End of an Era?
It feels like there's been quite a few doom and gloom subjects posted on my journal in the past year. Posts about shrinking lj fandom and signs of my shift in interest towards another idol franchise. I'm just in one of those moods again where I feel like venting all my feelings as a fan in order to move forward and settle some thoughts that I've neglected to come to terms with.
Johnny's Entertainment.
Watching the Johnny's World Top of the Pops special was a real wake up call to me. It was like, This is Johnnys. This is how Johnny's has always been, and in some respect, this is how Johnny's will continue to be. I've always loved everything about JE. From their artists, their junior-to-debut system and the whole "slow burn" concept that has allowed JE to have had such long lasting acts and definite place in Japans pop culture. I love Arashi. I love Sexy Zone. I love Johnny's Jr's. I love Shonen Club. I love Johnny's Countdown. Nothing about the adorable, handsome and funny talents that have come out of that agency has led me to what I'm about to write.
I'm bored.
My favroite Arashi show is ending this year because of some dumb political power struggle between parties who, to be honest, I have close to zero knowledge about. Not that I have a right to complain about this, but the amount of subbed shows have absolutely plummeted. We pretty much have to wait for a members birthday to get a decent release of anything. No more behind the scenes or making of with singles. Music, well, it's Arashi. Have they released a song since To Be Free that wasn't for the theme song for one of the members dramas?
Arashi's managements conclusion post Arashi's 10th Anniversary -> "Their already the nations idols, lets not risk trying anything new or that might tarnish their already established image and just keep them stagnant for the rest of their careers."
Sexy Zone's turn. The age gap between Nakaken and Marius is killing me. I loved their latest performance on Music Station because they were amazing but I hate how MariSou's costumes were closer to the juniors than the older 3. The group only has 5 members. Why in gods name are you splitting them up for? Is it going to be a permenant 2 vs 3 split? or are we going to get a proper 5 member Sexy Zone when Marius is old enough to appear in the Countdown? I know we were lucky to have gotten a album so early on, but to be fair, the last 2 singles they released were not great. I'm so sick of seeing those santa outfits as well. Their hardly in, or play a big enough role in any variety show and besides Marius none of them have played a significant role in a drama. I wouldn't have really minded all this if it weren't for the fact that so many jr's were casted in popular and late night drama's last year. It just doesn't seem particularly fair. Especially since some fans thought this group would be given a big push after they debuted. But I guess we only have our own expectations to blame for that.
Though they've had a lot of activities in terms of making fans (japanese mainly) happy, they haven't been given any opportunity for mainstream exposure and to attract non-fans. SMAP and Arashi did a whole lot in turns of pleasing the fans, but it wasn't really until Kimura's drama and Matsujun's HanaDan that the group skyrocketed.
Myuto. I'm going to go off on a tangent here but the first juniors that I followed were BIShadow. I saw Kouchi exercise his 2 left feet until he can finally follow basic dance steps. I saw Hokuto slowly gaining his confidence from being the youngest (and arguablely the least talented at the time) to somehow landing so many main roles in dramas. I saw the cute puppy-faced Fuma grow into all 50 shades of manliness. I saw Kento staying strong to his ideal of being a true idol and working hard to make Sexy Zone work. I watched these 4 boys become backdancers for Yuma and NYC. I watched them work hard together only to be seperated by a sudden debut announcement. I see them now in their new groups, and whether their friendship or fondness for their old bandmate is still there, I see that they've moved on. They were the first cycle of juniors that I followed and the first juniors that I supported that made it to debut. The juniors that I support now are my second cycle but I don't know whether or not I have the energy and emotions left to do this all again. There will always be new juniors. They come in cuter, more mature, more driven, and I think their all adorable but to some extent I don't care anymore. This is Myuto's 8th year in JE. His going to be 18 this year. Whether he'll take the entrance exams, go to university, leave JE, I don't know. But with the huge influx of juniors since JapaneseHi I just don't see him ever debuting. His performances and dancing alway make me happy and cheer me up, but waiting a month to see him backdance or hold a mic with the rest of Travis Japan for 53seconds during a medley is not enough. Waiting 6 months for a DVD where he has no lines or hardly any close ups isn't fun. Hardly appearing in monthly magazines and having to hunt for his papas can be exhausting. I love Myuto, I want to see him succeed more than anything but what he is, or trying to be, is an idol. Idols and entertainment are suppose to make people happy, and he does, but I've been getting frustrated. Frustrated that I'll never get what I want and know that in reality no one cares. I liked following juniors to be able to see who out of these boys will make it and if the one I have my bets on will make it through their hard work, determination and talent. Like a rags to riches tale. But at this rate, it isn't going to happen to the junior that I care about the most.
Why this all of a sudden?
AKB48.
Don't get me wrong, there is a shit load of things wrong with the 48Family, but it's exciting. It's such a change from everything that I know and love about JE but I'm embracing it all with arms wide open. I think Bakaleya was a good move for AkiP just because no wota watching that drama (if their even willing to sit through all the screen time the JE boys got) would likely to become a JE fan, but girls who thought AKB were just a bunch of fakes might come around to the idea that they aren't that bad. I was one of those girls. There were a few junior fans on lj who were also an AKB48 fan and I just couldn't for the life of me figure out why, until now. I've been following the 48 girls for a few months now and there's something new everyday. The one I follow is admittedly one of the more popular members, but from TV appearence, single releases, theatre performances, concerts, special perforamances and events (the list goes on) there's always something new, there ready for me to watch when I get home at the end of the day. Hopefully I don't have to worry about her graduating anytime soon, but for now, it's just such a breath of fresh air to watch these girls sing and dance. For all of those how haven't given AKB a chance, honestly you don't have to. They operate so differently from JE but JE isn't working for me right now and it's just so great to see things done differently and not have to chase and hunt for things to watch only to end up replaying performances from the latest SC because your fandom is so damn dormant. For the record, AKBingo is everything that fans want Yan Yan JUMP to be.
Honestly I started by checking out some AKB things just as a filler until the next JE thing popped up on my lj feed or on weibo. Now most of my bookmarks are for links to AKB sources, downloads and tumblr searchs. I haven't wrote all this to say that I've given up and have decided to leave JE (I don't think I can do that as long as Myuto's still here) but to kind of tell myself that it's ok to not be as informed when it comes to JE and to warn people the direction that this journal might be heading in from now on.
In the end, no matter how much we invest in our idols (time and money) they aren't really people who will ever be within our grasp. Their here to entertain and as a long time fan I know how easy it is to get emotionally attached to these people we see on our screen. I can't help it and I'm not going to try and help it. But I've only got so much heart and bandwidth to devote. I'm probably going to regret most of what I've said and fangirl like crazy when Sexy Zone's Summary come out but, there's no turning back for me at this point. I've fallen deep into the 48Family and it's quite confortable here.
That being said, I still love seeing JEx48 interactions. So here's a few caps (to lighten the mood a bit) from the latest SMAPxSMAP of SKE48's medley with SMAP trolling in the backgroud.
The obvious MVP for this performance is Nakai ^^
Fooling around with Mikitty.
Nakai Jumping girlier than any of the actual girls on stage.
Being a complete creeper.
Well, if anyone can pull off a 14 year old girl, it's Nakai.
Before this turns into a Nakai Appreciation post, the runner-up for this performance would have to be Katori. Who will be more of a girl than you'll ever be.
I love this screen cap with Rena<3
My highlights would nornally be for the SKE members, but they've done this peformance before and a million times better, I just liked hearing SMAPS deep voice and awkward dance moves in the mix.
Until next time!
Johnny's Entertainment.
Watching the Johnny's World Top of the Pops special was a real wake up call to me. It was like, This is Johnnys. This is how Johnny's has always been, and in some respect, this is how Johnny's will continue to be. I've always loved everything about JE. From their artists, their junior-to-debut system and the whole "slow burn" concept that has allowed JE to have had such long lasting acts and definite place in Japans pop culture. I love Arashi. I love Sexy Zone. I love Johnny's Jr's. I love Shonen Club. I love Johnny's Countdown. Nothing about the adorable, handsome and funny talents that have come out of that agency has led me to what I'm about to write.
I'm bored.
My favroite Arashi show is ending this year because of some dumb political power struggle between parties who, to be honest, I have close to zero knowledge about. Not that I have a right to complain about this, but the amount of subbed shows have absolutely plummeted. We pretty much have to wait for a members birthday to get a decent release of anything. No more behind the scenes or making of with singles. Music, well, it's Arashi. Have they released a song since To Be Free that wasn't for the theme song for one of the members dramas?
Arashi's managements conclusion post Arashi's 10th Anniversary -> "Their already the nations idols, lets not risk trying anything new or that might tarnish their already established image and just keep them stagnant for the rest of their careers."
Sexy Zone's turn. The age gap between Nakaken and Marius is killing me. I loved their latest performance on Music Station because they were amazing but I hate how MariSou's costumes were closer to the juniors than the older 3. The group only has 5 members. Why in gods name are you splitting them up for? Is it going to be a permenant 2 vs 3 split? or are we going to get a proper 5 member Sexy Zone when Marius is old enough to appear in the Countdown? I know we were lucky to have gotten a album so early on, but to be fair, the last 2 singles they released were not great. I'm so sick of seeing those santa outfits as well. Their hardly in, or play a big enough role in any variety show and besides Marius none of them have played a significant role in a drama. I wouldn't have really minded all this if it weren't for the fact that so many jr's were casted in popular and late night drama's last year. It just doesn't seem particularly fair. Especially since some fans thought this group would be given a big push after they debuted. But I guess we only have our own expectations to blame for that.
Though they've had a lot of activities in terms of making fans (japanese mainly) happy, they haven't been given any opportunity for mainstream exposure and to attract non-fans. SMAP and Arashi did a whole lot in turns of pleasing the fans, but it wasn't really until Kimura's drama and Matsujun's HanaDan that the group skyrocketed.
Myuto. I'm going to go off on a tangent here but the first juniors that I followed were BIShadow. I saw Kouchi exercise his 2 left feet until he can finally follow basic dance steps. I saw Hokuto slowly gaining his confidence from being the youngest (and arguablely the least talented at the time) to somehow landing so many main roles in dramas. I saw the cute puppy-faced Fuma grow into all 50 shades of manliness. I saw Kento staying strong to his ideal of being a true idol and working hard to make Sexy Zone work. I watched these 4 boys become backdancers for Yuma and NYC. I watched them work hard together only to be seperated by a sudden debut announcement. I see them now in their new groups, and whether their friendship or fondness for their old bandmate is still there, I see that they've moved on. They were the first cycle of juniors that I followed and the first juniors that I supported that made it to debut. The juniors that I support now are my second cycle but I don't know whether or not I have the energy and emotions left to do this all again. There will always be new juniors. They come in cuter, more mature, more driven, and I think their all adorable but to some extent I don't care anymore. This is Myuto's 8th year in JE. His going to be 18 this year. Whether he'll take the entrance exams, go to university, leave JE, I don't know. But with the huge influx of juniors since JapaneseHi I just don't see him ever debuting. His performances and dancing alway make me happy and cheer me up, but waiting a month to see him backdance or hold a mic with the rest of Travis Japan for 53seconds during a medley is not enough. Waiting 6 months for a DVD where he has no lines or hardly any close ups isn't fun. Hardly appearing in monthly magazines and having to hunt for his papas can be exhausting. I love Myuto, I want to see him succeed more than anything but what he is, or trying to be, is an idol. Idols and entertainment are suppose to make people happy, and he does, but I've been getting frustrated. Frustrated that I'll never get what I want and know that in reality no one cares. I liked following juniors to be able to see who out of these boys will make it and if the one I have my bets on will make it through their hard work, determination and talent. Like a rags to riches tale. But at this rate, it isn't going to happen to the junior that I care about the most.
Why this all of a sudden?
AKB48.
Don't get me wrong, there is a shit load of things wrong with the 48Family, but it's exciting. It's such a change from everything that I know and love about JE but I'm embracing it all with arms wide open. I think Bakaleya was a good move for AkiP just because no wota watching that drama (if their even willing to sit through all the screen time the JE boys got) would likely to become a JE fan, but girls who thought AKB were just a bunch of fakes might come around to the idea that they aren't that bad. I was one of those girls. There were a few junior fans on lj who were also an AKB48 fan and I just couldn't for the life of me figure out why, until now. I've been following the 48 girls for a few months now and there's something new everyday. The one I follow is admittedly one of the more popular members, but from TV appearence, single releases, theatre performances, concerts, special perforamances and events (the list goes on) there's always something new, there ready for me to watch when I get home at the end of the day. Hopefully I don't have to worry about her graduating anytime soon, but for now, it's just such a breath of fresh air to watch these girls sing and dance. For all of those how haven't given AKB a chance, honestly you don't have to. They operate so differently from JE but JE isn't working for me right now and it's just so great to see things done differently and not have to chase and hunt for things to watch only to end up replaying performances from the latest SC because your fandom is so damn dormant. For the record, AKBingo is everything that fans want Yan Yan JUMP to be.
Honestly I started by checking out some AKB things just as a filler until the next JE thing popped up on my lj feed or on weibo. Now most of my bookmarks are for links to AKB sources, downloads and tumblr searchs. I haven't wrote all this to say that I've given up and have decided to leave JE (I don't think I can do that as long as Myuto's still here) but to kind of tell myself that it's ok to not be as informed when it comes to JE and to warn people the direction that this journal might be heading in from now on.
In the end, no matter how much we invest in our idols (time and money) they aren't really people who will ever be within our grasp. Their here to entertain and as a long time fan I know how easy it is to get emotionally attached to these people we see on our screen. I can't help it and I'm not going to try and help it. But I've only got so much heart and bandwidth to devote. I'm probably going to regret most of what I've said and fangirl like crazy when Sexy Zone's Summary come out but, there's no turning back for me at this point. I've fallen deep into the 48Family and it's quite confortable here.
That being said, I still love seeing JEx48 interactions. So here's a few caps (to lighten the mood a bit) from the latest SMAPxSMAP of SKE48's medley with SMAP trolling in the backgroud.
The obvious MVP for this performance is Nakai ^^
Fooling around with Mikitty.
Nakai Jumping girlier than any of the actual girls on stage.
Being a complete creeper.
Well, if anyone can pull off a 14 year old girl, it's Nakai.
Before this turns into a Nakai Appreciation post, the runner-up for this performance would have to be Katori. Who will be more of a girl than you'll ever be.
I love this screen cap with Rena<3
My highlights would nornally be for the SKE members, but they've done this peformance before and a million times better, I just liked hearing SMAPS deep voice and awkward dance moves in the mix.
Until next time!