RE: I Don't Think Idol Culture Should Be A Part Of Otaku Media
I definitely agree that there are far too many anime that misrepresent Idols by giving a heavily one-sided perspective. Anime in recent years have been really good at showing the persona side of Idols, without showing the living, breathing human being behind the mask. The only example that currently comes to mind of an anime that gives a good examination of the darker side of Idols is Satoshi Kon's film Perfect Blue.
I do believe that it would be nearly impossible to remove Idol Culture from anime, as it is so deeply ingrained as a part of Japan's culture. That being the case though, I would then want to see more examples of Idol anime demonstrating the many challenges - and possibly misfortunes - an Idol can face when choosing to take that path, not merely the light and fluffy illusions that we have currently.
Yeah, I 100% agree there. There's so many interesting stories you can tell with idols that anime almost seems to be afraid to touch, stuff like Perfect Blue.
Geez, I've had Perfect Blue sitting around on DVD for years and I've never gotten around to watching it. After all the writing and analysis videos I've seen it feels like I've already watched it, but I really should give it a go since I loved Paranoia Agent. We need a visionary like Satoshi Kon in today's industry.