[Utada Hikaru] Japanese music waits in despair for the Goddess's return in her 44th thread

[bluegie]

Happy b-day hikki

And hikaru.sc is such a bad place to go .

[koumori]

Originally Posted by amorphose

After U-O's forums died, some of the members from the deceased forum started their own forum. I'm not sure what they're calling it now but it started out as hikaru.sc, I think? It's troll city and they do nothing but make crude jokes about Utada and everything else in the J-Pop world and the pop culture world in general. Terrible place to go if you're looking for anything more than a 4chan style giggle now and again.

Ohh, thanks for explaining

[ストロボ・EdGE]

So this is what the threads will look like from now on, lol.

[jbrat2219]

Originally Posted by Picaflor 7/4

Personal satisfaction, and reimbursement cause they put me down.

Not my fault you associated yourself with my comment, I didn't write your name.

Anyway, did Hikki mention if she will tell us all about her adventures during or once she comes back?

[amorphose]

^She did not, however, I'd like to assume that she will in the form of music.

[ストロボ・EdGE]

I'm listening to DEEP RIVER and it's so depressing.

[KremlinChaos]

Happy Birthday Hikki!

By the way here's what she said about being proud of Exodus if anyone was interested.

I read a quote from you earlier where it said that for Exodus you were “trying too hard.” Can you explain what you mean by that?
Yeah, it was sort of like a…very experimental king of thing, I guess. Trying too hard, I mean. Because when you’re experimental, and…my attitude towards it was like, “Everyone else is in a mess, I’m I just going to go ahead and do something weird, you know what I mean? [Laughs] I’m just going to go ahead and make something real weird and intense but interesting. I think the music is very very neat, but it’s going to be weird, but…I’m not gonna care. And, that’s why…in a sense I was trying hard, to show, to make interesting music. And I was doing all the arranging, and so they were saying, technical things I have to really worry about in the music-making, and I was all over the place, really. But I’m just, I was so happy and proud of myself for having done that, that one album. And when I heard Elton John in an interview saying, “There’s a girl called Utada, a Japanese girl who makes interesting pop music, blah, blah, blah,” I thought, wow, that makes everything worth it, man, thank you [laughs]. But it was that kind of album where you have to be really into music or—it’s not easy to appreciate if you have no—if you have a certain, depending on your musical background or how deep into music you are. It wasn’t the kind of thing where you can listen to the radio and say, “That’s great!” and sing along to it, you know? And…I think I was trying to be more mature than I really was, I mean, what was I, like, nineteen or 20, and some of the stuff I was trying to be an adult, I was trying to say, I can do this. I’m grown-up, but I was a kid, kind of. And then, this time I feel like I’ve matured more, I’m more of a woman. If I sing something sexy, it’s more natural, it’s not forced, nothing feels strained, and everything seems to feel right. Like, it doesn’t make the listener feel any strain, either. I just feel really comfortable making it and promoting the album, too.

[Polyrhythm]

Exactly. "Having done that..." that referring to "And, that’s why…in a sense I was trying hard, to show, to make interesting music. And I was doing all the arranging, and so they were saying, technical things I have to really worry about in the music-making, and I was all over the place, really."

[Picaflor 7/4]

Originally Posted by jbrat2219

Not my fault you associated yourself with my comment, I didn't write your name.

I knew it was directed at me. How many other people said said something about "life being hard" and "she should have a mop and an apron and work at a minimum wage job." Don't act all innocent like you weren't trying to say something directly to me without using my name.

Originally Posted by jbrat2219

Yeah, for someone to experience "real life" it doesn't mean they have to live a hard life. Hikki shouldn't have to pick up a mop or broom or pay off debts to justify someone's perception of what real life is, it may be your life but it's not hers.

Originally Posted by Picaflor 7/4

Lol. Give her a mop and an apron, and tell her she was hired at McDonalds. then we'll see how long this hiatus lasts, and how long she really wants to experience life. haha

Originally Posted by jbrat2219

She just wants to take a break, what's so wrong with that? Why does she have to live YOUR life for it to be "real"? So is the life of a privileged person fake? I know that this hiatus can be hard on hardcore fans, but some of you need to grow up, seriously. Yes, you have the right to complain, but some of you sound childish trying to dictate what someone should do with their life.

Originally Posted by Picaflor 7/4

Of course she definitely is the lucky one. I would love to be able to say "I'm sick of my parents, I'm sick of student loans, I'm sick of paying car insurance, I'm sick of my minimum wage retail job, and I'm sick of my life. I want to just take a few years off from it all and enjoy what I want to do." Of course, about 1% of the world's population gets to do that. Like what she does with her albums, I'd love to be able to take 2 year breaks in between each day I work.

[jbrat2219]

^ Like I said, I didn't say you're name because I didn't know who said it. I responded on my phone and the screen is not big enough to show the names along with the responses unless I care to scroll and find out, which I didn't. So again, not my fault you associated yourself with my comment, I didn't write your name. If you have a problem with it, it's your problem to bare. It doesn't change the way I feel about what I said.

[JackieRos]

Pfttt I felt that TITO was where she was trying to hard

[Bigtop]

Happy Birthday Hikki! Not been focusing on her, especially with that hiatus...

[emi♡]

Originally Posted by JackieRos

Pfttt I felt that TITO was where she was trying to hard

Really? Didnt really seem like she tried that hard at all lol

[Picaflor 7/4]

Although exodus was a really weird album, I'm glad she did it. At least she tried something new. and yes, I feel tito is where she tried too hard. Tried too hard to make it appeal to the american audience. In that process I feel like she lost her genuineness too. It just feels like it really wasn't something she would release on her own if she had complete control of the album. Kind of funny too cause the first album was weird experimental and it got no where in america, and the second album was more american appealing and it also got no where. It also sold less than exodus. And exodus was able to have a few of it's remixes on the top dance club charts.

[emi♡]

...but she stated a million times that she wanted to do something that was totally not experimental at all.

I don't think that stops her from being genuine. The music was still very much imbued with who she is.

And of course she's going to sell less than Exodus, and of course she's going to go nowhere. No promotion, coupled with no hype...nowhere.

Besides, in order for albums to do well, the person has to be into it, doing lives all over, and attending parties and crap...and not just for the first few weeks leading up to the album...they need to be doing it like, throughout the year the album is released, in order to get exposure, and there's no way hikki was going to do those things.

and the result is...exactly what it should be. Low sales.

[Polyrhythm]

Being Asian doesn't help either. =/ Just look at BoA. Her poor label did everything they could to try to front her as a star.....high expense MVs and she flopped even harder than Utada. It really is a pity that Utada didn't try....she might have gotten somewhere.

[Keiichi_JPU]

Exodus is a gem for contemporary pop.

A truly amazing album, one of my favorites ever actually. That "mad scientist" kind of sound (as in experimental) makes it even more special for me. It might also be a piece of nostalgia, as this album is the first album of any Japanese artist I ever bought. I found it somewhere hidden in a huge music store in Amsterdam, and since I was just into Simple & Clean and COLORS at that time, I instantly bought it. I was like 14! <3 Good times. Woah and that means I've been a fan for 5 years. Anniversary time *listens to Exodus*

I also suggest everyone to use the UK cover on their iTunes. It suits the album about a hundred times better than that trying-to-be-sexy USA cover. So proud to own the UK version

[Andrenekoi]

Actually, I really liked TITO for being so poppish... Is something she does really well, as seen in First Love, and that she had not done in a longe time other than random singles...

[amorphose]

I'm so sick of people saying that TiTO is "too American" sounding and therefore un-Hikki like. Girl said she WANTED to make an American sounding album. She wanted it to sound like the contemporary pop music of America. She said that in almost every single interview for TiTO so I just don't understand why people keep acting like she made it seem like TiTO was supposed to be DEEP RIVER part 2 or something.

Also, TiTO may have sold less copies than EXODUS did, but that's because of the decline in physical sales between 2004 and 2010. TiTO charted higher and the singles reached higher positions on the charts than the EXODUS singles. Come Back To Me had quite a bit of radio airplay and I even saw the music video on TV a few times. Plus, TiTO had a tour to support it that sold out! I'd say it was more successful.

[Hachimitsu6]

Originally Posted by Keiichi_JPU

Exodus is a gem for contemporary pop.

A truly amazing album, one of my favorites ever actually. That "mad scientist" kind of sound (as in experimental) makes it even more special for me. It might also be a piece of nostalgia, as this album is the first album of any Japanese artist I ever bought. I found it somewhere hidden in a huge music store in Amsterdam, and since I was just into Simple & Clean and COLORS at that time, I instantly bought it. I was like 14! <3 Good times. Woah and that means I've been a fan for 5 years. Anniversary time *listens to Exodus*

I also suggest everyone to use the UK cover on their iTunes. It suits the album about a hundred times better than that trying-to-be-sexy USA cover. So proud to own the UK version

This. I don't know why everyone hates Exodus, I think it's a lot more interesting than many popular Jpop albums that sold a lot.

By the way I think I know which shop in Amsterdam you mean.. I saw it there before, but by then I had already ordered it somewhere else.. I was really happy to buy the UK version, with bonus remixes and the beautiful cover art. I can't believe how much better the UK cover looks compared to the US one!