This counts as an interview...

[makaeru]

And so for my speech that was due last week but I'll be working on tomorrow, I've decided to bitch about the nouveau K8 fans (ie the NewS ship-jumpers) and what they're detracting from the group

Comments

[essie07]

LOL HOW DID YOU KNOW I'D POUNCE ON THIS?!

Alright, let's get the ball rolling. Ship-jumpers. If I could describe them, they'd mostly be in their teens (but sometimes age doesn't discriminate when it comes to actual maturity, so I will take that into consideration) who are in all those _____daily communities, have folders of scans they stole from just about everywhere, and I can bet you that at least half of them have never bought a single CD or DVD. A lot of the new ones cross-post in 100 communities, ask for ridiculously large uploads (usually like DVDs which irks me a lot because some even ask for HIGH QUALITY... as though watching a concert DVD in HQ really makes it that much better since beggars can't be choosers). So ship-jumpers, in general, suck a lot. You know, there are the few that are awesome and actually know how to use Google so they don't ask moronic questions that get them flamed (being in the JE fandom has taught me that it IS possible to ask stupid questions).

The K8-NewS tie-in with Ryo and Uchi is probably the cause for all of this. I think most people will agree with me when I say that specifically because they were the ones who had connections to lively, fun people. NewS was actually really clique-y if you think about it. Koyama was glued to Pi most of the time, trying to absorb as much of Pi's greatness as he could, the rest of the KKKitty boys were stuck together and Massu and Tegoshi were paired because they can actually sing really well. So because of the group non-conformity, it was easy when the suspensions kicked in for girls to think, "oh well there's Ryo and he's pretty hot. At least I can see him with Kanjani-whatever they are."

So, what are they detracting now that they're nouveau fans? For one, they still have tunnel-vision and concentrate on how hot Ryo is. If they've branched, it's most likely towards Tacchon because he's hot, he's around Ryo all the time (not because they're paired that way, but because they're ACTUALLY friends, but you know that), and he got his own drama SP where he got to be a dork and a hottie at the same time. If they've branched out even further, it's to include Subaru but only because it's impossible to deny that ossan has one of the most unique and moving voices in JE history. I seriously don't think new fans like any guys past those I've listed (I would add Uchi but his ass is still not back so boo for him). I have yet to meet a ship-jumper who has declared their infinite love for Hina or Maru (which is sad because those two are really high on my list).

I don't know if it's mean-spirited of me to say that I sort of pity the ship-jumping fans, but I'll say it anyway. It's kind of pathetic to hold on to that one vestige that connected both groups and start liking another group that way just because the other got suspended. If anything, I feel bad for K8 too because they have a ton of new, half-assed fans who don't even really LIKE them. I mean, let's put it this way, if you can't even remember the names of the rest of the group, it's not fair to say that you love K8.

After all this complaining, I can say that I've only met maybe one or two new fans who have done things right. They've asked for information (and not like "OMG who does Ryo like better?") rather than media files, they were polite and well-articulated, and they didn't declare love for the most obvious choices. I've met new Hina fangirls who have also immediately fell for the rest of the group, but these kind of fans aren't ship-jumpers. I don't think there are any of those NewS→K8 fangirls who have done something right when it comes to being a new K8 fan.

[makaeru]

How could I not know you'd pounce on it?

Thank you for that. Feel free to add anything else - I'm probably going to go into Hina's jweb and the Tacchon stalkers too. And maybe even that Subs has put on 20% of his own weight in beer.

[essie07]

I agree with those points too. I think the fandom I was broadly speaking about was the English-speaking JE fandom but yeah, we can't forget the crazy newbie Japanese fans. They're worse than us, but only because they're actually in Japan... if the circumstances were different, I'm sure English-speaking fans would do stupid shit like that as well.

I think I've seemed to tone down a lot with my rants and my bitchy personality because I like to largely ignore the JE fandom unless someone comes along and does something awesome like scan or upload rare stuff. However, one thing I refuse to let go is my hate for RUDE fangirls. I'm sure K8 doesn't want my sympathy, but it's hard not to feel for them considering how they have to deal with like... "NewS leftovers". Thank god whatever drives them is not so much appealing to fans (I mean as in just looking good and not doing much else) but to make the music they love the most. Now I know they don't have much leeway in what they're allowed to release, but at least JE lets them mess around with subgroups and hell, Subaru and DB even got venues for their duo + FiVE group thingie. It's a shame that they have to suffer with infernal brats for fans just because they're the group who has common sense (well... at least 7/8 of them have it) and had Ryo first. Big deal if he was in NewS... I don't predict them coming back even by next year... not that it really matters if and when they do. I suppose it must stess them out to a certain degree that girls are getting antsy even though it's been longer than a year and the brat still hasn't made a reappearance. It's still not fair that K8 has to deal with people who don't have any respect for them and blindly (as well as obnoxiously) declare themselves to be fans.

LOL zenbu no NewS no fans ha sugoi ira ira suru desho? God my nihongo sucks. I better review before school starts. ROFL