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A BUNCH of solo female singers were making their debut around that same time, yeah. The wave lasted a good half dozen years too! Ayu was part of a second wave though, and an EARLY part of it, so she probably was more of like... a contributor to the public realizing they wanted more solo female singers, I guess?
By Ayu's debut we already had Namie Amuro, Shinohara Tomoe, Kahala Tomomi, hitomi, Aikawa Nanase, Matsu Takako, MISIA....
But most of the other female singers in that wave didn't debut until after Ayu did: Shiina Ringo, Suzuki Ami, Utada Hikaru, Kuraki Mai, Aiuchi Rina, Koda Kumi, and Nakashima Mika are, to me, part of that same 1998-2001 wave. I would actually say that wave started with MISIA in early '98, since Namie, Tomomi, hitomi, and Nanase all released their first singles (or in the case of Namie, first solo singles) in 1995, WAY before this whole burst happened.
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