I was blog browsing earlier today (after I finished my multivariable calculus studying, of course..) and stumbled upon this entry from Merry Go Round whose thesis is clearly stated in one bold sentence:
“Idols are too generic.”
I agree with the fact that idols groups are becoming very similar in their operations (“graduations” and “subgroups”, etc.) It’s not unlike the sudden boom of online cover singing groups, all of which feature the same structure, from the way they set up forums to their subgroup names (honestly guys, do we really need groups like “HoNey@K-UTE” and “Su*ba^ra*shii” and “Insert~Strange%Symbol$here! Project”?) But I won’t touch on that sensitive topic yet; I have a hidden grudge about it of which I’ll speak later.
Oh noes attack of the generic AKB48 clonesssssss!
Instead, I read through Amy’s entry and from the sound of it, she implies that the “generic” style of J-pop idols has been a fairly recent downward trend (“recent” meaning “probably between 2006-present”) by using timely words like “nowadays” and “just getting” and “ever since Perfume got popular.” She’s not the only one, however. More and more fans have been slowly noticing and pointing out the convergence of J-pop styles. I myself have noticed these reactions more ever since AKB48 became popular (bitter souls felt the need to point out Hello! Project’s superiority.) Not that I’m implying AKB48 is better than H!P (it really depends on what aspect of which you’re speaking), but it’s ridiculous – another idol group pops up and all of a sudden the J-pop community’s eyes are opened to the trends in idol groups. And you know what? The idea that H!P and AKB48 and Perfume are all copies of each other?
That’s been done ever since the 1970′s, when J-pop began.
Hey look it’s Jajauma Parad– oh wait. It’s just the same idea done in the 1970′s =P
Welcome, one and all, to vivace SPARK ★ (yes. with the star and everything!) The name is Miri, and I’ve been a pretty big player in the world of Hello! Project fandom for the past few years (especially as the founder and director of Sekai no Melody). However, although I have hovered around the H!P blogosphere for a while, it never occurred to me that maybe I should jump in and try my hand at doing some entertainment-related blogging. Of course I have my collection of reviews and fangirl posts on my personal blog, but with vivace SPARK ★ I hope to create a blog that can offer up not only news about our favourite East Asian artists, but also interesting digressions and discussions, such as the concept of idolnomics.
I suppose the best way to begin my blog is to introduce my interests in the East Asian entertainment industry, so here goes nothing:
I am one of the biggest Kusumi Koharu fangirls you will ever see. She has yet to release a song I do not like, and she is one of my role models. The high-pitched squeal of “Koharuuuuuu!” during the entire Morning Musume concert at AnimeExpo? Yeah, that was definitely me.
I mostly listen to girl groups, although there are a handful of tokenboybands that I appreciate.
What’s this? For once Vivi decides to review something timely? Namely, she’s reviewing a preview of the PV for the upcoming C-ute single? Well, that’s a first – usually she’s about 5 years behind in reviewing music-related videos.
For those who don’t know, the upcoming C-ute single is titled Edo no Temari Uta II (there is no Temari Uta I, for those who are wondering), which means roughly “The Edo Hand-Ball Song II”. I’m not quite sure what that is in reference to, and the lyrics contain a lot of unfamiliar vocabulary so I can’t really discern what kind of crazy stuff they’re singing about this time (but after songs about Genghis Khan and monkies and pancakes, I think I’m ready for anything that H!P decides to toss at me next). So without further ado, here is the PV itself:
I hadn’t heard the radio rip yet, so my first impression was, “What?! From the single cover, I would never have guessed this was a tradition-styled song.” This is the first distinctly traditional-Japan style that I recall C-ute singing (they usually stuck to upbeat cute or fierce “I’m not a child anymore” songs), and to tell the truth I’m rather impressed by how they pulled it off with just the right amount of C-ute flair to make it unique =)
I was browsing the web for some more information on some of Korea’s famous girl groups, and managed to come upon an old uproar of sorts regarding one of SeeYa’s live performances in which a backdancer had a seizure (epilepsy) on stage:
Looking back at the comments and at people’s reactions to the ordeal on forums, blogs, and newsgroups alike, I’ve found that most people reacted as thus:
OMG why didn’t SeeYa help the girl, I want to slap them, they’re such bitches for not caring about someone who could have died on stage, they’re so heartless
It really disappoints me that people nowadays are so quick to condemn. In fact, not only in this case but in many other uproars (such as the Ai-Reina-Koharu iron triangle in Resonant Blue)**, the general public rushes to conclusions without taking into consideration the nature of show business and what would be deemed “appropriate action” should anything really happen. I haven’t really had much exposure to the industry myself, but just from my participation in theatrical and dance productions, I have the levelheaded-ness to at least stop and think about -why- SeeYa didn’t help the girl themselves.
Putting aside the blaring fact SeeYa probably didn’t even -notice- the backdancer having a seizure, we focus on the adage “the show must go on.” Harsh as this sounds, it’s absolutely true. For example, in ballet productions in the 1980′s (and even today), if a performer falls or injures herself on stage, she is expected to gracefully and painstakingly take her leave and at least make it back to the wings before everyone rushes to her rescue. In theatre, if someone injured themselves on the stage during an important contest or competition (thought it has never happened in my presence), most likely the remaining actors would be expected to improv a few lines to explain why the injured actor needed to depart, and either stage crew or chorus/extras would assist the injured one off the stage.
Contrary to what people seem to have believed, SeeYa had absolutely NO obligation to help the girl at all. Does that mean they were “heartless”? No. Sometimes you need to leave the helping to people who are assigned that job. For example, in theatre, at times you do more harm than good by trying to “help” others – perhaps you had good intentions in trying to pick up that fallen prop, but in doing so someone’s scene may be ruined because the prop was -supposed- to be on the floor. Likewise, a general rule of thumb in the performing arts is to just do what you’re assigned. No one touches anyone else’s things, no one meddles in affairs that don’t matter to them. Yes, I realize the backdancer could have died on stage. The ones that -should- have instantly come to her aid were stage crew and tech members; if anyone should be blamed for not doing their job, it should be them, seeing as how the poor girl was left on the floor for 20 entire seconds writhing in pain before someone realized, “Oh shit, she’s actually injured and needs our assistance.”
I just wish people would put that in perspective before they start accusing the lead singers of being “heartless bitches”. This is show business, guys. It’s a rough world, but this was the path of action that is professionally appropriate for the singers and dancers. Crew, not so much, but I’m not a techie so I have no say in that area.
** Ai-Reina-Koharu ordeal: (thanks to Josephine for the correction; I’m a MoMusu fangirl and I -still- made an embarassing mistake, haha. My bad~) many fans were complaining that Takahashi Ai, Tanaka Reina, and Kusumi Koharu were “forcing” the other MoMusu girls into the shadows in the recording and PV of Resonant Blue. Does anyone realize that um.. this IS the music industry, and “fair” isn’t a legit excuse for anything? If the music industry was “fair” then good bands wouldn’t be dropped from labels, Britney Spears would share her limelight with lesser stars, Simon wouldn’t chew everyone out during Idol, S.H.E and Twins wouldn’t have a friendly rivalry, and Megumi and Momoko wouldn’t have dominated Berryz and C-ute songs. “It’s not fair that these three got center positions”..? I don’t know, maybe Tsunku thought that their voices fit the song best? Maybe they sounded better in their singing? Maybe – heaven forbid – they actually OUTPERFORMED the other members for this specific single? Last time I checked, if you could sing/dance the song well, you got a bigger part. Last time I checked, it was more talent = more time in the spotlight. Excuse me for not thinking with a socialist philosophy here.
