Ayumi Hamasaki releases her music video for “Mask”. *This video is sponsored by Squarespace and TeamLab.

I just know somebody is gonna say something about Ayu and plastic surgery based on the shot above. I’m not getting into that. But, I get it. Between Ayu’s face, which now looks unnaturally taut, less expressive than it did before, the name of the song, and the final shot of the music video looking like Ayu has come out of surgery, it’s bound to have SOME people say something.

But let’s get into this music video, which is just as boring and as questionable as the song.

📺 Watch the music video for “Mask” over @ YouTube

*This video is not sponsored by Squarespace. But it might be sponsored by TeamLab.

“Mask” is directed by Hideaki Sunaga, who also directed the videos for “Summer Again”, “Nonfiction” and “23rd Monster”. And he is really showing his ass that he is not a good director these days. This man has no eye for cinematography. Has no sense of tone. And no feel for energy. “Mask” is the third Hideaki helmed video in a row which has had cool sets, cool locations, and high energy songs, shot in the most boring and least captivating ways possible. But looking back, this seems to be Hideaki’s calling card. He’s been directing music videos for Ayu from as early as 2003, and the consistency is always how boring they are, and the mismatched the tones between the songs and the videos.

Hideaki Sunaga’s recent videos for Ayu all seem moderately unplanned. As though he said ‘We’re all gonna wing this video’, because there’s no intent with anything. There’s no point of view. Nothing seems purposeful or structured. There’s also just a general laziness with these videos.

Ayumi Hamasaki - Mask | © 2022 Avex Entertainment Inc.

The music video for “Mask” was shot at TeamLab, which is a visual installation experience, created and curated by a collective of artists from a range of disciplines, but with a focus on digital. Every single scene in the music video was shot there. There was no set dressing which was done. No bespoke lighting which was done for the video. No specific digital visuals which were produced for this video. What you see is what was / is at TeamLab. I’m honestly surprised this wasn’t some form of sponsored tie-in. Although I’m sure many art heads, visual heads and locals will recognise TeamLab immediately upon seeing the video, especially those on Instagram, as it is understandably a highly Instagrammable location. Those of you with eternal memories who follow Crystal Kay will recognise TeamLab, as she has been there more than once and Instagrammed her visits.

Shooting at TeamLab is a cool idea. Visually it looks cool. And it’s also cost effective, ‘cos we know Avex ain’t giving Ayu the music video budgets they were in 2005. The budgets are even hitting Ayu's wigs, because she brought the Colours ponytail and A Ballads wig out of storage. But I do wish that the video had a concept which could better utilise the fact they’re at Tokyo Labs. Trying to shoehorn an Alice in Wonderland concept just didn’t work for me. With this style of location and the different setups Hideaki had to work with, this really should have just been a performance music video, with great shots and really sharp, occasionally trippy, editing.

The lack of control that Hideaki has with the digital displays meant that certain shots just didn’t work. Every time the visuals on the screen changed, we got a jump cut instead of the visuals actually transitioning themselves; which would have been far more effective i.e the flowers all slowly turning red, and the shooting stars all forming a supernova. The scale of the screens and what they were displaying dampened the impact, because of how boringly they were used and shot. Lucasfilm and Perfume would never. Okay, Lucasfilm would and has. But Perfume would never.

As was also the case with “Nonfiction“ and “Summer Again”, we get moments of SOME choreography, but it’s not the focus, when it should have been.

Ayumi Hamasaki - Mask | © 2022 Avex Entertainment Inc.

There are so many things that could have been done to make this video work with the Tokyo Labs rooms, and Hideaki gave us absolutely nothing.

I do not like “Mask” at all. No music video would have made me like the song more, but it still could have just been a great music video. But we never even got that. It was all a wrap for me as soon I saw Ayu struggling to cry, as though she’s about to give us a vocal moment or some BARS, just for her to hit us with a ♪ OoOoOoOOoOO, La, LaAaaaAaaaaaaggghhhaagagh, La, LaAaaaAaaaaaaggghhhaagagh ♪.

Ayumi Hamasaki - Mask | © 2022 Avex Entertainment Inc.

Gurl. Same.

I was going to review “Mask”, but I honestly have nothing to say on the song other than Tetsuya Komuro’s shit stays sounding outdated. Ayu stays singing predominantly with poor technique and sounding bad. And the whole song is just bad.

Ayu just seems to be stuck creatively. And it doesn’t help that she is continually surrounded by others who are also creatively stuck.

In other Ayu news, her 18th studio album which was originally due to release in 2022, has now been pushed back to 2023. And it will feature every single released from “Ohia no Ki” onward.

---

💿 Ayu music reviews: Singles Summer Again | Nonfiction | 23rd Monster | EPs Trouble | Five | Albums Colours | Love Again | Party Queen | Love Songs | Rock 'n' Roll Circus | Next Level | Rainbow