Memories of Yuuka

Gone, but never forgotten.

It’s been three weeks and I still haven’t entirely gotten over it.

And something tells me, I don’t think I ever will.

When the news of Yuuka Maeda’s graduation broke, I was standing in line waiting for the SNSD fanmeet in New York, which was pretty much the weirdest feeling in the world because I was super excited for one event while SIMULTANEOUSLY having my heart broken. And if anyone wants to know what happened next, well, after they herded everyone into the performance hall and started playing SNSD videos, I finally let the tears stream down my cheeks, in the dark, where no one could see.

It was the one goodbye I never wanted to face. And now it was just over two months away.

The Socially Awkward Network: Meet Your Idols on G+

“AKB48 and Google+ have a lot in common. Only psychologically stunted, obsessive-compulsive geeks understand how they work.”
- Some famous dude

For many fans, their first memory of the AKB48/Google+ launch was the futility of trying to submit comments as the Google servers got hammered. Or perhaps, prior to that, signing up/reactivating G+ accounts that were otherwise useless because everyone was still on Facebook or Twitter.

But now that the smoke has cleared (and people can comment on the girls’ posts like normal human beings), the online landscape has shifted dramatically.

Two tone?

All your old idol variety shows are new again

On Wednesday afternoon (a national holiday in Japan), around 10,000 stupid ass wotas gathered at Yomiuri Land for a special Mobekimasu concert, a Hello! Project event bringing together the manifold talents of Morning Musume, Berryz Kobo, °C-ute, S/mileage, and Erina Mano (FOREVER ALONE). But more notable was the crowd of over 40,000 that signed into the Niconico video website, hoping to catch a live-streamed broadcast of the show. The demand was so great that many users who logged in found themselves kicked out by the site, as Niconico’s bandwidth capabilties could only allow so many connections at once.

But, I already sang the praises of web streaming last year (and would like to think that I have been at least partially vindicated by the Mobekimasu turnout), so this isn’t really about that.

Today we’re talking about how New Media is influencing Old Media!

The OLD way of doing things.

Buono! to perform in LE FRANCE

IS THIS THE REAL LIFE? IS THIS JUST FANTASY?

JE T'AIME

No you fools, this is Buono! The internationally loved idol trio will be delivering their pop-punk sound outside of Japan for the first time with a February concert in Paris.

Copypasta’d from UFA Facebook:

Buono! will hold its first overseas live in Paris!!
Schedule: 2012/02/12 (Time TBC)
Place: La Machine du Moulin Rouge, Paris, France

Buono! aura son premier concert à l’étranger à Paris !!
Schedule: 12 février 2012 (horaire à fixer)
Salle : La Machine du Moulin Rouge, Paris, France

La Machine du Moulin Rouge

Commence freaking out

SMTown NYC: Chasing the Dream

The biggest difference between my SMTown experience IN LOS ANGELES and the one IN NEW YORK was that, in the intervening months, I had finally made some Internette Frandz who were into The Whole Korea Thing but were (1) not complete loons; (2) able to look at different styles of pop music with an thoughtful, critical eye.

At the same time, I was also making a sincere effort to understand the physics of the Korean Wave myself, without freaking out over ridiculous fan behavior or the spammings of bored English-as-a-second-language kids all over the social web. The fact that my Internette Frandz also thought poorly of these psycho-fans was a big help, I think. It all came down to being on a similar wavelength: worship your idols, but don’t be a doof about it. And if you must spaz, spaz with dignity.

So it was with that reformed mindset that I woke up on the morning of Sunday, October 23, and … made sure to go to church first.

THEN it was time to make the trip to my true place of worship: Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York, IN AMERICA.