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This is just my opinion but I honestly don't like this PV either. Here's my pros and cons:
Pros
1) OMG! Team Ayu members...Thank God. The light stick waving was pretty cliche and unnecessary, but hey at least they weren't waving towels and zippo lighters.
2) A very pretty skyline. The sun is a little bright at times but at least it's real.
Cons (get ready)
1) The dress that Ayu wore...was COMPLETELY unnecessary. If she wanted to wear a dress it should have been a nice sundress or something. The glitter, the long hair, the garish jewelry, and the sunset didn't come together at all. I know a lot of people will get all angry and stuff but, it just didn't work for me. The song just doesn't call for a glitter-dress and a whole bunch of bangles. It's just TOO much for such a simple song.
2) The background dancers...*BIG SIGH* For Sunrise, they were needed for the energy and while they may have epically FAILED in that video for their choreography, I can understand WHY they were in the video to begin with. (Especially with Ayu spinning around in a circle like a lost kitten). For Sunset however, the female dancers just get in the way. I mean not only are they completely out of sync with the music, but the song itself DOESN'T CALL FOR CHOREOGRAPHY. Sure some of Ayu's ballads do, a good example of this would be Moments, Green, WILL, momentum...etc. This song is for me very similar to JEWEL in the sense that dancing solos take away from the song. In my opinion, they all look like their trying to do their best imitation of Shuya's dance solos during the arena tour ballad-segments. I know it's harsh, but do a side-by-side for yourself and you'll see how easy it was for me to come up with that conclusion.
3) Ayu is just too far away from the audience. It was bad enough in Sunrise, but now she probably looks like a glittering stick to them for this session. I know it's supposed to be like a live performance but hell, they could have done better than this. She just looks so distant compared to how up close and personal she is during her tours and performances on TV.
4) Is it just me or does Ayu's hair look like a 30-second clip on weave? It is by far, twenty times better than the dead-flower look she had going in Sunrise, but it's still difficult to look at with a straight face. If the wind were blowing any faster I swear it would've fallen out. No lie---I wear weave all the time so I know when a woman's weave isn't on securely/properly.
5) The zooming in and out timing is off by a mile. When Ayu is singing, the camera should be zoomed in on her or another human being, not out scaling the entire scene.
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After looking at both of these PVs, I have to say that whoever came up with the overall idea had good intentions. Ayumi's live performances are strong and without a doubt the best in Japan! It's not until it all comes together that it really just falls short. I think that it would've been better if for Sunrise, Ayu went out to an amusement park with a few actors and actresses played by people that AREN'T/NEVER HAVE BEEN her dancers, then as the video progresses she could develop feelings for a particular guy. Just a nice, hyperactive and fun video of Ayu doing something normal. She could even wear jeans and a tanktop, something we haven't seen her in since when, INSPIRE?
Then when the Sunset video begins, maybe it could have been the two of them walking on the beach, going to an ice cream stand and saying goodbye or something. It's something we haven't seen from her and it would feature people we haven't seen A TRILLION TIMES within the last five years worth of music videos. And again it would be natural and not semi-divaish. Part of the reason why I think Ayu's losing popularity is because her image has remained glamorous for so long that people can't really relate to her anymore. I love big sweeping ballads with glittering ball gowns and big hair just like everyone else here, but I think we can all agree that a casual-Ayu without the heels, the bling, the big hair, and just the overall glamour is something we all miss.
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