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@jemmesedi @girlbandgeek that show was a *mess* but I love Ran because of Girls2 and I especially love Shizuku. I'm always really alarmed by how expensive their merch is though.

@miasmicfungus @girlbandgeek

Oh, that's interesting. I hadn't realized that Ran had been a member of Girls² . They are a group that I don't know that well, but I have really enjoyed some of their tracks, especially Juga Juga JUNGLE:

https://youtu.be/ia91puZUAqo?si=qNIYGChBqcGLAfeX

What are your favourite Girls² tracks?

Ran stood out to me in that "Sugar Bomb" stage to which I linked because she looked so pretty there.

I didn't watch PRODUCE 101 JAPAN THE GIRLS. Was Shizuku especially impressive or charming on the show?

Go ahead and horrify me with some of the merch prices!

@jemmesedi @girlbandgeek I had a small meltdown during Produce 101. https://mastodon.esmevane.com/@miasmicfungus/111614887956224564 For the most part my affront was due to ME:I being a Japanese produced group but secondhand places in Akiba charging K-pop import prices for merch like photographs and badges due to perceived popularity. I guess the marketing plan did work as I bought some ME:I promoted fragrances in a drugstore at some point, haha.

@jemmesedi @girlbandgeek oh no, apaprently I can't leave it at just that, so here's one other. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ej6by6T9zNI

@miasmicfungus @girlbandgeek

Thanks for two YouTube links. They've been added to my jpop playlist.

@jemmesedi @miasmicfungus I have watched all the videos in this thread. Thanks to both of you for broadening my horizons. I liked Juga Juga JUNGLE best. As Jonathan knows, I am new to J-pop (like 2 weeks), so my appreciation is still very nascent and evolving. Currently I'm getting into the 'classical' idol groups like Keyakizaka46. I think their debut Silent Majority is really cool:

https://youtu.be/uDaKPPmDSIE?si=UQoiYTIVMH-xR4HX

@girlbandgeek @jemmesedi AHHH! Silent Majority is AMAZING.Please tell me you love Kuroi Hitsuji as well? That song is... era defining. I smile at the idea of Keyakizaka being 'classical' but I guess you're right, they've been around long enough now and songs like Silent Majority really helped build on the Sakamichi series takeover of that specific corner of the idol industry. I need to stop living in the past, lol.

@miasmicfungus @jemmesedi I literally just watched that for the 1st time today. It's a good one . I just started exploring Jpop a couple weeks ago, so I'm enjoying that first rush of randomly discovering things.

Ha ha - I knew classical wasn't the right word, but what I mean is that I've been liking the Jpop format with a big group of girls in uniform. Typically there's singing in unison, and the music is orchestral and fast.

@miasmicfungus @jemmesedi My buddy @jemmesedi has been feeding me Japanese groups with a more modern, dance/hiphop vibe. Some have been quite good, but nothing so far approaching my fave Kpop girls in that genre.

@girlbandgeek @miasmicfungus

However one chooses to describe "Silent Majority", I would have to agree with that fan who recommended it to me as 46/48 style pop at its best.

I have a couple of questions about idol pop in Japan:

- Is it true that amongst Japanese idol pop fans, as opposed to Korean idol pop fans, there is a greater acceptance of poor singing and dancing, because the emphasis in Jpop is on the process of growth and learning rather than the Kpop stress on a polished product?

- Kpop has a largely female fanbase, and even those girl groups that start off with a majority male fandom eventually, - if they last - transition to a majority female fandom. Am I right in thinking that the girl group fandom in Japan is mostly made up of men?

- Did the older idol group Predia have any popular success?

https://youtu.be/0t88xRkRcTU?si=l_YdLUBdXVzoKRrc

@jemmesedi @girlbandgeek Predia were a big name, but I don't know much about them personally. There are lots of girls ar gigs in Japan whenever I am there though. It depends on the image of the group and the members but certain members have a strong female audience. I think poor singing is definitely something that is at the heart of idol. The idea fostered by the fans is that you are going on a journey with these girls and that you are joining with them and celebrating them as they approve.

@miasmicfungus @girlbandgeek

Thanks for filling me in!

@jemmesedi @girlbandgeek Thanks for listening to me ramble!

@miasmicfungus @girlbandgeek

Where else am I going to get such an enjoyably informative ramble on Japanese idol pop?

@jemmesedi @girlbandgeek I care about idols so much I think my heart might burst, hahha. Nothing moves me more than sugary sweet songs of first love, and I think part of that is that the Showa idols I love made their money in the '80s and '90s by importing songs from abroad, songs which already evoke a strong sense of nostalgia for me so that's why it hits me so hard and why I have so strongly identify with this stuff. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xyFBFi7PcG4

@miasmicfungus @girlbandgeek

I'll have to get back to you later - I've got to get to bed!

@jemmesedi @girlbandgeek Sleep well!