[njanjayrp]

I think some of you might be too harsh ^^ I've talked to a few Japanese people who occasionally or barely listen to jpop, they all said they liked some of her songs, especially pre-RAINBOW stuff. There was a girl who told me (back in 2006) that she thinks that Koda Kumi is a trend that will pass quickly while Ayu has her charisma which will keep her career going on for many more years (even though she doesn't listen to either one of them). So it all depends on whom you talk to and it doesn't have to necessarily reflect the opinion of 120 millions of people.

When it comes drop in sales there are so many factors and we can't be sure what are the ones that affected the drop the most. She's seen the rise and fall of many other Japanese female singers and she is still hanging on, in the end once you get old and can't stay as hip and fresh as the younger girls all you're left with is your fan base and compared to the most of them Ayu has quite a fan base to support her.