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Pleasure Principled
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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.
I think living in a Western society which has a huge responsibility to protect a child’s innocence has something to do with my resistance of liking junior idols. I see women pose in bikinis for men’s magazines at the bookshop but never will I see Irie Saaya or any other U15 idol on the cover of a men’s magazine because it just simply isn’t right. Imagine conservatives complaining about how they are exploiting the innocence of a young girl just because of her “assets”.
Second Blossoming examines his descent into the world of junior idols, and why he fought it every step of the way.
Fandom’s a funny thing, really. It’s like politics. The things you can say and can’t, the alliances and pandering and insult-lobbying, the image you need to keep up if you’re known for any sort of reason… it’s all there. That last one in particular.
Kimitsu considers the lure of actor Saitou Ryuusei and how he changed her perspective on younger idols.
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…
Much like the H!P girls, Perfume’s members don’t write lyrics or work on composition, simply sing what they are told and perform dance routines for PVs or concerts. But their singing is processed in such a way that any flaws can go unnoticed, and furthermore, they don’t often sing live at their concerts. So instead of reaching the level of authenticity that H!P has, in that their members will get on stage for a concert and perform every song live, both singing and dancing, Perfume just dances and lipsynchs.
pengie explores her longstanding ambivalence to pop idols and how she came to terms with enjoying what they do.
She is distant not only in space, but, as manifest to us in her screen and singing career, also in time. To pursue one’s suit, already hopeless, over the chasm of time, is the truest of all leaps of faith, and in direct proportion to its foolishness, so are its rewards great.
Quentin finds the deep underlying bonds between an American idol of yesteryear and the Japanese idols of today.
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.
It seemed as if the media were deliberately trying to ruin the idols’ careers. Or were the idols themselves trying to break out of the lifestyle somehow? Tatsuya couldn’t tell, but the news vaguely depressed him.
Part one of a two-part story.
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