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Most people seem to think that some of us dislike the covers because we're prudes, or uncomfortable with our sexuality...
So I'll say it for probably the 7th time since they came out - I like the concept of a sad "party queen" who feels her life is empty but this cover shoot was done poorly. The cover looks like a 6th grader's media research project with its bad photoshopping and photo angles. You can't slap a mock barcode and a star label onto a picture and call it a "tabloid parody" then get upset when half the people don't instantly see it.
Ayu has done numerous risqué shoots in the past and none of them have looked as bad as this, bar probably S/S. Sticking your butt towards a camera is also not my idea of a feminist statement, as I wrote in the fifth thread on the album...this pic would be fine if included with others in the photobook, but as the standout image on the "ultimate" version of this album? I just think she's better than this...
I'm not saying by any means that this will stop me from supporting Ayu through this release and onto the future, but I'm sad that she's putting herself out in public with such a badly done cover to represent what is a powerful and relateable theme. Like others said before, what drew me to her and J-Pop in the first place was the lack of trashy unrelateable people in Western media. With all its flaws, Japan's music industry does exude a sense of cleanliness and dignity that I don't see in music played here on the radio...
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