AKB48

AKB48 is a Japanese idol group. Wikipedia defines this as "a term typically used to refer to young manufactured stars/starlets marketed to be admired for their cuteness. Idols are intended to be role models. They are supposed to maintain a good public image and be good examples for young people." AKB48 is named after Akihabara, a district in Tokyo that is the hub of idol activity, that's said to be worth $IB a year. Yasushi Akimoto created the group, along with several other idol groups in the past. He maintains a view that AKB48 is different from other groups because as he said, "AKB48 girls are unfinished. They are still not very good at singing or dancing, are unpolished and can watch them progress."

The Japanese idol industry is something that's been bugging me some time. I feel like this is the biggest factor for the inequality between Japanese men and women and the prevalent questionable ethics and norms that surround it/this music-culture. This and their other videos makes me wonder what female viewers feel. Do they want to dress up like them? Wear their hair and makeup like them? Focus on their appearances? It also makes me wonder if the music is not at all that important compared to the visual appeal that seems to go for kawaii and sexy. The target audience is males and it is true that they have a huge male following. It's impossible for me not to think that this isn't selling to some males at all. I have nothing much to say about the music other than I'm not a fan. I feel like female idol groups in general cultivate fantasies that normalize self-objectification, by putting importance on being eye-candy with clothes and dance moves (not necessarily only with AKB48 and this video). There was a video on AKB48's YouTube channel that appeared 2013. One of the members shaved her head as an act of apology for spending the night with her boyfriend. Members aren't allowed to be in relationships because it affects the market. Shohei Sakakura wrote "AKB 48 and the Black Companies", which mentions the fact that the creator of AKB48 hires and fires girls in bulk with matching hourly wages. Both of these means so apparently that idols are mistreated and exploited.