Ayu's Official Site Updated
 

http://www.avexnet.or.jp/ayu/news/060527.html

Yep. I guess those e-mails made avex give an explanation to fans....

Thanks for the update and summary - I'm glad they responded to the fans' emails.

finally, i knew this had happend..... i knew it WAS supposed to be A tripe a side single...
its good to hear that avex cares about the fans :)


btw the tracklist has been updated as well

1.-BLUE BIRD (Original mix)
mixed by Koji Morimoto

2.-Beautiful Fighters (Original mix)
mixed by Koji Morimoto

3.-Ladies Night ～another night～
re-arranged by tasuku

4.-BLUE BIRD (Harderground remix)
remixed by NISH

5.-BLUE BIRD (Original mix -Instrumental-)

6.-Beautiful Fighters (Original mix -Instrumental-)

At least avex is kind enough to say sorry

i dun want the apology... i want the third A... :vsad :cry

^I doubt there will be the 3rd A, since they already updated the tracklist again.

can someone please translate the whole article? I'd like to know word-for-word what avex wrote. and also, does it say something about ayu herself not liking the song or something???

of course i know.. well... can't do anything. avex decides to do that, then let them do that. i won't let them trash ayu... :eviltongu

I find that in this instance, avex was quite professional in apologizing for this. I'm glad they had this announcement.

avex + apology = me happy ^_^!
I am looking forward to this super cool 40th single.

from babelfish:

New single ' BLUE BIRD ' about Maxi single ' BLUE BIRD ' information, 1 tune A surface tune is already recorded << 3 tune triple A aspects maxi single >> with was introduced to information magazine of part and HP etc. of the CD store, in addition to "BLUE BIRD" of title tune and "Beautiful Fighters". In fact, at the beginning as description above we were advancing with contents. You write and lower in regard to production advance, as for tune, 2 tunes "of BLUE BIRD" of title tune and "Beautiful Fighters", furthermore in 3 numbers "Ladies Night? Another night? It decided in the shape that ", and" BLUE BIRD (Harderground remix)"it is recorded in 4 numbers. In other words, you wrote and lowered and you became the recording form, 2 tunes and rear range 1 tune and リミックス 1 tune, changed from the schedule of beginning, but main person of Hamazaki of course the work which is better than both the staff is thought, because it is the result with of requesting the work where agreement goes, if you can understand. We deliver special maxi single ' BLUE of the summer when becomes the Hamazaki walking 40th commemoration work BIRD ', with feeling of appreciation with self-confidence to everyone of the fan which always is supporting the Hamazaki walking! Please expect please! !

I don't understand the bolded part? Maybe ayu felt that the 3rd song wasnt ready for the single yet?

so there WAS supposed to be a third song. ah well, i wish they had included what happened. i'm curious.

anyhow, nice to see the name of the remix, i'm really hopnig the remix is good, i'm most looking forward to it of all tracks on this single.

Now that they've said there was supposed to be one, and Ayu just didn't think it was ready just yet, then I think we could be seeing another single after BLUE BIRD quite soon.

So is this guy remixing BLUE BIRD?
http://www.cisco-records.co.jp/docs/ciscostyle/nish/

yep, thats him, it mentions harderground recordings on there also (which reflects the name of the remix).

http://www.harderground.com/

and also, i noticed on the cisco-record site that it mentions Yoji Biomehanika...i wish i knew what it said about him, because if this Nish guy sounds like Yoji, the remix could be pretty good i think.

Nice to see they are actually setting this clear.

I really hope the songs are "super cool" and I can't wait to hear more.

When they say "mixed by", do they mean "composed by"? If so, anybody knows Koji Morimoto?

No, it means that the person who mixed the songs (corrected the levels of the sounds - like hearing the beat in some parts and not hearing it in others, etc - it's actually not that easy - my music teacher does it and when he tried to teach me, I realized how hard it was and I generally catch on easy).

Composed means that they wrote the music to the song. Koji Morimoto isn't a composer - he mixes the song so he sounds right to our ears.

Is this related with the new MAXI single of Koda Kumi? .... AVEX.... im quite dissapointed

That's the first thing I thought of too... -_- but then again, a new A would probabl not be able to compete with it anyways, and it would be a total flop, so I think it's better this way.

The answer is no.

not everything is about koda kumi.

Why would that have to do with Kuu? Please.

Oh, I see! Thanks for explaining.

O_o No;;

All I know is, that Koda Kumi single thing is gonna up her 'PV + song count' by like 4.. so now its 6 songs, 6 PVs. And there's still a bit of time left before a new album. >>


ANYWAYS:

OMG YES TASUKU REARRANGING LADIES NIGHT I LOVE HIM <3

It's okay. They probably did it so that Ayu wouldn't be rushed.. you know, if you rush... man. That'd be depressing ;_; The song will probably appear on the next single xD Which could be a triple a-side :p As ayu usually does double-a-sides now.. and the song for this single might be moved over..

I think that the next single might possibly be a triple a-side, but even if it isn't, I'm interested in hearing the song that wasn't ready.

And asongforxx, glad you understand! I thought what I said didn't make any sense at all!

tasuku for LN~an~? Alright! I LOVE tasuku's works!

i agree! i was looking forward to a ballad, an apology is not good enough, it doesnt make up for the 3rd new song that was meant to be on there :strike :irked

thanks ^^

triple a side is little bit ambitious too.... because the chance of hitting no.1 in the 14/6 week is so hard... there are ken hirai, misia, maaya sakamoto, and others who release their single on the 14th june (possible ku?)

Enough Koda overkill.

I'm glad Avex explained the situation. :)

I'd rather have two songs that are done correctly than three songs that were half-a** which it kind of feels with a lot of songs lately. Most of her stuff is getting mediocore, while that's not bad, it's not up to par.

I dont know, it seems weird that people would be upset, we should be happy to get music in the first place?

I have a feeling that if Ayu heard all these complaining she'd shrug it off and be all like 'Eff you, it's my music, my life, yo. xD'

She wouldn't stop just cause some people don't agree. :p

Think about her childhood.. she was teh rebellionz.

Thanks for the update; it's good that Avex sent out an apology/explanation.

I think for a lot of Ayu things, avex has to apologize like woah xD Or even Ayu herself, because of all the crazay fans.

Like with the 'handicapped' person at a concert... or the printing error in MY STORY ... and other stuff xD

i was almost shocked that ken's releasing a single on the same day as ayu... then i remembered ayu's single is being released on the 21st... Thank god. why mentioning june 14th's releases tho? you think ken can get no. 1 on the second week as well? :P

Well, it depends on what the song is for, doesn't it? His last single didn't fare too well. It bordered on getting 200k. It got 198k by the end of the 2005 Oricon year. :] Ayu usually is placed with those who don't have a high chance of selling more than her.. but rarely, she is put up against formidable opponents like KANJANI8.. Oi, that was a scare in '05. :p

That goes for everything in Japan, not just Ayu and her fans.

Thanks for the update, mate!

POP STAR ended up with 240k in the end. however, i dont think hirai ken will be #1 in his 2nd week. (in his 1st week, it's a battle between him and V6)

Oh, that's very professional of Avex to explain. And it definitely puts our questions/debating to an ease.

Ayu's third song just probably wasn't ready yet. Or, maybe she felt it didn't fit with the theme of the single. I'm sure we'll see it soon enough, probably on a CM since the songs were supposed to have tie-ups.

at least avex explained what really happened :yes now, i just want a great single and cover :D

At least avex bothered to apologize. Still, a third song would've been nice. Just hope it's on the next single.

God, to see her say that, I'd LMAO all day.

Well avex did explain what happened... Which is good. :yes

If ayu thinks the third song isn't ready, then it's OK. As a great performer and composer, I believe in her judgement and her final decision. :)

yeah. at least they explained. but their explanation was like "the plan changed". we KNOW that the plan changed. DUH! anyway, i really do hope this will be a single with great perfection so that i will buy it!

Something's up...

1. It's clear now that Ayu's rushing to meet the release date.
2. Ayu's releasing a single when she's still touring, especially weird since her summer singles always has lots of promotion.
3. Ayu hasn't released anything in June for five years.

I have two theories about this. Just hear me out.

I think Ayu would have had that last-week-of-July spot if it weren't for Koda. She's had that for 2002 and 2004, and was a week later in 2005, possibly to avoid SMAP (proved to be a good move). So my first theory is, Ayu made way for Koda. Avex is trying EVERYTHING to lift Koda's single sales, as you can see, and as if 12 singles and quadruple A-side ain't enough, Avex is giving Koda the week in which "H" was released.

Or, my second theory is, since the Jan. 1 release date didn't really work for "(miss)understood" or "I am...", for both albums had HUGE falls in second-week sales and never recovered, Avex is targeting the good old second-week-of-December release date again. And to have four singles (as for "(miss)understood") released before then, Ayu has a lot of time to make up. Add to that the fact that "Startin'/Born To Be..." was released earlier in the year than "Free & Easy", "Moments" and "STEP you/is this LOVE?".

Just my two cents.

Obviously Ladies Night ~another night~ is just a remix. It can't interest me at all even though it's rearranged by tasuku. I am even more disappointed. damn...

I can't agree more. She has to leave the best releasing date for Koda, under the pressure of Avex and her recent sales. Avex no longer focuses on Ayu.:grumpy
Well but why not see it positively? Maybe 21/6 is just the right day for her summer single. Whatever the truth is, it is what it is now. Apologize never works to me. All we have to do is wish Ayu luck.:) I still have faith and confidence in you.

all we have to do is to BUY ayumi's singles in Japan and oversea too! come on, buy it and stop downloading illegally!

^ never! i will download and buy =D

BLUE BIRD is a single with 2A or 1A song??

....it has 2 A-sides. Beautiful Fighter and BLUE BIRD. :]

And the remix of Ladies Night..well rearranging. :p

That's the dumbest thing I've heard so far this month.

This too.

Rushing her work to meet a release date? Or what....?

Her tour ends June 11th. I don't see how her single is being released while she's touring. And add to the fact that she's done that before (STEP you/is this LOVE?) I don't see how that's "strange".

So? Then I can say that she hasn't released a single this early in the year (2006 - Startin'/Born To Be...) since Daybreak in 2002. Is something wrong with that then?

Uhh.... No. That's because as I said above, her single was released super-early this year, the earliest in 4 years. Take a look between the time difference of the 2004, 2005 and 2006 singles.
2004: "Moments"->"INSPIRE" = 17 weeks
2005: "STEP you/is this LOVE?"->"fairyland" = 14 weeks
2006: "Startin'/Born To Be..."->"BLUE BIRD" = 15 weeks.

I don't see much difference between these 3 years, especially between 2005 and 2006.

Let's look at your "scenario" (release July 26th), that would be a difference of 20 weeks. That's just way too long between releases.

You don't know how Ayu is still avex's #1 priority do you? Otsuka Ai "Planetarium" which had been announced 1st, had to switch release dates last minute with Ayu's "HEAVEN", which was announced later. To me, that shows that Ayu is still #1 in avex, regardless of whether this importance has declined or not.

That's not the fault of Ayu or the albums. It's because Orcion combines the last week of one year, and the first week of the following year. The figures for "I am..." and "(miss) understood" are for over a week, while numbers for MY STORY, Memorial address etc. are for only 6 days. That's why New Year's sales are always inflated. It doesn't happen to only Ayu, it happens to everyone.

I have no clue what you are trying to say.

If you know that it was released earlier, then why would she still release a summer single in July then? It's pretty obvious that the summer single would also be pushed up as well.

I don't know why you would say that is the dumbest thing you've heard this month, since as far as I know, it is coming out the same week H was released.

If you've been to Japan recently, you would know without a doubt that Koda is Avex's priority right now.

^Didn't seem so to me, but then I was there during the new D-snap campaign. Kodas best album did top all the lists but I didn't see any special promotion for it. The most notable thing was Ai Otsukas latest PV (freinger?) being played everywhere, for example in the big TV screens in Shibuya.

I belive it all depends on who is having their next major release coming when you are there, and also what company related campaings is going on.

Seems kinda bad that Ayu is against BESTs. :/

She'd sell a lot if she did them :p Too bad its against her beliefs and stuff.. I wonder if a BEST really drops sales of anything after it..

Yes, it is coming out on the week H is released. But I don't see what the problem in that is and I don't see what the point in that original comment is.

The quote's dumb imo, is how I feel the speaker is saying. (S)He is implying that since avex wants to "try EVERYTHING" to increase Kumi's sales, they have to resort to releasing the single on the week H was released (plus along with the 12 singles, 4A etc.) Please, as if Japanese people actually remember the exact week when H was released and as if no avex artist is allowed to release on the same week as Ayu's past releases (because if they did release it on the same week, avex is just trashing Ayu and supporting other artists, and the world will come to an end.) :(

Ayu still gets priority/importance in how much is spent on her concerts, PVs, etc. no? Don't get me wrong, Kumi is getting/does get a lot more promo, compared to let's say 2 years ago. But I still think avex's main interest is with the sustainment of Ayu's revenue as it is still the largest even if Kumi' sales have skyrocketed.

EDIT: Also, she's most likely going to have the honourable last slots at the a-nation concerts. Unless they switch Kumi with Ayu around, then I'm pretty sure Ayu still has priority over Kumi.

But that's before Koda's huge popularity boom, so avex's priority has shifted since the half year.

To be honest, now does seem like a good time to release another BEST album...it's been 4 years since her last BEST...but I don't really think she's that fond of them...

Yes, that's very true. Promotion for Kumi is everywhere right now; I haven't really seen much promotion for Ayu except for the D-snap audio campaign. Even my host mom has said that she's seen more of Kumi on TV/street promotion than Ayu. A lot of younger girls apparently like to dress like Kumi now, hmm.

Japan changes very quickly when it comes to promotions/campaigns. Probably right after you left Japan, the D-snap audio posters/advertisements were being taken down already. I don't even see these advertisements in the JR right now. I see more promotion for Kumi/some other J-pop artist right now.

If you think about it a lot, Ayu's been really stable for the last few years... whether or not Koda can live up to that as well if probably what avex is looking at.

I mean, it's like spending millions of dollars on pogs and now they're only worth like a penny. It could just be a fad. Ayu, for instance, was not just a one-hit-wonder. She's consistently putting out good material [yeah I know a lot of people dislike it here but w/e] and she's still selling more than those who are not doing so hot. Just look at ELT. They aren't doing as good as they did in their third year or so at avex, yet they still get the 3rd to last spot at a-nation. Sales don't really say anything about where you will go in a-nation.. probably age though.. except Ayu, who seem to be placed there as a finale :p [Think about it.. is hitomi before ELT? XDD I dunno, but TRF is older than ELT.. and they come after.. and AAA was youngest last year and they went first! :)]

I think with anyone this would happen. I mean, Koda just released something xD By 6/21 you'll be seeing more Hikki and Ayu than Koda most likely since it'd have been almost a month since the last Koda release :] Everyone seems to have their time in the billboards and etc in Japan :3

i don't care and i will buy this for sure...
i'm getting really excited..i love all preview of the song especially beautiful fighters and ladies night...hopefully the PV, cover and package will be a GREAT one

True, but I think the number of songs you perform does. Ayu has always and will most likely for this year as well still perform the most songs out of all the artists in a-nation. (she gets the most time on DVD too).

Haha, I'm excited, too. :yes Especially since I will be able to pick up the single on the day of its release :D That hasn't happened to me before (to pick up an Ayu release on the first day)...I was here in Japan when My Story had just come out, but I bought the CD a few days after its initial release.

"super cool" hmmmm :think

I was there the 2 weeks that Startin' and 2nd Sessions was released and I literally saw next to nothing for Ayu, while Koda was everywhere - they even had a street team out with mega phones etc, to sell it.

Well its' avex's choice between one of Ayu's singles and Koda's giant BEST album..

if I were avex I'd promote the BEST. Albums are only once a year... whereas singles are 3 - 4 times :]

I don't see a reason to call what that person said as stupid though, let alone the stupidest thing you have heard in a month. :) Even when I disagree with other posters, I don't say that they are stupid.

I think what the person was trying to get across though, is not that the public would remember when H is released, but that certain weeks out of each season tend to have higher sales perhaps? Or that, that particular week has always been a strong week for Ayu to release her stuff in and now she is not.

Yes, but it is still an example of Koda being favored. They could have held Ayu's single back so that they could promote it after Koda's album, but chose to release it at the same time and I think it really did negatively effect Ayu's single sales. A lot of the people that normally would have supported both Koda and Ayu, probably ended up just getting Koda's album instead.

If you have been following Ayu's career for a long time it is extremely odd to not see Tokyo, Shibuya in particular, absolutely saturated with Ayu at the time of a single release. So this was just strange to see the total lack of promotion anywhere.

oh icic...oh well..

" a change of plans"

^ not really Ayu's usual style of doing things, imo. But this new single should be very interesting...

I guess :/

Ayu probably procrastinated on the single and they tried getting it out asap by the time it was done~:p [perhaps the photoshoot wasn't done for a while..?] That could be a sort of explanation for the release of the same day as Koda :]

Or maybe they wanted to see how it'd fare and then base their releases from there, to not have Koda or to have Koda be able to release on the same day as Ayu..

Ok people, we really have to support this single to proof that Ayu's still there and proof that Koda is not the only person that Avex should favour.

yea you're right!!!I hate how Avex promotes and favours koda...and i hate her even more now!Ayumi,c'mon,proof us right!

I'll admit that I was over-the-top there. :)

If the material is good, then it'll sell well no matter what week you place it in. I see no reason why it's a big deal to the speaker that Kumi's new single might be released on the same week as H.

2006 has been an entirely different schedule for Ayu so far. Her tour started later than last year, and she released a single earlier this year. There's no way she can actually follow the exact same schedule for every year.

I agree with truehappiness, naturally, a company would want to promote an album more than a single. Even if it wasn't Koda Kumi, (let's say it was BoA or Ai) the album would still be promoted more

I disagree with holding Ayu's single back because their really weren't many dates where she was a shoe-in for #1. It was released at the perfect time because if it was released in February, let's say, it would have been too close to (m)u. If it was released in late March/Early April, the tie-ins would have been a bit useless. imo, March 8th was the perfect date for the released.
True, some of them might have got Kumi's album only, but I think if the single wasn't really well-received in the 1st place, then I don't blame those who didn't get the single.
Generally, I don't really see how releasing another artist album will affect Ayu's singles as most people will buy two, given that they like the material. IE: Hikki's BEST Album was released on the same day as Moments, yet Moments still did really well. True, it ended up being the least selling single of 2004 for her, but given that it was only a 1-Song single, and given that CAROLS (which sold only about 7000 more) was offered in 4 different versions (Moments only had 2), Moments did really well.

She lacks the CMs now, and she no longer has millions of teen girls that follow her, their still are people, but there aren't as much as 2001.

I don't see why they couldn't have waited even one week. Having two of their artists release on the same day would hurt sales more than waiting a week after the Olympics ended. It should be gospel at Avex that you never have Ayu, Koda, Namie, BoA, or Otsuka release on the same day as each other. I may be wrong, but I think that was the first time any of Avex's top artists have released on the same day.
But the majority of Kumi's fans are teenage girls and the average teenager is not going to have 5000 yen to spend on cds every week. And about the thing with Hikki - she is not in the same company as Ayu. My main concern is why Avex would want to put two of their biggest artists in direct competition with each other - that makes no business sense that I can see.

But I'm talking about the promo now compared to as recent as last year, not in 2001.

Also, I just want to clarify that I am not a Koda hater, as many Ayu fans seem to be. :) I actually like several of her songs and think she is fun to watch. It's just that so far this year, the way that Ayu's singles have been handled have made me scratch my head a bit.

I think they wanted to test the market, to see if Koda really has 'taken' Japan... but little did they know.. it's a BEST against a single! XD

Anyways, she's still all over when a release happens, isn't she? Just look at (m)u and B&D... there were posters everywhere and she had like secret lives for B&D.. and it was all so crazy :3

BLUE BIRD will more than likely sell a lot more than Startin' did.. maybe even double the total sales! x.x No real competition this year ~ :] Besides MoMusu and TOKIO :x

B&D and Startin' are bad singles to judge anyway since B&D was super close to the album and Startin' was released the same day as a big album. And who knows promotional street teams could account for a lot! O_O!

/faintsleep

Simple. NEWS was releasing the week after Ayu. Ayu would no way be getting #1 if it was released a week after. avex I think takes into consideration (a lot) whether she will be getting a #1 when it comes to release dates.

They did the exact same thing to Ayu, to Ai, just that her single was released for BEST ~first things~. Yet Planetarium still sold really well.

Arn't most Ayu fans from the older ages (like 20's)? Then doesn't mean that their fan bases are somewhat different?

Sorry, I thought you were talking about compared to her peak.

You should know Planetarium had a BIG tie-in. The Hana Yori Dango drama~

It was SUPER anticipated O_O!

I thought they were of all ages? :/ /points at her concert audience..

I know. But her 1st week sales weren't that spectacular either. 91k/315k.

Fine, if people didn't have enough money to buy the single, then surely we would've seen a more stable drop in sales for this single, which hasn't happened. It's about to drop from the top 200 in 1-2 weeks. Plus, the 1st week sales made up 62% of the current total so far.

Well I'm guessing since if these fans were teens during her peak, they would probably be in their 20's now.

I'm guessing most of her fans are in their 20's now.

And I think the Koda bashing needs to stop now. And why shouldn't they favor Koda? She's selling well right now and she's popular. If you think about it, it's smart marketing. Ayu has already reached her peak, if you remember, she can carry her own.

Koda does not have to do with everything Ayu.

I'm 17 now... So yeah most of her fans might be nearing 20s.

Yeah I dont think there's anything wrong with favouring Koda IF she can proof that she can really have great sales without using her sexy acts/lyrics... I mean she has released many singles right? Why is it that she's like this popular from last year or so?

Well every artist is special in their own way - it just happens to be that Koda has a very sexy image - which she decided to do herself. And there's only a few lyrics I know of that can be deemed "sexy" - but it's just like Ai Otsuka with her "cute" image - every artist has their own trademark style.

I really have no idea why her popularity suddenly jumped - but it was bound to happen I think since she had been in the industry for five years or so.

I think you are right. I was 14 or 15 when I started to listen to Ayu and now I'm 21 so I think Ayu has less teenage fans since Koda is now around and close to their age but I could be wrong.

^Koda is not very much closer to their age than Ayu.

i started listening to ayu when i was 19.. now i'm 25... yeah... one of those mid 20's ayu fan... LOL

-DELETED-

Edit

nothing related to this post sorry

She has fans of all ages, but most are in their teens and 20s.

At least the promo for Blue Bird is already looking better this time around in terms of the magazines she will be in. We'll have to find out from soysaucestar though about any promotion down on the street such as billboards, promo on vid screens, posters in the subways etc., because like I said there really wasn't any for Startin. So much so that if you hadn't watched Ayu on Music Station, you probabaly didn't know that she had a new single coming out.

Also, if I can just backtrack a bit. Earlier it was mentioned that Ayu is still Avex's priority because she had the higher tour and PV budgets. Normally I would agree 100% with that, but if you look at the PVs for Startin' and Born to Be, they have a relatively lower budget. I mean, compare those two PVs to Ladies Night and Rainy Day and it is obvious which videos had the higher production values - and those vids were album tracks! And then about the tour thing, we can't really judge that now until Koda goes on her next tour.

btw, this is a fun discussion. :)

^All I know (or at least have heard from various places) is that Arena Tour 2006 is insanely expensive, especially due to the special "screens" they use, if you know which ones I mean.

To me, in terms of the "wow" factor and use of effects and sets and costumes it looked like the My Story tour had more in that area. But there is no doubt both tours are expensive.

Perhaps the AT06 tour had more money towards the development of the merchandise than the 05 one? :O

Just wondering xD

I don't really think so. Especially considering that it is the exact same fan as last year, just with a different sticker on it. :)

You can't really blame Avex for wanting to make money... I mean, if you were the head of Avex, wouldn't you want to make money rather than lose it? Avex really isn't as bad as everyone thinks, although I am sort of going both ways on this...

Weren't Kumi's single sales for the 12 singles less than Ayu's single sales? But I guess you have to consider she did pretty well for releasing 12 singles one week after another...

Now about the 3A being demoted to 2A... I was really excited for a 3A single but now I am sort of glad that she is having only a 2A single, especially if both tracks are really good! As long as we have one AMAZING song on this single, I'll be happy. I really wish Ayu would add more album tracks to her albums; it's not only the fact that she is releasing too many A-sides on her singles, but also that she HAS MORE ROOM ON HER ALBUM(S) TO ADD MORE SONGS! Take a look at (m)u... It is around 66 minutes and an album can have up to 80 minutes...

I am speechless at the fact that Kumi is releasing a 4A single! Everyone talks how Kumi needs a brake from Avex but I am sure she is loving the attention and popularity! But seriously, Kumi is just milking the cow...

Well, I can't wait for this single, or Ku's for that matter!

I agree that it makes sense for them to be focusing more on Kumi now than Ayu because they can't always rely on Ayu forever - I just don't like it. ;)

Well think of it like this..

Avex is now making millions and millions of yen cause of Koda. But this isn't going to last forever, as the public is like really fluctuate-y... so they'll probably end up drying Koda out and releasing some sort of giant collection of everything she's done by the end.. :/

Or not. xD I mean, if they really appreciated everything she did, wouldn't they pay her like a crazy amount and stuff? I wonder if she even goes against what they say for her to do... or if she just does it .. :/

When she rebels, something'll happen, yo. Just like Ayu.. avex can't rely on Koda forever.

Out of the 3 non-limited singles, 1 was pretty close to 200k, another sold over 130k, and the last sold 90k (low in comparison to others as it was released 2 weeks before ~second session~)

It's anyone's guess why 'you' sold so much x.x

Why did that sell anyway? O_o;

Maybe because it was the START of the big 12 singles...

I also remember hearing something about if you put the books together you will get a special poster - was that untrue?

If you put all the singles on a rack thingie, then there'd by a naked Koda with a mic..

If you arrange the backs of the singles in a square thingie, you get the naked Koda but in a closeup. :/

Was this the photo where her hair was black? I would like to see all the singles together to create this picture - but not just the pic in general - the singles side by side to make the photo

Also, all of the other singles were limited to 50,000 copies.

As for You selling so well, I think it had something to do with the PV. The PV seemed to be pretty popular.

It wasn't a CD+DVD release, was it?