Is AKB48 coming back IN AMERICA?

At last year’s Anime Expo I was approached by a staffer who was doing, by the looks of it, a little “market research.” It was just your basic customer questionnaire about stuff like “How long have you been going to AX,” “What kind of AX events are you interested in,” “Who were your favorite guests at AX,” “Who is your favorite Doctor,” actually no they didn’t ask that last one because when I go to an anime con I expect to engage in the hobby of ANIME and not be surrounded by freaking cosplays of DOCTOR WHO. Anyway. Last week I got a follow-up survey where AX is trying to figure out what kind of music acts they should be bringing to this convention.

To be succinct, the survey was asking which music guests, among Anime Expos of the last few years, were of greatest interest TO ME. So like they wanted to know if you like Kalafina or Hatsune Miku or [hold the punchline] Animetal USA. And if they brought back THAT guest, would you be interested in seeing them again.

YES, we could be once again be graced by Yasushi Akimoto’s shit-eating grin.

I quit my job for AKB48

I always said it was a story for another time.

Well, it’s been almost two years, and I think “another time” has finally come.

Remember that time when Rino Sashihara was technically still in Undergirls? LOL.

April 2010 was a tumultuous time for me. Management changes were going on at my (former) job, I had gone on a week-long vacation to ZA MOTHERLAND, and at the end of the month, on April 27th 2010, Anime Expo announced that they would be bringing over AKB48 as guests to perform at the convention IN LOS ANGELES.

Thus began a chain of events that would change my destiny forever.

The Springtime of Idols Comes With Sakura And Berryz

This should have happened about 4 years ago, then I'd REALLY be into it.

Sakura-con of Seattle, Washington, which famously hosted IshiYoshi Lesbian Duo Hangry and Angry’s debut appearance IN AMERICA, has now announced that they will be bringing over Former Loli Unit Berryz Kobo in 2011 as a musical Guest of Honor. [Do you know how weird it is to see that juvenile, ungrammatical name for a girl group where 5 of the 7 members are now over the age of 18? Yeah. Anyway.]

This, to me, spells out two things:

(1) American anime convention organizers are finally starting to GET IT, or have GOTTEN IT, with respect to idol-pop as a legitimate sub-niche of Weeaboo Fandom.
(2) With the first true “sister group” of a blockbuster idol act (i.e., Berryz as an offshoot of the Morning Musume / Hello! Project family) now putting on a performance in the U.S.*, this opens the doors for a lot of second-tier idol groups that aren’t necessarily iconic names in the Japanese entertainment industry.
(2½) I must really enjoy eating my words.

The Legend of Legendary Idols: AKB48 in L.A. as presented by Entame magazine!

Would YOU willingly walk up to a cash register to pay for this kind of garbage at a Japanese bookstore? Didn't think so.

WELL, the other day I picked up the September 2010 issue of Entame specifically for the purpose of enjoying Tomomi Itano’s gravure shoot. Now I realize that not a lot of people are into this magazine, mostly because it’s one of those skeevy tabloid-type publications hiding behind more eye-pleasing options such as Weekly Playboy, Friday, and UTB, and well away from the manga and anime mags where the rest of you weeaboos hang out. But MAN, you shoulda seen some of those Tomochin bikini shots! U MAY download them here.

ANYWAY, the point of what I’m trying to say is, I picked up Entame (which is short for “Entertainment”) and discovered that right behind the epic 10 pages of Tomomi hotness was a full-length report on AKB48′s whole excursion to Los Angeles and Anime Expo!

THIS was a very very pleasant (and hilarious) [namida?] surprise.

I scanned each of the pages and used my ub4r l33t Moonspeak skills to vaguely guess what the article was saying. Please follow along with my running commentary!

Tips For Being a Good Stupid Ass Wota

THIS.

With the Summer of Idols Encore having reached its climactic peak, the time now comes to look back and reflect on our experiences of chasing Japanese pop tartlets around the world. Since the global J-idol wave is a relatively new phenomenon–did anyone think, before 2009, that you’d ever get to see a Hello! Project act on Western soil?–it’s still kind of a wild frontier fandom out there (IN AMERICA). Comics/TV/movie geeks have been going strong for decades, the anime crowd has had their protocols laid out since the early cons of the 90′s, but where is the code of conduct for stupid ass wotas? I’m not gonna tell you exactly how to behave … that’s up to the forumNazis who tell you “YOU MUST LEARN THE CHANTS BEFORE YOU ATTEND THIS CONCERT.” But I think there are some basic tips and pointers on how to conduct yourself–much of it common sense–that will make your J-idol experience that much more fun. (IN AMERICA). ((Euroland can come too.))

You’re already full of love for idols. Here’s what you can do to make idols love YOU.