Happy Friday everyone! Let’s talk about something that isn’t just relevant to alt-idol, but idol in general; penlights. At any idol show, there’s inevitably going to be a sea of colourful little glowing sticks lighting up the room like its Christmas day. Waving a penlight in your favourite member’s image colour is one of the easiest ways to show your support to someone who’ll probably never support you back (at least, not personally). But what happens after?

This is coming from someone who has never attended an idol concert and, unless someone throws a few thousand pounds my way so I can go to Japan, or a group I love comes to the UK when I can actually afford a London trip for once (looking@you, Babymetal), probably never will.

And yet, I still want an idol penlight of my very own. Why? There’s probably zero use for it outside of live shows. To show my support for my oshi? I can just buy specific merchandise like photos and t-shirts instead of something that usually has multiple colour options at the press of a button. This isn’t just me, either, from the looks of my Twitter feed. They even stocked Hello! Project penlights on Tokyo Otaku Mode for overseas fans to purchase! And yes, I almost bought one.

This is where your imaginations come in. Continue reading →