Do we ACTUALLY know WHY Ayu does what she does??

[Andrenekoi]

Originally Posted by Not~Yet

Tbh though I feel on a fan forum the negativity-positivity share shouldn't be 50-50. I was really dissappointed when, not that long ago, there were 2 similar threads of something along the lines of "What you hate the most about Ayu" and "What you love about Ayu" and the former had like 20 pages of commets while the latter had less than 10.

I wouldn't take that so literal... People just tend to speak more about what they dislike than what they like... We use to say on marketing that when somebody is happy with your product, they will tell how good the product is to 3 people, when they dislike it, they will tell it to 10.

[Not~Yet]

^That's true, it says something that even most of my own long posts are frustrated rants about negativity or something of the like. I wish people weren't like that, here and anywhere, there's so much negative stuff everywhere without even looking for it so people should share and enjoy the good stuff more and it would be nice to do so without it always being degraded by the negative. Well.

[letter]

^This can be applied to anything, the world, people. But seeing how this is an Ayu forum, we concentrate on Ayu.

Sometimes I get frustrated when I don't like a song, because I feel Ayu can do better, but unless it's a misconception about her, she is doing her best, so I might just be expecting too much. I wish she'd compose, and I feel that she could, but this could be, again, the mindset of someone who thinks she has more talent than she actually does. At any rate, I don't need to have a specific reason to dislike something, it's usually either not to my taste, or the song is awful in my opinion.

[rusuke]

Interesting thread!

I also agree that it's not what you say but it's how you deliver your point of view.
Although we have the right to say what we want to say, even if it's negative and can hurt others' feelings, we have to be sensitive and responsible enough in a sense that others will see your point that won't make you look like you're being *****. But misunderstanding arouses because every person differs from the other and it's how they comprehend what you mean to say especially if they just read the comments. That's why intonation in verbal communication is needed. Did I make sense? hahaha. Oh well. I hope you understand what I'm trying to say. Whew, that's harder than I thought.

Even I, myself, had disliked some Ayu's songs and even live performance and photo shoots that I wished she never did. On the other hand, I'm glad that she did those things to show herself and her creativity limitations. For me, that makes Ayu imperfectly perfect artist. Nobody in this world can always be the best.

Fans expect too much from Ayu which I think makes her pressured. (haha. I just assume that. Sorry!) Remember, we (fans) don't own them, they (artists) own us.

[Midori-chan]

@Not~Yet: No, I agree with you.

I don't participate much in discussions anymore, because I really don't feel like dealing with rude comments. I can remember there was a time when I would agree with people on this and other forums a lot, but I guess I've just grown tired of it.

I LOVE Ayu! I love her music, I love her personlitay and the way she deals with things. And I don't think I've to defend myself against people with other opinions!

It's totally okay, when people don't like what she does, but some of them are really rude when it comes to voicing their opinions and I've better things to do than teaching them some manners.


Totally off-topic, but your set is GORGEOUS!

[xLuna&1LOVE]

Originally Posted by rusuke

Fans expect too much from Ayu which I think makes her pressured. (haha. I just assume that. Sorry!) Remember, we (fans) don't own them, they (artists) own us.

nobody owns anyone.

[Yumsushi]

How dare Ayu fans have expectations and voice them?! Its not like Ayumi herself set those standards! I understand disagreeing with comments like "Ayu sucks $$$ cause RnR circus is no Rainbow" but i find it laughable that expressing a dislike means that maybe the individual themselves is at fault and it couldn't possibly be Ayu releasing No way to say clone #45, blowing up her lips to the size of balloons etc

[channy]

Originally Posted by bondingo

I think Ayu summed up the reasons herself. To quote her:

"Music is my life. If without music it's like...I die; I'm nothing!"

Talk Asia xD

I loved her Engrish in that interview

[bondingo]

^ Yes! Best interview of anyone I've ever seen, ever.

Originally Posted by Yumsushi

How dare Ayu fans have expectations and voice them?! Its not like Ayumi herself set those standards! I understand disagreeing with comments like "Ayu sucks $$$ cause RnR circus is no Rainbow" but i find it laughable that expressing a dislike means that maybe the individual themselves is at fault and it couldn't possibly be Ayu releasing No way to say clone #45, blowing up her lips to the size of balloons etc

This post has made me love you.

[koumori]

I've always been interested in Ayu's early career; she moved to Tokyo to become a model, or to get more opportunities for acting/modelling? And then suddenly she's released an EP with NIPPON. She goes off in her own way after being dropped and apparently had no interest in a singing career after that anyway, since she nearly turned down AVEX if it wasn't for the lyric-writing offer. This is what it seems like to me anyway, from what I know. From her actions in her late teens it didn't seem like she was particularly interested in singing as a full-time career? But now it's her life. Maybe after A Song for XX and seeing how many people connected with her, and empathised with her emotions through her lyrics, it became more than just a career to her. I can understand that when you write your own lyrics and people still want to hear more, it would feel a lot more poignant than people just liking how your voice sounds in your latest single.

I think Bondingo summed it up on the first page, that she feels music is her life. Despite living in the spotlight Ayu has kept her past thoughts about her early career decisions to herself really, and I wonder when she really sat down and thought "I want to do this forever".

[Andrenekoi]

^Well, about her moving to Tokyo... she most likelly moved there to be an "idol", what she actually was for some time... and idols tend to be multimidia personas... they sing, act and model... So, either one of this activities she succeded the most, she would do something on the other 2 as well..

[truehappiness]

For a lot of people, I don't think knowing exactly why Ayu does what she does would change anything about the way that they feel about her work.

IMO, people are going to feel the way they do and rarely do they ever change their mind. However, I think that issues tend to come up when there's negativity about a release or two (or three... or four... or five... you get my point?) and all that you see someone talking about is how much they hated something that was released years ago and it's just a bit much. Like, we know you dislike it and wish it was never released but there's no need to talk about it so long after the fact.

I don't really know when it was that AHS became a breeding ground for anti-Ayu sentiments but it's really weird going to other forums and seeing people love their artists with very few complaints if any at all. And then you come to this forum and you see people essentially bashing her when critiquing a release and normally it's because "it's not what they expected from her" or because they want the old Ayu back for some reason.

About positive comments not being elaborated on, I think with a lot of Ayu tracks, they just click with people. It's hard to explain just why the song is so good while it's can be much easier to go on about why you dislike it. (Her voice is bad, lyrics are repetitive, melody is terrible, etc.) I feel that most of the time people who are satisfied with Ayu don't really need to go around talking about it as the ones who are dissatisfied do which creates a bit of a strange environment where it appears that an overwhelming majority dislikes her, when it's really because those who dislike what she's doing are waaaaaaaaaay more vocal.

[ストロボ・EdGE]

leeaaave ayu aloooone!!!!

[lilmissgrusome]

I like her rockish stuff the most, because thats what i enjoy, her pop stuff I enjoy as wel though
I think she performs because she wants to sing really, at the end of the day thats why all singers perform, its the same with guitarists, artists, directors etc they do what they do because they want to theres nothing wrong with that (just as long as they can)

I dont understand why you get people who are like "I ******** HATE AYU NOW BECAUSE OF HER NEW ALBUM" thats just being silly, just because one album was different from the others does not mean that it is a reason to hate her, and it's childish. If they dont like it then there is an eject button on a cdplay/pause button on an ipod etc, and I do think that there are other fans on ebay who would quite happily buy the album from them.

Yeah ayu has changed, big deal its not the end of the world, I like the fact she has a variety of styles, it shows willingness to try out new things, and who wants to keep using the same style all the time anyways? No one wants to here the same thing for an entire album, I would lose the will too live.

And about the negative comments, I thought this was a fan forum not a freaking hate club!!! and even if its about her voice, can they please show me a singer who hits EVERYSINGLE note precisely? cos I have yet to find one, its like writers/artists block, you get your moments, sometimes people need to stop being so picky, (seen many people on youtube for example)

[AyumiAi]

Originally Posted by lilmissgrusome

I like her rockish stuff the most, because thats what i enjoy, her pop stuff I enjoy as wel though
I think she performs because she wants to sing really, at the end of the day thats why all singers perform, its the same with guitarists, artists, directors etc they do what they do because they want to theres nothing wrong with that (just as long as they can)

I dont understand why you get people who are like "I ******** HATE AYU NOW BECAUSE OF HER NEW ALBUM" thats just being silly, just because one album was different from the others does not mean that it is a reason to hate her, and it's childish. If they dont like it then there is an eject button on a cdplay/pause button on an ipod etc, and I do think that there are other fans on ebay who would quite happily buy the album from them.

Yeah ayu has changed, big deal its not the end of the world, I like the fact she has a variety of styles, it shows willingness to try out new things, and who wants to keep using the same style all the time anyways? No one wants to here the same thing for an entire album, I would lose the will too live.

And about the negative comments, I thought this was a fan forum not a freaking hate club!!! and even if its about her voice, can they please show me a singer who hits EVERYSINGLE note precisely? cos I have yet to find one, its like writers/artists block, you get your moments, sometimes people need to stop being so picky, (seen many people on youtube for example)

THISSSSS

[Calico]

Originally Posted by Andrenekoi

^Well, about her moving to Tokyo... she most likelly moved there to be an "idol", what she actually was for some time... and idols tend to be multimidia personas... they sing, act and model... So, either one of this activities she succeded the most, she would do something on the other 2 as well..

(this is also a reply to koumori) Well, according to an interview back in the 90s (the one with Shikano) she moved to tokyo because she liked it, after visiting it a multitude of times on modeling trips (that she did to support her family financially). She started doing music with Columbia because her modeling agency fired her for being too short and transferred her to music. And then she was dropped for failing to chart and did the other thing left - acting.

anyway, back on topic, as her fans of course we have the rights to our opinions about her works (I would argue about her personal life, however, so long as she is being safe). But I think what's going on in AHS in particular is that a lot of people have been here forver and like hanging out here, but they're not really fans of Ayu anymore or just not much into her works now. But they still try her stuff out and it's just not clicking with them. I still love ayu but it's easier for me to like her newer stuff too when I dissociate it from her older stuff. Then again while I like a lot of her older stuff more than I used to, there's a lot of classics i used to love that i'm meh about now. It comes and goes.

[koumori]

Originally Posted by Calico

(this is also a reply to koumori) Well, according to an interview back in the 90s (the one with Shikano) she moved to tokyo because she liked it, after visiting it a multitude of times on modeling trips (that she did to support her family financially). She started doing music with Columbia because her modeling agency fired her for being too short and transferred her to music. And then she was dropped for failing to chart and did the other thing left - acting.

anyway, back on topic, as her fans of course we have the rights to our opinions about her works (I would argue about her personal life, however, so long as she is being safe). But I think what's going on in AHS in particular is that a lot of people have been here forver and like hanging out here, but they're not really fans of Ayu anymore or just not much into her works now. But they still try her stuff out and it's just not clicking with them. I still love ayu but it's easier for me to like her newer stuff too when I dissociate it from her older stuff. Then again while I like a lot of her older stuff more than I used to, there's a lot of classics i used to love that i'm meh about now. It comes and goes.

Oh wow..she really didn't have a life plan. (That's not an insult btw anyone, just me kind of being really jealous here! ) Ayu really just tried at anything. Well, luck was with her when Max happened to see her doing karaoke~

And I agree with the second bit actually, since AHS has been around so long, people have more 'experience' with seeing Ayu release and since they've said all the nice stuff about her works, they seem to criticise more just because they've been here a while. Don't get frustrated at it new people, just take it as harsh love. They're still around, after all.

[rusuke]

Originally Posted by xLuna&1LOVE

nobody owns anyone.

I was just joking!

[Minttulatte]

Nice topic. I didn't read anyone else's posts yet either so they won't mix up my own thoughts on the matter.

To me if this was mentioned somewhere between 2008-2009 I would say that yes, she is quite boring these days but that's not how I feel these days. Even if some songs on her recent releases may annoy me (BRILLANTE for example), I may later realize that they're actually quite good. There're even some of her older songs (July 1st and A Song is born) that I've suddenly fallen in love with.

I also believe that the main reason for all that negative feedback is because people tend to have huge expectations since this is Ayumi Hamasaki we are talking about. I mean, she used to have those really creative and mind blowing songs before (not that there's no gems here and there these days too, of course) like M, ourselves, evolution, Endless sorrow and so on. People tend to think that she's going to release something like that again and then get disappointed when the songs has more simple composition (like meaning of Love and Days for example) than what she used to have. Personally I used to have really huge expectations because GUILTY was such a kick ass album. I thought NL would be the same but it wasn't. I do enjoy listening to some songs on NL though but it's still not on the masterpiece level in my eyes only because I haven't gotten very familiar with it. There are some really awesome songs there though that should've been singles imo (LOVE 'n' HATE for example).

But one thing is sure, she does release a bit too many ballads. When Love songs was to be released, I understood those releases very well. I loved it when released her singles like during 2005 for example. I love that kind of variety in her singles that I wish would be back but I've also already gotten used to her releasing many ballads lately. Maybe it's just some kind of a adulthood thing then, I don't know. I've noticed that since her 10th anniversary she's been releasing less rock singles and more medium pop/ballad double a-sides than she previously did (like in 2007 when there was glitter/fated, talkin' 2 myself and Together When...) but imo Ayu can do whatever she wants and will release songs that she personally wants (I assume she decides what she'll release and when, right?). I will listen to her new songs and if I don't like it, I don't and I'll say it aloud, and wait for the next one because I know she'll have at least some cool remixes at times on her ballad singles anyway (like that Microphone remix on MOON/blossom, omg <3). And if she's seriously going to work with Tetsuya Komuro on her next album then I'll probably love her music since I love TK's music so much~

And when it comes to AHS, I like to read previews. I'm always curious about what everyone says about Ayu's releases, even if they're negative or positive. But I'll be honest with you that sometimes I do think that does her older fans even like anything she does anymore. When I first came here, I think there wasn't so many negative previews anywhere but in the last 2 years there has been quite a lot which makes me really wonder what's going on here at times. :/ And sometimes I wonder what's the hate for some certain things Ayu does because personally I think it's none of our business anyway. o.O

I know that someone's going to come and tell me I've complained many times myself. Yes, I have. I won't say I haven't because it's true. But as I said before, I have no expectations on her music (it's cruel, I know but it helps me to love her ). I'm very curious though every time I hear there's something coming but I try my best not to get too excited. Then, when I listen, I just look for the most amazing songs from her recent releases and concentrate on those (and yes, there has been quite many so my fandom hasn't really died yey). Then, maybe much much later, I concentrate on my least favorite songs.

Oh wait, who has been a idiot and gone to tell Ayu she should stop doing something she likes? o.o That's so rude. Even if people are dissatisfied with her stuff these days they shouldn't go tell her that she should stop doing it. :/

And I think I'll just stop now. If you didn't understand me or didn't get my point, I'm sorry for that. I'm not a native speaker of English so I may have not been able to say something like I say it in Finnish. -___- And I'm tired as hell too. And Ayu trance 2 kicks ass.

//Why do I feel like this post is totally crap and doesn't even fit the topic itself? 8D

[lilmissgrusome]

Originally Posted by AyumiAi

THISSSSS

I dont understand, why the THISSSSS?