Comments | paaanpanda: Of Hans Christian Anderson and a can of worms ...

paaanpanda

Of Hans Christian Anderson and a can of worms ...

May 23, 2016 02:18

An interesting thing happened on the weekend. After me banging on about how none of my friends understand my love for J-Pop in general and Kanjani8 in particular I took a leap of faith and inflicted both, in general and in particular, on one of my friends. This was a different person to those I went away with a few weekends ago. This person is far ( Read more... )

fandom, eito, kanjani8, musings

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spacecadet1017 May 23 2016, 14:44:12 UTC

I think it depends on the song! When they first started, they did a lot more enka-inspired songs, and Baru's voice really suits that style. In pop or rock it can be hit or miss. I think to some degree, though, the glamor factor can trick people. For example, before I ever knew Kanjani, I thought Ryo was a good actor. I mean, he has to be since he's that beautiful, right? But the more I got to know him, I started to realize maybe he wasn't as amazing as I thought. He's still good, sure (Last Friends gave me chills, and I *loved Chonmage Purin) but he's pretty crap at comedies because he can't control his face and always looks like he's a second away from an NG scene. It took a while for the glamor factor to wear off, but I'm happy it did. I can see him as a person now and not just be like "OMG! EVERYTHING HE DOES IS EPIC!" (I was that way for a looooooong time with Yamapi. So many Japanese people would give me the side-eye when I was like "He's a great actor, right?! :D" lol ( ... )

paaanpanda May 24 2016, 09:45:58 UTC

Yes, the style of song makes a big difference. The enka stuff does suit him but I’ve never been fond of that style. Don’t get me wrong there are many, many songs where Baru’s voice sounds amazing. My absolute favourite Eito song wander is an example of this, his voice is sublime. Yet there are others where I wish he would just keep his mouth shut. Omoidama for instance. Everyone else is sounding good and he just has to overdo it ( ... )

spacecadet1017 May 24 2016, 15:03:07 UTC

I'm still trying to figure out KanJani musically. I go their Best of 8th Anniversary album as a starter and there were some songs I liked, but some I didn't like so much. I think it's just confusing for me since they don't stick to one genre. I like the rock songs, though. And sometimes fun pop ones like Maemuki Scream are nice. I've been randomly watching youtube performances of songs they performed on music shows to find other things to like, but they probably only do singles there. I also feel bad because I haven't identified all their voices in the songs yet! Baru & Ryo are easy because they're main. Yoko & Hina are easy because they're unique. Maru I think I heard on a rap. I think I heard Yasu do an intro and a rap once. But I feel terrible that I can't for the life of me identify Tacchon's voice. I think I might be mistakenly attributing some of his stuff to Ryo. I suppose it'd help if I stopped being lazy and watched their MVs. I've seen clips here and there, but never a full MV. I have no idea why. I guess ( ... )

paaanpanda May 25 2016, 08:40:00 UTC

I find I like Eito’s album songs and B-sides way more than their singles. There are some absolute gems tucked away and it’s worth the effort to track them down. Wander, Royal Milk Story, Brilliant Blue, Dream Train, Zou, Nanairo Parameter, Kagayakeru Butai e and Rurarira are some of my favourites. All quite different but all good. I don’t really mind what genre the song is as long as I like the sound ( ... )

spacecadet1017 May 25 2016, 15:48:00 UTC

I actually heard Zou yesterday! It was in my Youtube recommended clips list, lol. I was surprised because I was like, "What is this awesomeness and why haven't I heard it yet?!" Makes me wonder how they choose songs for their Best of Albums. I guess the next one won't be until year 16... or maybe 18 if they're keeping with the 8 theme. Still... Maybe I should just go down to BookOff and grab a bunch of random albums and see what I like. You always know when you get to the KanJani section because amidst the dark, unassuming colors of other artists, Eito's rainbow covers hit your eyes like a slap in the face. lol ( ... )

Rats, I wrote too much! Part II spacecadet1017 May 25 2016, 15:48:23 UTC

I think it's different because Arashi are "Idols." Their job is to entertain. They need to be sparkly, fun, and have huge fireworks displays. People expect perfection of them so if someone squeaks or huffs onstage many fans think it "ruins" the experience. (Kind of like in Yamada Taro Monogatari Neen & Sho-chan did - the girls deluded themselves into thinking every possible explanation other than the truth - their shining prince wasn't the perfect demigod they thought he was) Now if a band did that, I'd be really disappointed. So like, if Kanjani's got their guitars and whatnot out and lip synching, I'd be sad. Wait, does Nagase lip sync for TOKIO?! I can't see why he would..... but it's JE, so. But yes. Idols have insane expectations on them. If an idol were to sing live and mess up someone and annoy the fans, I'd be scared for them. (They're creepy as hell when their fantasies are ruined.) I'd be cool with them singing live if they wanted to, but I can see how they might be scared to ( ... )

Re: Rats, I wrote too much! Part II paaanpanda May 26 2016, 07:17:31 UTC

I think it’s sad idols have to be so afraid of the expectations of their fans and live up to this idealised image. In my eyes it has had a detrimental effect on Arashi. They started the pre-recorded thing, their TV shows got quite lame and they’ve sort of become caricatures of themselves. It's really sad ( ... )

spacecadet1017 May 28 2016, 21:04:54 UTC

It is really sad for them. I kinda wonder if more of them would be like "Eh, piss off!" if people would respond to that. You'd think the people who'd care the most would be teens( who have the least amount of money). So who cares if you annoy them? But so many older people seem to have this same mentality of MINE, too! It worries me. I think Japan's starting to agree with you on Arashi. Their ratings seem to be slipping these days. Not critical levels, but less. I find myself drawn to their older shows, too ( ... )

paaanpanda May 29 2016, 09:52:56 UTC

I’d like to see more of them stand up to the fans but any ‘scandal’ usually ends in a tearful apology. When Ohno’s dating scandal broke last year there were fans who turned up to concerts with uchiwas saying ‘Leave the group’ and ‘Die’. The entitlement of some fans is breath taking ( ... )

Crap, now I wrote too much. paaanpanda May 29 2016, 09:53:57 UTC

Their sub-unit stuff is usually pretty good and they do write some of it themselves. Baru and Maru were responsible for the lyrics of Michi, Ryo and Yasu wrote lyrics and music for Ice Cream and Banana Juice was the work of Ryo ( ... )

RE: spacecadet1017 June 4 2016, 12:07:56 UTC

Whoops, I forgot about this thread ( ... )

Re: paaanpanda June 7 2016, 09:43:41 UTC

ARRRGGGGHHHH!!!! It’s school report time - the one thing I hate about being a teacher ( ... )

Humbug @ length limits spacecadet1017 June 8 2016, 20:22:28 UTC

School reports are the worst. Teachers don’t wanna do ‘em and students don’t wanna get ‘em. And they take ages ( ... )

RE: Humbug @ length limits Part 2 spacecadet1017 June 8 2016, 20:22:46 UTC

Hmm, I didn’t know much about his childhood. I just read an article where he said Xmas at his house absolutely sucked and he had no good memories of it so he didn’t really care about it as an adult. Oh, and he had to tell his little brother Santa wasn’t real. Poor lamb T-T; But it’s nice his grandparents were able to take him in. I can’t believe a kid gets sent off just because someone remarries... Like “Oh, you can’t be in our family.” Grr. I hope he’s able to find a really stable family life in the future ( ... )

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