Critique: MUSIC for LIFE -return-
 

Why she sang almost all song with cute voice? I don't like that. Warning was ruined and she began to ruin (miss)understood but luckily emotions won.

Visually it's best live in years. No clowns, no frogs, no heart nipple stickers. All outfits were great

1. What an incredible setlist with many new and rarely performanced songs. I don't like the new arrangement of Voyage, I can't feel the song smoothly as with the A best live version. I prefer evolution's POM 2018 to this show's one.

2. Ayu tried to control her vocal that made her singing smooth but lacking of interactions with the fans. I can understand that she used her cute voice to have the better control in every single song, with the support of choir team and the strings. It's ok to me and that's Ayu ai loved - try to make everything as perfect as possible.

4. The cut of Life made me so disappointed but understandable. Life the one of the greatest points for this show �� hope it would be included in the BD/ DVD release.

After many months of being nó concert, it really made my day.

Thank Koumori for the link.

1. What do you think of the setlist? Did you think it was fitting for the theme?

Yes! I like it very much as no song felt out of place

2. What are your thoughts on Ayu's vocals during this concert?

- She's using the cutesy voice a lot... I was never a fan of it cause it's almost always out of place, especially with songs like Warning and Return Road... but her doing that with her voice gave her much more control and led her to not almost shout so maybe it's a good thing in the long run?

3. Thoughts on her outfits, the stage design, the use of her dancers, etc?

- Omg the looks were so good and don't look tacky even in some parts for once. And tbh, the dancers are not mere distractions for me this time around and I actually like the stage compared to the halls she used to go to.

4. A song from the setlist was cut out, and the stream instead got a digital-only bonus. What do you think of that decision?

- I don't think of it that much tbh.

5. Do you hope Avex will continue organizing streamed versions of concerts in the future?

- Yes! And hopefully not a Team Ayu exclusive.

What an incredible show !! Ayu’s voice is all in control with sometimes baby voice but I don’t care. The Choirs … oh god !! I’m really speechless. All interludes are great and the new version of Not yet is so gorgeous !!! Of course this live version is edited but in a really good way.

There are some high moments like 23rd monster, (miss)understood (Much much better than AT 2006) Voyage, MY ALL, TODAY and...... haru yo koi. This one is ssooooo good. More beautiful than the CD Version for me. And I’m really happy to finally see Return road (which I loooove). But I'm wondering if this one is totally live. Maybe or not.

Dancers are ok, and doesn’t bother me this time. I like most of choreagraphy.

I’m so proud of her, and I’m so proud to support her. Can’t wait to spend my money in a Bluray version.

This is Ayumi Hamasaki. Thank you !

I love the "yeah yeah yeah yeah" she's started adding in Love Song since the Trouble lives, but I hate that she's reverted to the studio ending of the song. The live ending she's done for years is everything.

I liked the show overall! It was intimate yet there was still a sense of showmanship to it. She also looked great. I think it's been a while since we had this many close-ups of her. It really makes her feel closer to the audience.

My only complaint is whoever is styling Ayu can do a better job. I am not sure why she is going for such top-heavy costumes all the time, and such a loose-fitting tee at the end.

But other than that, she looks great, haruyo koi - voyage - evolution was awesome, and loved the small surprise at the end.

Return Road was also amazing. The story it told..

Really good show, she looks so good and the concert is really fun, she does sound good and I get it's probably a way to control her notes but the "cute/baby" tone she used in most of the show didn't really work for me, voyage and evolution were kinda hard to listen for me tbh

^ Voyage didn't bother me as much since she's been using that voice for it for a few years now I think, so I'm mentally prepared for it even though it's kind of cringey (Plus I really liked the new arrangement - that bridge part was epic!). But yeah, evolution (and pretty much every time she uses the cute/baby voice) was definitely hard to listen to for me as well. But overall she did a good job and I'm really happy we got to see it. Return Road and m(u) were definitely highlights for me.

I enjoyed myself. She sounded great. The song flow was pretty good.

But given the restrictions, I suppose I would have went about the song choice process a little differently, especially since it was only TA.

What jumped out at me on a quick first read is the way she looks at the audience.
She looks so happy and moved, sometimes the tears come up during certain songs and her gaze is kind I find.
And it feels good to see her in front of an audience because the confinement lives were really too strange in terms of atmosphere... it feels good to find her !!

And this setlist... my god it gives energy !!!!
Just the effects on some songs superimposed on the image is overused I think.

EDIT : Hmm, so too bad that WARNING is badly cut with a wrong fitting on the end... it jumped out at me !!

After watching the whole thing gotta say I am impressed by this one. Very good set list, stellar vocals - I have not caught her screaming not shouting once. She was actually singing! 23rd Monster, Return Road, (miss)understood, Haru yo Koi and Love song were the standout performances for me.

I really like how she starts to mix genres for the segments, like combining Return Road with WARNING, and Haru yo koi with evolution. I think that really takes her songs out of their own stereotypes and produces a much more dynamic story arc in the performance.

I really enjoy this show!! I can feel ayu's emotion. Most of performance is impressive, I like Return Road(miss)understood,Voyage, Haru yo koi and TODAY makes me cry. She looks gorgeous, and her voice gets better and better. I don't mind Life is cut, hope someday will release.

tbh, I am extremely impressed how quick she lost weight. Few weeks ago she just gave birth to a baby, and few weeks after, she tons of lost weights.

There is a rumor that she ate cat food to lose weight in the past. I hope thats not true.

I just finished watching the rip, and I gotta say I'm so so amazed at the control she exerted over her vocal!

I imagine it would have been so easy to resort to her usual screaming in a number of songs, but she amazingly kept her voice under control! I'm even more at awe because the rip was from the second show of 27 June, so I expect she must have been quite tired already. wow.

this shows me how capable a vocalist ayu really is. her vocal was pretty consistent throughout the show, and even when she was crying she managed to sound not very far from the pitch.

I hope by the time she returns to regular touring, she would put enough space between performance dates to allow her vocal chords to rest.

I think she has mentioned before, after her first pregnancy, that women shouldn't take her as an example of bouncing back after, cuz she has the whole team of people to help her with that. Plus she's been favouriting corseted/highly structured stage costumes for a few years now, especially after giving birth. They help A LOT to give you shape even if you have a bit of extra weight on. You can tell she's fuller than usually, but still in shape and the stage costumes help to cinch in what you need to. Plus she's been wearing tights too, which can have shaping properties as well. In general she's not a big person so she probably didn't gain a lot to not be able to lose some of it, and knowing how active rehearsals can get, proper diet changes, and added time at the gym to that, i wouldn't put it past her abilities to drop a significant enough amount of weight, to make her look just like she does usually with only some of the pregnancy weight left to be unnoticed by the public.
She's usually in oversized hoodies and t-shirts when she's in rehearsals for the past few years, so we really haven't seen much of her actual shape.

With regards to her weight, I would also add that in Japan doctors strongly discourage women from gaining much weight during pregnancy - it's very different than in Western cultures. So in all likelihood she did not gain a lot more than the baby and fluids.

Wait what... discourage women from gaining much weight during pregnancy??????! How the heck the baby would get enough nutrient?

When I look at the pictures in this tour, I am surprised how she looks. I hope she would not do anything damage her body BTS..