Showing posts with label LoGiRL. Show all posts
Showing posts with label LoGiRL. Show all posts
Saturday, January 30, 2016
Tuesday, November 3, 2015
Irresponsible Speculation
Well, it's raining and I've had about a pot and a half of coffee. I'm all cooped up and bouncing off the walls, so what say we engage in a bit of prognostication? After all, I totally nailed Logica 1.2...
*Babymetal will release a new album in March 2016. It will have been two years since the release of their debut, so they've had plenty of time to come up with new material. And world awareness of them has grown enough that an exciting new release is sure to gain them lots of attention, just in time for the big Wembley show.
*The name of the next Babymetal album will be Kawaii Metal. Or something like that.
*2016 Nendo president will be Kurashima Sara. She will also read the farewell address for 2015 graduation. Over/under on Sara shedding tears is 90.5 seconds. I say over.
*Rinon will cry during her graduation speech.
*I will cry more than Rinon & Sara combined.
*Rinon will win the 2015 nendo test because she is a genius and has been gaming the system this whole time.
*The next surprise appearance on LoGiRL will be Horiuchi Marina and I will scream so loud I wake up my wife.
Please let me know how wrong you think I am in the comments!
*Babymetal will release a new album in March 2016. It will have been two years since the release of their debut, so they've had plenty of time to come up with new material. And world awareness of them has grown enough that an exciting new release is sure to gain them lots of attention, just in time for the big Wembley show.
*The name of the next Babymetal album will be Kawaii Metal. Or something like that.
*2016 Nendo president will be Kurashima Sara. She will also read the farewell address for 2015 graduation. Over/under on Sara shedding tears is 90.5 seconds. I say over.
*Rinon will cry during her graduation speech.
*I will cry more than Rinon & Sara combined.
*Rinon will win the 2015 nendo test because she is a genius and has been gaming the system this whole time.
*The next surprise appearance on LoGiRL will be Horiuchi Marina and I will scream so loud I wake up my wife.
Please let me know how wrong you think I am in the comments!
Thursday, October 15, 2015
Tuesday, October 13, 2015
Tuesday, September 29, 2015
To Be A True Fukei...
Okay, I'm not about to try to come up a one thing that makes someone a "true" fukei, or even try to concoct some certain magic combination of things that will imbue you with Super Fukei powers. The fanbase of Babymetal/Sakura Gakuin is far too diverse, with people coming from all kinds of different means and backgrounds and corners of the world. We all do what we can. And of course some of us are just starting out and simply haven't had the opportunity to devote the time to do many of the things on an exhaustive list.
Okay, wait...I lied; there is probably one thing that everyone must conform to in order to be considered a true fukei, and that is to support our girls. That's why we are all here, after all.
That said, I've come up with a list of items that either I have done or know other people who have done them. If you have done at least some of them, you know the struggle and you can certainly be counted as a true fukei. Here goes:
1. You have devoted hours to learning all of the girl's names and can recognize them by face, or in some cases, just an ear or an arm
2. You've been confronted by worried family or friends about your interests
3. You've taken a job (or an extra job) to support your merch habit
4. You've sent merch or fan art to a friend you met through Babymetal/SG, but have never met IRL
5. You've met an online friend IRL specifically because of Babymetal/SG (concerts, conventions, etc.)
6. You still call Ooga Saki "Baby-chan"
7. You've started to learn Japanese
8. You've started a Facebook page, website, blog, or some other type of fansite
9. You've rearranged your work, school, or sleep schedule to watch LoGiRL
10. You've maxed out a drive or online storage account with Babymetal/SG videos & pictures
11. You've traveled to another country for a concert
12. You openly discuss your crying jags after watching RTGs
13. You've literally had to stay in bed the day after a Sakura Gakuin graduation
14. You've named a pet or child after one of the girls, or at least had a very loud argument about it
15. You know how many of the girls have never participated in Mezase Super Lady, and you can name all of them
16. You've turned off your Babymetal news alerts on Google because they only report stuff that you found out like a week ago
17. You have bootlegs of Chigau and Awadama Fever
18. You can talk to a stranger about the significance of the number 4 in Japan for at least 60 seconds non-stop
19. You've redecorated your room in a Babymetal/SG theme
20. You've had stickers, posters, or shirts custom printed
21. You've ever told someone "Tenso is so easy, I don't know what I was so worried about"
22. You refer to Shirai Saki as "one of us"
23. You can pick yourself or friends out of concert footage
24. You used to desperately want English subs and now you don't even care
25. You're already thinking about whether Sara or Mirena will be the next president (it will be Sara)
26. You read articles about Babymetal online and compose a mental list of glaring factual errors as you go along
27. You experienced the emotional rollercoaster of Honjo Day
28. You have Babymetal money
29. You've contracted carpal tunnel syndrome from non-stop kitsune-ing
30. You held serious discussions where you were seriously concerned about Moa's fitness for performing in a high altitude venue
31. You have ever offered a burnt sacrifice to Kitsune-sama or the Amuse Board of Directors
32. Your life has immeasurably improved since our girls danced into it
I'm sure I left out a ton of things. Let me know if you can think of any others...
Thursday, September 17, 2015
Wednesday, September 16, 2015
We Need To Talk About Yunano
One of the more interesting aspects of idol groups is how they are put together; assembled not with the goal of universal acceptance, but rather they are intentionally set up to be polarizing. This is true not only of the band/group itself, but also among the various members within the act. It is actually as very clever long-game being played by the management, the primary logic behind it goes like this:
If you are universally liked (i.e. 100% of the population loves you), you can probably count on a steady stream of sales, at least until the fans get bored with the group. However if, rather than enjoying a universal but ultimately un-fanatical support, a group can earn the rabid support of around 30% of the population, the enthusiasm of this minority will ensure far more sales.
Like, if everyone loves a band, most people will buy their album, perhaps see them in concert if they come to town, and maybe buy a T-shirt or other keepsake. People like us, though - we are different: we will buy each version of the CD put out, we will buy more than one of each style of shirt or other merch they put out (seriously, what is that Babymetal pyramid puzzle thing, even? I don't know, but I need one. Well, I need two, in case something happens to the first one. And maybe a third to keep in the original packaging...)
Even a group like Sakura Gakuin, where the girls are such good friends and the unity of the group is so often stressed (and is a big selling point for we fukeis), is not immune from this feature that is seemingly woven into the very fabric of the idol world. Despite them being all our precious members, we inevitably discover our oshimen, and sadly also find girls we are not so fond of. They are sometimes referred to as "cancer". Hey, idoling is a tough business.
For myself, for a while anyway, my least favorite SG member was Sugimoto Mariri. It was easy to hate on her (although 'hate' is obviously not being used in the dictionary definition sense of the word - more on that later). She left SG early - the only girl to ever do that. It seemed like she was almost a sort of traitor (the revelation that Nene-don very nearly quit had not come to light yet), and she was there so briefly that we hadn't ever really gotten a chance to know her that well anyway. But that unfamiliarity also had the effect that it was difficult to feel passionately about her one way or the other, support or oppose. And that is how Notsu Yunano backed into the role of most disliked member of Sakura Gakuin.
I am one of those who really did not care for Yunano - I'm not proud of it; I'm just acknowledging it. I first became familiar with her on the 2012 nendo test. She had the lowest score, and then cried. None of the girls cried over the test! Everyone else handled it in good humor and with appropriate dignity. This was my first impression of her, and like they say, it was a lasting one.
For whatever reason, the contempt and vitriol for Yunano seems to be felt in all corners of the fandom. Maybe it is her unconventional looks, maybe people don't understand or appreciate her self-deprecating humor...
And maybe this is because, as she softly lamented in her graduation interview, the amount of live activities in the 2014 nendo were greatly limited due to Yui & Moa's outside commitments. Maybe it was her sharp tongue.
But I sort of feel that the real reason is maybe it's because we never really got to know Yunano. It seemed that the more subtle and demure aspects that make up the strengths of her personality couldn't compete with the outsize likes of Yui, Moa & Hana. Her personality just never really seemed to emerge - it was hard to form an enthusiastic attachment to the Notsu enigma.
And then she went and changed her name! It probably got her more attention and interest than anything she ever did at SG, but many fukei were left feeling confused, aimless, even somewhat betrayed. But it really should not have come as any surprise...she was telling us we had her name wrong all along.
I have since grown to - well, not really 'like' Yunano, but at least appreciate her. Again, I think it's important to stress that none of us really, truly, in the strict definition of the word, 'hate' her. She is just an easy target to pick on, in some ways a victim of the success of her self-deprecating sense of humor. I'm certain that if anyone from outside the fandom started talking all kinds of smack about her, we would step up an defend her. Yunano just fits that role of universal punching bag that is sometimes needed in groups of friends.
All this is yet another reason in the long list of reasons why I desperately hope that the girls never google themselves.
If you are universally liked (i.e. 100% of the population loves you), you can probably count on a steady stream of sales, at least until the fans get bored with the group. However if, rather than enjoying a universal but ultimately un-fanatical support, a group can earn the rabid support of around 30% of the population, the enthusiasm of this minority will ensure far more sales.
Like, if everyone loves a band, most people will buy their album, perhaps see them in concert if they come to town, and maybe buy a T-shirt or other keepsake. People like us, though - we are different: we will buy each version of the CD put out, we will buy more than one of each style of shirt or other merch they put out (seriously, what is that Babymetal pyramid puzzle thing, even? I don't know, but I need one. Well, I need two, in case something happens to the first one. And maybe a third to keep in the original packaging...)
Even a group like Sakura Gakuin, where the girls are such good friends and the unity of the group is so often stressed (and is a big selling point for we fukeis), is not immune from this feature that is seemingly woven into the very fabric of the idol world. Despite them being all our precious members, we inevitably discover our oshimen, and sadly also find girls we are not so fond of. They are sometimes referred to as "cancer". Hey, idoling is a tough business.
For myself, for a while anyway, my least favorite SG member was Sugimoto Mariri. It was easy to hate on her (although 'hate' is obviously not being used in the dictionary definition sense of the word - more on that later). She left SG early - the only girl to ever do that. It seemed like she was almost a sort of traitor (the revelation that Nene-don very nearly quit had not come to light yet), and she was there so briefly that we hadn't ever really gotten a chance to know her that well anyway. But that unfamiliarity also had the effect that it was difficult to feel passionately about her one way or the other, support or oppose. And that is how Notsu Yunano backed into the role of most disliked member of Sakura Gakuin.
I am one of those who really did not care for Yunano - I'm not proud of it; I'm just acknowledging it. I first became familiar with her on the 2012 nendo test. She had the lowest score, and then cried. None of the girls cried over the test! Everyone else handled it in good humor and with appropriate dignity. This was my first impression of her, and like they say, it was a lasting one.
For whatever reason, the contempt and vitriol for Yunano seems to be felt in all corners of the fandom. Maybe it is her unconventional looks, maybe people don't understand or appreciate her self-deprecating humor...
My heart broke a little when I saw this on LoGiRL...
But I sort of feel that the real reason is maybe it's because we never really got to know Yunano. It seemed that the more subtle and demure aspects that make up the strengths of her personality couldn't compete with the outsize likes of Yui, Moa & Hana. Her personality just never really seemed to emerge - it was hard to form an enthusiastic attachment to the Notsu enigma.
And then she went and changed her name! It probably got her more attention and interest than anything she ever did at SG, but many fukei were left feeling confused, aimless, even somewhat betrayed. But it really should not have come as any surprise...she was telling us we had her name wrong all along.
I'm not Yunano! I'm Yunano!!
I have since grown to - well, not really 'like' Yunano, but at least appreciate her. Again, I think it's important to stress that none of us really, truly, in the strict definition of the word, 'hate' her. She is just an easy target to pick on, in some ways a victim of the success of her self-deprecating sense of humor. I'm certain that if anyone from outside the fandom started talking all kinds of smack about her, we would step up an defend her. Yunano just fits that role of universal punching bag that is sometimes needed in groups of friends.
All this is yet another reason in the long list of reasons why I desperately hope that the girls never google themselves.
Saturday, September 12, 2015
Saturday, August 8, 2015
Confession Time
Confession #1:
It was a source of shame for far too long, but now I am so proud: I can FINALLY identify all the new members of Sakura Gakuin. For the longest time I had trouble with Momoko, Maaya and Marin (the last two especially). All that waking up at 5AM to watch LoGiRL has finally paid off!
No longer necessary for reference
Confession #2:
The new SG song: I'm not that geeked up about it. It's not a bad song - I really like the bridge - but overall it's just not that exciting. Granted it isn't the entire song, but I'd guess it's a pretty good condensation of it. The outfit change in the video is a yuuuge plus.
I've never been all that into the "learning" songs, such as Wonderful Journey and especially Animal Rhythm, to be honest. And sometimes it takes a while for the songs to grow on me. I was one of those people who found SG through Babymetal, and I actually watched all the Nendo tests and related SUN episodes and stuff before I really even gave their songs a listen. Having that emotional attachment to the SG girls probably made the music more palatable to me; if I hadn't had that, I might not have dismissed the music as not being my style, WHICH WOULD HAVE BEEN THE GREATEST TRAGEDY OF OUR TIMES!!
P.S. I listened to the song like 8 or 9 times as I was writing this and I already like it more than I did an hour or two ago. So, like...nevermind, I guess.
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