Critique: 23rd Monster - Page 2 - Ayumi Hamasaki Sekai
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  #21  
Old 29th April 2021, 11:08 PM
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Any time I see people suggest she needs to find new people to work with, I just think of Party Queen and Colours. She had new composers, new mixers, etc. and that wasn't well-received within the fandom.

As she lost hearing capabilities, she relied more heavily on others' opinions instead of nitpicking it to perfection like she did earlier in her career.. It's always been my view that she had yes-men around her.

So in regards to someone saying "does no one around her hear how bad she may sound", I doubt they will tell their employer the hard truth. It's just like how did anyone approve the mixing of Party Queen? It goes up the chain.

It did break my heart when she said in her TA blog that she was just doing things that made her happy even though we, the fans, were so critical of it.

I don't hold her works up to their predecessors anymore. I just take songs at face value and enjoy it. It has made my journey as a fan a lot happier as well.
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  #22  
Old 30th April 2021, 05:19 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by koumori View Post


Sure! The stuff in the first post is just some prompts and aren't the only things people can bring up, but I'll add those in so people know that the cover and PV are still relevant to discuss as well


Thanks! I don't like how 23rd Monster font type places on her finger.


23rd Monster is one classic "new roman time style" font type, but ayumi hamasaki another "arial" font type? Lack of consistent in typography design.
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  #23  
Old 2nd May 2021, 07:08 AM
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I am just enjoying whatever ayu is dishing out considering it was a challenging year + she was pregnant. So far, the new songs had not disappoint me at all.. namely Ohia no Ki, Dreamed a Dream, Haru yo Koi and 23rd Monster.

I am just curious how is ayu going to keep up in a live performance of 23rd Monster (assuming there is one) haha
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  #24  
Old 2nd May 2021, 11:49 AM
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It’s not what I expected and that’s a good thing
I’m glad she doesn’t do music to cater to a whole fanbase so what someone doesn’t now, well they can wait for the next release and it makes it more special ����

After Haru no Koi this was the best thing for her to do in my opinion because the releases sound like opposites and I was worried she was maybe going to go for a more refined sound maybe as she gets older but NOPE and I’m happy haha
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  #25  
Old 3rd May 2021, 02:06 PM
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How I feel about 23rd monster? At the beginning, I was so excited !! New song, rock vibes and gorgeous cover. Nothing new about arrangement but it's ok for me. It remains me a lot of previous ''rock'' song (Talkin 2' myself, Don't leave me alone...) So nostalgic... But for me the song miss something maybe it's because of the vocal I don't know. It's a (good) safe song... I'm still really happy anyway... Better than Dreamed a dream I think which I like too. And I Love Ohia no ki too, so I'm desperately ready for her next album !
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  #26  
Old 6th May 2021, 06:42 AM
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I love the song and her lyrics, very powerful and honest as always

Her vocal I guess we can't expect it to be the same as her peak after all that she went through, it's not the best but I don't thin it's horrible either
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  #27  
Old 6th May 2021, 01:24 PM
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At this point I am more interested in her PV than music.
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  #28  
Old 18th June 2021, 11:14 PM
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Unfortunately the PV didn't do anything to me. I couldn't help looking at the CG sky and being distracted by all the filters. It made it look quite cheap. Something dated she totally could have done almost 20 years ago. Like there is no evolution at all.
The first teaser we had looked fresher being shot in a simple set up.

Still, nice to see they all put effort on this! Happy to see dark ayu still there.
Can't wait to see future PVs.
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  #29  
Old 20th June 2021, 10:33 PM
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Her peak PVs are from 1999- 2005 I think…. After that every PV just look like there’s no evolution or merely just recycled.
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  #30  
Old 20th June 2021, 10:49 PM
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^ could we at least agree that you will extend that to 2006 or 2007? The whole Secret era incl part of me had such beautiful PVs!
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  #31  
Old 21st June 2021, 05:14 AM
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Originally Posted by xLuna&1LOVE View Post
^ could we at least agree that you will extend that to 2006 or 2007? The whole Secret era incl part of me had such beautiful PVs!
Agreed! Even though I would rather extent until 2010, her music videos were so intense and bold! such a masterpiece!

My opinion about 23rd monster, I liked how they did more scenes with her, the choreography, I didn't expect that much overall, because I didn't like the song at first, but let's be honest, we can be surprised by others songs maybe?
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  #32  
Old 21st June 2021, 07:03 AM
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It’s now pretty clear to me that Ayu really hasn’t been paying attention to current music as of late. That, or, she just doesn’t care.

But considering she used to draw inspiration from popular acts around the world, I haven’t seen such influences in her music in a long time… the last “big” influence that I remember was probably Rihanna and You & Me—and it was probably her last hit… (Visually, though, she’s definitely been inspired by Ariana.)

And she basically admitted to not listening to music anymore, which is absolutely crazy to me as in any job, it’s also your job to pay attention to what’s going on outside of your company or product… but, oh well lol.

23rd isn’t commercial at all so I wasn’t expecting anything in that regard, it’s definitely Ayu’s own thing. But I continue coming back to this feeling of: Why isn’t she using the absolute best of the best? Lol
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Last edited by tokyoxjapanxfan; 21st June 2021 at 07:31 AM.
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  #33  
Old 21st June 2021, 01:09 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ayu_fantasy View Post
Her peak PVs are from 1999- 2005 I think…. After that every PV just look like there’s no evolution or merely just recycled.
Rock'n'Roll Circus just called and it wants a word with you.

More seriously, I LOVE the PVs for Don't look back and Microphone specifically, but I think the whole album is really strong when it comes to PVs!
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  #34  
Old 21st June 2021, 02:36 PM
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For me is ok with this little projects. I think Ayu don't want to beat charts or sales numbers, the fandom is so powerful with her and this is enough. She could have retired or taken a hiatus time years ago, but instead we have these singles
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  #35  
Old 21st June 2021, 02:44 PM
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Love it so much! Love the theme with the moon in the back. Lovely aesthetics She looks incredible
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  #36  
Old 21st June 2021, 08:11 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tokyoxjapanxfan View Post
It’s now pretty clear to me that Ayu really hasn’t been paying attention to current music as of late. That, or, she just doesn’t care.

But considering she used to draw inspiration from popular acts around the world, I haven’t seen such influences in her music in a long time… the last “big” influence that I remember was probably Rihanna and You & Me—and it was probably her last hit… (Visually, though, she’s definitely been inspired by Ariana.)

And she basically admitted to not listening to music anymore, which is absolutely crazy to me as in any job, it’s also your job to pay attention to what’s going on outside of your company or product… but, oh well lol.

23rd isn’t commercial at all so I wasn’t expecting anything in that regard, it’s definitely Ayu’s own thing. But I continue coming back to this feeling of: Why isn’t she using the absolute best of the best? Lol
Oh thanks god for that. I don't want to see ayu follows Cardi B that type of style.
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  #37  
Old 22nd June 2021, 02:55 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tokyoxjapanxfan View Post
It’s now pretty clear to me that Ayu really hasn’t been paying attention to current music as of late. That, or, she just doesn’t care.

But considering she used to draw inspiration from popular acts around the world, I haven’t seen such influences in her music in a long time… the last “big” influence that I remember was probably Rihanna and You & Me—and it was probably her last hit… (Visually, though, she’s definitely been inspired by Ariana.)

And she basically admitted to not listening to music anymore, which is absolutely crazy to me as in any job, it’s also your job to pay attention to what’s going on outside of your company or product… but, oh well lol.

23rd isn’t commercial at all so I wasn’t expecting anything in that regard, it’s definitely Ayu’s own thing. But I continue coming back to this feeling of: Why isn’t she using the absolute best of the best? Lol
I don’t mind her not picking up on western trends, but the fact she’s not even picking up on Japanese trends is ludicrous.

It’s strange because most of the chart music is pop-rock that Ayu started with. She should be able to do it uniquely and well, but instead she’s putting out walls of sound.
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  #38  
Old 22nd June 2021, 07:33 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tokyoxjapanxfan View Post
It’s now pretty clear to me that Ayu really hasn’t been paying attention to current music as of late. That, or, she just doesn’t care.

But considering she used to draw inspiration from popular acts around the world, I haven’t seen such influences in her music in a long time… the last “big” influence that I remember was probably Rihanna and You & Me—and it was probably her last hit… (Visually, though, she’s definitely been inspired by Ariana.)

And she basically admitted to not listening to music anymore, which is absolutely crazy to me as in any job, it’s also your job to pay attention to what’s going on outside of your company or product… but, oh well lol.

23rd isn’t commercial at all so I wasn’t expecting anything in that regard, it’s definitely Ayu’s own thing. But I continue coming back to this feeling of: Why isn’t she using the absolute best of the best? Lol
Remember the interview in Singapore where she said she doesn’t want to make stuff that’s trendy just for the sake of it. I don’t think any of the currently popular female jpop acts are doing anything differently. Aimyon’s stuff sounds like it could’ve been released any time in the last 40 years, Lisa sounds exactly like she’s sounded in 2012, Aimer actually used to sound more up to date years ago �� with a proper anime tie in 23rd Monster could have worked regardless of the dated sound.

Also if you look at the streams Last minute, WORDS, aeternal, NO FUTURE, MOWY and even Ohia/DaD have all beaten You & Me ��
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Last edited by njanjayrp; 22nd June 2021 at 07:35 AM.
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  #39  
Old 22nd June 2021, 09:35 AM
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I do think people oversees like a lot how hard is for someone almost deaf to listen to new stuff. At this point, she probably has to choose between doing what she already knows from memory or releasing stuff without knowing what the song actually sounds like for the sake of following trends.

"Oh, but she saids she doesn't listen to music anymore".
Yeah, because she is almost deaf. She most likely doesn't listen almost anything anymore. And there's not much she can do about that.

23rd Monster is fun for what it is, but obviously isn't Ayu at her peak as a musician. Considering how long it was the last time she tried something different, I do believe that at this point I should just enjoy whatever comes out for what it is without expecting anything innovative.
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  #40  
Old 22nd June 2021, 12:24 PM
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I am not sure what we are really asking of her? Maybe I have read it incorrectly, but I interpret some of these posts pointing out that Ayu is not up to date, to whatever is 'latest music evolution' . But is that really what we need from her? We all loved her because of certain hits she released about 20 years ago, and it is amazing how long she is able to continue her career after that. Why reinvent the wheel while doing something great already that fits your sound and is recognizable for the fanbase?
With 23rd Monster, she takes us back to memory lane, some of us already pointed out it reminds them of GAME or About You... Idk man, but to me it seems like she cares about whatever her fanbase likes.

On another and more lighter note...
I can't imagine Ayu doin' a "WAP" but I am actually very intrigued if she takes inspiration of my chick Cardi
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