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#41
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^They respect her legacy from the 90s and early 00s (which is what people refer to when calling her utahime of the heisei era), but during the last ten years, she has been perceived as trashy by a lot of people. She has a very loyal fanbase, which is why she is able to hold her tours, but the general public is not interested in being associated with the Ayu from the last ten years. Her early career is what people like about her and what is still selling, but the current Ayu not so much.
Last edited by Chibi-Chan; 18th March 2021 at 05:52 PM. |
#42
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This conversation seems to pop up every few years, so I'm just going to start by quoting myself.
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That said, I do think she has also stagnated a little bit by working with the same people so consistently. She herself has said that she doesn't really listen to music, and I don't think she has (or cares to have) her finger on the pulse of society and culture anymore - at least not musically. Her goal seems to be to continue to refine the dream that she wants to show us vs. create a new dream - that's why everything now feels so much more iterative than groundbreaking. And some people love this and eat it up, but the general public is looking for something more fresh. I think Ayu has it in her to do that - to pull a Namie and make super commercial music, but it's just not what she wants. |
#43
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Of course the media exposure was a big factor against her image over the last decade, but I don't really think that she cares about it. I mean, as long as she can sells out arenas and halls, there isn't any reason for her to bother. She's the most successful solo act of all Oricon period and no one seems to be even close to her.
Her last "standard era" was Love Songs, which did pretty well on charts (3 #1 singles and the album was #1 as well). After that, avex promotions were weak, and then the gossips overcame her musical releases. I don't believe in the "lack of quality" or "bad voice" idea. The big issue is that Avex only cares about where the money is, and it's all about selling tickets. |
#44
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About Timmy, he was a drag performer back in UK, wasn't he? And his outfits are actually representation of some stuff done by a LGBTQ+ subculture if I'm not wrong, so even if it feel odd for us, she maybe is conveying something this subculture feels confortable with. In the end of the day, a lot of Ayu work was meant to be shocking to some degree, even during her peak, and making people unconfortable with some stuff reflects that. About her stopping progress, is something I somewhat agree, but I believe this was more of a comercial decision. From Love Songs to Colours she really tried to push boundaries both with her own sound, as with her visual work and public image, and as the public didn't react well to that, she tried to get safer again starting with A One. I always like to repeat how some of her work where she tried the most to do new stuff were also the ones with the poorest reception. Last edited by Andrenekoi; 18th March 2021 at 09:46 PM. |
#45
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Like yes, she absolutely doesn't have to "prove" anything at this point in her career but that doesn't mean you just become... monotonous. And that's been my problem with Ayumi. Everything became boring. The songs she's been releasing aren't "bad"... but they also don't excite me anymore. That said - I'm hopeful that she feels inspired again if her latest TA entry is accurate to how she is feeling and perhaps we'll get something interesting again. |
#46
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There’s a difference between why she’s not popular in Japan anymore and why there’s disconnect with even overseas fans. I think boring is less of a factor for Japan - their idea of a good time is getting some much needed shut eye induced by a snoozer of a track, figuratively speaking. Her voice plays a bigger factor in regard to her fallout with Japan than the people she’s working with.
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#47
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_______ Honestly I get it. I also think a lot of her stuff sounds like leftovers from whatever she did before. And yes, there is a thing where artists work with the same people constantly and don't branch out. Which i do find strange, cuz even if those people you are comfortable with, as an artist it would get somewhat borring after a while? I don't know, maybe she sees it differently and it's the other way around - she found people who live on the same wavelength and you surelly wouldn't even think about replacing or letting them go. At the end of the day there might be more to this than just Ayu "getting comfortable" with her team.
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#48
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Some of her most disliked tracks by the overseas fandom actually are well Beloved in Japan (pun intended). But you can see a lot of complain about her voice in Youtube videos, for example. |
#49
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I don't live in Japan, but I have always wondered if all people know who she is, ordinary Japanese people. If I told them her name, would I get a “who is that?” comment or they would know about Ayu?
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#50
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^They definitely know her. She was too big not to know her. It's like everyone here knows who Madonna is, but especially younger people might not know her songs or might have just heard them at karaoke once or saw her perform on kouhaku or something and that's it. People around 30 or older will definitely recognise songs like evolution, Boys & Girls and SEASONS and even start singing the chorus if you mention her. They often seem to feel kind of nostalgic. But they also often assume she isn't active anymore, because during the last years she was most often over the news for her private life and not for her music. It's safe to assume they don't know any songs after BLUE BIRD.
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#51
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^It makes me sad, I love her early days but most of my favourite songs are probably post Secret at this point!
For people having a better understanding of how she is perceived in Japan, do you think Haru yo Koi could have a significant impact on her image? Is it really that big a song or was it blown out of proportion in our circles by the 2003 performance? |
#52
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^ It is one of Yuming's biggest songs, together with Sotsugyo Shashin.
That said, I don't think it's going to have a huge impact on how Ayu is perceived. It may subtly give a more positive image in some of the public's mind, that she's done something so mature and lovely - but for a lot of people I think it will just cement the idea that she is a hasbeen - she's covering a famous song vs. getting publicity for her own, and it's an old song at that. I think the only thing that might make a difference is if Yuming made some public comments about the cover that were favorable, but I don't see that happen with artists in Japan so much - even when they have officially released tribute albums. |
#53
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I don't really think Haru Yo, Koi was meant to be big, anyway. A Ballads 2 seens to be a test to decide where to go next.
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#54
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#55
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Really???
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#56
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I don’t know any specific comments but I can believe it. She’s a public supporter of former prime minister Shinzo Abe who is a huge nationalist.
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#57
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I vaguely remembered that there was something like a talk show/radio show many years ago where people asked Yuming to comment on various famous people in Japan. And her comment for ayu was something along the lines of "her mascaras look like fly's legs" lol
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#58
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its useless to try rewrite the story but when I think about it im always a bit sad how things tourned . |
#59
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^^That's pretty funny, actually. xD
There's this interview one had with the other, I believe Ayu was the one being interviewed, and she was TOTALLY starstruck lol. Yuming is a big name in the industry and she is around since the 70's. Her comercial peak still was way into her 40's. She can say pretty much whatever she wants lol |
#60
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^yup
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