On AKB (Bikkuri Project)
There are a few things that are keeping me from jumping in to the AKB48 fandom and it’s not necessarily the music they’re making. This also seems to be the case for Celestia of Bikkuri Project. In this post Celestia takes a look at the pop idol group and makes a few interesting observations.
Noticing the increase in popularity throughout the community and with some free time on her hands, Celestia hunkers down to get to know the girls, the teams and their music. Using a series of pluses and minuses, she steps through the goods and the not so goods of the group, incorporating a few inevitable comparisons to Hello!Project. On the plus side, Celestia acknowledges some good voices, good dancing and good songs to go along with it. Of course there is some hit or miss in all of those areas, but that’s generally to be expected of just about any group one is looking in to. From a negative standpoint, Celestia has found a few issues that just don’t sit well; from copious amounts of lip syncing, to a bit too much on the sexuality side of things to name a few. In the end, Celestia feels that the negatives were just to much to really be able to give in, but has still managed to add some nice music to her collection in the process.
So, what’s stopping you? Or what is it that finally pushed you over the edge? Head over to Bikkuri Project, give it a read and share your opinion on the matter. It’s always interesting to hear from different perspectives.
Comment by Craig — 2009/07/12 @ 4:23 pm
When I met a YODC reader 1 time everything he told me about AKB fandom IN JAPAN sounded amazing BUT abroad is another matter. Even on the internet H!P exposure has to be at least triple that of AKB. I guess that could all change but an institution is an institution even if it’s a pirate institution =) I’m thinking Torrents etc.
Comment by Miri — 2009/07/12 @ 11:22 pm
I think more than anything else, it was the type of music that AKB48 produced that won my heart. Most of H!P’s music is fairly predictable – it’s good old idol pop. However, AKB48’s songs delve into more sensitive topics and explore a variety of genres that I feel is lacking in H!P. I do admit that there are a freakton of girls, though, so whenever I want to heavily fangirl specific members, I turn instead to H!P, haha.