Ayu's negative image

[kagami]

Some of the posts in a thread in the news section got me thinking about Ayu's image and the kind of hate it generates from so many people. The abusive comments people say about her can be so strong, and contain so much venom, that I'm sometimes left speechless.

The question I want to ask is: why do you think Ayu gets so much hate?

From what I can see it seems to be because people believe her to be talentless so she doesn't deserve the kind of success she's had. I really hate the thought that only the most talented people should be allowed success and popularity. What about passion and hard work? Everyone should be able to what they love as long as it isn't hurting anyone.

As I said in a previous thread, I can understand people not liking her music but she does not say offensive things or shove her opinion in other peoples faces (or act like a cheap hooker *cough*), so the hate on her character completely baffles me.

I hope this post makes sense, I'm half asleep right now XD.

[NintendoHTF1242]

My friend doesn't like her because of her voice lol. She just cannot handle listening to her xD Same with Ai Otsuka, my friend just detests them both because of vocals. But she likes their lyrics.

[asmAyumi1992]

Idk why there are people hate her.. Yes, she's talentless and that's doesnt mean she cant success in her career.

But I do think that ppl hate her because of her squeaky voice(?) or they think that Ayu isnt pretty compared to others(?).

For me, she has talent in writing beautiful lyrics and has the prettiest face among others.

[SURREAL__RAINBOW]

I believe that fans have VERY high expectations from her.

Whenever she does something that seems to be "boring" to them, or just meh/bad, they get soo upset/angry about it, and they curse her; Whenever she does something that clashes with their principals of the imaginary image that they have from her in their fantasy World, they curse her.

Its like some kind of syndrome. I really think it is a disease... I mean, they don't put the bar that high to anyone else in their lives... only with ayu. It makes no sense and it pisses me off.

They seriously have no right to treat ayu like that... I will never agree with psycho fans, ever.




And in the other hand, There's the "trolls" or haters syndrome. I believe they're mostly driven to hate ayu because she's been more successful than other singers that they believe are better or they like more than ayu. And I'm not even going to go around it, this is true and no one can deny it.




I learned with the years that, hating other artists to make your favorite artist "better" is as bad as hitting your own grandmother. If you do this you are pretty much lying to yourself.

[truehappiness]

**This is kind of related, I suppose... haha: She gets a lot of hate in Japan because she was kind of everywhere at one point, I think. And also, she's been basically around constantly (KEY WORD HERE) for the last 12 years. She seems to have just stuck around and a lot of Japanese people don't really seem to like that.

As for foreign fans who don't like her, a lot of it is because they're really misinformed. "She had 30 surgeries!" / "She has never written her own lyrics!" / "She's really rude and fame has gone to her head!" and other things like that cause people to hate Ayu. It's especially sad when people say "She was so pretty before she had all that work done." and post this one image comparison between an idol photoshoot and a shoot from 2000/2001 that EVERYONE seems to have. It's like... some people don't seem to understand the power of her makeup team, haha.

(Of course, there are also fans who just liked Ayu in 2001/2002/whenever and because she's changed since then, they just don't care for her anymore. (though they never fail to mention how she was better back then despite that.. haha. It's always "Why does her music suck so much now compared to 2001? -sigh- The only thing I listen to now is M!") IMO she's been changing for the better, but your mileage may vary.)

[Amrai-chan]

^ I agree. "Your mileage may vary" Good way of putting it.

[Bigtop]

Maybe it's because she has gone too long without a break or so...

[Keiichi_JPU]

- She's glamorous, which makes it easy to think she's a stuck-up, cruel diva.
- Her voice is an acquired taste.
- She used to be the most popular thing ever and she's been all over the place for over a decade.

These 3 things are also true for a certain Western pop-diva, who is also getting a LOT of hate from the general public. I think y'all know who I mean.

[BlackSilence]

I think some people forget that um the sucsess is usualy 10% talent and 90% of hard working.

one thing is people whould learn not to pay attention to those who show hate and dissrespect, I learned not to pay attention because there will always be those who will not like. And it goes not just with Ayu, but with other artists too.

[love in music]

I've come up with some reasons why I think haters hate on her (not in any particular order) just from observing them. Before I got into ayu I used to be #1, #3, and #5.

Spoiler:

1. They're ignorant. They don't know much about ayu. They've heard one song that was probably off the ASFXX album and they didn't like her voice so they just continue on hating her.

2. They don't like her music now and prefer the "old ayu" and somehow feel offended that she keeps on singing when all of her songs don't sound like anything on the LOVEppears/Duty/I am... albums anymore. They think she used to be original and now she's generic and are all pissed at her for changing.

3. They think she's overrated. They ran into some obsessed ayu fans that annoyed/scared them and heard some of her music and don't think she's good enough to have those type of obsessive fans.

4. They just never liked her. They think her voice and music suck throughout her whole career and think she's made of plastic and fake.

5. They're bitter at her for selling more than their favorite artists. They dislike that ayu outsells their favorite artists that they feel have a lot more talent than her.

But, even if they feel any of these things I still don't see why some have to take things too far and say extremely horrible things about her. I think if some of them just took the time to read one of her interviews or any of her lyrics they'd at least develop some respect for her. But then again, some have hate that is way too strong and their minds can't be changed.

[PoetGirl]

She's really easy to hate. She's not the best singer in the world, people can say that her
lyrics are generic and her music too. And on top of that she doesnt look japanese,
people who want to hate can say very easy: 'she's not herself' with amount of make up she has very often.

I know what I was thinkin before I got into Ayu too, I thought why is she so famous
when she sounds like people who are said they will never be singers, who are made fun off, who are perfect for parody and stuff. You feel 'its not fair' feeling. But if you think about it more,... it shows you that you can be whatever and whoever you want if you work hard enough. Thats why I fell in love. She's a role model. She's a proof that intelligence and hard work can make your dream come true.

[ImpactBreaker]

hmm I disagree that ayu doesn't have much talent. I sometimes wished she would invest more "musically" in her career like composing and playing an instrument, but it's not like it drives me mad. Maybe some people say she lacks talent because her vocals aren't "Celine Dion's" but you don't need to have that in order to sing something good. Her vocals have always been what interested me in her music, specially because she makes use of certain elements that are unique to her and make them sound cool, so that's where her talent can be seem (meaning I really disagree that she sounds like any average person singing out there). Also the use of the words (how they sound in the songs, like ourselves or Connected for example - the play with different but simillar sounding words) and her lyrics really show her talent. But then, that can be rather subjective, so it's not like it's worth arguing with close minded people. The only problem I have with her is that she abuses with the same arrangers and composers. Makes me want her to try BOUNCEBACK or Geo again, even if both are repeated from a few past songs, just for a little change.

[*Petit*]

Originally Posted by ImpactBreaker

hmm I disagree that ayu doesn't have much talent. I sometimes wished she would invest more "musically" in her career like composing and playing an instrument, but it's not like it drives me mad. Maybe some people say she lacks talent because her vocals aren't "Celine Dion's" but you don't need to have that in order to sing something good. Her vocals have always been what interested me in her music, specially because she makes use of certain elements that are unique to her and make them sound cool, so that's where her talent can be seem (meaning I really disagree that she sounds like any average person singing out there). Also the use of the words (how they sound in the songs, like ourselves or Connected for example - the play with different but simillar sounding words) and her lyrics really show her talent. But then, that can be rather subjective, so it's not like it's worth arguing with close minded people. The only problem I have with her is that she abuses with the same arrangers and composers. Makes me want her to try BOUNCEBACK or Geo again, even if both are repeated from a few past songs, just for a little change.

I agree with this. HEr voice really stands out.

[Suteisi]

I think a lot of it has to do with your own personal taste. Every one is different, sure some of us have things in common, but we don't and can't all like the same thing.

For celebrities, it's worse because they are constantly being watched and are in the spotlight. There are BIG fans of Celine Dion and there are people that HATE her. Same goes for Ayu, Namie, Backstreet Boys, Britney Spears, etc.

Some people may dislike her because they don't like her voice. It's understandable. Look at me, I can NOT stand Alanis Morisette. I HATE her voice! It makes me cringe every single time I hear her sing.

Some people may dislike Ayu, because of the way she acts, I know a few fans around here don't like her pout, and/or don't like when she's acting cute because she's a little older, etc.

I think Ayu's got just as many haters as any other super star of her caliber.

[kagami]

Everyone has some pretty good reasons. I don't know why you'd put so much effort into hating someone just because you don't like that persons voice though.

@ identity You used to hate her? Do you mind expanding on that a bit? Were you one of the ones who are very vocal about it, or just a general dislike? What changed your mind?

For the record, I don't think Ayu is talentless at all. She doesn't have the best voice but it's better than the average person. She also has a very unique tone and injects a lot of emotion into her voice which I think comes naturally (a talent in itself imo). Her music, too, has always incorporated various different styles and is quite broad in general. I don't get the 'generic' comments-though some of her stuff is naturally.

[PoetGirl]

Oh, I almost forgot, like any other big singer Ayu has a lot of obssesive fans/stans,
fans can easily be turn off.

[JackieRos]

Originally Posted by PoetGirl

Oh, I almost forgot, like any other big singer Ayu has a lot of obssesive fans/stans,
fans can easily be turn off.

I agree.

also like said is her voice that's different from other singers.
is different and she's making millions off of it that's why people hate her.
she's not trying too hard to be famous, she's doing what she likes and that's why people get jealous.


this reminds me of the same situation with ke$ha, she doesn't try hard and people like her music. jealousy jealousy.

[SURREAL__RAINBOW]

Originally Posted by JackieRos

I agree.

also like said is her voice that's different from other singers.
is different and she's making millions off of it that's why people hate her.
she's not trying too hard to be famous, she's doing what she likes and that's why people get jealous.


this reminds me of the same situation with ke$ha, she doesn't try hard and people like her music. jealousy jealousy.

LOL that's totally another story

[JackieRos]

even ayu said music is her life and she enjoys doing it.
she doesn't try to be controversial to be famous while other singers do and they fail at it.

Originally Posted by SURREAL__RAINBOW

LOL that's totally another story

grrr! ^.^

Well, to me, she has talent. Nobody could survive that long in the music industry if they didn't have just a speck of talent. It doesn't have to be singing or songwriting. Being charismatic can be a talent. Or the ability to make people interested in you.

I've never hated Ayu, so I don't really know why some people literally despise her. I'll go back to one of my reasons and it's that she is so successful, and they (or their favorite artist, as pointed out) aren't