How am I just so into the girls?

I was going to try to sit down and write a post convincing you all to buy the new Berryz single. And, you know, you should. It’s two immensely wonderful tracks, 5 gloriously interesting girls, plus Momo and Yurina (:p), and there’s a certain amount of sexiness in the singing of Watashi no Mirari no Danna-sama that certainly didn’t appear in Morning Musume’s new song about boobs and rump shaking. Just sayin’.

So, instead I’ll ponder about why I got so heavily into female idols and yet rarely listen to male idols.

Yes, rarely. I do listen to NEWS and w~inds pretty regularly, with a good handful of ARASHI. Do Takki & Tsubasa count? I suppose…

See, maybe that’s part of it. I have a harder time identifying the “idols” from the other artists when it comes to the guys. Because, really, it comes down to the definition of an idol. Sure, you use the definition of just “idol” which is (according to dictionary.com): any person or thing regarded with blind admiration, adoration, or devotion. Suddenly, Gackt is an idol. B’z is an idol. Yet, we tend not to consider them so. Why? I tend to think it’s a matter of talent. These guys play instruments, and write their own songs. Does this suddenly mean that certain persons we identify as idols who can play instruments and write songs aren’t really idols but “artists”? Probably not.

If it seems as though your “artist” was “created” rather than simply developing, that’s “idol” right there. This doesn’t mean they aren’t talented… just that maybe that wasn’t the biggest reason they were signed to their agency.

Johnny’s is obviously the biggest name in bringing you male idols in Japan. I try to assume that every artist they represent is idol until proven otherwise. Yet, another part of being an idol seems to be selling your personality as well as selling your talent or lack thereof. Maybe I’m wrong because I don’t follow the guys much, but while certain groups seem to do this, it doesn’t seem they all do. Does that discount them as idols, or simply point to the fact that they have enough factors beyond their faces to promote as well?

I want to talk about some individual groups and why I like or dislike them. First up, SMAP. Arguably, these guys are one of the best and brightest for male idols. They’ve been around since 1991. Yes, that means they’re 18 and legal… always important with an idol. Yet, for all they’ve been around for 8 years longer, they’ve only released about the same number of singles as Morning Musume. Interestingly enough, they really were “created” in 1988 or so from a group of backup dancers for Hikaru Genji, but didn’t really hit their stride until 1993 or so. Almost everything they’ve released has hit #1. All of the members have profitable careers as actors and spokepeople. As it is, one of the members earlier this year was involved in druken public indecency and the repercussions were pretty large, which only tends to happen if you’re still big in the business. As far as I go, though, I just can’t get into SMAP. I have a friend who has tried. That’s not to say I don’t like the music, but it doesn’t have the spark to it that makes me really continue to listen.

ARASHI has been around their 10 years or so, and their story isn’t too different from SMAP’s, except that they were sucessful to start with, then it kind of declined for a while until in 2006 or so they had some spectacular hits. From then on, ARASHI has been a chart dominator. Their new singles are #1s, no question. I tend to like their music, but it isn’t something I’m ever really compelled to listen to. But, if I hear it, I get into it except for the rapping which it seems is all actually written and performed by… Sho? I don’t really know the members well enough to identify them by voice or anything and I can’t be bothered to actually check up on a lot of this stuff. Additionally, I can say one of my favorite doramas I’ve ever watched is Yamada Tarou Monogatari which stars I believe Nino and Sho from ARASHI in roles very different from how they actually are, or so I remember reading.

Next up… NEWS! I think for me, NEWS is the most idol-y of the guy groups just because they remind me so much of most of the Hello! Project groups. Sure, most of the time they’re cool… but sometimes they’re huge dorks. Additionally, I adore Tomohisa Yamashita. I was introduced to him through the dorama Nobuta wa Produce, and have watched most of the other doramas he’s been in. I’ve read up on him and feel the same kind of pull as I do toward Captain from Berryz and Junjun from Momusu. I can recognize that he isn’t the most talented vocalist of the group, but he certainly tries hard and that’s admirable in an idol. I couldn’t name off any of the other members of the group, but I can name off a handful of songs that I consider favorites and often do go searching out the music on my hard drive because I feel like listening. NEWS are pretty good sellers themselves. All 11 of their singles were weekly #1s and have all sold at least 150,000 copies in the first week. I wonder if it has something to do with the fact that they release so rarely? Since their debut in… 2004? Yeah, only 11 singles. 3 albums. But, the guys all seem to stay busy in doramas and such.

I was also introduced to KAT-TUN through Nobuta wo Produce with Kamemashi Kazuya. KAT-TUN had their debut in 2006 or so. They’ve release 10 singles? And… 4 albums? I pretty sure I’m right there. And, for whatever reason, all of their singles have sold at least 250,000 copies in their first week. I don’t get it, but I don’t understand the appeal of Perfume either. I think I’m just perpetually turned off by this awkward hip-thrusting thing Kame did in NoWoPro and the vaguely blinged-out image the group seems to have most of the time.

My started male idol group, though? w~inds. With 8 albums and 27 singles, they’ve been around since 2001. Their early singles sold in the 200,000 copies range, but in the past few years, sales have dropped to the 40,000 copies range. Granted, I think that’s fair given that I like a lot more of their early work than I do their more recent singles. The idol feeling is there, especially in the fact that several of their songs are based on American boyband songs. They’re not with Johnny’s, and I like it that way. I don’t have any particular love for a specific member, but it is kind of nice to not be too much older than any of them.

Takki & Tsubasa is another group I guess I do kind of buy as idols. One element of being an idol is versatility, and these guys have it in spades. They go from a rather poppy double A-side with X~Dame/Crazy Rainbow Star to a rather rocky Samurai with ease. Then again, these guys debuted in 2002 or so. They seem to have T&T as kind of a side project almost as Takki also releases solo works and both also do solo concerts. Also, while they’re Johnny’s boys, they actually release through avex trax which is kind of fun. They tend to do in the 100,000 range of sales for first week copies, but I think their quality tends to be a bit higher than a lot of the other groups, and both members are branching out into writing and such.

I know I’m not even touching on a lot of the groups, but I wanted to kind of state my views on a handful there and do a bit of a comparison. It really seems like guy idol groups tend to release less often than girl idol groups. ARASHI has been around about as long as Momusu, but has like 14 less singles? Hell, SMAP barely has more singles out than Momusu and they’ve been around like 6 years longer. I like getting new releases often. It makes me a happy wota.

In a way, too, female idol groups are the underdog of late. Sure, AKB48 is doing well, but look at how much they had to put into it to get to that point. I like to root for the underdog, hence my above plea of “Buy your Berryz fresh!”.

Additionally, I like costumes. And, while guy groups do wear costumes, a lot of times they just look like bad clothing choices. It’s kind of sad. Instead of bling and tight pants, give me feather boas and safety pants. It’s more visually pleasing to me. Granted, I won’t deny there’s certain bits of fanservice that go on in Johnny’s concerts that I rather enjoy, but overall, I’d rather watch the girls have fun.

In the idol world, everyone has their own preference. You’d be incredibly hard-pressed to find someone else with exactly your idol views. As it is, even if you find someone else with identical favorite groups, then you have to have the same favorite members. On top of that, there’s having favorite songs, etc. So, in the long run, you’re kind of on your own in the idol-loving world except where you can find other people who do have certain commonalities and enjoy that for a bit until you move on because suddenly someone who loves your fave group but hates your fave member starts trying to befriend you, or you can just put a bit of a focus on all of your fave groups without getting too into any of it, or you can be like me and probably most wota and devote yourself whole-heartedly to a very few with a handful of others who you look in on from time to time. For me, Berryz Koubou and Morning Musume take the current cake, and until they do something to make me no longer want that cake, I’ve got both on my plate and NEWS and w~inds and ARASHI and a handful of other idols are there on the table, and a bunch of non-idol groups are in the fridge just waiting to be pulled out, and now, thanks to this cake metaphor, I’m hungry.