[News] Ayu to perform at Music Station 31 March

[EndOfTheWorld]

@Machiko
I don't know what you're going on about. I think perhaps you are twisting what I am saying. I am 110% okay with other fans having a different opinion than me. They can like what they want by Ayu. It actually sounds like perhaps it is YOU who can't handle others opinions.
It's like arguing for the sake of arguing. You just sound like a crybaby.
What chocopockeymonster said is accurate. "The problem in question is that Ayu seems to be surrounded by too many "yes men" (and has been for years) so in this case, fans that blindly love and stan for everything she does and don't have the ability to look at things with a (constructively) critical eye actually ARE part of the problem."
But you are totally correct about the shallow criticism that Ayu receives. Which I actually mentioned in my post about people being rude or jerks. There are fans that are very nit picky and have to complain about everything. But I was talking more about constructive criticism, the kind of criticism that is valuable and meaningful. That is positive.
Fans are free to like and dislike whatever they please. But the issue at hand are those people that just blindly love what she does. The "good enough for me" crowd that exists in all fandoms. They are a problem. It leaves little incentive to improve. It goes back to what chocopockeymonster said and also many other fans that have been talking about this for years now.

[freedreamer]

Her singing technique is not even the same these days imo. It was natural back then but now she is TRYING to be natural but it doesnt come off that well. Esp in TO BE, she wants to have that power and control but she doesnt grasp it.

and yea, i love her. one tv-live (after a long while) wont make me feel like "OH WHY AM I HER FAN?". Like come on, her music is still great (yeah to me..say whatever) and I will always go back to Ayu when I need a sense of familiarity and nostalgia and warmness. Honestly, lives will only be replaced by other lives, but the song and PV essentially remains the same.

so yea, I feel like her control on her lower notes is still great. She knows she can control but she extends this control to her higher notes and longer notes, which I really feel, its a DIFFERENT kind of control. You can be overly careful on these parts, it sounds unnatural. and overbearing.

[RealLight]

Originally Posted by EndOfTheWorld

Fans are free to like and dislike whatever they please. But the issue at hand are those people that just blindly love what she does. The "good enough for me" crowd that exists in all fandoms. They are a problem. It leaves little incentive to improve. It goes back to what chocopockeymonster said and also many other fans that have been talking about this for years now.

This.

[truehappiness]

Originally Posted by EndOfTheWorld

@Machiko
I don't know what you're going on about. I think perhaps you are twisting what I am saying. I am 110% okay with other fans having a different opinion than me. They can like what they want by Ayu. It actually sounds like perhaps it is YOU who can't handle others opinions.
It's like arguing for the sake of arguing. You just sound like a crybaby.
What chocopockeymonster said is accurate. "The problem in question is that Ayu seems to be surrounded by too many "yes men" (and has been for years) so in this case, fans that blindly love and stan for everything she does and don't have the ability to look at things with a (constructively) critical eye actually ARE part of the problem."
But you are totally correct about the shallow criticism that Ayu receives. Which I actually mentioned in my post about people being rude or jerks. There are fans that are very nit picky and have to complain about everything. But I was talking more about constructive criticism, the kind of criticism that is valuable and meaningful. That is positive.
Fans are free to like and dislike whatever they please. But the issue at hand are those people that just blindly love what she does. The "good enough for me" crowd that exists in all fandoms. They are a problem. It leaves little incentive to improve. It goes back to what chocopockeymonster said and also many other fans that have been talking about this for years now.

Honestly, I don't think it really matters much what fans think of Ayu since she's going to do whatever she wants to regardless unless she REALLY messes up and it's glaringly obvious to her afterward. I don't really think that fans of any sort (critical, blind, whatever) are a bad thing since they are still all fans. However, the people around her that can actually make a difference and give her a nudge that don't say anything are more of a problem since there isn't really anything that we as fans can do to change habits Ayu may have developed. Yeah, there's stuff like TA mail and so on, but who knows if those even get read nowadays.

Also I think it's a bit contradictory to say that you are okay with how people can like what they want and then later on completely say that people who like everything are a problem. To me, it's never really a bad thing to have positive feelings about something especially as a consumer. In regards to this performance however, I don't think anyone ever said anything like "this performance was amazing!!!!!" so it's not like anyone couldn't tell that something was a bit off especially towards the choruses and such. I would say the general opinion was that at best, this performance was barely okay and nothing special, which seems to describe just about all her recent TV appearances for the last 5 years or so. What made this performance different I'd guess is that on top of the singing, the (2nd) outfit was wrong, her hair wasn't appropriate, and she was acting strangely to some. Combine that with the lack of announcements about anything or botched handling of tour information, this was really just the last straw for a lot of people.

Going by the pattern she's seemed to have developed, she'll likely appear on MS again in September-ish and I really hope this sort of thing doesn't happen again, for everyone's sake.

[jean-baptiste]

Originally Posted by truehappiness

Honestly, I don't think it really matters much what fans think of Ayu since she's going to do whatever she wants to regardless unless she REALLY messes up and it's glaringly obvious to her afterward. I don't really think that fans of any sort (critical, blind, whatever) are a bad thing since they are still all fans. However, the people around her that can actually make a difference and give her a nudge that don't say anything are more of a problem since there isn't really anything that we as fans can do to change habits Ayu may have developed. Yeah, there's stuff like TA mail and so on, but who knows if those even get read nowadays.

Also I think it's a bit contradictory to say that you are okay with how people can like what they want and then later on completely say that people who like everything are a problem. To me, it's never really a bad thing to have positive feelings about something especially as a consumer. In regards to this performance however, I don't think anyone ever said anything like "this performance was amazing!!!!!" so it's not like anyone couldn't tell that something was a bit off especially towards the choruses and such. I would say the general opinion was that at best, this performance was barely okay and nothing special, which seems to describe just about all her recent TV appearances for the last 5 years or so. What made this performance different I'd guess is that on top of the singing, the (2nd) outfit was wrong, her hair wasn't appropriate, and she was acting strangely to some. Combine that with the lack of announcements about anything or botched handling of tour information, this was really just the last straw for a lot of people.

Going by the pattern she's seemed to have developed, she'll likely appear on MS again in September-ish and I really hope this sort of thing doesn't happen again, for everyone's sake.

Thanks for saying this truehappiness.

Originally Posted by EndOfTheWorld

The "good enough for me" crowd that exists in all fandoms. They are a problem. It leaves little incentive to improve. It goes back to what chocopockeymonster said and also many other fans that have been talking about this for years now.

The fact that some of you are considering other fans a "problem" for having different taste or opinions is extremely unsettling (and actually reminds me why I don't come around ayumi's side of the forum as often). What I personally enjoy does not in any way, shape or form affect ayu in the slightest because she doesn't know I exist. I think what some of you want to say is we're a problem to you. Cause ayu is chilling, like a lot of you need to be.

[AyumiAi]

I think we can all agree Ayu is becoming musical equivalent of like Saw movies (or any generic film franchise, Avengers... Pokemon movies), 7 movies later of the same thing, not that its necessarily bad, but watching the first ones u realize why it was good why you liked it and why you keep watching the new releases despite never living up to what it once was.

[xLuna&1LOVE]

Preach @truehappiness, so happy you have written that post, and so well constructed. Your post was pure gold! I agree with you 200%

@EndOfTheWorld, I must ask though, because I am so intrigued, where do you meet all those 'yay-sayers?'

[EndOfTheWorld]

Originally Posted by truehappiness

Honestly, I don't think it really matters much what fans think of Ayu since she's going to do whatever she wants to regardless unless she REALLY messes up and it's glaringly obvious to her afterward. I don't really think that fans of any sort (critical, blind, whatever) are a bad thing since they are still all fans. However, the people around her that can actually make a difference and give her a nudge that don't say anything are more of a problem since there isn't really anything that we as fans can do to change habits Ayu may have developed. Yeah, there's stuff like TA mail and so on, but who knows if those even get read nowadays.

Also I think it's a bit contradictory to say that you are okay with how people can like what they want and then later on completely say that people who like everything are a problem. To me, it's never really a bad thing to have positive feelings about something especially as a consumer. In regards to this performance however, I don't think anyone ever said anything like "this performance was amazing!!!!!" so it's not like anyone couldn't tell that something was a bit off especially towards the choruses and such. I would say the general opinion was that at best, this performance was barely okay and nothing special, which seems to describe just about all her recent TV appearances for the last 5 years or so. What made this performance different I'd guess is that on top of the singing, the (2nd) outfit was wrong, her hair wasn't appropriate, and she was acting strangely to some. Combine that with the lack of announcements about anything or botched handling of tour information, this was really just the last straw for a lot of people.

Going by the pattern she's seemed to have developed, she'll likely appear on MS again in September-ish and I really hope this sort of thing doesn't happen again, for everyone's sake.

I don't find it contradictory because I said that they have the freedom to like or dislike anything. Everyone can have an opinion. Good bad or in between. Just having an opinion is not a problem in any way. That is the distinction.
Fans do matter. She wouldn't exist without fans. If fans aren't happy they will leave. When Ayu gives poor vocal performances over and over, it gets hard to defend her. Eventually her vocal issues will deplete fan morale. It's upsetting to see like I said earlier. Fans will become distant if Ayu can't improve some things. That is how what fans think matters. If everyone applauds this performance why would she change/improve it? But I do certainly agree that what her team around her says to her will have a more direct impact. Who knows how much Ayu pays attention to how the fans are doing. But I do agree.
Good points all around.

Originally Posted by jean-baptiste

The fact that some of you are considering other fans a "problem" for having different taste or opinions is extremely unsettling (and actually reminds me why I don't come around ayumi's side of the forum as often). What I personally enjoy does not in any way, shape or form affect ayu in the slightest because she doesn't know I exist. I think what some of you want to say is we're a problem to you. Cause ayu is chilling, like a lot of you need to be.

But if you are going to open our can of worms we have to open yours. It's hypocrisy all around I suppose.
This discussion was started because people started saying that those who had a critical opinion of this performance were "the problem" or bad fans. So perhaps it was the other side that started it and could not handle the critical opinions.

[Pieces_of_SEVEN]

Originally Posted by jean-baptiste

Thanks for saying this truehappiness.



The fact that some of you are considering other fans a "problem" for having different taste or opinions is extremely unsettling (and actually reminds me why I don't come around ayumi's side of the forum as often). What I personally enjoy does not in any way, shape or form affect ayu in the slightest because she doesn't know I exist. I think what some of you want to say is we're a problem to you. Cause ayu is chilling, like a lot of you need to be.

Lol. OK, but like, fans liking and disliking a certain song is a matter of opinion, right? We're talking about her vocals during this specific performance though, which is not up for debate and not a matter of opinion. It just isn't. Unless you're literally deaf.

[the angel song]

This whole chat is exhausting.

[Party_King]

Originally Posted by the angel song

This whole chat is exhausting.

[RealLight]

lots of layla

[hsienko]

I enjoyed the performance

[aliceshields]

Some TV show collection that I just found







Anyone who interested, more ayu's old lives on this channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/sse0988

[Violently Happy]

Completely agree with truehappiness!

[Didz-19]

I'm kind of disappointed with her current vocal....not that I'm not appreciating her effort to be a better singer...but, every time she sings, she sound kind of forcing herself. It's not even bearable to listen to.

It's great that she's keep on improving herself (i'm don't even care about her personal life), just hope that she took care of herself more better, especially her voice.

[ExodusUK]

The worst Japanese netizen comment I read is that she should do seppuku.

[maxikot]

^ Well, these days people keep spitting such words on every possible matter they dislike. Sadly it's not stopping but getting more intense. I wouldn't take it seriously because of that. Although it should be absolutely unacceptable.

[kendelle]

I finally got around to watching it and it could honestly be one of my least fave perfs to date

Timmy needed to be wearing a shirt (his outfit is fine other than his weird no-shirt-backwards-suspenders thing) and Ayu's vocals in TO BE felt more like she was talking through the song til she just randomly screamed in the chorus. She could have pulled it right back to just bare vocals and trailed off with a softer voice after the end of the chorus and I think it would've turned out much better.

Ourselves was good and her and Timmy both performed well. Her hair could've been done better but I liked her dress...it kind of reminded me of her white dress in don't look back.

I feel like since Ayu does so well in her concerts her (rare) TV lives should be nothing but she was really struggling and it makes me sad to see mean comments being written about her and even worse when I feel like her performances are bad.

[taskinillusion]

Originally Posted by AyumiAi

I think we can all agree Ayu is becoming musical equivalent of like Saw movies (or any generic film franchise, Avengers... Pokemon movies), 7 movies later of the same thing, not that its necessarily bad, but watching the first ones u realize why it was good why you liked it and why you keep watching the new releases despite never living up to what it once was.

This is so true! Nothing can compete with nostalgia. However, there's so much Ayu could be doing to help herself at this point, that it's unsettling and frustrating to see how she's not... and while there are times when I feel despair over what she's doing nowadays, I also know I'll always have what she was and what made me love her to begin with, and I always will. But I'll always hope to recapture that original feeling...