I realised I was just about to hit 100 posts yesterday and decided to put myself off for this… I know 100 posts isn’t much, but for me it’s a good amount. So this post dedicated to Rika.
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Rika and Nono are kool but IshiYoshi is the true couple
^ Woot wooot. Actually, RikaXNono is very cute too, but they're more like sisters than anything else.
!Warning!: Fangirl essay of a rant coming up. (GOMEN for digging up past stuff… but I just felt a need to talk about it…)
I’ve been through a lot of MM forums/websites lately to try and educate myself more in this world I used to call overrated garbage *is ashamed*
One thing I keep getting is that there are a lot of passionate anti-Charmy/Rika people out there… and some main reasons seem to be that (1) she tries too hard to be cute, (2) that Rika is annoying (because Charmy is) and that (3) she’s a stuck-up person. I’m going to ignore (3) just because I’ve already made my argument against that… but let’s see…
(1) = Rika IS cute. Full stop.
If this girl isn’t cute, then NOBODY is.
(2) = What is wrong with people? Hello? Charmy is a persona, it’s not everything Rika is. T__T Some people need to understand that. Not only is Charmy a persona, she’s an exaggerated one. Because of Charmy, Rika felt at ease to be silly, let loose and develop into a more confident person.
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I’m going to go ahead and defend Rika on another charge. Now, I’m not going to repeat what the anti-fans said here in this Rika-loving thread, but needless to say, their comments were hurtful and ill-informed.
Many people refer to the ‘Angry 2003 Sports Festival incident’ as one of Rika’s low points (even Mari thought that was a no-no). I have a feeling that Rika may also have lost fans because of it, or at least made some of them question her. And so because of this incident, there are those who have come to believe that Rika is ‘two-faced.’
This is completely ignorant, and here’s why.
If she is ‘two-faced’ simply because she showed she was an imperfect human being like the rest of us, I really have nothing to say but @___@.
Personally, I’m glad I got to witness Rika have that moment, even if she regrets what happened just because of the reactions it roused. To me, she feels all the more real because of it. I’m somebody who has a very short fuse and tend to rage at people if they push my buttons enough, so I can understand.
But then again, I’m talking from the perspective of an outsider, and not as a Japanese fan. Firstly, their social etiquette is quite different from what I’m used to. The nail that sticks out gets hammered down. Secondly, they seem to regard idols as pretty cute girls who constantly smile and laugh and if they must be angry, a cute pout should suffice.
Mari also said that people were used to her Charmy personality, and so this incident must have been a shock for them and that fans wouldn't know what to think anymore.
Don’t people want to experience their idols as a person, and not just a 2-dimensional character? The fact that people would be shocked to see Rika like that might be reasonable, especially if they’ve never seen her like that before. BUT, if they decided that she was any less of a person because of it, then they are extremely narrow-minded.
We’re all people, including these idols, and so they experience the whole range of emotions too. Everybody gets angry. It was just unfortunate that Rika is not the type to put up with things and allowed her feelings to get the better of her in front of an audience that large. The way I see it, she DID genuinely believe that her team had been unfairly ruled against, considering she didn’t know until later that her flag had already been taken away from her. If she had known that, I don’t think she would have reacted in that way. Reina (God bless her) even said she felt touched that Rika could stand up for herself like that. It’s obvious that Rika rules with her heart, not her head. Again, her righteousness at play.
She is the exact kind of person who I could imagine to speak out or do something if she witnessed an injustice (e.g. somebody being bullied), while most people would just walk on by and try to not let it affect them *thinks Densha Otoko but not as miserable and snotty*
I hope none of you guys felt that it was a bad moment for Rika. OK, it was bad in the sense that people misunderstood her because of it. But I really feel that it allowed us to see more of her. ^_^
What I learnt from this incident: Rika is a passionate person who is not afraid to stand up for what she believes.
She does not have to be a cute, smiling machine all the time to keep up with her Charmy character. It’s unrealistic.
Rika is
, even if she's all
because she's simply
the best