Even though I’ve been away from blogging for a while, I’ve still been keeping an eye on H!P. I think there’s something to be said for taking a break from the idol world when things seem stagnant, or when things aren’t keeping your attention. The 10th gen didn’t catch my attention the way that 9th gen did at first, but now I find myself quite smitten with 3/4 of them – and I think it’s good that I let my attention wander for a while so that they had time to get their act together. It’s also been good not wondering what MM would be like without Gaki san – because now I can see it’ll be just fine. Reina will teach the girls how to perform, Sayumi will teach the girls how to express themselves, and Aika will teach them professionalism.
After going away for a while, I even found a way to appreciate Aika. I think I finally get why H!P chose her in the first place over conventionally prettier auditioners and seemingly more talented material (I’m really just thinking Yuu) – it’s because she’s a very hardworking and persistent girl. And I think this is probably what really separates true, working idols from your neighbourhood girls who are pretty and can sing and dance – a persistence and dedication to their craft far above and beyond the norm. Because being an idol is a full-time career, and not many girls can handle that at the tender age of 12 or 13. So oddly enough, I think I finally appreciate Aika for what she is. She wasn’t the prettiest or had the best voice, but she was probably the most professional.
When I first entered the idol fandom, I kept up with every release by Berryz and C-ute, and I often became frustrated when they released songs that I thought were stupid or whatever – but now I think it’s easier to appreciate what they do now that I’ve stopped expecting idols to be whatever it was that I wanted them to be.
Also, apparently, the new MM play is about zombies. It’s called Stacy’s Maiden Repeated Killing Opera, or so says H!O. The story is about the girls becoming zombies, who are called ‘Stacies’, and thus commences a humans vs. zombie fest. (Surpriiiise!!!) The opera part has me excited, though I have no idea how this is going to play out at all. Apparently the original story is a sad, tragic story about the conflict between yourself and your desire to kill your loved ones, or so the author says, and that is why he wanted MM to play the girls. I do hope that they insert meta-commentary on idols in the play.
I don’t know how to express how pleased I am with all of this, but – HA! I knew idols and zombies were related! I KNEW IT. It was just a matter of time before H!P became upfront about wanting your brains…
(Actually, I am completely baffled because when I started this blog the title was something that I thought was entirely unrelated to idols (because zombies seem kind of the exact opposite of idols in my mind), but this is the second time that H!P’s taken up a zombie-themed project, so …what gives? Is it because they want to tell us it is entirely fine to be beautiful and dead on the inside? Will it express H!P’s deep existential desire to be both beautiful and dead consumers and human at the same time? Will it express all of the girls yearnings to kill the other girls now that they are idols zombies? H!P I am so confused please tell me whyyy.)
