[koumori]

Originally Posted by Baernash

To be honest many of her fans would like her to retire. It's not about not wanting any new music of her, it's about a feeling that she "burned out" a long time ago. It would be better to finish on a high note and stay remember of all those amazing, memorable tracks when she was at the top of charts than keep creating "bad music" just for sake of staying in the industry. She's no longer developing as a singer or creating new trends. She just trying to "fit in" actual music market (with mixed results) and gladly got loyal fans to support her, without them she would be long time gone.

I also used to say that I wished she'd just take a break, and now she pretty much did for seven years (from full studio albums). If she was pushing out music just to stay relevant, she's done a bad job of that for the better part of a decade.

It's clear that Ayu thrives and innovates most comfortably on the stage right now and this album is a journey of her trying to find herself musically again - at least that's my impression after following this era. While no one is obligated to contextualize her work with her health and circumstances in mind, I have to say that wanting an artist to retire due to no longer topping the charts is a sad opinion to have. If you don't enjoy this current chapter of work, that's fair, but it just means it's not for you - not that it's bad.