On unfair expectations
Click to viewSo if a 48fam group did this song with this entrance, 20+ girls behind the curtain, I'd be over the moon ecstatic, as well as using it as more evidence to shove in Kpop's face.
And I basically did that with UZA.
But both performances here are EXTREMELY messy. (although it is the messiest UZA perf yet, others are much more in sync)
Yet for Bad Girl, I was already on the wane for my SNSD fandom, and the first preview of the song had focussed on the flowing bit, so I had thought the end result was going to be a trancey track with overlapping long notes all the way through. So while I did enjoy the dynamic entrance, the rest of my opinion was not so charitable.
In addition, I have different expectations for AKB than from SNSD on the performance front. UZA is a step up from their usual choreography, so there's more forgiveness for execution flaws. SNSD had been shilling their superior dance prowess and sync as primary appeal points in both Korea but especially in Japan as a "more mature and polished" alternative to Jpop girlgroups, and I had lived through some of their greatest dance routines, so this dance was very much below par for them. (a level which they have unfortunately maintained)
So is it unfair for me to gripe at this performance, even though I'd be treating it with a completely different and fully positive reception if it was AKB?
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I'd also like to talk about expectations and Sword Art Online.
I have since dropped this anime because Asuna has basically been neutered for this second half, and any pretense of Kirito not being a Gary Stu has been dropped.
What does expectation have to do with this? I realize that I was watching the show rather expecting it to be a case where both Kirito and Asuna are considered equally main characters, with slightly more focus on Kirito as the narrating POV. And in the SAO arc, they were characterized as equals. Asuna was give her fair share of respect and admiration, and she didn't put up with Kirito's shit or have her life revolve around the guy. She did her own thing, albeit with some worrying trends of her becoming more dependent on Kirito. I thought that that was set-up for a character development arc, so I let it slide.
Well, nope.
I checked summaries of the source material, the Sword Art Online light novels, and yeah, basically after the SAO arc Asuna is completely downgraded into a supporting girlfriend role, getting one light novel to herself for doing some stuff in ALO. (the second game) Meanwhile Kirito continues Gary Stu-ing it up in new games. Which Asuna does not join him in. And Kirito keeps growing his one-sided love harem. Barf.
So now I really rather dislike this series. But somewhat unfairly, because I expected Asuna to be a main character. She's not. Kirito is the only main character. If I had gone into this knowing that, and Asuna had been cast as a supporting character, not a main, from the start, I wouldn't have been so offended by her downgrade. Although I still would have been a little exasperated by Gary Sturito, it would have been under the framework of a fix-it fic, in which the main character is meant to be a little more perfect than usual.
But instead, the anime played up Asuna's role as Kirito's equal and foil, so now all I can see in SAO are its glaringly problematic gender roles.
The power of expectations.