[Mimichild]

I agree with most of this thread but I think the problem most people don't realize is that Ayu doesn't have anything to prove anymore. In a way she reminds me of Mary J. Blige because earlier in her career, her music was filled with alot of pain. Now she's overcome those demons and most people don't like that she's singing about different things. With Ayu, if you would look back at her earlier career her music was mostly angsty and feel with alot of self-disappointment. Her (in-depth) interviews were serious and she constantly felt that she had to fight with her inner demons to finally accept herself and the iconic,flawless music she created was the outlet.

However, she's older now! She doesn't have much inner pain (to the fans knowledge) and is able to overcome obstacles quicker than she used to (going deaf, losing a friend, divorce) compared to back then. Also, like many of you said, she's at that point that she wants to experiment with music just for fun, and there's nothing wrong with that. Actually I'm one of the few that is IN LOVE with PQ, FIVE, NEXT LEVEL, Love Songs, and You & Me. I think it sounds better than anything from My Story, Secret, and to some extent m(u) & Guilty but that's my opinion.

And one last thing. I honestly don't believe her music went downhill, it's just so many people have outrageously high standards for her. I swear it's like they want a beautiful ballad and get a song like Virgin Road, Return Road, and HBYA and gets the response "It's no Seasons! It'll never be as good as HANABI!! Grr-grr!" Also, I remember so many people wanted a catchy dance song and we got NaNaNa, Shake It and got the response "It's medicore! We hate Timmy!" and FINALLY people wanted something experimental and we got the POWERFUL Brilliante, Tell Me Why, the NEXT love, and Eyes, Smoke, Magic was once again people weren't sastified....seriously what do you want from her?? A recycled version of M & evolution so others can complain about it?

Finally about the Namie and Kuu-chan situation. I agree with someone said about their earlier albums. Personally I don't like Namie's albums (as a whole) up until STYLE. I found them to be very forgettable and her voice didn't sound nearly as cool as it does now. And for Kuu-chan, the only albums I can highly consider ALBUMS are Kingdom, JAPONESQUE, and to some extent feel my mind. So of course nobody is gonna complain about these two is because they never really set the bar that high in terms of music. Now Utada...I can't complain about this woman...she's just a genius lol