The drama will be on during the daytime...I don't think it'll help that much.

wow, she looks amazing in the newest pics! i adore her hair :heart i really can't wait for the screensaver :luv2 it's going to look beautiful on my laptop!

oh, is there wallpapers for these new pictures yet?

Love the covers
Love the lyrics
Love the titles, minus the ~for TA~ (I know I'm alone in my "BALLAD" love)

The songs better be good coz I am sooooo ready for this single!

Oh, I did not know that... I think this is her first time doing a tie-up with a daytime drama...

You're not alone. I like it, too. ;)

i like the title "BALLAD" too :yes
and yea i don't care for the ~for TA~ part either


i want whatever bra she's wearing...it works miracles! :o

I also like the title BALLAD :D

you mean BALLAD will the tie-in song for a CHINESE drama???!!! :O

oh God Ayu gets the worst drama tie-ins ever, I swear. And you thought Dandy Daddy was horrendous enough...

can't avex choose better drama tie in's for her ? D:

man :o

so BALLAD will be used to promote which drama again ? I'm quite lost :dead2

it's a drama that's based on a novel, which is about the olden China era... apparently a Japanese actress will play Cixi Empress Dowager, but the rest of the cast have names similar to Chinese, so... oh well.

oh

so what's the name of the drama if that's the case

The cover is pretty, aside from her nails.. which I hate. ugh

@Karen: the title of the novel that the drama is based on is (posted by maj) Soukyuu no subaru (蒼穹の昴)

and according to the press conference that genie has posted, the name of the drama is the same as the novel, except in Chinese. so it's like 蒼穹之昴

:|

so it's a drama about chinese history written by a japanese? main actress (the queen in the drama) = japanese actress, others are mostly chinese.

oh wow, I just saw the covers and... wooooow they are SO STUNNING! I really love them..

it's 蒼穹の昴

well, the main characters are all chinese , except for her...but i think there should be a few more japanese actors too.

why can't she get a drama tie-in for something more mainstream and popular... these kind of shows are gonna be shown at like 8am? omg who's gonna watch that and be exposed to BALLAD?! :thud

Thanks Jun Xiang & Genie

LOLLL

I know I don't think anyone who want to wake up at 8am to watch a drama D:

at most give her a good drama tie in in which the drama's aired during the golden hour period ie. at night

Who's gonna watch it? Probably the retired uncles and aunties who have nothing else to do, maybe some hardcore Ayu fans. XD

That would be funny if AYU's "BALLAD" would have anything common with alan's "BALLAD" (not counting title of course) xD

If I could I'd probably watch it. Historical dramas interest me. XD

Ugh, worst tie-in for Ayu ever, possibly? -.- Epitome of crap drama, from the sounds of it. >_<

mmh.. I don't really take very seriously these tie-ins.. they're not important to me =/

Sounds like a crappy drama....even by historical drama standards...

Hopefully the tinkerbell movie will do well....though spin offs usually don't...

So will You were... be in the movie or only just commercials for the movie?

also Ayu will be on the cover for Vivi in the February 2010 issue

I hope her great pictures continue...

the tinkerbell movies are actually decent considering they're straight-to-dvd releases. great for kids.

that's really great! can't wait for her first photoshoot with her new hair color :luv2

btw, any source of this? please! >__<

same here. i hope she continues to keep her expressions normal/cute, and the teeth-baring days are over (or at least i hope she doesn't have many more of them) same with the fishlips. if she can't stop those then i just hope her beautiful pictures start outweighing the bad ones again :yes

LOOOL i just thought... wouldn't it be funny if their marketing strategy was
tinkerbell movie - to make the little children buy the single...
chinese drama - to make the old people buy the single...
LOL

but ya, every since dragonball flopped, i've been so ehhh as to every promising tie-in after... but honestly i don't want to complain because i'm sooo happy she's chillin on the lumix only tie-ins (although no hate perhaps they were more effective...) lol

yeah I think the previous Tinkerbell movie was a pretty big deal right?
I remember seeing posters and commercials everywhere.

I hope one of the songs is oriental-sounding, like theme of a-nation '03 :heart

Honestly, I don't see either of these tie ins really having an effect on her sales unfortunately.

Ayumi Hamasaki’s 'You were…' chosen as Tinkerbell theme song
Friday 20th November, 04:00 AM JST

TOKYO —
Singer Ayumi Hamasaki, 31, had her wish come true when her new song “You were…” was chosen as the theme song for the Japanese language version of Walt Disney’s animated film “Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure” (“Tinkaberu to tsuki no ishi.”)

Hamasaki was chosen for the role as she “is as popular as Tinkerbell with Japanese women, and has the power to make those around her feel good,” says one industry insider. Hamasaki said: “I’m just honored to be part of something that is loved by people all over the world.”

Another of Hamasaki’s new songs – “BALLAD” – will be used as the theme song for “Sokyu no subaru” to be shown on NHK BS hi from Jan 2. Both “You were…” and “BALLAD” will go on sale Dec 29.

“Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure” opens on Dec 23.

source: japantoday

ayu always get a bad dorama as tie-ins, really different with utada that got a really HIGH RATED with TOP ACTOR and TOP ACTRESS on it...as well as arashi that usually got a really got tie-ins

what is that?sokyu no subaru?? a drama? is that a bad dorama with unpopular actress n actor?

^I like the concept of the promo pic...but she's still making the goofy face that's been photoshopped to hell.


Was it really her wish come true to have them choose her song for tinkerbell? lol

People simply took what she said and over exaggerated it as usual, she just said the concept was a bit different than her standing and posing in a costume. Certainly not "different from anything that she has ever done before".

Honestly, she tends to over exaggerate things like this in her blog a lot herself and then it just goes from there.

She did not exaggerate with this one.
She did write "different approach", which probably means, no fish lips or silly posing like some of the previous covers.

And that's what we actually got.

i think if ballad is use for that drama,it should be something like part of me.
which is more suitable for taiga drama,IMO

The "exaggeration" usually is just due to a semi-bad blog translation.

It probably won't be popular since it's a day time drama and it's more of made to the older audience. It might be popular amongst them though.

(On another note, GREEN's chaku uta FULL is certificated gold by RIAJ, just this month.) xD

Probably more of an honor for her song to be chosen for a Disney film, seeing as Disney is huge in Japan.

Disney's huge everywhere! xD
Though you're still right; the japanese are crazy about Disney. I don't think I've ever read a japanese blog without a single post about visiting Disney Land.

I like the covers, very pretty, though I didn't like the expression on her face in the promo pic. I might get this single if I like the songs.

so You were... only appears in Japanese version of Tinker Bell the movie??
how about the English version??

maybe to a certain extent it might help especially for You were ...'s case ? :shrug

More than likely it's just for the Japanese version, because it's going to be in theaters there. In the US it's straight to DVD.

the covers are pure love :love

I can see the difference from what she done before... they are most subtle and delicate.... really nice to look at :yes it may not be big of a difference, but they have a chance of becoming one of my favourites :yes

these are really pretty covers of Ayu!!!

especially the hair color <3

i kinda didnt expect any drama tie-ins for her so to even have one is a pleasant thing.
I hope Ayu's song gets played all over disneyland! haha

BEAUTIFUL COVERS!!! BEAUTIFUL~!!! <333

A tie-in is better than nothing as there is pretty much no way it will affect the sales negatively (remember Rule and DBE), so even though the tie-ins might look miserable, they will still give the single more exposure on TV.

^ I think I'm tired or something but what's DBE ? :dead2

^Dragon Ball Evolution

Maybe this will be better! If old people watch = don't know how to use the internet= actually BUY the CD! ;) ;) ;) :P

i had a fantasy that they will play the drama in old folks' homes and then all the old folks in there will each buy a copy of the single or beg the nurses to buy one for them

then the nurses hear the song and fall in love and buy the single.. okay who am i kidding lol

^

:roflmao

it would be an interesting theory

So, it took about 5 threads before we got the covers, how many more do you think it'll take before the Chaku-Uta starts next week LOL

and some extracts >.>

how many threads more before we get to hear a preview of these songs... :thud

These are the most amazing covers I've seen from Ayu in a long, long time.
I can't actually fault them.
Beautiful.

well... with bad non-effect tie-ins, her single sales were always consistent right? these definitely couldn't hurt her sales, if anything help? also does anyone know exactly everyone releasing that day too?

I only know of Gackt. Usually people don't release much that week.

YA e-mailed me with a date change for the single, however, instead of the 29th, the e-mailed me that it would ship on the 28th

The covers are amazing!

I just thought of something: the covers could have been freaking amazing (at least for me!) it ayu or her hand was out of focus. Apart from her very first covers Ayu has almost always been really detailed (photoshoped...) and so on, with any "flaw".

I think her single might just attract the young girls (because of the Disney movie tie-in) and some older people too (NHK daytime drama tie-in), besides the "in-between-aged" loyal Ayu fans...

Whahh~!! Beautiful covers! :luv2 :D

And the lyrics are beautiful as well!

source is from hudie, the person that have the January 2010 issue with Namie said it~ they announce the upcoming issue with who will be on the cover toward the back of the magazine

I think it's because Namie's releasing on mid-November as we have expected, and Ayu's going to get her shot later on...

And by the way, aren't we supposed to get the Deji Deji Diary January 2010 edition already at this time? It's November 20th already...

I like the album cover!! thanks for the updates

thank you so much for the answer, pommy! I needed a source ;D

do we know anything about the PVs? are they already shot and who are the directors?

Mmm not yet

@ Bigtop: http://ahsforum.com/forum/showthread...85#post2162585

@Tsubasa: yeah no problem!

oh yeah....the PVs.....kazuyoshi??

She talked about You were...'s PV in a diary, she was covered "hair to toe" in diamonds or something like that

Where are the previewwwwsss??? Comee on, avex! D:

thanks for the info!

I like the cover for Jacket A

YAY! :)

God that covers are so drop dead gorgeous !!! :luv2
Ayu's awesomeness is back !!! :D
and i love the composers & arrangers :D

I remember reading somewhere they were going to start it on Chaku-Uta on the 25th, but I could be mistaken

^ I heard the Chaku-Uta's will be released next week, so around the 25th seems legit.

We'll definitely be getting a LQ version next week... maybe.

Chaku-uta release date from BARKS.jp's article.

I wonder why there haven't been any entertainment news reports about the Disney/NHK things. Perhaps they're not allowed to broadcast the songs yet?

^ Maybe they're keeping everything under wraps. Well I hope Ayu does a press conference soon :) I wish to see her in some pretty clothes.

Because I really don't think either are being considered as big promotions. I could be wrong though.

Really? Well they're not that huge but I'd consider them medium tie-ins, as in they have their own group of people who will be attracted to them.

I never really see or hear anything about songs that get tied in with NHK Taiga dramas and the people that watch them are not people who would normally go out of the way to buy Ayumi's cd. Plus we don't know what extent the song will even be used. And the press conference for the drama has already been held. I'd be surprised if they hold another one just to say Ayumi will have a song in it.

Same thing with the Tinkerbell movie, it's hard to say exactly in what capacity the song will be used. And once again, its not really an audience that is gonna go out and buy the cd (or even have the means to ^_^). Only if they beg their parents will they get the cd and even then, most children are more likely to beg their parents for a Tinkerbell doll or something I think. :)

Of course it won't HURT cd sales, but the amount they help is probably minimal.

These haven't been reported by the morning news sources since they were announced which usually means the tie ins are not considered very major.

It's quite sad that the only tie-ins that are considered major seem to be the ones featuring JE people. Nevertheless if this is the best AVEX could do I am not going to assume the promotion is going to fail completely. Ayu has proved she doesn't need tie-ins to sell well, so as I previously said no matter how miserable the tie-ins might be, they can only help and add some extra exposure to the songs, which is what they actually need.

^ There are plenty of non-JE people that get major tie ins too. :) And a lot of the people that do have major tie ins, don't necessarily need them to sell well either, but they do need them to sell like stratospherically high though. Like B'z didn't exactly need Buzzer Beat for Ichibu to Zenbu to sell well; it would have anyways. But having a successful drama tied with it made it sell even better. Same thing with Ayu probably. Everything else I agree with though. Still though, Ayu having a major tie in for once would be nice. Dandy Daddy though not a huge hit drama was at least a step in that direction. It didn't seem to have a positive effect on her physical sales though maybe it is what helped drive the digital sales.

Hmm... true but I think it's better than her Panasonic tie-ins. At least her team seems to be focusing on new tie-ins, which is always a start.

^ I would say Panasonic is much better because whether or not someone likes Ayumi or cares about Panasonic, they are still going to be seeing the commercial at some point anyways. The song reaches a much wider audience if it is in a commercial.

I agree though that it is good to try out new promotions and see what happens.

guys..Ayu is not going to attend FNS right?

Too bad that posponed the single...

Yes but well... I think she has had Panasonic for so long that it has gotten a bit boring. I enjoy them a lot but... hmm... maybe they've become too much of an expected thing.

And I think it's a good idea to expose her music to a different demographic :) I don't expect anything super dramatic but it would be interesting to see what will happen.