Pleas take into consideration that these are my thoughts, and I am going to get emotional. It's a rant; expect me to be a bit of a bitch here.
If you want a more logical, well-thought out read, and not a rant, please check this link:
Also, the Blog translation of Airi's apology post, thanks to Takamaruyo forums:
Okay, let me clear a bit up first; a few days ago, a picture was posted on Facebook somewhere showing Suzuki Airi, the back of her head to be exact, sitting beside a guy on a bus. Yeah, that was pretty much it, and for a few days nothing else was said.
... Well, that was until Airi posted on her blog apologising for what had happened, and telling her fans that they were nothing ore than acquaintances. So now it's a scandal.
... The. Fuck?
Okay, are we being completely bloody serious here? She sits next to a guy, on her way home from classes, and someone tweets, instagrams or whatever the hell they do with images nowadays, and it is a scandal? Because she conversed with someone, made a friend in class, and sat beside them? Really, now? REALLY? This is so fucking stupid, I can't even...
Oh wait, I'm sorry, I'm being too irrational right now, aren't I? Sorry for over-fucking-reacting to the situation we are in. I forgot that Idols aren't allowed to breathe the same air as the opposite gender unless they are a Wota and have that 'privilege'. Oh well, too bad, she's sullied goods now. Pack your bags, Airi, you're going home. We don't want you in C-ute, now. Whore. Harlet.
... Okay, that one was a bit over the top, but you know what I mean. Yes, okay there is a little more to it (apparently), such as how she has messaged him on her blog and such, and that she meets up with him... but seriously, who cares? Okay, no dating, I get it, but if she is friends with him, then really... who cares, and what can we do? I know that Airi, as an Idol, has rules to follow, and has an image and reputation to uphold, but sometimes I do feel like the Wota take this sort of shit out of hand and make a mountain out of a mole hill, all because their 'pwecious Idol' breathed the same air as another human being who she shares a class with in University.
Seriously... When the hell did this:
Turn into this?
... URGH!!!
This, to me, is really stupid. I find it incredibly baffling and idiotic beyond belief that Airi sitting next to a guy, conversing with him and such, can cause such an uproar, to the point where Airi has to apologise for sitting beside someone. It is incredibly ridiculous, and it really riles me up. If it didn't, I would not be writing this post.
I know that my energy on getting riled up about this is pointless here, but I really did need to get it across, in my own way. Airi, as an Idol, especially one of her status in H!P, will always be subject to these sorts of things; people will deliberately try to get her into trouble because they can and they might find it funny, or because someone is jealous or something, but I do honestly find it stupid that this is being labelled as a scandal for the pure fact that she sat next to the guy. What next? Will her fans burn her photos when she talks to her father or brother, because they are, gasp, male? Either way, this is ridiculous, and it just makes me wonder about how stupid the no-dating rule is as a whole now, and how ridiculous some fans (not all, some) can be.
... But, if she really did get into a scandal, then what? This is not AKB48 we are talking about, but H!P and UFP; they have a very different way of playing that field whenever a member of theirs is caught up in a scandal; they will either ignore it, like they tried to with Miki (she just left) and Miyabi, or they would totally boot Airi out and shun her from the public eye (like Mari right now).
Again, I find all of this commotion over Airi sitting next to a guy who she apparently converses with quite a bit pretty fucking stupid and unbelievable, and yes, I know... I am adding my own timber and fuel to the damn fire by making this post, but seriously, I wanted to rant and express how idiotic I think all of this. Seriously... she isn't pregnant through touching his arm or breathing in his deathly 'human male' spores, she just sat next to the guy!
But nope, she's a whore, clearly. She's a whore because she is social in her University class, and made a friend. And if he is more than that? Well, what do I care? What we don't know doesn't hurt us!
Ya never know though, if this guy takes pictures of her topless and sends them to Friday, she may become super popular and the next MoBeKiSuJ song, if it ever happens, will be a parade dedicated to her with Airi as the front and centre.
... Yeah, that's all I gotta say. Rant over, I'm sleepy now. Night y'all!
Chiima~
PING!!! Idolminded Recommended Reading: June 27th, 2013
I couldn't have said it better myself. Airi may not be my favorite member (chissa ftw) but I hate that the wotas are overreacting to a picture. I hope ufp doesn't do anything too serious. Just do what they did with Miya and push her to the back for 1 or 2 singles and move on with life.
ReplyDeleteThank you xD I was just very pent up (and tired) so I just ranted and said what I wanted to say. And yes, I am a Chissa fan too, not an Airi lover, but I do like her. And yes, it will be okay to see Airi taken back a little so that it can all blow over. I doubt they will let Airi go, though, she's far too talented.
DeleteWhen I manage my idol group they'll be able to date and will constantly be talking to the fans about their relationships and anyone who doesn't like it can grow the F up.
ReplyDeleteYAAAAY!!!!! A lovely, well-managed Idol group where they have some freedom outside of their careers :D
DeleteGotta keep the wotas happy since they pay the bills. You can whine all you want but that's just the way it is.
ReplyDeleteI know u.u In the end, it is the Wota who do it all, but as a fan myself, I do eel a little irked by it all... >.<
DeleteThis. THIS POST. This is what I wanted to say! It's hardly a crime to take the bus home! I really hope that UFP ignore this shambles, like you said, because I know there will be a lot of pissed off Airi fans (and a lot of pissed off non-Airi fans) if Tsunku, or whoever is in charge of everything at UFP, chucks Airi out of C-ute. Even Airi herself doesn't understand why people are blowing this out of all proportion!
ReplyDeleteAhhhh hello, I am happy you commented! I did not think that you would see my post ever, or that you would think 'Damn, she overreacted XD'. But yeah, I don't get it, Airi is totally innocent! If he is her friend, her fans should understand that and not go overboard with their hate for all things male and human that interact with an Idol.
DeletePoor Airi... she did something so innocent, and is getting heated debates and war for it D;
It's kind of funny reading western fans comments. Ralph Hagenback has it right. If Japanese fans, and I am not just talking about wota's, even suspect a girl has been dating, the financial impact to the company at least in regards to her earning potential, could be devastating. Once she is thought of as "used goods", nobody is going to buy her merchandise. Not photo books or light sticks or nothing. This is one industry where the fans, some who spend an absurd amount of money, really do control an idols career to a point. The company could keep a girl that has dated but she will not bring in the money like she did. This is how it has been for a long time in Japan, at least in the female idol world, and from what I can see it isn't going to change anytime soon.
ReplyDeleteHi, thank you for commenting! :)
DeleteI understand what you mean, and I do know that an Idol dating and losing her 'innocence' is a bad thing, but I think us Western fans see it differently; we are very much 'equal rights for both males and females', and think it is unfair that a girl is treated like this, especially if the act is innocent in a way. I am not saying the girl should sleep with whomever she wants, but she should be allowed to have male friends.
The thing is, and this is what boggles me the most, is how AKB48, who are also Idols, can skim this rule; Sashihara Rino and Minegishi Minami are the two I am talking about - they are still promoted, Minami less so I believe, but they still placed very high (especially Sasshi) despite their scandals this year and last. Sasshi had a lot of hardcore evidence, pictures of her nude pretty much, and yet she brings in money still. It is boggling, really.
I talked to my friends about the difference between akb and hp and they compared akb to mistresses and hp to wives. If your mistress has another boyfriend it might be upsetting but you get over it, but if your wife strays from you it's something you never forgive. For some reason they put them on different size pedestals even though they like them the same. I don't really get it either.
DeleteKenji, I don't think the western fans are quite so slow on the uptake as you propose. They are familiar with the heartless calculus the idol industry well enough yet choose to lambaste the slavering horde of wotas who lose their shit over this sort of thing at every opportunity in the hopes that holding a mirror of shame to their outbursts might force, if glacially, the changes you take no part in helping bring about.
Delete