Silly/Odd News Stories from around the World

[SaintessHeart]

Originally Posted by willx

^ Man .. do I hate the "idol culture" in Japan. It absolute disgusts me. I can only think of increasingly poor adjectives to lather on these useless wastes of space.

I think of it more as a descendant of the female entertainers of the past, namely the new generation geishas, albeit with shorter skirts and more energy.

The culture of entertainment didn't change much. Providing song and dance with utmost professionalism, and being the "good and obedient" money-maker for whoever is "taking care" of them. If providing sex is required, the "clothes must not be undone" (meaning to do it and not get caught by anyone).

Originally Posted by Xellos-_^

she should just skip right to the JAV career.

all those ex-AKB48 members can form a new JAV Idol Group

I think, being 4 full years younger than me at 20 years old, she still can just "graduate" and go back to school. Quit being an idol and get a proper diploma or degree, and get a proper job. An idol or singer is even more dead-end than a seiyuu, if I am not wrong, most seiyuu are actually capable or certified for something else other than voice acting - Norio Wakamoto is ex-riot police and Kana Hanazawa is a university student (probably graduated given her age, damn I want to date her! Even though she's abit chubby.).

With the advent of video streaming on the internet, "rare" talent as displayed by those agencies are no longer as rare it is thought to be in the age of modern music. To quote the character Ogata Rina from White Album, "What are we? As a singer, we only last 2 to 3 years, and if we are lucky, maybe 5."

[Anh_Minh]

Originally Posted by SaintessHeart

Norio Wakamoto is ex-riot police

What did he do? Show up at riots with a loudspeaker and order the rioters to go home? (I'm pretty sure it'd work on me...)

[Sumeragi]

Originally Posted by SaintessHeart

Kana Hanazawa is a university student (probably graduated given her age, damn I want to date her! Even though she's abit chubby.)

She graduated in 2011, majoring in Japanese Literature (she's a real bungaku shoujo). Anything further is her privacy.

[SaintessHeart]

Originally Posted by Anh_Minh

What did he do? Show up at riots with a loudspeaker and order the rioters to go home? (I'm pretty sure it'd work on me...)

Nah he would probably encourage the rioters to go home with that charming voice of his.

He is supposedly a qualified martial artist as well, according to wikipedia. And I remember that riot police actually have a degree of hidden power, most of it which is within the gray area of the law.

Originally Posted by Sumeragi

She graduated in 2011, majoring in Japanese Literature (she's a real bungaku shoujo). Anything further is her privacy.

She took after her Kaminomi character?

If she did then it is safe to assume that she is just as adorable and innocent - I mean I don't think she will be as into those disgusting illegal stuff.

I digress, however I think that being an idol means more time is spent on image and fan-management that "personal life" no longer exists.

To quote Shakespeare, her time on stage is up. As a good player she should exit gracefully.

[RRW]

As north China chokes on toxic smog, a Chinese entrepreneur is offering a solution: canned air.
Millionaire Chen Guangbiao is selling fresh air in soft drink cans for 5 yuan (80 cents) a pop. The air comes in flavors including “Pristine Tibet,” “Post-industrial Taiwan” and “Revolutionary Yan’an.” A portion of the proceeds will go to charity, the International Business Times reports.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-0...-in-a-can.html

[Ithekro]

Canned Air?....Perri-Air
(Mel Brooks was right!)

[LeoXiao]

For 40 Years, This Russian Family Was Cut Off From All Human Contact, Unaware of World War II


Damn, how can people even survive like that? Talk about hardcore camping trips.

[sa547]

Originally Posted by Xellos-_^

she should just skip right to the JAV career.

all those ex-AKB48 members can form a new JAV Idol Group

Goddamn it, you people latching on that bullshit of a website and Perez Hilton. Read here instead:

I am very sorry for worrying the members, you fans, staff members, my family, and many people for the article about me on a weekly magazine that will be released today.

As the first generation member of AKB48 that was formed back in 2005, I was supposed to be in the position where I always had to act as a role model for the junior members. However, what I have done was such a thoughtless and a lack of self-awareness behavior.

Since my mind is still in blank, I did not know what to do or what I can do, but as I just saw the magazine, I could not sit still, so I decided all by myself to shave my head without even telling the members or my agency.

I do not expect that I would be forgiven by doing this, but what I first thought was that I did not want to quit AKB48.

I was unable to think of leaving AKB48 now where the members I love and spent my youth together, and you warm fans are. I know this is being over‐optimistic, but I want to stay as Minegishi Minami of AKB48 if possible.

It was all my fault about this. I am very sorry.

I will leave everything to Akimoto-sensei’s and the management’s judgement. Though I haven’t been able to sort out my feelings, I just wanted to tell you how I was feeling right now.

Thank you.

From theater manager Togasaki:

From AKB staff blog

Q. Why did you broadcast such video online?

A. Minegishi wanted to apologize to fans, so we prepared a video quickly. But when we prepared the set, we were notified that she “wanted to apologize bald” , and allowed her to appear as such in order to convey her strong feelings regarding AKB.

Q. Was it necessary to shave her bald?

A. Was it necessary? Was it not necessary? Probably not, but this was her choice.

Q. Could you not stop her?

A. When she entered the make up room she was already bald apparently. The staff tried to stop her but she apparently said that in order to be remorseful she took scissors to her hair.

Q. Isn’t the punishment for her unequal compared to other members?

A. For each member they each have different circumstances. For example, certain members may have been warned a lot or others may have been on their way to graduate or have had their past uncovered. Or they could have broken some other rule.

Each member is treated on a case by case instance.

Q. Minegishi uploaded a photo of herself smiling with first generations, is she properly reflecting on her actions?

A. Before her Team B performance she apologized to the crowd.

- Togasaki Tomonobu, AKB48 General Theater Manager

Protip: For non-fans to talk about real idols -- whether it's AKB, Morning Musume, Hello!Project, Momoclo Z, etc. -- means having to do the research first. Any more further discussions about the Minegishi incident should go down to the AKB thread in the Music section.

[SaintessHeart]

Originally Posted by sa547

Goddamn it, you people latching on that bullshit of a website and Perez Hilton. Read here instead:

As much as Sankaku is a site that writes somewhat inflammatory articles through a caustic and sarcastic tone, calling it a "bullshit of a site" is degratory.

It is meant for entertainment, not a serious read. I was hoping someone would link it to the official Japanese one with a TL because I am not good at reading Japanese, however I am not expecting a fan to barge in and bash those who lack acute knowledge of idols as "trending news bandwagon jumpers".

Lastly, Xellos is being sarcastic, and highlighting the "post-graduation career" of Rina Nakanishi as an "Adult Video Entertainer". If you want to quote people as "latchers", quote us all, not just the one with a morbid sense of humour.

Protip: For non-fans to talk about real idols -- whether it's AKB, Morning Musume, Hello!Project, Momoclo Z, etc. -- means having to do the research first. Any more further discussions about the Minegishi incident should go down to the AKB thread in the Music section.

This is a discussion about the idol and entertainment scene in Japan, not just about a single group. I brought in the culture of geishas and seiyuus to expand the debate out of just one girlband, so why are you hijacking and privatising this discussion to an overspecialised thread?

I don't know if I should create a new thread about this, I will wait for a mod's next suggestion because this may only be a short discussion that does not merit a new thread to be created. For the time being, subsequent replies with regards to Minegishi and idol-related issues should be kept here until it runs dry for us to move on.

[Cosmic Eagle]

Originally Posted by willx

^ Man .. do I hate the "idol culture" in Japan. It absolute disgusts me. I can only think of increasingly poor adjectives to lather on these useless wastes of space.

You say that...do you even know the full thing behind Japan's idol culture? I normally don't support AKB itself since I'm honestly neutral towards them but just blasting the whole culture? Do you even know its history and the finer details of it?

calling it a "bullshit of a site" is degratory.

Bullshit...

In other news, Youtube comments are sewage.

[SaintessHeart]

Originally Posted by Cosmic Eagle

Bullshit...

In other news, Youtube comments are sewage.

And then what about 2ch and 4ch?

Let's face it, news are boring. Sankaku merely takes one, twists it towards an incredibly silly perpective, and publish it - something tabloids and from the recent trend I am seeing, many news agencies are doing (or have been doing for a long time). What do we call them? Entertainment.

So why do we get dissed and annoyed when we should be smirking at how irrational it is?

Originally Posted by Cosmic Eagle

You say that...do you even know the full thing behind Japan's idol culture? I normally don't support AKB itself since I'm honestly neutral towards them but just blasting the whole culture? Do you even know its history and the finer details of it?

Not everyone knows about the idol culture in Japan because in that unique place with unique values, the idea of "worship" can be very wide. Even Wikipedia only gives a very rough summary of it.

Today, the Japanese idols may seem to some like an avatar of capitalism, with the aura and mystique of the idols' out-of-ordinary lifestyles as compared to the average Japanese citizen. I don't fault Will for thinking like that because sometimes, that mystique portrayed may be considered decadent, especially to those who are more consistently exposed to the harsher and unpleasant circumstances (and garbage people, by force of course in their line of work) of life.

That is why wherever there is a debate of idol culture between parties with different perspectives, I always bring in the geishas : helps alot of filter out the hardcore worshippers, know-nothing-but-unwilling-to-learn, and history-deniers. Japan's greatest export since the Meiji Restoration, I would say, is its image as run by its media.

So from the start since Commodore Perry's visit and the realisation of backwardness, is Japan exporting their image or media? We will never know.

[sa547]

The danger is that some facts and truths get twisted around by those sites to the point of misinforming the public at large. So there will be this mistaken perception that all idol groups are harmful, and many uneducated people fall for this witch-hunting (like OMG THOSE POOR GIRLS THEY SHOULD SHUT DOWN IDOLS).

And I'm sorry to say but idols generally don't lead lives of conspicuous consumption, unlike their Western counterparts.

[Cosmic Eagle]

Originally Posted by SaintessHeart

And then what about 2ch and 4ch?

Let's face it, news are boring. Sankaku merely takes one, twists it towards an incredibly silly perpective, and publish it - something tabloids and from the recent trend I am seeing, many news agencies are doing (or have been doing for a long time). What do we call them? Entertainment.

So why do we get dissed and annoyed when we should be smirking at how irrational it is?

That was meant to be tongue in cheek lol. 2ch is bad but not as crude as Youtube I find...YT is special.

Not everyone knows about the idol culture in Japan because in that unique place with unique values, the idea of "worship" can be very wide. Even Wikipedia only gives a very rough summary of it.

Today, the Japanese idols may seem to some like an avatar of capitalism, with the aura and mystique of the idols' out-of-ordinary lifestyles as compared to the average Japanese citizen. I don't fault Will for thinking like that because sometimes, that mystique portrayed may be considered decadent, especially to those who are more consistently exposed to the harsher and unpleasant circumstances (and garbage people, by force of course in their line of work) of life.

That is why wherever there is a debate of idol culture between parties with different perspectives, I always bring in the geishas : helps alot of filter out the hardcore worshippers, know-nothing-but-unwilling-to-learn, and history-deniers. Japan's greatest export since the Meiji Restoration, I would say, is its image as run by its media.

So from the start since Commodore Perry's visit and the realisation of backwardness, is Japan exporting their image or media? We will never know.

Is not just geisha...go back to the early modern music scene of all those pioneer Enka people from the 50s and 60s and the work of the early idol singers in the 70s and 80s like Matsuda Seiko and Yamaguchi Momoe and see how they all link down to the present in this "genre" Don't just condemn an entire line of people without knowing anything about them.

Even if current ones may do stuff that conservatives (because seriously only those would really find anything wrong with the general public attention catching crap that crops up from time to time) find distasteful, that doesn't mean it's a general trend

[willx]

Originally Posted by Cosmic Eagle

You say that...do you even know the full thing behind Japan's idol culture? I normally don't support AKB itself since I'm honestly neutral towards them but just blasting the whole culture? Do you even know its history and the finer details of it?

Originally Posted by sa547

The danger is that some facts and truths get twisted around by those sites to the point of misinforming the public at large. So there will be this mistaken perception that all idol groups are harmful, and many uneducated people fall for this witch-hunting (like OMG THOSE POOR GIRLS THEY SHOULD SHUT DOWN IDOLS).

And I'm sorry to say but idols generally don't lead lives of conspicuous consumption, unlike their Western counterparts.

I actually do know a bit about idol culture in Japan. One of my best friends in highschool was from Kyoto and introduced me to all of it (as well as various KPOP groups that emerged in popularity at the time.) He was a huge fan of Morning Musume and I spent the better part of 3 years learning everything about them. I was also well aware of the various "fall from grace" situations due to personal relationship scandals.

As for the people I am referring to as useless waste of space I'm referring to the "my waifu" style fans and fanatics that are not isolated to Japan, but are apparently numerous enough to dictate acceptable behavior. I also have a close friend that is in the entertainment industry in HK. So, yes, it continues to disgust me because these reactions to behavior by these public figures is in turn a representation of their fans own personalities.

[MrTerrorist]

Originally Posted by SaintessHeart

I think, being 4 full years younger than me at 20 years old, she still can just "graduate" and go back to school. Quit being an idol and get a proper diploma or degree, and get a proper job. An idol or singer is even more dead-end than a seiyuu, if I am not wrong, most seiyuu are actually capable or certified for something else other than voice acting - Norio Wakamoto is ex-riot police and Kana Hanazawa is a university student (probably graduated given her age, damn I want to date her! Even though she's abit chubby.).

Don't you dare call Kana-chan chubby you discriminating loli lover!
Should i scare you with tales of Kana possibly being a Fujoshi?
Or should i call Sumeragi-nee-sama and have her "teach you" on what happens when you call a girl fat?

[Sumeragi]

Kana-chan isn't a fujoshi, although she is different from your sterotypical "bubbly" schoolgirl.

[Cosmic Eagle]

Originally Posted by willx

As for the people I am referring to as useless waste of space I'm referring to the "my waifu" style fans and fanatics that are not isolated to Japan, but are apparently numerous enough to dictate acceptable behavior. I also have a close friend that is in the entertainment industry in HK. So, yes, it continues to disgust me because these reactions to behavior by these public figures is in turn a representation of their fans own personalities.

Those things? It is true that those things are a significant enough part of the consumer base. How significant compared to fans and common buyers doesn't seem to be clear but how they react cannot be controlled no? If there's one thing that should be done is to stop pandering to them who do not recognize skill. Other than that, you can't really fault the creators for it

[willx]

Originally Posted by Cosmic Eagle

Those things? It is true that those things are a significant enough part of the consumer base. How significant compared to fans and common buyers doesn't seem to be clear but how they react cannot be controlled no? If there's one thing that should be done is to stop pandering to them who do not recognize skill. Other than that, you can't really fault the creators for it

That's what bothers me -- it's the industry that is pandering to them or otherwise acquiescing to their demands. The fact that their opinions is what determines what is or isn't acceptable is appalling, no? You dismiss them, but their "voice" is strong enough to move the industry.

[Cosmic Eagle]

It shouldn't be seen as something ironclad...one of these days, if they push too far, they'll offend the other half of the consumer base. And then the PR people will get burnt for it like in that Kokoro Connect fiasco.

[SaintessHeart]

Originally Posted by Sumeragi

Kana-chan isn't a fujoshi, although she is different from your sterotypical "bubbly" schoolgirl.

She does look like the level headed yet well-informed kind of girl, though it is hard to judge if she is the reserved or outgoing kind. Besides she does look cute.....and I am glad one of my favourite VAs isn't a fujoshi.

Originally Posted by willx

As for the people I am referring to as useless waste of space I'm referring to the "my waifu" style fans and fanatics that are not isolated to Japan, but are apparently numerous enough to dictate acceptable behavior. I also have a close friend that is in the entertainment industry in HK. So, yes, it continues to disgust me because these reactions to behavior by these public figures is in turn a representation of their fans own personalities.

What? You heretic, there is nothing wrong with taking waifus! Ignorant little twerp!

To be serious, I have a bad personal experience at AFA12SG las year, especially during SPHERE's concert. I had a front row seat and was thinking of how to kidnap AyaTaka from the stage enjoying the concert when an entire fanclub just flooded to the front. I lost my temper, grabbed one and told him to go back to his seat.

JokerD later told me that idol chasers are like that, losing control admist their adoration for their idols, and made me wonder if we should show some tolerance to them while being stern. I am just glad that I didn't make a mess of that person's cranium by ramming it against the crowd barrier; though I don't know about the amount of restraint we should show for them as fellow human beings equally subsceptible to such impulses.

Originally Posted by Cosmic Eagle

Is not just geisha...go back to the early modern music scene of all those pioneer Enka people from the 50s and 60s and the work of the early idol singers in the 70s and 80s like Matsuda Seiko and Yamaguchi Momoe and see how they all link down to the present in this "genre" Don't just condemn an entire line of people without knowing anything about them.

Even if current ones may do stuff that conservatives (because seriously only those would really find anything wrong with the general public attention catching crap that crops up from time to time) find distasteful, that doesn't mean it's a general trend

I am talking about the geisha since from the feudal times, starting from then when they offered both viewing AND touching services as saburuko. The lucky ones served shoguns and became upper class "entertainers".

Japanese female entertainers come from a long line since the 7th century, and traditional views are still as deeply rooted in society, I think. I am glad the minimum age hasn't changed - *is sliced with a katana*.