On 2.5D and Authenticity — We review things: Flowers of passion episode 3

This is both a review and a discussion of Derek Vasconi’s third episode in his documentary series Flowers of Passion. If you would like context and an introduction to the series, I recommend checking out the reviews of the first two instalments. I have tried to label what is directly about the documentary versus what is in conversation with it, but as the two are intertwined, it was not always possible.

This third episode is shorter than its two predecessors, clocking in a little under 40 minutes, and it covers the relationships between fans and idols. It features Moe from XOXO Extreme, Chihiro from Merry Bad End, Koyuki and Yuka from Lilii Kaona, as well as Japanese pop culture academic Patrick Galbraith!

Review

The documentary opens on a quote claiming that idols are 2.5D (halfway between fiction and real humans, basically) and that is what idol fans are supporting. I take issue with that statement, especially since I think this is a by-product of the documentary analyzing idol as a whole industry and underground idol in the same breath, as I find it way less applicable to smaller acts. The stakes are not the same as the scale changes. I engage in depth with Galbraith’s interview later in this article.

Much of the interest of this episode was the intertwining of Galbraith’s acafan perspectives (he seems to be really into Xteen, per his chekis) with the impressions of idols themselves on the idol-fan relationship. I was happy to see a more academic take on idol. While the interviews are gold, it is nice to have more reflective segments once in a while. The interiority of the performers we love is a very rare sight, and I really loved hearing from the Lilii Kaona girls what they thought about their fans and how it differed from their previous artistic experience, as they both used to be actresses and therefore have a much more distant and less involved relationship with their fans. The idol to fan relationship is unique to this scene, and that post-live proximity is where the crux of modern idol resides. 

I loved seeing Lilii Kaona’s Koyuki talking about how despite being on a much smaller budget/scale, the underground idol scene is as compelling as bigger productions like music stations, because of the sheer energy of the fans as well as the strength and diversity of the music.


Modern idol is also rooted in catharsis. One of the interviewees, event organizer Ansan, said: “There are some people are coming to just cause a ruckus” [sic]. It made me laugh because I do know a couple of fellow fans who used to unwind through mosh pits and cheki interactions and who are now bored at the “no fun allowed” lives necessary in the presence of a pandemic. So I feel like the variety of music in the underground idol scene and this bit of loudol in particular has several avenues for cathartic release, including ones that go beyond the discussion after you took your cheki.

During the documentary, the following quote appears: “If a live house is like a jinja, then its front doors are the torii gates and the idols are the kami who live within. The fans visit these kawaii kami, offering prayers of thanks in the form of special chants, known as ‘mixes’, along with dance and hand movements that are similar to the nirei-nihakushu-ichirei (clapping your hands twice and lowering to the ground) custom. Fans also show gratitude financially through osaisen, tossing their money into the cash boxes of the idol groups via the purchase of idol merchandise. Finally, to commemorate their visit, fans usually will buy a kind of take-home ‘ema’, in the form of a cheki. And just like a real ema, chekis cost anywhere from 500 to 1,000 yen (or more).”

 While discussing this with Daemon, who noted that the “worship at the altar of rock” was a fairly common analogy, this quote still doesn’t sit right with me. The docuseries spends a long time talking over several episodes about how the underground idol scene does not have that aspect of distant worship compared to previous iterations of idols pre-AKB, and then presents us this. It seems like an oxymoron. In addition to the contradiction, this quote also does two ideological things that rubs me the wrong way: first, by associating this contemporary and very modern phenomenon with something traditional, the traditional give it a form of forward momentum in time that means the present is a teleological endpoint of history. There’s no real looking beyond it. It cements “Idol” as being this exclusively Japanese thing, despite there being no real equivalency. Furicopy (copying the dance/hand movement of the artist on the stage) is not derived from nirei-nihakushu-ichirei, it’s literally just dancing. In addition, because Ema (the wooden tablets you purchase to write a wish and then hang at the temple) are meant to stay at the temple, I don’t think the chekis that you take home as a souvenir really works as an analogy. I know that tourists do buy Ema to commemorate their trips, but it’s not the intended purpose. Secondly, that deification really shifts the focus away from the fact that you are interacting with a real, live person, who has a history of their own, bills to pay, and exists beyond the context of the livehouse. And that is the core of my disagreements with this episode.


2.5D, Authenticity and Context-Based Relationships

My issue is a fundamental conceptual difference in how we consider idols. Some idols, like Dempagumi Inc.’s Risa Aizawa, do identify as 2.5 people. It is also relatively applicable to more popular idols from bigger agencies insofar as the rigid context in which they exist and in which you can meet them means that the distance between the fan and the idol will always be palpable. However, the proximity with the performers in the chika idol scene, combined with how precarious indie groups are bringing a very different experience. It also means that some of us (us being idol fans) care about the girls as people rather than as characters. Idols show you selected parts of themselves, much like anyone in your life. There is always some sort of filter going on in social interactions and I would liken the chika idol experience more like this than a betwixt and between fictional experience. Also keep in mind that for smaller idol groups, due to the proximity with the fans, a facade or character might be harder to keep up, as you are seen much closer and in somewhat less rigidly geared settings.

One thing that is interesting to me is that it is fairly common for idols to aspire to be considered/labelled “artists” rather than “idols”. Being considered an artist carries that idea of legitimacy and authenticity in the sense that the person is doing their craft as they are, as opposed to the idea of playing a character. A fairly popular example of this would probably be Perfume, who started as idols but are now wildly just considered artists by the general public, as if they transcended idol. A smaller, more local example would be the proficient, multitalented Yoneko, who said they had nothing more to accomplish as an idol, but is certainly continuing their creative musical endeavours. 

The musical diversity is really highlighted as part of the documentary, and I think that’s important. While I know this scene is not only about the music and rather about the whole experience of proximity with the performer, I sometimes wonder if there are people who don’t care about the music and how it must feel for the girls. This is anecdotal at best, but I have heard people talk about traditional idols as this “really cute but extremely dumb girl,” which is … disrespectful, to say the least. I wonder about the people who go to idol shows more for the experience than the music itself. Like people who like a group or a member but find the music literally unlistenable. Is that a fan I made up? A person who goes “Aaah, I get to spend time with a cute girl but you are so bad at what you like to do”? I don’t know how I feel about this.

During this episode of the documentary, Ansan also assesses that “Idols really think about the fans . . . the difference between any artist and idol is that idol shows aren’t over after the performance.” I do think this is an accurate and astute statement, but I wish we could also figure out a way or a system that would make idols support less unilaterally. I know that, well, fan pay for the emotional support they get from idols by giving them money for the interaction. However, per my own observations and per what you can see in the documentary, fans are not the only ones who struggle with alienation and other mental health issues. And while money does help (having a roof over your head and being able to put food on the table are pretty much requirements for living and not being immediately overwhelmed by the stress of trying to survive instead of living), it doesn’t fix your mind. Feeling the pressure of perfection, the pressure of being likable, the pressure of being thin enough or pretty enough are significant ordeal that fan money will not fix. I don’t know how it would work, but if I have only hope for the idol fandom, it would be to make it more about the performer as people rather than just the figure of a person.

Galbraith seems to refer to an unnamed “they” (The Tokyo Idols documentary producer and her team, perhaps?) as people who just don’t know about idols and don’t have data to be forming their opinions of thinking this is an icky scene. The thing is, we do have data to back the fact that there is (occasionally) gross abuse happening behind the scenes. It is (as far as we know) occasional. However, as the idol scene involves several performers who are minors (and therefore considered vulnerable by about any ethics committee), it is particularly important to scrutinize this. We don’t want more of this happening. There are idols like Wada Ayaka (of S/mileage & Angerme fame) who give interesting and nuanced interviews about her experience as an idol and what she thinks should change. You can find one here, please give it a read. That is one part of it. The other part of it is that although the documentary works very hard to make everything seem very platonic, not talking about gravure, nor about photobooks with bikini pictures. Now, in very crude terms, I am not saying, “if you bought a photo book with bikini pictures in it, you clearly rubbed one off on it”. But gravure is titillating, it’s not on the same level as artist profile photos.  In the previous episode, they even go so far as translating Gachikoi as “they really like that idol ^_^” whereas it means being in love with an idol. Like, dissolve the idol/fan relationship, “I want to date her for real for real” love. Gachikoi means that this love goes beyond supporting her dream and involves wanting her for oneself in your personal life.
I am not saying that these are necessarily reprehensible things1, nor am I even thinking it. You can be an adult and platonically support idols. You can even think “Yes, she is surely a fine young woman that could be the age of my hypothetical daughter” in a non-creepy way (maybe don’t use my wording, though). I know and love very respectable and respectful idol fans who are exactly the kind of people to give no mind to gravure. Heck, I am arguably the Horniest for Idols ™ member of the Homicidols staff. These nuances aside, I find that this sanitization of the idol experience in order to make it seem respectable both to us and to the exterior, uninitiated world is not doing us a service. At best, it simply glosses over a non-negligible part of the industry, at worst, it makes us sound disingenuous or in denial.2

Speaking of gachikoi, I thought Yuka’s assessment of the idol/fan relationship being like a regular at a coffee shop rather than having a wall between them was very interesting. It’s not the first time I hear this. A friend of mine once compared the oshi experience to going to his usual bar to see his favourite barmaid. But while there is no wall, there is still the same idea that this relationship takes place in certain contexts. While it’s not impossible that you could build links strong enough to hang out with your favourite barmaid as a friend outside of her work, it is more likely that she really appreciates you in the context of her work, but keeps her private life separate from the customers who happen to go to the bar and chat with her. And the same is true for idols and their fans. I am absolutely willing to die on the hill that the idol/fan relationship in their gratitude and how they remember you and bits of your life is genuine, but I also think compartmentalization is an essential part of this job, in order to keep yourself from burning out. I still believe this compartmentalization does not equate a 2.5D relationship.

Now, one very interesting and important element of this documentary that is not addressed is that the part of the idol scene that Derek documents also has a tendency to have older performers. That part is extremely good news for many idol fans and idol advocates in that it demonstrates that this is beyond a scene akin to watching an extremely good high school talent show. In Episode 2, for instance, Lilii Kaona’s producer talked about the fact that Koyuki and Yuka were adults when they started, which makes it likely that they have more more leeway in how they decide to live their life (compared to an adolescent doing this as a part-time job) and likely more life experience as well. Featuring performers who are (somewhat) older is an important debunking and an integral part of the current modern idol experience. It also vouches for the legitimacy of idol as a “genre” rather than something that performers inevitably get tired of.

All in all, this episode was the one that was probably the most consistent in having one very explicit theme and treating in a concise way. Despite this, it might be the episode I liked least so far. While the other two episodes really fired me up with new content and tidbits about idols I didn’t know about, I felt like this episode didn’t bring much of something new, if only maybe defending its points of few compared to the content presented in other documentaries on the topic.

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1 Except,obviously, the “taking advantages of minors” part. That is absolutely, 5,000% reprehensible, don’t do that. Garbage. Gravure done by people old enough to know what it entails, then that is your business.

 2 Should it be necessary to precise, I am not saying this is what Derek’s documentary is saying. A five hour (approximately, estimated) documentary series cannot and should not be expected to cover everything. This is part of a larger discussion on the conceptualisation and representations of idols.  So literally all I am saying here regarding the documentary is that this translation of Gachikoi is a little sterile, and it works with the larger message that idol = support system that is the essence of this docuseries. But  let’s not kid ourselves and pretend that there is no horny system in idol.

This Post Is a Celebration of the Mere Existence of XOXO EXTREME

Idol is genreless. You learn this pretty quickly even if you don’t start off going down the bottomless rabbit hole of chika loud idol — you might be like “oh wow I really like BTS perhaps this ‘Perfume’ thing from Japan is similarly fun” and within a week you’re wondering what the hell a GO TO THE BEDS because that’s next in your somewhat randomized playlist and you’re currently listening to some lady with an extremely squeaky voice rap perhaps a little too well for comfort. Genre, such as it is within idol, is largely a matter of trend: Idorock is a thing because it’s easy, and we’ve had really solid runs through metal and punk and nowadays, yes, rapping is apparently the latest big thing. The really memorable idol units, though, are the ones that take a fairly unique genre position (Dots with shoegaze, Yanakoto Sotto Mute with grunge, Hauptharmonie with … however you describe Hauptharmonie) and double up by also being really goddamn good at it. Those things stick; so too do those rare times when an idol unit fills a very unique niche that needs filling, like GARUDA coming out of the woodwork as my personal white whale doing unsettling industrial stuff.

All of this to say that there is really one prog idol unit out there, they’ve been in that position for several years, they’re always incredibly, absolutely, wonderfully entertaining, and they check every box I just described, making them some kind of weird idol genre gold standard that may not make them the world’s most popular performing act but definitely makes them one that deserves love and respect, all of it.

That’s the post. Go enjoy your Saturday.

We Review Things: The Flowers of Passion – Episode 02

Episode 02 of Derek Vasconi’s documentary series, The Flowers of Passion was made available for streaming on Friday, and I dug into it almost immediately. 

The episode packs a lot into 73 minutes, giving us XOXO EXTREME’s thoughts on the history of idol and the difficulties of holding a place in it, some dramatically personal insight into what it is like to be 14th Generation Toilet Hanako-San, footage from a special acoustic set by NaNoMoRaL, and a behind-the-scenes look at LiLii Kaona’s creative processes including the birth of their incomparable tune, “Rust”.

This is all delivered via extremely candid conversations and intimate performance footage capturing the action both on stage and in the studio. So far, the strength of the series stems from the presentation of the interviews and performances largely without external narration or commentary. Other than the first several minutes of episode one (which we reviewed here), the only editorial context comes from infrequent captions that usually serve an introductory purpose. The end result is that what we see and hear is almost entirely the unfiltered thoughts of the idols and their management or production staff.  Continue reading

Get Your Prog On, Says xoxo EXTREME

Pretty sure that I’ve used a version of this title before, so sue me

Man, the first part of this week was absolutely exhausting. Did you know that we set a record, not just for Homicidols Dot Com, but I’m going to go ahead and claim for any Western J-music-oriented bloggy site, period? Yep: In about 12 hours, we issued 10 unique posts, and legitimately only a handful of that was planned April Fools stuff; the rest was because of either awesome pranks that needed to be called out, or just plain awesome stuff that needed to be shared. And we still didn’t get all of it! It was most of the stuff for Tuesday too! Wild as hell. I feel like I’m still digging out.

After all of that, you need a re-charge, and what better serendipity than to connect with something I got a little excited about recently, which is here rendered in all of xoxo EXTREME’s unique live goodness:

Continue reading

This Might Be the Most Interesting Song You’ll Hear Today

I’d say “this week,” but let’s be real, that Yanamyu EP drops tomorrow and the sun very may well cease to cross the sky when that happens. Heaven help us all.

Instead, let’s focus on what’s directly in front of us! And what’s directly in front of us is the kind of astonishingly perfect glory that happens best in idol, when genres collide and tempos are upbeat and the only way to describe the mood that comes over you is “great”:

That’s yes-it’s-still-just-them prog idols xoxo EXTREME with friends MELLOW GREEN WONDER performing a song from that collaboration record that I mentioned a while back. It is aptly named!

Let’s Enjoy Some xoxo EXTREME Live

I haven’t had time to put together the idol Halloween costume post that I really wanted to, not to mention the really fun idea that Daemon had, so instead I come bearing different kinds of treats — overdubbed idol live video! And who better to provide than one of the strangest, most unique, least predictable acts in the entire scene, xoxo (Kiss&Hug) EXTREME, who popped out these suckers a few days ago and keep drawing me back with them, for I have missed them:

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Can We Please Talk about xoxo EXTREME for a Minute?

Like, we’ve done it before, but what started off yesterday as a desire to have my second-favorite work playlist followed by something louder* took me down a memory hole that ended abruptly at one of the few idol projects booted up on Bandcamp, which is xoxo(Kiss&Hug) EXTREME, who are simultaneously also idol’s sole absolute devotee of old-school prog rock and therefore a glorious thing.

And it was in the moment when I was two glorious, flute-enhanced minutes into what immediately follows that I decided that yes, a post needed to be blogged, and the closest thing that idol has to Jethro Tull needed a more recent moment of celebration:

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xoxo EXTREME Is Ready

I was lamenting the other day (to myself, but very, very loudly) that the first month of the new year hasn’t really had any immediate Of the Year contenders. Necroma’s single is great, of course, but has no MV, and there have been precious few releases, period, let alone any that would make you jump up and holler out of the sheer joy of hearing something great.

Then along came xoxo EXTREME with their first-ever MV, and I’ll be damned if it didn’t leave me a little slack-jawed. Continue reading

Hugs and Kisses … to the Extreme

All right, I can feed myself again and feel like there’s very little to talk about, so let’s head to the ol’ queue for something that might be interesting.

Hello, what’s this?

That’s xoxo EXTREME (Twitter), who bill themselves as prog-rock idols, which I am disinclined to disagree with in any way. Continue reading