Quote:
Originally Posted by a_kingdom21
madona is american singer that surely will do world wide
i mean asian act that recoqnizeable..
n for taiwan sales take a look at anual sales..
or weekly sales when ayu realeases something..
(......)
so for me ayu is live legend..
may b some *** people also think d same..
|
Everyone here already thinks that. No one is questioning Ayu's legendary status at all. And still, I would like to know where you got the info that Ayu was number 1 in the dailies since I'm always looking for more sites to track sales both in Japan and overseas.
Quote:
Originally Posted by waterballoon
Ahahaha. Well yeah I noticed that from her debut (in avex) to about 2002, she was very much active in Japan society... like you know Ayu Ready? and appearing in many variety shows.
So doing that, I think in the eyes of the Japanese, they see Ayu as part of them in the variety shows; like "Ayumi Hamasaki is very much like us".
But from about, I think, 2004 or so, she just stopped appearing in a lot of variety shows. Even now, she only comes on Hey! x3 or something like that once/twice a year.
So, obviously, Arashi and whichever other groups who regularly host and guest in several variety shows would be more recognized by Japan... I think that's probably why they're so popular and sell 200k+ singles on the first day. Perhaps Japan views them as the 'wholesome boy-next-door' kind of thing.
I'm not implying that Ayu isn't the 'wholesome girl-next-door'... but it's quite obvious that in the recent years she has adapted a more high-end and high-class style. And I do love that diva and glam look! But it's just that, I feel Japan might not exactly like it and feel Ayu as a turn-off due to that.
BUT, in any case, it's not like it really matters at the end of the day. IMO, comparing Ayu to Arashi is like comparing an apple to a orange. They are both singers and entertainers, but we know they are very much different. 
Ayu still has impressive sales in this era of digital downloads... so kudos to her for staying strong almost- consistently for these 10/11 years. |
Yes, all very valid points. I should've extended the period a bit to include the first half of 2003 because at least she still had Ayu-Ready then. And yeah, I agree about the Arashi bit. Actually even my boyfriend likes Arashi even though he is pretty much a hard core rock fan. His exact quote was "I like Arashi because I want to be their friend. I don't want to be KAT-TUNs friend, I want to be ARASHIs" (sorry Karen!^_^) I've heard a lot of comments from Japanese guys that see Arashi as like people they could have gone to highschool with and what not. And indeed, after I started watching their variety shows I realized too that they are, just simply in a word, likable. Very funny and nice guys. I mean its hard not to like people who have shows where they go and babysit other peoples kids for a day or go to help out Grandparents whose own kids don't even come visit them. Yes, I'm a sucker for that sentimental stuff!
So I think in that regard, it would also be beneficial for Ayu to show her more human and relateable side to the public, instead of the more diva side that has been the main thing in the public view since probably around 2004. Especially when you are getting into economic hard times, I think that may even start to rub people the wrong way more than usual.
Anyways, thanks for the deep discussion everyone! That's what forums are for anyways right?....even if sometimes it gets frustrating.
