Posts Tagged Hamasaki Ayumi

Pink Wota Reacts To Ayu Concert Setlist

December 31, 2009 | Ray Mescallado | Tags: , | Comments (1)

Pink Wota » [News] Countdown Live 09-10 ~Future Classics~ Kneejerk Reactions.

Vee finds a great deal to like from the initial reports on Hamasaki Ayumi’s latest tour. The T-shirt is indeed pretty nifty!

And I like the part about the spoon.


Pink Wota Finds Hamasaki Ayumi’s Redemption

December 29, 2009 | Ray Mescallado | Tags: | Comments (0)

Pink Wota » [Review] Redemption.

Vee does a detailed track-by-track review of this single, finding it Ayu’s strongest in the past two years.


Pink Wota On MC Skat Kat’s Revenge

December 12, 2009 | Ray Mescallado | Tags: , | Comments (0)

Pink Wota » [Review] Real Time PV Review: ‘BALLAD’.

Vee does another real-time review of an Ayu PV, and again the hilarity never ends. This is admittedly not as funny as the last one, but the last one was blessed with a total train wreck of a video. This PV was admittedly better, despite some lulzy moments, and Vee heroically works the jokes to excellent effect.


“That’s Like A Silent Hill Thing!”

December 4, 2009 | Ray Mescallado | Tags: , , | Comments (1)

Pink Wota » [Review] REAL TIME PV WHAT, I DON’T EVEN. WOWEE..

Watch this video commentary NOW NOW NOW. I started laughing out loud with the title line, and from there Vee hits a strange, transcendent moment in PV commentary that none of us – not me, not you, not anyone in the distant future – will probably ever come close to. It’s all hilarious, as Vee tries to make sense of a total fucking freakshow / cognitive dissonance exercise of a music video.

So yeah, watch this now. You won’t be sorry.

“Somebody’s welding!”


Raid Begins His Top Twenty of 2009

December 3, 2009 | Ray Mescallado | Tags: , , , , , , , , | Comments (0)

Raid My Minibar: Don’t get laid. Get Raid..

No surprise, heavy on the Johnny’s with a refreshing dash of avex. I’m looking forward to seeing the top ten.


Pink Wota Finishes ~A~ Live Top 25

November 30, 2009 | Ray Mescallado | Tags: , | Comments (0)

Pink Wota » [Video] ~A~ Live Top 25, Part the Last.

Vee ends this series in a powerful fashion – as if we expected any less – and even explains how a closer study of Ayu in the past year has enriched her appreciation of the artist. I’m now looking forward to her end-of-year posts, as List-Making Season kicks into high gear.


Pink Wota Closes In On ~A~ Live Top 25

November 20, 2009 | Ray Mescallado | Tags: , | Comments (0)

Pink Wota » [Video] ~A~ Live Top 25, Part Three.

The penultimate installment of this wonderful countdown series. Don’t miss it!


Pink Wota Continues ~A~ Live Top 25

November 19, 2009 | Ray Mescallado | Tags: , | Comments (0)

Pink Wota » [Video] ~A~ Live Top 25, Part Two.

She covers 18 to 12 here, with some helpful notes along the way.


Pink Wota Does Top 25 Live Ayu Performances

November 16, 2009 | Ray Mescallado | Tags: , | Comments (0)

Pink Wota » [Video] ~A~ Live Top 25, Part One.

Inspired by Celestia’s Top 100 H!P Songs list on Bikkuri Project, Vee starts her own series devoted to the Top 25 Ayu lives. While I’m not familiar with Ayu’s work, it’s fun to see this list and read why #’s 25 to 19 were chosen.

I’m looking forward to the rest of this series, as well as to more such lists as we approach the end of the decade.


unchained Returns, Gets Emotional

November 9, 2009 | Ray Mescallado | Tags: , , , , | Comments (0)

unchained » Blog Archive » Five songs that make pengie cry.

unchained has returned in a big way, with several new articles to enjoy. This one I like best, though, since it’s a topic I don’t recall seeing before. It’s hard to qualify what exactly makes a person cry, so reading someone struggle with that cause-and-effect is fascinating as both a personal reflection as well as a more general critical approach.

Hopefully it’ll set off a meme where others also write about songs that made them cry. It’ll be an illuminating list, moreso than most.


Ayumi at the Crossroads: “A Song for XX” and its Perpetual Resonance

November 2, 2009 | Vee | Tags: , | Comments (2)

Ayumi didn’t need our sympathy in 2003, and she never has. The body of her work, even down to the most saccharine love song, paints a picture of melancholy independence, a world in which even the happiness is underscored by struggle. But isn’t that life? “A Song for XX” is the ultimate, singular example of Ayumi’s strengths as a performer and as a wordsmith. It is a bit of self-indulgent confession, accusation, and resignation that envelops you, accepts you, grows in and around you.

Vee takes an in-depth look at an “A Song for XX” and how it epitomizes the virtues of Ayu’s musical career.


Pink Wota Looks At Ayu-Nation 2009

October 30, 2009 | Ray Mescallado | Tags: , | Comments (0)

Pink Wota » [Review] a-nation 09. I mean ayu-nation. Who am I kidding..

Vee has a lot of tough love for Ayu’s a-nation performance this year, deploying some truly acidic wit. Then the Greatest Miniskirt Ever shows up and Ayu gives a killer closing song and it seems all is forgiven – thanks to a return to child-like wonder and muscular thighs.

And on a sidenote, I was intrigued by the idea of Ayu being a “given” or “necessary evil” of a-nation, which is why she’s ceded so much attention. Could the same be said of SMAP’s relation to Japanese pop culture in general?


Madara Looks At Ayu PVs From Next Level

October 30, 2009 | Ray Mescallado | Tags: , | Comments (0)

madara_blog: Ayumi Hamasaki reaches the “Next Level”.

Madara looks at the PVs for Ayu’s most recent album, explaining their settings and plot. One line in particular caught my eye:

Avex evidently puts real money into these things and packs them with solid production value.

Yeah, that’s what you do when you value your musical acts and want them to promote themselves as best as possible. (Want another example? Look at this week’s #1 single.) And, of course, that’s exactly what makes the obvious cheapness of H!P PVs so frustrating.


Pink Wota On Ayu’s Wardrobe For Arena Tour 2009

October 27, 2009 | Ray Mescallado | Tags: , | Comments (0)

Pink Wota » [Eyecandy?] Arena Tour 2009 Wraps Up.

Vee considers the different outfits Ayu wears for the concert, and pretty much concludes that she needs to wear stuff that doesn’t remind us of how curvy she isn’t.


Boats Against The Current, Borne Back Ceaselessly Into The Past: Ayumi Hamasaki and The Price of Fame

October 26, 2009 | Anna | Tags: , | Comments (5)

Taking in her world with a frown, anxiety and confusion sweeping her features, she still pursues escape from fame, but only into a kind of fantastical, otherworldly realm, the only kind a woman like Hamasaki can live in after experiencing the type of fame she has endured. Performing freely to the open plains without a soul to hear, she preserves the music that has become her passion, but disconnects from all those pesky people who make it so hard to enjoy. For Hamasaki, there was no longer the possibility of the real world as we know it.

Anna takes an in-depth look at Hamasaki Ayumi’s music videos and how they reflect her evolving relationship to fame over the years.


Pink Wota On Ayu’s Visual Nomenclature

October 24, 2009 | Ray Mescallado | Tags: , | Comments (0)

Pink Wota » [News] Ayumi’s Winter Single and the Art of Visual Nomenclature.

The news of an upcoming Ayu single – and the return of ellipses in the title – has Vee musing on what she calls “visual nomenclature”. That term kept bothering me as I read it – wouldn’t “orthographic fetishes” be a better description? Or maybe “grammatical quirks” if you want to be more general about it.

Anyways, Vee muses on Ayu’s uses of ellipses and how it works for her, as well as tidbits of information leaked about the upcoming single. The Team Ayu reference in another song title is especially intriguing, and Vee handles that wonderfully as well.


Pink Wota Shares Thoughts On 60th Kouhaku Line-Up

October 10, 2009 | Ray Mescallado | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments (1)

Pink Wota » [News] 60th Kouhaku Set to be Most Awesome EVER..

Vee is delighted that three major girl groups appear this time – Morning Musume, Perfume, and AKB48 – though she also notes a great deal of other Red Team goodness including the return of Amuro Namie. I’m not a fan of Superfly but I think she could bring the house down with the right song. Johnny’s is well represented by Arashi, TOKIO, and of course SMAP. Maybe SMAP can make the effort and follow the other two to the Johnny’s Countdown this time.

The one thing that strikes me is the dog that didn’t bark: I’m recognizing so many names on both team lists that it seems enka is getting very short shrift this time around. Coincidence? A deliberate appeal to younger viewers? Where’s Wada Akiko, at least?

Still, this IS very impressive. While I’m still anticipating Johnny’s Countdown more, there should be a great deal to enjoy on Kouhaku this time around.


Pink Wota Looks At a-nation Broadcast

September 26, 2009 | Ray Mescallado | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | Comments (0)

Pink Wota » [News] WOWOW’s a-nation Broadcast to Shaft Gomaki, BoA, others.

Vee looks at the set list for the show and makes some observation on who’s in, who’s out, and who’s got the lion’s share of the screen time.


Pink Wota Copes With Her Calendar Girl

September 17, 2009 | Ray Mescallado | Tags: | Comments (0)

Pink Wota » [News] Fish Lips: 0 Dead Eyes: 1 – It Evens Out..

Apparently, having Ayu on your wall all-year-round isn’t always a good thing, as Vee attests. Oh, and I love the modified version of her current calendar pic.


Pink Wota Re-Imagines Ayu’s “Sparkle” PV

September 15, 2009 | Ray Mescallado | Tags: | Comments (0)

Pink Wota » [Series] Reimagining Subpar Ayumi Hamasaki PV’s – ‘Sparkle’.

I was curious about the video after reading this article and, yes, it is a pile of stinking, rancid, peanut-studded shit. Vee’s proposal for a video that would match the stature of the song makes a good deal of sense and is exciting, but lemme put three words in your ear on another possibility for the PV: “Dick puppet theater.”


When Japanese Eyes are Smiling – 121Eyes Asks…

September 11, 2009 | Vee | Tags: , , | Comments (0)

Survey: Alluring Eyes

Via Tokyograph, a quick rundown of the recent survey by 121eyes.jp. 1:2:1 is supposedly the “golden ratio” for eye beauty, and it seems that the top three ranked female geinou possess that ratio. My question is: are people judging photoshopped/contact lens eyes or…you know…REAL eyes? I’m just asking, because Ayumi Hamasaki is #4.


Pink Wota Pays Tribute To Her Mother

September 11, 2009 | Ray Mescallado | Tags: , | Comments (0)

Pink Wota » [Personal] Happy Birthday ~for her~.

From our own Vee, this is a wonderful post about her mother and how her passing last year was defined in part by the music of Hamasaki Ayumi. It’s an intensely personal post, and the Ayu connection shows how pop culture can define our lives – even at the worst of times – in meaningful, positive ways. Vee’s writing is especially strong, and I suspect there’s more along this line waiting to be explored.