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	biichan 2003-09-23 04:24 am UTC (link)
	Err. Is it a bad thing when my immediate reaction is to not make fun of the participants but agree with a "YES! SHE IS HOT!" (Reply to this)(Thread)

	ereshkigal 2003-09-23 04:29 am UTC (link)
	Nah, that was my reaction too... that is, until I saw teh funny reply. :x Then I couldn't help but laugh. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	biichan 2003-09-23 04:46 am UTC (link)
	Yes. People are silly. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	ataniell93 2003-09-23 05:40 am UTC (link)
	If only she could sing as well as say, Mai Kuraki, Hikaru Utada or even that chick who sings "Never End" whose name I am embarrassed to have forgot. But hey. I prefer Yutaka Ozaki, Masaharu Fukuyama, and other people no one in America has ever heard of :D (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	ereshkigal 2003-09-23 05:43 am UTC (link)
	Onitsuka Chihiro all the way baby. :x *cough*Doesn't really know Ayumi Hamasaki from a hole in the wall, but the wank was funny anyway.*cough* (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

(Reply from suspended user)

	(Anonymous) 2003-09-24 10:58 am UTC (link)
	One here too. She has wonderfully, messed up lyrics. *listening to Moonlight(Gekkou) right now* (Reply to this)(Parent)

	biichan 2003-09-23 05:51 am UTC (link)
	Ah, well, I am a Hamasaki plebe. But you knew this darling. And she makes pretty lj icons. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	htrismegistus 2003-09-23 06:08 am UTC (link)
	< o f f t o p i c > But hey. I prefer Yutaka Ozaki, Masaharu Fukuyama, and other people no one in America has ever heard of :D Ajico. UA. Hajime Chitose. Cocco. Love Psychedelico. < / o f f t o p i c > < o n t o p i c > What a good wank! (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	ataniell93 2003-09-24 05:21 am UTC (link)
	I saw Love Psychedelico in 2001. They were awesome. I saw them in San Francisco at the Paradise < / off topic > (Reply to this)(Parent)

	kyuuketsukirui 2003-09-23 10:04 am UTC (link)
	Amuro Namie sang Never End. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	ataniell93 2003-09-24 05:20 am UTC (link)
	Thanks. :D (Reply to this)(Parent)

	rogue 2003-09-23 04:32 am UTC (link)
	Isn't she (Ayu) the one who's had a massive amount of plastic surgery already? I get her and the one who sings the Kingdom Hearts song mixed up. (Reply to this)(Thread)

	kyuuketsukirui 2003-09-23 04:34 am UTC (link)
	Yeah, people say she's had a lot of surgery. I don't really pay that close attention myself, though she's one of my favorite singers. The one who sings the Kingdom Hearts theme is Utada Hikaru. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	rogue 2003-09-23 05:00 am UTC (link)
	Someone showed me "Ayu as a young model" and "Ayu as a pop star" photos, and the difference is huge. She got her eyes, nose, and maybe something else done. Yikes. I think she looked a lot better originally. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

*laughing* htrismegistus 2003-09-23 05:11 am UTC (link)

What a timely thread. Ayumi was a guest star on a program here in Japan not ten hours ago. My first thoughts were - 1) Wow, she's ugly these days. 2) That surgery must have been costly. 3) Some talented airbrushers exist in this world. 4) That's a lot of stage makeup. 5) She's still a really good singer despite all the "work." Which makes my appreciation of the above-linked wank that much deeper... (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	Re: *laughing* rogue 2003-09-23 05:19 am UTC (link)
	I'm used to the super-plastic-fake look of the Japanese pop stars - I just don't like her voice. It's nasally and she can't hit any notes. Ouch. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	Re: *laughing* htrismegistus 2003-09-23 05:39 am UTC (link)
	Oh, she can't sing live - her voice has been shot for years - but the production on her albums is quite nice. Which, come to think of it, doesn't have much to do with her... (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	Re: *laughing* rogue 2003-09-23 05:43 am UTC (link)
	*thinks of the boyband episode of The Simpsons where they just twist the nob over to "good*" (Reply to this)(Parent)

Re: *laughing* kyuuketsukirui 2003-09-23 10:03 am UTC (link)

I like her lyrics a lot, though I was really disappointed with her decision to add a bunch of English to the Rainbow album. She said before that she didn't write in English because she didn't feel she could express herself fully using it, and I respected her for that. In a world of "body feels exit" and "I wish you will be happy life" (among millions of other gems), it was a refreshing change. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

Re: *laughing* htrismegistus 2003-09-23 10:54 am UTC (link)

I like her lyrics a lot I do like her lyrics on several songs - "Dearest" and "I Am..." spring instantly to mind. I like the techno/orchestra remix albums as well - unlike most remixes they do give the songs completely different feels. In a world of "body feels exit" and "I wish you will be happy life" (among millions of other gems), it was a refreshing change. Agreed. Although there's just something about oh, say, SMAP, trying to grin and dance while singing in "English" that they obviously don't understand that has a different sort of entertainment value entirely... (Reply to this)(Parent)

	Re: *laughing* rikoshi 2003-09-27 05:48 am UTC (link)
	Oh, she can't sing live - her voice has been shot for years I have an mp3 of Ayu singing "Evolution" during a New Year's Eve concert. It's one of the funniest things ever. It's like someone's trying to play violin on her vocal cords. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	kyuuketsukirui 2003-09-23 05:36 am UTC (link)
	I saw her in a drama (Miseinen) in...hrm...I think it was 93? 94? Anyway, quite some time ago and long before she was famous as a singer, and I remember thinking she was quite ugly at the time. I don't think she's all that pretty now either, but she's grown on me. I just love her singing. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	Half a tidbit... (Anonymous) 2003-09-23 03:13 pm UTC (link)
	And Ayumi Hamasaki is the one who sang the Thousand Arms theme(s - Op and Ed). Come on, someone besides me has to have plodded through wasted their time on played that game... (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	Re: Half a tidbit... starherd 2003-09-24 01:19 am UTC (link)
	*LOL* My husband bought that game when it first came out because he mistook it for a sequel to Wild Arms. He took it back as soon as he got home and read online that it wasn't. I was pissed... I wanted to have a look at it :-P (As a result, I've never heard the music; it never left its case) (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

Re: Half a tidbit... (Anonymous) 2003-09-25 12:32 pm UTC (link)

I can sum it up for you: A dating game crossed with a somewhat-generic, slightly-above/below average RPG, where one of the main features is dating various girls throughout the game to upgrade your weapons (you can even take sticker photos with them)! And those girls? Well, there`s: 1. Aerith wearing a cat-bell 2. Pickpocket with a heart of gold-digger 3. Science Genius Girl (TM) wearing a froggie hood 4. A pirate with a big hammer (who reminds me of Ayla, for some reason) 5. Obligatory older, mature woman (I think she was a librarian?) ...geez, guess which part of the game I overplayed? (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	Re: Half a tidbit... (Anonymous) 2003-09-25 12:36 pm UTC (link)
	...various girls throughout the game to upgrade your weapons (you can even take sticker photos with them)! ...Er, that would be sticker photos with THE GIRLS, not the weapons. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	Re: Half a tidbit... pennycentury 2003-09-24 07:32 am UTC (link)
	She also sang one of the end themes from Inuyasha, didn't she? Was it Season 3? Approximating on-topicness: Nothing quite like plastic surgery wank. Maybe I'll go cruise a couple of Britney Spears boards and see if there's anything shakin' there.... (Reply to this)(Parent)

	redpanda 2003-09-23 08:21 am UTC (link)
	Eh, I have three of her songs, I have no idea what she looks like or who those other "better" singers are. I like these songs. Who cares otherwise? :) (Reply to this)

	Drags out my Jpop CDs from a dusty corner lukita 2003-09-23 01:01 pm UTC (link)
	Keep in mind these CDs are a couple of years old. From the pretty insert pictures, I personally think Ayumi Hamasaki needs a couple weeks worth of sleep. Voice wise... no comment since I don't have the ear for it. (Reply to this)

	nekoneko 2003-09-23 01:47 pm UTC (link)
	I don't really listen to Ayumi. Never did. I like Masami Okui better. Especially every song she ever did for Utena. (Reply to this)(Thread)

	rikoshi 2003-09-27 05:50 am UTC (link)
	I happen to really like some of Okui's stuff from Slayers. Her voice is just fantastic "kickyourass!" in her intensity. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	mariagoner 2003-09-23 07:53 pm UTC (link)
	She did the Utena soundtrack? Hey, neat! But... she's not very pretty. She's rather cute, but in a very ordinary way. I wouldn't say she's ugly, though... (Reply to this)(Thread)

	nekoneko 2003-09-23 11:42 pm UTC (link)
	Masami Okui did Toki Ni Ai Wa, I Can't... and Rinbu Revolution. I love those songs. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	pipssister 2003-09-26 05:15 pm UTC (link)
	Yeah, I agree. I think the "Japanese Avril Lavigne" comment was pretty close, although I think Avril's more attractive. (Reply to this)(Parent)