I like the covers. I definitely wasn.t expecting these kind of covers.

Japanese fans seem to really like them so far.

Bless the Japanese fans.

Well The CD only one is my least favorite.

Finally I can say that the BR cover is the best and the DVD follows it.

Actually really like the CD+DVD cover, she looks amazing

these are almost her best mini covers :love and look at that font and how it's placed! you guys are never satisfied

at least it's not anything pastel

It's ok, but I don't like that font :D

me too! I certainly didnt expect another "peaceful", "just-look-into-the-camera" or "i-am-pretty-take-me-in-any-pose" covers

The lips that I thought might not make its comeback. :irked:irked
And finally no Ayu's name on the cover LOL

Funny coming from a Britney fan... :P

I don't think those covers are any more sexy than the Duty one where she is posing as a furry pin-up. And her whole career is really sexualized, so I don't get the complain. :P

Also, popstars are hypersexualized... Both male and female.

Simple and efficient! The black and white emphasises the sensual, wild and fierce Ayu's look. But it's not sexualized. The atmosphere is really different from the provocative one that we can see in Marilyn Monroe or Madonna's photos. Ayu's covers are wise, really. My favourite is the CD+DVD.

CD+DVD reminds me of BoA

I never said I like Britney because of the images she creates through covers or videos. Actually I don't like a whole lot of them because of the same reason I stated above.

And like I already said, there is meaning behind the Duty cover and furthermore it actually critises the sexual objectification. Same goes for the Sparkle video for example.

The only thing the new covers do is portraying Ayu as a sexy and like a 20 year old looking woman (or girl) who's an available object to men and just waits to get fucked.

I'm pretty sure that's the reason why most of her fans like the covers. Most people don't want women do make a cover with some meaning behind it, they want them as beautiful, sexy and available objects. I'm tierd of it. Too bad no one here ever cared for the (miss)understood covers and was thinking just one second about the symbolism behind it. Those covers are so great. But people prefer to think of them as ugly and "monkey smile" just because Ayu isn't beautiful or sexy on them.
Says a lot about how people see women and how much they actually value the "old" Ayu when they like erokawaii Ayu.

(And there is a BIG difference how men and women are portrayed. Women are sexual objects while men are sexual subjects)

I'm probably getting shot in the head by this, but I'll say it anyway. She looks like Koda Kumi. Especially in the CD+DVD. These covers just screams that unique "Kuu feel" that she has in everything she does and these has it, too. I'm NOT saying Ayu's copying Kuu here, but that expression and the atmosphere just gives me a feeling that is not Ayu's at all.

With that being said, despite the huge lips here, I actually like them. But why grey? I mean, it's summer. Shouldn't these covers be full of colors and a summery scenery? O.o

I love them!

If anything Ayu criticized the hypersexualization of women in Because of You and sexy little things... and that's it. Other than that she usually links sexualization with empowerment (my name's WOMEN for example). I don't see any criticism on it on Duty, I just see a girl wearing a skin tight fetish jaguar outfit while giving the viewer a sexy look. What she meant with her work is obviously open for interpretation, what is actually being shown, isn't.

And I do love (miss)understood covers... I don't see anything symbolic about them, but they for sure portrays wonderfully the feeling of embarassment of being missunderstood.


And nops, male popstars are sexual objects, as much as female popstars, even if the codes that determine what a sexual object is are different for each gender... That's why most of the time they can't pursue a relationship, they can't get out of the closet, they sing mostly about romantic sex as if they were serenating for the listener, etc. Let's not forget just this week both Justin Bieber and John Legend made headlines with naked photos. I dare you to show me a male popstar under 40 with a straight image that doesn't make money basically by selling sexual fantasies to horny teenage girls. Sex is the biggest fuel of popmusic.

Really unoriginal message incoming: I'd like them if it wasn't for the mouth thing. I can go past the dishevelled look but why does she have to look like some kind of sexxxxxx-hungry sloth. It's not like I expected a lot but it's still a bit of a letdown.

She looks great but... that's it. Looks like she just made a random photo of herself black and white.

She looks nice, it's not bad I think I like it so far.
I even could go with her lips bc it's unlike Sunrise/Sunset one lol

Ya, mhh... yet another close-up of her face for the covers. Her mouth looks huge in these, though ô.o

However, I do prefer the CD+BD version. Hoping for enjoyable songs; haven't listened to any previews so far.

Sexualize-topic statement: Ayu has been sexualizing herself way before her music career and keeps doing so ever since; I can imagine thousands of old Japanese men masturbated to her fancy model video-tape, the one with the bike and pool, lustful smiling here and there and acting innocent... not even talking about the obscene crotch-licious photoshots with Ayu wearing a swimsuit. So what's the big deal, really?