Berryz to attend AnimeNEXT

Seriously? I can't believe it. Mere hours after I wrote "I'm still holding out for Berryz to get invited to Japan Expo" in my previous entry about Buono's concert in Paris this February, news broke that they have been invited to a tiny convention on the US' east coast by the name of AnimeNEXT.

My dreams for this year are shattered.

But maybe I can still put them back together.

While I wasn't too keen on the idea initially (and didn't even consider going to their Sakuracon performance for the same reason), I may find a way to attend. America has generally been in the realm of the darkest, most cob-webbed corners - and filed with a do not want sticker - of the "countries to visit" list that I'm sure everyone compiles at some point whether physically or mentally.

And yet, this time something appeals to me.

When I went to Japan Expo for Morning Musume, I had the time of my life, that is true. And much of what made it so was the people I was with. Team Awesome, as Lolli named us. But I still knew that I was a Berryz fan in a sea of Momusu freaks. I still feel guilty that JunJun thought I was wearing one of her concert shirts when it was a Maasa one. So what would happen if it had been a Berryz event?

I seemed to get recognised a great deal when I was at PJX. "You're Dran, right? I read your blog!" and so on. I also feel guilty that many of the people who said this to me, I didn't recognise either. Some of them I did know after they told me their name. But they put me at a disadvantage by recognising me by my awesome good looks. Well... you know.

Would I be more recognised in a crowd of Berryz fans? Would I recognise more people? Who knows. It's an experiment that sounds fun to try though.

And then there's the crowning moment. That which I would see Sudou Maasa for the first time in person. No thought has ever been so compelling to me. For 3 years now I've been referred to as Pope Dran of the Church of Maasa (a title I'm not all that fond of. Sounds too.... pope-y.) And yet, I've never so much as laid eyes on her. Does that make me qualified to be Church leader?

Oh well. The US is still very far indeed. A lot of money, which could be better spent saving for Japan. I have no idea yet if I can afford to go there, at any rate. But we'll see. If I can, it'll be just as tight-cut as it would be to go see Buono. More expensive, perhaps. But also further away. A bit like the sun and moon. The sun is 400 times larger than the moon, but also 400 times further away. So from our perspective, they appear to be the same size in the sky.

The convention will run in Somerset, New Jersey from the 8th of June to the 10th, I believe.

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Buono! Concert in Europe... again!

It has been 2 years now since Buono! announced their ill-fated trip to Stockholm to perform at the Japan Expo. Now, in early 2012, they're planning to make a second attempt at performing in Europe.

Back then I was pretty excited. It was to be the first time that any Hello! Project group was to perform outside of Asia. That was big news. Morning Musume were set to appear a few months later at Anime Expo, but the first would be Buono! And in Europe! I was determined to go.

Despite my parents insisting that I couldn't actually afford to go, I managed to convince them otherwise, and everything was booked. Flights, accomodation, Expo tickets. As time drew nearer, and our excitement grew exponentially with it, we were utterly distraught by the cancellation.

It didn't turn out too bad though. A group os us who had already paid for everything went anyway, and had a good time which became the first (and, unfortunately, only) Eurowota event. But even now that dejection in the wake of the cancellation announcement still haunts me.

And now that we have a second shot?

I... don't care.

It's not that I don't want to go. I do. But that sense of urgency that was there with the Stockholm visit just isn't there. I don't really feel like it's in any way imperative that I'm actually there.

So I'm not sure if I actually intend to go. With some pretty awesome book-keeping, I'm certain that I could pull it off. But I'm still holding out for Berryz to get invited to Japan Expo. It's a small hope, perhaps. But I know that if they do announce it after I've commited to going to see Buono, I won't have the money to see Berryz. And I'd be kicking myself from here to Calais if that happened.

Who knows. Maybe I'm holding out for something that will never happen. Maybe I'm a fool to do so.

It's still possible that I'll attend this concert. After all, I was initially very indifferent towards the idea of going to see Morning Musume at PJX. But when I did go I had a great time. Most fun I've ever had, if I'm honest. But at present, I'm very much sitting on the fence with this.

That said, for those of you who aren't sat on the fence, it's set to take place on the 12th of February, at Le Machine du Moulin Rouge, at the heart of Paris' entertainment districts.

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Expanding horizons?

This week the Daily Yomiuri featured an article about the potential for overseas expansion of Japanese pop culture, including a few comments from Takahashi Ai. 

I felt I wanted to weigh in with my own perspective.

The main focus of the article seemed to be an the apparent boom of popularity enjoyed by South Korean artists at the moment. While a decade ago it was cool to like Morning Musume, it certainly appears that schoolgirls all over Asia are managing to prop up this titan of an industry. It's suddenly trendy. We could could several Japanese public figures, including current and former Hello! Project members who have also bought into the Korean wave.

But why?

I'm not fooling anyone by claiming that I'm an expert on Korean Idols. I've quite famously made a point of hating them. Not really out of dislike for Korean people (though it's not above me to joke that I do), or even out of a superiority complex about Jpop. It's actually a whole lot more simple than that. It's musical taste.

Where the music that Tsunku writes for Hello! Project mirrors the rock music that influenced him and that he wrote in SharanQ, the very little Kpop I've heard tends to ignore the rock genre completely - instead focusing on a more R&B-influenced approach.

And that's my problem. I'm a rock kind of guy. I have never been a fan of R&B or Hip-Hop, or it's other various shoot-off genres. And, frankly, I hope I never feel the need to become a fan of those genres.

In the article, Takahashi claimed that the reason for the incredible momentum that various Korean Idol groups are seizing the world is that Japanese Idols just don't have the same drive for global success whereas Korean artists tend to be much more goal-orientated, pushing themselves onward in the hopes of achieving those dreams.

A lovely thought. And I have no idea as to the veracity of the statement on Korean people, but her analysis on the Japanese psyche seems to have hit the nail on the head.

In general, Japanese Idols aren't driven by desire for world domination (or at least, aren't seen to be), but rather a desire to please their fans.

It seems to be a very Japanese thing. Being content with one's lot. Instead of hoping for massive success around the world, they hope to maintain the fans they already have. It also reflects in the agency. Where rival agencies spend big money in the hopes of generating a big payoff of new fans, UFA has, instead, opted to cut costs in the knowledge that they can get buy with larger profits on the fans they already have.

In a way, it also sounds like the difference between the US and British approach to the recession. But that's another story entirely.

Does that make the respective fans seem more or less important? Do the Korean artists take their fans for granted while the fans of the Japanese Idols know that their oshi is working hard for them?

I honestly have no idea.

But the last line in the article proved to be a clincher.

When I ask young people in China why Hanryu idols are so popular in there, I always get the simple reply: "Because they come here."

This is a concept which, unfortunately, the Japanese still haven't fully grasped.

Whenever a western fan's interest in Hello!Project seems to decline, and I've seen this happen, all it often takes to restore that interest is a concert. This especially helps when that fan has been in isolation. Meeting other fans and seeing one's Idol in person often prove to be the jumpleads that one's fandom needed.

It's true that Hello!Project still haven't fully understood how to exploit this budding overseas popularity, but if they took it upon themselves to organise concerts and events, rather than waiting to be invited by Japan Expo or Anime Expo, who knows what would happen!

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