a-nation 10th anniversary for Life information thread [I] - Page 13

Amrai-chan · #**241** 1st August 2011, 12:25 PM

Oh okay. I can handle that.

panda♥ · #**242** 1st August 2011, 12:58 PM

i think the reason the criticism was taken as such a big deal to her this time was because people were delivering their opinions in the wrong way. there's a way to deliver your opinion and a way not to. i would def say maikaru's elaboration on his opinion is the way to do it, vs aimless hate at Nao/JUNO or Ayu.

Andrenekoi · #**243** 1st August 2011, 02:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by maikaru

Wow, you didn't read ANYTHING I wrote did you. You buy a product from a brand because you are familiar with the format and quality of the brand, even if it's first buy to buy a particular product, or whatever number of times you bought it. Ayu has never done this kind of concert before, and since it's radically different from the format and quality that everyone has been accustomed to and were expecting, without so much as an announcement before, then it leaves a bad taste. If Apple announced "we're gonna radically change the iPhone this time" before time, people have the choice to buy or or not buy it. But if Apple doesn't say anything before hand, and when people expect the iPhone to be almost the same as previous iPhones with different version ups and whatever, and are met with a radically different iPhone that they didn't know was coming, that's bad business and it leaves a poor taste, and a lot of upset customers.

Anyways, the point of my entire thing is I understand why people are complaining about the concert, especially the ticket holders. If the tickets were 99cents, then I would be like "Ok, well..." but we all know that A-nation tickets are so expensive! Can you imagine paying so much money for something, and be VERY disappointed in the end? I want people to understand this, because I hate the tunnel vision that is always apparent on this board, even myself included sometimes. This time, A-nation was very much promoted under false advertisement. It said "Hamasaki Ayumi." Not, as I said before, "Hamasaki Ayumi and Friends." It's as simple as that.

Ayu herself has already stated that the name "Hamasaki Ayumi" is a business and product. If a company doesn't listen to the customers and patrons of their business, what else does a business have left? What kind of music and concerts that the business side of Hamasaki Ayumi creates is not connected to the feelings we have with the personal side of Hamasaki Ayumi, because we must separate our personal feelings for the artist from the goods that we are buying. If something is bad, or disappointing, then you must call a spade a spade. If someone says "I am very disappointed with this concert," it doesn't translate to someone saying "I hate Ayu." And I think that's the reasonings many people on this board resort to in the end. That statement ACTUALLY translates to "I paid money for this concert ticket, and I am not satisfied with the product that I have received."

And what many of you guys don't seem to understand, but I'm gonna give the benefit of the doubt that you do, in Japan, your customer is God. You MUST please them, because that's your duty to do that. They are paying their hard earned money for your service and your entertainment, so you must produce entertainment that is entertaining for your customers, to fulfill your duty for them paying you. If you do not produce this, and you do not at least listen to what your customers want, then you are not an entertainer, and you might as well stop entertaining. Ayu saying "I think you will understand why I did this" is not a good enough reason for someone to not be upset or disappointed. It doesn't matter if we understand or don't understand, what matters is if we are entertained. It sounds harsh and cold to say it like this, but it's the truth. And that's why I hate when people bash on the people who have gone to the performance and don't like it. "You shouldn't have gone." "You shouldn't go see it." "If you don't like it, don't watch it." What a stupid and childish response to have. In the end we are all Ayu fans, and we enjoy the format and content and quality we are used to having, and we want to continue to enjoy said format and content in the fashion that we are accustomed to. Why should we simply look away and turn our eyes if something is disappointing in our opinion? If she is what we have invested a lot of time and money in, should we not continue that patronage and offer feedback and criticism to her? Edit: If you were a business, wouldn't you want to know when your most loyal customers are unsatisfied? That would mean you are doing something that doesn't work, and you need to fix it. Saying you shouldn't watch something is counterproductive to this logic.

And I don't think Ayu herself would even want to build a world where no one offers their opinion and criticism about her work, because there would be no need to grow or evolve. In the end, this criticism will help her build a product that will satisfy everyone's entertainment levels, including her own, in her own way. But I think Ayu, above everyone else, already understand herself that she has built a product, and she needs to entertain her loyal fans, because that is the job that she chose for herself.

Why is that so hard for people to understand and accept? Why do I even have to write rants and essays about this? I thought this was general common sense.

Edit: And I want to also say before someone says something, I am all for her doing collaborations and whatever. But tell us when the entire set or concert will be only collaborations with one person. Give that person the credit he also deserves as well. What I'm saying is this should have been advertised in advance, and if it doesn't meet with the expectations of your customers, do something about it. Don't be stubborn and sit there and make up excuses. Take the responsibility, which I know she will do. At least, that's what she's been singing about all these years.

At this reply I need to remember that Ayu is not a cellphone... We are talking about an artist here... a performer, songwriter, concert and recording producer... We have tons and tons of artists who base their career on what people want to listen, jpop is full of them, as is pop anywhere else in the world...

But this is not how Ayu runs her career... She usually releases what she feels like to, what she feels she should release to better fits the moment in her life, in her career and in her country... And even if she does have her formulaic releases, mostly a summer track and a winter track every year, her albums and concerts tend to have a closed concept, where even if one or another detail could easily fit more than one era, the whole thing is different from the rest.. And this is something she would never be able to do, if she was trying to satisfy her consumers by basing her works on formulas, instead of basing her works on a high quality standart, that is what she tries to do..

Again, I'm not saying everyone should love everything she does, I myself hate RnRC and Secret for example, and I'm not saying she should tolerate is just because it's Ayu...

But really... having this amount of disappointment because of a 6 tracks setlist from a summer festival? Saying she should be trying to please us cuz we consume her work? There's no artist in the world that can live totally alienated from their public, but at the time an artist starts focusing their whole career into pleasing this public by releasing exactly what they think the artist should, the thing that made this artist being interesting in the first place is killed.

Some (if not most) of Ayu most celebrated works where unexpected to her fanbase and general public alike.

And just to finish my big post

Considering how this year tour worked, there's a big chance that the a-nation setlist will not be the same at every date, maybe not even her collab... and that would be really interesting to see...

relmy · #**244** 1st August 2011, 03:05 PM

^ It's not the set list people are disappointed at, nor is it the Naoya collabs. It's the fact he was in her solo songs and this wasn't advertised in advanced. I know it doesn't really matter to those of us not going, but it's still a huge disappointment when we view a-nation as another chance to see Ayumi Hamsaki performing. Further added to this disappointment - for myself anyway - was Ayu's "people would hate it anyway" mentality, that made me feel like she was doing it for selfish reasons, not for her fans and to bring them enjoyment with her performance. Her newest blog post rectifies this with her new stance on the (non rude) criticisms.

When I dislike an album, it's fine. With the singles and promo PV's I have materials to judge if I want to buy or not. They work as the advertisement for the changes since the previous album. For example, the change in formula for NEXT LEVEL was seen in Sparkle and the style of the covers. None of us have a problem with her changing and evolving, there are many other factors in the reaction to this a-nation.

NintendoHTF1242 · #**245** 1st August 2011, 03:08 PM

With all this backlash, I sort of fear for how the mini-album will fare on the charts lol

Bigtop · #**246** 1st August 2011, 03:47 PM

If another major competitor comes up on the same day Ayu's releasing, there could be a possibility that Ayu might not get #1, and the decline could start here...

Andrenekoi · #**247** 1st August 2011, 04:02 PM

^Yeah, once she doesn't hit 1 on the album charts, her career will most likelly die... That's why she retired after Guilty

panda♥ · #**248** 1st August 2011, 04:07 PM

i don't care if Ayu is #1. as long as she continues making music and enjoys doing so, i'll continue listening.

maikaru · #**249** 1st August 2011, 04:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andrenekoi

At this reply I need to remember that Ayu is not a cellphone... We are talking about an artist here... a performer, songwriter, concert and recording producer... We have tons and tons of artists who base their career on what people want to listen, jpop is full of them, as is pop anywhere else in the world...

But this is not how Ayu runs her career... She usually releases what she feels like to, what she feels she should release to better fits the moment in her life, in her career and in her country... And even if she does have her formulaic releases, mostly a summer track and a winter track every year, her albums and concerts tend to have a closed concept, where even if one or another detail could easily fit more than one era, the whole thing is different from the rest.. And this is something she would never be able to do, if she was trying to satisfy her consumers by basing her works on formulas, instead of basing her works on a high quality standart, that is what she tries to do..

Again, I'm not saying everyone should love everything she does, I myself hate RnRC and Secret for example, and I'm not saying she should tolerate is just because it's Ayu...

But really... having this amount of disappointment because of a 6 tracks setlist from a summer festival? Saying she should be trying to please us cuz we consume her work? There's no artist in the world that can live totally alienated from their public, but at the time an artist starts focusing their whole career into pleasing this public by releasing exactly what they think the artist should, the thing that made this artist being interesting in the first place is killed.

Some (if not most) of Ayu most celebrated works where unexpected to her fanbase and general public alike.

And just to finish my big post

Considering how this year tour worked, there's a big chance that the a-nation setlist will not be the same at every date, maybe not even her collab... and that would be really interesting to see...

But the form I'm talking about is not to sing in this way, or sing this kind of song, but the form I'm talking about is singing her solo songs just that, solo.

But I digress. I think Ayu understands what's going on from her TA diary. I'm not saying for people to attack her, of course not. It's just constructive when we offer sane and valid criticism of her work, so she can also grow and evolve as an artist. I love when she does things that she loves, because it usually turns out really grand. But sometimes it doesn't work, because as she said herself, she's not perfect. And let's tell her when it's not working, because she needs it. But let's do it in a way that will not create this chaos and crisis over a 6 song setlist. But even though it's only a 6 song setlist, when Ayumi Hamasaki doesn't do many public appearances, just her tours, then her performance at A-nation becomes more important to her fans than it might actually be.

Eewyi · #**250** 1st August 2011, 06:36 PM

*Comes out shyly like a little girl* Uum, sorry that I'm existing, but am I the only one who actually loves the set ayu is using in a-nation, and also likes the idea of ayu feat. Nao? >///<

Andrenekoi · #**251** 1st August 2011, 06:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by maikaru

But the form I'm talking about is not to sing in this way, or sing this kind of song, but the form I'm talking about is singing her solo songs just that, solo.

But I digress. I think Ayu understands what's going on from her TA diary. I'm not saying for people to attack her, of course not. It's just constructive when we offer sane and valid criticism of her work, so she can also grow and evolve as an artist. I love when she does things that she loves, because it usually turns out really grand. But sometimes it doesn't work, because as she said herself, she's not perfect. And let's tell her when it's not working, because she needs it. But let's do it in a way that will not create this chaos and crisis over a 6 song setlist. But even though it's only a 6 song setlist, when Ayumi Hamasaki doesn't do many public appearances, just her tours, then her performance at A-nation becomes more important to her fans than it might actually be.

Well... everytime we try something new, there's a chance that it will fail... She only performed once (or twice? Don't know) on this way, so, there's a chance people will get into it over the dates, or that she will fix whatever gone wrong at first...

She shouldn't stop it just cuz it had some bad feedback, cuz if she does so, she will not give this idea a real chance to work...

Again, I'm not really happy about this way she is performing, but if she felt like trying it, she should try it until she feels like it totally worked or totally failed...

!Lawi! · #**252** 1st August 2011, 06:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eewyi

*Comes out shyly like a little girl* Uum, sorry that I'm existing, but am I the only one who actually loves the set ayu is using in a-nation, and also likes the idea of ayu feat. Nao? >///<

You're not alone x)
It may not be the best a-nation ever (after all, the best a-nation will ALWAYS be a-nation 05

),but I love the idea,and how Ayu surprises us lately !

Eewyi · #**253** 1st August 2011, 06:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by !Lawi!

You're not alone x)
It may not be the best a-nation ever (after all, the best a-nation will ALWAYS be a-nation 05

),but I love the idea,and how Ayu surprises us lately !

Thanks for your support~ >///<
Oh, I have a shameful confession to make too...I'm also a fan of AAA, you know, that band in which [evil] Nao is in, will it mean that you don't want to be my friends? :,o
*Asking with a little girl voice*

**ayumisrael** · #**254** 1st August 2011, 06:52 PM

I don't think that you need to be ashamed about artists you like, at all.

ExodusUK · #**255** 1st August 2011, 06:54 PM

I don't get why you guys are freaking out...you're not going to a-nation and you'll probably download it, watch it once and forget about it anyway.

love in music · #**256** 1st August 2011, 07:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eewyi

*Comes out shyly like a little girl* Uum, sorry that I'm existing, but am I the only one who actually loves the set ayu is using in a-nation, and also likes the idea of ayu feat. Nao? >///<

Nope, you're not alone! I was getting sick of the same formula and am happy she's doing something different in a-nation for a change. I also think her and him are soo cute together on stage from their Dream ON lives. I have nothing against him. I think it is a little overboard to have him featured in HER original songs, but as long as it's just this one a-nation I don't see the problem at all and won't judge until I see the performances themselves. It's good to be open minded, some ayu fans should give it a try.