How Do I Know About JPOP & KPOP
I don’t know where I have to start this story of me knowing these Idols so this post is gonna be a bit messy.
I remember when I was in elementary school, I watched several doramas in television, starring Kimura Takuya and Takizawa Hideaki. But I didn’t watch it in full episode or remember any title of those doramas. About the year I would enter - till in junior high school, there’s more Taiwanese and Korean dramas. I think all dramas that really popular at that time are like Endless Love, Full House, Princess Hours, Meteor Garden, and One Litre Of Tears starring Nishikido Ryo was really famous. Same case with Japanese dramas, I have never been so attached to Taiwanese dramas.
Still in elementary, I often save my pocket money to buy a cassette tapes of my favourite (because CD was too expensive for me at that time), namely Westlife, N’Sync and Blue but mostly Westlife. Then I found and bought OST tapes of Taiwanese drama that I watched. When and how could I know more about Kpop is maybe because when I went to the bookstore I found a kpop magazine which on the cover is the actor / actress I know from drama. That is where I started following Kpop like Rain and Shinhwa. Come to think of it, I rarely listen to Japanese music other than from anime series I watch on TV.
Then in high school, most of my friends are kpop fan. That was Super Junior era. I still watched some doramas, my favourite Japanese drama of all time is Hanazakari no Kimitachi e (2007) and I love all the cast! But I went further and lost about Jpop because me and my friends don’t know much about them. It’s really hard for me to get any content related to them and don’t have any jpop fan circles. So I just lost interest.
My journey as a kpop fan began in my first year as a college student when I started collecting kpop albums. The first thing I bought was 2PM Don’t Stop Can’t Stop Photobook. And the hardest is Shinhwa, I was looking for their limited edition one like crazy. Also in my college year, because one of my friends, I knew a little about Jpop and made me keen on about them. Even though I knew all along that Nishikido and MatsuJun are an Idols, I never followed them and then lost interest. But still, that’s not much I could get because we have different fandom in Johnnys. I knew Tackey&Tsubasa and Arashi but not Kanjani8 because I thought since I only know Nishikido while in Arashi my bias always changing between MatsuJun and Sakurai Sho.
Honestly, I am regretting those years for not knowing about Jpop. Since last year I started to follow Jpop and decide to make this blog because I watched some random clip of Kanjani8 and Arashi shows. Knowing them more when I already have less interest in my bias and fandom, makes me get interested again in these circles. But it’s not a bad thing to have bias/ichiban and join the fandom as this kind of things always become my spirits. It’s always depends on ourselves for what purpose to like them. I enjoy their work, their music and watching them always cheer me up when I’m down. They have always been a good part of my life.