Case (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
case) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
fandomsecrets2012-07-29 12:11 pm
case) wrote in fandomsecrets2012-07-29 12:11 pm
[ Anon Meme ]
Secrets, rants, opinions, anything you want to say about your fandom or a fandom or fandom in general, do it here! Anonymously, of course. Get it all off your chest.
Some ground rules:
1. Going anon is encouraged but not absolutely required (for those who struggle with captchas and stuff).
2. No autoplaying/autolooping embeds, or embeds that cover/stretch the screen.
3. No dropping personal info or IRL contact info, etc.
That's about it, though!
I'll be linking some general/general-fandom threads I see so people don't repost new threads with the same stuff.
Unpopular Ships
Obligatory Masturbation Thread
Fandoms you wish existed
How old are you?
What series have you always meant to watch/read/play/etc. but have never?
Time and location
Female-centric works
How do you feel about Tumblr?
Pet thread
Guilty pleasure thread
Favorite old shows
First fandom?
Re: Tenimyu
This whole discussion has inspired me to go back and watch the musicals from the beginning. Man, it hurts to watch the very first musical now, seeing what Yanagi once could do and comparing it to his singing and dancing in the later musicals. (You've heard about his accident, right?) I mean, it's pretty remarkable what he's still able to do, given that doctors thought he wouldn't ever walk or speak again, but it still kind of hurts to see.
I wasn't in the TeniPuri fandom from the beginning--I didn't really get into anime and manga until about 2005--but I was there for most of its heyday. I'm generally a lurker in fandom--the only thing I've ever produced is translations--but the sheer amount of fanfic made me one happy fanboy. I wish it were still as big as it used to be, but I get why it isn't. It just gives me hope to know that people are still being introduced to the brilliance that is Tenimyu. ^^
I have to admit, I'm a lot more into Tenimyu than I am with other live action things. I mean, me actually knowing actors' names is really rare. Most of the time, I just don't care. But Tenimyu does a good job of making you care about the actors, not just the characters. I mean, the backstages are awesome. (I would totally play the 1st cast's Seigaku Game, totally serious.) And I'm not a crier, but even I have to admit to getting a bit teary-eyed during some Graduation moments.
Oh, Tenimyu has definitely boosted some actors' careers. I can tell you for a fact that Tenimyu is directly responsible for two Aru Hi Bokura wa... ticket sales (and accompanying merchandise), because I never would have seen it (and dragged my homestay sister along with me) if I hadn't seen Tuti and Nagayan in Tenimyu. And okay, two tickets isn't really a whole lot, but there are plenty of fans who have done the same thing--they say, "I love Tenimyu, and I especially love actor X's rendition of character Y, so I'll buy his CD / watch that new drama he's in / go see the next anime-based musical he's in." And people who do casting for those things say, "Hey, there's this guy who's acted in a series of high-revenue musicals across the country and successfully carried his role during that time, and he's also become good friends with some fellow cast members who have good connections and want to work with him again, he sounds like a good bet for a CD/drama/other anime musical/whatever." Sure, it works better for some of them than it does for others (and to be honest, there have been a couple who I really just never want to see again), but some of them can thank Tenimyu for putting them in front of so many adoring fans and getting them a fanbase that will follow them (with money to spend) to their next project. Because with something like Tenimyu, you already have a built-in fanbase--if you can act and sing and dance to some degree, the fans of your character will become fans of you, the actor. And if you can act and sing and dance to a high degree, people who are fans of you will become fans of your character, too. (Have I mentioned how that's definitely happened to me? Because it has.)
Oh man, karaoke. I definitely have sung Tenimyu songs at karaoke. I was stunned when I first saw that they were even in the repertoire. But then I was psyched, because hey, more karaoke for me! I remember I sang Atobe's "Ore-sama no Bigi ni Boogie Woogie" the first time I went to karaoke in Japan, and my homestay family just cracked up, because oh man, that song. Thanks for the link, but now I get my Japanese music more or less legally--through Japanese iTunes (which you're supposed to do only if you live in Japan, but I used my old Japanese address, since I did live in Japan for a year) and through this spiffy program called Freegal Music, which is run through public libraries and has the biggest selection of J-Pop I've seen anywhere outside of Japan (not that it doesn't lack a lot of stuff, because it does, and it certainly doesn't have any Tenimyu-specific stuff, which is sad, but it's better than I would have expected). Dunno if you have a library nearby that's a participant, and you're limited to a certain number of downloads per week, but it's a nice thing to have if you can use it.
...Sorry, total derail there. Anyway!
I'd be willing to bet that the TeniPuri mania has cooled off a bit in Japan, too. Tickets to the next musical probably won't sell out for at least twenty seconds. And by comparison, that's practically all day! -.0;
Aaaand now if you'll excuse me, I'll stop babbling and go back to rewatching musicals so I can get caught up enough to watch the new ones.
Edit: Oh, and also, screw anonymity. /totally forgot
Re: Tenimyu
I feel you in regard to Yanagi. Not having started from the beginning I think I first read about his accident on Wikipedia while browsing various actors. It's simply horrible how a whole life can be upended from one moment to the other. I'm not up to date on his current activities other than he does keep on acting, but I sincerely wish him the best.
But translations are like gold in anime/manga fandom, so I'd wager that your contributions were probably well-received. My lurkerness likely stems from the fact that most discussion seems to be pretty much over by the time I arrive... Hm, but I'm good at finding things, I'd guess. XD Part of the reason for *that* however might be an obsessive urge to find all the things once I emerge myself in a new fandom. Yay, for archivists?
Do you follow New Prince of Tennis? I admit it has its moments (like the fearsome Room 201 or Atobe's ever-continuing obsession with Tezuka), but other than that I'm quite meh at it. It feels much more like a side story than an actual continuation in my opinion. On the other side it's a way to keep the merchandise output and therefore the possibility of attracting new fans high (seriously, chopsticks, umbrellas, tons over tons of figurines, what is this? I guess it's lucky that I'm in no way able to afford any of it, otherwise I'm not sure how long I could resist this kind of temptation /lamentations of the poor).
Off topic? You were saying?
The backstages are very awesome! Though I have to admit that it's quite a task to recognize them without their wigs and everything. I hadn't seen the Seigaku Game until you mentioned it, but oh wow, it sure does look fun! (TakiEiji going "...Atobe" on the 'Kikumaru' cue and Tuti's subsequent throwing a fit were comedy gold XD or his "You haven't used 'Tezuka Kunimitsu' yet" - "Shut up", poor buchou)
It does look like the 'Tenimyu as a stepping stone' concept worked wonderfully. I certainly support this way of PR over the variety of other bizarre ways of becoming famous for Japanese idols. Okay, the photo books can stay. ...as can the idol DVDs (even if they suspiciously remind me of porn sometimes). Um, yes, where was I? Right. Anyways, I join the queue when I say that no other singers/actors have managed to get me that invested in their other endeavors than when I've seen them in a myu. I did hear that Date Kouji said something like "I've grown apart from it" as a reply to why he declined an invitation to a Tenimyu related event or something (I'm not that clear on the details), for which he seems to have earned a lot of flack. Honestly, why would you say something like that? Not a good move on his part. Fortunately, from what I can tell, the others have handled it better.
Judging from the amount they offer at joysound right now you could fill a whole evening singing only Tenimyu songs! (Plans for the future? Check.) No, the "Boogie-Woogie" song in front of your homestay family? XD I can just about imagine their faces. Well, it's a good thing it wasn't his new song because 'most heterosexual song ever' probably describes it pretty well. And that's counting the Golden Pair songs!
Thanks for the advice, but I doubt our library has ever even heard of the program being the tiny, non-US-based thing it is.
A whole 20 seconds! In that case there might still be hope!
Have fun with the watching! And no turning back after 1st cast Hyoutei again! ;)
Re: Tenimyu
You're not the only person who comes late to fandoms. Actually, TeniPuri is one of the very few fandoms I've actually managed to find while it was still big. I'm usually one of those people who stumbles upon fandoms way after the fact. Or (more often nowadays) I find something I love in Japanese, only to discover that it's not available in English and, in fact, there's no English-language fandom. And goodness knows I have no idea how to find the Japanese fandom online. *sighs*
I don't follow New Prince of Tennis. I've actually only read the original TeniPuri manga up through volume 24 (Kantou Tournament Rikkai D1), and I didn't manage to get my hands on the subsequent volumes before I had to leave Japan. And since I a) refuse to read scans and b) refuse to read out of order, I'm kind of... stuck. I always keep my eye out when I can get to Japanese bookstores, but Little Tokyo is just too far out of my way to go very often. *sighs*
Ouch, Date, not a good move. I hadn't heard about that. And I really like his Ootori. x.x To be fair, though, I understand it. Tenimyu has certainly launched some careers, but I'm sure the actors want to move past it, you know? You don't want your biggest acting success to be one of your earliest major roles. No point in living in the past, you know? On the other hand, you can pay homage to the past without living in it. If you're invited to a Tenimyu event, you really should go. And if you don't, you say it's because of a scheduling conflict or something, not because you don't want to go. -.0; What do they say? A gaffe is when a politician tells the truth? I suppose the same could be said of popular actors with regard to their work.
Re: karaoke, while I can't say I've filled an entire night with solely Tenimyu songs, I can say that I've done a full night of karaoke singing nothing but TeniPuri-related songs, which of course included Tenimyu songs. I didn't realize it at first, but there's a huge amount of music from the anime--not just opening and ending songs, but character songs and such, too, where the voice actors sing. (Ooishi's seiyuu has a remarkably good singing voice!) I, er, may have a few of those CDs, too. x.x I admit, I'm a sucker for merchandise, too. When I was at the musical, I strictly limited my memorabilia budget and still wound up buying a program, several CDs, and photo sets for the Golden Pair. I still regret not getting any Rikkai photo sets, too, but... budget. Sigh.
I think I'm about to out-geek you here: I've had dreams of acting in Tenimyu. As in, asleep at night dreams. The only time I've ever dreamed in Japanese has been for Tenimyu dreams. And I've only ever had them after watching a large amount of Tenimyu in a short period of time. But maybe that means I have some Tenimyu dreams in my near future? I hope so, those dreams are awesome.
...God, what a dork I am. *hides*