My Wota Journey

Sooooooo I saw Ray's Post about the idol fandom on Idolminded then I saw Chiima's post (which is very similar to my encounter with idols), and then Morningtime's post so I figured, what the hell, I'm sick at home so I may as well blog!

So when I was a young child I watched a lot of cartoons, Scooby Doo being my number one favorite.  I loved cartoon network, and one Saturday morning on ABC.  I was flipping channels one day and I found the coolest show ever:

POKEMON.

Seriously, I watched one episode of this and I was hooked.  Every Saturday I plopped myself in front of the TV with a bowl of cereal to watch Pokemon.  I was obsessed.  I had the pokedex book, the pokemon gameboy color, pokemon yellow, a team rocket shirt (with which I coordinated a Team Rocket outfit, all red and black baby), and a big-ass binder full of cards.  Yeah, I was that kid.  Sometimes it would be on TV when I wasn't home, so my mom set up the VCR (woah) to tape it for me.

And she always set it to tape a few minutes before and after time so I wouldn't miss anything.  And it was then that I noticed that there were two other awesome shows I had to watch.  Before, Sailor Moon.  After, Card Captors.  Three of the most awesome cartoons EVER all in a row!  I thought I was the luckiest kid in the whole world!  I couldn't put my finger on it, but there was something about these cartoons that made them different from Scooby Doo and the Smurfs.  The drawings looked different, the stories had me holding my breath with suspense!  I wanted to know where these cartoons came from!

It was when I turned eight years old that I found out what Japan was.  My school had all of the second grade participate in a "Japanese Fair."  We memorized the main islands of Japan, learned how to count to ten in Japanese, put on 'kimonos' (some kids wore bathrobes) and paraded around the hallways for the rest of the school.  We even tried Japanese candy and rice crackers!  I thought Japan was the coolest place ever!  It was so different, so cool!  I had that same feeling that I did when I watched Pokemon.  I had found something different and awesome, and I wanted to immerse myself in it!

But for some reason I didn't make the connection between those cartoons and the Japanese fair until I was fourteen.  I was in 8th grade Algebra one day and I saw my friend Anastasia reading a comic book backwards.  I asked her why and she told me it was a manga, and that manga came from Japan.  I'd never heard of it before!  She had the book finished by the end of the day so she let me take it home.

When I got home and opened my backpack, I saw this:

My mouth dropped open in surprise.  They look like the characters from Pokemon!  I rushed to my computer and lo and behold, both Marmalade Boy and Pokemon had come from Japan, as well as Sailor Moon and Cardcaptors (which I later learned was originally called Cardcaptor Sakura).  I dove into Marmalade Boy and finished that first volume very quickly.  The next day when I saw Anastasia I immediately asked her for more manga.  I read my way through Chobits, and started to watch anime series after anime series...

I continued on as an anime and manga fan for the next year and a half, and in the middle of my fall semester as a sophomore in high school (holy shit you guys that was four years ago), I decided to watch a series called Shugo Chara.  The storyline was super cute, the characters had little fairies with them, and I was super happy at the end of every episode because I got to hear this really awesome song!

This song was so happy!  So catchy!  I wanted to know who sang it.  After searching for a bit, I found the music video:

I was shocked.  "How could these great voices come from these teeny tiny awkward looking girls?  They look like they're about my age!"  But I thought their dancing was cute and I already loved the song so I favorited the video.  On the sidebar I noticed a bright pink looking video, so I clicked on that.

"OMG!  One of the Shugo Chara girls is in this video!  OMG so much pink!  The little one with the sunglasses is so funny!"  I immediately favorited this video, and clicked on another video next to it.

"...ARE THESE THE SAME GIRLS!?  WHAT HAPPENED!?"  I was so excited that I had found this group.  The dancing was kick ass, the song was dramatic...but where were the other two?  I saw one Shugo Chara girl, but the others were nowhere to be found.  I didn't know these other girls.  Who where they?  In the description box of the fan uploaded MV, I saw this group was "C-ute."  I favorited this video too and reminded myself to look for more "C-ute" later.

Going back to the Honto no Jibun music video, I saw that the other two were from "Berryz Koubou."  I scrolled down and found one of their videos in the sidebar.  *click*

"There they are!  I found them!"  This song was catchy too!  I favorited this video as well, and then clicked another related video which turned out to be Piriri to Yukou.  I put all of the songs I had found onto my iPod and danced around the house for a few days.  I was so happy, and a few days later I wanted to watch the music videos again.  I went back to Tokkaiko Junjou, and when that finished, I saw a video in the sidebar that had a pink background, and girls in red hats and overalls.

The title didn't have "C-ute" or "Berryz Koubou" in it, but instead "Mor..." The title was too long for the tiny thumbnail, and I was curious, so I clicked on it.

"This is cute!  OMG THERE'S SO MANY OF THEM!  Holy crap that's too many girls...but this video is fun."  I particularly liked the parts of the video where they're frozen in space.  That was cool.  "Morning Musume."  "Huh."  I thought they were good, but I was intimidated by the number of girls.  I favorited this, but noticed a darker video on the side with "Morning Musume" also in the title.  *click*

This, my friends, is when I went from casual listener, to totally hooked.

"SO FIERCE!"  These girls were so different than the girls in the previous video.  They were cool, mature, sexy even!  The song was so well composed, and their vocals had such power!  I needed to know who Morning Musume was and I needed to find all of their music right then and there!  I found lots of promotional videos for Pepper Keibu, since that had just been released, and from then on I was an idol fan.

Oh but then, OH BUT THEN.

I found the Winter 2008 Concert that had been done that past January.  I went MENTAL.  "Morning Musume, C-ute, Berryz Koubou, ALL ON ONE STAGE TOGETHER?!!?  WHAT IS THIS!?"

"Hello Project.  ...Hello Project.  I think I like Hello Project."

My life had changed forever.

I know it sounds schmaltzy, but it had!  I had this newfound confidence and happiness that I had never felt before!  Whatever these idols were, I liked 'em, and I've been happily liking them ever since.  :P


And since this post is already HELLA LONG, I'll save my favorite idols journey for next time! 8D

Thanks for reading!

ElectroCute's Debut Single "Let's Live" Cutie Dance Ver.

HEY PEOPLE!

So here is my group's debut single, Let's Live, which goes on sale March 8th!  This is our dance version, and you get to hear the full song! 8D  I'm so excited!!!

The members are:
Kaya--Pink
Mayu--Blue
Hazel--Green

The song and melody were written by me, the choreography was done by Mayu, and composition was done by Chris Escalante.

Just a note to y'all, this is not studio quality!  We have no money! XD

I used my condenser mic to record everything, and mixed it together myself in audacity.  I did the best I could with the current skillset I have, and the quality will continue to improve over the next few singles as I keep practicing!

I do hope you enjoy the song, we've been working hard!  Anyway, please enjoy the Dance Version of Let's Live, and look out for the MV soon!

Click me to order your copy of "Let's Live!"

<3

Happy VD!

Everyone!  Happy Valentine's Day!

I love Valentine's Day!  Even though I've never had a Valentine on Valentine's Day, I love sharing my love with others! <3

This year, I'm sharing it with all of you!

First, the World Maid Cafe community made a Valentine's Video!

I'm featured in this video, along with other KKMS members Nami, Ponnchi, and Hazel!  Can you find them?  Other really awesome cafes are also included, such as Animaid Cafe, Nana Cafe, MOE (Maids of England), At Your Service Cafe, and many others!  Thanks to Venus from AniMaid Cafe for putting this together!

Second, we had a little game on the KKMS Facebook page to see who would get Valentines from KKMS members, and 10 lucky people get their special Valentine's videos today!  Four people requested a video from me, and I'm so happy!  Thank you so much to Michaela, Cookie, Rosio, and Michi for choosing me to be your Valentine!  I hope you like the videos I made for you!

Ponnchi, Hazel, Mayu, Hotaru, Kaede, and Elila also got requests, so you'll see their videos too!  Make sure to check out our YouTube channel (KiraKiraMaids) to see the videos!  They're all sooooo cuuute! <3

Here are my videos if you'd like to see them:

I hope everyone has a really awesome Valentine's Day, whether you have a significant other or not.  Remember, love comes in many different forms, not just romantically!

RABU RABU DESU! XD

<3

Giving up idols is hard + Jazz Music

DAMN this is difficult!

I mean...I've been checking idol news every day for over four years, and I've been listening to them every day as well...

Literally.  Every. Single. Day.

THEY MAKE ME SO HAPPY!  Like...I dunno.  And this really came at a bad time, 'cause I'm ultra stressed, and my SM at my current show-job-thing isn't gelling with me very well right now.  I mean, we're friends and all, but it probably wasn't the best idea to be working with her professionally.

And the fact that I'm supervising rehearsals every day doesn't give me much time at all to go discover new non-idol Jpop musicians at the moment.

I wonder if there are any Jpop musicians whose music will give me the same happy feelings as idol music without actually being idols.  Any recommendations?

I will definitely be keeping up with Reina's band though, because technically, they aren't idols!  HAHA!

But anyway, I need to be looking for new music.

Or I could do a cool post of what music I listen to that isn't idols so I can look for similar things.  I think that might be a good thing to start with.

But yeah, since my last post, I've kind of retreated into Kpop, and that's kind of cheating, since they're still idols and can't date either.

Dammit.

But I've been listening to this song on repeat:

EXID--Every Night

I'm seriously addicted to this song right now.

UGH BUT THEY'RE STILL IDOLS.  But they have great voices and are super talented!

I can't give up idols.  T___T

I guess going cold turkey wasn't a realistic idea after all.

I mean, I don't want to fully give them up ever, but I want to diversify my musical taste.

That's a good goal methinks.

So I'll try to make more posts on here about new music discoveries....

Music Discovery Monday?

I don't know, I'll keep thinking about it.

I have to wait until the show I'm working is over though, 'cause I barely have any time.

But then again I am writing this post right now....who knows?

I guess I can do status updates on my idol music intake for the week or something.

So for this week, it's been pretty much a repeat of "Every Night" constantly.  That and Spica's "Lonely" since I'm learning it for KKMS's upcoming show at All-Con (which is a month from now!!!).

So yeah, these two idol songs, and a bunch of Etta James and Billie Holiday.

I guess I've been doing pretty good then since it's only two idol songs for the week!

....even if I have been listening to them non stop. XD

At least I have Etta James and Billie Holiday to keep me company in my blues.  Here are some songs that I've been listening to from Etta and Billie.

A Sunday Kind of Love

My Dearest Darling

I Just Want Make Love to You

Autumn in New York

Summertime

I'm glad I've gotten into Jazz music again.  I used to listen to it a lot when I was a child, but I got so into idols and pop music that I didn't listen to it as much.  Jazz music is so good to listen to on rainy days, lazy days, or days when you're just feeling good.  But a different kind of good than idol-y good.

Am I making any sense?  I hope so, because I want to share my joy of Jazz with you! XD

Some good instrumental Jazz I've been listening to a lot has been by Mr. Sidney Bechet:

Blues My Naughty Sweetie Gives to Me

Si tu vois ma mere

Jazz Music is also a great way for me to look back on the history of my country, since it was invented here in the US.  I always feel like I'm being put in the way back machine whenever I listen to it.  It makes me want to put on my best clothes and go drink a cocktail and see live music, or a burlesque show, cabaret, or go dancing!

I started listening to idol music because I wanted something different from American music...but Jazz music makes me love my country again. XD  I mean, I'm all for listening to music from different countries (well duh Kaya), but it's always good to go back to your roots and listen to things like this...

And what's really awesome about it is that the women in Jazz don't have to be super feminine or cutesy.  They usually have warmer, fuller voices, which make them more relatable to women like me, who have that type of voice.  Y'all know I do idol song covers, but I do tend to get some flack for not having a high enough timbre to sing them.  I have no problem with my timbre and jazz.  But that's more of a personal reason for liking jazz than a universal one.

Do y'all like Jazz music?  If so, who are some of your favorite artists?  I'd like to learn more about it.

And here's something to chew on:

This is the MV for Jay Chou's "A Larger Cello."  This is super cool because it's Jazz inspired, but it's still Chinese pop music!  It's a super interesting fusion, and I've been listening to it for a while now.

This has definitely sparked my interest in Jay Chou, so I'll have to listen to more of his music and get back to you on it. ;)  This also makes me want to look for Jazz artists in other countries to see their take on Jazz music.

I'll be back with more music soon, thanks for reading! <3

P.S.  I apologize this post is basically stream of consciousness/word-vomit, but I had to get it out!  I'll try to structure future posts better from now on.

My take on the whole Minami thing

Okay.  So I decided to wait until the shit storm died down a bit before I posted my opinion.

I've thought about it a lot, and honestly, I'm really tired of the way these idol agencies treat the girls like objects instead of human beings.  I know that Japan is still a very patriarchal society, and there is nary a crack in the glass ceiling over there, but for some reason I thought that the issue would somehow go away after a certain amount of "scandals."

A woman staying at her boyfriend's house shouldn't be a scandal.  It's a very normal thing.  But then again, idols are not seen as normal women.  They're put on a pedestal.  They're supposed to be fantasy objects for their fans, specifically men.  They're not supposed to know anything about love or sex, but they're expected to sing about romantic relationships and pose scantily clad for magazines and photobooks.

There's just something not right about it.  I mean, no business is perfect, but as I'm growing up, seeing other women's rights taken away is infuriating.  We're treated as second class citizens everywhere, no matter what country we live in, no matter how "developed" that country is.

I think Mii-chan's situation has given me (and many, many others) a wake up call about the industry.  And I think that's precisely why she shaved her head.  No other AKB scandal has been this big because the idol in question didn't make such a big deal out of it.  My mother has this phrase:  "People pay attention to those who make the most noise."

Minami made some noise.  And that noise was heard around the world.  New sites that never gave a crap about idols before wrote up about Minami's story.  It's getting the whole world thinking, and it's putting the spotlight on the idol industry.

Well played Minami, well played.

I don't know how this will change the idol industry, or if it will at all, but it definitely struck a chord with me.  I love the girls so much, and I want to make them happy by supporting them (aka buying their merch), but I can't lie to myself anymore and think that the girls are being treated well, because they're not.  If they're not allowed to make their own decisions regarding their own personal lives, even after they've reached the age of adulthood, they aren't being treated like people.

I think I'm going to take a little break from idols for a while.  I'll probably still keep up with the news and support my fellow bloggers, but I think it's time for me to find out more about the different genres of Jpop, not just idols, so I can support some artists who aren't puppets of their management.

It's probably best for my growth as an artist as well, so for the next few months, I will not be posting about idols at all.

I've been a fan of idols for a good 4 or 5 years now, but the impact of the corruption of this industry is just hitting me now.  I guess taking more business classes and getting more involved with feminist causes back home has helped me see that.

In a way, it's heartbreaking, because idols have been such a huge part of my life ever since I started to get to know them, but it was a realization that I needed to have.

Thank you Mii-chan, and I hope that you one day find the courage to leave AKB48 and become a strong woman who can forge her own path.

Fans, y'all have the power to help out your idols.  You can do something by choosing what to do with your money.  Japan has seen an idol boom in the past few years, and while it's good business, I'm hoping y'all will think about how it affects the people.  If you're like me and don't know much about Jpop besides idols and Hikki, I challenge you to find some new artists and support them.  See how that impacts your life as well.

I look forward to hearing about your discoveries, and sharing some of mine with you as well.

Kaya <3