So.... she is posing under a table?


And i guess you do not see the arm because her head is in the way.
Still does make the photograph looking quite weird.

did she ever say that the pinkl hair will be the cover?
i thought the covers would be from London photoshoot..
hmm~

Since we're throwing around the feminist thing...

I think the concept that Ayu expressed on twitter was feminist; from what she was describing, I think she was trying to present a critique of the performance of sexuality and the scrutiny she undergoes as a woman in the public eye. However, I don't think it comes across as feminist in practice. This is not because she assumes what is a "pose in sex," but because she is assuming a sexual pose as the object of desire for a (presumably male) voyeur. Although her character seems to be aware of the voyeur, the cover doesn't do enough with its self-awareness to make it an effective critique that would justify the objectification for me.

That said, the presence of sex or sexuality does not automatically make something feminist or not feminist, which is what I've been gleaning from some of the comments...?

I still kind of wish she would release this album in Bluray format.

It's like a perspective paradox here lol :laugh

Her left arm is actually behind the column, and her right hand and head are against it. Now I look differently at this pic^^

i actualli like the cd+2dvd one. but the fonts are realli gosh. can't they do without the fonts -_-

I wonder the same. I've never seen male singers produce such covers for their albums. I don't get why female popstars have to behave like this. It's not sexy, just tarty.

For example singers like Ken Hirai. He is successful but he would never act like a w.hore on his covers nor would he pose like this. Why does Ayu and other female singers need to? They lose all their dignity for me by doing such photoshoots :(

It's not an ice cube, it's a tissue or a napkin. She's holding it with her entire hand, so you can see pieces of it between her other fingers.

I dont know what it is, and I will know after HQ pictures.

:roflmao

hahah I see her arm now too looool :laugh

i remember reading somewhere that Ayu mentioned on Twitter the Party Queen album covers would feature her in her pink hair

She said she shot the covers in London, she didn't have pink hair at that time...

Would be interesting to see that Tweet...

she didn't say it was for the album it was pure fans speculation

did I read it wrongly? But I remember really vividly about the pink hair thing... hopefully I'm wrong but anyways it screams out "LAZY!!!" that she's using an old photoshoot, but the more I look at CD+2DVD the more I like it, so... whatever :laugh

wait.. what? She's under a table and not on a dresser D: *shock* lol

I'm starting to like the covers though. But I'm still waiting for better covers lol.

We all hoped that it was the Cover hair XD
I wonder from what shooting the pink hair will be. Maybe Party Queen Photobook?

LOL! I really mean it! :lech I still honestly believe that she's holding a condom! It's very hard to see for me.

No! Wait! THIS is what tabloids wanna see on their covers o___o

Aha! That's why she's sad - she lost her arm xD It's at such a bizzare angle it looks badly shopped!

Bigger versions still aren't endearing the CD+2DVD to me...I'm really hoping for a slipcase, or at least a nicer image on the back of the booklet, then I can flip it over xD

Also no smudged makeup, she looks totally normal so the "look closely, she's sad!" statements still don't wash with me...unless we're to believe that all her ViVi, SCawaii etc shoots are also "sad on the inside"? If Ayu just wanted to do something random on the cover, she should just say it instead of saying it's deep and meaningful. I still won't like the picture on the CD+2DVD but I can accept it as "just fun", not as some profound statement on the same level as LOVEppears, I Am..., MY STORY etc...


On the feminist argument - in my view, feminism isn't doing whatever the hell I want and just expecting the audience to pat me on the back for being a woman and "standing up for women's rights". Feminism is being strong, knowing you have choices and making the right ones to further women's place in business, public and private societies...not doing something that exudes immature or sexist behaviour (because if there was no negative stigma attached to this type of photo, it would have no meaning) and getting asspats for some perceived inequality between women and men.

To be "feminist" is to be equal - not special or superior to men. I support men's causes just as much as women's because we are equal. Ayu isn't making some profound feminist statement here. Perhaps she tried, but it was lost in the poor execution. I won't laud prise on something just because of a supposed feminist agenda - that doesn't do justice to actual feminist advances...

In the words of Morgan Freeman, who spoke on racism in modern society, "Stop talking about it. I`m going to stop calling you a white man. And I`m going to ask you to stop calling me a black man." - this principle also applies to feminism. When people stop trying to force female superiority by acting "tarty", "****ty", "tacky" etc and then crying about people being "blind prudes" or "anti-feminist" when the rest of the world views it as bad, then people can move on. Feminism won't be needed anymore because we'll be equal, which is what feminism was all about!

And we all saw Mannie in the all fours poses, and we all hated that too :P No bias over here, either sex in that pose looks tacky. Even if my fave male group posed like this, I'd think it was tacky....and to tell the truth, even if my fiancée did it I'd tell him he looked like he was asking for buttsecks :P

Ayu's had no problems getting the point across for 14 albums, 50 singles and nearly 14 years under avex. I really don't see why this one was so off the mark to her audience.

And although I asked it in the other thread, still nobody has been able to tell me why not liking this shoot's execution makes me a "bad" Ayu fan, although from some people's comments it's what I'm being accused of!

I thought it was some kind of drugs, like a small baggie of white powder... :innocent