'again' mini album covers

[KPL]

Originally Posted by Maemi

And what about those?

Spoiler:

H and again have basically the same theme, but drastically different art/composition though. hahah

I prefer H btw.

[CatGirl]

Wow you all seriously need to CALM DOWN. They're just covers for a glorified maxi-single :/ And Ayu was already lovey dovey with Maro in the You & Me PV and it was hinted that there would be a continuation. Why is it such a big deal that they're actually dating??? The covers are beautiful and Ayu looks truly happy in them. Also, Ayu's written about more than just ~*love*~ the past 2 years LOL... It's also been a theme she's been using since ASFXX?????? Seriously CHILL OUT PLEASE... Let Ayu be happy (:

Originally Posted by Maemi

And what about those?

Spoiler:

And yeah, I thought of these covers too lmao. I bet these were scandalous too, because the guy is ~*shirtlesS UH-OH*~

[jamester]

I just love these covers. i don't care about Maro or Manny, but these covers look something-Ayu-ish that we missed from precious terrible covers.

LOVE and 'again' covers are superb. They just portrait who Ayu really is.

[happiholic★]

People keep saying that Ayu would feel weird for putting Maro on the covers if they break up, but what I think would be more weird is having to work with him after. I don't think she could fire him, I don't know if that would count as proper grounds, but I suppose he could quit.

I think that these days she just gets excited by the people in her life and keeps throwing them into the picture. Like Timmy, for example. Its whatever she's hopped up on at the moment.

[KPL]

For haters about ayu using her private life as PR, I ll copy what I would like to share in another thread:

I mean, she is really right in appears/return road lyrics that we audience can actually never know the true/whole stories. But that is exactly the whole point of all these, given this being part of true relationship or PR, or both.

She is 34, and personally I do not think she is stupid, so all the public/fan reactions now, including negative ones, should be what she and her company can foresee. I should say, at this moment, "hamasaki ayumi" is a divided image, due to its longevity and maturity, inevitably; there is not one "simple and innocent ayu" who wrote Poker face anymore, and even she herself has been saying at the very beginning: hamasaki ayumi is a product.

So I think in order to the fans themselves to be more comfortable, it is crucial to not take EVERYTHING about ayu too seriously and naively. She is much more complicated than what the fans can dream about. All these little things, big events, craziness, imperfections if you would say, just make ayu more real.

[pepper]

^ Party Queen experimental? It was way too nudy (but I'm not the one to moan about it, her body is sexey~~) but experimental? It was fun. I think that's why I realllly like that album. Diversity in music, not focusing on "medium/ballad" love songs... Even the PV's for NaNaNa and Shake it was lame, I still prefer them than lovey dovey theme.

Originally Posted by sugarbasil

Personally, I think Ayu's going through some giant midlife crisis or something. She doesn't seem to know who she is or what she wants anymore. It's like she's just going through the motions at this point and doing whatever makes her the most happy at that moment. Which is cool, she can do whatever she wants.

To me, though, it seems like she's almost flailing at times. Like this. I don't personally buy this whole relationship with Maro thing. I don't question that she feels something for him, but like...wtf. Where on earth did this relationship come from? And I just don't personally think putting your new BF on your album cover is a smart move, but what do I know.

As for the covers, I think they're okay... I agree with the few people that said they're sick of the LOVE theme, and by that I mean the way all the covers and PVs look the same, like they were all made with instagram or something. And yeah, we get it: you're in love. Again. And again. Thought your love life was going to stay separate from your professional life? Oh well...morals change.

And as for the people who say 'who cares? It's her music that matters.' I care. I don't follow her anymore for her music. I follow her because I idolized her for half of my life. But in the last 2 years she's been contradicting so many things that I came to idolize her for. Maybe that's her changing with time, but I don't have to be a fan of the change.

true, true.
I personally wasn't EVER into her private life. I don't know a single fact about her relation with Tomoya, I maybe saw 2 pics with her and him. This is just too much for me.


(and her break-up music is always better, haha)

[pepper]

We can blame era of smartphones and twitters

[saigodansu]

Random model on a motorcycle is entirely different than this publicity world tour through Paris and London hiring gettyimages to follow her around as paparazzi as if she's that popular in western countries. She's not, she's announced where and when she will be meeting fans in western countries many times before and the paparazzi in the west does not care. This is all staged and to the point of being sickening,and will likely cut her sales, not increase them. Yes there's a sudden jump in the charts for You & Me because of the fans who buy absolutely every word she ever says, but overall when people notice how staged and fake it all is, this stupid stunt has the potential of destroying her career, because who's going to take her seriously anymore.

[mizuki-7]

For haters about ayu using her private life as PR, I ll copy what I would like to share in another thread:

I mean, she is really right in appears/return road lyrics that we audience can actually never know the true/whole stories. But that is exactly the whole point of all these, given this being part of true relationship or PR, or both.

She is 34, and personally I do not think she is stupid, so all the public/fan reactions now, including negative ones, should be what she and her company can foresee. I should say, at this moment, "hamasaki ayumi" is a divided image, due to its longevity and maturity, inevitably; there is not one "simple and innocent ayu" who wrote Poker face anymore, and even she herself has been saying at the very beginning: hamasaki ayumi is a product.

So I think in order to the fans themselves to be more comfortable, it is crucial to not take EVERYTHING about ayu too seriously and naively. She is much more complicated than what the fans can dream about. All these little things, big events, craziness, imperfections if you would say, just make ayu more real.

I agree with you !!

than this publicity world tour through Paris and London

She don't go to london lol she stays in Paris until monday evening

hiring gettyimages to follow her around as paparazzi as if she's that popular in western countries. She's not, she's announced where and when she will be meeting fans in western countries many times before and the paparazzi in the west does not care. This is all staged and to the point of being sickening,and will likely cut her sales, not increase them. Yes there's a sudden jump in the charts for You & Me because of the fans who buy absolutely every word she ever says, but overall when people notice how staged and fake it all is, this stupid stunt has the potential of destroying her career, because who's going to take her seriously anymore.

Ohh god you're probably not french so you can't know what she is doing in Paris but what you say is foolishness !
Actually the paparazzi are posted in front of her hotel because kardashian family is here ! Some of them have say to some fans that they totally don't care about Ayu because it can bring them only 60 € if they take a picture of her etc... & getty images are not a paparazzi society ...

You are here for bashing Ayu ! It's obvious that you don't appreciate her anymore why you're still here except for create discomfort O_o ?

[Ayumi_Hamasaki902]

I love these covers!

[saigodansu]

@mizuki-7

I care about her. What I don't like is the constant publicity stunts she's asked to do by people she at times refers to as family and they treat her like all she's good for is making them more money.

[~X2RADialbomber~]

Talking about a personal relationship in a song is a bit different to directly linking your work to your boyfriend, because inevitably the lyrics Ayu has always used in her songs have become anonymous to an extent. There is no direct lyric saying "I love you *insert name of Ayu's current boyfriend" but she presents feelings that are inherent to relationships in general... and that's what makes people connect to those lyrics because they are all things that people feel. I'm not so sure if having her boyfriend on the cover would affect that but, despite her wishes to keep her personal life private, the whole cover seems slightly weird to me...

Yeah, maybe she does need a publicity stunt to spark things up again. But perhaps she should have simply reinvigorated her PR on magazines/TV performances instead

[TeamAyu2004]

I dont understand why people have to say this is a stunt...
that implies that they are not even dating and as of right now they have already said they are.

By using her life as press, everyone does this. It doesn't make it a stunt. It makes it good PR.

A stunt would just being they are doing this to try and make press, which only time will tell if this is true.

[Tony G]

I don't know what to think of these. It's something I never, ever expected Ayu to do.

[Tony G]

In her defence, Maro basically works for her, and these wouldn't have been the least bit controversial if news of their relationship hadn't leaked. They're quite unique covers, and still tasteful, Ayu hasn't done something like this in her career. Love how it goes against a typical winter theme as well.

I wonder why the picture of her and Mannie used in the Return Road PV didn't generate this kind of backlash?

[truehappiness]

Maro is really just a prop in these. That's why there's text all over Maro's face in the other cover. Wasn't there a guy she was hugging in LOVE ~Destiny~ too?

Also, I feel like after having titles like "LOVE" and "again" we should have probably seen this coming from a mile away.

[maikaru]

Originally Posted by truehappiness

Maro is really just a prop in these. That's why there's text all over Maro's face in the other cover. Wasn't there a guy she was hugging in LOVE ~Destiny~ too?

Also, I feel like after having titles like "LOVE" and "again" we should have probably seen this coming from a mile away.

LOVE ~Destiny~ and H are completely different than again.

We KNOW the guy on again is Ayu's lover. It makes it totally weird. =/

I just feel this relationship is now so in your face for the past few days. Covers, PVs, pictures on twitter, now he's with her greeting fans... I dont really care if she wants to have a relationship with her dancer, if it makes her happy, that's great. But it's just too much to have him dancing with her on stage, doing bed scenes, performing as her boyfriend in PVs, being on the CD covers... especially for japanese fans, where public displays of affection are still very much frowned upon.

I just feel really bad about this. Ahhh. And she looks so so pretty on the covers too. And Im pretty sure her music is going to be really good, since she demonstrated how much she grew as a singer in LOVE... Im so conflicted. I just feel kind of like... sick from the way Maro is in your face. I dont even know how to describe my feeling.

[visionfactory]

^ And the shirtless man in H single!

I think it's just a coincidence that Maro is on the cover, he and Shu-ya were being Ayu's false lovers for YEARS before this to came up.

I think it was just a matter of time for some of her back-up dancers to appear in her covers.

[ExodusUK]

I'm curious, should the subject of Ayu's personal life should be a banned topic considering Ayu has said that it is PRIVATE and not part of her career? Just like how TeamAyu entries are not allowed because she wants them kept on TeamAyu??

The Love Destiny and H covers are totally different - the guy is pretty much just a prop where as with these it's clear who it is with Ayu and why..

[Andrenekoi]

Originally Posted by ExodusUK

I'm curious, should the subject of Ayu's personal life should be a banned topic considering Ayu has said that it is PRIVATE and not part of her career? Just like how TeamAyu entries are not allowed because she wants them kept on TeamAyu??

The Love Destiny and H covers are totally different - the guy is pretty much just a prop where as with these it's clear who it is with Ayu and why..

It's clear for us who actually recognize her dancers by their hairstyle... Most people over here could love Ayu the same amount they do and wouldn't have noticed it's Maro if they weren't members of the forum.