Idolminded

Today’s Haikucandy: Yuma Asami

Ray Mescallado — Sat, 18 May 2013 16:23:39 +0000

The way you tickle
My ivories, these chopsticks
Grow into tree trunks.

Idol Thought For The Day: My Own Tanaka Reina Fandom

Ray Mescallado — Sat, 18 May 2013 09:00:20 +0000

I’ve been enjoying Chiima’s look back on Tanaka Reina’s career highlights on Okay! Musume Time, and it’s made me nostalgic. I used to love Tanaka Reina dearly as an idol… and then I didn’t. Actually, I learned to loathe her, feeling more than a little betrayed. Which sounds melodramatic, but feelings can run deep with idols, as any wota can attest, and Reina zigged when I thought she’d zag. Looking back now, I have no hard feelings and wish her the best, though I’ll still make a crack or two just to be a dick.

I know exactly what made me fall for Reina in the first place, and I even blogged about it back on Cult of Pop 2.0, circa 2005: Reina’s “Futarigoto” and Reina’s “Memory”, as in “Memory Seishun no Hikari”. Here’s the actual video, night time version, if you’ve never seen it. Watching it even now, I am in awe of her performance, of how powerfully she projects a certain vulnerability and truly sells the song. To me, Reina owns this song, not Natsumi Abe.

And I also vividly remember when I began to have my doubts – Reina’s solo performance of Tanpopo’s “Koi wo Shichaimashita” in Hong Kong. You can see a clip of it here. It’s painful to watch even now, not only because she’s practically winking out semaphore messages and making aegyo look bad, but because in retrospect this was a crossroads for her idol persona, if not her career.

I have to admit, the Hong Kong performance didn’t sour me on Reina right away – I mentioned it with as little judgment as possible in Chokkan 2 Close-Up: Reina. But it was the beginning of the end, and the more Reina became Winky, the less interested I was in her. Finally, I just stopped caring and moved on to other Musumes. Chokkan 2, by the way, was when I finally saw the virtues in Sayumi.

There are other idols I’ve fallen for, only to grow distant from later on. Kago Ai and Tsugunaga Momoko also come to mind, though each had different circumstances: Kago wore me down with scandal fatigue, while I just got tired of Momoko’s shtick. (Mostly. Every once in a while I get a hankering for Momoko still.) In Reina’s case, I admired the way she projected a certain earnestness and candor – the Yankee image was only a part of it, though it was an important part. It could’ve been just an act, but it was a very convincing act for me.

And when she decided to go all Winky and over-cute, the artifice of that was all wrong – for me, at least. Some idols can get away with it – Sayumi did, though she gave it an edge with her clever, sharp tongue – but on Reina it rang just a bit too hollow for me, it felt like she was doing a parody of an idol instead of being one. I understand it now as a smart career move, but she seemed to be hiding behind her idol persona instead of expressing herself with it. I could be horribly wrong on this, but like I said, being a wota is an emotional thing much of the time. And maybe I could have found it in me to re-assess and find myself a Reina fan again, but there wasn’t much motivation or interest in doing so, especially as the rest of Morning Musume eventually bored me and drove me away.

So now we’re at the end of her time as a Musume, and where does she stand? With the Chokkan 2 profile, I wrote,

I’m not sure what’s going to happen with Reina’s future post-Momusu, but I think she’s got enough careerism in her to set herself up for as many possibilities as she can create. She can become more of a rock diva (think “Yuujou”) with a funky Yankee or street look; she can go for the gentler power-ballad diva approach and perhaps get away with it; she can even believably lead her own unit, perhaps continuing Aa! and making them a Melon Kinenbi Version 2.0…

As it turns out, she’s now leading her own unit after all, and it has a bit of a rock image to it. And this may be a chance to become a Reina fan again, to give her another chance to win me over. I don’t think it’s going to happen, though, there are too many other idols who already demand my attention. Still, I wish her and all her current fans the best of luck with Lovendor. Whatever else I may think of her, I know she’s worked hard to get where she is, and she deserves whatever success she gets post-Musume.

Today’s Haikucandy: Sasaki Kokone

Ray Mescallado — Fri, 17 May 2013 16:00:42 +0000

Avengers tribute?
Now I get it! Those are Nick
Fury’s eyepatches!

Idol Thought For The Day: Could Any Other Asian Acts Wind Up On The American Idol Finale?

Ray Mescallado — Fri, 17 May 2013 08:57:29 +0000

So, how about that PSY on American Idol? Love him or hate him, you have to admit: it is quite a feat to have an American mainstream audience cheering for a Korean language song on national television. It was especially amusing to hear the “mutta fatta” part, if only because I’d like to have seen the explanation given to Standards & Practices that they really weren’t trying to sneak in “motherfucking”.

I also wondered if this will lead many American idol audience members to watch the “Gentlemen” video on YouTube, and what they would think of that. For whatever reasons, the misogyny in the video now rubs me the wrong way – no matter if it was playful or comedic or balanced out by Ga-In’s role.

But it was certainly a triumph for PSY, and at this point I think we can see it as a triumph for the hallyu as well. PSY has decided on some level to be Kpop’s standard bearer, if only because he’s got the best positioning to do so. If the Brown Eyed Girls don’t benefit from this, then the world is even more unjust than I thought.

Being an optimist, though, I considered if there would be any idol performers from Asia who could make it to next year’s American Idol finale. HyunA came to mind right away: I can easily see her commanding the stage with a song like “Bubble Pop” or “Ice Cream”. 2NE1 or Big Bang could have a chance, maybe.

And then, of course, my mind went to Japanese acts. Two that immediately came to mind are Perfume and Kyary Pamyu Pamyu. Both are making their push for global audiences, both are distinctly Japanese and yet hold qualities that can appeal to an American mainstream. They’ve both also had some exposure in the American media.

What none of these acts have at the moment, though, is that stroke of social media luck that PSY had, going viral and becoming a meme. I don’t know if any of them could be savvy enough to purposely engineer such a thing – PSY didn’t have to with “Gangnam Style”, and his attempt to do it consciously with “Gentleman” strikes me as less successful.

And without that, even the optimist in me has to acknowledge it’s an uphill battle for an Asian act to make the American mainstream – and the American Idol stage – any time again in the near future. Not that it’s impossible, but it takes the internet equivalent of a force majeur to clear that path and grease the wheels. And who can count on that?

Today’s Haikucandy: Shimazaki Haruka

Ray Mescallado — Thu, 16 May 2013 16:00:04 +0000

I want to play with
All of those beautiful shapes
And the Legos, too!

Idol Thought For The Day: Iida Kaori’s Children

Ray Mescallado — Thu, 16 May 2013 09:00:47 +0000

Longtime Hello! Project fans know about the tragedy of Iida Kaori’s first child: a baby boy was born in poor health, and after several months died. Apparently, not everyone was aware of the whole story. During a Dream Morning Musume meeting with the press, a reporter asked Kaori what it was like to be a mother. Kaori was gracious in her answer, not even hinting at just how horrible a question this could be for her. However, Nakazawa Yuko, who was standing behind Kaori, looked like she was ready to murder that reporter – and I think her fury reflected that of many fans out there, as well.

The loss of a child is not something I would wish on anyone, and it’s something I’ve been familiar with in my own life. I had an older brother who was born a couple of years ahead of me and died a month after he was born. This brother has never been forgotten by my family; his grave is still visited by our family whenever we visit the Philippines, his birth and death dates are still honored. When we talk about our family to others, we often say for the sake of simplicity that there are four siblings, meaning the four of us who came afterwards and lived. But if someone is close to the family and we’re more ruminative, our older brother is mentioned and we count as five. Over forty years later, he still matters, he is still very much a part of our family, of our history as a family.

My extended family has had a history of premature births and miscarriages, and it is a fear that carried over when my wife Barbara became pregnant with Haruna. Early on in her pregnancy, there was a miscarriage scare that took us all over Honolulu seeking help (we didn’t have health care at the time). By the time we got to Kapiolani Hospital, Barbara and I had accepted the worst possibility had come true and we’d try again when the time was right. So when the doctor told us the baby was healthy and the scare was false, Barb and I could not stop crying at this wonderful news. We determined from that point to make sure the baby was watched over carefully, and Haruna was actually born at Kapiolani over a week after her due date.

With Haruna now at a lively, robust six-and-a-half years old, I’ll admit: there’s always a bit of fear, a misgiving about worst case scenarios, when it comes to one’s children. It creeps in the back of every parent’s head, that something horrible will happen to this life which gives your own so much happiness and meaning, and the helplessness of babies and toddlers makes those fears even sharper. And sometimes the worst will come true. But you don’t give up hope. You stay vigilant, you do everything you can to protect your child… and you have to always hope for the best. Hope is important, hope will keep you going even through the darkest times. Hope will make you look forward to a better time, whatever that may mean.

Iida Kaori’s second child is a testament to her own hopes as a mother. I know she won’t ever forget her first child, but she now has a new life to cherish and care for. She is not dwelling on a past, but looking forward to an exciting future. She is affirming life after enduring a tragic death. And for reasons that should be obvious, I believe that decision is worth celebrating, is worth bringing to the world’s attention and applauding.

There are now seven ex-Morning Musumes who are mothers, the others being Ishiguro Aya, Ichii Sayaka, Tsuji Nozomi, Kago Ai, Fujimoto Miki, and Nakazawa Yuko. Further, Ayappe and Tsuji have both made their motherhood a crucial part of their public image. If one thinks about it, this is a natural evolution, from Musume to Motherhood – especially when one considers how Morning Musume as idols are representative of a feminine ideal. With so many prominent former Musumes becoming mothers, that ideal has expanded in the public imagination, encompassing not just the duties of the young woman but also the responsibilities of a parent. And for Japan – a nation faced with a population that is both aging rapidly and decreasing in number – that latter lesson may prove as important as the former. With that in mind, the story of Iida – her refusal to give up hope, her dedication to motherhood – may well be the most important lesson of all.

Idolminded

Recommended Reading: May 18th, 2013

Thennary’s Picks

Ray’s Picks

Today’s Haikucandy: Yuma Asami

Idol Thought For The Day: My Own Tanaka Reina Fandom

Recommended Reading: May 17th, 2013

Thennary’s Picks

Ray’s Picks

Today’s Haikucandy: Sasaki Kokone

Idol Thought For The Day: Could Any Other Asian Acts Wind Up On The American Idol Finale?

Recommended Reading: May 16th, 2013

Thennary’s Picks

Ray’s Picks

Today’s Haikucandy: Shimazaki Haruka

Idol Thought For The Day: Iida Kaori’s Children

Recommended Reading: May 15th, 2013

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