How much do you love Ayumi Hamasaki?

Originally Posted by ImpactBreaker

Actually I think that's more of a proof that she loves her career/job and the $$$ rather than the fans themselves. I know she must love her fans, to an extent, but nah, not to THAT extent that she'd put them above everything else, otherwise she'd make free performances and distribute free cds and w/e. Ayu is not some holy saint that came to earth just to please the masses. She's human, she knows she's not incapable and that she still can make her career worth of fame and $$$.

^Gotta agree with this. While I am a fan of her music, as a person I believe she is very aware of her current position in the industry, and knows she has hit a sweet spot.

[apple-pi]

It's been a long way... *starts typing out really long rant that no one cares about*
When I first started listening to J-Pop, I ended up hearing about her, obviously, 'cause she's really really famous and stuff. In western music, I tend to find unknown artists A LOT better than the famous ones - so, when I first found out about Ayu, I thought she'd be lame because she was famous, I though her music would be as useless and meaningless and way way too mainstream like the stuff that plays on the radio here~
I think the first song I heard from her was In The Corner. I remember keeping the song in my iTunes/MP4-player for quite some time, thinking it was "decent", but eventually the song annoyed me and I deleted it. Basically, I just hated Ayu, I thought her poppish mainstream songs were really really bad and really silly (I had no lyrics translations >___<) and I thought her rock songs, while not being silly, were just decent, and didn't really appeal to me.
The first song I actually LOVED, the one that I kept on repeat and looked up the romaji lyrics online to sing along, was YOU. I loved it. But I still disliked Ayu for some reason, and I think I just ignored the fact that the song was hers. The second song I fell in love with was Moments, I loved the chorus very very much... I loved how repetitive the melody on the chorus sounded and compared it to a ticking clock ^___^
Thing is... I don't remember what it was, but for some reason, one day, I decided to give Ayu a second chance. So I went to Youtube, I wanted to watch the most watched Ayu video to see what her most popular songs were like... and that's how I found M. Seriously, I don't know what it is about that song. I usually don't become obsessed with a song unless the lyrics are really genius or just really appeal to me for some reason, but I had no idea what the lyrics meant at the time~ yet I really fell in love with the song. The song, the PV... I don't know what it was. I fell in love with Ayu in that moment, and I have no idea why~ But when I started to look for other Ayu songs that I might like, I just didn't like any of them. After a while I just gave up, "Ayu is a great artist, but her music just isn't the kinf of stuff I listen to"~
It was when GUILTY came out that I actually started to enjoy her music (yes, I'm a newbie fan XD) I just loved the Marionette PV... and I thought, as I watched it, "Hey, this song is actually... good...!"; then I decided to watch the (don't) Leave me Alone PV, but I was really sure that I wouldn't like the song. I was surprised that I actually really liked it as well... so I downloaded the album... and it was a really pleasent surprise, I loved basically every track. That's when I decided to see what her lyrics were like... I saw a subbed performance of fated on Veoh, and loved it so much and it was so beautiful that I had the song on repeat for about 2/3 days. I have no idea how many times I listened to that song at that time, really.
Then, since I really loved the GUILTY album, I started coming to AHS as a guest, to read the Oricon style sales thread. Someone had a bit M lyric translations on their siggy, and I immediately noticed I NEEDED to find the translation to that song. When I read it... I was... I dunno. I fell in love with it all over again. So I started to look for more Ayu translations... and much, much more often than not, I was impressed. they were too beautiful. That's how my love for her started to grow a bit more...
After a while, her personality really started to make me love her even more. I mean... I'm not gonna say the only reason she's in the business is because of her fans, and I'm not gonna say she's sacrificing herself for our sake when she continues her career despite being deaf in one ear. But I can't help but think Ayu is a really lonely person, and she really does love her fans a lot. She was lost before she started singing, in my humble opinion. Now she's so happy... songs like AUDIENCE seriously shake me up. Anyway... both her good qualities, and even her flaws... they make her so beautiful...
Her songs really mean something to me. I'll admit I'm obsessed... as pathetic as it may be... have I ever said Ayu is my biggest obsession after Sailor Moon? The reason I have an internet addiction, the reason I like anime/manga/J-music, the things I dream of, the things I'm afraid of... I don't know how, but they were all influenced by Sailor Moon at some point. (I sound like a lunatic, don't I? XD) Ayu influences me like that. That's how much I love her.

*finnishes typing out really long rant that no one cares about*
I hope I didn't sound too pathetic. Haha XD

[UHPlus]

i used to watch this over and over when it was broadcasted on singapore's tv and recorded it down:

http://www.crunchyroll.com/media-216...BI-Live-2.html

now? i can barely forced myself to watch any tv lives of her to the end .. >_<

[ayumisrael]

^lol I love her vibratos at this performance.

[TITANIC]

I love everything from ayu.
her voice, her image, her face, her songs, her PVs, her Lyrics, LOL

[MeruChan]

I watched Ayu's CNN interview like 10 times..the reason for me to have internet is to update on Ayu's news...the excitement I get is from enjoying Ayu's work and feel great! that pretty much sums up how much I love her!

[ownsarai]

I love everything about Ayu, her songs, her lyrical style, her honesty, her style, her beauty, her loyalty to her music and her fans...Ayu, in my opinion, is the total package.

[waterballoon]

The biggest reason to why I respect and love Ayu so much is because... without her, somehow I think I wouldn't get the chance to type something here.

Yes, it was somewhere in April 2008... like 3 weeks ago... I felt suicidal.

And Life leaked. I read the lyrics... and I heard the song.

Yes, I decided to live.

She has taught me things that I can't learn from other people.

I'm really grateful to Ayu for these things.

[panda87]

i love her lyrics, her music, her unique voice, her looks, her hairstyles, her character (how she's goofy, dorky, laughable, REAL), her fashion style (most times). also, i love how she doesn't try too hard to me americanized and conform to the music industry's typical female artists image and stays true to her individuality. she's different. she's unparalleled and irreplaceable in many ways for me.

her music has saved me so many times. they've given me courage, strength, wisdom, and compassion. she will always be my number one singer. she has touched me in a way no other artist has.

[ImpactBreaker]

Originally Posted by ayumisrael

Well all of the artists are doing their job for money as well to an extent lol

Obviously. It's just that it is really weird to see people letting their ayu love create false excuses that ayu is this extremely kind, flawless and perfect person, who's willing to sacrifice her life only for the sake of the fans. That's quite unreal. Artists can be grateful for their fans...but self-destruct their own bodies for them? unreal...
Also, ayu has a love for her $$$. She loves to go shopping for superfluous stuff...she has an insane collection of shoes and bags. She wear high quality luxury brand stuff. She wants to keep her diva status. Quite honestly, ayu doesn't really look like the altruistic person willing to ease the pain in the world and become a martyr as you can read in some ppl's opinions.

[slavomiros]

Well, according to all what has been said here...the $$$ vs fans...i think that Ayu proves to be THE genius artist who can perfectly combine both interests (she has to do smth for her living afterall) and that makes her so damn SPECIAL to me. What goes for the strong determination to continue with her career despite her left ear (poor Ayu-chan), honestly...just imagine yourself in her place...you are a god-like celebrity with masses of fans worldwide...would you really consider quitting? I mean, if it further harms her health, it sure is worth consideration but she seems to be fine with one ear so far. The HEYHEYHEY performance of Mirrorcle world shows her left ear without ear plug, and look at her...at cca 02:01...I nearly collapsed, when I saw the video for the first time. Today, when I watch it over 'n over again...I'm still near heart attack but I'm getting used to it XD.
You see, there are so many factors that suggest that Ayu carries on singing no matter what...it's her heaven-like beauty, divine voice, angelic smile and remarkable courage. It's pointless making my soul leek with all those her-lyrics-gave-me-strength compliments, 'cause it's SO obvious (and my English is not good enough to express them sufficiently...lol). So to conclude all this, I just say that without Ayu, my life would be as empty and shallow as a life of a lonely and desperate person could be. Thousand thanx to o-kassan Hamasaki for bringing up such a perfect human being who has become the light at the end of the tunnel for many of us...hotoni arigato.

She's pretty cool, yes.

[ayumisrael]

Originally Posted by ImpactBreaker

Obviously. It's just that it is really weird to see people letting their ayu love create false excuses that ayu is this extremely kind, flawless and perfect person, who's willing to sacrifice her life only for the sake of the fans. That's quite unreal. Artists can be grateful for their fans...but self-destruct their own bodies for them? unreal...
Also, ayu has a love for her $$$. She loves to go shopping for superfluous stuff...she has an insane collection of shoes and bags. She wear high quality luxury brand stuff. She wants to keep her diva status. Quite honestly, ayu doesn't really look like the altruistic person willing to ease the pain in the world and become a martyr as you can read in some ppl's opinions.

I highly agree

ayu love her cash and use it in the way I would use it lmao =P (admitting).
But also she likes in the same amount of getting cash, to make people happy with her music, her fans and people who like to listen to it.
It makes her feel good in her heart.
And if she feels good and having fun of making music, making people/fans who're happy/touched with her music and getting big cash, I think it's just the right thing for a true artist to do.

She is obviously not perfect, flawless, world caring goddess etc.
But she is a combination of what a good artist is (imo), and that's what I like about her.

I personally don't like money *****s, which are ONLY into money and their fans for them are just a big "ew get far away from me" and I don't like money donators artists that will donate to anything their money, just for the sake of look good and do wonders in the world ("perfect" artists).

[Melrose]

I like her more than, say, the singer of Within Temptation. She seems so fake on the TV. Talking about making her music more mainstream to make more $$$. Idk, I just don't really like her. Not even when I met her in real life. Not that anyone cares lol I just felt like typing that somewhere 'cause it's been bugging me. XD

Ayu seems pretty cool. Luv her~~~~

[kirei_ayumi]

I fell in love with Ayu because of her beautiful voice, fashion sense and music styles... out of other singers, I listen to Ayu the most... she's not afraid to go against the odds and bring out new things. seems to me, Ayu fights challenges because she's there to win them.. she's a very enthusiastic woman and that's what I love about her

[GRACE]

Ayumi Hamasaki has some quality to her that draws people to her. I mean, think about it really, she's NOT the best singer in the world, nor has she ever been. Her voice is really nice, but that totally isn't what sells her music. Ayumi is a rare sort of celebrity. Her fans can SEE the human in her. She's not some higher being sitting on a pedestal, she's one of us. She's lived through problems that a lot of people face, she survived them and moved forward strongly. That's what I think I love most about her. She's obviously human to her fans.

I think it's also safe to say that she's one of the great poetic minds of our time. I truly hope that if her songs as songs don't survive the ages, their lyrics do. I truly believe the woman is a genius.

[ImpactBreaker]

Originally Posted by slavomiros

What goes for the strong determination to continue with her career despite her left ear (poor Ayu-chan), honestly...just imagine yourself in her place...you are a god-like celebrity with masses of fans worldwide...would you really consider quitting? I mean, if it further harms her health, it sure is worth consideration but she seems to be fine with one ear so far.

That's a point I'm trying to get at:

Her determination is strong, because she has a serious problem. But the problem doesn't make her invalid, nor does it get worse because of her job. I believe most people if they were in ayu's situation (the fame, the career - and obviously the self steem she has), they still wouldn't give up, because to tell the truth, it's a lot harder to give up on such a career than to accept working with such a disability. The decision would have been harder if her job had been directly related to causing her disability, but it isn't.This is why I don't see that much as a honorable quality. She just chose the most reasonable path imo. She still can sing and perform, with hardships, but she still can. This is where I get that she isn't really making any superhuman effort to go on with what she should. If i were in her condition I'd do the same, i'd still go on with my careeer, because I'd know I'd still could make it worth it.

Sorry if i sound so annoying about it. I really like and admire ayu a lot, but I try to be moderate on what could be just my fandom creating masks to put ayu on a higher pedestal than she should be LOL

[ArchangelLegend]

Years ago, I first like Ayu because I thought she was really hot and all I did was watch her PVs on repeat. Eventually I learned more about her and now I love her for being an awesome musical artist.

Her singing is not her best specialty, there are many singers who have more singing talent than Ayu (though I notice her improvement over the years and maybe her sweet voice just appeals to many people). People are drawn to her because of her lyrics and they feel Ayu is being very genuine about them. And she is. Everyone has a little Ayu inside of them because we all have dreams where everyone is listening to you and your thoughts. In this case, Ayu brings that out through singing her own words (as oppose to singing from another songwriter). And we all dream about making it big the way Ayu has done it, start from being unknown into someone who will be really popular in a short period of time by putting forth your best talent. That's unlike, for example, Morning Musume, where some mom brings their cute daughter to some audition in hopes for them to be popular. This in turn gives Ayu lots of respect especially since she started out as a high school drop out; which is similar to Bill Gates since he was a college drop out but became a billionaire anyway.

It also helps being attractive. Ayu can easily advertise whatever because of her looks (heck, she had her own TV show too). However, there are so many good looking people out there and Ayu stands out amongst them because of her positive connection with the people and her fans. She was not chosen to sing on stage simply because she's some pretty face (which does happen a lot in the music industry like umm...Morning Musume). It was her songwriting and her honest personality that gave her that distinction. And again, she is very respectful because of this.

So I love Ayu for her lyrics, honest personality, and her looks. Not to mention the nice variety in her music and the fact she composed some of them. But what really made me love her the most? Her dedication to her fans. It seems to me she has given up a lot to not have a personal life of her own (ex. she's not married yet and I think her dogs and collecting fancy clothing are her personal life now which I find funny). Every year, she writes a lot and goes on many concerts as well as producing some of them. Her deaf ear is not stopping her either. This also shows how strong a bond she has with her fans. I hope that we and all fans will continue to develope this strong mutual relationship we have with Ayu (keyword is "mutual").

There is just one thing I want to see Ayu do. And that is do some humanitarian work. Anyone with hundreds of dollars of loose change in their pockets should do this. Something is better than nothing. I mean Shakira done it. She actually created and founded her own charity and even recently went to Bangladesh to help chidren in need. Wouldn't be awesome if Ayu took a slight detour from the music industry and help out as well? I mean some of her music videos is just unnecessarily expensive. Ayu did wrote the song "A Song is Born" which was suppose to be a non-profit song for 9/11 victims (which is cool and I would like to see that more often). Actually, I don't recall any other notable humanitarian work from Japanese stars or singers. Correct me if I'm wrong.

[slavomiros]

Originally Posted by ArchangelLegend

There is just one thing I want to see Ayu do. And that is do some humanitarian work. Anyone with hundreds of dollars of loose change in their pockets should do this. Something is better than nothing. I mean Shakira done it. She actually created and founded her own charity and even recently went to Bangladesh to help chidren in need. Wouldn't be awesome if Ayu took a slight detour from the music industry and help out as well? I mean some of her music videos is just unnecessarily expensive.

I think, she should at least try. The human approach to people in need would perfectly match her human-like approach to her fans and she would become even more popular. Well, not all artists are "suitable" to do charity, but people like Shakira...or...Ayu, who are SO sincere with their music, should give it a try...there isn't really much to lose, right?

[Lora-Ayu]

How much? Probably as much as my heart's capacity to love.
Her lyrics always come from her heart.
Her songs come from her heart that it reaches so many other hearts as well.
Sometimes, her songs eases away the pain of so many people, including me.
Whenever I feel like crying or am already crying, I just listen to her songs and I relax.

So human....

She's very human. That's one of the things us fans loved about her right? With all that flaws and imperfections...
That every moment she sings out-of-tune we understand, and we sometimes love her even more don't we?
She's very sincere in many things she does. She's real. And whether she cares about her "$$$" more than her fans...

I really don't mind. I love her with all my heart.