Minami 2

[koganbot]

Starting this second thread regarding the Minami incident to forestall Livejournal's terrifying collapsed-thread syndrome encroaching on the previous thread ( here).

Comments

[sub_divided]

Dating bans are extremely common for new Kpop groups, and are sometimes lifted after they put in enough time

[askbask]

I don't know that 'no dating' is that pervasive, but it seems generally accepted that most of it goes on away from the public. I can understand not wanting to go public with, but it doesn't seem to have much of an impact when it is brought to the public, like with the guy from Shinee, another top tier band in terms of fanatical fans, and actress Shin Se Kyung. Shindong in Super Junior is engaged I believe, although he does have less of a 'girls swoon over him' image (but I've seen plenty of people who do). A member from SPICA was dating one from the legendary Shinhwa last year, but they broke it off. Compared to the numerous dating stories on actors in the same age group it's lacking. The common thing to do when you want to tease but not go all the way is saying "I've dated since I debuted.. but not now of course" so the fear of being too honest is still there (but then you can get the same from some actress on Letterman when he probes and pokes

[arbitrary_greay]

I think it's interesting that while idol fans on both sides dig dirt up, Kpop fanclubs rally to protect their precious idols, while the Jpop "handsome" wota date the girls and then happily sell the story to the press. (Although one of them was pretty hilariously bad, claiming that he didn't have sex with the member because he had work the next day... :\)

In a sense, Kpop fans are more aware that their idols are breaking the rules, but cover up the knowledge in the fear that a nebulous "everyone else" will destroy their idols' career if it gets out. The Jpop wota seem to suspend disbelief, but are harsher on the punishment for it, even though several former idols have admitted to dating while they were idols. (And it's even more well-known on the male sideAnd like you mention, Kpop plays like it's not as dependent on purity, with idols teasing about dating and first kiss stories, (and change said first kiss stories several times throughout the course of their careers) but are quick to maintain their purity of the moment

[askbask]

And as discussed in the other post we sometiems get hilariously unbelievable explanations from the labels like the IU joke.

[anonymous]

About what a scandal is, it depends, really. Onyanko Club had a scandal because non-adult girls were smoking

[anonymous]

To share something other than a flurry of anecdotal evidence, bad grammar and sleepy arguments, I’m skimming through Mark D. West’s “Secrets, Sex, and Spectacle The Rules of Scandal in Japan and the United States”. His definition of “scandal

[sub_divided]

Here's a Kpop "scandal" for you: http://omonatheydidnt.livejournal.com/10473086.html

1. the comments are just random (crazy) comments from English-speaking fans on Tumblr, not an accurate survey of Korean netizens or anything like that
2. the girls in the photo, or maybe another set of girls in a different photo, were harassed off Instagram
3. this attitude is the reason Kpop idols are not supposed to take photos with fans
3a. or maybe the rule against not taking photos with fans is the reason fans are so crazy-possessive when it comes to photos in the first place
4. lots of harassment by Korean fans of other Korean fans is territorial - making sure the new fans understand the ground rules for being a fan
4a. these ground rules are designed to protect the reputation of idols so they won't lose fans
5. you can see how 4. and 4a. are circular thinking
6. there's no Korean scandal in this case because the Korean fans know very well that these aren't "fans" but extras in a

[koganbot]

there's no Korean scandal in this case because the Korean fans know very well that these aren't "fans" but extras in a music video

What does truth have to do with any of this?

My guess is that even if there'd been real bikini fans, the scandal, such as it was, wouldn't have hurt sales. But my "guesses" here are based on what I hope is the case, not necessarily on what really is the case.

Fundamentally, I still don't get it.

But the commentary is pretty hilarious.

[sub_divided]

"What does truth have to do with any of this?"

Ha, good point.

Maybe it wouldn't have hurt sales with the general audience, but would have with the obsessive idol audience who buy the most merchandise?

Here's another look at Minami:
http://www.splicetoday.com/music/girl-you-re-a-product-now