Quote:
Originally Posted by kagami
It's really fucking rude to say Ayu doesn't care about her career. I can't stand that kind of thing. For shame.
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I think it is easy to assume so because in the past it was clear that she had more FIRE and PASSION regarding her releases. Hell, it used to be so visual, so cross-promotional, more conceptualized and planned out. It seemed like she always had a concept, there was a LARGER picture to be seen and everything seemed consistent with getting that message across. That's what fascinated me. I have no doubt that my appreciation for strategic communication, branding, and creating concepts that reach into the depths of cross-promotional media was hugely inspired by watching the visionary "HAMASAKI AYUMI" evolve over the years as I came into adulthood. She was never an artist who was "just there," she had cultivated an entire universe around her image, her brand, her sound, and her fans. That's probably why I was so drawn to her; her image was so well crafted that she seemed to be a mirage of sorts.
Fast forward to the present, and there's little to no remnant of THAT "HAMASAKI AYUMI" today. I know people grow and change, but her brand and image has made a severe de-evolution recently and it just seems so... foreign. It's a head-trip that's for sure. In that environment she had created (which also translated well into her music, the ability to create soundscapes that constructed vast environments for the listener to become lost within), I felt unbelievably happy. I still feel the best when I can escape into her world and her music, making it part of my reality and my scenery. I often flashback to my thoughts and feelings regarding her "previous" states as they were "current" and how I compared them to that "past" and it was never quite like this. She seems virtually absent in a way. With Ayu and her music, I never felt lonely. Now it's as if an important character in my life has taken a far away trip and I'm uncertain as to when I will ever see or here from them again in the ways that I have in the past.
People can continue to act as if the fans who feel this way are overreacting, but the emotions we have are real and highly understandable. Ayu was always the megastar - anything but average - and for me she was unlike anyone or anything I had ever encountered before in my life. Now, her brand and her image seemingly continues to regress. I used to think in the past that I could never imagine the day she actually "fell" because even if she wasn't selling as much as time went on, her brand, her aura, her environment, her drive and her sense of concept continued to grow and excel. There's not much we can do but eventually I feel she may return with more passion than ever before. Even if the sales aren't there, when Ayu finds that creative drive and begins expanding upon her empire once again, I will be the first to walk through that door with pride.
4th October 2014, 10:35 PM
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