Idol Thoughts: On Perfume, Homophobia, and the Reactions

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The one week I had a lot of ideas in mind for what I wanted to write, and I got asked to write a blog post on the Perfume scandal (of sorts).

First, let me just say that while Perfume isn’t a group I talk about a lot, I do like them. While I don’t follow them as much as I used to, I enjoyed the group a lot in early 2010. In fact, the reason for the Disco in Happy Disco is because of Chocolate Disco and (mostly) One Room Disco. In fact, I’d consider One Room Disco to be one of my favorite PVs and a favorite song of mine.

If you haven’t heard, there’s been a bit of fuss online over statements made by Perfume in an interview. The biggest article (that got people talking) was the one on aramatheydidnt. This took  snippets from a longer interview that was originally published in English. 

Copy-pasting the section in question from the longer interview:

Earlier this year, the trio embarked on a world tour, covering the U.K., France, and Germany (Read: J-Pop Sensation Perfume Takes Paris by Storm). For Japanese pop acts used to polite crowds who listen attentively, the crowd’s reaction in other countries came as something of a surprise to Perfume. “In Japan, we usually would start hearing people shout right before the performance, but in the U.K., people started shouting out passionately, ‘Per-fu-me!’ while clapping forty minutes before the show started, as if it were a soccer game!” says A-Chan.

“Also, when we met about ten fans from each country at the autograph sessions, there was a person who had ‘Perfume’ tattooed on his wrist. That was pretty shocking. He had tattoos on all sorts of places. I asked him, ‘didn’t it hurt to get a tattoo there?’ and he replied, ‘not really,’ then he started taking his pants off and we were like, ‘what is he going to do?’”

“He had another tattoo that said, ‘Love the World,’ which is an album that we released worldwide. He seemed so proud of it. I don’t have any tattoos so I’m not sure how deep a love that signifies, but I think it’s pretty incredible. And there were people who made gifts for us — tissue cases made from Japanese paper, for example. One particular fan said, ‘a Japanese friend gave it to me, but I want you to have it.’ I was like, ‘isn’t it a reverse import!?’ I can buy something like that anytime, but I guess for that person it was something very special. I answered a bit awkwardly, ‘tha…thank you,’” says A-Chan.

The group also discovered that their fan base demographic in European countries was somewhat different to Japan, where the ratio of male and female fans is almost equal. “Overseas, there were more men than women, and also people who were neither!” says A-Chan. “A gay couple came to our singing session and one of the guys introduced to us his ‘girlfriend.’ But the guy gave me a huge rose saying, ‘I love you so much! ­– I also love him (a guy), which means I like guys, but because I love you so much he doesn’t believe I like guys! Tell him something to convince him that I like guys!’ and I was like, ‘what in the world am I supposed to say to that!’ A lot of extraordinary things happened.”

First off, the thing I find very rude that hasn’t gotten a lot of discussion was what A-Chan said about the fan who gave her that gift from Japan. It actually shocks me to read this. Not to say that Perfume and other acts might not think that certain gifts are strange, but I assumed that music acts, especially ones with such longevity and media appearance as Perfume, would have enough tact to not single one fan’s gift out for being odd. It made her seem a bit ungrateful, which put me off.

Secondly, there are two sections in question: the “Men, women, and neither” statement and the meeting with the gay couple.

First off, the “men, women, neither” statement. Brian of Idolminded posted a link to the Perfume City forums where they discuss this in greater depth which educated me, as a casual Perfume fan. Essentially, A-chan uses this at Perfume concerts, emulating another singer who did so first, and it does reach out to the gay fans. Some foreign fans have speculated it’s reaching out to genderqueer fans, fans who don’t identify with a gender, but I think this is giving Perfume a bit too much credit in terms of gender representation. Most Western countries have enough of a hard time thinking outside the concept of a gender binary, and gender is behind a lot of these countries in terms of LGBT rights and representation. So I do think it’s referring to the gay fans, especially given the juxtaposition in this article, and what I’ve read on it on Perfume City leads me to the same conclusion.

Sexual orientation and gender identity have absolutely nothing to do with one another. So, even with the background and the rationale for saying this, it does make A-chan sound fairly ignorant. That said, I don’t think she was intentionally ignorant or trying to be intentionally malicious with her statements; it’s just something reinforced by the culture in which she was raised, and she frankly might think what she’s doing is fine, especially if LGBT fans of Perfume rally around that. This doesn’t necessarily make it OK and perfect; I have a lot of issues with Japanese culture (mostly around feminism and LGBT rights) and this just shows an aspect of the culture I’m not fond of.

Some fans are getting a bit defensive, so there’s one thing I’ll want to say about this: to be homophobic, you don’t have to be doing it consciously or intentionally. In fact, I’d say one of the worst kinds of homophobia, misogyny, etc. is the unintentional kind, because it both reflects and reinforces negative aspects of the overall culture.

As for the second issue, the fans, I’d say the worst part of the whole thing was the use of the word “girlfriend.” However, without context, it’s difficult to know what happened. Did the man introduce the person as his “girlfriend” or was that something A-chan put in? Did A-chan specifically use the word “girlfriend” or did she use “koibito” (non-gender specific word for ‘lover’) and it got translated funny? It’s hard to know, really, what went down. Personally I don’t blame her for being awkward because that fan did put her in a strange spot, trying to somehow prove his sexuality. I don’t know if A-chan necessarily needed to mention it, but I don’t think she was at fault here.

So ultimately, is Perfume a giant group of homophobic people? Nah, not really. I mean, they could probably use more coaching on how to approach the press, but there seems to be zero malicious intent and some ignorance that stems from the culture.

That said, the one thing I don’t really like is how people have been reacting to this. The almost overwhelming response has been people saying the initial arama poster was overreacting, getting defensive over Perfume, and being kind of angry.

First off, everyone’s entitled to their own opinion, and they’re allowed to support whatever they want. Some people have called to boycotting Perfume, and they’re in their right to do so. If you’re not offended, good for you. People are allowed to be offended at things, and stop supporting a group for whatever reason they want. I stopped watching the show Glee because of a rape joke that just made me quit the show entirely. Some people might think that’s extreme, but it’s my prerogative. Just because you’re not offended doesn’t mean people aren’t offended. And that goes both ways.

It’s also OK to criticize things you like and still like them. A blog post I posted around the time of the Miichan scandal comes to mind. If this bugs you and you still want to like Perfume, that’s absolutely fine. It’s OK to be critical of things you enjoy. I’m a big fan of the show Once Upon a Time, but I wish there were more characters on the show that weren’t white. It’s not a terrible thing to disagree with something and continue to like that thing.

That said, I think that for a lot of people this is bringing up the issue of how to view another culture entirely. I’m not saying everyone in Japan is regressive in terms of gender and sexuality, but the track record for LGBT rights in Japan isn’t great. Which goes along with that blog post I linked; it’s OK to like things from a cultural perspective you may disagree with. I personally wish that Japan would end up being more progressive, but I still listen to way too much idol pop and follow the music industry. I do think that people should be aware of these things, though. I think it’s easy as a Westerner to become enamored with places like Japan; it’s a very different culture with a very different history, but it’s still modern and industrialized. I think it’s important to be aware of the issues within a culture, so that there isn’t a blind adoration of an interesting but flawed society. I’m not saying America’s perfect; goodness knows that there are a LOT of things I would change about American society and culture. However, no country is perfect, and I think it’s important to keep that in mind.

So while I don’t come out of this hating Perfume or hating Japanese culture, I do hope that this might bring around some awareness. Unfortunately, since so many people disagree with the idea of these statements being homophobic, I could see a lot of people rejecting this altogether. So I can only hope this is an educational experience as much as it’s able, and that it causes people to think.

What do you think about the situation? Leave a comment and I’ll reply to you in next week’s Your Thoughts post!

Your Thoughts: Bias and Blogging

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This week’s comment came from BeForJess of Happy Go Lucky! Thanks for commenting again!

It’s nice to see articles like this that illuminate facets of the idol blogging world!

I’ll be totally honest – it actually confuses me that so many people feel the need to preface their blogs with statements about how it’s their opinion… Simply because I feel like that’s the very essence of a blog. To get your opinions out there.

What a boring blogging world we’d have if nobody spoke opinion and talked about the things they are biased towards or against. Some of the best idol blogs out there are ones where I don’t even agree with the writer’s opinion nine times out of ten… But I like to see someone else’s perspective.

Generally speaking, the furthest I’ll ever go is to preface something particularly polarizing with a phrase like, “in my opinion”, or something similar. For all the high praise and low blows I’ve dished out on my blog, I haven’t really dealt with anything in the way of backlash. I’m not too worried about my biases showing and affecting others either – in fact, if my love for someone can influence someone else to love that idol too, all the better. Even with a negative bias, it can be comforting to know that even though the whole world loves idol X, you can’t stand her and you’re not alone.

As far as Happy Disco goes – I think you do just fine! Don’t move towards censoring your opinions to cover your bias, because you have your bias for a reason, and if you share your love, you might convince someone else to give them a try too. :)

I agree with what you said. I do think it would be boring if bloggers were expected to be completely unbiased and not share what they like and dislike. I mean, that’s the point of a lot of blogs. I also agree that I like reading opinions different to mine. I enjoy a wide variety of discourse, because that helps inform my own ideas and opinions.

As for prefacing blog posts, I generally tend to use language like “in my opinion” and “I think” just to erase all doubts that Happy Disco is just Serenyty’s realm of idol thoughts. I do wish it was less necessary to say something, but people can get a bit defensive of their favorites. I know that Chiima of Okay! Musume Time, for example, got some flack for writing critical things of Berryz Koubou. I’m not saying you have to agree with everything I write, but I would like to avoid internet rage (until I start reviewing video games or something like that). But I do try to share my feelings in general, even if I err on the side of caution.

The one statement that really resonated with me for this is “you have your bias for a reason.” Because that’s true; bloggers so often go to defend themselves with saying “I have a bias for this” when really, that’s just a personal taste that informs your opinions. I have a bias towards Team Syachihoko, but that’s because of the group, not because I have a bias there.

Thank you for your excellent comment, I appreciate it!

Idolminded’s Ray wrote a fairly long response to my last post on the Rec Reading post, so I decided to post that here too! (I know I get a lot of my views from Idolminded, but if you don’t visit Idolminded you absolutely should. I write there too!).

For a while, I’ve noticed a lot of younger bloggers seem more self-aware and pro-active about making sure their opinions are taken as opinions, a fear of backlash if that was not clear enough. I come from a pre-Internet tradition of pop-culture journalism, and so I always assumed my readership knew where I stood and that my writing would reinforce that stance. I wonder if this current self-awareness about biases and opinions is something that comes with growing up in the Internet age, where flame wars and willful misunderstanding of authorial intent is so common.

All that said, I have a general disdain for the notion of an absolute objective journalism. The idea that all opinions are equally valid is intellectually dishonest: some people are better informed, have thought out issues more, and are more articulate than others. Those opinions should be valued more than unreflective, off-the-cuff controversy-mongering. (And historically speaking, the notion of journalistic objectivity was not an attempt to provide better news but to sell papers to a wider audience – playing both sides of the fence, as it were.)

There is a great tradition of partisan and advocacy journalism, and I believe one can write in such a manner that one’s biases are understood to be in the service of honest intellectual inquiry. There’s a difference between trying to make people believe your opinions are the only right ones, and using your opinions as a starting point for a more extensive discussion. If you write as if you’re trying to win a shouting argument, you’re probably doing it wrong.

What matters is not objectivity: what matters is awareness of one’s biases, an innate respect for other people’s opinions (there’s a huge difference between respecting opinions and saying they’re equal), and a natural curiosity willing to test one’s values (and those of others) in the quest for greater enlightenment. Which may all sound kind of lofty, but in today’s media maybe we need such reminders once in a while

I honestly don’t have much to add, because I really like what was written and I want everyone to read it. However, I do have to say that as a somewhat younger blogger, I do think growing up online has a part of why I have to think about this. I was born in 1991 and I can’t even remember not having internet (since my dad’s pretty tech savvy). I spent a lot of my teen years involved on forums and in fan communities, and I’ve seen lots of anger and rage over fairly benign/pointless opinions. This has caused me to be slightly defensive in my writing style, I think mostly because of the nature of the internet and its instantaneous feedback. I haven’t had too much issues with Happy Disco and being an idol fan as a whole, but experiences of mine have informed how I write, for better or worse.

I do think there is a place for objective journalism, but I don’t think it’s somehow more valid than biased journalism, nor is it easy to achieve. While journalism/news wasn’t a major facet of my undergraduate education in media studies, there was one section in my Television-centered class on televised news. We analyzed news clips from American news outlets like CNN, and even if they’re trying to be unbiased in wording and opinion, there’s still a matter of what you present, how you present it. For example, American news media generally ignores stories that don’t have as much of a visual content, or stories that are ongoing (i.e. not “breaking news”). Because really, most news networks need viewers more than anything. When I studied abroad in the UK, it was refreshing to watch BBC news because the lack of commercials means that they aren’t focusing on ad financing. Since the BBC has always had education as a core focus, this improves their news quality.

That said, I absolutely agree that not every issue has equally correct people on both sides. Just because an issue has two sides doesn’t mean that both are right and that both are equally valid. Perhaps objectivity isn’t the correct word, and honesty is? I think that there’s a lot of good in sharing your opinions, but at the end of the day I still want journalism to attempt honest reporting.

The last paragraph is my favorite, though, and I absolutely agree.

Review Monday: Juice=Juice “Ijiwaru Shinaide Dakishimete yo”

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Happy Review Monday! Today’s topic: the new Juice=Juice PV!

Juice=Juice – Ijiwaru Shinaide Dakishimete yo

Song: This is the most old-school H!P song I’ve heard in a while. This instantly made me think of stuff like Kiiroi Osora de Boom Boom Boom and Gatamekira. As a fan of H!P’s old-school sound (especially of stuff like T&C Bomber/Taiyou to Ciscomoon), this is a great sound that I want more of in H!P. I’ve really enjoyed the releases from Juice=Juice (especially Watashi ga Iu Mae ni Dakishimenakya and Romance no Tochuu) and Ijiwaru Shinaide Dakishimete yo continues with that musical excellence. This does a great job of being consistent with previous releases (it sounds like a Juice=Juice song should sound like) while also being distinct. It’s catchy and fun.

As always, Juice=Juice has some of the best arrangement in H!P. The piano sections in particular stand out. Not quite as much as the saxophone in their first single, mind you, but I don’t think much will. The lovely piano bits are part of a really solid whole, however; the rest of the arrangement is really nice. Occasionally the background vocals sound a bit too loud, but that could be because I want to hear more of Juice=Juice. Tomoko and Sayubee in particular sound great, but the rest of the girls sound very good. So there’s really no need for overwhelming background vocals unlike, say, early Berryz Koubou. The arrangement strikes a good balance; the girls’ voices are rarely overwhelmed but it doesn’t sound empty like some Hello!Project songs are guilty of.

Aside from the mixing issue of making the background vocals a bit too loud (at least to my taste) this is a well-produced song that continues Juice=Juice’s excellent streak of singles.

PV: Dear Up-Front/Hello!Project,

You can continue putting Ishida Ayumi in everything. I wholeheartedly approve.

Signed, Serenyty

Seriously, though, even though pretty much everyone was skeptical about it, Ayumi fits in very well with Juice=Juice.

ijuwaru1

The situation is still a bit awkward, and I imagine that there was extensive discussion on what to do with Karin’s foot injury. However, I think this ended up being a good choice (it’s hard to imagine only four people doing this dance) and Ayumi fits in really well visually and with her dance skills. My friend Dani pointed out that this is a good case for more shuffles, and I agree. The Satoyama/Satoumi units are fine, but I’d love proper summer shuffles again where all of H!P’s shuffled up.

That said, it is a bit strange seeing Karin in part of the PV and Ayumi in the other. It also doesn’t hurt that this isn’t a very interesting PV. There are two sets of close up shots, occasional group shots and the dance shot. It’s very basic and on a basic set.

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I like this a lot in theory. The dark background and the red floor is a cool idea. But the way it was executed makes it look kind of boring and empty. Like they just set up walls and a floor and were like “let’s call it a day!” (which, let’s be real, is probably what they did).

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These sets looked a lot cooler, IMO. Some mirrors, some beads on strings, and it already looks cooler. I like how they emphasized the members’ colors with the lighting but made it fairly subtle. Though every time they had Tomoko sing “I am rose-quartz” I swear she gives the camera this look like “yeah I know why they gave me this line.”

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Those sets are well-lit and nice. The rest of the PV’s lighting is not that great. One of the biggest complaints I’ve seen about this PV is that it’s dark looking. My response is that dark isn’t bad; it’s just the same old boring flat lighting that most H!P PVs are lit at. Look at that screencap up there with Tomoko; she has shadow to her face which adds dimension, and there’s a good contrast between her face and the background. It looks nice. Then let’s look at this screencap with Akari.

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See how little shadow there is on her face? There are tiny amounts of darkness, but for the most part this is completely flat lighting, which means that the light is diffused over the whole thing. Now for the most part you don’t want a ton of shadows unless you want a specific mood (like in The X-Files; some scenes are basically in the dark). However, some shadows add depth, character to a face. Akari’s face here looks like it’s not brightly lit AND it’s super flat, which just makes it look worse.

While a lot of the issues are with the actual lighting setup, they could have done more in the post-production. I took that same screenshot and did a little bit of editing in my freeware photo editor.

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I slightly upped the brightness and I raised the contrast. This looks a lot more dynamic than the flat image presented earlier. Of course, the editing on the video would have had to do just that; upping the contrast on a moving image. However, this took me about 10 seconds to do.

There are even scenes where it’s too bright. I know they wanted to do a lens flare type effect or SOMETHING, but seriously, what were they attempting with this?

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That said, not every shot has awful lighting, so points for that?

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I think this has a lot of potential. I really enjoy the song, the general aesthetic feel of the PV, and the costumes are nice. H!P just didn’t take the time to take this PV further, to make it better. Which is frustrating.

Overall: This is a really nice song, and a decent but extremely flawed PV.

Tokyo Idol Festival 2013: The Highlights

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Last week I finished my profile of every act performing at this year’s Tokyo Idol Festival. 111 acts in all. This might be daunting for a lot of people, so I decided to make a list of the groups that I personally found to be the most memorable. These are the groups that I personally am following more now that TIF is over. Note that not every quality group at TIF is on this list; this is just the groups that stood out to me. This is also focusing on the lesser known groups; I’m taking it as a given that you might know Up Up Girls, Idoling!!!, Sakura Gakuin, Super Girls, etc. These are groups/idols you may not know. But you should know them. If you like the groups I mention here, they all have longer profiles I did of them!

KAGAJO☆4S

OK, Momoiro Clover Z, Team Syachihoko and Shiritsu Ebisu Chuugaku. These are the big three groups of Stardust promotions, and they’re starting to promote Takoyaki Rainbow up there too. But honestly, I adore everything about KAGAJO☆4S. If Stardust groups aren’t your thing, I ask you give KAGAJO☆4S a shot. For one thing, all the members have very listenable vocals. This might be the best Stardust group in terms of overall vocals (even if some individual vocalists are better). Another thing is that they’re a bit more subdued and less strange. Another is that they play their own instruments live, sometimes. That’s right, a Stardust group that performs their own instruments. While all the early Stardust groups feel very similar, KAGAJO☆4S is unique and a different group entirely. KAGAJO☆4S might not be popular and they haven’t done that much, but I have very high hopes for this group.

HR

Seriously, what is up with Fukuoka and idol groups? Whenever I hear that an idol group hails from Fukuoka, I know they’re amazing. HR is no exception. Their music is all pretty good, but their energy in performance is really where they stand out. Kimi ni Spark is a fantastic song, and, performance wise, HR is up there with some major groups. If you like your groups energetic, definitely check out HR.

Oomori Seiko

Oomori Seiko isn’t an idol. Not really. She’s more of a singer-songwriter. But she’s very talented, loves idols (her covers of H!P songs are some of my favorite things ever) and definitely deserves recognition.

Kawasaki Junjou Komachi

This is another regional group. Probably the biggest trend of this year were groups representing their home prefecture or city. Kawasaki Junjou Komachi does it well, though. They have an almost early Momoiro Clover feel in their embrace of traditional Japanese-inspired costumes and songs, and they do a great job of it. Kawasaki Junjou Ondo is one of my favorite songs of the year for that reason; it combines traditional sounds with modern idol music to make a very catchy song. I hope that KJK can start expanding as a group, because they are one of the top unknown local idol groups.

Dancing Dolls

Dancing Dolls honestly blew me away. First off, the fact they formed themselves and took initiative to form a group says a lot to me. Next, their three first singles, all covers/remixes, are excellent takes on their original song. Finally, these girls are all very talented. There’s a very high level of both vocal and dancing talent here, all while the girls themselves seem personable, fun and energetic. I can see Dancing Dolls getting big; they certainly deserve it. This is one of the best groups I profiled this year.

Tochiotome25

Do you want hyper energy with some catchy songs? If so, Tochiotome25 might be your group. They’re a local group to Tochigi prefecture, and while they might not be as talented as some groups they certainly make up for it in enthusiasm and spirit. Add to this some truly catchy songs (Ichigo Hakase and Gyoza Party, notably) and you have a really fun group to keep an eye on. I know I certainly will stay a fan of these girls.

Vanilla Beans

While I love the style and concept behind Vanilla Beans, their music has never quite grabbed me. That said, I generally pay attention to them in case they suddenly impress me. And that they did with Please Me Darling. I don’t know if it’s enough to make me go back and re-evaluate their previous efforts, but Please Me Darling is Vanilla Beans at its very best. Suddenly their style and concept and music go together and form a unique and lovely group. I’m very impressed by this song and PV and hope that Vanilla Beans’ next stuff is just as fantastic.

bump.y

When I first heard about bump.y being a group of aspiring actresses, I wondered what they had to offer an idol group. Then I watched their stuff. They have good music, a diverse bunch of members and lots of charisma. While I’ve been listening to Gotta Getcha since I wrote my initial profile, they have a fairly diverse body of work and an interesting member base. While I’m interested to see them grow into young actresses, they are a great, high quality group that deserve your attention.

Babyraids

Babyraids was a group I’d heard hyped up a ton, and yet they were able to live up to the hype. Formed by an idoling!!! member, this group does fun, rock-inspired music without being a “scary” rock-inspired group like BiS or Alice Juban. They’re a nice change of pace if you want some different music with your idols, but they still resemble standard idol groups. They have a lot of energy and a whole lot of potential, and I strongly hope to see more of them soon.

Bellring Shoujo Heart

I still haven’t looked as much into Bellring Shoujo Heart as I should. But the one thing that really sets them apart is the music. Their music, which is 60s inspired, is unlike any other idol music I’ve heard. And I love it.

Rhymeberry

I love Rhymeberry. While Lyrical School also does good idol hip hop, Rhymeberry takes the cake for me. All their songs are just so fun, yet show off how proficient the girls are at rapping. Sekaichuu ni I Love You is one of the most interesting and unique songs I’ve heard recently, because it mixes 20s-30s era jazz/swing with hip hop and adds an idol flavor to that. Rhymeberry is one of the two groups that I have to buy every single release they put out, because everything is so good. They are a fantastic group that needs more support!

RYUTist

That website, man. Seriously, though, these girls seem really adorable and fun, they perform some good music (including interesting cover songs). Oh yeah, and best idol website ever.

LinQ

OK, TIF didn’t get me into LinQ, it was my friend who loves them. Still, LinQ is good. They have really high quality music (see: my review of their first album), lots of great members (watching live LinQ performances is a treat) and they’re just a whole lot of fun. A lot of fun backed up by fantastic music. This group is a really high-quality idol group, and one you should definitely be following.

Idol Thoughts: Bias and Blogging

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This week, I became aware of a post on the blog Momo-Musu about bias and idol fandom. It’s an interesting thing to think about, and one I know I’ve encountered in my own fandom. Sometimes I wonder if my own prejudices get in the way of enjoying some things.

But in any case, that’s not what I’ve come to talk about. The thing that this post has started making me think about is how biases directly and indirectly affect my own blog and reviews as a whole.

I am a biased person. Really, we all are. Everyone has their own likes and dislikes, even if some are founded in reasonable things. Personally, I have a lot of groups I favor (Team Syachihoko being the most notable) and and styles of music I like more than others. For example, I generally like upbeat and fast-paced songs over a slower ballad. This doesn’t mean I will always hate a ballad, but that I will more likely prefer an average fast-paced song over the average ballad.

But, while having biases is generally understood and accepted, people who blog and do reviews are in an interesting position. It doesn’t take much to be a blogger; when I started Happy Disco I just spent about ten minutes setting up a blogspot blog. There’s very little barrier of entry. But doing so sets up your opinions to be read, discussed, and disagreed with.

I honestly have difficulty deciding how objective I should be while writing Happy Disco, especially in doing reviews and my TIF segments. How objective should I be in reviewing something? Do I need to only look at it in the most objective terms possible or can I put my own biases into the review? Personally, I try to be fair even with things that I might not like, but I don’t have many qualms with saying I prefer something to something else. However, this would be a lot different, if I had Happy Disco set up differently. Since I formed the blog, I’ve made it clear that this is my personal space for my thoughts on idols, which include reviews and commentary.

The biggest thing I wonder is how apparent should I make my biases. A lot of people get sent over to my blog via search engines or by referral from blogrolls and Idolminded posts. Some posts get read more than others. Should I put a big disclaimer over everything, stating all my likes and dislikes and how they might influence me? I should hope that I don’t need something like this, but the reality is that not everyone is going to be a loyal Happy Disco reader; most people find my site because they’re looking up a group.

I also wonder about my language while writing reviews. I usually try to make things clear that I’m just saying my own personal opinion and not stating fact. However, that isn’t always clear to everyone, and I know that back in school I was encouraged to stop using phrases like “I think” in my writing to avoid weak writing and sounding wishy-washy. It’s a difficult thing to balance, especially since I’m trying to make my writing more professional in hopes of someday figuring out a paying gig for my writing.

Ultimately, I’m pretty comfortable with where I’m at right now. I try to make it clear that Happy Disco is a one-woman project and that everything on this blog is my own opinion. I aim for some objectivity, and I try to say if someone else might something better than me. It’s just a difficult situation.

If you blog, what do you try to do? Do you like how I approach this on Happy Disco, or would you prefer I do something else? Let me know your thoughts and you’ll end up in my Your Thoughts post for next week!

Your Thoughts: Girls Generation vs. America

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Happy Wednesday! I got one new reply today, and that’s from Nikki! Quick plug: she does a cosplay idol group called SBA0048; they do AKB0048 cosplay and cover AKB songs! So check them out!

I don’t know – they have a better chance than the four who have really made the (half-assed, let’s be honest) attempt to break out on US soil: Wonder Girls, Utada, BoA, and that one guy who was in KAT-TUN a long time ago. Jin? I don’t know. I’m not a boy band type.

In all three cases there was little to no promotion, little to no radio airplay, and the sheer fact that they were *gasp* ASIAN with *gasp* ACCENTS made it difficult for casual listeners to get into it.

Honestly I think the group with the best chance is 2ne1 – three out of four members speak fluent, accentless english, their music style is one that is really popular here anyway, and they’re trendsetters in fashion circles already. The will.i.am connection doesn’t hurt either.

That said, I think you’re right: ANY effort coming out of any other place, whether it’s European, Asian, African, South American, whatever, has to be concentrated in the US for at least a year. And it has to be a massive effort – the resources of whatever agency have to be concentrated on that for the entire promotional period. It won’t work otherwise. Whoever it is has to become a household name, has to be familiar to the average tween, teen, early twenty-something american person, or else it’ll remain a niche thing. And there has to be fairly regular releases even after the intense promotional period, or people will get bored with the lack of new stuff. Americans, as a whole, are really impatient.

Anyway that’s my long diatribe about potential Asian success in America – it’s a subject I’ve thought about often. Mostly because I want to see the groups I like live without having to fly my ass to Japan.

First off, Girls Generation definitely has the best chance out of the ones who’ve tried so far. However, how much of that is due to the fact they haven’t REALLY tried yet? I mean, there was a ton of hype around Wonder Girls when they first came to the US. They were opening for the Jonas Brothers (ah, remember when those guys were relevant?) and selling copies of their CDs in the US. Even though the only place I physically saw the CDs was in a tween clothing store where I was applying for a part-time job. And the CDs looked cheap. But in terms of popularity, Girls’ Generation has a pretty solid American fanbase already, and probably do have the best chance out of all the Asian music acts.

I agree about 2NE1, though. Their partnership with will.i.am ensures that there will be some mainstream appeal. I know a lot of people rag on the Black Eyed Peas, but their music is EVERYWHERE. If will.i.am can sufficiently promote 2NE1 and get them some radio time, they could be pretty big. The English speaking nature certainly helps, too. I know that two Girls Generation members speak English, but it feels a bit awkward having the two of them doing all the talking.

As for style though,  I’m not quite sure. Conventional wisdom is that American fans want cooler, edgier music and style. However, look at stuff like Blurred Lines. That was the most popular song of the year and, stylistically, it was probably closer to AKB48’s Koisuru Fortune Cookie than a lot of the KPop music out there. I think the biggest thing is getting a catchy song at the right time.

I do agree about promotion. I think the biggest thing that acts do wrong when trying to break into the US market is think that doing just a couple promotional things is OK. An opening act here, a tv appearance there. They have to do something big and keep going with it.

But yeah, I basically agree with your comment, and I agree with your final sentiment. I’d like more acts to come this way, too, so I hope that more groups think about how they promote themselves more carefully!

Review Monday: Sukeban Deka: Codename = Asamiya Saki

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One of the things I don’t talk about too much on this blog is that, while I talk a lot about music and the music industry, my real expertise is in the area of film. I was a Film/TV/Media studies student in college, and while I haven’t had a chance to use this (yet), I tend to focus on music on this blog.

However, when thinking of things to review for Mondays, I had an idea. And that was…

Sukeban Deka: Codename = Asamiya Saki

Background Knowledge: While I think that films should have to stand on their own, a little bit of the background can be interesting. Sukeban Deka was a fairly long running manga series. Asamiya Saki was delinquent high school student who starts to work for the police, investigating/fighting crime in high schools with her weapon as a metal yo-yo.

The series has since been adapted into multiple TV shows and movies, usually starring a popular idol as Saki. The first Saki, Saito Yuki, comes back into this movie as Saki’s mother. So this is a series with a lot of history that got resurrected, starring solo idol Matsuura Aya and also featuring Ishikawa Rika (and the rest of v-u-den) from Hello!Project.

Review:  One of my favorite film reviewers was the late Roger Ebert. Now I know this is kind of a stereotypical answer; he happens to be the most famous film critic. However, the reason I really loved reading Ebert’s reviews is because he took into account questions of genre and intent. Not every film aspires to be high art, and not every film can be Citizen Kane. Ebert was aware of this, and took it into account when writing his reviews.

The reason I started off with this is because Sukeban Deka is the type of movie that you know what you’re getting when you go into the movie. The American title is “Yo-Yo Girl Cop” (which might just win the title for “most phoned in movie title,” but it gets the job done). When I bought this movie on DVD (yes, I own a physical copy) I knew I wanted exactly three things.

1. Badass Matsuura Aya

2. Badass Ishikawa Rika

3. Badass Yo-yo fighting.

I mean, I hoped that there would be a half-decent story, that the cinematography wouldn’t suck and that the acting wouldn’t be terrible. But this is the type of movie where that type of thing is not quite as necessary to my enjoyment. This doesn’t mean my standards are low, it just means that I have expectations as to what type of film this is. This is a fairly cheesy action movie, and that’s what I want from it.

Story: For being a story about a girl in a high school outfit wielding a yoyo as a weapon, the film takes itself surprisingly seriously. The plot hinges around Saki going undercover in a high school. She has 72 hours to uncover the meaning of a countdown on a website promoting illicit activity, and if she does so she’ll save her mother. Really, the entire storyline featuring Saki and her mother is the best part of the movie.

The rest of the storyline isn’t perfect but is serviceable. The only explanation for the high school being such a terrible place where you’re allowed to assault other students is “adults are useless,” which was obviously a way to lampshade that most high schools aren’t hellholes in the way this movie would like us to believe.

The overall theme of bullying and depression works, and I think they did it fine. They gave concepts like suicidal thoughts and self-harm the gravity they deserve. However, certain bits detract from the story. The whole storyline between Yui and Erika, while sweet at times, feels cliched when they adopt the names of Juliet and Romeo, respectively. I also didn’t like how the new Romeo, the main person behind the site, is somehow this enthralling person for no apparent reason. This felt forced, and frankly uninteresting.

The tone of the movie varies a lot. On the one hand it’s trying to be serious, and on the other hand there are silly sound effects when Saki opens her eyes and there is some (albeit poor) comic relief with the chemistry club. The movie wants to take itself seriously, but is often held back. It would be possible (though hard) to do this completely straight and serious and it would be possible to make it a giant camp fest, but making it a bit in the middle hurts the film overall.

I also wish the pacing was slightly different. I get that they wanted to impose an arbitrary time limit to add tension, but it feels kind of rushed. One minute Aya is bloodied and running from the cops, the next she’s getting a school uniform and her yoyo, the next she’s chasing down a kid with a bomb and throwing a yoyo (albeit imperfectly). The movie also drags a lot in the middle when they’re explaining the origins of the Enola Gay website. There’s a surprising lack of yoyo fighting.

All in all, the story is mostly serviceable, but certain parts drag the whole thing down and end up being uninteresting. A little better pacing, give it more in the way of action, either make it more serious or more cheesy, and it would be a lot better. The movie is at it’s best when it’s centering on Saki vs Reika (Rika’s character), Saki comforting Tae (Okada Yui), and Saki thinking on her mother. If the movie had focused more on Saki’s growth as a character and focused on these things, it would have been a much better movie.

Acting: You know, for being two novice actresses (unless you count blatant H!P stuff like Hello!Morning), Ayaya and Rika do a really great job. They both throw themselves into their roles. Matsuura Aya isn’t what I would classify as badass, but she makes a believable delinquent, and I root for her. She plays a good stoic character and quickly I forget that this is Ayaya, the charismatic idol singer. Rika does a fatnastic job too, balancing fake smiles with cold glares. In her first scene, when she and Aya first meet, there is one shot where her smile slowly turns into a glare. She does a very good job, and it’s no wonder that Rika’s had a good amount of acting in her post Hello!Project career.

Unfortunately, the acting beyond Ayaya and Rika is a bit iffy. Okada Yui and Miyoshi Erika do decent jobs, but don’t quite deliver on the emotional resonance that they’re meant to. Okada in particular; she’s the character we’re really supposed to feel for, but she doesn’t quite deliver emotionally. Her acting doesn’t feel natural. Erika is in the movie much less and does a whole lot less and does a fine enough job for what she has, but isn’t a particularly talented actress.

The rest of the actors range from poor to acceptable. I don’t particularly care for the guy who plays Jiro, the new Romeo, who hardly seems like the charismatic ringleader that the movie makes him out to be. The rest of the actors are fine, though often erring on the side of cheesiness.

Cinematography/Editing/Aesthetics: One of the first things I noticed is that the title sequence is really pleasant. It’s simple, but the use of the silhouettes of Saki/Ayaya look quite nice.

From then on out the film looks fine, but nothing to really write home about. The one thing that really grabs my notice is just how dark and depressing this movie looks. The lighting is drab, and it’s rare that this movie is bright. I wish they had used the lighting a bit better; for the most part the lighting is pretty flat; even in the darkness, there’s no real sense of light and shadow. It makes the movie feel kind of bleak and dismal, which I assume is what they were going for, but the movie could have done better with some more dramatic lighting.

There are a few lovely shots; the contrast of Aya, with a red umbrella in a sea of white, comes to mind. Nothing in this movie looks particularly terrible, except for some of the special effects. But nothing stands out that much.

The one thing that bugs me the most is some of the shots do weird things. There are fast zooms and pans over to things (with an accompanying sound effect) and lots of fast paced editing. But among all that fast editing there is some weird slow motion bits that don’t really justify being in slow motion and occasionally some still frames that just distract. For the most part the cinematography is serviceable and adequate, but these moments detract from even that.

Audio: The main audio concerns are the two songs by GAM; Shinkirou Romance (featured in the film itself) and Thanks! (in the credits). I’ve always liked GAM as a unit, and both of these songs are quite good. I kind of wonder why they went for a unit as opposed to doing two songs by Aya as a soloist, but if this movie gave me GAM then I’m not complaining.

Shinkirou Romance  is a good song, but feels a bit out of place. It’s a bit too loud, and doesn’t quite fit the scene. I feel like they wanted to get the song in the movie but they just ended up forcing it, hurting the movie. Why else would they stop the movie to a halt to have Aya and Yui looking at their phones for a good section of the song?

Other than that, the background music is fine but not extraordinary. Some of the sound effects are a bit exaggerated and a bit much, but for the most part they’re fine.

Overall: This is a pretty solid movie. Some of the aspects are a lot better than expected, some are just weird (just how slow the movie can get in places) and some are regretable. I think there’s potential in here for a better movie. However, that said, this movie can be a lot of fun, and it’s one that I enjoy watching. 6.5/10

Tokyo Idol Festival 2013: The Acts Part 21

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This is the last profile TIFriday (at least until next year!). After this I’ll be doing a review post, sharing my favorite acts from TIF. After that… I’ll do something else! Leave a comment if you have an idea of what I should do on Fridays from now on.

Love La Doll

First up in a series of two VERY similar names is Love La Doll! They actually made their performance debut at the 2012 Tokyo Idol Festival, so the 2013 one was an anniversary of sorts. The group was a three member group, and since their debut they’ve put out three singles (the latest being Seishun GIRLZ Saizensen!!!) and one album. I say “Was,” because this past year, two of the members (Kana and Lee) decided to withdraw from the group. Love La Doll is still active, but Aya is the only member. She hasn’t put out anything since the announcement, so the future of Love La Doll is kind of uncertain.

Other than this, one of the most noted aspects of Love La Doll is that they are choreographed by Aikawa Kozue, one of the most famous net dancers/idols. So if you’re a Kozue fan, you might want to check out the choreography she did for this group!

The girls seem to be a bit older than the really young idols I’ve gotten used to seeing in TIF, but they have very cutesy costumes. Their music, while not terribly memorable, kind of straddles the line between cute and electronic club music. Of all the songs I listened to (their three singles) their first most recent is by far their best. That said, it’s really not memorable, and nothing I would really listen to again.

Really, this group is hard to focus on, knowing that it’s now a solo act and the future is kind of hanging in the balance. The girls are cute, but again two of them are gone. I would mostly recommend this to Kozue fans to check out.

Lovely Doll

Their name reads “Ai Otome Doll” but it’s actually pronounced Lovely Doll. Their motto is “your doll any time” which sounds a bit weird, but I get it, they have to get their name in there somewhere. They’re also sister group to Doll Elements, so I guess Doll is the theme of these idol groups.

Lovely Doll was formed in 2011 and has six members. One of the members, the former leader of the group, is named Aisawa Mayu, but was previously known as Katono Mizuho, one of the 7th generation Kenkyuusei of AKB48. Another member in the group, Sano Yuriko, was part of the famed 8th generation of AKB48 that all failed as Kenkyuusei. So if you liked either of those KKS in AKB but were sad when they left, you’re in luck!

Lovely Doll has done pretty well for themselves; they’ve done four major solo shows, released one album and three singles (with one coming out soon). They’ve also been featured on idol producer Tsunku’s program Tsuntube, so you might recognize them from that. Their most recent single, ‘Paradise in the Summer,’ debuted at #10 on the Oricon Weekly charts. So they are doing very well indeed.

That said, I don’t find this group to be all that compelling. Watching two of their PVs, I don’t really care for much of their music, and there’s nothing that really draws me in. However, this is a group you might not know about and they are getting better, so you might want to check them out if you are interested in following idol trends and things.

RYUTist

This is another group whose goal it is to promote an area! This time it’s Niigata! This is a four member idol unit that was formed in 2011, and they seek to be a group that promotes Niigata.

Honestly, and this might be sad, but one of my favorite things about them already is just how easy this group is to discover. Their website has a list of all the songs they perform (originals AND covers), when they started, and even a list of lyrics. Their Youtube presence is stunning, with some full length concerts on there. Following RYUTist, despite their indie status, is a fairly easy task.

One thing that’s also remarkable is just how many songs are listed on their site. RYUTist has put out seven singles (which is still a feat) and they already have 39 original songs listed on their site (They also have setlists from lives. Seriously, whoever runs this website needs a pat on the back because they’re amazing).

One thing I’ve noticed, poring through this information, is that they don’t really perform standard idol songs. Looking at their covers, there’s no AKB48 or Morning Musume in sight. They’re performing stuff like Judy & Mary and even a song by Bon Jovi. Without even listening to their original stuff, I know this is a pretty unique group. Listening to their original music, it’s not QUITE as unusual/rock-inspired like I thought it would be, but I’m really finding myself drawn to this group. The music is pretty good, and all the girls are solid performers, from what it seems.

I know I talked a lot about their website. This is a good group besides that. But seriously, if you want to follow an indie group but the prospect of living abroad is too daunting, RYUTist might be your answer.

Lyrical School

This group was formed in 2010 as Tengal6. They were formed as an idol unit for Tenga. As in the, uh, adult toy manufacturer. Since then, they’ve changed their name to Lyrical School, to remove that implication. Which is understandable. They released a fair amount as Tengal6, but since their transition to Lyrical School they’ve put out three singles and one album.

This, like Rhymeberry, is a hip hop idol unit. Lyrical School tends to sound a bit more like standard hip hop and, with older members, sounds a bit more mature. I have a hard time comparing it to regular hip hop, as someone who doesn’t follow hip hop much at all, but it at least sounds more standard than Rhymeberry.

Honestly, it’s hard not to compare them to Rhymeberry. I prefer Rhymeberry as a whole, because I think they’re a bit more interesting and do unexpected things, musically. However, this isn’t saying Lyrical School is worse; just different. They’re doing some really quality music and seem to be an interesting group. If you want more hip hop in your idol groups, definitely look out for Lyrical School.

LinQ

Oh hey, I already did part of my work for me! A few weeks ago, I reviewed LinQ’s album “Love in Qushu ~LinQ Daiichi Gakusho~” for my Review Monday segment. Spoiler: I really enjoyed the album and I want to become a bigger LinQ fan.

LinQ is a group from Fukuoka, with 31 members. And yes, they often all perform in singles. The group is split up into two halves; Lady (girls over 18) and Qty (girls under 18), who have their own songs as b-sides and things (Sakura Kajitsu and Sakura Monogatari was a double A-side featuring Qty and Lady, respectively). Amano Natsu, the leader of the group, is in both Lady and Qty (and just happens to be my favorite). This might be a bit overwhelming at first, and I can’t tell you that I know even half the members, but LinQ is one of those bigger groups.

I am honestly really positive about this group. Their album was very excellent, and the music alone makes me want to pay attention to the group. I’ve since seen a couple of live recordings, and I was really amazed at how strong each and every member was. Even the girls off to the side and the back didn’t seem like they were phoning it in, which is always good.

LinQ might not be THE biggest idol group out there (in terms of popularity), but they’re getting pretty big. They have a lot of really great members and excellent music. You should be paying attention to LinQ.

Links

Links is a five member unit formed in 2012. Known as the Interactive Girls Unit, they have since put out two singles and one mini album.

The interactivity comes into play because they were (at least for a while) pretty active on Ustream. I can’t find any links on their official blog/site or on their wikipedia page, so I’m not sure if this is true anymore. However, they are pretty active on twitter and on their blog. This isn’t necessarily the most interactive group ever, but this is about all I can find.

Since their official website is just their Ameba blog, they aren’t the biggest group out there. However, they are doing their first solo live, which means something. I also enjoy their most recent single, which is definitely not bad.

I covered Links last year, and I’m just kind of disappointed that they haven’t gotten more interactive. For being an “interactive girls unit” they seem pretty average. That said, they’re not a bad group by any means; just not very remarkable. The one thing that could have made them more interesting is this interactive aspect and, from what I can tell, they aren’t doing much of that.

Linda Sansei

This is a five member unit made up of girls who, even though they were raised in Gunma and live in Japan, are from Brazil. Their goal is to be at the forefront of the “B-Pop” genre, and become world-class idols.

So far they’ve put out two singles, and I have to say they do sound interesting. Both feature a distinct electronic sound, but they also sound really unique, perhaps trying to get that Brazilian flavor in there. It’s pretty effective, and I really like both singles. Aiken Anthony, their latest single, is very catchy.

If you want something different in your idol group, Linda Sansei is a pretty good place to start. Their music is unique, and it’s interesting to have an idol group that’s not just the typical Japanese members. They are definitely worth checking out.

Idol Thoughts: Girls Generation vs. America

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Serenyty’s talking about KPop? This is Hallyu Disco level nonsense!

But seriously, Kpop. I write about Japanese music, but it’s hard to argue that KPop is becoming a bigger force in the US than JPop. Even though AKB48 is what makes it in Wreck-It Ralph, Perfume have shown up multiple places, and Kyary Pamyu Pamyu got a viral hit with Pon Pon Pon, 2NE1 is being produced by will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas, Girls’ Generation is performing on American TV, and Psy has kind of the biggest video ever with Gangnam Style. KPop is getting kind of big, where Jpop is still a niche interest in the US.

This past week, Girls Generation had another American success. This was the first ever YouTube Music Awards, and Girls’ Generation won the award for Video of the Year, even with competition like Justin Bieber, Lady Gaga and Miley Cyrus.

I have to say, seeing Tiffany on the same stage as Comedian/Musician Reggie Watts is kind of the weirdest thing, as a side note.

But anyways, Girls’ Generation took home this honor for their video for ‘I Got a Boy,’ and won this from fan activity on the YouTube videos. And really, KPop is great at one thing, and that’s fan activity. As Tao Jones of the Wall Street Journal put it, “These awards measure one thing, and one thing only — the obsessive, insatiable, all-consuming devotion of the musicians’ fan bases.
And in that aspect, K-Pop fans stand head, shoulders and starry eyes above the milling crowd as the most dedicated congregation of idol-worshippers in the pop culture universe — bar none.” And while I don’t know if I’d necessarily agree with that completely; idol wota might give KPop idol fans a run for their money, KPop fans are nothing if not enthusiastic and dedicated, as marked by this win.

Personally, while I like this video, I don’t think it’s Girls’ Generation’s best song or video. Nevertheless, this post isn’t about the actual content, it’s about what this means for KPop and Asian pop music as a whole in regards to the American music industry. Will this win change anything?

Probably not. “A peak of more than 220,000 people were concurrently live-streaming the event.” This wasn’t very well watched, and I’m sure that GG’s unusual win will blow over soon.

Still, it’s one of the many ways that Kpop has kind of flirted with the idea of becoming A Thing in the US market, and never quite really making it. Why is this the case?

1. Racism. It’s a bit of an uncomfortable subject, but I still see a good deal of racism coming from reactions to GG. Sure, it’s mostly upset fans whose favorite artist didn’t win, but it’s still present.

2. Groups who don’t speak English have it tougher. Quick, name a popular music group/artist in the US that isn’t a native English speaker OR a native Spanish speaker. I know I can’t think of much. Even though two members of Girls’ Generation were born in the US and speak fluent English, it still seems daunting for a lot of people to listen to music they don’t understand, never mind that Girls’ Generation would probably put out stuff in English, like they did with The Boys.

3. Attention is divided between countries. Girls’ Generation is really big in South Korea, Japan, and they’re on the verge in the US. For nine girls, they’re getting spread a bit thin, promoting in all three countries. I honestly have trouble thinking that a group could promote a bit in the US, disappear for a while, and expect to come back. No KPop (or Jpop artist, for that matter) really seems to fully commit to promoting themselves in the US, which I think is their biggest issue.

Ultimately, what does an Asian pop group really need to succeed in the US? A really catchy song that gets on the radio, without gimmicks. PSY may have hit it big with Gangnam Style, but the impression most people have is from the music video. Even if they think the song is catchy or good, and it got some radio time, it still feels like it’s more of a novelty than anything. Even when he started putting up followup songs, people are always going to remember him as that guy who did Gangnam Style. But even one song could turn it around for a KPop group, if they could really promote it fully (not just selling their CD in tween clothing stores).

And honestly, I think as soon as the US opens up to KPop, that might be the chance for a JPop group to try and do the same thing. While I almost exclusively follow JPop, I’d argue that most music fans wouldn’t necessarily go “oh, this is Japanese not Korean, I can’t touch this.” But once the US starts accepting music from places like South Korea, music from Japan could be an option.

What do you think? Do you think that this YouTube Music Award win could mean big things for Girls’ Generation? Do you think Girls’ Generation has a chance in the US? Does any Asian pop act? Leave a comment below and you could be a part of next week’s Your Thoughts post!

Your Thoughts: Evolving Groups

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I got two wonderful responses for my last Idol Thoughts post, so let’s get right to them!

First comes from Skoban of Ice Cream & My Jiggly (I appreciate the v-u-den reference, by the way!) “There’s also another perspective you might be missing out on – that as idol observers, we’ve evolved as well.
For example, there are times when I listen to an idol’s back catalogue, and a song I dismissed as lame initially sounds amazing to me now. And that’s a perspective change from my point of view – the song itself hasn’t changed.
Just like an idol group can’t get rid of their past, neither can we discard the experiences that shape the us of now. All we can do is embrace what has passed.

Also, I think it’s okay to stop liking a group, to admit that the idols you like have changed and that you may not agree with the direction they’re going through.
There is the trap of being locked in nostalgia, to limit oneself to only old releases (e.g. 4-nin S/mileage forever!), but that’s a very limiting stance in my opinion.
Happily, we’re now in a period where we’re spoilt for choice, and if someone doesn’t like the direction one group is heading in, there’s probably some other group out there more to their liking.

First off, thank you SO much for bringing this up. This is something really important that I just happened to forget about. Sometimes people change, which makes your perspective change. I’m sure this has happened to pretty much everyone. Sometimes you might want to hold onto old favorites; the idol fandom isn’t necessarily the best about embracing oshihenning, for example. But as people change, so do their experiences, and that impacts how they view and interact with art/music.

I also very much agree with the last statement. Back in late 2008 and early 2009, when I was still a new idol fan, there was Hello!Project and AKB, but neither were all that big. There wasn’t much else if you didn’t care much for either. Today, there are so many idol groups, that if one doesn’t make you happy there is another to interest you. Once I stopped paying as much attention to MomoClo, I found Team Syachihoko and Dempagumi.inc. We are in a period where there is a huge abundance of idol groups, and we should enjoy that.

Thank you for your insightful comment, Skoban! I appreciate it!

The last comment comes from BeForJess from Happy! Go! Lucky!: One thing that I will say about Momoclo is that while their indie stuff like Momoiro Punch and Mirai e Susume is miles away from stuff like Neo Stargate and GOUNN, at the same time I feel like their major debut stuff, like Ikuze and Pinky Jones do have ties to some of their latest stuff. The insanity of Ikuze was there in Moretsu and Otome Sensou, and the weird cultural themes and music that were in Pinky Jones are in GOUNN (not the same ones, but you know). But there’s no denying that they have certainly grown in different directions than they seemed to be going in the beginning.

I’m a little half and half because I really do miss that good old fashioned idol-cute-fun-happy vibe from stuff like Hashire and Orange Note, but at the same time I love being blown away by the new and different things they experiment with in their new stuff. If we could just get a mix of the two it would be perfect for me.

Personally, while I would agree that there are connections between Ikuze/Pinky Jones and the current stuff, I do think there’s a difference. Perhaps it’s mostly just me, but the energy level between Ikuze and GOUNN has changed a lot. The cultural themes between Pinky and GOUNN does draw an interesting comparison, though.

I personally appreciate some of the things they’re doing, but they don’t grab me the way they used to. I agree, though; if there was a mix of the older stuff and the newer stuff, I would be a lot happier.

Thank you for your comment as well!