The End?

[Coelacanth]

I sure hope she doesn't quit...

Originally posted by jerms
lol..unite, boys/girls, evolution, trauma, independant, and audience(& sometimes surreal) will always be there, mr. impact u cant really escape those!

lmao so true so true

[CT_Cool]

Yeah i only seen a few ayu tours but i notied that there some songs where she alway sings in most of her tours. It would be nice to see her sing those not so popular songs in her tour.. also for ayu end, let just hope that a long time away from now......

[jerms]

Here's some info off the oricon site: & was the 8th best single, quite a drop. The next one is 32 then 36. That's not good by Ayu standards. Rainbow for 22 weeks, I am - 27 weeks and a lot more sales, A best - 45 weeks, Duty - 27 weeks. MA - 10 weeks. She also no longer holds #1 for more than a week. She drops like a rock. Other singers are able to hold the #1 slot. It isn't the economy its the crappy music she is releasing. If the music is good, it will sell.

what do u mean "next one 32, next one 36"? lol..gues im missing something. as for the albums, MA had 8 songs. it was a minuiture. it did incredible for a mini-album. "&" sold just fine, and the reason all the singles lately have been doing poorly is because they went down to 4 track singles. avex isnt focusing so much on singles anymore. would u relaly expect say..voyage to outsell Seasons? no. ayu doesnt have "standards". so her prime time is over. but she's still there, and i doubt she's going anywhere.

[ImpactBreaker]

AyuDearest1, not getting to be number 1 at oricon charts is not a FACT that the artist will quit. A LOT of great artists don't get to the top of the oricon and they still release stuff. Ayu might be dropping on sales indeed but it doesn't mean it's the end of her career. Decreasing of sales is not a linear graphic. The fact that ayu might be losing fans doesn't mean she will lose all of her fans in an aritimetic/geometric progress. She has quite a strong fanbase and there are still a lot of people that admire her work.

And if the music is good it will sell, I don't think SMAP music is really that good

[AfanforXX]

Sekai no hitotsu dake no hana might not be a great song, but it's the message of the song that made it go to #1 in 2003. I mean, if it's taken figuratively, it's a really inspiring song, especially in a country that's been going through a recession for a decade.

[Aldonia]

Slight chance, but I doubt it. Those new release are yet again more money-makers. If it is the end, I'll be hella sad..

[ImpactBreaker]

Originally posted by AfanforXX
Sekai no hitotsu dake no hana might not be a great song, but it's the message of the song that made it go to #1 in 2003. I mean, if it's taken figuratively, it's a really inspiring song, especially in a country that's been going through a recession for a decade.

AH That explains it all! I knew that there would be something very special behind that release to make it sell a lot.

[SheFliesHigher]

I think the key thing to remember here is correlation does not equal causation.

In other words, one thing does not have to equal the other thing. Just because things MIGHT be connected does not mean they are.

Ex: writing a will does not mean a person has a deadly disease and is counting on dying soon.

[AyuDearest1]

Originally posted by ImpactBreaker
AyuDearest1, not getting to be number 1 at oricon charts is not a FACT that the artist will quit. A LOT of great artists don't get to the top of the oricon and they still release stuff. Ayu might be dropping on sales indeed but it doesn't mean it's the end of her career. Decreasing of sales is not a linear graphic. The fact that ayu might be losing fans doesn't mean she will lose all of her fans in an aritimetic/geometric progress. She has quite a strong fanbase and there are still a lot of people that admire her work.

And if the music is good it will sell, I don't think SMAP music is really that good

I also think SMAP sucks but look at people like hajime chitose and naotaro moriyama. They both had great songs and were were 3 or 4 track singles. They were also near the top in their respective years. Ayu is also different from other singers. She was completely created through marketing. That makes her one of the most expensive artists to maintain, avex won't shell out the money for her if she isn't profitable. Ayu wouldn't survive off a smaller label or one that isn't as screwed up as Avex. If nobody has noticed, Avex burns through their singers quickly. Globe it seems is no longer existant. Amuro stays around because she could pretend to be R&B, something that Ayu could never do. Also namie is still around because she is hot. Ayu on the other hand is becoming a mask of makeup quite quickly.

Does anyone here think that Because of You came cheap? Ayu is all flash and no substance, she needs to be at the top to survive. She is Japan's Britney, neither has much time as their sales drop. Nobody wants a second or third tier. Example: Jessica Simpson, if she didn't get her show, she would be long forgotten by now. Ayu will suffer the same fate and rightly so. Even Ayu admits that her time is short. Someone younger, hotter, and better will emerge and take her crown.

[Unimatrix Prime™]

Originally posted by AyuDearest1
Does anyone here think that Because of You came cheap? Ayu is all flash and no substance, she needs to be at the top to survive. She is Japan's Britney, neither has much time as their sales drop. Nobody wants a second or third tier. Example: Jessica Simpson, if she didn't get her show, she would be long forgotten by now. Ayu will suffer the same fate and rightly so. Even Ayu admits that her time is short. Someone younger, hotter, and better will emerge and take her crown.

All flash? I dunno about that, as Ayu doesn't dress with skin-tight clothes or dress like a prostitute to get sales. Sure, "Because of You" is somewhat about that, but Ayu wasn't doing anything "over the edge" like some American artists have done. Also, Ayu didn't need her own show or anything to be well-known. If anything, I think she was more known without it, and now that she'll be hosting a new show, who knows how that'll affect her status in the jpop world.

On a different point, youth plays a pretty big role these days, but it doesn't mean that because Ayu turns 30 or something that it has to spell the end of her career. A good example of this is Seiko Matsuda. While she isn't on the top of the charts these days, she's been singing for a good 10-20 years now and hasn't given up yet. While the majority of people probably want to hear a 20 y/o sing vs. a 40 y/o, I don't think Ayu would just quit because she got older. The only ways I'd see that happen would be if she's not a viable asset to Avex, or if she decides to start a family, but she has yet to even get engaged to Nagase, and her CD sales are still raking in quite a bit.

[AfanforXX]

Originally posted by Unimatrix Prime™
All flash? I dunno about that, as Ayu doesn't dress with skin-tight clothes or dress like a prostitute to get sales.

Don't even say that this is still true, look at the clothes she wore during the Greatful Days perf at A Museum.

[Unimatrix Prime™]

Originally posted by AfanforXX
Don't even say that this is still true, look at the clothes she wore during the Greatful Days perf at A Museum.

What I mean is that she isn't showing massive cleavage or dancing on a pole. It's one thing to wear something like a bikini top (H), but it's another if she was naked (or looking naked) in a PV like Britney's Toxic (not to bash Britney fans, but it's just an example).

[AyuDearest1]

Originally posted by Unimatrix Prime™
All flash? I dunno about that, as Ayu doesn't dress with skin-tight clothes or dress like a prostitute to get sales. Sure, "Because of You" is somewhat about that, but Ayu wasn't doing anything "over the edge" like some American artists have done. Also, Ayu didn't need her own show or anything to be well-known. If anything, I think she was more known without it, and now that she'll be hosting a new show, who knows how that'll affect her status in the jpop world.

LOVEppears - a topless Ayu
Appears - topless Ayu again
Duty - Skin tight leopard suit and stripper pole and cage
I am - Leaves and more leaves
Unite! - Topless Ayu again
GQ mag - S&M Ayu
Ayu's years as an idol

She has worn some very revealing and/or prostitute style clothes. On some shows, I've seen her with a piece of cloth on her lap so you don't see more Ayu than you bargained for

[AfanforXX]

Originally posted by AyuDearest1
LOVEppears - a topless Ayu
Appears - topless Ayu again
Duty - Skin tight leopard suit and stripper pole and cage
I am - Leaves and more leaves
Unite! - Topless Ayu again

I see the point of the skin thing, but these claims are just plain ridiculous. It didn't look raunchy at all and like Unimatrix said, it wasn't like she had huge cleavage. I think they were artistic.

[Unimatrix Prime™]

I know that Ayu's done such things, but I don't think that she did it all for selling sex like some artists do. The day I see a video that has Ayu looking like she's having sex with someone, then I'll probably think far less of Ayu, but the closest I think she's gotten to something sexually-themed would be those shots from the GQ magazine. But I think this topic is going slightly OT from the end of Ayu's career to what she wears, so I guess that'll be it for now

[AyuDearest1]

Originally posted by AfanforXX
I see the point of the skin thing, but these claims are just plain ridiculous. It didn't look raunchy at all and like Unimatrix said, it wasn't like she had huge cleavage. I think they were artistic.

A stripper pole and cage aren't kinky enough for you?

Aguilera's Stripped cover is in the same vein as LOVEppears and Appears but is viewed as raunchy by the general Ayu populace. Let's say you have never heard of Ayu, would you list the previous cd covers as raunchy? I know I would. When Britney was as flat as Ayu, she was able to act randy in a similar way. Ayu just doesn't have the tits but she can be as rauncy as she wants

[jerms]

..there was a meaning behind because of you's prsotitutes, and since when was she not aloud to wear tight clothing? she was a SWIMSUIT model before this dudes.

Let's say you have never heard of Ayu, would you list the previous cd covers as raunchy

uh..lol..somebody's in a whole nother world tehn i. raunchy..? haha..to me thats far from being raunchy.

[squirty]

Originally posted by AyuDearest1
LOVEppears - a topless Ayu
Appears - topless Ayu again
Duty - Skin tight leopard suit and stripper pole and cage
I am - Leaves and more leaves
Unite! - Topless Ayu again

Can you honestly say that you look at those covers and think about them in the same way as you would look at Britney Spears in her Toxic video? No. It's because you know that Ayu isn't doing it because of lack of talent, it's because she's doing it for artistic purposes. I agree with jerms, there is no way you can take those covers as raunchy.

[tl1029530921]

I was actually really bewildred when i saw the LOVEppears cover....but then once u understand her and all dat it doesnt really matter...