Yeah. She can do whatever she wants to and call it Trouble Tour forever.

I guess she's trying to tell us that when it comes to ayu, troubles are endless :P

Moral of the whole era!!:D

I hope she will release new single titled TROUBLE at least :trolleyes

I guess you can see it like her saying that TROUBLE goes everywhere so that is the story of her life. Misunderstood, trouble, etc. and now that's all anything is gonna be. Is this what Just the beginning was supposed to foreshadow?

She's pulling off a Cher farewell tour... And that lasted for a long time. Tho who knows maybe we'd get something before tho 2020 dates start. I'm digging her looks lately tho, from Ariana to Namie...

But gosh jpop in general is boring nowadays, Namie retired, Utada's new music all sounds the same except for that KH3 theme song... But yea

^ It really has been the end of an era of Jpop. Smap is gone as well and Arashi are following soon. And no one new has really caught my eye (or ear) in a long time.

I'm satisfied with Utada newest releases (Hatsukoi are one of her best albums imo) and I'm following Otsuka Ai and Shiina Ringo. The only new act that caught my attention was Vickeblanka (I really really like him) and I liked some stuff Reol released, but didn't dig too deep into it.

Well, people age, and so do the their relationship with the public and their creative output. What Utada is doing what fits her nowadays, Namie wasn't really into the whole popstar life thing for a while, Ayu is taking her time after almost 2 decades of nonstop releases and groups are tricky to keep around for long...

What really bothers me in a way it's the lack of soloists who become cultural phenomenons and icons... We had Kyary Pamyu Pamyu, who, let's be fair, it's more noticed due to her visuals than she is for her music (and I'm saying this as someone who actually does like her music) and groups like AKB48, but I'm not really into groups. :P

But I guess this is jpop's natural cycle in a way? An era filled with idols groups and another one filled with soloists with strong personality. I just wanted someone who actually shake things up a little like Ayu Hikki, Namie, Shiina, and gosh, even Koda did.

Until there... Vickeblanka and Reol are releasing some pretty interesting music.

Apart from idols, this is an era of soloists, male soloists mainly.
Kenshi Yonezu and Gen Hoshino are two of the hottest acts right now. Nissy, too.
And for females we have Aimyon.

Reol and Aimer are currently the two acts I am interested in. Aimyon has a few interesting songs, but she is very forgettable. Hatsukoi was oke to listen to as a whole, but not many songs stand out on their own, so definitely not her best effort.

JPOP has changed a lot and not for the better. It would be nice for ayu to do a huge, well-produced, single and come back with a bang, but chances of that are very slim xD

I was listening to some classics today and I don't what J-Pop will be like without ayu... No one else catches my ear either :(

It is cyclical, but this has been going on for a loooong time now. I would say about ten years even? Ugh. I actually believe there is a cultural component. I feel like Japan has actually regressed and become more insular again and that's what's fueling this dirth of creativety and individuality. Yes, there are more male soloists now, but....they are really boring and imo aren't that different than the homogenous idol groups out there, at least from what I've seen.

Macro tendencies usually goes for a whole decade +-. It's the time it takes for a new generation to come up and negate the past one. I do feel like the newer acts I found by chance over youtube tend to be more creative, even if none of them actually made it big so far... What may be just a matter of time.

I think LDH are doing a good job with EXILE, Sandaime J Soul Brothers, Generations, etc. They've been consistently releasing good material for years.

I’ve yet to find a single EXILE track I can stand listening to O_O

Oh I found a few! Mainly Christmas / winter tracks. They throw it down pretty well for the holidays. Lmao.

This exchange made me cackle. Idk if I'm just tired, but it's hilarious - maybe because it's relatable.

Aimyon’s success, as well as Yonezu something or other, shows there’s definitely a shift happening. So I agree that it’s about a decade.

But the issue in J-POP is that, imo, most Japanese kids aren’t interested in domestic acts. It’s mostly K-POP. Until K-POP dies down, I don’t think japan will see any strong acts...

Considering Japanese pop culture popularity throughout the world lasted from the 80s to mid 00s, that could be another 15 years from now. Lol

Well, it's a matter of taste, right? They wouldn't be touring domes if all their songs were bad.