RE: I Don't Think Idol Culture Should Be A Part Of Otaku Media
I completely agree that there is something sinister about how idols are treated and fantasized. I think the k-pop industry is infinitely more uncomfortable, but that's beside the point.
I am a big fan of idol anime like Idolm@ster, Bang DreaM!, etc. While I don't pay much attention to the real idols themselves. This is largely because you need fluent Japanese comprehension to really keep up.
Regardless, I think idols are completely necessary by the nature of their career. Consider this from the perspective of the idols themselves. This industry is a source of work for people that want to perform, sing, and dance.
This is a point that I don't believe works for the game industry. Game developers and artists should be working on cool games like God of War and Persona 5. Is there any similar alternative demand for an idol's skills doing anything else? I don't think there is.
Anime is already a bubble that desperately needs to burst already, so I don't encourage any of them to dedicate themselves to VA work. Dedicated music work is a completely different thing from being an idol. And neither of those makes use of their performance skills.
I repeat that I do find the idol industry really distasteful. I remember hearing this this story and thinking that there was something wrong here. But I also find it distasteful to try taking work away from successful people.
I always say that it is noble to point out the flaws in the current system, but we always need to consider if solving it will hurt more than it helps.
My best analogy is when activists took away jobs from show girls on race tracks. You can talk about how exploitative and demeaning it is, but that's a job. In working towards a moral victory, they took jobs away from people they were trying to protect.
Mmm, don't get me wrong, I'm not saying Idol culture in general shouldn't exist. Maybe I'd respect that industry more if there was more of a focus on the music instead of cultivating a persona for these girls and a fantasy for their fans, but suggesting that Idols should be abolished both in the real world and in fiction is much too hyperbolic even for this article. I'm sure many of the girls in the industry are there right now because they love the fame, the music, the glamour, or all of those things and more. Maybe anime is what inspired them to pursue their dreams in the first place, and that aspect can be celebrated.
What I'm saying is that I don't think anime and fictional Otaku media should be presenting an unrealistic view of the idol industry. That if anime are going to provide a romance or waifu fantasy, then that fantasy shouldn't be so close to an industry that actually exists. And if it is going to be close, then it should also be self-aware of the criticisms and shady aspects surrounding the industry rather than trying to create a false perfect version of it. The Idol industry shouldn't be abolished, it should be improved- and while anime may be making Idols more successful from a financial perspective, it might not be improving the working conditions and attitudes surrounding the culture within the Idol industry.
I'm interested in hearing more about the K-Pop industry. I know very little about K-Pop in general.
100% the reason for why I think the Japanese idol industry is fine as it stands is because K-pop is so much more disturbing. I get that theres that cultural drive in Korea to be the best at whatever you do, but there have to be limits.
Do you know why K-pop stars are so immaculate? Its because they're like cattle. Raised to become the next BTS or whatever. Every single one has a lego set's worth of plastic implanted on various parts of their body. I cant even begin to speculate what their diet is like.
You know the Truman Show? That movie where a baby was selected at birth to eternally live in a family friendly sitcom? This is just as evil, if not worse.
Meanwhile, J-idols are still just singing and prancing around like idiots on stage. I'd much prefer to see them having fun like that instead of some flawless performance forged out of pain and suffering.