I'm with Ghostdog here. I was watching some older clips for some reason, and WOW could she EVER sing live back in the day. I was saying that she sounded EXACTLY like her CDs. That's no reasy feat! But not these days -

Smoking is bad for you Hikaru. *slaps nose with rolled newspaper* BAD BAD!

From a selfish fan perspective, less smoking, less drinking, less partying, more work.

But as a fellow human being, she can do whatever she wants. Skydive naked into the Sea of Japan for frak's sake.

If she releases a good product, I'll buy it. I bought TITO because it wasn't half-bad. But it wasn't great either.

JimJam is sadly right. A TITO single is about as likely as an EXODUS one at this date. "Timing" is a really relevant point. I don't at all buy the 'illness' excuse, as she took the effort to dissapear without trace for months. It seems as though promo was cancelled and dried up, or she just gave up. "I'm rich enough already - ", "I don't do small-time.", "I miss sleeping with Kuma-chang.", "I needa drink or two (or sixteen)."

I fear that the 'heyday' of being a Hikki fan is over.