That was one helluva experience you got there.
The Post article do miss a few things and more facts that could've cleared things up for the non-fans, and commentators below the article put those up for the sake of clarification.
If anything, I think they're pretty much astonished just how far they've become well known (at least through the Internet and the fandom), but as representatives of a pop music genre, it's a matter of time before they could very well challenge the dominance of k-pop (aggressively promoted by their government) on a global scale.
Anyway, earlier this morning, a naysayer posted up a small scathing and possibly trolling comment, but nevertheless as a defense I replied at him at length:
http://www.japanator.com/akb48-celeb...ws-22612.phtml
Some people really do need to be open-minded and understanding; ignorance is one of the sources of hatred.
OBTW, there will always be some fucking trolls like
this dick.