Yeah, that makes more sense, thanks. I changed it. The site I got the official Japanese lyrics from used someta, but that might've been a typo.

MASK preview reminded me the vibes of Ai Otsuka's Sakura Harahara PV:

Somehow I think this PV will be a simple one, one location, one costume, a closeup face, and a rotating camera, with no story in particular. I don't expect much, but It is nice that we are getting new music and PV.

That was me. ^_^ Thanks for uploading for comparison, they really do look similar--Ayu's interesting earring and Sanna's interesting necklace add fashion. :love

I am going to spill the tea here.
Some TA staffs are indeed useless.
They like gossiping to keep their job.

The politics inside TA can be toxic.

i have like a love-hate relationship with album mixes, because i like to listen to songs from the album it comes from. but for a lot of older jpop releases the single version / original mix of the song is different from the album version. and so in the case where i don’t like the album mix as much as the original one (as is the case with Endless sorrow ~gone with the wind ver.~ being included on “I am…” over the original), it’s kind of annoying because then i have to stream it from the single or from a best album. this seems like a nonissue to most people but i have lastfm and i like having all of my scrobbles on one album. but it’s not a huge deal either, just something that mildly irks me sometimes.

on the other hand there are times where i actually do really like the album mix a lot, sometimes even over the original. one of those cases is immature, since technically the original original version of the song is the jt cm version on the appears single, despite the fact that it was released at the same time as the album version. the jt cm version is nice and i do like it a lot, but i just think the album version is a sonic masterpiece. actual candy for the ears!

i do understand why there was a need to rearrange/remix songs for an album release, in the days of CDs you had to actually convince a consumer to physically buy a copy of your album, and an album would not be very enticing to purchase if you already owned a majority of the songs on previously released singles. now it’s different, you don’t have to commit to buying an album anymore since you can simply just go to ur streaming service of choice, listen to it, and if you liked it you save it; if you don’t, you just never listen to it again and go on with ur day! you’re not stuck with it like you would be if you bought a physical copy of it and ended up not liking it, and there is definitely much less at stake when it comes to checking out a new album. so i’m assuming because of that companies and artists are not bothering making new versions of songs for studio albums or if they do, it’s usually in the form of bonus tracks. and also just simply the fact that including previously released singles on an album increases your streaming numbers by a LOT (just look at Dua Lipa’s first album receiving a massive streaming boost after being repackaged with some of her previous big hits)

i know i strayed a bit (a lot) from the main subject of the thread, but it really is an interesting subject… maybe i should make a thread dedicated to it in the chatroom section, what do u guys think? :)

Daily charts for the second day :

#18 on Oricon
#15 on Recochoku

Doesn't seem to be doing good on digital charts, maybe the PV can help a bit...

I like the song! The arrangement could have been more interesting, but overall I like the melody and it’s stuck in my head after a few listens! It’s still better than some of her more recent ballads (which I find so boring) so I’ll take it. Overall I think the quality of songs she’s been releasing is pretty good. I’m excited for the PV!

A good song ruined by the dated production..... Someone needs to tell TK to move on from his tired Bro-DM sound... should've kept the intro piano goinh cuz it's in line with the current y2k revival.

It's normal enough for all her fans to get it in the first couple of days, now. It's not a big hit in the wider world, but it seems to be doing well enough in her fan base.

I just checked Line, too, where it's at 23 in the top hundred.

It's like Sayonara feat SpeXial but not so good, this may sound weird but it also gave me Winter Diary vibes, might be the bells at the end. I'm amazed how much a song made in 2022 can sound like early 2000. I enjoyed it though but nothing I would want to listen on repeat like almost all of her songs until Trouble, kinda fits with Dreamed a dream. So far the album sounds like disco album.

Question: I saw Youtube has Mask from ayu channel :https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PxQz52nT1RE

but this one does not show on her main channel. https://www.youtube.com/@ayu

why is this happening?

^ Yeah, that is really odd. Maybe they want to put focus on PV for the song, to collect more views.

^
^
staff already uploaded the PV and will reveal it tonite

7 hrs left
happy to watch her fake crying in 1080p again

I don't think so.. I dig into that more

apparently That is for Youtube Music....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HgifTxOBJlQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4eAW3-tpWg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N460qhTbpmw

And this is the proof on how lazy avex is

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fY3-FunaLk4

Description:

425,579 views Jul 21, 2017
Provided to YouTube by avex group

JEWEL · 浜崎あゆみ

WINTER BALLAD SELECTION

℗ AVEX MUSIC CREATIVE INC.

Released on: 1900-01-01

Composer: 湯汲哲也
Lyricist: 浜崎あゆみ

Auto-generated by YouTube.

The song JEWEL is released on 1900-01-01 and ayu was born before 1900.

All her discography can be listened on Youtube Music. They are listed in Youtube Music, not shown on her Youtube channel, yet you can search and found then on Youtube search.

Youtube is a mess...

80 minutes less
https://i.imgur.com/wOdiib2.jpg

I KNEW ITTTTTTTTTTTTT!!!!!!!

New album announced, out 1/25

The video was so much better than I was imagining before, I thought I'd be one custome video with her just moving around dramatically!

I love that this is really unique video in her filmography and I think 90's vibes fits the song perfectly. I think ayu has really few perfect music videos so this delivers what I was waiting for. For me at least. Not perfect but above decent! I hope avex will keep her budget as high for her 25th Anniversary!!

update 4K version avex
This one is gorgeous but only 4Mbps

The videooo is waaaay better than what i expected. LOVE IT 3000X

Definitely better than expected.
Nice assortment of scenes, cool angles and good lighting effects too.

I look forward to watching it via Blu-ray disc when the album is released.
That low bitrate pixelation YouTube graces us with when I watched the premiere on my OLED TV lowered my enjoyment of it.

It is basically a promotion video for Teamlab. I love Teamlab. I travelled everywhere to look at their exhibition.

PV is great, I had such low expectations. Colorful and beautiful. They planned this for a long time, I remembered when she posted on Instagram when she visited teamLab.

PV was peak camp. Ayu fake crying goodness and battling against the corona virus in that one scene with her dancers.

I know the location helped a lot and it helped make the PV a lot more interesting and trippy.

Song is good, nostalgic and 90s in a whimsical way. I don't need Ayu to make "fresh music" whatever that means, I need good music.

Video visually is very nice. It helps to reconcile with the song itself

Haha, right. I immediately googled their work in hope I could see for myself, but unfortunately...

Teamlab is great. I love installation-art. As for the PV, it made the concept a whole lot interesting, but yet I am not as blown away as with Haru Yo Koi, it doesn't feel really authentic, whatever.

Is she Ayu?
I thought she was Go Soo-im
Park Jae-sang's right-hand assistant in litle women
Lol ..
https://i.postimg.cc/McmXV2Jq/images-8.jpg

So, there were some parts of the video that were visually pretty, but I could not enjoy them because of how cringe and bad her acting was. I don't think I can watch this video again because of how embarrassing her acting was.
She has been in this industry a long time and it actually amazes me how she hasn't improved her acting skills, especially when it comes to fake crying.

I agree with you !

LOLL. That’s just ayu… she can never be an actress

fake crying again hahahaha
This PV should release higher quality video

Wasn't she actually crying? Didn't she say that she cried at the end of the shooting or something? Even if it was fake, there was nothing cringe about it. It looked like normal "tears welling up, but I have to try not to cry" type emotion.

And she is actually going to shove all of the previously released songs on the album.
I am ok with DaD , 23monster being there , but Ohia and Haru yo koi , should have stayed only on the ballads 2.

It's not fake crying. It's botox crying which makes it look like fake.

I just realized that… 4 of the videos on the album are essentially… the same video lol.

Ayu, in a big room, with dancers twirling around her…with hand-in-front-of-face over acted pose “dancing”… with some aggressive walking or “crying”—or both lol.

It’s literally the same concept… right? Am I crazy? Lol

MASK is colorful and interesting to look at, but suffers from the same thing her other new videos do, IMO.

But, I do like the song so I guess that’s good haha.

Looks like she just rented TeamLab in Odaiba and basically shot it in one room changing the background. Doesn't even look like professional camera, more like shot with a phone. I don't mind this song and video existing but I don't understand it, looks so unnatural and the fake crying is faker than ever before.

I only thought about it being similar to Nonfiction with all that walking but now that you mentioned it, Haru Yo was also in this fake room.

I think it's getting worse and worse. It was so bad during one concert in the Just the beginning tour chapter 3, I don't remember if that was Kobe or Nagoya, but ever since it amazingly gets worse and worse. Like she lost any taste in what looks good and what is too much.

Oh god i cringed at her fake crying even when she posted that part on her ig. Wth was she thinking it’s good? Even worse than Days lol. Funny that her crying on Return Road was actually really convincing.

Her PVs are getting boring. Maybe it has something to do with budget cutting?her old PVs were so much better in quality and almost always artsy in a way.

The PV is beautiful! I just don't like how they focus so much on the dancer at the end when they cover her eyes. That's all!

I'm happy that she still makes music, and actually most of the releases for this album have been strong, even this song. It's overall a very strong track.

I don't like the video, but i didn't truly like a single video since ''Together When...''

I don't have a problem with fake crying and lousy acting. I wish Ayu gives a chance to new producers instead of TK.

https://onecms-res.cloudinary.com/im...etsuya_now.png

PV is stunning :luv2 I can't wait to see it in blu-ray quality. I absolutely love this whole era visually. Every PV has its own identity and I dig all of them.

I like the PV - it was nothing special, but it was colourful and dynamic, just pretty and harmless. I don't think she's fake crying though because that looks like the way she cries in concert and that always looks pretty genuine lol

also, this might be poor Google translation, but what scene is she referring to when she said "don't miss the shocking last!!" in her Tweet/on Instagram? the last scene doesn't seem very shocking to me :laugh

I agree wholeheartedly with this. he is just such an unsavoury character; at this point literally anyone else is preferable.

I feel like a lot happens but at the same time nothing happens, it is a nice pv but nothing too special expect she used a mirror room and some projections which do look very nice :P I feel like it could of had more of a story to it, except it looks more they are doing what they are doing for just the looks over context. I feel like there is almost a story to it :P maybe struggling with your mind. And the dress. We almost get a full shot of ayu in that plastic outfit but they don’t quite show it with a fade over effect on screen :( though we might get it in a tour :)

We should go to Teamlab Planet for the best quality of the exhibition.
https://i.imgur.com/wOdiib2.jpg

Song is just so-so, unfortunately. Sounds like an album track, not a promo track.

This is the most Komuro thing I heard since the last 90s

I like MASK, but I still feel NO FUTURE is a better song - similar vibe, but executed much more sophisticatedly in arrangement and vocal

I did notice it getting worse in her concerts, but haven't noticed it getting to this level in music videos until now.

I feel like the only way I can be okay with the music video is if she makes a statement saying the over the top bad acting was intentional and this inauthentic acting is a sort of "mask" she wears to not show her real emotions.

But that's kind of a stretch lol.

Exactly !

This is a OK PV, pretty and a nice collab with TeamLAB at odaiba. Nothing more...

It’s not in Odaiba it’s TeamLab Planets in Toyosu.
Borderless in Odaiba was just recently closed. :) Planets will also at the end of the next year.
After watching the PV it made me want to go there again haha. I really loved Planets more than borderless.

I felt that the chorus should have the same feeling as the verses and outro since it’s up beat but I suppose that it was on purpose since it wasn’t meant to be a ballad but I LOVE the verses and outro.

The collab PV with Planets was great! The question is what message is implied in every detail

The Pv is really cool, not her best, but it stands out in her recent videography!

Ok I really can't get the song out of my head now!!!!
And I really enjoyed the visuality of the PV and thought Ayu and everyone else's costumes etc were stunning! The only thing is when you can see the lines between the mirror panels on the floor in the 2nd or 3rd scene, it kind of breaks the fantasy.
I love the ending as well!

And re the message, I wonder whether that scene with Ayu on the floor is a reference to her being ishiki-fumei (unconscious) when she had anaphylactic shock?

and it should be in HDR too
SDR is not enough for teamlab

Whouaa almost 300k views for MASK. I think it’s better than Summer again at the same time.

This was me the whole time watching the mv. I mean she was always quite fake but this was worse than before. I don’t think her exaggeration of the movements fit the song, it all just felt so out of place.
The video was ok, nothing special.

I wish they used the latex costume shots more, it’s such an expensive and fragile material and i feel like they didn’t use it enough.

BTW for anyone thinking the latex outfit could show up on tour…. I don’t think so. It is not a material made for quick-changes. Unless it’s a coat..it would be like trying to put latex gloves on a wet hands. You need powder to put garments like that on if they are form fitting. It’s not an easy piece to look after either.

You are right. I don't want to post 4K because the toxic fandom here will ask me to hide the 4K picture.

Yea man! I wonder what happen after guilty album. Rock and row circus was still ok… but everything after that was plain boring. It makes her just like any other artist.

I miss the days when she’s truly ayu.

Guilty was the first album I was only “meh” about. I listened to it, bought it of course. But I wasn’t excited by it. It’s a very dark album. Even the summer songs are dark, with night shots taking up the majority of the videos (from my memory at least haha).

Looking back on it I can certainly appreciate it a bit more, I mean… it’s pretty cohesive. And if I listened to it out of context I’d probably enjoy it more. I mean, I think fated is one of her best ballads—highly underrated.

But because when I listen to it now it reminds me of that tinge of disappointment I felt back then, it’s definitely an album that I rank mid-tier in my list haha. But saying all this, now I want to relisten to it lol.

In any case, I feel like after this album, her release pattern changed.

what a coincidence! i was just listening to guilty today. it’s not one of my personal faves, but it’s still very good and i can’t help but just appreciate all the raw emotion that went into it. ayu was going thru a really tough time in her life and that record really reflects that

Oricon Daily Digital Singles Chart
1st day: #4 – N/A
2nd day: #18 – N/A
3rd day: Out of top 20


Oricon Weekly Digital Singles Chart
#24 – 2,921 downloads


Billboard Japan Top Download Chart
#25

The whole Japanese music industry leaks of direction for years. Although Utada tried to step in the globe market, majority people at that time seemed to be negative about the japanese singers. And then the rise and popularity of BTS, BLACKPINK put Japanese music into the deathbed corner.

Well, I am sure Japanese music can be great again someday.

The MV is at 400k views in two days. Is this the fastest video to reach it?

Yes.

Quoting Katsuyuki from Summer Again thread:

I'm very glad that you like my remix :love I tried to give a current dance aura to the song.
➤https://youtu.be/gbHxBALhWW8

I have the same problem with the original music arrangement. I love old school jpop sound, and I like MASK melody, but this arrangement in particular sounds kind of cheap and lazy.
anyway, I think this one is a nice single, better that her sixxxxxx and Trouble tracks.

With tighter budgets and PVs not really making money anymore, I can’t imagine that ayu would wear a latex outfit that was only visible for a few seconds.

I’m hoping there’s another PV for the next song. Perhaps that song will have “happy lyrics” but a sad slow ballad to continue the story of MASK, like how Microphone and Sexy little things worked out.

I hope extra shots will find a place in the photobook. The blackhaired ayu didn't have enough time at the Summer again PV

469k views for the video as of this morning :D

500k views! :heart

thank you

Amen to that. Ayu 90's songs aged so well because they were different from standard 90's jpop
This one sounds older than first Amuro songs, what a waste of energy