Johnny's Entertainment & Kpop Fandom = In Comparison.

[tinzedesu]

As I finished watching a bunch of Kpop goodness all night until the sun rises up.. I opened my JE folder out of randomness and watched my KAT-TUN & Kanjani8 files. Files that used to fill up 90% of my HD which has now been replaced by Super Junior files instead. :))
Mixed feelings swelled upon my heart and I can't believe I'm watching a happy JE concert with tears in my eyes. Lol seriously, I'm really tearing up while watching their performances. I felt very nostalgic and memories when this fandom was my life suddenly started to give me flashbacks. It's also amusing to note the fact that I can still easily sing these Japanese songs and actually understand them rather than singing korean and sometimes inventing gibberish words that sounds-like the original one to fill-up the lyrics I can't memorized yet. (What. Memorizing korean songs is waaaay harder than Japanese, really. :|)


-- KAT-TUN. They were my first love. Like, really really my first love in everything fandom-related, jpop or not. I used to be crazy for them like woah! I love everything about them back then, their songs, their personalities, and I even find their dancing adorable even if they suck at it. Lol! I downloaded every downloadable-material I can find from them, and most importantly: I bought their concert DVDs online. I had to emphasize online because I begged my mother to use her credit card for it. Hahaha, it was my first time buying something online even if I'm scared of being scammed so there y'go, that's how special KAT-TUN is in my heart. ♥ Oh yeah, my ichiban (number one; top bias in kpop terms) that time is Akanishi Jin (the fourth guy from the left :D) and holy shit, I was seriously in love with him before. :)) My OTP was Akakame (Akanishi Jin x Kamenashi Kazuya [the 2nd guy from left] ) and I really did shipped them ever-so-dearly. :"> I've read about 500+ Akakame fics, no matter how cliche or badfic they were. All in all, I loved KAT-TUN so fucking much, that's why it hurts a lot when I knew some months ago that Jin was leaving the group for his solo career.☹ I quit the fandom some one & a half years ago but I was still hurt by that sudden decision. /sighs But anyway, these guys are awesome, and their specialty is to eat up their fans' savings. Lol!! :)) They sell their records like hotcakes (to the Kpop fandom, selling around 100,000+ albums is OMFG-YAYWORTHY but to KAT-TUN (or the whole JE for that matter), that's not even enough for 1 week sales. They can reach up to 250,000+ copies in one week after release.. or more.) Oh yeah, not to mention, KAT-TUN has also broke the record of most consecutive days of concerts in Tokyo Dome (that has a capacity of 40-45,000 people). Yes, they held a concert for eight fucking days straight in Tokyo Dome. If that's not amazing, I don't know what it is, seriously. :O


-- Bow down, it's Kanjani8! Lol I know right, this is not really the best picture to put but I don't know where the hell I've placed my Kanjani8 picture folder in my external HD. *pouts* ANYWAY. THEY ARE THE EPITOME OF JE AWESOMENESS, FUCK YES I'M SERIOUS.♥  They're certainly do not have that kind of aura on first glance and I admittedly didn't paid any attention to them the first time I saw them but omfg, when I got to know them, they made me sleepless for many nights because all I've been doing is to watch and watch and watch them and laugh nonstop because of it! :))) They all hail from the Kansai part of Japan, which are the home for most of Japanese comedians therefore earning them the title of Comedian-idols, and they are also dubbed as the Idols who could ruin the future of Japanese comedians. Lol! Ossan San-nin (3 Old Man; composed of Subaru [the 2nd from the left], Yoko [next to Subaru] and Hina (2nd from the right)], also called as Sanbaka (3 Idiots) are the group's blabbermouths. Lol, think of them as the Teukigayo (+ Kangin/Heechul) of Kpop, but I personally think that Sanbaka's still superior when it comes to funny story-tellings or even gags, not that I adore Teukigayo (+ Kangin/Heechul) any less. :D

I don't know if it's obvious but Kanjani8 actually took the ichiban place in my heart 'cause me and KAT-TUN grew apart some two years after I became a fan of them. Or maybe it's because Kanjani8 was too amazing that I couldn't resist them. ;_; On music aspect, I love them the most too. They're the only group who debuted with an enka song! (You can think of it as the counterpart of Trot in Kpop :D) I'm a sucker for old music, and Kanjani8 captivated me with their other Enka song, Oh! Enka ♥ Aside from that, they also play instruments, compose their own songs, has three sub-units (SubaruBand, Sankyoudai (acoustic band), YamaDa (a manzai duo [manzai is a traditional style of stand-up comedy in Japanese culture]) for creative outlets, and most importantly! The Eito Rangers, which is one of the main highlights of their concerts. ♥ And yeah, if KAT-TUN has 8 consecutive days in Tokyo Dome, Kanjani8 had toured all of 47 prefectures of Japan for their nationwide tour. :>


They dance better than KAT-TUN, but are still no match when it comes to Kpop groups, lol! :)) (The only decent JE group who can dance is ARASHI, *laughs*) Oh yeah, in case y'guys are wondering, my ichiban now is Nishikido Ryo (the yellow ranger from the picture above, also a member of another JE group: NEWS). He's BFFs with Uchi Hiroki (who was kicked out from Kanjani8 & NEWS because of an underage drinking incident *sadface* Er yeah, if you've counted the heads on the pictures, there's only 7. Because Kanjani8's 8th member was Uchi.) and I shipped them so much before (RyoUchi ♥).

Uchi kinda reminds me of Hangeng from Super Junior 'cause.. well, I waited and hoped for around 2 or 3 years for Uchi to be back in Kanjani8 but yeah, he's solo now. That's why when Geng left Super Junior, I was reminded of my days with waiting for Uchi.. with a sort-of painful ending. I'm glad that there's actually a conclusion to Geng's case though so I can support him wholeheartedly with his solo career now (while with Uchi, Johnny made me wait for 2 fucking years only to break my heart. :|). I'm also very glad of the fact that they still show pictures of Geng with Super Junior and has never forbidden the rest of the members to say his name or still share stories about him (ehem, Heechul bb ♥), a sure-proof that he was a Super Junior member, and will forever be one in the heart of the members and the E.L.F. JE was harsher in regards to Uchi. JE made everbody pretend that he didn't even debuted with Kanjani8/NEWS, even the members themselves. Group pictures from when Uchi was still a part of these groups are never shown in public anymore (as well as performances. ;_;) which screams OMFG WHY JOHNNY. *cries* It's not just fair. *sighs*
PS: This has turned into a Kanjani8 pimp-post, hahahhaa. If you want to get to know them better, just contact me! :D
-- Anyway, some comparisons:

• Fanclub!

-- One thing that I'm glad about is the fact that the Jpop fandom is quiet, compared to the ruckus and drama the Kpop fandom has. Lol seriousy, I was shocked when I entered the Kpop fandom 'cause there were lots of overreacting and overprotective fans. :O There's nothing like that in the Jpop fandom, probably because JE's the only agency that produces idol groups in Japan. I can actually remember them being threatened when DBSK/Tohoshinki entered the Japanese market. *grins* Second, no specific fanclubs. It can be a happy and sad thing at the same time. JE has one fanclub for KAT-TUN, Kanjani8 and NEWS (YOU&J fanclub). It can be a happy thing 'cause no specific fanclubs, therefore no fanclub wars! :D You can't really find something like "FUCK YOU ANTIS BACK OFF MY *INSERT GROUP NAME HERE*" unless it's a fandom-wank has been initiated in most international communities which the idol groups don't really find out about anyway. Hahhaha. Well there are anti's of course, but they're not that extreme, compared to anti's who would be willing to kill someone (the Yunho incident. :|). It's a sad thing 'cause.. idk, I guess I've been eaten by the Kpop fandom that I think having your own fanclub tag is awesomesauce. What. I am a proud Kiss Me & E.L.F (though I'm a bit reluctant to say this most of the time 'cause I'm embarassed by my fellow fans sometimes especially when they go overboard with practically anything said againts Super Junior even if it's just very small. :|). Good thing Kanjani8 had invented their own fans' name though. Eighter. ;) ♥

Aside from that, the fanclub colors as well. Like the fanclub name, I also think that the official colors that represent which fanclub you belong to is amazing. I used to hate pink y'know, but since it's what U-KISS uses (not their official color though. Idk when they'll think of their official color, but most Kiss Me's uses pink anyway, despite being a male group. xD), I learned to love it. Oh yeah, I personally think that Sapphire Pearl Blue is an ozzummm color. :> There's nothing like that in JE, and instead of lightsticks, they have penlights. It's less sparkly compared to Lightsticks, but it also has a design (maybe the name of the group or y'can choose a member to represent :D) and comes with different color. In the case of KAT-TUN or Kanjani8, each members has their own colors so yeah, you get the idea. :D
Oh yeah, before I forget, Japanese fans always use Uchiwas more than anything (a big fan you can decorate much like a fansign :D).

• Costumes!

-- JE has the most horrendous outfits my eyes had ever laid upon, seriously. Lol. They have these sparkly curtain-like outfits, definitely nothing like what Kpop idol group wear. :)) I haven't watched KAT-TUN when they went to South Korea yet but I guess since nobody had really reacted much, I guess they wore normal clothes then? Lmao.

• Girl idol groups~

-- This ain't JE but Jpop in general. If there's JE for male idols, there's Hello!Project for female groups. So far, I don't know much about them (other than I've never seen JE collaborated anything with them before, lol, safe much?). But anyway, Korean girl groups are entering the Japanese market anyway so I guess there's some lunch for my boys, lmao. :))

• Variety shows/Radio shows!

-- If it's for Variety shows, JE group usually holds their own shows but unlike those who are in the Kpop fandom, these shows usually runs for years and not just for 10 episodes at most. :D Lol, Kanjani8 truly shines the most with variety shows 'cause it's their area of specialty. Shows are never boring with Kanjani8 on it, seriously. Nope, I'm not pimping 'em, I'm just stating a fact. :)) Aside from hosting their own shows, they also host radio shows. YokoHina's Recommen is one of my most-favorite radio shows EVER. XD

• Music shows!

-- Kpop has Music Bank, Music Core and Inkigayo. Jpop has.. Music Station. Yeah, that's pretty much it. :)) Other variety shows lets their guest perform though, but as far as music shows is on label, I only know of Music Station. XD Oh yeah, as for Mutizen Awards.. they have Oricon weekly. It's not as important or glorious as Mutizen Award though where winners are known to shed tears and all that 'cause idk, Oricon doesn't have that kind of feeling. It's like, "Congratulations to *insert group name*!" And the artists are like, "Arigatou Gozaimasu~ *bows*" Lol. It's actually already expected for JE group to conquer it whenever they release something new. Maybe that's the reason why JE was threatened with Tohoshinki before, they can pwn their babies' ass. :))) Aside from that, they usually film their performances in secluded place, meaning.. no fans to cheer for them. Occassionally, they do have special stages with fans though. :D Oh yeah, there are no specific fan chants in JE/Jpop. Just hand-motion of the dance steps, and just singing to the song will work. :))

• Cyworld/Twitter?

-- JE has.. Johnny's Web. Yep. They can leave their messages/blogs there. Idk how it works, but all I know is that it's not for free and you can't access it if you're not in Japan. :)) They don't have Twitter nor any blogging website, so yeah, they're pretty faraway from us. Oh yeah, they don't have UFO either. Too faraway, these guys. :))

• Concerts!

-- JE groups are known to conquer all of the concert halls/concert domes they've went to. Yes, I'm dead serious about this. :)) I've said before that their records sell like hotcakes.. well, their concert tickets are the same (probably because of the hard method to acquire one ticket as it's open for fanclubs only. I know right, JE doesn't care about overseas fans at all. :|). Their concert tickets are usually sold-out with scalpers selling their acquired tickets for a higher price. Boohoo. ANYWAY. I've watched a video where Super Junior said that they had an audience of 250,000+ during their Super Show 2 Asia Tour. Well, comparing 250,000 audiences to 8 days of KAT-TUN's Tokyo Dome concert.. 45,000 x 8 = 360,000 audiences. Er, yeah.. you get the idea. :)) The only downfall of this is JE doesn't promote outside Japan unlike Super Junior or any of the Kpop groups. :| Boohoo for them, there's 1% to 0% chance that I'll get to watch any JE concert before I die. Even if I go to Japan, it won't be enough 'cause tickets are only available for fanclub members and would cost me a fortune if I want to buy from scalpers. Yeah, that's one advantage of Super Junior in my heart.. I can actually see them in flesh before I die. ♥

• Group's lifespan!

-- This is one major difference of the Kpop fandom to JE/Jpop. Like Eeteuk said in Strong Heart before, the cases with idol groups in Korea is after 5 years of being active, disbanding is usually the next action. That's definitely not the case in JE/Jpop. One of the oldest idol group (well, they're not idol group anymore but dubbed as the Top Group), SMAP, has been around for 19 effing years and nobody has been complaining about it. Seriously, they've started in 1991 and are still together right now, even if each members went to solo activities and whatnot, even if Kimura Takuya already has a kid and all that. Well, if that's not amazing, I don't know what it is! Aside from SMAP, there's also KinKi Kids, TOKIO, V6, ARASHI & Tackey & Tsubasa to boot! Yeayeah, Happy JE family. ♥ One of the reason why you'll really never get lonely in the JE fandom, and there's not a lot of dramas going on too. :))) You heart will be at peace, and will only be hurt a little when some circumstances are inevitable. :D (I'm still not over Jin's departure for KAT-TUN. I don't think I'll be over that anytime soon. ;_;)

Anyway, I truly wish that Super Junior will be as strong as SMAP too. I think Yesung has commented about wanting to be like SMAP before.I truly wish it too boys, from the bottom of my heart. :D ♥

• Hyung/Maknae?

-- Nope. JE/Jpop/Japanese culture doesn't really focus on these areas much. Lol. They do these the eldest for being an ossan (ahjusshi in korean :D), but there's no really special hyung/dongsaeng relationship going on, as far I can observed with my three/four years in that fandom. They could all get along together as friends without any special treatment whatsoever, except if you're a senpai (sunbae in Kpop ;D). They treat their senpai's with outmost respect, even if the said senpai is younger than them. There's a border between calling you by your surname or first name though. If you're not that close, you can't just call them by their name, you call them by their surname and add -san as a suffix on it. If you're really really close, then that's the time you can call them by their first name (if they allow you to~ otherwise, you can still use firstname-san). Oh yeah, there's also an alternative cutesy way for calling someone if you're close. Add -chan on it (-chan is usually a suffix for little boys)~ Hee. As in the case of Ryo from Kanjani8/NEWS, almost everybody calls him Ryo-chan even if he's what, 24? They're also fond of calling each other by nicknames too like Kamenashi from KAT-TUN. Most of the people calls him Kame or Kame-chan~:)) Aside from this, no special treatment is given to the youngest either. Lol, the youngest can be as snarky and rude as he wants and nobody would hit him for it, :))

-- Well, I guess I'll end this here. I had fun writing this all down! I know that I've killed a lot of dashboards today but I just want to share this without hiding it under a cut. :)) I'm sure a lot of people would unfollow me for this but yeah, I hope not everybody. This is just once in a while afterall.♥ If there are any comments or questions, I'll be reading them for sure! :> Oh well, I'm gonna watch my Japanese babies now. :D
PS: I can't believe I spent 2 hours writing this!! *amazed*