aw, you just crushed my dreams :(

tbh these covers are far from her worst; but i'd rather have her a bit more dressed up. party queens dont need to be in their undies. but at the same time, why not?

hahaha ^^ I meant her poses are very similar and is also a bedroom photoshoot =).

Yes, but maybe she took the old photoshoot for the book and decided to use it for the album's covers.
That would mean they didn't have any photoshoot left for the book and she had to make other ones before the release. Maybe the recent ones with the pink wig are for the Life style book ?
Also it would explain why she's releasing a photobook of "Party Queen", because she'd have the scrapped original photoshoot (from November) not used in the covers / booklet.

well, at least you can tell that some lines on her face as well as the shape of the muscle on her arm are softened.

what a bunch of SANCTIMONIOUS...

She has done slipcases before, so I don't think that it can be ruled out just yet.

When I was talking 'real' covers, I meant that the cover underneath when you actually take the album out might be different.

I think she just wanted to take it to the extreme for some reason. Maybe it wouldn't be obvious enough?

The LIFE STYLE BOOK was never intended to really have any 'photoshoots'. It's a book where she'll have beauty tips, photos without makeup, describing her favorite spots around Japan, and so on. It was never really a 'photobook'.

The recent shots in the pink wig appear to have been taken by Leslie during a video shoot (Masashi Muto was present) so that is either for the tour or an upcoming release.

And the Party Queen photobook is said to be never before seen shots from the album's shoot, which implies that we will probably get shots from that shoot in the album as well, otherwise there's no reason for it to be tied into Party Queen.

We don't know if anything is scrapped until we actually have the album and look through the booklet/whatever else so I don't know if it's the best time to assume that whatever she did in London was trashed.

Her hand looks like a mutant claw on the CD+DVD

if that was the concept they were going for..... they could have gotten such an amazing piece of artwork done....my god..

Colors/bright and nails:
http://img688.imageshack.us/img688/5450/cddvdg.jpg
http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k1...img_358412.jpg

My Duty theory was right:P

Well, actually is not really the first time... Most of her albums covers and booklets, if not all of them, really goes in the direction of the overall concept. The thing is, her idea behind her albums are never direct or obvious, as she (and any other artist) prefer to let people appreciate the piece of work and take their own conclusions about it....

And sometimes, the final product must be ugly in order to convey the intented idea, like (miss)monkeysmile cover for example... It's not pretty, but conveys perfectly both the lyrical themes of the album and the music aesthetics she took inspiration from^^

Duty theory? uhm?

Oh, they also used one shot from this shoot for the January 2012 ViVi.

all english twits

@ayu_19980408: U need the reason now? Plz wait till u get them then u'll c n feel ! sweetie ; ))) RT
@Mdionayu: why this choice for the covers?

@A_Tal_Segal: Covers are so party queen hahaha =D
@ayu_19980408: Really??? 2 me, She looks very sad that is why I love them☆RT

@Blasterion: or maybe the party queen wants to escape the party? @ayu_19980408 I don't know?
@ayu_19980408: I think she doesn't wanna b a party queen.RT

@korikaze: why does she look sad?
@ayu_19980408: Coz look at her!!! She is a lonely queen. RT

@asmAyumi: Party Queen covers must have a very deep feeling to it. Right Ayu?
@ayu_19980408: U right☆ RT

@Mami_chan84: So you didn't want to give to the covers a party feeling but a sad look.. Smart girl you are! ; )
@ayu_19980408: ; ))) RT

@eve_19931001: at the same time, I thought that these covers are a parody of tabloid mags. Am I right?~
@ayu_19980408: U r genius!!!!!!!!! RT

@MADMishi_Ghost: Aw : ( yes she does look lonely..
@ayu_19980408: 'Freedom' thats what she most wanted 2 but its never gonna happen I THINK RT

@Mdionayu: u don't think that one pix is hot?
@ayu_19980408: I dont care if its hot or not. Important thing is its meaningful 2 me or not ; )RT

@twittingcheese: sounds like the album will be kinda dark and not so party
@ayu_19980408: They have lots of faces like a human. RT

@sbnayu: But I guess queen has to be lonely, right?
@ayu_19980408: Right. Also i think she's still in the cage same as Duty...or went back?RT

Defending these as "parodies of magazine/tabloids" is ridiculous. Koda has been doing faux magazine covers for the past two calanders of her and they turned out fan-effing-tastic. Regardless of the idea behind them, the photos are amateur and cluttery. It's not the idea behind them that I am upset about, it's the photos themselves that they chose to use. They are just so terrible (except CD only) and the design behind them.

hey, that's not so bad. at least they didn't edit her jaw like they used to in her shimoko shoots.

About the concept... Really, the sarcastic feeling of the cover is really easy to notice after taking a quick look on the setlist. The damn album starts with a person being a party queen and ends with someone saying that they don't know how beautiful they are. It's kinda obvious...

Because ayu has a "XXth ALBUM" with a barcode under it on every album cover right? :laugh

THAT SUPER AWKWARD feeling you get when you realize that it's not a bucket with suspicious items in it, but a lamp............*hides*

I really hope there's gonna be a slipcase, and under them different covers with her in tears, a lot darker.
If that's the case I would love them. It would also explain why she's saying she looks sad and lonely in them, and also the "you'll see why when you get them" tweet.