[Utada Hikaru] The 40 something thread, 43 maybe....

[dreamland2.0]

I thought First Love was amazing!!! Sounded like the recording!!!

[Cherry Dynamite]

I thought she sounded fine but then again this is the first time I watched her concert, So I don't really how she usually sound.

[koumori]

At least she doesn't lip-synch.

[JackieRos]

people arguing in a hikki thread!
wow wow wow

[Amrai-chan]

lol Wow. Okay then. Um so...was I the only one expecting Kuma to be sitting on the piano during Boku wa Kuma?

[Pieces_of_SEVEN]

Originally Posted by Polyrhythm

Um she has never been known for "theatrics"....she's a singer not an actress. As for "horrible" vocals? Nah....they were pretty good. I dunno what you're talking bout....at least she's not out of tune every single second trying to hit notes she could only hit 10 years ago...

Completely uncalled for. It's not like these accusations are false or ridiculously hyperbolic. The concert is mostly boring. She sounds nice, but she was DEFINITELY out of tune at a few parts. ALSO, she's walking around like she'd rather be ANYWHERE but where she is.

Originally Posted by Heavenly Zerase

Refering to someone specially? Maybe the Queen of this forum?

Seriously. It irks me when *****es don't recognize. What forum is this again?? smh.

[emi♡]

Originally Posted by JackieRos

people arguing in a hikki thread!
wow wow wow

should have been here when luv venus, babyutada, and dddaiyamondo were here lol

hikki and koda always have drama.

[koumori]

^ Is it bad that even though they were members wayy before I even heard of AHS, their names are familiar and I know what you're talking about? Lol.

And at this whole, "Hikki would rather be anywhere but there" comments and that she's crap singing live/ can't hit or the notes...

Well it's a darn shame she didn't make you happy, but I hope she made the majority of her fans happy by at least doing a live.

I thought she sang nicely, she seemed emotional, it seemed real. Way better than some un-Hikki like dancing. She just seemed herself, to me anyway.

[Not Fade Away]

@All of the people saying her vocals were bad, I think you need to re-watch the concert on some other forum. I'm not saying this to be mean but, the first time I watched the concert was through a random site and her vocals seemed good, but not amazing. The second time, I watched a little higher quality version of the concert and her vocals were phenomenal.

I just think that you can't write her off based on one video-version you may have seen. Streaming videos aren't the best when it comes to audio quality. Also, a lot of the songs where she normally hits her best notes and didn't this time were -- as I noticed during the re-watch -- songs that were definitely more meaningful to her in nature. She might have just been a bit emotional.

People have said she looked like she didn't want to be there, but I honestly believe that this was her trying her hardest not to cry at some points. In 'Budokan' and 'UU06', she seemed happier and more care free because she knew that there was still more to come, but this time she knew she'd be leaving her fans behind and was obviously upset (if you couldn't tell by her sniffing a few times and looking teary-eyed).

Utada could probably smoke 60 packs of cigarettes, take multiple shots, and scream for 3 hours, and she would still sound better live than "most" artists discussed on this forum...

Just sayinnnn'

[Zahara]

I'm really surprised at the hate that people have for the concert. I thought her vocals were better than her average, and she she did miss a few notes, but not enough to say "OMG THIS IS THE WORST CONCERT EVER." People overreacted sometimes. It's fine if you didn't like it, but geez, tone down the theatrics lol.

If she's boring you, that's probably because you're used to theatrics, and that's fine. But if you expect her to come flying out or have dancers or whatnot, then you're fooling yourselves. She doesn't do that. If you can't keep your attention on the screen, then just listen to the vocals.

She doesn't look bored, to me it looked like she was holding back a lot of emotion. She was doing the things I do when I try to avoid crying (looking away, sniffing, etc.) She was probably overwhelmed, I mean 12 years ago she released her very first single in Japan, and now she's probably thinking how long ago that seems...

I'm glad she's taking the hiatus though, she definitely needs a break, and after two tours and that sickness she had, it's probably well deserved (despite people not thinking it is). I hope I didn't offend anyone, I just felt like I had to get that out. My apologizes to anyone.

[Pieces_of_SEVEN]

I don't think it's her worst concert ever.
I don't think she sounded bad.
I do think she looked bored for the most part.

Yeah, she really needs this hiatus (sarcasm)...since she's been releasing SOOOO MUCH in the past few years. Touring SOOOO MUCH. Let's be real. She's taking this because she does not want to make music at this point in her life. She has no motivation for whatever reason. It has nothing to do with her needing it because she has been working SOOO hard.

[koumori]

We all wish that she'd released more, but is that any reason to snap at us for her schedule? Sorry, but we have no idea what's been going on in her personal life, and the true reasons behind her not releasing as regularly as other artists. And to be honest, even if there's no real reason and it's just how she likes to release, then I thought her fans would of been used to it by now.

She's taking a hiatus because she's been making music since she was in highschool, so yes, I think, she DOES deserve a break and a chance to be herself. Sure she hasn't thrown herself into working non-stop like Ayu, but I can be sure her life has revolved around her music career for as long as she can remember.

[Not Fade Away]

Actually, Utada's releases/concerts are more comparable to what the average American Artist would do. Unlike most JPOP/KPOP artists, she was raised overseas in NY as well and was influenced a lot by American Artists.

Do you really want to say that she hasn't worked hard?

She worked in 1999 (First Love),
2000 (Bohemian Summer Tour),
2001 (Distance),
2002 (Deep River),
2004 (Exodus & Budokan Tour),
2006 (Ultra Blue & Utada United Tour),
2007 (Flavor of Life),
2008 (Heart Station),
2009 (This is the One), &
2010 (In the Flesh Tour, UHSCV2, & Wild Life Concert).

As far as I'm concerned, she only really took a break in 2003 and 2005, and it's pretty common in America to have a gap of a year or two in between new releases. Just because she doesn't release something every single week, doesn't mean she isn't working hard. It just means she takes time to create meaningful music and to not overly strain her vocals.

[Zahara]

She does deserve to take a hiatus since she has been making music nonstop (excluding that point in her life that she went to college.) She releases like an American, I get that it's not that common over in Japan to have that release cycle. There wasn't a need to snap, I do agree that you deserve to have your opinion heard and are probably correct in a lot of things, and I do agree with you about a few things.

Just because she doesn't release an album every year or do a tour every year, doesn't mean she isn't doing anything. Creating music, producing and other things do take time and it can be very difficult and draining. I've seen a few musicians do what she does and it take them far longer to accomplish. They have fans that are eager for them to release music just like us. I'm not happy about the hiatus either, but if all I've ever known is making music, deadlines, and living in a studio, I'd be pretty tired of it all too. I'm trying to look at it from her perspective, and it wasn't really that surprising when she announced it either. I'm pretty sure we could have seen it coming lol.

[bluegie]

The power of hikki still affects to us (both positively and negatively). Look how wonderful this is... She's already in her hiatus, yet the thread is still pretty active .

To be fair, her voice was not perfect at all in the concert, and yes she struggled sometimes for the higher keys. But most concert you've seen on dvd are already edited. I will not compare the edited dvd voice with a live-streaming where the crews could not edit immediately. Besides, her voice is more than fine in this concert. You have to account for the fact that her songs are hard to sing (esp when the notes go from low to high to low in just a few seconds within a song).

And knowing hikki for 11 years, I never expect her to fly around or changing 10+ costumes during a concert. This concert is excellent IMO.

[Kingdom]

Originally Posted by Pieces_of_SEVEN

Completely uncalled for. It's not like these accusations are false or ridiculously hyperbolic. The concert is mostly boring. She sounds nice, but she was DEFINITELY out of tune at a few parts. ALSO, she's walking around like she'd rather be ANYWHERE but where she is.



Seriously. It irks me when *****es don't recognize. What forum is this again?? smh.

Hi would you like the number of my cousin's best friend's therapist? He can prescribe you some chill pills!!!

[Minttulatte]

Oh for heaven's sake people. :'D Stop arguing already. :p

AHS ~DRAMA is ALL~.

[Andrenekoi]

People should cut off the "eeew! she is real artist, she needs no dancing nor theatrics nor outfits cuz she is superior" crap... I didn't see anyone (and I'm pretty sure I am not) complaing about those things... I'm not asking for Hikki to dance, or to have a big concert, or to have 200 outfits... As far as I'm concerned she could make a concert on her pajamas... But yeap, I'm asking for energy and I'm asking for her to take good care of her voice... after rewatching the whole thing, I'm starting to wonder if she is not going on hiatus cuz she screwed it up for not taking care...

About her songs being hard... After 12 years in the indutry, I hoped she could realize she should compose songs she is able to sing, if she is going to make concerts...

[Pieces_of_SEVEN]

Originally Posted by ero-kakkoii

Hi would you like the number of my cousin's best friend's therapist? He can prescribe you some chill pills!!!

#justsayin

[Not Fade Away]

She hits all of her notes, without warble, so I don't understand this "compose music she can sing" idea I've been seeing floating around all the time. She also understands when to adjust her vocals for a lower range when necessary and doesn't try to crack through songs in order to match CD quality. At least she can still sing the majority of her earlier works in the same register.

I honestly still think a lot of it had to do with the quality of the stream as well (this doesn't account for the anyone who actually went to the live, obviously, but so far I haven't heard any negative feedback about her vocals from those who attended the live yet). Even the best artists that are overcome with emotion can sometimes not sing as strongly. I think this 2-part concert was just an example of that.