Author Topic: The Idoling!!! Discussion Thread (Read 757408 times)

kei_86 · « **Reply #1000 on:** September 06, 2011, 05:20:52 PM »

just want to add a bit to what Peter has said,

not only the Japanese wota gave us the toreka of our favorite idol, he gave us ALL the toreka of our favorite idol that he owns. I feel so bad for taking so much but having nothing to return to him. This year I'm gonna go prepared and hope to meet the guy again so that I can give him some Kaepyon stuff to repay what he has done.

Japanese wota can be really awesome when it comes to supporting the scene at times.

Ayabie · « **Reply #1001 on:** September 06, 2011, 05:48:34 PM »

The most important thing about being a "fan" in Japan is all about connections. As long as you know a guy that know other guys, you can literally get front row seats for every event if you're prepared to cash out some yen, that's why it's not at all uncommon to see the same persons hogging the first rows during concerts. Same deal with the YGA/Idoling!!! pact that a couple of fans have going on during Shinahachi.

And yeah, hellguard and I totally missed you somehow, qwiksXnd. lol

miitan · « **Reply #1002 on:** September 08, 2011, 04:00:28 PM »

I'm going to try for the 9/9 shinahachi. I'm leaving Kyoto extra early so I can get a ticket. It looks like Manachan will be at this one!

Can you do handshake with both groups or is it one or the other?

hellguard89 · « **Reply #1003 on:** September 09, 2011, 02:06:59 AM »

Quote from: miitan on September 08, 2011, 04:00:28 PM

I'm going to try for the 9/9 shinahachi. I'm leaving Kyoto extra early so I can get a ticket. It looks like Manachan will be at this one!

Can you do handshake with both groups or is it one or the other?

They start selling handshake tickets an hour before the theater is open. They sell out almost every time too, so it is better to go there around 5:30pm today.

For YGA, you need to buy YGA CDs if you want to shake hands with them.

miitan · « **Reply #1004 on:** September 09, 2011, 04:17:24 PM »

Thanks again to the help from this forum, I saw Idoling!!! tonight and did the handshake!

There was already a long line for the handshake tickets when I got there at 5:30 but there were plenty of tickets. They were still selling them after the theater doors opened actually.

They had 10 members present and it was the birthday show for Suuchan and Amimi. There were a couple of huge floral displays in the lobby and fans had put cards and glow-sticks in all of the seats. The center section was yellow and the sides were pink. Idoling performed first, probably because of the 2 under-aged members, and did about 8 songs and they had a very long MC segment with Amimi and Suuchan challenging other members in various games. Amimi challenged Maiple at stuffing the most marshmallows into their mouths and it was as hilarious as expected.

The birthday girls did a duet together and that's when everyone broke out the glow-sticks. They came out one at a time after YGA was finished to thank everyone for the birthday wishes. Of course Amimi could talk for 24 hours straight if you let her and she started talking about Manami, most of which I didn't follow but apparently Manachan has been very inspiring to Amimi recently. I got to see the famous tears in person at that point and then a tearful Manachan came out from the wings and hugged her.

I love all of Idoling!!! but, of course, I have my faves. Yazawa is #1 and I will meet her on Sunday. Manachan and Asahi would be next on my list and I got to meet them tonight. I got some good reactions from the girls tonight so it was well worth the time and expense. Thanks again for all the assistance!

qwiksXnd · « **Reply #1005 on:** September 15, 2011, 02:51:19 AM »

Wow, Ami and Suu-chan. That's both amizing and suuper. No puns intended.

I didn't know YGA did handshakes too. Is it possible to buy a ticket for both groups? Or would it be impossible to attend both (I'm assuming their handshake lines are in a different area, because I don't remember seeing YGA at the exit).

I read this entire thread before venturing to Japan and it was helpful to me as well. I was surprised at how many fans on this forum have been to their concerts. Within the other groups I follow, it's really uncommon. It's like: "Go to one of their concerts?! Impossible. Well, unless they visit Iceland. Wait, have you heard something?! They're coming to Iceland!? OMG they're coming to Iceland!".

miitan · « **Reply #1006 on:** September 15, 2011, 03:36:59 AM »

You can do handshakes with both groups if you buy CD's for both. After the long line for Idoling!!! there was no line at all for YGA

hellguard89 · « **Reply #1007 on:** September 15, 2011, 03:47:53 AM »

Quote from: miitan on September 15, 2011, 03:36:59 AM

You can do handshakes with both groups if you buy CD's for both. After the long line for Idoling!!! there was no line at all for YGA

There are people lining up for YGA although not as much people as Idoling!!!. It is just YGA handshake event starts almost 30 minutes after Idoling!!! finished with their handshake event. Most of the people lining up either shake hands with Idoling!!! first or went somewhere else and come back later.

qwiksXnd · « **Reply #1008 on:** September 15, 2011, 07:49:49 AM »

Aww, that's what I was afraid of. It's sad at handshake and 2-shot events when the unpopular girls are never called up to take a photo. During one handshake event with my favorite indie group, when I was shaking the hand of unpopular girl, I forgot her name (or more accurately I never knew her name to begin with). When she asked me to say her name, I tried to check my phone really quickly (because I had their homepage bookmarked), but I wasn't slick enough and she was really embarrassed when I guessed wrong. She must have thought, "Wow, even "hardcore fans" don't know my name".

Now that I think about it, is Idoling the only group that doesn't have "unpopular" members?

miitan · « **Reply #1009 on:** September 15, 2011, 08:45:34 AM »

At the Shinahachi on 9/9 when I was in line for Idoling!!! handshake, I saw the YGA girls at a table opposite of us shaking hands with fans. There were only about 5 people getting handshakes at that time. I didn't know that they create a line later so I just felt bad for YGA.

The Idoling!!! team does a good job of making sure that every member gets a chance for exposure so I think that ensures that they have plenty of fan support. Of course the girls with the strongest personalities are going to get the most camera time. There is one member that I would have thought might have fewer fans, just because she is such an non-traditional idol, but I saw plenty of her t-shirts at the shows I went to.

Speaking of which, I was at Tower Records in Shinjuku this morning and I saw a guy in a Rurika jersey/shirt. Is that something they all buy through the fanclub?

Hatix · « **Reply #1010 on:** September 15, 2011, 04:25:24 PM »

Quote from: miitan on September 15, 2011, 08:45:34 AM

Speaking of which, I was at Tower Records in Shinjuku this morning and I saw a guy in a Rurika jersey/shirt. Is that something they all buy through the fanclub?

It's a little complicated

Numbering t-shirts are always sold at the larger concerts with both fanclub and non-fanclub versions (not always the case,but it was like this at 9th live, you had to show your fanclub card, no ID check though, so you could actually pass it to someone else).
Left over stock is put in the fan club online shop. The non-fanclub numbering t-shirts are put in FujiTV's online shop, that one also carries the gasshuukoku numbering t-shirt.

pern · « **Reply #1011 on:** September 17, 2011, 05:00:31 PM »

AKB48以外だらけの爆笑アイドル大運動会:

Part1:
Part2:
Part3:
Part4:

Jenus · « **Reply #1012 on:** September 17, 2011, 07:46:15 PM »

^
I didn't expect much from this show when I heard SDN was also appearing, I had a fear that Idoling was going to be portrayed poorly again, and surely enough sponsorship power-play put in a nice script for a dramatic finish and victory for SDN by having them beat their real biggest threat in Idoling.

But in hindsight, Idoling came out of it in a very good position, I don't think I got this impression just because I'm a fan, but I think Idoling left the most favorable impression of them all. The variety members did their job in getting laughs, and Aichan at the end pretty much upstaged Serina of SDN in the final match with her battelcry and tears of defeat. Idoling pretty much covered all the bases, it speaks volumes of how polished Idoling is in a variety show environment.

I don't know what's with Momoko, is she singlehandedly trying to destory Hello Project's image? Anyway she was just being a nuisance and a circus clown that it worked negatively on the rest of Berryz.

I think Passpo and SuperGirls really hate each other, that shoving altercation was wild!!

Where is Momoiro Clover? Scheduling conflict perhaps? Surely, they are more suitable to be in this show than some others...

Next upcoming show for Idoling is Heyx3 I believe, and again another idol group special, can't wait!

qwiksXnd · « **Reply #1013 on:** September 18, 2011, 02:25:17 AM »

I think there is still the track and field part of the show left.

Disappointed in the "theme" of the competition. It's annoying that these girls have to be continually reminded of AKB's status, especially for an established group like Idoling. A lot of these groups aren't competing with AKB or aspire to be anything like them. I don't go out of my way to avoid AKB, but I'd prefer not to get exposed to them on shows they aren't participating in.

It's kind of weird to see idols interacting like this. As a fan you side with your #1 group, which means you could be rooting against your possible #2,3 and 4 group. On paper it sounds cool to have idols together, but the show was too heavily edited, way too short, and I wasn't sure if this was supposed to be a light-hearted competition, or if the girls should be going for the kill.

I was rooting for Ai to win the sumo event, but isn't Hitomi Sakai their sumo "specialist"? And the groups should have watched the Morning Musume mecha-mecha sports festival, because the secret to high jumping is the "Fosbury flop". That's how Mako P won, and that's how the girl won this time. Speaking of that show, I think that format is much funner. It's just one group, so it avoids the awkward tension.

Quote from: Jenus on September 17, 2011, 07:46:15 PM

I think Passpo and SuperGirls really hate each other, that shoving altercation was wild!!

Yeah, that looked weird, like it wasn't scripted

. I don't follow super girls, but Shiori from PASSPO is the ultimate "genki" type idol. She is really sweet (and really eccentric), but she also loves competition. I don't think the groups dislike each other, but I wouldn't be surprised if the fanbases did, just because of the philosophical and ideological differences between the two groups. (I could actually go into great detail about how completely different these groups are, but I don't think it's the time, place, or time). I'm seeing PASSPO again in November, during the handshake event I'll ask her how she feels about SG (jk, I can't ask her that

).

SuzukiRyo · « **Reply #1014 on:** September 18, 2011, 02:45:29 AM »

I could see Idoling!!! did it on purpose. Giving sumo battle to Sakacchi would be an easy win, but there is no merit to win in their own homeground. There were soo many comment on twitter "It is obvious if Idoling!!! win the match, because it is Fuji TV show". Everyone knows that win or lose, Ai-chan will cry. Also Amimi did great job there.

miitan · « **Reply #1015 on:** September 18, 2011, 02:49:57 AM »

Funny show, thanks for the links.

Aichan is always intense when it comes to sumo battles. I would have liked to see more exposure for other Idoling!!! girls but with that many idols in a show, you take what you can get and on shows like Mechaike, getting picked on by the hosts is the ultimate compliment. Amimi won that battle among the members with her sudden exposure as a Filipino bar girl.

It was also funny when they went to ask Maiple about Idoling's rival and Amimi pushed to the front to answer.

The Passpo vs Super*Girls thing was all in fun, you can see most of the members laughing about it during the "fight"

And I think Momoko from Berryz Kobo pretty much owned the show as far as getting exposure and camera time. Her thing is to be an "irritating idol" and she worked it to perfection. She will get a lot of invitations to other shows if she can prove to be a reliable provider of laughs.

AKB48 is the top idol group of the moment, like it or not. Their level of popularity is what other groups aim for. The members of Idoling!!! like and respect them. They get name checked on the TV show and during MC's pretty regularly. Under hypnosis they will even admit to be willing to become "IDN48"

qwiksXnd · « **Reply #1016 on:** September 18, 2011, 03:07:35 AM »

Yeah, I could see how Idoling prioritized the entertainment value of a loss, over an easy win. Is Ai's history with the sumo game common knowledge outside of the Idoling fandom? It's just weird that she lost to the girliest member of SDN. She handled the loss well, but if she won it would have powered-up the entire fanbase *nerd smiley*.

I did forgot about the Fuji TV angle though. Mecha-mecha should just do an Idoling-only special like they did with Morning Musume.

Ami was great, she's such an asset to the group. She shows that you can still get camera time by being interesting, and not resort to blatant camera-whoring.

Jenus · « **Reply #1017 on:** September 18, 2011, 05:04:50 AM »

I don't think anything about Idoling is common knowledge in the mainstream, basically only the fans are in the know so to speak.
I really think this show did help showcase Idoling quite a bit though, they really know how to seize the moment with all the training they got from Bakarhythm for sure. While Momoko did get her own share of spotlight as an individual, the rest of the Berryz were totally lost in the shuffle. Smileage kids are just not very savvy in that area and it shows. Passpo and SuperGirls have no personality to speak of.

As for the slender Serina winning, it's clearly fixed, when you see the match vs. Aichan, you could tell that Aichan had a lot of momentum going by pushing Serina back at the beginning but then she just stopped pushing and let Serina to hang around and made it appear as if Aichan lost her balance at the end, yeah right, as if Serina has such strength and body mass to overcome that. What I really hate about these type of shows is that it's scripted, and they always let the most popular group win to emphasize the miracle factor, and drill the false belief of AKB always wins because they are special theme into the audience, yuck. I wasn't born yesterday and I sure ain't buying it.

Idoling sumo is for real though without fixing, that's why I love Idoling.

Mecheike won't do an Idoling special the way things are right now, Mechaike is an golden-hour show with top-tier popularity, Idoling alone just isn't big enough for prime time.

I think Amimi is very strong outside the comfort zone, but there are some members who clearly shy away when they are outside the comfort zone, namely Asahi and Yazawa, these two really need to step up to the plate because I know they have the stuff.

On second thought, I think it's too late for Yazawa though, she has become too self-aware and doesn't want to act goofy in a prime-time stage it seems, possibly to prolong her career in acting as an actress or something. 4th gen. members were invisible, were they even there? Well they are still amateurs in the variety arena but for gods sake they have to start showing something to indicate a hint that they belong in Idoling. I'm just not very thrilled with 4th gen. no matter how I look at things, at the least they should start improving in singing, but still nobody is showing any signs of having the diva talent either.

Yeah, it's time for 5th gen. audition, and discover a new singing sensation to continue the legacy of Idoling's divine vocal lineage.

miitan · « **Reply #1018 on:** September 18, 2011, 05:14:27 AM »

eh, I think 4th gen is pretty awesome myself.

With most TV shows, and especially these types, you don't really know who stepped up and did what. Hours of footage is left unused as the producers and editors try and carve it down to fit what they want to accomplish in the allotted time.

That's another fun thing about the Idoling!!! TV show, they pretty much just roll the camera for XX minutes and let whatever happens happen.

qwiksXnd · « **Reply #1019 on:** September 18, 2011, 07:51:11 AM »

I'll remember this special as the Anti-Tokyo Idol Festival. TIF promotes idol groups in a positive way, allows idols to meet, collaborate with, and possibly become friends with girls from other groups, and is an opportunity for fans to open their minds (at least temporarily) to the groups outside their comfort zone.

On the other hand I think there is unavoidable negativity that goes with idols competing against each other. It's one thing for different JE or H.P groups to compete in their own festivals, but there is a different dynamic when unrelated groups from different labels and agencies are involved. This kind of competition also does some strange things to the different fanbases, which I think is the worst thing of all.

Idol groups have different strengths and weaknesses, and this show was way too superficial and poorly produced to make an accurate assessment of any of the groups.