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Chaotic Dusk

This blog covers music from America, Japan, and Korea, primarily through detailed track-by-track reviews. Two articles definitely worth your time are end-of-year assessments posted in mid-January: Best Of 2011: Japanese Music and Best Of 2011: Korean Music. The love for Goto Maki and Brown Eyed Girls is especially appreciated in those posts, and it’s a solid look at some highlights from the past year’s Asian pop scene.

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AKB48: The next big import from Japan? – Shoujiki Media

This is a great article looking at AKB48 from a newcomers’ perspective. The highlight for those already in the know, however, is the interview conducted with a couple of the people who run the AKB forum Everyday48, especially the contrasts they draw between early AKB fandom and after it boomed into Japan’s biggest pop group. If anything, it makes plain the truisms of any fandom that gets a taste of mainstream success.

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Breaking News! Your Oshimen had a scandal… – Wandering Wota

Wandering Wota is a new wotablog, filled with strong opinions and lively writing. This above post was recommended in particular, and it does a nice job of framing the wota’s dilemma (or, more bluntly, hypocrisy) that the recent AKB scandals make painfully obvious yet again. Though when I think about it, the dating scandals don’t seem to involve idols messing around with wota… If anything, they get involved with other idols or non-fans. (Somebody prove me wrong on this, lest my fragile dreams be shattered.)

That said, the post before it, titled There’s room for the Tainted Idol, strikes me as a much better defense – even a valorization – of Nacchan. It’s eloquent and passionate and quite self-aware in how it looks at the idol-wota relationship and what should be expected. I’ll definitely be keeping an eye out for more posts, this promises to be a highly entertaining site.

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On Average, I Sleep For 2 Hours [laughs] – Frank Kogan

This was not recommended by the blogger himself – and yes, it’s definitely fine to recommend other people’s posts and blogs besides your own (some of the most interesting stuff comes in that way). The post itself points out what is so wrong with the title statement – this from a member of Kpop girl group T-ara – but I found the comments section helpful in providing a deeper context in which to understand the situation.

There’s also a link to an Al Jazeera video about the Kpop industry – also recommended to IW – but I’ve yet to watch and probably won’t get around to for a while. From the intro, it sounds like a highly critical piece, which is what one expects as the practices of the industry fall under increasing global scrutiny.

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Konno’s Story

Another new wotablog, this one dedicated to Kpop and Jpop in equal measures. (I also love that the blog’s name is dedicated to everyone’s favorite former idol / current newscaster; it reminds me of that soda-bukkake incident from a while back and I still can’t believe that fucking happened.) Again, strong opinions on display, lively writing – the takedown of Miryo’s solo album and PV was striking, but fair-minded as well. The most recent post is on Dream Morning Musume’s single and PV, where the love of the group doesn’t keep blogger KonnoAsami from pointing out its shortcomings in an amusing fashion. Again, another blog I’ll be keeping an eye out for from here on out.

CK and Danielle are both stunningly gifted writers, and these articles are worth reading just to see how carefully their minds pick through the details of this latest scandal kabuki. They’re sharply introspective, honest about their personal motives as fans, and reach conclusions that are both commonsensical and deeply insightful.

Though he doesn’t quite tread this ground in the actual article, the title of CK’s post immediately made me think of the Darwin Awards. Are scandals a way to root out the weak idols from the strong – another audition level, but on a broader level? That is, if an idol lacks both the fortitude to avoid getting a boyfriend AND the inability to avoid prying eyes, are they really that viable as an idol?

As it stands, both CK and Danielle cover basically the same ground, though from very different perspectives – and each in their own distinct writing styles. Both discuss why they’re into idols, with the emphasis on the fantasy that idols create for their audiences. CK considers how there’s a fine line an idol can run when creating that fantasy, singling out Meetan for going close but never crossing over. Danielle wryly observes the irony of seeking refuge from having to please others by seeking out idols, whose whole point is to please others.

Both bloggers consider that scandals are often overblown – CK notes how the supposed offenses are exactly the kind of things many teens do, while Danielle explains why she doesn’t begrudge idols relationships. But again, it comes down to the realpolitik of idols and the expectations fans place on them: contracts are there for a reason, and if you get caught breaking them – and I think the key word for most of us is the “caught” part – then a price has to be paid. We’re back to the Darwin Awards for idols, for being a canny enough player to flaunt the rules.

And it has to be said: if you’re an idol wanting to keep a boyfriend, avoid photographic evidence and don’t use social media. Aya Hirano could tell you a thing or two about leaked photos, and she’s far from the only one. (Though let’s face it, she’ll remain the scandal standard for a while.) Honestly, keep it old school and just keep a written diary and some Polaroids, preferably locked in a safe.

CK and Danielle are sad at the turn of events and how it impacts everyone involved. However, both are also philosophical enough to wonder if this worked out for the best – CK noting that they still have careers ahead of them if they want it, Danielle musing on whether or not they were happy being idols. In a weird way, it’s like the past few days have been running the Kubler-Ross gauntlet and here we wind up, at Acceptance. That makes for a good coda to a scandal that should hopefully quiet down now.

If you haven’t read yesterday’s Rec Reading post, you may want to do so, since those are the first posts about the scandal. However, there’s more reactions today and even some interesting new wrinkles. First off, it looks like Hirajima and Yonezawa will be attending an AKB48 handshake event even though they’ve already resigned. I agree with IXA Ready, that can only spell trouble – but I’m willing to be proven wrong. Also, it seems like Akimoto Yasushi has made some kind of comment that the girls’ careers don’t end with AKB48 and that they still have a future in show business they can look forward to. Quite magnanimous of him, considering he just kicked the two out of the country’s most popular idol group at the very peak of their popularity.

These new wrinkles aside, what it boils down to is the same issue behind any idol scandal having to do with an outed boyfriend: the ban on dating for female idols, which is deemed necessary for the wota fanbase to remain interested. There’s a bit of kabuki every time this happens: the news is reported, some people side with the idol, some people side with the management, the unfairness of the dating ban is excoriated by some, the necessity of the ban is defended by others. On the one hand, it can grow tiresome. On the other hand, it’s good to have these discussions with each scandal because it does expose one of the important contradictions of the idol world.

This time around, Cat of Aitakatta! sums up the absurdity of the situation and asks that the wota holding back the natural urges of young female idols should get a reality check. I can see the unfairness of the dating ban, but I also understand why it’s in place. The fantasy of Japanese idols is a rather specific set of expectations and if these girls weren’t putting on some kind of bizarre virginal charade, would the experience be the same? I’m thinking not – at least not for everyone, and definitely not for the wota that the idol industry caters to. Cat may tell them to grow up and face reality, but to me that’s like telling sports fans not to riot when their team wins a big championship, or fanboys not to rage over the liberties taken from comic book movie adaptations. Weird as it sounds, the irrationality and fucked-upness is a necessary part of the subculture, even if it casts that culture in an ugly light.

Moreover, I also believe that the contract an idol enters is binding and must be observed, so if they do get caught breaking it, they have to pay the price. Or to quote New School Kaidan, “Every dream job has a catch.” It’s just like the so-called “slave contracts” that caused such a stir in Kpop: If you’re willing to make a deal with the devil, don’t be surprised if you suffer some hellfire. The demand on the idol may be unfair and go against human nature (a ban on dating, a protracted length of service), but the idol entered into the agreement willingly in order to reach a certain goal. Nobody twisted their arms to enter the agreement, they could have said no at the beginning and remained nobodies (or found some other avenue to success). The companies are very aware that there are dozens of other equally semi-talented wannabe’s waiting to take that idol’s place and sign their own souls over.

As far as moral conundrums go, the idol dating rule is a minor one at best. And ultimately, there IS a realpolitik solution to this moral conundrum: dating in private and not letting the public find out. As Pure Idol Heart points out, members of Onyanko Club (Aki-P’s previous group), admitted to dating in secret during their time in the group. Of course, that requires the public to respect the private lives of idols and to understand that the fantasy on stage and screen is just that… But if anything, our modern age has been moving in the opposite directions: finding better and better ways to invade privacy, as well as mixing up facts from fictions. I tend to recall that weird character in the classic idol movie Morning Cop who spoke boldly on the proper balance between adoration and distance that an idol requires. But what if an idol group promotes itself on being “idols you can meet” and start to tear away at that line of privacy?

So I guess we’re kinda fucked and back at square one. And once again waiting for another scandal to break so that the ritual will happen all over again.

My daughter Haruna is my pride and joy. She’s five now, going to VPK, and like her Dad enjoys comics and cartoons and other geek stuff. We watch iCarly together, though likely for different reasons, and recently started watching “Honey & Clover” together on Netflix. There are some things we disagree on – I can’t stand it when she sends me Facebook requests for Castleville, for instance. But for the most part, I indulge her interests and do my best to make sure she’s as happy and as well-cared-for as can be.

Haruna’s been exposed to a good deal of the idol world, as one may expect, and she knows she was named after Takewa Haruna of SweetS. (The SweetS poster has been up on my wall since before she was born and she sometimes points at it and asks me to show her who is Haruna again.) Her “house” – which is actually a closet where she put a bunch of her stuff – includes pictures of W on the wall, including a large laminated poster of Kago Ai during that time. (I dread telling her what Kago’s been through since, but that can wait another decade.)

Anyways. Earlier today she wanted to play Stickery on the iPad but I was using it at the time to go over articles for today’s Recommended Reading. I was on Okay! Musume Time and she saw the screencaps from the new Morning Musume PV “Pyoko Pyoko Ultra” and was very interested by the girls who looked like ducks (I kept telling her they were chickens, but she insists they’re ducks because they’re yellow).

I wanted her to see the new Haruna in the group – I figured she’d get a kick out of another Haruna out there in the world of Jpop. She loved the video, commenting throughout and I kept trying to tell her who’s who – and found myself mentioning Riho a lot – as she determined that Gaki is the Daddy of the group and Sayumi is the Mommy. Her favorite part was when the girls laid out cake and cookies for Gaki as she went for a walk – for some reason, that delighted her to no end, perhaps because of the size disparity. So here’s a news flash: children will like this new video. Not exactly a surprise, since it seems pretty much custom-suited to their taste.

Anyways, after we watched the PV I asked if she liked it and she said yeah. Then she turned her attention to the screencaps in Chiima’s article and began reading the captions underneath each of them. I’m proud to say she’s a very precocious reader, well ahead of her classmates.

So my baby was reading her first-ever wota blog post, when I immediately realized there were a lot of… um… naughty words in the piece. A lot of them. Chiima is something of a pottymouth. But oddly enough, my first reaction to this wasn’t panic or anxiety, but relief. Because I was thinking, If she was reading something I had written, she’d not only encounter a lot of naughty words but also a whole lot of perverted ideas that I may end up having to explain. (“S&M dungeon? That’s just a nice room, honey.” “Cleveland Steamer? It’s a way to cook vegetables.”) The worse we get here is a basic buttfuck reference and even then Chiima uses “bum” so I could just say it’s about homeless people.

As always when she reads, Haruna passes over or guesses the words she doesn’t understand. I helped her through the acceptable words and let her mis-pronounce and quickly get past the bad words. “Fucking” became “fooking” and “bloody” was “boody” and “damned” became “dalam”; she didn’t even try “effing” whenever it came up. So I ducked a bullet, she still doesn’t know these are curse words. (Or maybe she does know and is just humoring me to give me plausible deniability.)

I guess I could’ve just stopped her from reading altogether, but that didn’t even occur to me. She’s a growing, curious girl and this captured her curiosity. A few words she doesn’t know and shouldn’t know isn’t any reason to stop that, as far as I’m concerned. (And yes, I’m a pretty lenient parent. She’s probably watched a lot more South Park than other kids her age. And of course, she’d been instructed since a baby to make friends that look like Shihono Ryo, using videos to inculcate this important directive.)

She very much enjoyed looking at the pictures and reading along, and commenting on the different things she saw. The new Haruna didn’t interest her as much as I thought it would, though she seemed to take a mild liking to a close-up of Zukki. The two captions that made her laugh: “Baby Predator, WHY DO YOU LOOK LIKE RIHO?” and “Aika, like a BOSS!”. That first one, she needed help with the word “predator” but afterwards laughed really loud. I’m not sure why. The second one she simply read out loud in an astounded voice, turning it into a question.

When she got to the last screencap, we played the video again. She fast forwarded to the cake and cookie walk and laughed out loud again at that. She assured me she liked the video, then she closed the browser and went on to play Stickery, as originally planned.

And so, Haruna has now had a taste of the wotasphere and what it has to offer. For some reason, I kept thinking of what Ben said to Luke as they arrived at Mos Eisley: “You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy.” (Oh, and your Dad’s been a big part of it since the beginning. So I guess that makes me Jabba the Hutt.) If she had to read anybody’s screencap review, though, I’m delighted it was Chiima – the writing is brisk and energetic and funny, and that’s good for drawing her in. I also wouldn’t've minded if it was AimxAim or Thennary Nak or Jess, so maybe I’ll start getting her to read screencap reviews more and see if she takes a hankering for it. (idol love I’d have to think twice about, if only because we’d likely get in the same situation as reading my stuff, i.e. explaining certain things mentioned that she should wait till college to find out about.)

if Intl Wota is still around in another ten years or so, I’d likely be handing control of it over to Haruna anyways. (Of course she’ll be a full-fledged wota by then. How could she NOT be?) So she might as well start learning the family business now, right? That way, this will ALL seem normal by the time she takes the reins. Yup. All normal. Nothing weird or twisted in the wotasphere. Yup. Normal.

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Originally I was going to leave this article off with that, but there’s been several other posts about the new Momusu PV and they’re all worth a special read. Idols and Hollywood has some brief reactions, as does Kath from The Biogpower!!!, who considers this the start of a new, seventh era for the group. (I love how the eras are broken down, it makes a lot of sense.)

What intrigues me though, are two responses to negative comments being directed at the song and its video by people who are saying it’s too childish and represents a step back for Morning Musume. Chiima has posted a second article in that regard, and Not Another K-Blog!!! has a well thought-out, comprehensive rejoinder to those who see this new direction as a bad thing for the group.

Watching my daughter’s reaction to the video, I have to wonder: maybe she’s the new audience? Maybe they’re going this route – much younger members, much younger sound, questionable chicken outfits – precisely to shed some old baggage and attract a new kind of fan base? I’m sure I’m not stating anything new here, but if Morning Musume is going to hang in there for another ten years or more, do they really want to rely on forty-year-old wota like me sticking around as fifty-year-old wota? Or would they want the Oha Star crowd to get all excited, to see something that better appeals to them?

Both kjpop and Chiima mention that change is sometimes difficult to accept, and the sudden flurry of changes in Morning Musume after a long, long, loooooooongg period of (boring, stultifying) stability is probably especially jarring. For fans who came into H!P in recent years, it probably seems like a slap in the face instead of Standard Operating Procedure. But change can also be exciting and reinvigorating. I have to admit, Morning Musume lost me during the start of what Kath calls the fifth era and I was completely checked out for most all of the sixth era. I’m coming back now, though, and it looks like I’m bringing my daughter with me this time. If anything, the changes from the past year-plus make me think of the Golden Era (i.e., Era Two) when there was a line-up change after each and every single (except “I WISH” / “Renai Revolution 21″ – stable for two whole singles!).

Personally, I think Gaki should’ve left with Takitty, and Winky and Sharky should be shown the door too. That way, it can be Sayumi as Mother Hen with all her brand new little chickies being groomed in her likeness. That’s just my own sick, twisted preference, but one thing’s for sure: this isn’t your Dad’s Morning Musume – as a Dad, I can feel that. And it may not even be YOUR Morning Musume anymore, at least not as much as it used to be. Whether or not you want to stick around is a personal decision, but I can’t wait to see where they’re going from here. And I’m sure I’m not the only one. Just ask my pride and joy.

Raelyan’s blog refers to her baby, I’m assuming; however, there’s no recent posts about her pride and joy, this is firmly an idols and anime blog. The idol focus is on Hello! Project but others enter the mix such as Baby Metal (fuck yeah!) and Momoiro Clover; the opinions are strong, well-informed, and unapologetic, which is just how I like it. I also appreciate that discographies and related information are included in many write-ups, providing a useful resource for those who want to seek out more. (There’s also a quick post about Tsuji which may be a tad unfair, but made me laugh out loud. You’ll know it when you see it.) So give this blog a try – it’s currently in the middle of a 30-Day Idol Challenge so you can see if Raelyan’s tastes match your own.

You Get so Peadoliscious – Sexy Zone’s Debut: First Impressions – Okay! Musume Time
Five reasons to love this post: 1) I didn’t know there was a UK variation on the word “pedolicious”; 2) watching bloggers deal with pedolicious idols is always funny; 3) Horny Musume; 4) Morning Wood Musume; 5) Chiima’s become quite the capable JE blogger in such a short time! Kudos to her!

Can you help my mom buy food this Christmas? – fly in the f*ing wine

Mara’s been a solid blogger in the wotasphere and here writes a very special, very personal post about her mother, a hard-working journalist who’s having a difficult time making ends meet. Intl Wota has looked out for its own in the past, and this is no different: if you can spare a little something, Mara makes clear she would be very appreciative. I’ll be making at least a couple of contributions as the holidays approach.

The teasers promised a fierce new image for the popular Kpop quintet, but did they also deliver a matching sound? Seoulbeats goes into how the two sets of teaser videos send very mixed signals and is curious about whether the girls will continue with the retro sound that has defined past singles or something more contemporary, as had been promised in press releases. allkpop reports that the girls are making use of their time in America, with the influence of club music making its way onto the album and Ye Eun writing the opening song.

What’s delivered with “Be My Baby” – a title which itself harkens back to Motown and The Ronettes – tends to stick musically to what the Wonder Girls have been doing all along, a whole lot of retro with some modern touches. The MV is unbelievably hot – especially Sohee – and makes very clever use of black-and-white with color effects. I could watch it for hours and never grow tired of it. The song itself is quite good on its own terms – if this is what we’d been promised, I could enjoy it a whole lot more. But I also would’ve loved to have a fiercer, more dynamic sound from the Wonder Girls, and “Be My Baby” ain’t it. So unfortunately, it DOES feel like a bit of a bait-and-switch, and Seoulbeats was dead-on in expressing serious misgivings.

The wotasphere is reacting in a mixed manner, though I think unfulfilled promises is strictly in the eyes of the beholder. The word “cute” is used often by both those who speak glowingly of the album and those with misgivings. At Not Another K-Blog!!!, kjpop notes the shift in the MV from comedic narratives to something edgier, and notices a Jpop flavor to the single. kjpop then goes on to do a track-by-track review of the full album, admiring how it follows the JYPE tradition of strong album tracks to complement the singles. Strawberrie is one of those disappointed by the promise of something different, but nevertheless finds the song cute. Neaux Clicked On It opines that the rap solo towards the end is where the song hits its stride. Ipodman finds the MV trying too hard to be edgy and dangerous, and the song lacking in “magnetic value”.

I’m hoping the song grows on me – the MV could sell to the American tween market without a problem. And I must admit, I can almost understand Wonder Girls’ handlers promising something different but not delivering. “More of the same” isn’t usually enough to get a music listening audience excited, even if that’s exactly what some of them want. However, WG are at a critical juncture in America, with their first album and Nick show in January; changing their act too much could be disastrous right before these events. And hey, aren’t those tween acts big on promising to be edgy and delivering watered-down crap? Maybe the Wonder Girls are picking up some wrong lessons from America, as well as the right ones. For now, it looks like Wonder Girls have something solid on their hands, but it isn’t the great leap forward some of us hoped for.

Kath at The Blogpower!!! has a great short piece about returning one of the things that Hello! Project was well known for: having a shitload of minor units that mixed and matched members from the major units in new and exciting ways. It still happens sometimes, of course, especially if there’s an anime needing a new theme song, but Kath apparently means a focus on the more substantial sub-units along the lines of Tanpopo and MiniMoni, along with the more random groups like Gomattou (whose “Shall We Love” is still one of my favorites).

This strikes me as one of those cases of an absolute genius idea staring at you in the face, it’s both obvious and overlooked. And if anything, the whole Mobekimasu thing is a decent attempt at branding Hello! Project’s current line-up with all its suddenly pedolicious freshness, so breaking off into new sub-units should be an easy slide from there. I’d long been enamored with just how recombinant Hello! Project could be – back in my Cult of Pop days, I created a generator dedicated to making new units.

Speaking of recombining, Goto Maki has now stated publicly that she would like to be invited to join Dream Morning Musume. She’s not asking, nor is she saying they’re asking, she’s like letting it out there. And while some of you nostalgia-act haters are probably just rolling your eyes, I am getting quite giddy. It’s like Voltron missing its left leg for a long time and finally getting it added back on! And Gocchin’s not only made this desire known, she’s also revealed that she’d been talking with Nakazawa Yuko – i.e., getting in good with the leader of the gang (i.e., Voltron’s head). At this point, I’d be a little surprised if some kind of rapprochment ISN’T announced in the next few weeks. There’s just too much chatter to let this pass.

So… what do you all think? Should Gocchin come back to the hold, if only temporarily? And what would you like to see in a recombined H!P unit? I have to admit I’m at a loss, because most any new sub-unit I’d want would involve at least Riho and Yuuka and… well, that ain’t gonna happen, is it? But there are other possibilities out there, I’m sure – and what the hey, I still think it’d be a good idea to move Momoko out of Buono! and make her head a new MiniMoni. There IS potential there, it’s just a matter of figuring out the right idols fitting the right ways with the right sound. And I think that potential is what makes it such an exciting idea.

Subi of Seoulbeats has a fascinating essay that explains the metaphorical significance of the latest MV from the Brown Eyed Girls, looking at issues of masks and womanhood in an intriguing fashion. I love this reading of the video, it helps to unlock the story and find the deeper meaning that BEG were reaching for. I encourage you to just read it, it’s cogent, comprehensive, and takes into account the different levels of story – as an allegory of struggling womanhood as well as a narrative of sisters in conflict – in a satisfying manner.

I’m new to Brown Eyed Girls, having just fallen hard for them with “Sixth Sense”. This song and video are worthy follow-ups, though definitely quite different in the emotions it provoked. I found myself feeling a great deal of sympathy for the pain all three of the characters in the MV suffered – the husband beating on the bathroom door showed his own sense of impotence in the face of a situation he can’t help but be immersed in. It also helps to explain the shots of BEG with heavy make-up, adding thematic depth instead of baffling silliness.

And it also makes me better appreciate the risks Brown Eyed Girls take with their work, most likely due to their relative maturity compared to other idol acts. Certainly, it’s difficult to imagine this perspective on womanhood – never mind a narrative this sophisticated – coming from the likes of SNSD or S/mileage. (After School comes close with “Shampoo”, but they’ve got Jungah and Kahi.) With the hallyu and wider idol markets expanding with more and more groups, it takes a good deal to stand out from the crowd beyond cheap gimmicks. Brown Eyed Girls manage to not only stand out, but carve a distinct identity that few other groups come close to.

I love this post from Natalie mostly because I agree with four of the five things she doesn’t care about. Some people would take great issue with each of the things she dismisses, but in four of the five cases I think it’s a case of being pragmatic – either embracing the realities of the idol world or embracing the realities of being an overseas wota.

The first, and perhaps the most controversial, is that she doesn’t care about solo lines – and from there, I’d assume line distributions in general. I’m the same way and for just about the same reason – visuals mean a whole lot more to me than singing, by a very wide margin. The issue of fairness is roundly dismissed, and it’s for that favorite reason many self-aware wotabloggers are forced to trot out time and again: the idol industry just doesn’t care about fairness, especially if it gets in the way of profit. This often becomes a mantra when the latest “injustice” is bawled over, whether it’s someone’s favorite idol not getting any solo lines in a single or some sudden membership twist that leaves everyone wide-eyed and confused.

The second thing Natalie doesn’t care about is fan club stuff, and I think that just comes from not being able to participate in these things. Fair enough. The fourth thing is the metrics of Mixi, handshake events, and merchandise. She digs through the Mixi thing in enough detail to convince me, though in my case I must REALLY not care about it because I never ever consider it one way or another, not even enough to refute it.

The fifth thing she doesn’t care about is random management shenanigans to push a certain idol, and again we’re simpatico. I mean, management does what it wants to whenever it wants to, and to believe fairness ever enters the equation over profit is just ridiculous.

Now, the one point where I disagree with Natalie is number three, Dream Morning Musume. She writes, “we all know DMM exsist to do the nostalgia circuit and alot of the time they overshadow the normal Morning Musume”. For some reason, she sees both of these things as a negative – I see them as two stunning positives. After all, DMM is the line-up that won over the whole nation and performed the singles that remain most popular today.

As far as I’m concerned – and as far as the general Japanese public is concerned – Yuko and Nacchi and company ARE Morning Musume, and if they overshadow the current line-up then the current line-up should be responsible for a single as popular as “Love Machine” or “The Peace!”. And I know them’s are fighting words, but I’m just being pragmatic about what the brand of Morning Musume means to the general public and about giving those people what they want. Matter of fact, I’m surprised they haven’t put together a Monsters Of Idol Music tour with Pink Lady and Wink and Speed yet.

Of course, that’s all just my own opinions, but I think it came from the same spirit of pragmatism that seems to drive the rest of this post.

So… what do you all think? And what aspects of the idol world do you not care about?

Sometimes opposites attract, and sometimes opposites have a way of uniting into something wonderful on its own terms. In the idol world there are many oppositions or things we consider on different sides of some imaginary line, but these three recent blog posts show that crossing sides can be very rewarding.

To start things off, Henkka of Beat Laments The World profiles the greatest new idol group since Stellar, Baby Metal. Or is it BABYMETAL? Anyway, he provides a good deal of information on the trio and praises their bona fides: “I have to say that that is by far the most authentic metal I’ve ever heard in idol music. It’s not just “kinda” metal — it’s there.” Strong words for a man as deeply rooted in metal as Henkka is, and Baby Metal does indeed deliver the goods. That said, the oddest dissonance in this pairing of idol and metal come in a live performance that Henkka links to – little girls doing a metal song is nowhere near as unnerving as an audience of much older wota cheering them on. I mean, it looks like half these guys are older than Lemmy.

Next up, Isilie of Itsumo Genki confesses her love for AKB48 through the TV series Majisuka Gakuen and how two particular AKB idols – Sae Miyazawa and Oshima Yuko – make her think of two of her favorite members of Morning Musume. I’ll leave you to read the article to find out who she pairs with who, but she not only explains why they remind her of these Momusu ladies but also reveals a good deal about herself as well. That personal element helps to elevate this piece, to make it a wonderful example of how idols are as much about the reflection they place on a wota as anything else.

Maddie of Seoulbeats has a very informative article about how KARA used a strong Jpop influence to make a name for themselves in both the Korean and Japanese markets, pointing out particular stylistic debts to the Avex Trax divas Amuro Namie and Hamasaki Ayumi. It’s a wonderfully written piece with a sharp eye for details, proving that KARA’s success on both shores is not some accident but a very deliberate plan.

The funny thing about these three odd couplings is that at least two of them have long histories of antagonism – AKB48 versus Hello! Project, Jpop versus Kpop. I don’t know if wota and metalheads ever came to blows, though I’m sure there’s a dirty joke buried under that notion. Main point being, these oppositions are in many ways false – a case of people choosing sides when none need to be taken.

So what further combinations are any of you seeking out? I want the first Sunn 0))) influenced idol girl group, complete with robes and brown noise musical stylings. Or the first real combination of gangsta rap and idols, maybe using G.P. Basic to do a medley of Wu-Tang Clan songs.