What makes you a Wota? ...

Midori from Midori’s J-pop Overanalyzations has put together a checklist so we can all analyze our fandom ... while this might seem like fun it probably offers a deep psychological insight ... probably ... but anyway here's my answers:


• You can name and/or recognize half or more of the AKB48 research students or H!P Eggs:

Although I do have an interest in AKB48 I'm not very knowledgeable on hardly any of the 'research students'.
I do know some of the eggs though ... some of my favorite girls are Fukuda Kanon and Maeda Yuuka.

• You own at least 10 photos of your favorite idol:

Guilty, I own probably just over 400 photos of various idols, the photos I own most of are Chinami Tokunaga, Maasa Sudo and Takahashi Ai.

• You buy t-shirts advertising your favorite idol/idol group and wear them on a regular basis. If you're a man 25+, you don't feel any about this:

I own about 10 h!p t-shirts and wear some of them on a regular basis, I dont wear the shirts that have bright colours though, I have a Miyabi shirt that is a horrible turquoise blue.
I'm 26 and feel zero regret or embarrasment, thats how I roll and its awww right.

• You know all of your favorite idol's stats by heart:

Nope! idol stats don't really interest me that much, knowing a girls blood type or if she likes eggplants is kinda pointless in my opinion, I do enjoy finding out little facts about the girls, but I don't memorize this stuff.

• Whenever anyone insults your favorite idol or idol group, you immediately come to their defense... even if you know you're b.s.ing half your compliments. (i.e. "They're good singers!" "She can dance well!" "She has more personality than [insert some famous TV personality here]" "They're NOT ugly!":

Alot of people do bash Koharu a fair bit, but when you look at their reasons for doing so their 'arguments' fall apart.
I respect most peoples opinions on idols but I cant really tolerate aimless bashing.
Also it depends who's doing the bashing ... Lolli likes to tell me that Maimi dances like a retard ... of course this accusation is false and baseless so I take it on the chin.

• You have spent more than you make a day on idol goods:

God yes, I'm not sure how much I've spent in one go but its ALOT.

• You can recognize all of your favorite idols' voices:

I can recognize all of Morning Musume's, Berryz Kobo's and C-ute's voices which took me a while to do.

• You have almost a stalkerish obsession with wanting to meet them or even just see them in person:

I would sell both my lungs to be able to attend a handshake event or something like that, I wouldn't call it 'stalkerish obsession' at all, I wouldn't stalk anyone because its just super creepy and Wota's have enough negativity attached to them already.

• You hear someone say something that remotely sounds like your favorite idol's name and you immediately assume they're also a wota:

Hmm not really, although I do see items in stores that remind me of idols, I recently saw a lampshade that was called 'Massa' which of course reminded me of Maasa.
There was also some deodorant I bought that's called 'Maiami' which at the time I thought it was called 'Maimi' ... it smells fruity.

• You heavily anticipate any news from your idol:

absolutely!!! what fan doesn't? I'm currently anticipating Maimi's third photobook .... oohh yeah.

• You have sent fan-mail:

Nope, not yet at least, I'm tempted to send an email to Maimi's radio show ... but I'm gonna brush up on my Japanese skills before I do so.

• Your favorite idol appears in your dreams more than once:

I've had numerous dreams about various idols, yet most of them have been random and pointless ... I do know a certain girl that has pervy dreams all the time ... yet I cant mention her name.

• You have wondered what would happen if your idol dated you. (Mainly for guys, but if we include Johnnys here:

I have wondered at times how an idol would act as a girlfriend, which I'm sure she would act like any other girlfriend (mostly).
I haven't thought about an idol dating me because that's just far too silly and immature to a degree.

• Your husband/wife/boyfriend/girlfriend/immediate family has learned to deal with your obsession long ago.

Being currently single I have the freedom to worship my idols in peace ... although if a girl came along I would lay the law down ... idols >>>> you

• If your favorite idol is suspended/fired/retired/graduated/has no work with their agency/other you check more than two sources of possible info everyday and accept any rumors about his/her return to be true immediately.

I've already been through this turmoil as when I first got into h!p I was totally dedicated to Kago Aibon, after her millionth scandal I couldn't take it anymore ... I no longer follow her new career, I cant stand scandals ... even when there kinda juicy and fun.

• You have at least 3 photobooks or DVDs of your favorite idol:

I sure do, and I hope to own more when possible, they look good on the book shelf.

• You could colorcode a song sung by AKB48 O.o (I'm afraid of those who can!)

Not at all, I hardly know all the girls names from AKB48 ... although Berryz Kobo is a different issue.

• You do fandubs, cosplays, or fandances of your favorite idol or idol group:

If I was a cute girl I would probably do stuff like this ... I know some of the dance moves but I never find the time to use them ...

• You make birthday and worship posts on a blog/forum

Ummmmm ..... I guess XD

• You don't take the cheap route and buy your idol's songs from iTunes or another mp3 site, you spend the money to order every edition of the CD/DVD:

I don't buy mp3's at all, if I'm gonna buy h!p related music I want to physically own it.

I think I scored about 10 and a 1/2 out of 20 .... maybe I should try harder?

[also please be aware that the picture above is not me ... or is it???]

Berryz are bigger than Jesus

The Berryz just touched down in Korea for the 'Asia song festival 2008' and by the looks of it they were greeted by a large amount of screaming Korean wota's.
Although I'm sure the girls of Berryz 工房 are quite used to screaming fans I cant help but wonder what the girls think of them when they act in such a psychotic fashion.
In the video below you can clearly hear some guy constantly chanting 'RISAKOOOOO ... RISAKOOO', If I was stood next to him I would tell him 침묵!!!, but come to think of it ... if I was there I would probably be shouting 'CHIIII!!! CHIIIII!!!' in the loudest voice possible.
All of the girls naturally stand there smiling and waving to the fans, its also good to see the girls are so photogenic even without studio lights and airbrush, just LOOK how stunningly radiant Miyabi is looking ...



It's great to see such a good turn out, lots of guys AND girls all sporting colourful banners and such, given the intensity of the crowd chanting I hope there was sufficient security staff, as you can see in the video the fan cam gets worryingly close to Momoko.





And yeah ... you might want to turn your speakers down because the shouting and screaming gets fairly intense ... ahh wotas ... Zerg rush!!!

Meet Cuca!

Meet Cuca, she's 6 years old and by the looks of it a complete hardcore Wota.
I found her YouTube channel a few weeks ago and there's a great selection of videos of her dancing to various Hello! project videos, even though shes very young she has a brilliant dance ability and pulls off each dance with close to professional precision ... although I think her brother could do with a few more dance lessons.
I think its a safe assumption that her parents film her and upload these videos on her behalf, it makes me wonder if her parents are also hardcore Wota? ... I wonder if from birth they indoctrinated her? ... either way she seems to be enjoying herself and slowly picking up a fan following, she seems happy to take requests so I suggested that she should dance to 'Special Generation' and/or 'Gag 100kaibun Aishite Kudasai'.
I hope all people with YouTube accounts subscribe to her channel which can be found here.
Here's a video of Cuca dancing along to 'Yuke Yuke Monkey Dance' ... its so sweet!!!





And here's the not so sweet ... Hardcore Wotaku Japanese men dancing to 'jiriri kiteru'.

AKB48 WTF?

According to AKB48's official blog any person who collects 44 special edition posters that come with their new cd will be selected to attend a 'special gig'.
If it didnt sound bad already the posters that come with the cd are totally random, so even if you bought 44 of the singles which would cost about £380 ($752) ... you still dont have much chance of 'winning'.
With the nature of Wotas I'm sure they will buy this cd in the masses, personally I see this as a rather bizzare and cruel market research experiment on the obsessiveness of idol merchandise.
I do spend alot of money on hello! project, but I would never consider buying 44 copies of the same single ... unless the prize was a cruise holiday around the world with berryz Kobo ... but thats different story.
I have not been a fan of AKB48 for long, but I think I have a good grasp of what they are about, and what strikes me is that they seem to be promoted as a fairly sexualized idol unit ... I'm not saying its a bad thing but there seems to be a mixed age range within the units which would suggest its aiming to reach a wider demographic ... I guess my main concern is about the younger girls singing about underage prostitution.
But enough rant already, recently I got my hands on an AKB48 photobook which is called 'Jump & Cry' ... and supprisingly enough its filled with pictures of the girls 'jumping' and 'crying'.
Heres some examples to show you how odd it is ...






*UPDATE*

DefSTAR Records recently announced a promotional campaign for "Sakura no Hanabiratachi 2008," the new single from idol unit AKB48. Those buying the single received a poster, randomly selected from 44 different ones, each featuring a member of the group. Any fan who collected all 44 posters would be able to attend a special AKB48 concert.

The campaign attracted a lot of criticism from fans, with some likening the campaign to a scam. On Thursday, DefSTAR updated its website to announce that the special concert has been canceled, due to concerns that the campaign may actually be in violation of laws regarding fair business practices.

The label apologized to fans and stated that they will be accepting returns, starting on Monday.

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