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I've been a fan of Ayu for less than a decade (I'm in Canada so I was never likely to even have heard of her), and I have to admit I find this new focus on touring a little disappointing, especially when said tours don't even get released on media I can purchase.
I *have* been purchasing (and caught up with) all her album CDs and concert DVDs/Blu-rays, and the only way I get to experience anything new from her is through those releases (as much as I like her, I can't picture myself going to Japan to see her live). I'm itching for new material, and while I'm happy enough with the concert releases that were included with the Trouble EP, it's still a lot less than what I had gotten used to.
Namie Amuro and Koda Kumi have been there to "pick up the slack" for me, so to speak, in the sense that this was a lot of material to also discover and enjoy, but with Namie being retired now, the only new stuff I have to look forward to these days on a regular basis is all coming from Koda Kumi. I've tried to "branch out" a bit and look for other established jpop artists, but I find very little else to be as interesting. But that probably says more about Ayu/Namie/Koda's high standards than the others.
I've tried out stuff from Hikaru Utada, Kana Nishino, Mika Nakashima and a few more (thanks to some of the "complete discography" threads on this site--what a great resource), but honestly none of them do much for me.
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