I bought the CD+DVD version but I like the CD only version cover more

Thank you junshen!

Im looking forward to the rest of the songs so badly. (Not) Rememeber You is so freakin good and something I missed from her so much. That rock but also synth. This could link so well with NEXT LEVEL tracks and even until that Day...!!!

:):love

Very curious about arrangers.

I bet Yuta N arranged Remember you!

I think the fact (D) remember you and remember you have different composers means it’s not another case of sunrise sunset.

+1 I'm about to say this. He is amazing.

(Not) remember you sounded so amazing! Really a song that only ayu can pull off. So her!
I first heard it on CDL but it sounded just meh… but it really grows on me.

Ordered the CD + blu-ray version! Can't wait!

Is it just me, or is the volume of her latest releases (at least on Apple Music) really... Quiet?
I need like 50% higher volume on Ayu's songs, like (not) rmember you, than others. In some cases it seems album dependant too. Moments (single) is much louder than Moments (A Best " and other album versions).

Apple Music Dolby Atmos quality is quieter than no dolby atmos songs.

Ayu is sharing lyrics parts from Remember you album on instagram. Until today they were taken from already released songs (Nonfiction, 23rd Monster, Dreamed a Dream, etc) but today she posted lyrics from an unreleased song.

Here my attempt of translation:
------------------
どうして自分は周りと違う？
どうしたらみんなと同じになれる？

Why am I different from the others?
How can I become the same to everyone?


「違うこと」は「悪いこと」だと
自分を押し殺して隠れるように
馴染めるような道を探していた

"Different" means "bad" so I 've been looking for a way to fit in, while hiding and suffocating my (true) self
------------------

Those are powerful words. I'm so curious to hear the rest of it.

I wracked my brain trying to figure out which (existing) songs these are from; excited that these are lyrics to new songs! thank you for your translation!

It has two ways to see that.

(1) She thinks she is over the top and feels bad. She wants to be the same as everyone or be a normal person. That implies she wants to retire.

(2) She thinks her career is over the top. She feels bad for her TA staffs. She wants to help her TA staffs.

I don’t think it’s about her career, I see it as about her personally. It’s always been said ayu was a bit of an outsider, a loner, in school. She’s still got her own “ways” of being that probably don’t make sense to everyone else.

LOL
Her TA staff definitely need a help. They were so busy uploading wallpapers once a month, so now they will do it once in a three months

New post:
————-
誰も誰かより
偉いわけじゃない
誰も誰かより
劣ってるわけでもない

そのままのあなたでいい
変わる必要などない

————-

No one is better than anyone else
And no one is worse than anyone else

You are fine just the way you are
You don’t need to change

—————

Well I guess we know which song those are from lol

The last track, Just the way you are.

looks like Just the way you are will be a rockish ballad song like last minutes judging from the lyrics.

New day, new post!

——
もしも世界中が「NO」だと言ったとしても

‘君が君でいること’
その素晴らしさを
私は君に伝え続ける
———
Even If the whole world would say “NO”

I’ll continue to tell you
about the amazingness
of ‘you being you’.
———

I'll have a go, those are from "Remember you"


Has anyone noticed the marketing they've started doing for "Remember you" on ayu's official Facebook?
A post a day

The TeamAyu/mu-mo edition photobook had three haute couture outfits created just for it.

I’m not sure, because the three lyrics parts seems all from ‘Just the way you are’. The theme is the same: stay as you are, don’t change, you are perfect just the way you are.

This would be the only song quoted more than one day but I remember someone saying (a couple page back in this thread) that a reliable insider leaked the release of “just the way you are” on 18th of January.

You could be right

Wonder if that 'planned release' is actually legit.
I'd have to restrict myself from listening to another song, already caved in with '(NOT) Remember you', I can't with another, haha

I will be really upset if it's not

Ayu will drop something on youtube at midnight, japan time :)

Just the way you are
Released on GMT +12

I'll have to restrict myself from listening to it at midnight (hour and a half away for me) up until when I get my hands on the album.

I look forward to reading your reviews about it though.
Don't know how many of you will refrain from listening to it like me, haha.

https://tieba.baidu.com/p/8224968687

Can listen to Just the way you are here.





This link should work at midnight for anyone in the 18th!
https://youtu.be/whXxydlCBdc

The song is serving power ballad.
Also I also love the key of her voice on here, reminds me of Breakdown.

Nothing new but I like it ! I like the way the song is going crescendo in power !
I imagine very well this song at the end of a concert like My all and Co !

Yeah, nothing new, it is a sweet downtempo ballad.

The song is ok, might be lovely live.

I love it too!

Really like JUST THE WAY YOU ARE
would have sounded perfect for christmas or NEW years

LOL!!! it's not a rockish ballad!

OK song, very different from her other ballad song, I think the closest will be Hello new me. in terms of the arrangement. I love the arrangement, more like a band song. The key is very low which works for her current vocal condition.

The budget for her promotion stuff is getting lower and lower though. Sorry to say that the promotional clip is so cheap. Kudos to the talent, she did an amazing job, and she gave her all, but still, the quality of the clip is very low for Ayu's standard.

This video could have been better made by University students in the film club �� ayu what’s happening

I love her vocal tone in the verses!! The key is great for her voice :)

The song is lovely and very mature but this promotional clip is sooo cheap.
I’ll pretend this video doesn’t exist.

come on :P! we were not going to have any clip ! it has been done without any improvisation and to promote the song and the lyric!

according to IG, she saw imitating her on twitter and the got the phone number, they met and recorded this video for all her fans

I got a feeling this was filmed by her using drone lol

I like how they censored faces, but not Louis Vuitton

Her vocals are really nice on this track. There is a nuance in this style of ballad that’s different than her other ballads.

I just love the song. It really speaks to me

The video fits perfectly to the song and the message. There’s no need to be top model / top notch production, it’s okay just the way it is.

Loving the last two releases... her studio vocals have been ON FIRE, and pretty fresh (for her standards) songwriting as well

Loving the verse rather than the chorus, so fresh by using an acoustic guitar. Simplicity and nothing over the top. While the melody on the chorus is not my favorite.

When I first watched the PV, I wondered if this is just another "creative" promotion for the song, that they released this version with this comedian acting as ayu first, and will release another "true" version of the PV some day later, with ayu in the position of the girl...(or maybe showing her as the director holding the camera/drone is also a very special point of view) but then I think I was totally wrong. THIS IS THE PV OMG

Edit: The song itself is very nice, and I love the lyrics and the messages.

And Hermes.

Just the way you are is beautiful. I cried a bit. I'm sure it'll be very emotional if she sings it in concert

Exactly this. I've seen especially Japanese fans complain that they want a version with Ayu, but I think the simplicity the video has, while also starring a girl who's not conventionally beautiful, sells it much more. Yes, it's low budget, but that again feels like a strong point, because it makes it seem like just one person walking down the city. It feels human.

I've watched the video without sound, because I want to try and not listen to it until the album releases. I caved for (N)Ry, but if I listen to Jtwya too, then only Remember you and VIBEES will be new, besides the interludes and remix of course.

and now she created a challenge for making the video likes that #justthewayyouare challenge

I think based on her post, this is a sudden idea that she got and twist it to make a marketing strategy as well. I hope it works.

The song is great, classic ending ballad, nothing out of the ordinary. The beginning reminds me a bit of ''Love Letter'' by GACKT.

It would have derserved to be maybe a minute longer as it ends is soon as it builds up.

I like it. Great vocals, nice lyrics and it doesn’t have that “wall of noise” vibe that bugs me in her other recent songs.

Just saw the video and I which they hired Naomi Watanabe to lipsync in that video.

Otherwise I am not of fan of the message of that song and video, I find it hypocritical a little when ayu hire fat people to say they are beautiful when she had how many cosmetic interventions and has always been very careful of her body and always edit her promo pictures (and I am not saying that in a bad way).

It feels she just picked somebody she judges unapealing to her standards and pretend to empower her. I don't know if that actress is famous, if she is, then my mind may change.

I would have prefer to just see ayu shoot the video without make up and filter.

Ooh the video was so sweet! How often I have pretended I sang Ayu's songs live for a big audience... in the bathroom! The video got that atmosphere! Seeing her doing this together with a fan is so special.

I love the lyrics, not a big fan of the song yet. But I have totally grown into NRY, so I will give this one also to chance and give it a couple more listens.

I am so ready for VIBEES. I think Remember you is going to be something like TODAY, but I can't imagine anything for the other. I pray for a Sparkle part 2!

I want to know the meaning of the lyrics. Anyone has an English translation, please? I need to listen to this song more and understand the lyrics before... hahah. Thank you in advance.

I second that man!!! Hahah

I think there is a back story on this, on her Instagram post, on why she choose the lady to act

I did a little bit of research about the lady, she is a part of a comedy duo, active on Instagram but more active on Twitter (https://twitter.com/KumamoP)

Who else is releasing next week? Does she stand a chance of debuting at number 1? :P

I was thinking something along the same lines when someone called out the presence of Louis Vuitton. There’s some highly inauthentic, artificial, and manufactured about that and then this message coming from ayu. She has a right to enjoy her luxuries but the image she portrays now is so unattainable, it doesn’t feel believable when she touts lyrics in songs like this…

MISIA has an all time best coming, so Ayu is probably not number 1.

Oh well. There's also back number's new album 2nd week... *sigh*

I also really wish the drums were louder. But I like the song overall.

The song is delightful. The arrangement, her vocal... just everything goes so well together.

I like the song and love the concept of the pv that reflects the "being simple (and simply) as you are" of the song and I like that Ayu is not the main actress here because she is speaking to minorities. Indeed the lyrics is dedicate to a "you" that, yes, could be her speaking to herself but I see it more as she is taking a similar role taken in How beautiful you are.

Anyway, I'll try to translate the full lyrics. Let's wait for tenshi no hane version for a polished translation :D

----------------------------
どうして自分は周りと違う？
どうしたらみんなと同じになれる？


違うことは悪いことと
自分を押し殺して
隠れるように馴染めるような
道を探していた


ねえbaby, just the way you are
変わらないでいい
世界中がもしもNoと言ったって


ねえbaby, just the way you are
僕は君の側で
君が君でいることの素晴らしさを
伝え続ける


誰かより偉いわけじゃない
誰かより劣ってもいない


Wow-wow- yeah yeah
Wow-wow- yeah yeah
Wow-wow- yeah yeah


ねえbaby, just the way you are
変わらないでいい
世界中がもしもNoと言ったって


ねえbaby, just the way you are
僕は君の側で
君が君でいることの素晴らしさを
伝え続ける


素晴らしさを伝え続ける

----------------------------

Why am I different from the others?
How can I become the same to everyone?

"Different" means "bad"
so I 've been looking for a way to fit in,
while hiding and suffocating my (true) self.

Hey, babe, just the way you are
It's ok to not change
Even If the whole world would say “NO”

Hey, babe, just the way you are
I'll be by your side
continuing to tell you
about the amazingness of ‘you being you’.

It doesn't mean that you are better than anyone else
but you aren't worse than anyone else either.

Wow-wow- yeah yeah
Wow-wow- yeah yeah
Wow-wow- yeah yeah

Hey, babe, just the way you are
It's ok to not change
Even if the whole world would say “NO”

Hey, babe, just the way you are
I'll be by your side
continuing to tell you
about the amazingness of ‘you being you’.

continuing to tell you about (your) amazingness

It kinda reminds me of my crisis with "How beautiful you are" PV hahaha
While it has some scenes and couples that fits the theme, Ayu seems like a barbie doll on it. :P
It would be so much powerful if she had more "grounded" outfits like in "Mad World" PV.
I kinda expected that she had her own Christina Aguilera's Beautiful hahaha

Lol seems TA finally lost it xD
People must’ve been complaining a lot about the video.

To which I say… when you seemingly only have yes-men around you, there’s always the chance that eventually you’ll alienate your fan base to the point where they can’t hold it in anymore.

I haven’t understood Ayu’s motivation for things for awhile now, so I’m generally happy that people are starting to be vocal (outside of the foreign fan base). *in regards to constructive criticism. I don’t agree with just bashing people or what have you and being mean.

She can do what she wants, but we’ll react accordingly lol.

I’m not one to complain directly through TA though.
Luckily I have this forum for that haha.

I like the PV unintentionally shows LV store for most of the time.

How many cosmetic interventions had she done? People like to repeat that while taking official material as proof. She also doesn't edit pictures herself and are you forgetting about 2018, when she was quite chubby? Japanese people online will call her fat for being muscular.

This better be a joke post.

Why would it be a joke post?

Constructive criticism is important, and Ayu doesn’t seem like she’s used a creative team in a long time. That is, it seems like she does a lot of stuff on her own. That’s a huge thing to take on. But at the same time, when you don’t have a team around you trying to guide you or make recommendations, that position is then going to fall on the fans.

I do not agree with bashing and being mean, but constructive criticism is always something I’ll agree with, no matter the situation.

I agree with this. I'm always believing that she has been doing things/making decision on her own or based on her own thinking for some years. That's why I feel many of her works (be it costume, video, fashion sense...) in the last 5 years I will say lack a sense of professionalism. Sometimes I suspect it's Avex's problem too... Anyway I hope she empowers more to creditable professional creative team or marketing team when producing her music and concert.

the lyrics is amazing, the pv is interesting too but..

i'm sorry. but the video is meh...

bad angle, bad acting, doesn't elevate the song.

Nice song but totally forgettable for me. PV looks like a uncreative last-minute work.
Anyway, I'm really looking forward to her new album. Mask, Summer Again and Nonfiction are great songs imo

Just the way you are is pretty much exactly what I didn't want it to be, but suspected it would be. A generic ballad. It is listenable, but forgettable. It doesn't have her baby voice at least which I do appreciate. The lyrics and message are great, and I do also appreciate her having a person with a different body type than what is considered attractive in Japan, but I think we should be passed this type of thing by now. I feel like different body types should just be normalized and represented without having to put them in a whole video centered around how "you're beautiful too just how you are!". I feel like there should just be inclusion naturally, without making a big deal about how you're including someone seen as "different".

For example, why can't a larger person be featured in a dance song or something fun? Why does the song have to exclusively be about accepting themselves how they are? But that might just be me nitpicking.

I did not get. Did it lead to something?
The song worked as a background music for me when I washed the dishes. Robotic vocals and reverb stood out to me, but I appreciated her lower than usual voice, much preferable over the baby voice. Did not buy that message coming from a glamorous diva.

Wow, I really like Just the way you are. I love the lower voice, it really fits the song. I can feel the emotion in the song. I'm not a huge ballad fan but this nearly made me tear up. Beautiful lyrics too.

this. Please destroy the toxic fandom here. We don't need to like every single works from ayu. It is the fact that ayu's recent works are getting bad. Constructive criticism is helping her to improve her works.

^ I've been reading this since early 2010's. It's not a fact. It's your take on her works. Constructive criticism is one thing. Being a rude and mean (to put it lightly) person is sth completely different. The video itself is nothing more but a tiny bonus to a product we're getting in a few days.

It is personal's reaction. If people are sensitive with other feedback on their comment and feel others are being rude, that is their problem. Nobody lives around their comments and they are not the center of the universe.

I dont get why people have issue on the video. It is just a video and someone lip-synching on the street.

I think some people are misinformed as to how this video came to be.
It wasn’t planned, the girl in the video, Kumamoto who is part of a comedy duo, tweeted a video of impressions she did of Ayu. She said she had been a fan of hers for a long time.

Some fans brought this tweet to Ayu’s attention, and Ayu herself thought it was very funny, and she contacted Kumamoto. They organized making this video basically overnight and it was a rushed project.

It’s just a video of a fan lipsinging to a song dedicated to fans. There is no other meaning.
This was filmed in Omotesando, a shopping street in Tokyo. If there is blurred faces, it’s because they can’t show random people in it without their consent. The law doesn’t apply to storefronts on the street so they don’t have to blur them out.

I was in Omotesando around lunch time the day she was recording and was freaking out wondering if I’d be in the background lol, but seems like it was filmed early morning to avoid the crowds understandably!

Thanks for clarifying the impromptu. The teens jogging past Kumamoto-san, along with a cyclist passing by from the other direction during the 1st chorus coincidentally made this promotional clip a little more dynamic and active on the screen.

You wouldn't happen to have the link to the video?

Thank you I think it reduces my rebuke for this viedo by a lot.

The video was on Ayu's Twitter where she impersonates Ayu for a bit and she replied to it.

https://twitter.com/KumamoP/status/1613111396652453888

Basically, in the last 3-4 days they started planning it and made the video like 2 days ago.

Different societies, different processes. In Japan, there a lot of issues that are in a different phase of discussion. It's the same with the LGBTQIA+ community rights, it's different from some Western countries (but not so different comparing to another ones). So in a society where extreme thinness as a beauty standard is still overvalued, it's a valid message.

yeah it kinda screamed that Naomi should have been filmed in this PV

I guess, Naomi's just too popular and expensive for ayu lol

it'd be better if it was really just ayu walking down Omotesando and shot in one cut

I dislike that this PV is not edited at all

I think I will not be able to memorize the lyrics in such a short time

About fans impersonating ayu, I think this person did a great job. https://vt.tiktok.com/ZS8SLnADS/

Sometimes I wonder if ayu could do something like this of her old videos haha

In a short clip of making of, Ayu is behind the cameraman guiding and directing her with the lip syncing and interpretation. But yes, time was really short.

I think you are missing the point of the complaints. It isn’t about if the body positivity is a good message or not but it feels 180 degrees against what ayu represents in everything else she does and come across as insincere.

Some members shine a light about the creation of the clip that made a bit more sense.

I don't understand. She's being supportive of someone being obese or lgbt supportive doesn't mean that she has to be part of it right? It's like if you don't like something, doesn't mean that you can't be supportive and have to hate it.

Anyway, I'm also quite disappointed with the pv. I hope there's another interesting version with ayu in it. PV affects the impression I will have of the song. And releasing a PV before the song does disappoint people as the PV is kinda boring and it kinda feels like the actress is trying too hard to mimic ayu, hand gesture and lip-sync. In this sense, the pv isn't gd just the way it is. A storyline and lesser impersonation would be nicer.

Conforming to pressure doesn't mean that she can't or won't speak out or support people who DON'T conform. It's totally in character for someone who spent her life dressing, dating, working, and writing in a way that outrages many people. She's always been about living her life however she wants. Now she's saying people who don't look like her also have that right and she supports them. Saying not everyone must be like her isn't insincere, it's basic human decency and adult empathy.

(It's not even uncommon--think of Paulina Porizkova and Jameela Jamil, who have made big platforms out of speaking out even while their own careers are based in their beauty.)

I think her LGBT support is completly different. She has several gay people surronding her in her troup and had a trans dancer (and btw I miss Lico), so Ayu being supportive of LGBT community I belive it completly.

Anyway back to the song... i realised today that the build-up is kinda similar to ''Shallow'' by lady gaga.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Fmqn5nDa...jpg&name=large

Ayu with that girl from the PV behind the scenes