Originally Posted by ayu_fan929

come to think of it, yea, i think B&D/Pride wasnt meant to be a single, but rather part of the 'album songs'. just look at the album schedule during nov/dec:

nov 23: ken hirai BEST
nov 30: B'z BEST
dec 07: mika BEST
dec 14: ai's LOVE COOK
dec 21: kobukuro's NAMELESS WORLD

usually, her album would have been released during these 5wks, but w/so much competition being released, avex probably wanted to delay the album release to 01/01 to guarantee the #1 spot for her. the single was just released to keep ayu into the spotlite. if B&D/Pride wasnt released, then there wouldve been like a 3month+ waiting period btwn HEAVEN (09/14) and (m)u (01/01)

Originally Posted by SunshineSlayer

And to me it didn't look like her "real self" either, so I don't think that was the intent. Ayu in tons of makeup and a gawdy fur coat does not strike me as "real."

Originally Posted by ronin542001

Her sales might seem slow to most people considering how fast she's sold in the past, but I wasn't here for that, and I find all this talk of Ayu retiring kind of depressive since it seems some fans are giving up on her.

Originally Posted by andre2907

Dec 21 was a good date, I mean, Kobokuro didn't sold that much in their first week and they're not really popular. But they probably didn't want Ayu to release an album just one week after Ai, another one of their top artists.

Originally Posted by ImpactBreaker

Then she never is in her real self and (miss)understood/B&D aren't the one to blamed. Look at all the Tu-ka pictures, she wears fur coats and tons of make-up. Bold & delicious wasn't the first time she appeared in layers of make up and using dresses like that. Most of her career has ayu wearing weird dresses and tons of make-up, it's not really anything new at all.