[spanishfan]

Originally Posted by Uemarasan

^It's just really frustrating as a longtime fan because I know what she is capable of: incredible, game-changing music. Why hasn't she reached this level in such a long while? Her sound and image are indistinguishable and unremarkable in the current musical landscape. I actually think she should scrap her whole musical template and start from scratch. Ayu should start looking beyond the small circle of friends and collaborators that she has formed and which is now suffocating her aesthetically. The same boring old music, boring old photos, boring old makeup, boring old nails, boring old hair, boring old fashion, boring old concerts, boring old concerns. She should stop living in her glorious past and fossilizing herself.

Yes, many of these artists won't mesh well with Ayu. That is why I think that is something she needs. Some dissonance in her discography, some chaos in her complacent approach to music. Make videos with Mika Ninagawa. Have photobooks by Rinko Kawauchi. Have album covers by Miwa Yanagi, Ai Yazawa. Have concerts actually choreographed by a real choreographer (Rino Nakasone, for example). There is such a wealth of artists and designers in Japan I don't know why she can't manage to find them.

Personally, I found again "pleasant". But I don't want "pleasant" anymore. I want something great. It's still too early in her career to let retrospective ideas and fantasies of being a future legend dominate her work. She should wait until she's been around as long as Mr. Children, B'z, Southern All Stars, or Yumi Matsutoya before she can rest, take it easy, and be "lazy".

I'm with you, but it seems she only wants to please her fans and doesn't think farther u_u