Beckii Cruel

[eri]

I just don't understand these 'flavor of the month' gaijin talents in Japan. Lately there is some buzz about a 14 year old British girl who uploads youtube videos of herself dancing to various jpop or anime songs. She's gotten famous in Japan apparently and has a steady otaku fan base and her own DVD.



http://sankei.jp.msn.com/entertainments/en...51836007-n1.htm

http://www.dannychoo.com/post/en/25205/Beckii+Cruel.html



Cute girl..but...not particularly a beauty and not a good dancer. Jesus. Celebrity culture in Japan is even stupider than celebrity in America.

[EmEl]

This Is Beckii Cruel!



Support your gaijin loli today!



December is the release date. At least it just looks like her dancing performance in Akihabara, along with a camera following her along on her trip, like an H!P dvd or something. No creepy U-15 gravure is good.

[Special Needs Tricycle]

Yeah, I'm strangely fascinated by her. In America or the UK she wouldn't really be anything but a normal decent-looking girl, but looking at the comments on the videos that got uploaded onto nico, everyone basically shits pure, unconcentrated kawaii over her.



But unlike AmerikaJinMusume, she doesn't appear to be (and have) a huge, gaping cunt, so I'm glad she's getting success.



I kind of want to watch that DVD.

[eri]

I'm trying to remember the name of that other youtube girl who got famous by staring into the camera in 10 sec intervals. When she was actually interviewed by Yaguchi, she was a nightmare in "real life." Was it Maggie?



[quote name='Special Needs Tricycle' post='70967' date='Nov 1 2009, 07:06 PM']But unlike AmerikaJinMusume, she doesn't appear to be (and have) a huge, gaping cunt, so I'm glad she's getting success.[/quote]



Do you actually know this girl? Otherwise, on what do you base this pretty crude insult?

[EmEl]

[quote name='mEri' post='70970' date='Nov 1 2009, 09:13 PM']I'm trying to remember the name of that other youtube girl who got famous by staring into the camera in 10 sec intervals. When she was actually interviewed by Yaguchi, she was a nightmare in "real life." Was it Maggie?[/quote]

Magibon is the name she goes by on the internet. She even got a few magazine photos for herself in Weekly Playboy.

[Ap2000]

I hope Soli is going to do this too. <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... /dance.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':wheely:' />



Anyway, I really don't see anything interesting in her. (Just like Magibon and all the other generic westerners)

She's mediocre looking (though somewhat cute in this one, but we all know looking good on a low-res camera is not too hard) and I don't even know if she sings live.



And this video makes her look like a weeaboo on crack

[Special Needs Tricycle]

[quote name='mEri' post='70970' date='Nov 1 2009, 11:13 PM']Do you actually know this girl? Otherwise, on what do you base this pretty crude insult?[/quote]

Many things, actually. They're all in her blog, which I read time to time. Including a huge blog post she wrote about how she hates H!P now that she found out that it's not popular in Japan, even though H!P is the only reason she ever got to step foot into Japan. And her inflated ego. Amongst other things.

[neshcom]

Her dancing is good, but she doesn't look at the camera enough. Also, what's with Danjo playing in her promo video? Is that her singing an English version?! She just doesn't seem that interesting. She's kinda cute I guess... Much a-fap about nothing in my book.

[eri]

[quote name='Special Needs Tricycle' post='70985' date='Nov 1 2009, 08:16 PM'][quote name='mEri' post='70970' date='Nov 1 2009, 11:13 PM']Do you actually know this girl? Otherwise, on what do you base this pretty crude insult?[/quote]

Many things, actually. They're all in her blog, which I read time to time. Including a huge blog post she wrote about how she hates H!P now that she found out that it's not popular in Japan, even though H!P is the only reason she ever got to step foot into Japan. And her inflated ego. Amongst other things.

[/quote]



So...if you hate her, why read her blog?



I find all these youtube stars damn annoying but I guess I'm uncomfortable with the kind of extreme hate and vitriol they unleash. To me, there is a world of difference in saying this type of fame is stupid (which implicates all of the creepy otaku and the Japanese media and their white or biracial fetishism) and calling out one individual as a cunt (personally attacking one person). Don't hate the player - hate the game! And yes, I also recognize the absurdity of being an H!P fan who dislikes Becky and Magibon when the entire idol industry is built on the tears of pretty cute, not so talented girls who just wanted to be famous haha. <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... wheely.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':wheely:' />

[Special Needs Tricycle]

[quote name='mEri' post='70991' date='Nov 2 2009, 01:53 AM']So...if you hate her, why read her blog?



I find all these youtube stars damn annoying but I guess I'm uncomfortable with the kind of extreme hate and vitriol they unleash. To me, there is a world of difference in saying this type of fame is stupid (which implicates all of the creepy otaku and the Japanese media and their white or biracial fetishism) and calling out one individual as a cunt (personally attacking one person). Don't hate the player - hate the game! And yes, I also recognize the absurdity of being an H!P fan who dislikes Becky and Magibon when the entire idol industry is built on the tears of pretty cute, not so talented girls who just wanted to be famous haha. <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... wheely.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':wheely:' />[/quote]

I read her blog because it's like watching a train wreck or a bad movie. I have my reasons. Don't tell me you've never done something similar.



Also, I don't hate Magibon OR Becky Cruel. I actually like both of them. Magibon's never done any outright angering things unless you find the videos of her just staring into a camera angering, and Becky is just a little girl making dance videos, and is really humble about the attention she's getting. I dislike AmerikaJinMusume because she is, quite honestly, a cunt. Not because she was on Haromoni or got to live in THE MOTHERLAND, but because she is a cunt. And I can't find any other word to describe her.

[Farrah]

I don't get it, every time one of these girls gets 15 minutes of fame, everyone comes forth to cry OMG SHE'S SO UGLY LOOK AT THAT SLUT I HOPE SHE DIES. I'm not referring to you, Trike, just in general lots of people seem to get pissed off by this stuff. Too bad she appears to be a total weaboo and somewhat daft.



She's not mind blowingly beautiful, but most idols aren't. If I saw her on the street I'd consider her quite pretty. She's lucky for that, because her dancing is entirely mediocre, so without that she wouldn't be getting to release DVDs of her acting like a spaz.

[Ap2000]

[quote name='Ang' post='70999' date='Nov 2 2009, 12:35 PM']She's not mind blowingly beautiful, but most idols aren't.[/quote]



Most idols also aren't interesting. That's even correct for H!P imho.

[Melon]

Is this that one chick....-checks youtube- yes...that's her... I think this place (or maybe somewhere else) linked to another "gaijin idol" that won the anime con's karaoke contest awhile back. I laughed at how they played her as this big celebrity when she's doing schlock sets in tiny cramped spaces. Horrible singing voice too.



Why couldn't youtube exist when I was 12 and I could score a free trip to Japan too?

[vanillacat]

[quote name='Ap2000' post='70975' date='Nov 1 2009, 10:24 PM']And this video makes her look like a weeaboo on crack[/quote]



That was literally painful for me to watch. She's a cute girl, no doubt, but all the... posing and the spazzing and the random flurries of "teehee look how cute I am!" motions was just so... ugh.



I will let her have her five minutes of fame. Honestly, I've seen better (Japanese) dancers on NicoNico*, so I suppose all the interest in her is a result of the "Oooh, gaijin! Sparkly!"

*I'll dig up the clips later, but there was one girl who did pretty much an aerobic workout to "Love & Joy", I have so much respect for para para now...





... I wish I was pretty and skinny and cared about dancing or internet fame. Fuck, I want a trip to Japan. <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... dammit.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' />

[tsukinobyouin]

Why is it that whenever someone who's not Japanese gets a bit of fame in Japan, the foreign fans are so quick to see it as something terrible. When it was Chinese girls in MM, people were complaining about how their Japanese sucked, which is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. The large majority of foreign fans can't speak enough Japanese to get through a MM show without subtitles anyway, so why does it matter? Sure, some wota complained, but most Japanese people don't expect anyone foreign to know Japanese at all.



Along those same lines, why is it such a mystery to anyone that some girl on youtube singing or dancing to Japanese songs gets 5 minutes of fame in Japan? Once again, Japanese people don't expect foreigners to know their language, let alone their pop music, let alone some of their less popular pop music. Finding a white wota is like a neat and shiny surprise, and bringing one of those girls to Japan is just milking the "make someone's dreams come true" angle. I don't see how it's much different than Ellen finding Kids Who Do Unexpected Stuff and bringing them on her show for the week and giving them a huge prize.



Calling the popularity of white and biracial celebrities in Japan "fetishism" or in any way trying to make it seem like an "issue" is just over the top. Every country is fascinated by foreigners. Americans love Europeans because they have "sexy accents" and African models are considered "exotic." People all around the world jumped on the kooky Mai-a-heee bandwagon. The list goes on. While people like Hugh Laurie and Iman are certainly talented and those Mai-a-heee guys did have a catchy song, there's no denying that they all got quite a fame boost from the fact that they've got some exotic or quirky foreigner appeal.



I'm not saying any of these girls are great and talented and amazingly interesting and deserve great fame (I don't actually know all that much about what any of them do), but I really don't see how they're any different than any other youtube or reality "star" that gets their 5 minutes in any part of the world.

[eri]

[quote name='TnB' post='71072' date='Nov 2 2009, 07:11 PM']Calling the popularity of white and biracial celebrities in Japan "fetishism" or in any way trying to make it seem like an "issue" is just over the top. Every country is fascinated by foreigners. Americans love Europeans because they have "sexy accents" and African models are considered "exotic."[/quote]



But that, my dear, is the essence of fetishism. <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... nfused.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' />



There is enormous racism in Japanese media. There is enormous racism in Japan period! At the very least, we can see the way biracial kids and whiteness is absolutely fetishized (before, absolutely reviled). There are scores of academic books written on the subject and there is a long historical precedent for what is observable now. This will likely come off snotty (though I don't mean to be), but you should really educate yourself about the subject before making these assumptions that everything is cool. You really don't understand what problems arise from the "exotic" foreigner shtick?



I actually am disturbed by the vitriol directed at said dime-a-dozen gaijin stars from foreign fans. Like I said, don't hate the player, hate the game.



Hmm maybe it was a bad idea to start this thread. I didn't really have a purpose in posting it other than to say, "this is happening. weird." But I don't want to end up having a long debate over the REALITY of Japanese racism or race fetishism here. Again.

[tsukinobyouin]

[quote name='mEri' post='71080' date='Nov 2 2009, 11:03 PM'][quote name='TnB' post='71072' date='Nov 2 2009, 07:11 PM']Calling the popularity of white and biracial celebrities in Japan "fetishism" or in any way trying to make it seem like an "issue" is just over the top. Every country is fascinated by foreigners. Americans love Europeans because they have "sexy accents" and African models are considered "exotic."[/quote]



And that, my dear, is the essence of fetishism. If you can't see the racism in Japanese media or the boom in biracial fetishism, then you are sadly deluded or you fundamentally do not understand what fetishism is.

[/quote]



The point of my entire post was to say that it's not a big deal. You quoted only that part of my post, and skipped out on the examples I gave, which makes it sound like you honestly think that the fame of people like Hugh Laurie and Wacky Kids On Ellen point to some big societal problems in America. The fact that you again return to racism "in the Japanese media" makes it seems like you think this is some unique and creepy Japanese phenomenon when it's no different that what goes on in any other country.



Fetishism is not necessarily a bad thing, but the way you used it in your post tied in with ideas like racism and creepy otaku makes it look like you're honestly trying to tell us all that the 5 minutes of fame (and much less for most of these girls) dancing youtubers get is all propelled by terrible dark thoughts of the Japanese.



Of course there's racism in Japan (not at all limited to the media), but I think you can come up with a ton of much better examples of it than "youtube girl gets extremely minor Japanese media exposure" and "there's quite a few Becky's and Marie's out there today!"



Edit: And since you edited your post, yes, it does come off snotty. And no, I don't want to see or participate in another debate about how racist and terrible Japan is, that was kind of part of my point. It's overkill, and while I certainly am not denying that racism or race fetishism exits (though, yet again, I don't feel these concepts are in any way limited to Japan), my point was that issues like this are so minor they're not worth entangling in some big racism debate.

[Joel]

Anyways... I'll take Amerikajin Musume over her ANYDAY.

[vanillacat]

[quote name='Joel' post='71090' date='Nov 3 2009, 01:22 AM']



Anyways... I'll take Amerikajin Musume over her ANYDAY.[/quote]



But all British people have crooked teeth!



/OMG RACISM AND STEREOTYPING AND SOCIETAL INJUSTICE





I think some Japanese TV show should do a segment where they visit AX or Otakon and look at the SHEER MASSES of White People "Knowing" Their Culture/Pop Music. I think they'd get quite a kick out of the weeaboos, I'm not gonna lie.

[Ap2000]

[quote name='vanillacat' post='71111' date='Nov 3 2009, 07:54 PM']I think they'd get quite a kick out of the weeaboos, I'm not gonna lie.[/quote]



Of course, it's westerners worshiping GLORIOUS NIPPON's ass. <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... ardgay.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' />

[michikodesu]

I wonder if she practices in front of a mirror over and over again before performing? She needs to be much sharper and make her movements more defined. Other than that, there aren't that many girls who would do something so complicated like learn a dance from something that isn't real and then perform it on the internet. I mean, she's doing what she likes to do. I see nothing wrong with that. I see nothing wrong with being a "weeaboo" either. Let the poor girl get as much fun out of it as she can....I mean, what 14 year old wouldn't want something positive like this to happen to her (or him for that matter)?



Seriously, like Petit Melon said, I wish they had youtube when I was 12 or 14 or heck during my entire teenage years. I would definitely have a go at it. It would be highly strange for a 32 year old now to do something like that. <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... hatthe.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':dammit:' />

[Jessui]

Check out the DVD Amazon decided to pair Beckii's DVD up with <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... hatthe.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':dammit:' /> That pairing is just so wrong!!

[Solitudity]

[quote name='Ap2000' post='70975' date='Nov 1 2009, 10:24 PM']I hope Soli is going to do this too. <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... /dance.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':dammit:' />[/quote]



I just noticed this! <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... /laugh.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':huh:' /> That's my plan, to become a youtube star. I'll get famous in Japan, release a DVD, then join H!P and make a duet group with Mano. We'd be the 18-but-looks-way-younger group.



I think Beckii is adorable in that... stupid puppy kind of way. And don't diss Maggie, she's actually really smart. I think she stumbled upon something amazing and figured out how to make that work for her.

[Shoujo Q]

I was actually looking for another Becky (The half-Japanese Oha Becky from years past, she just released a single), but instead I found this one. And what I found were I guess clips from her DVD? I'll share because no one else has. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEWP2p4fVn4





Enjoy!

<img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... kodama.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':lol:' />

[ShinUkyo]

[quote name='PQ' post='72990' date='Dec 12 2009, 12:06 PM']I was actually looking for another Becky (The half-Japanese Oha Becky from years past, she just released a single), but instead I found this one. And what I found were I guess clips from her DVD? I'll share because no one else has. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEWP2p4fVn4[/quote]

She's pretty cute, far as I can tell. Those random glamour and wandering about town scenes look very beautiful and well-shot. Not sure how much I'd be into the dancing bits, not being a dancer myself. Didn't you guys say she sings along with them, sometimes? That could prove interesting, to a degree, depending on how well she does. None of her official clips seemed to involve singing, and a lot of her old YouTube videos got taken down. Possibly because she was singing copyrighted songs, ones which her current management does not have the authority to release I mean. Bonus, though, realizing that Tokuma Japan now has an official YouTube channel.



Speaking of that olden-days Becky, I always remember her fondly for that Futsal Gals movie with Ayaya. Did you say she released a single? I'll hafta look into it. I was a big fan of hers, back in the day. Which was funny whenever bringing her up to Suika, who couldn't stand that girl. Partially because she stole her name, haha.

[Ap2000]

With Ukyo bumping this thread (lol), I clicked on the last link and then on another one and found this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7bPUn59k5E



NIPPON NI KAREY TOTTEMOU URESHI DESS.



That's some really horrible japanese pronunciation there, they could have at least told her how to read that simple letter...

[Special Needs Tricycle]

I already said this in the IRC chat, but I think that they probably actually told her to read it with a heavy accent to seem cuter. I remember hearing that Coconuts Musume was told to sing with an accent so they could seem more ~exotic~.

[ShinUkyo]

[quote name='Ap2000' post='73432' date='Dec 30 2009, 09:08 PM']With Ukyo bumping this thread (lol)...[/quote]

I'm not sure if responding to a thread, one whose last response came just 18 days ago, is truly considered bumping (particularly to some comical degree). Especially considering there's only a couple active threads in the E-Lounge at this moment. So technically responding to any thread in this forum is "bumping." Now to see if I can revive my old Dollhouse thread. THAT, my friend, would be a bump.



[quote name='Special Needs Tricycle' post='73435' date='Dec 30 2009, 09:38 PM']I already said this in the IRC chat, but I think that they probably actually told her to read it with a heavy accent to seem cuter. I remember hearing that Coconuts Musume was told to sing with an accent so they could seem more ~exotic~.[/quote]

This is a very good point. These type of girls are marketed, mostly, to cater to guys in Japan with a "white girl fetish." And it is done, of course, as politically incorrect as possible. The image is made more vivid when they pronounce things as poorly as they can, and even try to sound unintelligent on purpose. This also applies to white entertainers in fields of entertainment that are far-less sexual in nature. Mika Todd, from Coconuts Musume, for example. They asked her to really ham up the whitey act for the camera. Whereas in many of the more-candid interviews, both inside and outside Hellopro, she spoke with a perfectly fine Japanese accent. But basically anytime she was promoting their product, she sounded obnoxiously white and ignorant.



Same goes for a more recent example from that same agency, Robin Stukas from The Possible. They make it a point to have her act as white as possible, or at least what their idea of "white" is. And much like Mika Todd, this also applies to her singing lines. The one exception to this, of course, was in their single Ijiwaru Crazy Love. Her lines in that song were not forced to sound white on purpose, and her Japanese singing/accent was FLAWLESS on that track! It's too bad they won't give her more chances to actually utilize the full extent of her vocal talent, but I guess her biggest selling point is that being a whitey makes her stand out from the rest of the Hellopro and TNX girls. Hell, to be honest, that's a lot of what probably endears me to her personally.

[Ap2000]

[quote name='ShinUkyo' post='73796' date='Jan 5 2010, 01:01 AM'][quote name='Ap2000' post='73432' date='Dec 30 2009, 09:08 PM']With Ukyo bumping this thread (lol)...[/quote]

I'm not sure if responding to a thread, one whose last response came just 18 days ago, is truly considered bumping (particularly to some comical degree). Especially considering there's only a couple active threads in the E-Lounge at this moment. So technically responding to any thread in this forum is "bumping." Now to see if I can revive my old Dollhouse thread. THAT, my friend, would be a bump.

[/quote]



It wasn't intended as a negative comment towards you, I just didn't knew how I could have said it in a different way. haha

[ShinUkyo]

[quote name='Ap2000' post='73800' date='Jan 4 2010, 07:03 PM']It wasn't intended as a negative comment towards you, I just didn't knew how I could have said it in a different way. haha[/quote]

That's okay; no offense taken. If anything, I was just looking for a reason to mention how inactive the E-Lounge has become. I wish people would kick around some more of the topics here, instead of just letting them die early deaths. <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... ryalot.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':love:' />