Are You a Shallow Wota

Imagine your favorite idol switched bodies with someone you don’t find “visually pleasing”, would it affect your love for that idol in any way/shape/form?

Umm, yes. Wait, that’s the answer to the second question, not the first. I’d be surprised to find anyone who could honestly say no to that. Though I guess “visually pleasing” can be left pretty open to interpretation. My idol, with the same personality, the same voice, the same dance moves, the same mannerisms… yet stuffed into an unsightly box, would definitely lose some appeal.

Would you still love me?

How much, well that is a hard one to quantify. I fell in love with the whole package, any drastic change such as a body swap would be jarring on some level. Knowing it was the same person underneath however, I wouldn’t be able to help but to continue loving them.

And at the same time, they’re idols, it’s pretty simple to draw a distinction between them and real people. That sounds a bit shallow doesn’t it? Or not. The idol relationship is a fantasy, a feux love, and so it it easy for me to differentiate between the two. When they start becoming more than idols to me, and I’ll admit there’s a fine line, then and only then will I begin putting a little more thought into it. Now, I’ll also recognize that they’re not “just idols” to me and a whole lotta wota out there, but still…

Ultimately, we’re talking our favorite idol here, the top of the crop. After growing so attached, all things the same outside of visual appreciation, they’d still have my love and support, but maybe I’d be more likely to pass on a photobook or something.

Tie-Ins

The music industry has had many tie-ins with animes and doramas. Of those tie-ins, did one manage to capture your interest and get you hooked on their music? Or, did one manage to change your perspective of a musical act? Did you end up watching the anime or dorama in its entirety or give up once the musical act’s tie-in ceased?

So how’s that formula work out anyway. I had to ponder that for only a short while. The type of tie-in I was thinking about was an artist promoting a product for an anime or a drama. That is, rather than promoting the anime directly. The product in this case however, is the artist/song themselves. A bit quick to jump to the response of no, it didn’t take too long to come up with one of the biggest artist tie-ins that’s grabbed me.

Shokotan as Yoko from Gurren Lagann

Nakagawa Shouko did the opening to the epic anime, Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann. This was literally right around the time I started getting into Japanese music. Shokotan could be considered a product herself, being sold as a gravure idol, actress, singer, illustrator and then some. And as she is a self proclaimed otaku, she fits right into the genre. I have to stay, I love it; I am definitely hooked on Shokotan.

Sorario Days, the opening theme to Gurren Lagann, was only my first introduction to Shouko, but the tie-ins didn’t end there. More recently, she also did the theme song for the Gurren Lagan movie. Both were hits from my standpoint. Her discography is filled with this stuff and generally speaking, it’s all pretty good. Of note was her single Shiny Gate, which was used as a theme song for Tokyo OnlyPic 2008. That’s a seemingly huge tie-in, tho I don’t think it received much fanfare.

Another example tie-in that has kept me hooked on their music, is D-51 and One Piece. Their song, Brand New World, was a nice upbeat song used as the 6th opening and coincided with an awesome point in the amine. It wasn’t played for long, but it really stuck.

Then’s actually a laundry list of artists I discovered through tie-ins or are otherwise attached, each with varying degrees of replay value. Ai Otsuka with Hanazakari no Kimitachi e; Buono! and Shugo Chara Egg, Shugo Chara!; Diggy-Mo’ and Nishino Kana, Soul Eater; Ikimono Gakari and nobodyknows+, Naruto; Kusumi Koharu and MilkyWay, Kirarin Revolution. I’m sure there are many others I’ve enjoyed listing to as well. Actually, looking into this, it’s a little bit surprising but I guess it was inevitable, all part of the discovery process.

Of the anime/doramas listed, only Shugo Chara! and Kirarin Revolution have dropped in interest. It’s a case of enjoying the music, but not having interested in the thing it’s used to promote. I’m a ways into Shugo Chara! but it’s gotten somewhat repetative. I’ve not seen Kirarin Revolution at all, but from the snippits, I don’t think it’s something I’m too interested in seeing anyway. I’m glad the groups are there tho, even if in my case, they’re not really working fully for their intended purpose.

Have there been any CM tie-ins that had a similar effect on you?

Not to the same extent as the others mentioned, but Namie Amuro’s tie into Vidal Sassoon with 60s 70s 80s was a great tie-in. I had already been familiar with her work by the time this was released. This little campaign rekindled my interest a bit after the relatively long break after she released her album, Play. I still follow her today, but it’s not as enthusiastically as I perhaps once would have.

All you need is love!

I challenge you to find the best example of idol love. Showcase this “love” as your post for Wota Wonderings #2.

That first little bit of nagaliciousness was brought to you in part by Berryz Koubou’s Gag 100kaibun Aishite Kudasai. The song that introduced me to Berryz, and remains one of my favorites to this day.

My original plan to sing a few love songs has failed. And well, this is by no means the best example of idol love, but it is my love, and it’s all I could come up with with all of life’s other goings on. If I had the time, perhaps I could learn a few dances. Oh what fun that could have been. In the end, I’ve decided to string together a few hiaku to show my “love” and support for Berryz Koubou.

Tokunaga Chinami

beautiful smile
with presence full of laughter
brightens up my day

Sudou Maasa

powerful figure
hidden behind a red mask
strong and supportive

Shimizu Saki

leading the workshop
awash with pop and vigor
captain, job well done

Tsugunaga Momoko

playfully, a true
idol personality
to be commended

Natsuyaki Miyabi

an alluring voice
both solo and in chorus
an asset to all

Kumai Yurina

a central pillar
to prop the main and minor
towering splendor

Sugaya Risako

pushed to the limit
a flower ready to bloom
all hope for the best

New Year’s Resolutions

If you were someone in the Japanese music industry who could influence a change, what would your New Year’s resolution be?

So over winter break I was having a good long chat with my buddy JMI. Jamie, as she likes to be called, is a big time player in the Japanese music industry, heck you could even say that she is the Japanese music industry, from a female pop vocalist’s perspective anyway. In any case, I rarely get to talk to her anymore since she’s becoming so popular over in Japan and around the world really, so I was glad that were able to both find a little down time to reflect on the past and coming years.

At one point in our reminiscing, Jamie and I switched gears and began rattling off a list of resolutions that we’d like to stick to for the coming year. You know, loose a little weight, kicking off an image change, looking to the future and blah blah blah. We had been batting around quite a few ideas but one of hers really stuck out for me. Jamie was somewhat disappointed with some of her performances over the last year or so. Specifically, she has been releasing a lot of cover songs lately and felt that she was lacking in originality, she wasn’t singing her own voice so to speak.

On that point, I countered by admitting that covers can be fun, but in the end realized that I too was ready to move on. While we must always remember where we started, we must also push forward with great innovation. If I were in Jamie’s shoes, I’d probably have the same feeling. I mean, the list of covers wasn’t too grandiose, but a lot of  other Japanese artists had released cover songs too.

WTF was that!?

Berryz Koubou – They released Dchingus Khan and then they had the nerve to offer up a crakafied remix. Well, I can’t say that I didn’t enjoy it and it was kinda unique turn in the H!PSphere at the time. One has to admit tho that covering an old German Pop band is a bit odd.

°C-ute – Edo no Temari Uta II didn’t feel too much like a cover really, but I guess it is what it is. Popifying an Enka song coud work I guess, but I didn’t really like the song too much.

GO!GO!7188 – Released a mini cover album, Tora no Ana 2, a sequel to Tora no Ana which they had released some time ago. There were a couple of songs that they totally made their own, while other songs were done a little bit of a disservice.

Anime songs desu.

Nakagawa Shouko – Another one with a mini album of nothing but covers. Released in late 2007, but it does kinda fit Shokotan’s style. Anime covers for a Seiyuu and otaku works.

Morning Musume – Pepper Keibu as a single, all right cool; it seems like Hello!Project was on a thing with each of the Wonderful Hearts releasing a cover song. Then they come out with an entire album devoted to covers… Morning Musume didn’t release a lot this year and what they did release was a bunch of covers. I’m not much of a MM fan anyway, and really wasn’t too impressed by it all. It may be an underappreciation of the source material, or rather a sort of ignorance.

We will remember you, always?

v-u-den – Their last song was a cover, for shame. I mean really, they should have gone out with something original, something that we would truly remember them by. Top top it off, it was a cover of a Morning Musume song, so nothing overly unique. Maybe there was some sort of significance in it all that just went over my head.

I’m sure there were a lot more out there. And again, while covers aren’t neccicarily a bad thing and can often produce entertaining results, Jamie and I both agreed that it’d be a good idea to cut back on them. We’ll see how things go, but I’m really rooting for Jamie to stick to her resolutions this year.