wondered if i discussed about my support towards AKB.
recently on youtube i found AKB's official channel uploaded with a promotional video introducing AKB to well, anyone who views it.
and while i think it summarises what AKB means to me, but it doesnt actually capture the significance of many of the things being brought up.
so, with my hands itching just alittle, i decided to type.
I think they're a group that i am willing to support, because their style is different from the usual idols/idol groups.
in the sense that it does not mean singing and dancing. that it becomes a phenomena, a social effect.
dramas that wish to feature the girls, magazines that never fail to put somegirl on the top page to boost sales, never ending promotions by any thinkable company from drinks to sweets to 7 eleven.
that they are different because they begun as a theatre group, that they have stayed to their roots and still have daily performances at their own theatre in Akihabara.
or perhaps it was the never ending viral effect that seemed to spread so ambitiously from Akihabara to Nagoya's SKE48 and Osaka's NMB48 and its mad reach into the overseas markets, macau, shanghai, hk etc.
or that they have so many weekly tv programmes, shuukan, bingo, ariyoshi.. that brings fans one step so close to them week after week?
or the sincerity of fans shown by the handshake events that come for each major release? getting to shake the hands of idols is not a common thing for most groups, but with AKB its so different.
the approach and stance they take; letting people know how they genuinely are. individual characters and personalities.
everything's just so different.
truthfully, i dont think i find their songs or their voices the most captivating of the many artistes in the industry i know.
i dont find their dance the best either; sometimes it may even get messy, or just lack the groove factor.
but thats AKB. its not simply songs, or dance anymore.
putting it bluntly, its effective marketing, in that fans are drawn really close to them because there's just so much content.. that their personalities seem just so close.
not the perfect image that people expect of idols, but a real image of flaws, ridiculousness, fun, hardwork, fatigue, and about everything encapsulated.
below is a news clip of their latest handshake event for their new single, "beginner"
handshake events, an idea i think all fans appreciate. the magnitude was just.. o.o and there are really many, many fans who are quite up there, in terms of the way they support.
but its the very same scene that made me wonder what do people see out of idols? that idolism should not be blind, blinded in pure support, support for the sake of supporting. or supporting for simply the sake of liking things.
id continue to follow this phenomena and hope to see their ambitions grow. tho i dont think id exactly buy into all that marketing, and cashing in on merchandise and stuff because of their popularity.
its hard to put down this overall feeling of the AKB package in words, so ill leave it at here for today, and for others to explore themselves.
"A package of things"; thats what AKB48 means to me.
