[2003] Ayumi's biggest competitor...

[Yajimari21]

Originally Posted by AyuDivine

Yeah your right mainstream sells, but Ayu isn't mainstream and she is at the top of the list. One awesome song from Ayu, which could even be tomorrow, like you said one bad song from Koda and its aidos. I want another naturally song!!!!!

Ayu's been making bad music since B&D/Pride was released, while Kuu has been making decent - > good songs in that same time period. You guys are also wrong about Ayu's "loyal" fanbase. Maybe in 2004/2005 [pre- B&D/Pride] (where her single sales were relativly consistent), but now? I think not. You guys really down-play Kuu and her popularity~ XD;.

[Elekko]

I may say it's BoA. I like Ayumi very much, almost all her songs are adoreable and I think her songs are unique. BoA in otherhands, I like her too, probably on the second place after Ayu, and I do like many songs by BoA but not as many as Ayu! BoA is young as mentoined, and I like her. Only the negative thing is that BoA can also be too "normal" singer as I see Ayu as a "unique" singer. No offence, but that's how I fell. Hikki is great, but I see her as her career is not that much "Asian". *^^*

[truehappiness]

Originally Posted by Yajimari21

Ayu's been making bad music since B&D/Pride was released, while Kuu has been making decent - > good songs in that same time period. You guys are also wrong about Ayu's "loyal" fanbase. Maybe in 2004/2005 [pre- B&D/Pride] (where her single sales were relativly consistent), but now? I think not. You guys really down-play Kuu and her popularity~ XD;.

How can you say that Ayu's making bad music o_o;~ especially when the 12 singles supposedly weren't so good to begin with.. XDD

Oh well. Her songs are still amazingly hot <3

[No_Doubt]

Originally Posted by Yajimari21

Ayu's been making bad music since B&D/Pride was released, while Kuu has been making decent - > good songs in that same time period. You guys are also wrong about Ayu's "loyal" fanbase. Maybe in 2004/2005 [pre- B&D/Pride] (where her single sales were relativly consistent), but now? I think not. You guys really down-play Kuu and her popularity~ XD;.

I totally disagree. If anything, people down-play how excellent Ayu's recent releases have been, in particular Bold & Delicious/Pride. To be frank, I have yet to hear one convincing argument articulating why Ayu's latest music is so awful. "It's poppy" or "it sucks" are hardly valid criticism. Koda's hasn't released anything on par with her ~secret~ material since its release. I find it ridiculous to call Ayu's well-crafted, inventive, and incredibly polished pop songs ubiquitous or generic when Koda Kumi has been pumping out far more forgettable, disposable music for well over a year. Sorry for being brash, but I find it sad when there are more people who bash Ayu without justifying why they don't appreciate Ayu's recent work than there are who give her the praise she deserves.

[Yajimari21]

Originally Posted by No_Doubt

I totally disagree. If anything, people down-play how excellent Ayu's recent releases have been, in particular Bold & Delicious/Pride. To be frank, I have yet to hear one convincing argument articulating why Ayu's latest music is so awful. "It's poppy" or "it sucks" are hardly valid criticism. Koda's hasn't released anything on par with her ~secret~ material since its release. I find it ridiculous to call Ayu's well-crafted, inventive, and incredibly polished pop songs ubiquitous or generic when Koda Kumi has been pumping out far more forgettable, disposable music for well over a year. Sorry for being brash, but I find it sad when there are more people who bash Ayu without justifying why they don't appreciate Ayu's recent work than there are who give her the praise she deserves.

'Bold & Delicious' and 'Pride' were both thought of as "weird" songs in Japan, and imo both songs were of lower quality than many of her previous releases. 'Startin'' wasn't very good in general, and 'Born to Be' was completly over the top. I'll admit that 'BLUE BIRD' and 'Beautiful Fighters' were both okay, but neither track is that good compared to some of her earlier songs. Yes, it is true that Koda's music was best pre-Flower, but some of her new songs ('Koi no Tsubomi', 'Someday', and a few of the songs from '4 hot wave') come close. Moreover, I'm not trying to 'bash' Ayu, but I do believe that her music hit an all-time low w/ B&D/Pride and has been slowly climbing back to it's former level [BB/BF's songs were just sub-par to many of her 2005 ones].

[truehappiness]

Well, saying that she hit an all-time-low with B&D/Pride is kinda overdoing it.. at least to me. :/

[alt.total-loser]

As of now?
I think Koda Kumi is. She's been selling a lot lately with her singles, and she's just very popular right now. She can sing very well, and her recent songs have been catchy. Although her popularity could all disappear in the next year and Ayu will still be around selling lots.

[ayu_ready?]

Hikki has been being a competitor for Ayumi since A BEST, remember this war, loves?
rememeber this WAR, real war of PR?
Hikki and Ayumi everywhere, like theres nobody else!
hehe, I guess Hikki still IS a competitor.
why not?
I find her albums really HQ

[Kumi? no way, Kumi's not a diva yet, IMO...she's just kinda learning, she hasn't gained the level of Ayumi yet...]

[Pulsar]

Right now...would be Koda Kumi, Utada Hikaru, and also BoA.....in this order....but I think kuu will be out of popularity soon while BoA will continue to be popular with the folks.....as for Hikki ...she will slowly become less popular...

at least thats what I think...

[Kodayumi]

^^Why Kuu would be out? Her popularity is rising fast

[Hakaru]

since when did talent become something you can just obtain? i dont think its because cetain people dance better or can sing better, trying to explain talent is like trying to explain love, in the end talent is something you have, its just their, people who dance better or sing better doent make them more likely to suceed, ayus starting off voice really wasnt that great if you compare it to what society conciders a nice voice, but it had something in it that sounded so true and belivable, it was screechy and she wasnt always pitch perfect, she wasnt perfect, and was more than happy to show it, thats what people could relate to i think xD i agree with the people saying ayus biggest competitor is herself, i think that if you try to compete with other people you'll head in the wrong direction because your looking at yourself and them and comparing when you should just be looking at youself and seeing what you can do -*isnt making sense lol!-

i think koda will fade fast if her image doesnt change, and her voice to me is kinda tiering to listen too, same for me with hikki and boa, i think their voices are really generic, because thats whats expected to be a good selling voice thats the voice taught, and ayu i think she's loosing her originality i loved her imperfect voice that skiped notes also making me skip a heartbeat woundering what was next, with these other artists its almost predictable to what will come next and unexiting,lol xDD i hope ayu goes back to her screechy voice from 'a song for xx 'I am and 'MA

[Kobayashiwoof]

WOW this thread started like 3 years ago

I'd haft to say Kumi Koda and maybe Utada Hikaru. Koda Kumi Because welll look at her sales lol. Utada, maybe not because of her physical CD sales but her digital Downloads, her latest singles have been selling heaps on itunes etc but low in cd store

[Zeke.]

Originally Posted by truehappiness

Well, saying that she hit an all-time-low with B&D/Pride is kinda overdoing it.. at least to me. :/

Look at the sales for B&D/Pride... They are terrifying compared to the other releases during that year - it is just unbelievable and shocking as to how she can drop so much from one single to the following one... I mean, they aren't "low" sales for many other artists, but for Ayu they are.

[nodoka]

I think that Koda Kumi is her biggest competitor because there music kind of falls in the same category sometimes and so do their events and voices.

[zeroshin888]

Originally Posted by Hakaru

i think koda will fade fast if her image doesnt change, and her voice to me is kinda tiering to listen too, same for me with hikki and boa, i think their voices are really generic, because thats whats expected to be a good selling voice thats the voice taught, and ayu i think she's loosing her originality i loved her imperfect voice that skiped notes also making me skip a heartbeat woundering what was next, with these other artists its almost predictable to what will come next and unexiting,lol xDD i hope ayu goes back to her screechy voice from 'a song for xx 'I am and 'MA

I totally agree with you about Koda and her voice. Sometimes her voice sounds totally unappealing to me. IMO, Koda's only becoming more and more popular because of her appealing/attractive outfits, not so much of the quality of her music.
I also agree that Ayu's recent releases till this point have totally hit rock bottom. They seem so bland compare to her past releases. But this may give us a total surprise with the upcoming single, which will inevitably bring her sales way up!

[LacusClyne]

in the current time, it's kuu. kuu sales had been raising so much this 2 years, but it's still too early to say. if kuu does not change her image, she will go down in the later time.

but ayu's long time competitor will still be hikki. the media is comparing both sales the most. and they tend not to release too close to each other, with the exception of a-best and Distance, which cost a roar in the music industry, everyone was watching the sales!

[g~sus~]

Originally Posted by evolutionricky

Yes I agree that Ayu should dance more. Real Me was good...but she needs some more hardcore dancing....like Britney's "Sadisfaction/Oops I did it again" 2000 VMA preformance. That blew me away and she needs to dance like that.

exactly...she's being too soft for her image in startin'
if she wanna be hot in startin' video or concert she haveta dance an
uplifting and fast dance instead of just shaking there like her performance in blue bird concert one...although she look good but her dance drifts everything down..

i don't like boa's and utada's song though...most of them...and their face... is boring

[ayu_fan929]

Originally Posted by Raiu-Ayu

All it would take it one awesome song from ayu and a bad one from Kuu and ayu would have no competion anymore.

Not really since some people think that some of Kuu songs haven't been that good, whereas some people thought that they were excellent.
***
Back in 2003, I would have said Hikki and BoA. BoA, since she was like one of the only few female solos to have such high album sales. (Back then she already had 1 close to million selling and 1 million+ selling album)

Now, I would say it's Otsuka Ai, Koda Kumi and Hikki. Otsuka Ai because her sales are pretty close to what Ayu is selling now.

STEP you/is this LOVE?: 345,000 -vs.- SMILY/Biidama: 310,000
HEAVEN: 327,000 -vs.- Planetarium: 316,000
(miss) understood: 867,000 -vs.- LOVE COOK: 814,000
Startin'/Born To Be...: 188,000 -vs.- Frienger: 172,000

Hikki's past 3 singles may not have been spectacular sales wise but there's still the ULTRA BLUE -vs.- (miss) understood competition still going on.

As for Kuu, I think she's is the biggest competitor right now since she is the one that is selling more than Ayu right now.

[truehappiness]

Because she is the one with the supposed most 'hype' D:


If she's everywhere, she's bound to sell more. It might be like OR.. where they had high sales which sort of died down a year late.. :/

Oh well. /runs off to get voodoo doll

[s1012h]

you know what
forget about me saying that Utada is her biggest competitor
Ayu's biggest competitor is HERSELF
that's right, HERSELF
After making amazing one-of-a-kind songs like M, SEASONS, etc
eveyone has high expectations for her
and as a highly respected singer like herself
she's gotta keep her game up constantly, or else the audience will be bored
lately her songs have been mediocre, and she is becoming a bit less popular
but i'm sure as the Queen of J-Pop, she can live up to her standards once again
and JEWEL sounds very promising