AKB dramz

[Farrah]

I don't really put an idol bikini photobook under the label of "appreciating the beauty of the human body", myself XD more like "wank-fodder-for-70%-of-fans-and-d'awww-fodder-for-the-rest".



Musically, I'm more into AKB48 right now. Some of their stage songs are really catchy and I like that they do a fair amount of emo girl-rage songs. But I won't deny that AKB48 reeks of exploitation much more than H!P. They're not quite as trashy as people like to make them out to be, but they do pander to the pedowota and general "I jacked myself off before the handshake event, woo!" wota more than H!P. The intro to Ponytail to Shuushuu... isn't one of them like, 12? <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... #>/sad.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':(' /> Everything about AKB48, image wise, is exactly the kind of thing that turns the general public off to female idol groups.

[Ap2000]

[quote name='Al Kusanagi' post='80777' date='Jun 10 2010, 06:27 PM']Showing off the beauty of the human body = Classy



Flashing vag on a regular basis = Trashy[/quote]



In the end it is the EXACTLY same thing, as Ang said it.

H!P is only not showing it so openly that they in fact sell sexual/sexualized dreams to people. I'm not talking to the few fans outside of Japan, but about the fans that actually matter to H!P/UFA.

If you deny this, then you're just delusional.

[al kusanagi]

No there's still a difference. If HP were taking pictures like that in thongs, then I'd concede your point. If you're looking for "spank fodder" anyway, roughly 98% of the internet would offer better.

[Farrah]

[quote name='Al Kusanagi' post='80791' date='Jun 10 2010, 04:38 PM']No there's still a difference. If HP were taking pictures like that in thongs, then I'd concede your point. If you're looking for "spank fodder" anyway, roughly 98% of the internet would offer better.[/quote]

Aren't the wota sort of into that, though? The whole "kind of naughty, but kind of not, but she comes pre-equipped with a dream girl personality!" thing? Idk. It's senseless to deny that H!P and AKB48 are just selling the same thing in different ways. AKB48 is just much more open about it.

[eri]

Perhaps it is a question of degrees though.



No one is denying that H!P sexualizes its "products." Surely, there is a shock when you discover their bikini (passive, male oriented, infantalized, prey-like style of soft-corn porn) PBs after only being acquainted with, say, their "children's anime" personas. Moreover, we all recognize the changing face of H!P over the years in relation to their shifting fanbase. I don't deny that H!P is an idol unit, packaging and commodifying notions of girlhood and sexuality to alternative audiences. Even when girls have gorgeous and artistic PBs, I still understand that there is an essentially disturbing process where the idol's image is meant to be BOUGHT and consumed by others. There are many components of H!P that I will NEVER buy into, especially when they seem to implicitly support disturbing social practices.



However, the fact that H!P can still be divisive like this only shows how H!P can never be identified as solely sexual and/or disturbingly infantalized sexual products. The key might be that H!P also (or used to) allow for multiple forms of reception: namely, as children's entertainment (crossing over with anime), trend setters, gay icons, otaku icons, and your avg male jerk off fantasy. For every t&a shot, we get a group like Buono and their pseudo-rock albums, and plaid fluff, bubblegum happy girly shojo anime fun.



I don't know much about AKB48 but it seems that they have built their empire by embracing that single role of becoming the otaku sexual harem fantasy. The fact that they are called "AKB" and are headquartered in Akihabara and are consistently photographed in school girl uniforms may attest to this.

[al kusanagi]

Every product on the face of the planet is being sold in different ways. HP is awesome and AKB are filthy cancerous whores. End of discussion.



Also, MM have had bikini PBs since damn near day one, long before they were considered "idols." You'd be hard pressed to find a single semi-attractive Japanese actress/singer/etc. that hasn't done at least one series of bikini pictures. And when you put HP photobooks on the scale of "chaste" to "sleazy," they are far closer to the nice than naughty side.

[michikodesu]

I'm more into the music aspect instead of the whole 'idol' package; but I just haven't really been able to get into AKB's songs. I mean, the only song that I remember is RIVER; but it's the only part where they say River over and over......but I can't recall the tune or the melody. But most of the dang songs from MM or C-ute, and even S/mileage stay in my head. Maybe it's a mental thing. I dunno.



But I have tried......just to see what they had to offer, I remember watching a PV of them dancing in front of either a windmill or a light house. That was the first PV I saw, and I tried to watch others; but the songs just don't affect me.

[strawberryjam]

So why did the thread have to turn into a comparison of idol groups? I haven't been around to enforce it... so oh well....

I really hate it when people discuss why H!P sucks, so lets not get involved even from the other side.



Sayumi wins lots of points for admitting to liking AKB48. Not because of what I think of them, but just shows how all this competitive-ness is unnecessary. So please stop bickering and writing off opinions as facts. :|

[Haru]

On the subject of classy versus trashy, I downloaded Saitou's photobook the other day...don't get me wrong, she's a beautiful woman, but it's like...really, really Playboy-esque material. With the way she's posed and everything. It's a nice PB, yes, but shortly after I had to go and look at one of Sayu's so i could try and get the image of her in doggy-style out of my head.



H!P has it's good and bad, ditto for AKB. AKB, I'm with Michiko. Song wise, I really only remember RIVER and Sakura no Shiori, because they were so different. I have Kamikyoukutachi, and yes, the songs are good, but not memorable.

The reason I listen to Japanese and Korean pop is I want different. That's why I'm disappoint with Momusu as of late. It's all of the same. "Nanchatte," "Genki Pikapikka," "Seishun Collection," all of the songs sound like they're sampled from one another. It was, unfortunately, the same on ºC-ute's album. I think that's why I'm so into Berryz and Melon, because they're different. Berryz has different styles every time they release singles.



ETA - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pLNTiPAdeaE

Continuing the discussion of Berryz' awesome performances.

[strawberryjam]

Closing this thread... I liked eri's analogy of noodles. I seem to be the only one that think of idols that way. <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... smooch.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':whatthe:' />