23ji no ongaku

Pretend you’re walking down the sidewalk, minding your own business, when a shady looking character in a trenchcoat walks up to you with a clipboard. Despite your first reaction, which is probably to turn around and walk quickly in the other direction, you decide to stick around and listen to this guy. He tells you he is doing a survey–more specifically, a music survey. Actually, it is a Japanese music survey! How delightful–you can actually help with this one. So you tell the man in the trenchcoat “sure,” quite relieved that he’s not a random pervert, and he begins his survey.

The first question is this: “what do you think of flumpool fans?”

You would probably stutter at this question. Fan or not, you would think for a moment and realize that you don’t really have a perception of flumpool’s fans. You may know that they are a rising rock band, that one of their songs is called “Hana ni Nare”–hell, you may even know the words to it. You may have even watched their PVs or talked about them with your friends. But their fans? You probably don’t really have an impression of their fans. They listen to music, just like you. So, you mumble some sort of poorly-constructed answer, confused, and watch the man write a short note on his clipboard.

The next question is “what do you think of AAA fans?”

You might have the urge to curse avex or mutter “sorry bastards” here, but again–this question might puzzle you. Well, you know of some bloggers who are big fans of AAA, right? You know that they are nice people, people you’ve chatted with before. Again, you might know only a little about AAA, or you might know a lot. But you will probably answer a little better, this time. You will probably mention that you know one or two fans and… well, what else can you say? You know of them. Again: they listen to music, just like you.

The man pauses here. He looks at you carefully, squinting, scratching his chin, as if he’s trying to figure something out. Finally he speaks again:

“What do you think of AKB48 fans?”

Now you have a lot to say. What you tell him, exactly, depends on who you are. If you are an AKB48 fan yourself, you probably have a lot to say about the great community, the bloggers, the friends you’ve made through forums, and so on. You may even mention how hard it is to learn the names of all the members, or which members are your favorites. If you are a Hello! Project fan, your response may be entirely different. You might shrug and say “I dunno, I like the group but I don’t know any fans,” or “oh, my best friend is a huge fan,” or even “well, I like H!P more, but I know some AKB48 fans who are nice.”

Or… you might narrow your eyes and say something nasty.

That reaction? That is the problem.

Go back to this trenchcoated man’s first question to you, about flumpool fans. Do you remember what you said as you considered your answer? One of the things you may have thought to yourself, as you actually considered this question in real life, was exactly what I wrote: “they listen to music, just like you.” So why can’t this be the reaction when you ask an AKB48 about a Hello! Project fan, or vice-versa? Why do we sometimes see bloggers get nasty, see message boards filled up with little barbs and insults, see tempers flaring and people having their patience tested by other people just like them?

To be fair, most bloggers and fans I’ve encountered on either side of the fence are pretty civil, tolerant people. But it seems like, from time to time, there will be a kerfluffle in the blogosphere, and all of a sudden this topic will come up again. I’ve seen H!P fans switch over to AKB48 and be called “traitors,” and seen AKB48 fans say some pretty cruel things about H!P and their followers. And really, idol music is idol music is idol music–it’s really all the same, when you get right down to it–so why argue?

Well, there’s a big difference between flumpool and AKB48, first of all. With rock bands like flumpool, they don’t encourage their fans to buy photobooks, don’t have fan clubs, and don’t capitalize on their appearances to sell more CDs. That’s because they’re not idols, of course. Idols aren’t expected to be brilliant singers or play guitars; when you “get into” a group like Morning Musume or AKB48, or their many subgroups and units, you’re probably seeking an experience that focuses far less on the music and more on personalities, looks, and sometimes even factors beyond that (like sexual fantasies, which I won’t talk about). If the music is good, great, and quite honestly I find a decent amount of idol music listenable and catchy… but let’s face it, not everything that comes out is coated in gold and presented on a silver platter. So when you are a “fan” of a rock band and a “fan” of an idol group, that word means something entirely different in those situations. And that’s why I think it would be more appropriate to consistently use “wota” in idol fan situations, but I digress…

The problem with idol music–the big problem with idol music–is that much of it is defined by its fanbase–the wota, or whatever you’d like to call them. When you go into a scene like that, you’re looking at a very dedicated fanbase that buys limited edition copies, follows Oricon rankings, watches special events and “stages,” buys extra merchandise… etc. And that’s exactly what is supposed to happen, of course. But when we have two or more sets of idol groups running parallel to each other, doing some of the same things, and when the boundaries overlap and some dedicated fans of one group drift over to another… well, that’s where we’re seeing the problem, apparently.

Nothing I say or do can make fans stop occasionally saying nasty things to or about each other. But to get to my point, here… it’s silly. As someone who is far more invested in Hello! Project and its many groups than in AKB48, why should it matter to me that people are listening to AKB48? Let them–if it makes them happy, then great. Now, if I were more invested, perhaps I would realize that AKB48 is gaining many fans who are tired of H!P, and that H!P could be losing money because of these people moving away. And I could see how that could inspire the calls of “traitor!” or provoke the thoughts that these people are what is “killing” Hello! Project.

Newsflash: AKB48 fans aren’t killing Hello! Project. Hello! Project is killing Hello! Project. If the organization was stable enough, they would be weathering this whole AKB thing with no problem. Have we all forgotten that the Elder Club exodus happened before AKB48 got really popular? H!P was doomed long before this happened. This is just quickening its eventual death.

And here’s another thing to consider: AKB48 is another fad. It isn’t going to last forever. Their director did it before, and it was called Onyanko Club. That group eventually broke up, too. Idol groups can last a long time, but they can’t go on forever. Looking at it in that light, what do you think the point of any name-calling is? Why insult each other when every fan is doing the same thing: dedicating their time and attention to something temporary?

I’ll go back to what I said before: we’re all fans. We all listen to music. Some of us are more invested in certain groups than others. But why waste time making these things into “debates,” or forming opinions of fans of “rival” groups?

Despite what I already said about idols and wota–the expectation that idol music won’t be left at “just” music, and will expand into things like photobooks and such–I think I’d be quite happy if I could see less focus on appearance and more on music. Maybe it’s unrealistic to expect that from fans of a unit that relies on appearances or cute behaviors to sell singles. But as we’re getting all swept up in remarks over who does better at something, who sells more singles… we’re forgetting the fact that these girls actually sing. We’re forgetting the fact that there is actual music at hand, here. Of course, if all we focused on was music, we’d have a lot less to blog about, but still…

Maybe that’s why I find being a fan of other musical acts so refreshing. Maybe that’s why the idol thing has lost most of its appeal, for me. I’m never able to not focus on the quality of music, or how a certain song sounds. If a group’s album sounds good, I think I’m actually happier not knowing anything about them. It’s less of a distraction for me, and it means I can take things at face value, rather than thinking “oh, this song sucks, but the PV was really cute” or “this isn’t great, but my favorite member has a line, and she’s so cute, so…!!”

Less talk, more music. I think that sounds like something I can get behind.

Just for a moment, let’s go back to that guy in the trenchcoat who started this whole thing. You’ve said your piece about AKB48 fans, and he’s taken his notes. What have you learned, from thinking about this experience? As you pause to realize what his questions have inspired, you see a gleam in his eye. Could it be that this was his goal all along? As you stand on the sidewalk and peer at him, you wonder… could this man have rigged the whole thing, just to get you to reconsider your opinions on fans and writing about music? Hmm… does he look familiar? Maybe a bit like Tsunku…?

Before you can say anything, the man whips open his trenchcoat, flashes you, and runs away, leaving his clipboard and pen behind to clatter noisily to the ground.

Shit. I guess he was just a random pervert after all.