[Translation] [2013] ayu loses sales record to AKB48 (Article)

[tsumekaze_]

About the whole comparison ayumi hamasaki vs akb48.
I love both. But akb can't even stand the comparison with ayu, come on guys. They're just a bunch of idols who make cute songs. One must take them for what they are.
Ayu on the other hand is a full time producer, singer, ARTIST who grew up so much with nearly no help, while all the girls in akb are pushed in some way or the other.
I think it's just wrong and lacks respect to compare the two, or to compare ANY artist in the very sense of the word to akb. As long as I love them, the idea on which they are based is totally different from the usual artist and they really do not have to do much if not dancing to pre established dances and smile to get a bunch of votes. THERE are some girls who are worth it in there, and I repeat myself, I'm a big fan. But to talk about the whole unit of akb is ridiculous. Plus you can't really compare 90+ girls (if not counting the sister groups) to only ONE person who ruled the jpop panorama over the last 15 years (because even if she sells less she STILL sells a lot as a solo artist, probably second only to namie now)

About her tours being all the same in the last years. Sure, she has some "staples", but I can't really see how AT12 is the same as RnRC tour, for example. I think, as many stated, that ayu has found herself, what she likes, what she wants. There are some things which we may dislike (the tissue performance? ugh THAT'S ENOUGH AYU) but it's her choice and if she keeps displaying it it doesn't mean her tours are going to be all the same, there will always be something which changes. It's just her being coherent and cohesive to her idea of creativity.
I got to know ayu in 2009 and I personally LOVE all her tours from 2008 onwards, till now. Better than some old ones, at times. Or just, I regard them differently. Why people assume that if they don't like her newest stuff then she's the problem? there are people out there, me included, who enjoy her recent stuff very much. Maybe the problem isn't ayu's music, maybe her music is no longer what those people are searching for. Ayu is a person, not a personal jukebox. She can't please anyone and will keep doing stuff according to her own taste and that's why I love her and respect her.