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Post by relmy on Aug 4, 2012 19:53:51 GMT -4
She was on Kouhaku, twice. People will at least be aware of her, even if they don't know her music. She's not some second rate, poor selling anison singer any more. She's not Namie, but she's not unknown or "local". If I met Nana, I would just squeel. I think I'd be a bit star struck, but she's so cute I'd just want to hug her and take a picture with her. She seems really down to earth, so I don't think I'd be speechless or overwhelmed. I think for most people autographs are like proof that they met somebody famous. I only have one autograph (Ayumi Hamasaki), and I got it done on a limited edition CD, otherwise I didn't really see the point (99% chance I would lose it). I'd want Nana to sign my copy of Wild Arms 5, because that's how I got into her music lol
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Post by amelala on Aug 5, 2012 3:15:51 GMT -4
^ 3 times in Kouhaku XD btw 2009,2010 & shocking 1 is last yr 2011
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haksaw
«5» Secret Ambition
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Post by haksaw on Aug 5, 2012 7:16:09 GMT -4
She's not unknown surely, but she's as local as one can be. Some japanese singers do tours at least in Asia, Nana doesn't even do this. Yes, she was. So? I forgot last time I saw even fragments of our own New Year singing party. I mean, many people have better things to do during new year's eve than to sit in front of TV ;D And even if someone do watch it, it followed by drinking vodka and degustating salads with ones face, so I doubt they pay that much of attention Well, maybe japanese have different traditions considering celebrating new year's eve, but still What I'm saying is, most of accomplishments have weight only within that field. Being on Kouhaku, performing at Tokyo Dome, topping the charts and so on have meaning only for those, who care for such stuff. Really, some sportsman can get gold medal and become an inspiration for others, or some scientist can make a breakthrough, win the Nobel prize and become a legend in his field, but do you care? Unless you yourself are a sportsman or scientist in those fields you'll just go "Well, good for them" and that's it. And if you meet them in person you most likely won't recognize them, but if someone helps you by saying "Look! He's the one, who ....!!!" will you be that excited? I can't answer for you, but I surely will not. Music is just one of those many fields and many ppl will go "so what?" about pretty much anything you can say about Nana or some other performer. As for sailings... Well, hers don't shine even compared to mainstream japanese singers, and as for worldwide known ones... Well, is there really a point in comparing them? ;D Luckily all of this doesn't matter and don't make her worse - popularity in show business depends on many things, quality of the actual work being one of the least essential ;D To sum up: very little percent of population care about any particular field enough to know certain representatives. So absolute numbers grow with popularity of the field itself so more ppl will be aware of the very existence of that field. In our case it's japanese pop music which is almost non existent for the rest of the world so that little percent is taken from Japan population alone which is well, not that many people. And, as I said, she's not even the most popular in Japan. And even if she was, that's not big deal on the world arena. So she's just on the other level of popularity without paparazzi sticking out of every corner around her, crowds of crazy fans camping near her house and shit like that. I don't see how this is a bad thing. Well, I don't know... She surely acts cute sometimes at the concerts, but she's still a 32 year old woman you know :<< So I doubt she will be all that cute if you meet her in everyday life, but isn't that the whole point? ;D Proof... to who? You yourself surely don't need a proof that you met someone and for others... Well, if someone don't trust your word, why would he believe that you got an autograph yourself and didn't buy it somewhere? Photos will make a much better proof... Oh wait, who said photoshop just now? ;D I personally think autographs may have some sort of spiritual meaning like "Oh he\she touched the very same thing with his/her hands! *faints*". But such feelings are alien to me =\ Proof I can understand, but, as I said, it's hardly qualifies as one.
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Post by hot0rikun967 on Aug 5, 2012 14:36:15 GMT -4
^Actually Kouhaku is HUGE in Japan, so as relmy stated, people will at least be aware of her. Regardless of how much popularity she garners in the mainstream market, however (which is surely rising), she is without a doubt the most popular singer in the anison genre. She's practically the main attraction at Anisama, and the fact that she's been doing this well in comparison to other anison singers in the mainstream market just shows how much she's accomplished within her field (which does matter to her fans). Regardless of if she "acts cute" in real life, we at least know that she's both humble and thankful for her success. You can tell how genuine she is just by seeing how much fun she has at her concerts and when she cries during the closing number or when announcing big news such as her performing at Tokyo Dome. I honestly believe that the Nana we're seeing on stage and in interviews is the Nana that we would all meet if we ever got to do so randomly on the street. She's the real thing. I feel like you might be devaluing music just a little bit, as it truly does speak to people's emotions. Even if one doesn't fully understand the language which they are hearing, such as myself in the case of Jpop (I need to look up some lyrics), music can be very powerful. Of course those who do not care about a certain artist are going to say "so what?" when someone is speaking about them, but for those who do (all of us), Nana isn't someone we're just going to shrug off upon seeing her because her music means something great to us. In relation to the population's awareness of music, since the Japanese language is spoken almost exclusively in Japan, I'm pretty sure that the majority of artists within Japan that hit the charts are given airplay on the radio and are at least heard of by the majority of people. I mean, Nana's popularity doesn't reach that of Hamasaki Ayumi or, as was stated before, Amuro Namie, but if you look at the promotion that "IMPACT EXCITER" received, it was quite impressive. That was two years ago. Nana isn't some small-market artist anymore. People are aware of her.
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Post by Sai on Aug 5, 2012 20:38:28 GMT -4
^ ^ Sure, she's not huge on the scale of Ayu, Namie, AKB, etc., but I really think you're really underselling her position as a music artist.
I do agree with you, to an extent, about her accomplishments being less heard of outside of music/j-pop circles, but it's really hard to compare that to other circles just because of how in-your-face singers and musicians are. I'll give you the comparison to athletes, fine, (though even then - how many everyday people are likely to know the name of an athlete over the name of say, Madonna or Britney Spears? Not comparing them to Nana in terms of popularity, just that singers are much more a part of mainstream knowledge than athletes), but scientists? Yeah, no.
It is true that these accomplishments mean a lot more within their respective circles, but they don't go unnoticed outside of them, and the music industry is a huge and vocal one, no pun intended. You are not going to see a scientist's face plastered around Shibuya. You are not going to hear science lectures played at all the trendy stores and restaurants. You aren't going to see a scientist's promotional videos (if such a thing even exists? haha) all over your TV. I don't mean to undermine their field of work at all, but it's really just a given that the everyday person is going to be aware/know/recognize/care about a pop singer before they care about a scientist, and most likely an athlete as well. I'm not trying to make a point that one's more important than the other, that's neither here nor there. To say music is just like those fields is really just flat-out wrong.
Kouhaku is not the typical 'New Years singing party' you make it out to be. I can't say for sure how many people watch it still, but it's a much bigger deal than some local celebratory show. Even if they didn't watch it the night of, the hype around it is pretty much everywhere. When someone's invited to Kouhaku, it's on the news. When someone can't make it to Kouhaku, it's on the news. Whether people watch it or not, they definitely hear about newcomers and hear about the winners after the fact. I can't say for sure if this has actually helped Nana's case at all - though it's likely that it has - but I'm just making the point that it is a bigger deal than you make it out to be.
To clarify, I don't know how popular or well-known Nana is with the everyday Japanese person, and I'm not trying to claim I do. She could be as 'unknown' as you claim, but your points are way too flawed to convince me of that.
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haksaw
«5» Secret Ambition
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Post by haksaw on Aug 6, 2012 12:20:40 GMT -4
Yes, exactly. That's the main reason I like her actually. Yet her "hyper cute" image looks rather forced plus she almost always laughs jumping out of it strengthening the impression it was just an act.
Comparison? Ummm it was not a comparison but an example and science being way better one, since the chances someone don't care about science is higher.
Depends on the name, who don't know Mike Tyson or Michael Schumacher? Actually sports is on the news on a regular basis, while only some grand events or accidents and scandals from music field make it there, so if an athlete is good enough to show results on the same regular basis his name will be very well known to the world. But that's it. The name. I named two sportsmen I'm aware of and surely you're aware of them too, but do you know how do they look like? I surely saw pictures of them here and there, but since I'm not into boxing or F1 enough to watch actual fights or races I just don't remember.
Btw, I though that Madonna was a mother of Christ and was very amazed that she was still so popular until I knew it's a pseudonym of a singer and that happened rather late... Maybe when I was 16-17 years old lol ;D
They make news about pretty much anything. But ok, let's see... Eurovision is also quite popular and on the news, do you remember many participants of even the last one? Or at least a winner? Will you recognize her on a street? (It was a woman, that much I remember ;D) Maybe you do, but I surely do not, just as shitloads of other people who's aware of such an event and even watched it.
Btw you keep saying this word, aware. It fits perfectly. People aware of many things, but only very little amount have a meaning for them. Since you mistook my example for comparison let's not leave the field and not to go somewhere let's take hotori-kun's recent list:
From this list I'm aware of at least half the names, be it actually listening to their works or just seeing mentions of them here and there. I remember only the looks of Yukarin (well, it's hard to forget =)) and maybe Mika can be sometimes mistaken for Nana. And even so I can say without any doubts I care for none of them enough to feel something special meeting them in the street. And if someone will say "Look, it's a girl from Perfume!" I care about it so little I will have no words to even answer back.
Oh wait... I had more to say, but reading your posts again to find suitable quotes I realized maybe we're missing the whole point. I'm not talking about how well-known she is or how many people are aware of her existence. I won't be afraid to say her name is known to the majority of population of Japan. Less people can recall her looks but that's still quite the number I'm sure. The initial topic was if she's living a life of a vastly recognizable celebrity having to disguise herself not to be jumped at by crazy fans and paparazzi at every corner or not. My claim is no, she does not. She's pretty well known, but amount of people capable of causing troubles for her is rather low considering her overall popularity and image. So meeting her is not that big of a deal and you won't have to break through the lines of bodyguards when you do.
Do you disagree with that?
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Post by hot0rikun967 on Aug 6, 2012 13:05:24 GMT -4
^I actually don't know the whole paparazzi situation in Japan. Can anyone give some incite on this? Do popular celebrities in Japan really get bogged down with mobs of fans and paparazzi like you hear about in S. Korea or the U.S.? They very well could be. I honestly don't know!
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Post by relmy on Aug 6, 2012 16:33:02 GMT -4
^ Yes and no. There are a lot of gossip mags (I think one is called Friday? Isn't there that Josei Seven one too?) It tends to be the case that when there is a rumour or a photo that shows them in a bad light, it's either a publicity stunt or been allowed out. That's because it's best to make rumours about Johnny's or AKB's, and Johnny is way too much in with the press to get bad images out, and I imagine AKB have enough money to but their way out.
Look at how much Japanese gossip is TRUE (Jin and Mesia, Koda Kumi, etc...), unlike the West & S Korea where it's a lot of rubbish. If it isn't (all the Ayu & Nagase fuss this year) - the artist label puts it down immediately and directly. None of this "we know their friends" rubbish you get with dating/preggers/marriage rumours (again, look at the Jin and Meisa scandal). We're investigating or we don't know tends to mean "we're writing an actual press release". If it's no, they will say no!
Rather than rumours, they tend to hook on something said or done and make or break somebody because of it - Erika Sawajiri's career pretty much died after she was rude to the press at an event! Koda Kumi's amniotic fluid comment scandel is a great example of this too. Or, look at how Namie's worst career point was after a shotgun marriage, murder in her family and a divorce.
The mobs of fans tend to be when they're allowed - organised evens, signings, airports - it's not stalking and camping outside their house like you hear in Kpop.
Compare the type of images you get on Western gossip sites and Japanese ones (even English language ones) - it's very different.
Nana's biggest "scandal" wasn't even related to anything like that, and was nothing outside of her fanbase. It was when she didn't say what she was doing at Christmas (?) and SOME fans thought she had a secret boyfriend and threw a major hissy fit. Shows that despite her mainstream efforts, her fanbase is mainly otaku I guess.
Nana isn't really their target, she isn't a "diva" type of character. Then again, she isn't immune, look how the media jumped on the criticism of Aya Hirano with that boyfriend thing and her generally being crazy.
This is all I've guessed from reading gossip, someone else may see it differently.
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Post by replaymachine on Aug 6, 2012 22:38:15 GMT -4
Well, it's an act..like when she's asked to do something like petting an imaginary kei-tan on national tv, impersonating a school doctor or a housewife in apron, or being an imouto chara. Of course, it's an act^^ It would feel rather fake, and even creepy if she can still act normal after doing those silly fetishy things. I actually find her goofily cute..like she has this silly, sometimes riduculous behavior that I find adorable despite being yeah, weird^^;; And I don't think it's fake lol relmy And there's that rumor long ago that she's going out with another seiyuu and a few years that followed, that she got married, that male seiyuu being the primary suspect O_O
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Post by amelala on Aug 7, 2012 3:18:50 GMT -4
^ that true! haksaw, u may think doing funny act or acting cute/silly is useless...but its for fan-service, n it will be too emo without her smile n laughter, i mean wats is life without showing without jokes n laughter...also showing ur trueself Nana has been always being giving her best, as u can see frm the past to now vimeo.com/46544523(frm standing still to dancing to emotional Nana) she even gave her best on LIVE, full rehearsal before the actual, then the actual...
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haksaw
«5» Secret Ambition
Posts: 171
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Post by haksaw on Aug 7, 2012 8:29:18 GMT -4
First of all I never told what I think of it. Even if it's not a theater, it's still a stage and you're supposed to act on stage, are you not? My point is, if she has to act to look cute that means she's not cute in general, because if she was she would be cute all the time without any acting lol ;D Though this may lead us to discussion of what is cute and what is not... Even worse, some use the word "cute" as synonym to "beautiful" or even "good", bringing even more chaos to the matter As for usefulness of such things... I don't really know how to measure it =) Hm I don't recall her behaving that silly or ridiculous, care to remind me? She's japanese after all - you should always take this into account ;D I would call most of her "uuuum what was that just now?" moments "out of place" rather than silly or ridiculous. For example, singing something named "Pride of Glory" wearing bunny ears was weeeel... Was it really silly? ;D If it was something like song communication that would be perfectly ok, so just out of place. You're really into that stuff ;D Wonder why ppl care that much about what others do... Especially if this is something nasty =) I can guess some reasons but all of them rather negative lol
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Post by relmy on Aug 7, 2012 10:50:26 GMT -4
relmy And there's that rumor long ago that she's going out with another seiyuu and a few years that followed, that she got married, that male seiyuu being the primary suspect O_O I missed that! It's sad isn't it? That so many idols (I use the term VERY loosely here) have to pretend they don't have a love life. I imagine if Nana ever got married, we wouldn't hear about it, unless she retired or something.
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Post by hot0rikun967 on Aug 7, 2012 15:40:55 GMT -4
^I would be very happy for Nana if she did have someone. I don't really understand why people go so crazy about celebrities and their love lives. What you mentioned about some fans getting upset over Nana's apparent "secret boyfriend", relmy, really kind of urks me. I mean, why would anyone want to discourage someone from finding love? Everyone, including celebrities, deserves it, and I do not think Nana's the type of person to take the subject lightly. I hope she finds or has found someone wonderful. By the way, thanks for the insight on the Japanese tabloids. It was very enlightening ^__^
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Post by sevenpetals on Aug 7, 2012 16:15:10 GMT -4
Ok... so to add to all the Kouhaku confusion, it is consistently The MOST watched musical event yearly in Japan.... and has in the past been the most watched show in all of Japan(not many times mind you)... people have definitely heard of Nana if they have watched Kouhaku, and maybe they've gone on and seen "whoa, she can kind of sing a bit better then some of these guys who have been on the show for god knows how long"
Its also not fair to assume how people would react when they meet a "celebrity" i currently own 0 autographs of Japanese artists/celebritys, only American ones, which IMO arent as worth it but thats a story for a different time. I know there are people in japan who are strongly against the whole Otaku Culture, and would think of Nana as nothing more than an ani-song artist, but it means they would at least recognize her in public if they cared to notice.. i think the average human being would at least take a second glance at ANY1 they thought they recognized, just by nature, not the thought of the person being famous.. they might make that connection after they see her... i dont think she gets swarmed with fans all the time
On the matter of "Cuteness" i wouldnt say she is overly cute.. cute is mainly used to describe a person's looks, and then less frequently their actions.. she LOOKS cute to me, and the way she "acts" (i dont mean Oshiri punch, spin around, etc etc, because that is based off of her Seiyuu work, and Japans need to see seiyuu's do things they see from the actual Anime, or hear them) is definitely cute.By "Acting' I believe people here are referring to the way she speaks, moves, carries herself, etc etc her actual Actions that are cute, not her "Acting" cute for attention.. And since as far as I know, she isnt just "acting" when she talks, moves, etc etc, I'd say its perfectly acceptable to say she is cute.. Opinion of course, so analyze it to your heart's content.
I personally said i would faint/pass out ... because ive been known to faint/pass out in public at much smaller things, i wouldnt stand up and say Nana...Nana...Nana.. then foam at the mouth and pass out in public while she slowly makes her way out the door... xD if i was in some sort of cafe, and she was there drinking Coffee, i would probably just pass out with my face in my food xD. I'd love to meet her in public, although seeing that she is a grown woman, she might be a bit offended that i had the nerve to approach her in public (i wouldn't ask for an autograph or anything, just a moment to ask some questions about her music, and things of the sort). From watching every Smile-Gang (at least 2 times per... so i can attempt to translate and understand about 50% of the show xDD) I do agree when she is "acting cute" she always laughs after wards, but she is still cute even when shes talking normally, & her responses to social situations are quite humorous imo xD
Point is... idk, i took a 10 minute break while writing this.... Id Faint/Pass Out regrettably (or id at least try to hold it in for a while, in which people might stare at me)
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Post by relmy on Aug 7, 2012 16:36:07 GMT -4
^I would be very happy for Nana if she did have someone. I don't really understand why people go so crazy about celebrities and their love lives. What you mentioned about some fans getting upset over Nana's apparent "secret boyfriend", relmy, really kind of urks me. I mean, why would anyone want to discourage someone from finding love? Everyone, including celebrities, deserves it, and I do not think Nana's the type of person to take the subject lightly. I hope she finds or has found someone wonderful. By the way, thanks for the insight on the Japanese tabloids. It was very enlightening ^__^ I agree, you should support you favourite artist in finding happiness, not deny them it I think it's mostly anime singers and actual idols who have this problem though, "diva" types or singers targeted at females don't get it so much (there'd be no backlash if Kana Nishino got a boyfriend, for example! So unfair). For idols like AKB48 it's because they have to be seen as "available" as girlfriends for the fanbase. Morning Musume was the same, Korean girl groups are the same, and so on. I think this mindset also applies to anison singers, the fanbases do overlap.
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