Yamapi for thought.
I remember reading something Yamapi once said that left a big impression on me. It was either in a magazine or interview... you can consider this a rumor until I locate the actual source and can confirm this as fact.
He wondered if his fans would remain his fans if he was to become disfigured in an accident or become ugly.
( details inside )
He wondered if his fans would remain his fans if he was to become disfigured in an accident or become ugly.
( details inside )
But back to Yamapi. As I mentioned before, he has to be aware of what his fans want because it's his job. Let's not forget that he's still 21 years old, and people at that age are still highly susceptible to outside influences. The location is also Japan, where everyone cares what others think about him/her in a degree that far rivals people who live in countries like the United State where individuality is more important. Yamapi is trying to seek a balance where he can be as much of himself as possible without alienating his fans. That's what his role in "Nobuta. wo Produce" managed to accomplish. He took a big risk, and the fans accepted that. He may have lost old fans and gained new fans because of that. Judging from the comments on this entry alone, we know the latter is at least true. He took another big risk by changing his physical appearance: he took up boxing and surfing and got muscles! I have seen with my own eyes how some people who claimed to be his fans before now say they can't stand him with his no-longer-skinny!body. I think some of them are actually serious. I don't know if they are teenagers who prefer boys to men or if they simply like slender idols. The point is, Yamapi is trying to change, and has indeed changed to the best of his ability. He just can't do it at a scale that would drive away all or most of his fans. His situation is more complex than ours because his survival as an artist depends on it. So yes, I pity him. Not because I feel that fans are unfair to him, but because his situation IS pitiful. He and KAT-TUN are the root money-maker for Johnny's Jimusho at the moment, so they're greatly limited by what they can do. Koki is allowed more freedom than he because their popularity level is different, and because Koki's face is not the selling point for him as an idol. Yamapi is, simply put, a money making machine that is not allowed to change. He may want to shave his head, but would the jimusho allow that? If he was to defy the jimusho, he might end up abandoned like Kimura Takuya of SMAP. Only Kimura survived, and he might not be so lucky. Why do you suppose he did not protest NEWS' formation when he obviously hated it (initially)? He was only a kid. What could he have done? In NEWS' 2004.05.09 apperance on "Domoto Kyoudai," Yamapi said he worries about the future. Why do you think that is so when NEWS was the next big thing? Even at 19 years of age he was already aware of the difficult path ahead. THAT is why I pity him.
You said, and I quote, "I remember one day he said more or less: "I'll do my best so even the people who don't like me, will like me just a little bit". Now that's what I would pity someone for, though nobody spoke a word about it."
I cannot speak for other people, but the reason I didn't say anything about this is because Yamapi's dream is to go worldwide. If you were an artist and wanted to go big, what do you need to do? Get people to like you. I think this makes him a professional, not pathetic, and so in this I find nothing that needs my pitying.
As for his comments about women, I blame society for it. Even now, there is still prejudice for women EVERYWHERE in the world. Japan just happens to put more emphasis on woman's traditional role as a housewife. Not to mention they even have a name for their ideal gentle woman: Yamato Nadeshiko. Growing up in that situation, with a passed down Yamashita House Rule that says the women should do the cooking, it's no wonder Yamapi thinks girls should be "cute, feminine and good at cooking." In GYM's 2006.09.03 appearance on "Domoto Kyoudai," Yamapi said his ideal woman would be someone like Matsushima Nanako or Hasegawa Kyoko. Both have the same gentle women look, and Matsushima Nanako is even nationally known as the modern age Yamato Nadeshiko.
[...see third comment. O_O]
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