^as far as I know she started dating Nagase around that time, so I don't think she and Max had something like a relationship. Besides she said a lot of times that at the beginning when she was meeting Max the first time and he asked her to become a singer, she thought he was just an old perverted guy because of the age gap...

She said when they broke up that they'd been together for 7 years, so that would put the start of their relationship somewhere between "vogue" and "Duty." Probably once concert tour 2000 was over. The relationship wasn't confirmed until around the time A BEST was released and the press noticed she had a ring on, however.

Regarding the Ayu/Max thing, at this point there's more evidence for it than against it in my view.

There's these two photos, for one thing (republished as scandalous by tabloids, but the playful "kiss" photo definitely appears to be them):

http://i.imgur.com/7NP5Mjjl.jpg http://i.imgur.com/SK3TcT0l.jpg

Then there's the A single.

It's fairly well-documented at this point that "A" was intended as a goodbye single, at least originally. Masa explains that Ayu said so in the December 1999 issue of Girlpop (at his LOVEppears analysis page here: http://homepage2.nifty.com/morimasa/love1.html ), and then goes through the reasons fans came up with about why she would have wanted to quit - record industry demands, the "Hamasaki Ayumi" brand getting too big, the increased distance between her & her fans, and the expectation of prolificy. Masa points out why none of those reasons really make any sense, but suggests that perhaps lost love may have been a contributing factor.

But even then, why would anyone quit their job due to romantic rejection unless it was a co-worker or boss who rejected them?

Then we get to my life's "retelling" of Ayu's story. I fell in love in late 2009. Deep, deep love with someone who changed my life. He met me when I was at my most useless, my most hopeless, and believed in me when no one else did. He validated my passions and made me feel like I was worth something for the first time. He made me feel like I could do something, that I had talent, and that I had value. So we worked together on a project and we spent a ton of time together. I ADORED him and he clearly liked me at least a little. I told him how I felt about him, and I was rejected. He didn't see a life together with me for more practical, mundane sorts of reasons.

Now look at what Ayu says about Max - that he believed in her, told her she could write lyrics & be a singer when everyone her whole life (aside from her grandmother) kept telling her she couldn't do anything, that she was useless.

Now imagine this scenario... Ayu tells Max she has romantic feelings for him, despite knowing on some level that it won't work out. But she's 20 years old, she can't help it, she's young, so she's a bit impulsive and it just feels WRONG not to tell him. Max thinks she's fantastic, but it could never work out for a bunch of earthly reasons... for one thing, he was still a pretty big partier in the late 90's and early 00's. There's no way he wanted to settle down yet (which was the case for my guy as well). He was considerably older than Ayu and they were at different stages of their lives.

For another thing, and this might have been the biggest factor, Tetsuya Komuro & Tomomi Kahala's affair and separation was a HUGE gossip story right around the time of Ayu's debut. Tomomi ended up getting into drugs and attempting suicide, which certainly didn't make her or TK look good... Max had career ambitions that he'd never be able to reach if he ended up in a public relationship with Ayu, because everyone would make an association between the two.

Looking at her early lyrics, she seems to make frequent reference to:
1) wanting to just be a normal girl in a relationship with him like a normal person.
2) sacrificing a relationship with him so he could follow his dreams for the future.
3) the age difference between them.
4) his reluctance to display affection to her publicly.
5) feeling encouraged by him to be herself, face her anxieties, and display what he perceived to be her talents.

The issues of public affection and having a "normal" relationship are certainly in tune with the image they'd have as a couple; something you'd see in lyrics about two celebrities, perhaps, but this was before she and Tomoya got together. So it's interesting to look at.

Delirium-Zer0, I also thought that they had something between them and she wrote lots of songs about their relationship. I don't think we'll ever know the truth but I'm sure she stills loves and respects him. I wish she married him and then retired :)

Really? :shakehead

Delirium: Very interesting! Never knew these details about ayu's early carrer.

I thought that Ayu and Nagase dated way back before Ayu became super famous? Or I guess they at least knew each other then? Though I guess the numbers wouldn't add up if that were the case, maybe I'm mistaken. >.<

omg me too. When I actually looked back at the idea that it was her father, I was just stunned. I've been thinking it was her grandmother for these past 2 years

Yeah, tbh I wish she had retired even earlier :laugh she could become a legend like Yamaguchi Momoe.

Hot Damn!! :shakehead

@Delirium Zero: very interesting theory! Although I was never under the impression that Ayu had romantic feelings for Max (but what do I know?)

We all know that the entertainment industry is quite shady and sexual favors in exchange for fame/deals/contracts is not unheard of... :headache really interested if Ayu and Koda had to do any favors in order to get and stay popular *gossip*

I thought she was already a legend? :P

And as much as I would like to think that Ayu didn't do any shady things, we may never know...but I thought she quit the acting business/didn't get far there because she wanted to avoid those kinds of things in the first place?

ayu tweeted tomochin

anybody can translate?

before that she retweeted tomochin's tweet

^ I just read that from Baidu and Twitter and I'm burning with excitement because I've been waiting Ayu to response to Tomochin's tweet lol

Translation:
You don't need to be hurt or apologize because of this kind of matter. Although it's impossible to make everybody understand, but surely there are people who will understand.

Tomochin also replied Ayu:
Such gentle words. Thank you so much.

In case if you miss it, I've posted this before in Colours' Oricon Chart thread:

Tomochin said in one interview that she was a big fan of Ayu.

^
^
thanks for sharing the translation.
indeed such a sweet senpai~

Awww :3 how sweet.

wow..they are tweeting each other...cool...

artist these days are becoming more human and reachable...

Because after all they are humans :)

It was nice of Ayu to reply to Tomochin. I didn't know Tomochin was a fan of Ayu until now.

That's so nice...maybe Ayu and Tomochin should be friends together! :D

What if Ayu, really decided to become TomoChin's mother figure in Jpop world. And she'll help her shape her career to be the new JPOP empress omg. lol

Finally some good publicity.

i'm so proud of ayu for writing that tweet :heart