What's wrong with fans? O_o
 

Sum fans seem to have got bored of Ayu. 'N Some of 'em say she should retire!! WTH!! I like her like the first day 'n I think her music is getting better with every album. So I'd like the fans-who-got-bored-of-Ayu to tellme in this thread why don't they like Ayu as much as you did when u started listening to her

I love Ayu more than anything else. Her new stuff are so bloody good. But I thought she should retire. Now I don't think she needs to. She should keep on releasing stuff that she likes. Its good! But I hope she releases a mega-hit soon.

I guess they demand too much. Or they just think her new stuff sucks.

alot of fans tend not like change. They're expecting new stuff to be just like the old stuff.. Why? I don't know. It's much better to have alot of different songs than the same types repeated over and over again. But it is logical that people get bored with Ayu. She released like 100 CDs in just 7 years. Most stars are only popular for a year or more. Most likely this will also happen with people like Ai and Koda. But Ayu has been at the top for many years. Gosh, she's almost 30! In Japan's music industry; 30 is way to old for a female star.

I don't think people are bored of Ayu at all. Some people are just bored of saying "I love Ayu! She's the best!!! <3" , IMO. And maybe some of them think they are interesting when they say "she is loosing her shine.. bla bla, bad songs, bla bla.."

But I'm not bored of it, I LOVE HER SHE IS THE BEST!!! :D :love

Actually, people WANT change. But they are never satisfied.

I suppose it's a personal thing. Me, I just get bored with the amount of weak tracks, there's just too many for my liking. I wouldn't say she's ready to retire yet, though.

Most people tend to compare her new stuff with her old stuff, with the old stuff being better to them. And if the new stuff isn't up to par with the old stuff, they start to say how her releases suck now. In a way, it also seems like they are trying to hard to be "veteran" ayu fans. No offense.

Well it's just a matter of.. well time. Ayu has been around for ages and it's obvious that fans will get tired of seven years with one artist unless they're hardcore fans but we have to remember that most fans are not so hardcore and only like Ayu for the kind of products and style she releases.

However trends change and now hip hop, rap and r&b is more "in" and so you can understand how the audience looks otherwise.

Some fans continue to try to attain the unattainable through Ayu..if that makes sense...o_o; They keep wanting change/innovation from Ayu but you know, she's human as well...so...she can't satisfy everyone's tastes. But I don't think Ayu is really losing too much fan base.

Ayu isnt out there to please everyone.. no one can do that... i dont see why pple should hate her.. her music sucks? No... same genre throughout? No.. look at Bold & Delicious... she is constantly trying out new things recently.. so why shld they hate her? i dont understand why

I think Ayu is still popular enough for the time she has been going. Most stars, going as long as she has, would not remain at the top or as CLOSE to the top as she has.

I agree that she is always trying out new things and is interesting. She can't retire, she needs to stay around longer and show us more interesting things! Ayu still has a great number of fans, even if they are decreasing, it's not like everyone is suddenly going to dislike her. If she loves making music, she should keep doing it, and people will keep loving her. She shouldn't succumb to what people say is "in" at the moment, so what? Music is music.

Also... her PV's are probably my favourites of any star I've seen... they are so creepy sometimes and so interesting and Ayu is the most gorgeous girl. XD She's got a bit of surreal quality to her. Especially in her vids (I suppose that is done purposely).

I talk too much...

I think you guys interpret the meaning of "retire" in a different way, at least from the people thinking ayu should retire. If I thought ayu should retire, it's NOT because
1) we want something new and BETTER;
2) we want her to make old music; OR
3) we're bored of ayu... etc.

It's just a sense that it would be the best to leave the stage when she's still the best or so. There's not a single artist who can stand at the top forever. One day ayu will not be getting no. 1, her cds may only be able to struggle to top 20. Of course we will say we dun care we still love ayu no matter what. Somehow we'll feel sad... it's not ayu can't get no. 1 for us tho. We feel sad because ayu doesn't deserve an ending like that. She is one of the jpop queen in the music history, and who wants to see the last few pages about the queen that "Ayumi Hamasaki left without notice after her 70th single had got no. 45 on the first week..."? Of course we can look at things positively. If she is going to release 70 singles and the last few ones will be able to get to the top 30 or 40, that's a good thing. At least it still proves she can stand againsts all odds.

On the other way of looking at "retirement". It's not every artist has a chance to leave the music industry with glory. How many Jpop artists, who retired, still have places in people's heart? I'm not really familiar with the older jpop generation, but I know that Momoe Yamaguchi (sp?) was the songtress of the 70's. Most Japanese remember her glory because she retired when she's still at the top. She is like a miracle in Japan. That is why people want ayu to retire as well. She can be the mircale in the 00's. Every Japanese will remember there was a shining queen in 1999 - ??.

Probly it's just personal.. I want ayu will shine forever...

Tired, only because shes over played in Japan, just like Britney Spears back in the day, and Mariah Carrey right now in America

People can't always get what they want with their favorite artists.

What is the glory in giving up? Sorry but I find that kinda twisted, I actually see much glory in someone who, regardless of popularity will still keep on doing what they love to do. If ayu loves to make music, to end her career with glory wouldn't be quitting just because she's still popular, for me true glory would still be working and producing stuff be the public huge or not.

Frankly, to fair, the "OH NO! Ayu's going down" statements aren't as ubitiquous as before (I saw them on nearly every Ayumi forum/thread I visited.. very discouraging for a new fan)

Anyway, I never understood... fans complained that they didn't like the new genres and she should go back to her "old style", whereas I see non-fans saying she should take a break and reinvent herself... so is she recycling herself or not?

Also, if I lived in Japan with all the constant Ayumi promotion... I'd probably be too sick of her to even try her CD like I did last time.

Hahaha, occasionally it seemed that people were trying to alienate those who got in through her "newer stuff". I guess most people don't mean to though, they just look at sales numbers, feel bad for Ayu, and the new genres don't suit their tastes.

I have to agree... I love Ayu dearly and she'll always have a place in my heart... however, I'd feel much more honored as a fan of hers if she were to bow out of the limelight while she is loved and adored, not shoved out by "fresh, young, new" artists if she were to stick around.

It's not about the fight that can be put up if she were to stick around... yes, that's totally acceptable and admired. However, people usually seem to not think as highly of artists who keep putting out records that are obviously not doing well. No disrespect to either Madonna or Michael Jackson, but look at how they're doing. While I don't mind their recent works and releases and I'm sure many people do like them ((no doubt about it)), however there is a vast majority of people who simply remember "the old days".

And I don't think it has to do with change or anything of the sort and people saying that some pieces are weaker than others or fan base diminishing. It's the ability to walk away and be content in your world with what you have without having to push to the point of deplession or to the point to where people just don't want to see your face anymore.


Another sort of metaphor is such things as that one dude that ruled the Roman Empire as a dictator just long enough to get the job done and return to his fields. Or George Washington.


People tend to respect and admire leaders or people in the position of public standing who know when is the correct time to step away, passing on the baton.

Hmm... The problem with some people is that they're never satisfied. They expect one thing from Ayu all the time. They fail to realize that Ayu is full of surprises, and she doesn't stick to just one genre of music. And older fans who were fans of her very early stuff tend to compare her newer stuff to her older stuff, and then say things like "Ayu's gone downhill! Her newer stuff is horrible! It's nothing like her older stuff!" Well, of course it's nothing like her older stuff. How many other musicians change their 'style' over the years? Ayu's not the only one.

There's nothing wrong with losing interest in a singer though. I've lost interest in quite a few just because I lost interest in their music. Some people just go overboard sometimes though, and that's what bothers me. :/

You may think its in her best interests for her to retire during her glory, but Ayu isn't the type of person to just stop releasing music. She makes music because it expresses her emotions to her fans that (I think) she honestly cares about. Thus, I think she will continue to release music because that is what she loves to do, no matter how many people like it or not. She has plenty of money, now she turned her career into something she loves to do.

An example would be of "Bold & Delicious", which she constantly talks about how much fun she had singing the song. Granted, its not her best song, but she loves it!

I don't think it's Ayu's main motive to release a song because "I want to make MILLIONS of dollars!" (Of course, she does want to make a living, though.) Remember, she didn't want to release A BEST because she was not ready, nor did she want to release A BALLADS.

A lot of people compare her older works as "better", and I think that they think its better because Ayu was still fresh and new. She's been around for nearly 9 years, and now our brains are inundated with her voice and style of singing, so it seems her songs are old and the same. Her new songs don't exude the same freshness because we are so accustomed to her now.

i'm never get bored with her
i have been her fans for 7 years...and she still on the top of my heart
i love her present work than her past work

yep, thats how jpop industry works. artists have to be "fresh, young" etc.

Well I'm glad I'm not superficial of a fan enough to go on hating a band or artist just because their latest stuff sucks. I hated Do As Infinity's last album "Need Your Love", but I still love a lot of their past works and I really admire what they've done past the years, even if they had still continued releasing albums like Need Your Love.
There's nothing bad about Madonna working. She's a real artist because she's often trying to reivent her music, and she doesn't care whether it will be for everybody's tastes or just for a few. I'm not exactly a fan of hers (I like some songs), but I definitelly admire her efforts. Why does the fact some people only remember "the old days" should sentence them to stop releasing material while there are actually others who still admire their work? Madonna is definitely not as popular but people still remind her old days, and probably as much as if she had just quit the scene back then. A lot of artists who've quitted the scene have pretty much been forgotten, so that's not a reason why an artist should just quit.
As for Michael Jackson, there's a clear answer why his popularity went down and his image worn out to public eyes, and that has nothing to do with him staying on the music scene but actually all the scandals he was put through.

Eh. For some reason, I like Ayu's old songs better. I like the new ones, but I somehow prefer the old ones. I guess I like them because it was the music that made me like her in the first place. I dunno, but in my opinion, it's probably the music that's changing which makes people dislike Ayu nowadays. But I don't think she should retire. That would be crazy! Haha.

LMFAO example:


OMG LIKE I AM... IS AYUS BEST ALBUM EVAR I REMEMBER WHEN POKER FACE CAME OUT LIKE OMG I HATE AYUS DARK HAIR BLONDIE FOR LIFE! I HATE BOLD AND DELICIOUS SHES SO AMERICAN MY STORY IS THE UGLIEST COVER. WHY DOESNT SHE HAVE ORIGINAL ALBUM COVERS ANYMORE??

more like... he put himself through:innocent

I'm not an "veteran" ayu fan, but I understand why some of her fans are getting tired of her, I mean she's been all over the place for the past 4 years, and people can only take so much of one face.

I wouldn't say I'm a veteran Ayu fan, only since I was in to her from SEASONS, but I think that her releases now show so much creativity I wonder how she does it. I mean, who can smoothly transist from rock to alternative to happy sounding to japacan (japanese/american) ballads WITH a enka like song to R and B gospel all in one year? AND pull all of it off? That's ayu, and if you can't handle it, then go to some mediocre artist.

Oh! Well... I'm a faithful Ayumi's fan, but seriously, the only thing that i dun't like so far is "Bold & Delicious". No matter how much i try to listen to it, it never get into me....

I like her new attempts.

I do prefer the 'old Ayu' but I am cool with the Ayu now as she is! Fans really need to respect more as a person, than as an object. :innocent Ayu has been experiencing with different genres, giving us fresh sounds all the time, and noticably her vocals have improved quite a bit. I am satisfied with this.

As has been said before, being a fan doesn't equal liking all material released by an artist. I think having the ability to be critical of someone you are fond of is a good thing. So, I don't think there is anything wrong with her fans.

I must admit that I expected (miss)understood to be horrible, but actually like it quite a bit.

i've only been a fan for 15 months, i have not been listening to any other singers besides Ayu and everyday in that 15 months i don't think i have ever got bored of Ayu...

Ayu is so updated with new things and surprises, i dont LOVE everything Ayu releases but i manage to deal with it eventhough i was disappointed but would always continue looking forward to her releases

well i can't wait for her next single!! (YAY!) :)

Well i don't see what's wrong with not liking her newer stuff. I'm one of the one here that constantly complains about the quality of the music she's released.

I don't see why its "wrong" as you said, to complain about the direction that her music is going. I just don't think it's good and so do other people.

It's kinda like being a loyal customer. As a loyal consumer of a product, i think i have the right to complain if the products i am receiving are inferior in quality.

When there's change, there's bound to be people who like it alot and people who don't like it. Bold and Delicious is a good example; some people like it alot. I happen to be one of those who didn't like it alot but I can see that ayu enjoys performing this song alot and that is good for her. It's a good thing to change, I like to see new changes that ayu has in store for us. But sometimes, these changes just happen not to be my liking. That doesn't make me stop listening to ayu, I just look forward to more of her stuff that I will enjoy.

My fave albums so far are still Duty and I am. Like I don't get tired of the songs from these 2 albums as compared to songs from My Story and (Miss) Understood, which listening too much makes me tired. I dunno why either. It's just everyone's different taste I guess. D.A.I's compositions of earlier songs like To Be, End roll etc and songs like Surreal just happen to be more of my type of music =D

Oh and I may be one of those that likes ayu's earlier works better but I never insisted that she should retire oO. That's up to ayu to decide, not us.

the only thing im tired of is her latest pv's. the only one that had a good story/symbolism to it this year is the alterna pv. heaven has a good story about it too, but its boring. the rest of her videos has just been eye candy.

Not true, ImpactBreaker is correct. There's been nothing but lawsuit after lawsuit for him, each one worse than the one before. Unfortunately, people take advantage of him and it ends very badly. There's a lot going on that's not revealed on TV, because it shows that most of the stuff is false. As this isn't the place for discussing this, I'll leave it at that.

I find her latest pieces interesting.

Excellent points. With regards to retiring personally I think it's a choice she should make and not us. However I think that in the past two albums she has showed how much she loves singing and how she doesn't want to go away. It's like she's spent to much time, effort and emotion in her work that retiring is probably something she does not want to do.

Keep in mind that she's very rich and she's got a stable fanbase and she's quite happy as she is and if she wanted to make money off us she'd use the gimmicks and marketing plans a lot of female artists do and she used to do in the past to attract more people - like Ai Otsuka having a first press extra for each and every single, Koda Kumi releasing 12 singles in 12 week or having an album re-releases with an extra after many fans would have already bought the other version, having like 4 versions of her singles. Or else just release material which fans do like - a recyling of I Am... and Duty since it's usually what most fans what.

She might not sell as much as she used in the past but now she has a stable fanbase and she enjoys releasing music because it's her identity so I don't see why she should retire.

I do think that her older works are much better compared with the new stuffs....

but oh well, if we put it together, I've just realizes that for half year, I've been listening ONLY to ayu....not to other artists...seriously! no other!


I guess that's just why I'm bored with her music...:lol: well, not really bored...but I'm just thinking that she's not the only golden in the World Of J-Music....thanks to this forum (esp. Akurei!) that has givin' away stuffs for me to know more about kuu! heh heh....

at the moment between HEAVEN & B&D, I was gettin a lil bored with ayu (remember the fact that for half year she's the only one I listen....:lol:)
and thinking of getting other artists....but I've never found any artists that is like her....I mean I like ALL songs of her....before B&D....I considered her as perfect.....
I've been listening to lots of J-Pop artists and always found at least one or two track that I don't like from their CD...but for Ayu's CD, I believe I could listen to her whole CD without skipping any tracks....:lol:

so the conclusion is....
the most perfect J-Artist is Ayu....
and others have lots of much-better-songs-compared-with-ayu songs, but they have lots of not-for-second-time-listening songs.....heh heh.....

I'm currently active listening to Kuu and Mika....
I like Kuu right now, because she is currently active, (as well as Akurei who has brought her stuffs here...:lol:) and
I like Mika because I found lots of GOLDEN inside her past albums.....

perhaps the moment when I once lost interest with ayu is just at the moment when she's not currently active with her music (if we do not count CDL '06, coz' I've never interested in Live Performances)....well, I mean after a big promo of (miss)understood, we haven't heard any stuffs from her anymore.....:lol:

I think this experimentation from her will decide her stay in the limelights. Hikki's experimentation isn't doing so well now though.

Yep. I doubt she'd want to retire anytime soon. She'd feel insanely bored if she did, even with all that money she's made. Heck, if she did decide to retire for a while, I bet she'd just end up writing songs in her spare time and then making a big comeback! :) She's one of those artistes I believe who truly make an effort to pen down their thoughts into the form of good music. Yeah, it is her identity.

And let's not forget that she's mentioned before that Madonna is her idol and god knows how long that woman's been in the music industry. Lol. It'd be no surprise to me that Ayu would follow in the same footsteps.;)

i love ayu .. her musics are really good n interesting but her last single
Bold & Delicious is just a no no for me :no ... and the fact that her hair is not blondish anymore makes it worse :no
i will prolly hate ayu if she keepps singing Bold & Delicious or releasing songs like that ...
i wish she will leave GEO of SWEETBOX and dye her hair blondish colour again and use other composers ...

Mmm...I share nearly the same sentiments. But though I do prefer her blondish hair (so cute), it's not really much of a priority to me.

Bold and Delicious. Yeah, one song I could never get myself to like. But look on the bright side. Her other songs were pretty good, like heaven, criminal, is this love, fairyland, rainy day and pride. And besides, I believe Ayu was just experimenting with some new styles. So she might not repeat those kinda songs if she herself didn't like it afterwards.

...which is more a result of the fact that people find it hard to accept that Hikki doesn't mind singing in English - even for the length of a full album. Plus, 'doing well' is a very relative term.

I think the best is still yet to come from Ayu. Money considerations are probably the least of her worries now, so she can concentrate on making music that she really wants to do, instead of doing what fans like. And I think it's only by this that she will produce even more great songs.

^Mmhm, yep yep. Songs are only good when it comes from the heart, rather than to appease the people who listen to them. The same goes for writing for that matter.

Some fans are just different people with different opinions. Who'da thunk it?

Bored now.

Ayu has so much variety in her music I don't see how you "get bored" with her~ however~ we all have opinions and what you like is what you like~ =P

and if she retired~ no doubt I'd be sad about it b/c I freaking love her music!!~ but it'd be ALOT easier to save up for all the other jpop/rock singers I like~ O_O b/c all these import things are expensiveness~ ^_^;; espeacilly when you dont' have a job and you're living off your boyfriend~ hahaha~ x3;;;;;

wat goes up, must come down.
She can't be on the top forever, she's been there long enuf~
As long as ppl remember her~

Honestly. I still like her, but definitely not as much as before. There's lots of other musical artists out there to like. She can't hold (and I won't give her) all/most of my attention forever. :)

Kind of like Harry Potter. Lots of people like it coz I think it's the only novel they know. (Like Ayumi being one of the few J-pop artist people would know).

Just because there are other people to like doesn't mean you should cast her away, which I think most people are doing.

I think its amazing that Ayu does have so much loyalty, that people everyday are listening to her songs that are over 5 years old. Ayu's music has a timeless quality, its one of the things that makes it special. If you get bored with this song switch to another, you'll never get tired of listening to her.

It bothers me that people think her new music isn't as good, because Ayu can only get better.

And oh god please, no one hold sales numbers against her. Why do people do this? I don't understand what sales numbers have to do with your own personal feelings toward Ayu and her music...

If that was for me...

I'm not saying casting her away. I still like her and still a fan. :) I should've elaborated. But I didn't mean it like that.

People can, and will, do whatever they want to. Ayu's a pop idol, come on.. it's not like someone just gave up working on the cure for AIDS.

Why do people spend so much time concerning themselves with other people's opinions that don't affect them one bit? I am really amazed.

Well,let's think of this. Some time ago, no one liked Madonna 'n everybody was talkin' bout her and her need of retirin'. But now with 'Confessions on a dancefloor' she's kickin' all the young a fresh artist's ass in the musical industry. I think that maybe Ayu will realease an album that will put her again in the top. Besides this new album has sum R & B influence, 'n when she released her very first single (like paper doll, nothing from nothing 'n stuff) she couldn't sell even 2 cds, so if she didn't succeed with that music then, why should she succeed now? I guess she should go back into her origins 'n bring sum electronic pop think

What I think is "wrong" with fans is that some of them seem to think they KNOW what it means to be a fan and can judge other people's thoughts and opinions. Let people receive Ayu in their own way.

Well for one thing, that CD didn't have the same kind of marketing power behind it since she was a nobody at the time, and also her vocals were radically different. In my opinion, they sounded awful. She succeeds now because she is an established icon with heavy exposure plus her musical talents have improved.

Amen.

It's nothing...everything is OK with fans, someone (like me) just can't accept new Ayu and her staff...that's all...

IMO, her golden time has passed...