I'm surprised at some of the reactions here. I thought it was a fine interview. She has come a long way from "Everybody has secret, you know?".

I honestly don't know where they got "ayu is acting like a bitch and seems fake" vibe tbh

She told her staffs her Japanese was not good during their meeting for concert tour 2000 (watch the documentary film), though it was meant for joke, she hinted that she's not really good at articulating words. Her lingual ability probably doesn't determine how well/worse her communication with people around her is.

Might be all the references to Asian women which may have been 'pandering' for some.

I didn't mind her English as much as the fact that she didn't know which language is spoken in Taiwan.

I think she just had a bit of confusion with the Mandarin/Cantonese thing. Meeting with JJ, she would be taught the Mandarin phrases but there in HK, she's spoken to in Cantonese at times. Also being called Bin Qi Bu in Taiwan or China but Bun Kei Bo in Hong Kong probably confused her too. I would guess she generally has Mandarin interpreters that speak both dialects so that must have added to things as well.

Possibly, but still she's been to Taiwan enough times. I always thought that when you do visit a country you should at least know what language is spoken there :dead2

They likely blend together for her. Could be even more confusing when she goes to Singapore and they speak Cantonese, Mandarin, English, and Malay!

It's just disrespectful not to know which language is spoken in the country you're visiting. And it was embarrasssing to watch how she first failed to know which language people speak in the country she just visits and then babbling something about being proud to be an Asian woman. Yeah for sure, she's so proud to be an Asian woman and knows them so well and how strong they are that she not even knows what language women speak in which Asian country. Watching her in that interview was what in German we call "fremdschämen" and which describes the feeling of being ashamed of somebody else's actions.

https://media.giphy.com/media/yNNC2tvIkZ9Ac/giphy.gif


Hmm... funny while a lot of ppl here in Asia (aside from the ones who are living in countries that Chinese is taught) can't even differentiate Cantonese with Mandarin. I feel bad for Ayu for making a common mistake and fans rip her to shreds for it...

Chinese is still the official language of Hongkong though, meanwhile Cantonese is a variety of it and also serve as the local dialect. Not a big deal, righty?

what a bunch of drama queens... so annoying...

I think cantonese is their official language not Chinese. It's only that after 1997, the country have higher influx of China immigrants.

One moment that stood out for me was when she was asked about Shawn Yue and whether they keep in touch and how she was just like "no" haha. I found that awkward. She's never been the best at interviews but that also shrouds her in mystery :) She did seem like she was feeling on edge and/or vamping it up a little too much though.