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Pleasure Principled
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I’d long mused: Can a canon be made for Japanese idols and their music? And, more relevant to my own experiences, can a canon be made by the overseas wota community? I haven’t come to any final conclusions, but some thoughts I’ve had point not only to how our community is developing, but also highlights just how different we have to be from our domestic counterparts.
Ray rambles on and on about something or other.
Think about it: when is the last time you watched a Morning Musume, Berryz Koubou, C-ute, AKB48, or Perfume video with a male in it? (Don’t answer that yet.) Stretching it even further, out to the less mainstream idol groups, most of which have ceased to exist – when did a male ever enter a PV for, say, Whiteberry? The answer isn’t “never,” but “almost never,” which is close enough.
pengie considers where the boys aren’t in the no man’s land of idol promotional videos.
The wota populace at large gets eerily somber when pre-pubescents are discussed, and for good reason: two of the main modes of appreciation suffer, and the stigma isn’t worth the Novelty. Is it, therefore, our responsibility as wota who are distressed by the influx of U12 idols to voice our opinion in an effort to preserve what little integrity the idol industry might have?
Vee carefully considers the moral dimensions of appreciating U15 idols, and reaches some interesting conclusions.
The 2005 en masse shuffle group and the super-publicizing of Koharu Kusumi as a new “ace” seemed, even from a fan’s perspective, to be dying grabs at something transformatory. It’s rather easy to switch the blame around, and say that Hello!Project began to decay and the humor suffered from it, rather than what I believe: that the humor faded from Hello!Project’s idols, and the group began to decay.
Vee considers how some Hello! Project youngsters usher in a return to the good old fashioned value of childish fun…
Most popular Japanese rock artists and groups heavily rely on their created images, their attractivity, and their potential for visual controversy. This isn’t surprising and certainly not a Japan-only phenomenon. But while a certain visual element often also accompanies Western bands, many Japanese bands go for a rather unique style with elaborate make-up and often theme-based outfits, ranging from lavish baroque costumes to cute schoolgirl uniforms.
Cliff considers why visual kei is so… you know… visual, and what happens when the visual is dropped.
I don’t blame these people for being initially wary of SweetS or Hello! Project. As is too often the rub with popular music, image comes before sound, and few can get past the “pedophilia parade”.
Vee discusses her personal experiences in promoting the joys of wota-dom to an otaku crowd.
2008 became a year for reflection. In the simplest sense much of it can be attributed to economic temperament, as not even this cultural phenomenon could escape its wrath. The history of idol groups has long seen the pitfalls and triumphs which follow trends, popularity, and other aspects that drive the community.
MorningBerryz looks at the significant shifts and persisting truths that defined the world of girl group idols this past year, and shares hopes for 2009.
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