Evidence I think about these things FAR too much.

[fencer_x]

Secret Box As a Metaphor for Being Forced Out of the ClosetI realize it's pretty fruitless to write this essay up now, when hardly anyone's actually seen the show and thus wouldn't really be able to fully grasp everything I'm pointing out. But I dunno, I can't wait until December to post this, so I'll do it now, and maybe people will come back to

Comments

[fencer_x]

Very good points, all of those--and I didn't think about it at first, but you're absolutely right about their age being a factor. Not only ARE they more likely to settle down the older they get (assuming they're either straight or feeling pressure to marry), fans ARE less likely to care.

True, many *pnish* fans DID come from TeniMyu and BuriMyu--but we also must look at how long it's been. Every girl I talked to there, if she was into TeniMyu, had been in TeniMyu from the get-go--and that was 2003. They're now four whole years older, and that's quite a gap. It's the difference between being a giggly high-school yaoi fangirl and being a more mature college/working woman. I can definitely say most of the people I saw at Aru Hi and *pnish* were definitely in the mid- to upper-20s, if not older: these guys may have gotten the bulk of their fanbase from TeniMyu, but those girls stuck with them and are now THEIR fans.

I also agree with your pointing out about the small contingent that is the yaoi subculture. It never really occured to me (though by all rights it SHOULD have) until I spoke to these Japanese girls, and then it just kind of bowled me over that it wasn't a GIVEN, you know? I've been spoiled too long by overseas fans 8D

[iverin]

Re: fans. That's what I was thinking, too. But in the grand scheme, it's only four years. I guess, really, it would depend on what age they (the fans) were when they started out. (Oh gosh, I'm not trying to nitpick...) My professor a few semesters ago actually made fun of me for liking Tenimyu at my age and had some of the exchange students back up that it was a "kid" thing. While I know that's not true, I think it is true that the newer actors are attracting a younger demographic... WHICH HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH PNISH. *dies from tangent, sorry* Anyway, yes, they have grown up a bit with these guys and their increasing popularity. But what I mean about growing up with them, really, I was thinking even longer-term. I hate to reference JE, but look at SMAP's fanbase, or even KinKi. (Or I can even cite V6... or TOKIO. The commonality between these, why I'm naming them, is married or engaged members and the supportive reactions I've seen. Compare this with the highly negative reactions to the 20-year-olds dating anyone.) Totally different mindsets than those of the younger groups, and I think it has a ton to do with fan demographics. The truer test of pnish's limits is going to come up in the next couple of years, I think, when they hit 6-7 years with a lot of their fans. I think it's really neat that they have so many older fans, though. Did you get the sense that most of them really DID come from Tenimyu or that many of them had known of pnish before? I'm just curious on that one. XD

About the yaoi subculture: We kind of tend to congregate in places like LJ. The people who aren't in agreement usually stay quiet, and it sort of exaggerates how many there are. It's a very VOCAL minority within the circles, but otherwise very quiet, and often secretive. We had a long chat about this in my gender class.

[iverin]

Er... not KinKi with the married, obv., meant to change that when I changed the line. They're married to each other. (It's true. Sort of. XD)

[fencer_x]

The truer test of pnish's limits is going to come up in the next couple of years, I think, when they hit 6-7 years with a lot of their fans. I think it's really neat that they have so many older fans, though. Did you get the sense that most of them really DID come from Tenimyu or that many of them had known of pnish before? I'm just curious on that one. XD

Definitely agree there, and it's going to be really interesting seeing what happens to them in the next few years *nodnod* And really it felt like a nice mix. One of the girls I was with had never even seen TeniMyu--she got into *pnish* completely from seeing Tuti and Eiji in BuriMyu, whereas the other girl had never seen BuriMyu at all and had been reading Prince of Tennis in Jump for years before seeing the announcement for the very first musical back in '03.

[iverin]

That's awesome, seriously! I hope they can get a lot more fans from their stage performances in plays and butais, too. They've all shown such a fantastic range of roles that they can play, and it would be great if they could get wider recognition for their talents. You're lucky to be so close and to have the luxury of attending several events!