake me up and snowy kiss was how god-awful boring they are, just like You&Me, just like Song 4 u, Missing... I'm tired of seeing Ayu stand around and fake cry while over-lip-syncing a song. Worse, I'm really tired of seeing everything be about a fight or a break up or something with some guy from somewhere. I want to see songs like evolution, M, and WE WISH, or AUDIENCE. I'd like to see Ayu do more than stand or sit or lay in a video for 70% of the time she's on camera. What happened to THE SHOW? The ARTIST? The PERFORMER? Do you see what I kind of mean here...? :)

She's there, just at the concerts and all that. And the Namie argument is pretty out there imo considering that Namie doesn't really change all that much from release to release. She does have catchy tracks going for her but IMO that doesn't really mean she puts all that much effort into them compared to Ayu. It's funny to see someone say Ayu hasn't 'changed her style' when she's pretty much one who has changed her style the most compared to most other acts, just not so much recently since she's been buried in a sea of medium temponess. again seems to be breaking away from that with actually-uptempo catchy tracks and Ayu working with a western/UK producer for the 'main track' which is something she hasn't done before. I think people are way too negative when it comes to Ayu releases if they don't for some reason check all of the 'required wants' on a list (amazing PV, awesome compositions/arrangement, great lyrics, memorable covers, and so on) and just aren't happy if it lacks one or more of the above.

I also wish she had more dynamic PVs more often but there's not really much we can do about it. I just look forward to future releases since we can usually expect something new eventually.

1st bolded:
PREACH

2nd bolded:
namie promoted Uncontrolled by going to the crub in taiwan, or whatever country. I don't remember.

apparently the composer from UK had make some songs for Namie Amuro and Koda Kumi~just so you know~~

So you want Ayu to release fast paced but interchangeable PVs with songs that sound like generic western music from different genres like Namie? Ok, them...

Let's hope the February release sounds like some Jennifer Lopez left over and that the video feature Ayumi dancing in front of a car with a bored face...

Move your body, move your body,
Dance for your papi
:breakdanc

lol.

by the way, did they ever say who the UK dude was?

Sales are disappointing, but it's always been this way since I am... so, it's not a huge deal.
Gosh, I remember back in 2007 when GUILTY only sold 400K or so in its first week, and AHS was going into meltdown mode.
If only Ayu could sell that now!!! :)

Perhaps Ayu should create another I am.../RAINBOW, in the sense of writing lyrics about the external environment and its effect on Ayumi Hamasaki, rather than her discombobulated love life. I mean, the songs on these two albums are some of the most popular in her discography...they allow a greater form of relation from Ayu to her audience. I feel that I can no longer properly relate to Ayu's newer work, but songs from that 2001/2002 era like WE WISH, Everywhere Nowhere, evolution, UNITE, etc. resonate so well. Even beautiful songs like Sweet scar seem to only scratch the surface; they don't reach out to you...

Of course, this is a personal opinion undeniably bias as I love Ayu from 2000 to 2005. :D

I really wonder how sales would be if they just went all out.
like they did during A best.
the 40 odd covers.
All the Lives, the 5+ cms, add a PV for every single song... A huge track list and 2cd remix, plus AO (like ayum-mi-x 1-4 were)

Lol... i would die and love it.

well, Ayu is promoting waaay less than she used to do. She doesn't appear on TV Shows as she used to, the stupid short ver. PVs policy... we used to have the PVs before the releases, they used to be shown on TV and that would promote more. It seems that she is only paying attention to her fans since tracklists, covers and all that stuff is only cared by her fans, not the general public.

I don't think thats what he is referring to, For example she released a really sad song like part of Me and that involved more than just one scene, the PV was ARTISTICALLY shot, and had various scenes and a plot of some sort. OR pv for 1love or startin or (don't) leave alone they have movement, or a sense of effort or artistic attempt. recently i feel like thats lacking in her PVs as well, I'm not excited to see them anymore, the last time i felt something of the sort was for BRILLANTE. Or even something like ourselves, as an upbeat song, I don't know ayu in PVS just always looks the same now a days >.> even HBYA pv was terribly dull even if it had a "meaning" party queen and Nanana PV's just were terribly normal and cheap in my opinion. REturn Road was a bit more eventufull but once again it had nothing clear happening, it was like a watered down and not as good Microphone PV It doenst mean she has to do JLO stuff

Maybe we should accept that Ayumi Hamasaki the commercial artist doesn't really exist anymore? There are many artists out there who don't sell a lot, but they continue to make music regardless. If Ayu stopped caring about the general public, it's about time we did too. It's not devastating to see low numbers on the charts for as long as she's still singing. How it's affecting her personally we don't know, but she hasn't retired yet for this reason. I trust that if Avex denies her the appropriate funds to produce music, she'll take matters into her own hands.

i don;t know... I thought the videos from Guilty to RocknRoll were completely dreadful.
to each their own.
there were a few gems here and there, but most diffidently not the ones 'most' people seem to like.

I dont think a lot of people have accepted the fact that she is no longer on top.
This is what happens, look at Seiko and that other old chick (:lech), they are no where near the top but still make music.
their budget is down, but they still do PV's, concerts, albums...
Ayumi is here to stay for many many years, even if she is reduced to just 10-20K per album.

Brillante is so old! It was released like... a decade ago!

Nops, actually that was just last year.

Among everything that annoys me on AHS when Ayu is releasing stuff, the capacity some of her fans have of having the most bizarre time perception of any fanbase is easily on top of the list.

Lmfao, I agree. I always see comments like "I haven't felt this way since Missing", "Best song released so far this year!" (out of like 4 releases in past month). Lol.

im not saying its old at all, i'm just saying that she's released an album and two mini's and a summer best in between, thats about 10+ pvs i didn't do the math, but to not feel excited about a pv in 10 consecutive pvs is kind of... you know?

The problem is you can be there with all the concerts and still not be doing anything refreshing. This isn't really about me finding a point of criticism in everything Ayu does. I'm well aware that she doesn't need my criticism on top of her history with avex. She's been an amazing artist but she's now just a singer. I don't know why she doesn't try anymore? Maybe she's just tired from being awesome and on top of everything for so long that she can finally take a break?

And Namie differs a lot from Ayumi, just like Koda does (though Koda is horrible example to use here because she sells horribly too). Namie today sounds nothing like Namie 10 years ago. And it's not like she did this for one record. It's been a consistent improvement and effort to forge a new sound/new style for herself to maintain her career. That's why she's still selling. It's not because she uses cheap western music, it's because Namie actually does some interesting things, she still does a crap ton of choreography, and her music is genuinely different from what it was in the earlier part of her career. Ayumi has only tried on a new sound for approximately one record before ditching it for a new sound on the next record, which makes it difficult to keep up and stay interested if there's not a smooth transition from the style of one album to another. Good examples are going from GUILTY to NEXT LEVEL... two VERY different records.

again has some decent songs on it. I like Wake me up and snowy kiss, Sweet scar and Ivy are also great tracks. However, I absolutely despise how poorly they've been presented. She spent 1/5th of the video of snowy kiss sitting on a car hood lip-syncing. And about 2/3rds of the video was her fighting/shoving/being shoved/kicking/throwing stuff in slow motion. I've never seen so much action-packed spontaneity gloriousness in a video!!! :shakehead

And Sweet scar, as nice as that is, was almost a Copy & Paste of Don't look back. Wake me up... for a video with such an amazing dance beat, for something that really gets you out of your chair, she spent over half of the damn video sitting down. :shakehead

I know it sounds super critical, and I really don't mean to be a jerk. But she really isn't trying here. It's not like I'm making this up. Just look back at videos like 1 LOVE, then look at videos like Sparkle... then look at Wake me up, then at You&Me. Look at videos like ourselves, or like Free&Easy, then look at Song 4 u. There isn't an attempt to put on a show anymore.

It's like Ayu goes in a room and tells the directors, "For this video, I'd like to sit on a futon instead of on a rocking chair." And they all turn around and go "BRILLANTE Ayu! What pure artistry!" Nowadays, it's like "Who can I have a breakup in this video with?" And then she grabs the nearest dancer and kicks **** at him and throws him around in the video for 5 minutes, interspersed with cuts of her sitting with messed up hair on a car, or on a motel bed, or on a sink, or at a table, crying and lip-syncing with her mouth so wide it's like she's eating the air around her. And if that's not it, then she looks like an AYU-BOT in the video.

I'm genuinely not trying to be an ******* about it. But it's very disappointing that she's heading down Seiko Matsuda road. In 5 years, THIS could VERY likely be our dear Ayu:http://i43.tower.com/images/mm105962...-cover-art.jpg

Do you want that? I don't. I really don't want Ayu playing with herself on an album cover.

Sure. If she did it for more than one album in a row, I'd be happy. Read the above ^^

Thank you. This is very much what I am trying to say, but you're saying it without the jerk attitude that I am. :P

I don't want to. Ayu started this thing years ago where she decided to be Ayu and stop being a product. She's managed to be an amazing artist through those years, why is it asking too much for her to continue being an artist today? Being commercial doesn't mean you have to be like Jolin Tsai and make every dang album a comeback, but it doesn't mean all of your videos for the last year should show you in the same outfit with the same guys doing the same things in the same parts of the world just to different soundtracks. It's not trying. And I don't have to have perfect from Ayumi, but I want effort.

The mini-albums have been like waiting up all night to see Santa Clause and after he puts the presents under your tree, he gets completely drunk and destroys the house before peeing on the Christmas tree then storming out the front door hollering that no one ever appreciates what he does for them.

http://i43.tower.com/images/mm105962...-cover-art.jpg

That's Ayumi's future if she doesn't change. ^^ THAT.

I think you're mistaken. I didn't see any mention of distorted time perception. They very clearly stated that the last video that piqued their interest was BRILLANTE. Not that it's been over 20 years since they last saw an interesting video.

And be aware, time is relatively different for all of us. For me, it's a lot faster because I'm going on 26 than it is for someone who is 18. A year makes up a much smaller percentage of my overall life so it doesn't feel as long to me as it does to someone younger than me. Keep that in mind in the future. ;)

EDIT: I totally get that this is just a rant and wouldn't change anything. But still, my feelings on Ayu right now are that I get my hopes up for a new release only to feel like she really didn't make an effort to make it a gift at all.

^hihi glad u understood what i mean :3

oh god.
i would die of laughter if ayu had a cover like that.

sunrise/sunset was just crap photoshop

A summer best was also just crap photoshop.

But a cover like seiko's would be SO BAD THAT IT WOULD BE AMAZING/HILARIOUS.
granted, I'm probably the only fan that would truly love an ayu cover like that....
just SO BAD, its amazing.
decomposed mcdonalds french fries aint got nothin' on that kinda cover.

Id be crying and laughing:
"what has she been reduced to? LOL thats hilarious! I can't believe she's doing this! Oh I'm gonna pee myself! just look at it, she's touching herself"

oh thanks for the image XD

Oh my God, 1LOVE's video is so epic! I was thinking the other day how that is a prime example of a great, entertaining PV by her with a well-spent budget. Not to mention, Ayu looks the hottest she has ever looked in a video and she plays the part extremely well!

I don't think she has a true vision for her career right now. In the past it has been "I want to do THIS next" and now it has become "what can I do next..."

^ i think its a little different then that.. I think she has a true sense of who she is and she is showing us through her PV's... I just think people don't like who she is. lol

The bolded is because she does change and this is way I like her... i dont know if it was you or someone else, but they were complaining about staying stale like Mariah Carry, well there you have it, you cant ask for change then complain that she changes too much.

As for Seiko... all you are is comparing one picture... you mention nothing about the music. Quite frankly if ayumi looked like that at 24 (yes Seiko was 42 when she took that picture) then she can pose any damn way she feels like, because the woman looks amazing. (Even today she looks amazing, almost 10 years later).
EDIT: I also forgot to mention confident at this age to do something like this.

But going to the music, which is what I was comparing to ayumi and seiko... This IS what she is doing... the singles stop or slow down (right now she has stopped, it doesnt mean she is never coming out with one though). The albums come about once to (sometimes) twice a year.

this happens to all artist... and any artist that doesnt change their sounds with the times, dies, musically. Ayumi has changed her sound over and over again, and she has started to go her own way... also I think she has had about the same type of sound since Love Songs... with a few differences here and there (party queen being the biggest)

whatever. i still have faith in ayu.

I think only when Korean wave and idol groups trend it's over we'll see a rise in Ayu's sales... till then we can only hope that her sales won't go downhill so quickly...

Pretty sure I was one of the melters. Melted when A Complete didn't sell a million too. Now I would just b grateful if she can sell platinum.

Also agree on some of the opinions of her recent pvs. There needs to be more movement and artistic direction. I mean progress was so epic but the pv was kinda snooze-festy 😪 And someone mentioned the fake crying act getting old which i completely concur with. Change the act already! The songs r still great at least..

I totally agree with you on most these points actually. Hopefully you saw my first post in this thread, but I mentioned that most people in Asia already consider Ayu to be a relic of the past, and although an important and still active one, not really relevant to today's entertainment industry. I think a possible reason why Namie has revived is that most of the tracks she does choose to promote has urban clubbing overtones to the sound, and it's obvious that the Japanese market digs music that's similar to the U.S. Top 40.

I personally think that Party Queen is a fail due to the content itself, and also distanced more conservative fans of Ayu. I agree that she is on a steady decline, but long-time purchasers of Ayu's products may assume on her release patterns. I think that the success of FIVE was because the songs were consumer-friendly, and its track-listing and promotion made the release seem to be exclusive. With these minis, in comparison to her last singles, she jacked up the prices by around 300 yen for some remix tracks, and the track-listings look like multi-A side singles. A few hundred yen isn't much if a fan wants to buy the release, but because living costs outside of metropolitan areas are relatively cheap, I'm sure casual listeners would rather use the extra money for more groceries than more remixes, and I recognize that I'm assuming for most that they'll think the main songs will eventually be on another big release anyways.

Her last great PV was Return Road, not that it had any impact in sales. But I do miss those big, bombastic PVs from Ayu which add to the meaning of the song. Besides for sweet scar, the PVs for LOVE and again leave a lot to be desired.

i think it's only casual listeners and those kind of "fans" that come and go that are not very happy about her. I have a japanese friend who buys every single cd of hers and who said no word on Ayu's relationship or how bad the PVs are. In fact she loved the PVs and the songs.

I can say only one thing here, she accepted the fact that it's no longer her being number one, she had her peak and was on the wave, got a gazillion of records and is now just making music. The ones who can't let go are fans, and i am also not sure that Japanese fans care about that stuff either. It's probably only people overseas :innocent

Her new husky and flat vocal makes all her recent songs sounded boring. Can't help it when she's deaf in one ear and can't sing on pitch, hence she always choose songs that are easy to sing and sounded flat through out...

Her sales dropped = people stopped buying her music = people are not interested in her music = her music is not good/catchy/interesting/memorable anymore.

Sadly with the addition of the stupid pic at the end Return Road turns the Love Songs Trilogy into a Quadrilogy and has no place among a list of her best PVs. Her last good pieces of work that had no connection to anything stupid for publicity was Rock n Roll Circus. After that publicity took priority and overshadows her work. I think she needs to have her contract overhauled and make sure the music is what it's about again even if it means and probably will require leaving Avex.

@ saigodansu - Although I didn't like R'n'R Circus completely as a concept, I have to agree with your general point as the last time an Ayu PV completely amazed me was the one for Don't look back, lol.

I agree that after RnRC the publicity stunts mostly took over her PVs with very few exceptions.

WTF is this?

This is SO STUPID...

Therefore, AKB48 are the reincarnation of Johann Sebastian Bach...

just a hardcore namie fans who have been graduated from ayu fandom
bring him/her back to hip pop planet
lol

well, THIS IS AYUMI HAMASAKI SEKAI not NAMIE AMURO SEKAI. If he/she doesn't like Ayu, then pack and leave.

6th Day
Position: #10
Sales: x
Total Sales: 21,851 + x + x

Also I just wanted to point out that Seiko cover from the last page. Don't act like that cover has taken away any of Seiko's achievements nor does it erase the tons of timeless classics she has.

I've noticed that, just that for some odd reason I expected a little maturity from UHPlus as the person has never acted like a dumb troll before. I guess people change...:thud

Lol for voicing out a personal opinion once in half a year! Isn't this a free-for-all forum? Been in this forum for more than 9 years, since 2003. Didn't realize I need to filter my opinion before posting, to suit the likes of ayumi's fans... sigh... That's why I don't even bother...

^ it's not about what you've said, it's the way you've said it...

looooooool
omg where did u see the sales for the 1st day 9,087
that's fake LMFAO

#10 on day 6, that was a fast drop. If that's the case it's probably barely reaching 50% of LOVE's sales if it even reaches that far.

It was from Baidu and it had it's own thread. I thought it was real since sometimes they post numbers for positions 4-10....