Now and Then

[Daking]

Disclaimer: I love Ayu no matter how she is but this is my opinion on the topic and feel free to disagree beacuse sometimes i disagree with myself as well.

After seeing all those new pics in the News section sorta makes me think that maybe part of the reason Ayu isn't selling well is because of the image she portrays. We all know she's extremely beautiful but in her older days she would combine her beauty with an element of playfulness that makes her look cute.

Nowadays she is going of the sexy angle or expensive angle and i think it may turn some people off. I don't know if her age won't allow her to revist some of the cute styles of many years ago but i would kill to see her like that again even if only for an album cover or so. Its not very often anymore we see Ayu with just "casual" clothes on most things are very elegant and have tons of planning inside. It just doesn't seem as natural.

Like i said above I can't argue with anything Ayu has done because i am still a huge fan, December 2005 is when i started my Ayu adventure, so one year later and i must say my fondness of Ayu is as high as ever, i just think it would be even further enhanced if Ayu would revisit some of the past that made her even more successful.

You know... the whole Ayu acting cute, actually wore off for me after a while.

I really like her new classier style, it suits her so much more.
She can pull off elegant so well.

She's nearly 30, why should she have to be acting cute to make sales?

[Daking]

^your point is totally valid and thus sometimes i argue with myself however the thing that i think is that right now it doesn't seem like she's mixing up her styles at all like she did in the past and i'm sorta missing it. but once again you're right i don't know if she can pull off some of the stuff she did previously at 28 years of age.

Maybe its because i only caught on a year ago and all her "cute" stage was compressed into a shorter time for me so i didn't get worn out.

[freedreamer]

Lol..her cute is overdone i feel...but yea, should cute less...but its still doing fine like in STEP you, Ladies Night AT06..i think it was ok..
but when she is cute, she really feels young

[sexysaucestar]

Ayu is still cute, but in a more refined, mature way. Her style of clothing is merely 'growing up' with her...as ~ayu-cake~ said, Ayu is nearly 30 now; I'm sure a lot of her loyal/older fans are also around that age group now, too.

[Delirium-Zer0]

I've been a fan since the Trilogy came out, and I agree with you guys... the cute worked back then but now it seems so forced whenever she tries it now. She grew up, so her style & image had to also.

[the angel song]

I think her fashion choices are another thing that make her a great model. Instead of fooling her female audience by wearing wacky and cute clothes like she did in 2002, she's toned it down for a more mature and refined look. This in turn makes her female fans see that just because you grow older, doesn't mean you lose any charm, but it doesn't necessarily mean you strut your stuff around like koda or dress too young for your age lmao.

But this is all what I think as I watch her progress since '02. :3

[Dustie]

That's how it usually is, in the music industry.

If they start as pop acts, when they start to 'grow up' musically, it's usually when they start to fade away/wear off... There's a lot of examples in the western music and I think it's something that's happening with Ayumi now.

[Terri]

Keep in mind, not only do the artists 'grow up', so do the fans.

Ayu's fans 7 years ago have changed. Intsead of being 12 years old, they are now 18/19 years old now.

Both Ayu and her fans grow together. Most (hopefully), loyal fans still adore her and relate to her music/image. At the same time, most of them move onto other genres to suit their new emotions and experiences. It's just the course of nature.

The industry and listeners are always evolving and moving on to other things. If Ayu were to go back go her previous style, who is to say people accept it?

While Ayu still has an extremely large fanbase, she needs to focus or create a new plan of attack that can retain her true self but attract people with the infamous style of Ayu

[Dustie]

The thing is, if she's been selling albums over 2 million copies, and now she's barely selling 500k, it means quite some of the fans must have stopped buying her albums. Why did that happen? Isn't it becouse her music isn't appealing enough for them anymore?...

If it used to be and it isn't anymore, it means the way it has changed is most probably the main reason.

So, growing up in music made her not as appealing as she used to be.

I know it's a very generalised calculation, but I believe it's very true in the most part.

[Key ~eternal tie~]

Hmm, I see what you're saying, but I don't think I agree with it totally. I personally like watching Ayu grow up. I'm not saying I don't like her cute image. It's just like her albums... with each one she releases, she changes her voice/singing style, and that's what I like, it's like growing up with her.

I don't think she's as popular as her 2001 days, but I wouldn't say she's losing popularity too much. If you look at the charts, even B'z aren't selling as high as before. Wouldn't it mean that perhaps the market is changing. Physical sales have gone down. In the 2000 - 2002 period a lot of stars were selling like crazy. MAybe now, people prefer to download.

[Daking]

guess you're all right since you guys have been around much longer than i have. It really is the falling sales and whatnot that i've seen from western artists that i fear might happen to ayu, but i guess the answer isn't that simple.

[~X2RADialbomber~]

I think her style has changed. I know she's 30, but I really wish she could have a cool, and fresh style like even a few years ago. I really don't like how she's not doing her unique nails anymore, or how she's wearing weird dresses on Music Station, but I guess we have to live with that. It may seem like she's not selling much anymore, but wasn't she the 2nd Best selling female artist of this year? I'm sure she's been like that in the past with other artists such as Utada Hikaru and Namie Amuro, don't you think?

[Daking]

^yeah i think u hit it right on, i guess i was just hoping for a little more than is actually realistic.

[Ayumiko]

I for one do miss her old cool stylish look back then...All she wears right now is dresses when she perform on music shows...so boring....She does look pretty in them and everytime theyre different color or style...but still! I want to see her wear jeans or even leather pants or something again...even though she did wear the encore outfit with jeans one time on MS and I think that was for teens? I want to see her with cool accessories and funky nails again...I love her with cowboy hats, the fox tails, camo outfits, leopard prints, the off shoulder tops/ one piece dress...sigh...atleast she still kept the big sunglasses..

[edgefusion]

I really like how Ayumi doesn't flaunt her body, we're living in an age of sex appeal and boobies (not naming names!) and it's nice to see a role model acting so responsibly.

[Axel_Grease]

Well, for music shows she's gotta wear the outfit that matches the song most. You can't expect her to wear the yellow Bruce Lee/Kill Bill outfit to sing JEWEL. xD

[Delirium-Zer0]

Everyone asking about her sales slipping... the same changing image we LOVE her for, alot of older fans don't like. Her style of music, dress, and lyrics have all changed over the years. While alot of people really liked the cute pop star, less have come to still like the new ayu, the mature musician. Some older fans had a taste for more poppy, dancy stuff, but ayu's leaning more towards darker songs (and she sounds more natural doing them; her more poppy songs sound really forced and almost clumsy now compared to her older ones).

[Ayumiko]

It doesnt have to be dress everytime...back then during dearest, she wore jeans with casual top plus fur hat and fox tail in most of her normal performances. Songs like BLUE BIRD, fairyland, she could of wore something else besides dresses...

[~X2RADialbomber~]

Originally Posted by Ayumiko

It doesnt have to be dress everytime...back then during dearest, she wore jeans with casual top plus fur hat and fox tail in most of her normal performances. Songs like BLUE BIRD, fairyland, she could of wore something else besides dresses...

Exactly what I was thinking...