『M 愛すべき人がいて』The story of encounter & separation hidden in the birth of a songstress

[freedreamer]

I read through 4 pages and im still confused. LOL

1. Is this fiction or non-fiction ultimately?
2. M is about max?
3. Boys & Girls is about max too?!?

[Ryusei]

Originally Posted by Aderianu

A COMPLETE back to top few weeks ago, a little before this book

It always rises when it's on discount. I wonder why A COMPLETE and A BEST havent been certified gold yet... this has gone on for years you cant tell me that those albums havent sold 100k digital copies yet..

[Aderianu]

A BEST not gold yet? How can it be, it was on top at year chart

[Corvina]

In general digital album sales are pretty low in Japan.
But A Complete is going to reach 100k eventually.
Afaik it's around 50k something on Oricon's chart in total.

Edit:
This is the chart from last week:


Though you have to add what it sold before Oricon started its digital album chart about 2.5 years ago, so it must be a bit higher already.

Not many albums have reached a digital certification yet at all.
If you wanna check out, I regularly update the thread in the Asian Music section.

[Chibi-Chan]

I'm working at a summer school at my university right now and teaching German to Japanese students. Since it is always an easy topic to talk about in a language one just started learning, I talked to them about what kind of music/artists they like. In return they asked me whom I like. Also a Japanese friend came to visit me just today and stays at my place. Everyone seemed to have heared about this book and the first thing my friend asked me was like "is Ayu ok?". And she only was that nice in formulating the question that way because she knows how much I like Ayu. What she actually wanted to ask and did so later was more like "has Ayu gone totally nuts now?". The reaction from the students was kinda the same and it was obvious that they tried to be nice. What they said about her regarding the book in Japanese because they assumed I wouldn't understand was pretty clear.
My opinion on the whole "Max dating 17 year old Ayu" aside, selling her private gossip from 20 years ago was the worst idea she ever came up with. It's one thing if gossip like this is out there and something she can't control. But selling it on purpose? This really is a poor move only absolutely irrelevant people would normally do. If she wanted to prove the public right and to see her as irrelevant and as some has been and desperately attention seeking, she succeded.

[orbitalaspect]

Originally Posted by Chibi-Chan

I'm working at a summer school at my university right now and teaching German to Japanese students. Since it is always an easy topic to talk about in a language one just started learning, I talked to them about what kind of music/artists they like. In return they asked me whom I like. Also a Japanese friend came to visit me just today and stays at my place. Everyone seemed to have heared about this book and the first thing my friend asked me was like "is Ayu ok?". And she only was that nice in formulating the question that way because she knows how much I like Ayu. What she actually wanted to ask and did so later was more like "has Ayu gone totally nuts now?". The reaction from the students was kinda the same and it was obvious that they tried to be nice. What they said about her regarding the book in Japanese because they assumed I wouldn't understand was pretty clear.
My opinion on the whole "Max dating 17 year old Ayu" aside, selling her private gossip from 20 years ago was the worst idea she ever came up with. It's one thing if gossip like this is out there and something she can't control. But selling it on purpose? This really is a poor move only absolutely irrelevant people would normally do. If she wanted to prove the public right and to see her as irrelevant and as some has been and desperately attention seeking, she succeded.

I don't think people outside of Japan get that the dynamics of image are very different within Japan. Like, sure, we want Ayu to keep doing her thing, but unfortunately, that "thing" has literally chipped away at her legacy. Comments and questions about Ayu's sanity started years ago, but now it seems like they're more common within Japan than more positive comments and questions.

It's just so weird to see someone like Ayu flub this image thing so hard. I mean, she's only human, but it's just awkward to live in a time where so many people think she's a scandal magnet. And it's been building for the better part of 10 years now. And she doesn't seem to give a damn about that shift in attitude toward her legacy. She still does things that, regardless of gender, many people find inappropriate or bad rep.

I love Ayu for what she's given us, but I do wish her heart was still in this. All that talent has no message anymore. It's like she doesn't have anything to say or experiences to share with others. And what's worse is that now, more than at any time in her career, the whole world desperately needs messages of sadness, loneliness, isolation, and hope, inner strength, and integrity.

But nope. Ayu is now banging her backup dancer two marriages later, extending a tour she launched off a mini-album, hasn't put out anything solid for music in over three years, has basically dropped out of performing at huge events for all of Japanese pop music, and spends more effort posting fashion pics on Instagram than on original tour concepts or even non-music activities like Utada did during her hiatus.

Some days, I just wish climate change would hurry up.

Edit: I just want to emphasize my disappointment by pointing out I recently watched Yumi Matsutoya's Uchuu Toshokan Tour and was so moved by the whole set and Yumi's energy on stage. And she's been in the industry since the 70s. Her heyday was the mid-to-late 80s. But I just love so so much that even if she takes a few years to release new music, she's 60+ years old and that music feels like it has a message. To be 38 albums into your career and still performing like she did on that tour... It's sad that Ayu's effort even half that timeline is so pitifully disregarding. And Ayu is a waaay better singer, writer, and performer than Yumi.

[Andrenekoi]

^I find that comment to be really unfair to her...
In the past 10 years Ayu touched a lot more of urgent issues than her peers. She sang being a woman in Japan, shared the spotlight with LGBTQ people in a culture that pretend they doesn't exist outside of the romantic/sexual fantasies of straight people, sang about feeling alienated, about the risks of escapism through partying ans alcohol. She sang about her fears about her future, about her current health state, about the issues her see on human relationship on her culture. She gave the middle finger about the expectatations her culture have about her while also singing about how hard it is for her doing that.

And she also performed about her personal struggles, the women condition, thr LGBTQ people issues, the feeling of isolation that exists so agressively on her country.

People want Ayu to be bold, but not too bold. To take risks, but not too much risks, to be a non conformist, but only if she is ultimetely conforming.

And them there are those rants about "Ayu, what people will think! D:" everytime she doesn't just pretend be edgy by simulating she is going against the norms, but actually does so. If there's something the world needs in face of rising extreme conservative thiking is someone of Ayu's scale being as unapolagetic, shamless and non-conformist as Ayu is.

That being said, this whole book thing is a clearly publicity stunt, and it's so silly and make people unconfortable with so little that I can't help but live over this. Lol.

[DA1SUK1DAY01691]

Your most helpful Amazon reviews (as of 8/5/2019):

Spoiler:

Makikou (Best 500 Reviewer)
8/1/19 (3 stars)

"No one wanted to compare answers like this"

I've said it regarding her concerts as well, but since Ayu's voice became unwell, I'm a fan who stopped listening to her music before I knew it.

Since this book was being talked about so much, I bought it out of curiosity. It showcases her conflicts and anguish from before her debut until she became an artist.

I think everyone has connected her songs to their own memories. M, for example, was popular as a love song, as were others. For a love song, it's not strange for that person to have their own person in the background (to which the song is written). But personally, I didn't want us to be comparing answers like this. If you'd like to leave these memories as memories, I wouldn't recommend reading this book.

Anonymous customer
8/1/2019 (5 stars)

"My tears didn't stop"

As someone around Hamasaki Ayumi's age, it made my heart hurt to find out that even she couldn't have what she really wanted, even as a great singer who was so cute at the time, and seemed like she could get anything she wanted. However, I think exactly because she had those experineces she was able to write those lyrics that can make you cry. I'm moved thinking about the drama behind the songs that seemed to sell so quickly. Even though people are saying that releasing this book now (after all these years) is cringey, knowing this background makes the songs we listen to deeper, making me want to listen to Hamasaki Ayumi's music again. To have met someone you love this much, be able to create a life together, and create a relationship that you couldn't show as lovers or through a marriage, I think it's a wonderful life.

Hide
8/1/2019 (1 star)

"Who is this book for?"

A lot of TV programs today kept talking about this today so I read it. I finished it instantly. The content is lacking and flimsy. If you were enough of a fan, this was common knowledge. It's just written as a dramatization and made to be moving, and dishonest with its vague writing style making you question what's fiction and what's nonfiction. The writer's position isn't clearly established. As a bonus, Hamasaki Ayumi appears on the last page as if to make an excuse for this book. Who is this book written for? This is the first time I've seen a book that disregards its fans this much.

[ExodusUK]

She needs to remake/recycle Days ASAP to capitalize on this.

[Andrenekoi]

Originally Posted by ExodusUK

She needs to remake/recycle Days ASAP to capitalize on this.

M-2019 shameless gossip explotation mix- where she sings "Masa" instead of "Maria"

[SunshineSlayer]

Originally Posted by freedreamer

I read through 4 pages and im still confused. LOL

1. Is this fiction or non-fiction ultimately?
2. M is about max?
3. Boys & Girls is about max too?!?

It is a fictionalized retelling of non-fiction is what I'm getting from it. Kind of like movies based on real events; not verbatim what happened, but the gist of it.

And yeah, I can totally see M being about her Max breakup. The lyrics to Boys and Girls don't really scream it to me, but sure.

[Evan Odinson]

Ok I'm lost and really curious about how this works, does Ayu have anything to do with this book? I mean the idea/writting process/ publishing, etc. I really don't know about these topics so if someone could clear it out for me it'd be much appreciated! Because for what I get, this is "reality mixed with some fiction from the author and some interviews quotes" if so I wonder if Ayu had anything to say regarding it being published (or not), sounds pretty vague to me, if she didn't have anything to do with it I don't get how is she "seeking attention using her personal life", is she credited as a part of the book process or was just the inspiration? like those unofficial Britney biographies where they made her look really bad

[SunshineSlayer]

Originally Posted by Evan Odinson

Ok I'm lost and really curious about how this works, does Ayu have anything to do with this book? I mean the idea/writting process/ publishing, etc. I really don't know about these topics so if someone could clear it out for me it'd be much appreciated! Because for what I get, this is "reality mixed with some fiction from the author and some interviews quotes" if so I wonder if Ayu had anything to say regarding it being published (or not), sounds pretty vague to me, if she didn't have anything to do with it I don't get how is she "seeking attention using her personal life", is she credited as a part of the book process or was just the inspiration? like those unofficial Britney biographies where they made her look really bad

Yes, Ayu is very involved with the book. She wrote the forward to the book, if I'm seeing correctly. She also gave interviews, as did Max, to the author of the book with the intention of the author making this book out of them.

[Evan Odinson]

Originally Posted by SunshineSlayer

Yes, Ayu is very involved with the book. She wrote the forward to the book, if I'm seeing correctly. She also gave interviews, as did Max, to the author of the book with the intention of the author making this book out of them.

I see, I kept reading "reality mixed with fiction" and blah blah and got really confused lol thanks for clarifying!

[love in music]

I'm interested in the TV adaptation... might be cringey but sounds interesting. I kind of assumed Max had a thing for Ayu when he discovered her and that they probably hooked up but didn't really think Ayu felt anything serious for him. Her life is pretty interesting, why not write a book about it. I just think she should write one herself, I think she'd be a great author.

[chocopockymaster]

I think the two things that are really bothering me are: why now, and why this medium?

Maybe the first question is less important than the second one. The randomness of it really does make it seem like a cash grab or a ploy for publicity. She just had a milestone anniversary and I would have loved to see this story, since she clearly wants to tell it, in the light of a broader retrospective on her earlier career.

At the end of the day, I just can’t wrap my head around why she chose to present it like this. I get that it’s her story to tell and she ultimately gets to decide how the public hears it but...you’re going to let a stranger write a dramatized version of the story of one of the most formative relationships of your life? I’m sure she was able to give the final OK before it went to print but this is just so fucking bizarre that I can’t help but sit here, shaking my head in complete bewilderment.

[JinHamasaki]

Originally Posted by chocopockymaster

I think the two things that are really bothering me are: why now, and why this medium?

Maybe the first question is less important than the second one. The randomness of it really does make it seem like a cash grab or a ploy for publicity. She just had a milestone anniversary and I would have loved to see this story, since she clearly wants to tell it, in the light of a broader retrospective on her earlier career.

Bohemian Rhapsody was a huge hit in Japan - I think it was 13 weeks in top 5 chart. I agree that the book wasn't as hyped, but maybe this is just testing the waters.

They are probably banking on the TV adaptation.

[njanjayrp]

Originally Posted by Chibi-Chan

I'm working at a summer school at my university right now and teaching German to Japanese students. Since it is always an easy topic to talk about in a language one just started learning, I talked to them about what kind of music/artists they like. In return they asked me whom I like. Also a Japanese friend came to visit me just today and stays at my place. Everyone seemed to have heared about this book and the first thing my friend asked me was like "is Ayu ok?". And she only was that nice in formulating the question that way because she knows how much I like Ayu. What she actually wanted to ask and did so later was more like "has Ayu gone totally nuts now?". The reaction from the students was kinda the same and it was obvious that they tried to be nice. What they said about her regarding the book in Japanese because they assumed I wouldn't understand was pretty clear.
My opinion on the whole "Max dating 17 year old Ayu" aside, selling her private gossip from 20 years ago was the worst idea she ever came up with. It's one thing if gossip like this is out there and something she can't control. But selling it on purpose? This really is a poor move only absolutely irrelevant people would normally do. If she wanted to prove the public right and to see her as irrelevant and as some has been and desperately attention seeking, she succeded.

I don’t understand what’s “nuts” about it? Also I think it’s safe to say that whatever she does latest is according to you the worst idea she has ever had

Tabloids earn a lot of cash writing shit about her all the time, why not monetize on your own story/misfortune while everyone else is making money out of it anyways. It’s business and you are taking it a bit too personally imo.

Also being judged by the Japanese society means that to the rest of the world you are regular person with an actual life and not some make-believe shit fantasy of innocence and fake moral. If Utada Hikaru released a book about her relationship with a guy who directed her music videos, also considerably older than her, this would be the best selling book with no judgement attached.

You guys have problems with ayu dating both older and younger people. It’s best for her to join a covent and spend her life not having sex with anyone.

[orbitalaspect]

Unfortunately, people, Ayu is a Japanese artist, not an American or European artist. And I know this is a lot to swallow, because diversity is only skin deep in the West, but Japan has a culture, that culture has certain traditions, one of those traditions is to not be the reason others gossip. So, arguing that this is perfectly normal for you and thereby perfectly normal in the context of Ayu is honestly shameful and ignorant.

We can all agree that relative to our own cultures, a lot of norms in other cultures seem completely nonsensical. But cultural relativism is racism. We're talking about Japan and Japanese culture. We're not talking about how much Japanese culture should approach this situation the way our cultures would approach it.

[Andrenekoi]

^Shameful and ignorant projecting your perception of a culture on her in order to belittle her, someone who is actually a part of that culture and way more aware of its complexities, so you can complain she doesn't fit an idealized version of how you believe she should be or how she should act as a japanese person.
She herself chose her lifestyle as a actual Japonese woman and how to approach her own issues with her own culture the way she does and most likely is well aware of its consequences.
This also doesn't happen only in Japan as every culture has its own share of hypocrital expectations over and will suffer some level of moral judgement once they go against it.