I feel really bad for saying this, but I have to agree wholeheartedly. I wasn't around prior to 2005, but it seems like ever since the (miss)understood/Secret era, Ayu has become exactly as you describe. She's been all about fashion labels (her purses, shoes...etc). Don't get me wrong, it's all good stuff. Ayu is a fashion icon but her love for LV, Chanel, Gucci (etc)--- I just feel that it separates her from the rest of us. When MY STORY came out, we were all on the same accord---her music was therapy to us all including herself. Maybe she doesn't need self-therapy anymore so perhaps that's why Sunrise/Sunset comes off as cheesy-typical J-pop to me.

When I say that I miss the old Ayu, I'm not talking about a specific era---I'm talking about Ayumi Hamasaki the person and not the wealthy diva that stands before us.

Love it!

Ayu looks great and the lights :luv2

but..sometimes the stand thingy got on my nerves and they show the dancer more than ayu kinda :shakehead and i started getting bored but the song kept me watching :P

What a great song!

I disagree with some people that says her music is not good anymore...





Anyway, i think that some of ayu's videos have gone downhill thanks to you know who :rolleyes but i don't lose hope. anyway, that's not the reason why i like ayu.

But along the same lines, why can't people be disappointed with what she has been doing lately? And then also not be told to go listen to other artists instead. lol I listen to plenty of other artists in addition to Ayu already anyways. It doesn't make sense to only support one point of view and not the other. Especially when even you yourself have admitted that in some areas her quality seems to have sunk. I don't know why people should go around accepting diminished quality of work when we know that she is capable of better. That's what I would consider viewing something through rose colored glasses - when you know its not as good but you still continue to praise it as great anyways.

Well, I personally feel as though she hasn't really skipped a beat musically or live performances, while in terms of PVs/covers.. I don't really expect much anymore. It's not like I'm liking her material (talking about the music) because "I feel obligated to as a fan", but because I feel it's good and enjoyable for me to listen to. In the grand scheme of things, I think that's what Ayu's trying to do and it works for me. It probably doesn't go that way for most of you, but I think that wishing for Ayu to rise back up to her "past" quality [which imo really isn't true since she's kind of been on point for everything except maybe music videos/photographs for the last few years] is a waste of time. Why can't we, as fans, just enjoy what's being put out.. or at least stop looking at things with Ayu of 5-6 years ago in mind? I think that hinders a lot of people in liking her material nowadays because they just keep saying "But she did this before.." or "Why couldn't it be like this?" when they know that she is most likely not going to go back to being that Ayu again.

I definitely agree that the quality of her visual work [other than her concerts which have remainted superb] has gone down quite a bit since 2005, but at the same time, I don't complain as though that's going to help things. I try to keep the negative thoughts to myself, haha. Mostly because all that flaming her works does is have people wonder if some individuals are fans in the first place, you know? If you have to discount every accomplishment that Ayu does and basically bash her new works as they come out, isn't that kind of.. not exactly being a fan in any capacity at all? You don't have to LOVE it, but you don't have to hate it because it's not 2005 all over again, you know? I'll have to admit I've had times where I just didn't want to see Ayu anymore because she was disappointing me [read: Disappointing 10th anniversary thread pre-A COMPLETE with no lives/magazines/whatever], but I've gotten out of that since then, haha. I just wish people could get out of their.. slump-things with Ayu. Perhaps just look at things differently?

As a last note, I know she is capable of higher quality, but for some reason things just keep coming out.. not as good as they should [visually]. I always hope that her next photoshoot will have a new photographer, or that her PV won't be a trainwreck, but... I don't need to vocalize that every time, haha. I'm happy with what she's giving us, and I don't think it's worth expending energy to even care about something you don't like (see.. yeah..) so why would one have to point out every time that she is "capable of better?" I'd imagine artists would know that at a certain point in one's career/life/whatever, you hit a peak and it's hard to live up to that standard. I guess I just feel satisfied that she's still releasing and not on hiatus and leaving us hanging and that's enough to keep me tuned in, and at the same time I'm enjoying everything [or.. mostly] in the process. (Somehow the Sunrise/Sunset PVs and covers come to mind.. jeez, talk about overreaction.)

I have to disagree with you, to an extent anyhow. Her image has definitely changed and is not percieved positively by many, but her musical quality is not shot by far. Some of her most loved (by the Japanese public anyhow) songs were released in recent years such as Days or Heaven, and even the infalliable I am or Rainbow have songs that dont suit eveyone's ears.
It's hit or miss with her, just as it is with any other artist.

Exactly!
I do agree that something has to be done about her image though, espicially in PVs.. She should take charge of everything again, ban her dancers and Shimomura from all her videos and we should be good again (I hope).

[stating this again from.. a while ago? haha]

I feel as though after she did that interview with CNN about letting her team work on things more often because she trusts them, [visually] things have taken a turn for the worse. She still seems to have a voice in how things go, but I wonder if the PV concepts nowadays are even her ideas.. at least, the ones like NEXT LEVEL / Curtain call and so on.. the ones that seem most like her creations are like, 1 LOVE, momentum, Distance Love [as bad as that is], Together When.. and I think that's about it, haha.

^considering her earlier videos, Curtain Call and NEXT LEVEL looks more "ayumish" than 1love or momentum...

Well, I don't think she had much to do with her PVs before say, For My Dear.. or something.

God. No one has to say "it's just my opinion" at the end of every post just because you don't agree with them. I don't see all the people who love Sunrise and Sunset spamming "I love this single, but that's just my opinion!"

Well, regardless of quality,

there is a powerful elimination factor in our favor:
the ones who are not pleased will sooner or later quit being a fan.

We SO need a new thread for this conversation. But whatever, at least the new PVs will be memorable for something. :rolleyes

Okay so here's what I'm getting in terms of feedback. Please feel free to correct me if I'm wrong:

If you criticize Ayu for lackluster material too much, you are no longer considered an Ayu-fan. Or rather, your fandom is most likely to be questioned by people you don't give a damn about. If this is true, then who has the right to judge MY fandom or the fandom of others? Frankly, I don't think anyone does but hey that's just MY opinion. Hopefully that doesn't raise further doubts about my appreciation of Ayu.

This era is the first that I have ever been this active on AHS. (I still don't know how to make a spoiler box :D) Usually, I'll just say one thing and just be done with it. But lately, I haven't been able to do that because of all the fan-credibility attacks on fellow members. Most of these people, I don't even know because well---I'm not usually that sociable on this site. I just state my peace and disappear until the next update. But then out of the blue, someone sends me a private message to discuss the recent change in social discourse on AHS. I checked back to the thread they referenced me to and I couldn't believe how many people attacked this ONE PERSON for ONE freakin' paragraph. The thread was similar to this one, a thread based on "THOUGHTS"---but I guess if we all aren't on the same accord, we're supposed to destroy one another, call the traitor an Ayu hater, and wait until the next victim comes around to repeat the process.

These tactics are extremely vicious and they advance well beyond the subject of Ayu. The insensitivity some people on this forum possess is somewhat heartbreaking. Especially when it comes down to confessing your own opinions. Did it ever occur to anyone that some of these fans aren't even adults? That they are still in their teens just as we were a few years ago? Did anyone ever question how much of a fan you were when you were their age? Did anybody even CARE? Did anyone ever have the audacity to tell YOU to STOP listening/doing/saying whatever you want?

Maybe it's just time for me to leave AHS behind altogether, because I just can't accept this. I STILL love Ayumi Hamasaki as a musician and I'm proud to be able to say that her music has had a wonderful effect on my life. But when I say that I dislike her new image, that does not mean that I hate her or that I am a species incapable of growing. When I say that I loved the MY STORY era that does not mean that I am living in the past, looking through the lenses of a fool. It's me expressing my opinion. When other people say these things, it's them expressing their opinions. I'm all for counterarguments and advanced discussions but some of you are taking things too far. It isn't blatantly evident here but it is in many of our other threads.

I guess it's just been a lot of "Ayu, you need a break!"-sort of comments with each and every release, and I wonder if some fans ever think about whether or not they should take a break from her instead. This is her job and she loves what she's doing. If you don't like it, that's your problem and you can't really do much about it, you know? So why not just push Ayu off to the side and discover some other artists that cater to your liking? Just a thought.

a very good thought :yes

The cycle continues. :rolleyes

People are entitled to the expression of their opinion but if it isn't a positive one they're subjected to being told they should seek other artists and give Ayumi a break?

(In your case advised rather than told with an immature tone).

I also notice that a large amount of people are unable to acknowledge that this is all based on opinion and that it is necessary to put "in my opinion" "not to be mean" "that's just how I feel" as their disclaimer for posting... I don't do it and refuse to do it. I like my opinions and if someone feels upset by a rule abiding opinion then they need to focus on their own sensitivity issues.

This is why I really don't like posting in fan discussion posts. Always leads to argument because of opinions.

Oh yes, even better than glorifying everything, right?


It's basically an US vs. THEM situation that's been growing ever since late 2008: the people who adore everything and the ones who voice their opinions.

and whoever said about the pms is right:

say something you don't like, get angry messages of how you aren't a fan or something rediculous.

I'm a fan and I'm not stuck in the past. however, i had an idea of what to expect and i'm going to voice that because of that very same reason:

i support Ayumi.



Anyway, someone should really update the history of AHS.
Add "The dark ages 2" plz!

Well, if it's a common occurrence for some people, I think it's best that they probably just stay away from Ayu for a while. One or two "this isn't my kind of song"-moments make sense imo, but to basically harp on how she's been degrading in quality for the past 3 years with barely [if any] positive words for her? It just seems.. wrong in my opinion, haha. What's worse? A fan who blindly loves everything [without really knowing why.. just because it's Ayu..?] or someone who simply hates everything she puts out (currently) because their tastes have changed? (because she has changed..?) -sigh-

I guess I never really saw the point of Ayu-"supporters" sticking around when all they have to say sometimes is how old she looks, how terrible her voice has gotten compared to 199X/200X, and so on. It's like they feel the need to stick around for the sole reason of calling Ayu's current works crap.

i love her new image, in fact during the secret/guilty years i was complained about her musical stagnation. NEXT LEVEL for me was a great change..however i don't like this new two pvs...the idea of filming on that place i think was a mistake.

the stage is to BIG!
is surrounded with ugly bars
the audience is SOOO far away
all that little problems that you are saying

anyway..i love this new two songs

i just found out that the spinning light looks like an ambulance/police siren

they're both annoying as hell and there are too many. i like the "in between" fans that are just normal. there aren't many here, but they are the ones that keep me reading through comments on this forum :yes

lol this thread is so off-topic now. oh well