Where Our Idols Stand vs. All Idols

/ Homicidol Maniac

A lot has changed in idol over the years; from basically being Japanese entertainment’s version of flyover country to some of the biggest stars in the world, and up and down and back and forth, idol itself has waxed and waned in its popularity. And then you get into the culture change and shifts in musical variety of the last several years — you know, that whole raison d’être of this stupid website — and various individuals becoming pop culture touchpoints, and you kind of wonder maybe exactly how it all fits together.

That is, relative to the rest, exactly how popular are our idols?

You should check this out, then. Trigger Warning pinged me on this the other day:

Pretty neat, huh? I like seeing the movement over time — while the top three (and especially-especially Perfume) have been pretty unassailable for a while, there’s tons of movement all over the chart below that.

And then there’s Babymetal at #12, which is the kind of thing that might set Reddit aflame both pro and con all at once, ahead of Dempagumi.inc all the way since 2015 (which, huh) … and then not really any else of ours. Babyraids JAPAN is at least a quasi-regular, and PASSPO, too, but I think Team Syachihoko has picked up all of one reference once, and that’s about it (other than me complaining that I don’t want to delve into Momoclo).

But yeah, it kind of puts efforts like BiSH and PassCode into perspective, doesn’t it? They have lots and lots of fans and get to be on national TV and do collaborations with major producers and so on, and they’re still nowhere to be found among idol’s bigger players. What with various low-key debates around things like popularity and value and cultural impact, it puts things into perspective.

And what a way to start Friday! The Fun is Kerrie at some of her most inspired work, and … well. Stay tuned.

4 thoughts on “Where Our Idols Stand vs. All Idols”

  2. Why would Silent Siren be on that chart they are a band!
    (Babymetal isn’t so to me it makes sense they are on it)

  3. The thing to remember is that this survey attempts to gauge the general publics interest and recognition, not success.

    For example BABYMETAL might be #12 according to the list but last year they sold more albums than Perfume at #1(and all others on the list except E-girls i think?).

    BABYMETAL just doesn’t do stuff like commercials and TV appearances that would get them more in the sights of the general public and higher on the list.

    I am sure you could draw similar parallels between the relative success of all “underground/alternative” idols and their placement on their list compared to more traditional idols.

  4. Pingback: Your Homicidols Weekender #25 | Homicidols

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