How I feel about the Johnny's Fandom and Company as of late

[mrsyamada]

So before I begin, I want to start off by saying that I am in no way shape or form leaving the fandom, if you're my fandom friend please don't worry.

Comments

[tbscreenrider]

I like when someone really speaks her or his mind in LJ and love to read deeper thoughts than just the ususal hyper-praise. I can relate to so much of what you say. First of all to me it also happened - only that I did not come from HSJ (although I also followed them as well). I discovered J-Pop via Arashi and they were my faves for a long time. But after their 10th anniversary their music style changed, obviously they tried for a more "mature" style - but for me that often sounded boring and mainstream. Sexy Zone was like a very fresh wind. So far I loved almost all of their singles (i just listened to the latest) - they had more than the usual share of strong releases. Also the concerts were a pleasure to watch. Creative, genuine - you could feel they wanted to take their audiences in a storm, wanted to get somewhere. Only the last concert Blu-ray dissapointed me - the arrangement of the show was done without love and held no surprises. I think the change in management to Ijima was a huge mistake. And just like you I don´t like the recent shrinking of the band to a three member act. My favorite J-Pop/Rock-band is no JE-group, it´s SEKAI NO OWARI - they are real musicians and highly creative and caring for their fans. Their shows are always a delight for ears and eyes and their two albums are both very much above J-Pop-standard. I also loved the first album of D*Date - no weak song in it! But from all the JE-groups SEXY ZONE stands out and is my favourite.
There is not one person I don´t like in SZ, though my favourite is not Marius (despite the fact that he is 50% German ^-^), but Fuma. I love his looks, his voice, but even more his character. The way he rebels against an unfit management kind of reminds me of me and my work-place. I also will never make a career, because I always speak my true feelings - and this often is not welcome. I also like Sou-chan and think he is much underrated.
Kento has a lot of talent, but all of that prince-like behaviour kind of bothers me. But the way you decribe him really made me think. I guess Kento simply is what we in Germany call "Rampen-Sau" - a person how simply LOVES to be on the stage and does everything to get and stay there. That is his goal and politics is beyond him, other than Fuma.
So he tries not to bring anybody up against himself. This really might be a tough balance-act.
And I guess your also quite correct regarding the Company. It has it´s pros and cons. The artists are too much puppets for my taste - but what I admire is the time the company takes to develope the artists and the long breath they have in developing their talents. They can test themselves in many areas and the company invests a lot in them. And as far as they obbey, the company plans a long time career for them. This can hardly be found in western pop-culture any more. Here they push artists artifically, hype them for 2-3 years and run them until they are exhausted and all the fans are milked - and once the artist is wasted or wants too much money, they drop him and he falls into oblivion. And a new artist will be pushed and milked in just the same way. Just see what happened to Justin Biber in the USA and Tokio Hotel in Germany. JE really builds up their artists and sticks to them - as long as they obbey to the (admittedly hard) rules.

And regarding the fandom - as you know I ´m more a silent part of that (mainly because work doesn´t leave much quality time), but in fandom it´s like anywhere else. In my job it´s the same - we are a great team - except for one louse that constantly brings turmoil. In many groups you can find such a person that spoils everything. Sometimes it´s just unavoidable. But you should not let those persons spoil your fun and as best as you can ignore them and enjoy those with whom you want to communicate ^-^.

Thanks again for your thoughts - and have a great weekend!

[mrsyamada]

thank you for your long and well thought out response :D i was so shocked to see that in my inbox actually. It was nice, I'm glad you like me having an opinion.