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Answerman - Will The US Ever Get Stand-Alone Otaku Music Events?


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omiya



Joined: 21 Sep 2011
Posts: 1823
Location: Adelaide, South Australia
PostPosted: Thu May 10, 2018 8:43 am Reply with quote
I don't think that much could happen with Anime Music concerts in Australia outside of being tied to a convention either, even though standalone Final Fantasy Distant Worlds concerts have been successful here (and had the audience holding their collective breaths during the pieces, more like a Japanese audience than a western audience).

The Japanese concert experience is great whether as part of an audience of 14 or 27,000 even though getting the opportunity to meet any of the artists after a big concert is understandably rare.

See for instance Lia singing the Charlotte OP Bravely You at Animelo Summer Live 2016: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OeLL8x-ThdQ.
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crosswithyou



Joined: 15 Dec 2007
Posts: 2892
Location: California
PostPosted: Thu May 10, 2018 9:28 am Reply with quote
#861208 wrote:
.... Actually, getting more than 3 of the busiest seiyuu in the industry to fly out of the country for a weekend might be more of a challenge than the copyrights.

This, basically.

If we're going to talk about seiyuu-idols then we have to talk about the distance between Japan and the U.S. Asian countries as much closer and usually a weekend, or 3 days if they come in a day early (which they are likely to do), is all they need to travel and put on the concert. Meanwhile, a performance in the U.S. would eat up at least 4-5 days between travel and the actual concert.

For actual musicians where music is their main gig, it's easier to travel outside Asia to put on shows because they don't have to worry about any other jobs while they are away.

I'm sad ONE OK ROCK doesn't do anime conventions... I think they would get faster exposure with an audience that is already likely to enjoy Japanese music, but I understand that they aren't targeting an otaku audience. Pooie.
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omoikane



Joined: 03 Oct 2005
Posts: 494
PostPosted: Thu May 10, 2018 11:44 am Reply with quote
I have a big issue with the question and the answer: Love Live/Aqours is not really "idols" by any standard definition. The only idol groups going to AX this year (so far?) are AKB48 team 8 and iRis. The other performers may be considered idols by the standard, non-Japan-specific definition such as May'n or Shokotan or Sayuri, they are just your standard jpop/anisong music acts. But they aren't idols like the ones we associate with the term as used in Japan.

Love Live/Aqours is a production by a specific IP. It's closer to a musical than an idol live by design, even if in practice the performers essentially do the same things on stage as any other music act or idol act--although they are technically acting in character. So I understand the confusion. But they are not idols in the showbiz sense.

In reality it is not more difficult to get Japanese idol acts oversea than other acts, on average. The big names ones obviously are very expensive, but there are countless small-time idol groups, and people who promote them. This is why this con had a couple? hundred attendees. And then you have groups like Perfume, which is very much the other kind of idol group, touring the world.

I do agree with the gist of the answer, in that conventions bring the people together to make Japanese music concerts work. Big name artists can already sell out shows in LA or NYC aside, the anime stuff is pretty niche still and fans need a bigger draw to go to these shows. By that I don't mean those of us who would fly to AX or fly to see Aqours anyway, but the regular folks in the area who can turn out and fill all the seats, that's what makes these concerts possible.

That said! I think Aqours probably can sell out a show on their own without AX, in SoCal. They will still need AX to help with other stuff, but such is how it goes...
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xchampion



Joined: 21 Jan 2009
Posts: 370
Location: Idaho Falls, Idaho
PostPosted: Thu May 10, 2018 4:14 pm Reply with quote
Francesco Vitiello wrote:
Once I went to a convention near the city where I live to see Mika Kobayashi singing live(i'm italian and the event happened in Naples).Even tough she's hugely popular thanks to Attack on titan and other anime,the concert was short(less than 30 minutes) and she didn't perform alone.A team of swordsmen called Kengishu Kamui was on stage too,moving to the rhythm of the music.


Mika Kobayashi also came to a convention where I live in Boise as well. The concert where you were was very similar to the ones where I was. Im sure its just her standard performance.
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rizuchan
Collector Extraordinaire



Joined: 11 Mar 2007
Posts: 974
Location: Kansas
PostPosted: Thu May 10, 2018 4:21 pm Reply with quote
Even a year ago I'd have said no way but I saw Babymetal in friggin Kansas City Tuesday night. Obviously they're a bit different since their fanbase isn't entirely otaku, but between them and the K-pop crud, this stuff is obviously catching on.
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leafy sea dragon



Joined: 27 Oct 2009
Posts: 7163
Location: Another Kingdom
PostPosted: Thu May 10, 2018 6:20 pm Reply with quote
Oh yes, and an addendum to my thoughts about there not being that much overlap between hardcore fans of western pop music and of anime: The people I've known who are really into mainstream western music tend to also believe that their music is popular in every country in the world, including Japan. Due to some of my other, non-anime hobbies, I run into a lot of fans of AC/DC, Aerosmith, and other boomer bands, for instance, who are either unaware that a Japanese pop music scene exists (the word "J-Pop" means something completely different to many of these people and refers to an individual rather than an industry) or think that it's a small indie, grassroots thing, rather than a large, established multimillion dollar industry.

Basically, whatever they perceive is the cultural relevance of foreign music in countries like the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, and so forth is what they think is the cultural relevance of that music in their own country. (It's more borne out of ignorance than anything: For the people who believe this, the thought has never really occurred to them that people in a non-English-speaking country might generally prefer music in their own language and made domestically.)

omoikane wrote:
I have a big issue with the question and the answer: Love Live/Aqours is not really "idols" by any standard definition. The only idol groups going to AX this year (so far?) are AKB48 team 8 and iRis. The other performers may be considered idols by the standard, non-Japan-specific definition such as May'n or Shokotan or Sayuri, they are just your standard jpop/anisong music acts. But they aren't idols like the ones we associate with the term as used in Japan.

Love Live/Aqours is a production by a specific IP. It's closer to a musical than an idol live by design, even if in practice the performers essentially do the same things on stage as any other music act or idol act--although they are technically acting in character. So I understand the confusion. But they are not idols in the showbiz sense.


Now I'm actually kind of confused. I don't know much about Love Live/Aquors. What makes them different than your standard idol act?
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Ouran High School Dropout



Joined: 28 Jun 2015
Posts: 440
Location: Somewhere in Massachusetts, USA
PostPosted: Thu May 10, 2018 8:15 pm Reply with quote
Chinatsu Yoshikawa wrote:
In San Francisco I have seen Perfume, Silent Siren and Miku....and am about to see Miku again in July. And that's only the JPOP....for KPOP I have also seen Hyuna and APINK Smile

Anime Boston has been rather focused on hosting Japanese groups in recent years. I too will be seeing Miku-chan in July, but in NYC (went to same venue in 2016). There's nothing more cheerfully surreal than a Vocaloid concert! Smile
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crosswithyou



Joined: 15 Dec 2007
Posts: 2892
Location: California
PostPosted: Fri May 11, 2018 1:30 am Reply with quote
leafy sea dragon wrote:
Now I'm actually kind of confused. I don't know much about Love Live/Aquors. What makes them different than your standard idol act?

They probably mean that they don't do handshake events or street lives, etc. Their music is tied exclusively to a game/series, whereas regular idols don't have that association.
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omiya



Joined: 21 Sep 2011
Posts: 1823
Location: Adelaide, South Australia
PostPosted: Fri May 11, 2018 3:14 am Reply with quote
leafy sea dragon wrote:
Due to some of my other, non-anime hobbies, I run into a lot of fans of AC/DC, Aerosmith, and other boomer bands, for instance, who are either unaware that a Japanese pop music scene exists (the word "J-Pop" means something completely different to many of these people and refers to an individual rather than an industry) or think that it's a small indie, grassroots thing, rather than a large, established multimillion dollar industry.

Basically, whatever they perceive is the cultural relevance of foreign music in countries like the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, and so forth is what they think is the cultural relevance of that music in their own country. (It's more borne out of ignorance than anything: For the people who believe this, the thought has never really occurred to them that people in a non-English-speaking country might generally prefer music in their own language and made domestically.)


It was quite amusing once hearing Bon Scott era AC/DC playing in Mandarake Akihabara while I was looking for anime related music.

What would be nice to see outside of Japan would be more anime related music and artists performing with local orchestras (beyond Joe Hisaishi).
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-SP-





PostPosted: Fri May 11, 2018 7:43 am Reply with quote
Most people could care less about idols, so no most likely idols will not appear outside of Anime events, and even if they did, it would be a empty crowd.
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Aca Vuksa



Joined: 22 Mar 2018
Posts: 643
Location: Nis, Serbia
PostPosted: Wed Jun 20, 2018 11:43 am Reply with quote
Something that J-Pop never had done tour so much often, only small handful of J-Pop and Rock like Babymetal, OK One Rock, and Perfume are the only J-Pop group i've known seeing them tour international. I've also seen some J-Pop stars like KAT-KUN and Arashi did tour in asia most of the time.

I think Japan has a very little interest in promoting their songs internationally more so often, this is the reason why i love K-Pop because they tour internationally more so than J-Pop artists are.

(sorry of my poor English)
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