KAT-TUN 2 Me

I was reading a recent entry in “Fly to High” and it got me thinking about a few things. I think my last “response” post went pretty well, so, a few thoughts on one particular paragraph. The actual post is about NewS’ new single, but the part I want to talk about is the comment on other Johnny’s groups at the end. To quote:

Every Johnny’s group has a gimmick: KAT-TUN markets their sexiness, Kanjani8 uses their Kansai roots to emphasize their funniness, Arashi sells the happy and gay. NEWS has always been the good boys you’d bring home to your mother group, but they’re getting more personality as a group lately. I think they’re somewhat a mix of the other group’s gimmicks - they play and laugh around while still looking hot and sexy, and love each other with their “member ai” - but not to the extent of Arashi - and add in a large dose of cute, having the members that can actually pull off making faces and peace-signing without looking too forced. Some could see this as being bland, I see it as having the most natural and multifaceted image - because really, who can be just sexy or fun or gay all the time?

          I kind of object to claims that KAT-TUN is just sexy or Arashi is happy and gay all  the time, and hence these groups are single-faceted. If you watch either of those groups enough, it becomes abundantly clear that that’s not the case. Junno is really dorky, and he makes no attempt to hide that. Maru is always being made fun of for his looks and general lack of sexiness. Koki does really bad impressions (not sexy) and Ueda is really shy. Kame is certainly sexy, but he works at it, and his insecurity shines through a lot of the time when he’s not performing. Jin is blessed with God-given sexiness and more self-confidence than any person has a right to have, but he’s only one out of the six of them. As for Arashi, they’re not always “gay and happy” either. Matsujun can be prissy and spiteful. Sho’s natural personality is more serious than when he’s with Arashi, they just bring out his dorky side. Nino is often critical, sharp-tongued, and withdrawn. Ohno… isn’t even that bouncy and happy when they’re performing. You just don’t notice because he’s dancing and singing so damn well and the rest of them have enough enthusiasm to make up for it. Aiba, well, I have yet to see or hear anything to make me think he’s not really that ditzy and hyper, so he might be this group’s exception. Still, being such a sensitive person, I’d imagine he gets upset pretty easily.

      My point here isn’t to entirely debunk these group’s images. They certainly weren’t arbitrarily assigned to them. Group images develop out of recognizing prominent and marketable aspects member’s collective personalities and using those. KAT-TUN as a whole does tend to have more attitude and sexiness than some of the other groups, so the company uses that in the kind of music they do and the sort of image they promote. Similarly, Arashi really are very close with each other, and they all have a lot of natural goofiness, so the company promotes that. The things that are pointed out about NewS are exactly what I personally don’t like about them. In my opinion, trying to seem sexy and cute and playful and hot all at the same time translates to a real lack of group identity. It’s not that the groups I like don’t have other sides to their personalities. Individually, they all have different personalities, but they also have a personality as a group. By emphasizing some things over others, they create a cohesive image for themselves, and I think that’s something NewS is sorely lacking. Without some sort of image, they’re just a random bunch of pretty boys, and I find it hard to find a reason to care about them as a group.

      I guess that’s my two cents on the matter. I hope the proprietors of Fly to High don’t take offense.

Best,

~Celestia~

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