[Utada Hikaru] ʕ•̫͡•ʔ The Wild Wolves Howl in the 56th thread ʕ•̫͡•ʔ

[kotora]

This song may be a bridge of Fantome and the new album.

She used to do that

DISTANCE -> FINAL DISTANCE -> DEEP RIVER

Fantôme -> 大空で抱きしめて -> ?????

[orbitalaspect]

Originally Posted by kotora

This song may be a bridge of Fantome and the new album.

She used to do that

DISTANCE -> FINAL DISTANCE -> DEEP RIVER

Fantôme -> 大空で抱きしめて -> ?????

Fantôme -> 大空で抱きしめて -> TALL MOUNTAIN (?)

She kind of did the same thing with Dareka no... after DEEP RIVER. But I don't know if it's because she has some residual feelings left after doing an album and just gets them out in a new single?

The first single for DISTANCE was Addicted To You, which was extremely similar to the R&B sound of First Love.

The first single for DEEP RIVER was FINAL DISTANCE, which, you're right that it did bridge DISTANCE and DR.

The first single for ULTRA BLUE was Dareka no..., which again bridged the styles of DEEP RIVER and ULTRA BLUE, which turned out to be a much more serious and mature project.

And then, of course, Flavor of Life's original mix (the not-ballad version) is extremely similar to the upbeat tracks on ULTRA BLUE, but definitely tipped off the sound of almost every track on HEART STATION.

Sakura came in 2012, and looking back, it's very clear from Sakura from that Fantome would have turned out much less processed and polished-sounding as what Utada did during her peak. Plus, it was a huge tip off to the giant leap in maturity Utada took in her music from HEART STATION to Fantome over her time on hiatus.

So, if she's following the same pattern, and I'm only speculating here: I think Oozora de Dakishimete signals a return to her fan-focused records since Fantome. Between this and her upcoming release for Kingdom Hearts 3, I imagine Utada feels Fantome said what she wanted to say, and now she's moving forward. I also think her massively successful return helped her and all of us realize that Utada has never actually been a product like Ayu or Namie or BoA or Koda. Universal didn't make her who we love. People have always been fans because who she is has always been in those albums, singles, and tours.

So, I'm sure right now Utada feels a lot of things: Likely grateful that her parents both knew the industry so well that they navigated her around having the same issues Namie and Ayu have struggled with their entire careers. She's likely happy that fans care for, respect, and want to support her husband and daughter as much as they do her. She's probably very satisfied that so many people wanted to share in remembering her mother and acknowledging that she wasn't just "Utada Hikaru's mom", she was also a very talented and influential woman. And I think she's also hopeful for the future, knowing that she's not expected to pump out an album every year or a single every six months, that she's not a cash cow for Epic or Universal, but that she can honestly continue being who she's always been and hundreds of thousands of people look forward to it.

If I put myself in her shoes, I imagine I'd feel like I dodged a bullet. Looking at the careers of Ayu, Koda, and Namie, and how they have to qualify a release as "a personal record", I would feel pretty satisfied that I didn't turn out to be that person.

Anyway, mostly speculation, but I still strongly believe that Fantome proved Utada's fanbase have always liked her music AND her. We've never really needed her to be a character or meet some high expectation.

In some ways, it also makes me feel really sad for Ayu. I can easily understand why Ayu stopped going to awards shows and tried to make a huge point about not being seen as a product.

[ahtka-chan]

Originally Posted by kotora

This song may be a bridge of Fantome and the new album.

She used to do that

DISTANCE -> FINAL DISTANCE -> DEEP RIVER

Fantôme -> 大空で抱きしめて -> ?????

I think the DISTANCE > FINAL DISTANCE sequel was more accidental than made on purpose. She was already going to rerecord Distance as a ballad when Rena Yamashita was murdered so I think she chose FD as a single to pay homage to the girl.

Originally Posted by orbitalaspect

Fantôme -> 大空で抱きしめて -> TALL MOUNTAIN (?)

She kind of did the same thing with Dareka no... after DEEP RIVER. But I don't know if it's because she has some residual feelings left after doing an album and just gets them out in a new single?

The first single for DISTANCE was Addicted To You, which was extremely similar to the R&B sound of First Love.

The first single for DEEP RIVER was FINAL DISTANCE, which, you're right that it did bridge DISTANCE and DR.

The first single for ULTRA BLUE was Dareka no..., which again bridged the styles of DEEP RIVER and ULTRA BLUE, which turned out to be a much more serious and mature project.

And then, of course, Flavor of Life's original mix (the not-ballad version) is extremely similar to the upbeat tracks on ULTRA BLUE, but definitely tipped off the sound of almost every track on HEART STATION.

Actually, COLORS was the first single off ULTRA BLUE (even though, at first, COLORS was supposed to be included only on Singles Collection Vol. 1). And in her 10th Anniversary book, Hikki said For You was going to be the first single, but for some production issues, AtY was chosen instead.

So, in this sense, I don't think she was using "leftovers" from past albums, it was more of a coincidence of some sort...

[bluegie]

Originally Posted by orbitalaspect

So, if she's following the same pattern, and I'm only speculating here: I think Oozora de Dakishimete signals a return to her fan-focused records since Fantome. Between this and her upcoming release for Kingdom Hearts 3, I imagine Utada feels Fantome said what she wanted to say, and now she's moving forward. I also think her massively successful return helped her and all of us realize that Utada has never actually been a product like Ayu or Namie or BoA or Koda. Universal didn't make her who we love. People have always been fans because who she is has always been in those albums, singles, and tours.

So, I'm sure right now Utada feels a lot of things: Likely grateful that her parents both knew the industry so well that they navigated her around having the same issues Namie and Ayu have struggled with their entire careers. She's likely happy that fans care for, respect, and want to support her husband and daughter as much as they do her. She's probably very satisfied that so many people wanted to share in remembering her mother and acknowledging that she wasn't just "Utada Hikaru's mom", she was also a very talented and influential woman. And I think she's also hopeful for the future, knowing that she's not expected to pump out an album every year or a single every six months, that she's not a cash cow for Epic or Universal, but that she can honestly continue being who she's always been and hundreds of thousands of people look forward to it.

If I put myself in her shoes, I imagine I'd feel like I dodged a bullet. Looking at the careers of Ayu, Koda, and Namie, and how they have to qualify a release as "a personal record", I would feel pretty satisfied that I didn't turn out to be that person.

Anyway, mostly speculation, but I still strongly believe that Fantome proved Utada's fanbase have always liked her music AND her. We've never really needed her to be a character or meet some high expectation.

In some ways, it also makes me feel really sad for Ayu. I can easily understand why Ayu stopped going to awards shows and tried to make a huge point about not being seen as a product.

I don't think EMI/Toshiba/Universal was too bad for her. She never had to rush out albums like other artists did, and she did have many controls on her music production (Ringo is another example, as she was in the same company and she could do mostly what she wanted). It's just unfortunate that she and Def Jam had different views.

Also, I think she was never seen as a product from the start. In Japanese entertainment industry, artists' lives are totally controlled by their managers, and they can't have many rights to say what they really want. Also, management have more powers than music companies I believe, so management can easily navigate artists up or down (if the artists don't listen to them , for example SMAP...). On the other hand, hikki's dad has been her manager since day 1 and thus she has loads of freedom that other artists can't have, and I think even her dad can't really control her music production if she decides not to do something.

Of course, fan or not, people generally don't speak ill of hikki. As I mentioned a few times before, she is one of the artists who can escape from negative impact due to divorce (look at ayu's cases), or family affairs (look at Namie's case, really tragic and she suffered a lot). Japanese didn't really think she's a b***h when she married a foreigner. Whenever she is out from hiding, almost everyone treats her like a royal highness (in music industry). She's like from another planet when we compare female artists. Looking at recent years, the closest female artist that can also own a planet is Namie, and probably not as fancy as hikki's one.

I do feel sad about ayu as well, but I also feel like she's so far away from many of us (probably mainly old fans). I don't really understand the current ayu, and I actually see that the current ayu is another person. I mean, hikki has been changing a lot, but I can still connect the First Love hikki to Fantome hikki. I can't do the same to ayu. Also, it's sad that the public doesn't really care what she releases anymore. Hikki can release an album about her late mom and people would try to see the deep meaning behind the music. If ayu releases something about her life, the public would probably just think ayu is trying to show off again. I really want to see a second peak from ayu, but I really doubt it will ever happen...