Love is Illegal | The No Dating Rule For Idols and the Muroi Kazuma Scandal

The no dating rule is something a lot of us simply accept as idol fans. While it's more common amoung female idol groups, there are some male idol agencies that also have this rule or at least have some restrictions or guidelines (such as not being seen in public with the person they're dating etc.).

On the one hand it does make sense. A big part of the appeal of idols is that they appear 'available' to their fans. Not gonna lie, I often kid myself into thinking that Nishioka Kengo would totally fall head over heels in love with me if only it weren't for the distance and the fact that he's an idol keeping us apart. Knowing that your favourite idol actually has a girlfriend can kind of ruin that illusion. It's also a matter of keeping everyone involved safe as some idol fans have been known to get a little possessive of their idols, leading to some dangerous situations.

But then sometimes you get to hear the opinion's of those who aren't as 'desensitized' to the whole concept and it makes you take a step back. Remember a few years ago when AKB48 member Minegishi Minami was found out to have slept with a man against the agencies contract, and she ended up shaving her head and making a very tearful apology video? The scandal ended up making it into a few mainstream news outlets in other countries, probably being a lot of people's first introduction to Japanese idol culture.

People's reactions did make me see things in a new light. How moral is the 'no dating rule' really? There is literally no other job I can think of where it would be acceptable for your employer to dictate your romantic relationships, so why is this okay for idols? I guess it reinforces the idea that people often expect idols to be like 'blank slates' almost, that fans can bend to their will and project their own desires onto without taking into account the actual idol's feelings.

What led me to write this post now of all times? Well, just last month it came to light that a member of underground male idol group Amatou Danshi had gotten married in secret. It was clearly stated in the agency's contract that no relationships are allowed, yet Muroi Kazuma had been dating this woman for some time and they eventually decided to elope. The really strange thing about this situation though is that instead of simply firing him, the agency at first decided to put his fate in the hands of fans by asking people on Twitter to vote in a poll about whether or not they thought he should be fired.

Smile for the People | Asian Idols and Mental Health

TW: Suicide mention


This is a topic that is often at the back of my mind as an idol fan but after the recent news that King & Prince member Iwahashi Genki will be taking a break from the group due to struggling with panic disorder, I finally decided to sit down and write this post. First a bit of my personal background in regards to idols and mental health.

As a lot of us here in the online world seem to do, I suffered from mental health issues for a long time. I won't get too specific about what those issues were as that isn't the purpose of this post but I did talk about some of it in one of my posts last month, and the rest you can probably guess. It was in 2016 though that I sank to the lowest point I've ever been at. I was hardly leaving my house (or even my bedroom for that matter) and that's when idols came back into my life.

Back in 2012 I had been a huge Johnny's Entertainment fan but eventually lost interest. It was during one of those days in 2016 though that I was sat at home feeling depressed that I decided to get out my old Sexy Zone DVDs. After a brief trip down memory lane (checking out old Johnny's stuff and new stuff that had come out since I left the fandom), I started to discover lots of new boy groups outside of Johnny's Entertainment that I became very passionate about (I'm sure most of you know about The G=AGE Era) and long story short, that was how this blog was started. My love of idols just gave me something to smile about on those dark, lonely days where nothing about the future seemed certain and it also gave me that support I needed when I was ready to start coming out of that and making positive changes for myself.

Iwahashi Genki was actually one of my favourite Juniors back in my Johnny's days. He was so sweet, shy, and awkward and I suppose I emphasized with him a bit due to his history of being bullied and being unable to attend school due to his anxiety around the bullying. As far as I know Genki never mentioned having any sort of anxiety disorder but I could always sort of tell; like with how obviously nervous he would get before performances and the like, often getting stomach aches.

I was surprised when he ended up becoming quite popular, forming a sort of pair with Jinguji Yuta (another one of my favourite Juniors) but I was happy for him. When I heard he was debuting as part of King & Prince, of course I was happy but part of me did wonder whether he'd be able to cope, as while being a trainee is no walk in the park either, it must be a very different experience from being a member of a debuted group.

Upcoming Jpop Boy Group Releases for December 2017

Ano Hi no Yume to, Ima no Boku. on CDJapan
Release Date: 2017/12/12

On December 12th, BREAK☆THROUGH”5D will release their 7th single “Ano Hi no Yume to, Ima no Boku.”. Check out the music video for the title track above.

My Friend / Kimi de Ippai on CDJapan

Release Date: 2017/12/13

On the following day, EBiDAN group EBiSSH will release their 2nd single “My Friend / Kimi de Ippai”. "My Friend" is the ending song for the anime "Tomica Hyper Rescue Drive Head".

Arsrottle on CDJapan

Release Date: 2017/12/13

On the same day, "otome" group ARSMAGNA will release their 4th album "Arsrottle".

I Dreamt of This Day Too | BREAK☆THROUGH"5D Release MV with English Subs

On December 19th, 4-member boy group BREAK☆THROUGH"5D will release their 3rd major single. Its title is "Ano Hi no Yume to, Ima no Boku" (A Dream of That Day and Who I Am Now). It will be released in 3 editions and if their previous releases are anything to go on, it should be available to purchase on iTunes for those of us overseas as well.

This will be their second release since their debut overseas performance in France back in July (the music video for their last release was filmed in Paris) and they recently uploaded the music video for the title track on YouTube.

I like this MV. It's nothing we haven't seen before but it's still pretty cute. The song isn't bad either and I love the costumes and the choreography. But the MV itself wasn't what caught my attention. Because, what's that below the video? Japanese subtitles...and English too?!

BREAK☆THROUGH have always been a pretty decent group in terms of overseas accessibility but this has me a tad excited. Since - as I mentioned already - this is one of their first releases since their performance at Japan Expo, could the English subs be a hint to more overseas activities in the future? Or at least them making more of an effort to target fans abroad? This is the first music video from a Jpop boy group I've ever seen that actually has English subs done officially (rather than being a fansub), not to mention that they actually read as if the lyrics have been translated properly rather than just run through Google Translate or something. They just might be taking this seriously.

I'm not expecting BREAK☆THROUGH to start doing world tours or anything. Afterall, they're a pretty small group in terms of popularity and it's only early days. But as a smol overseas fan who annoyingly has very specific tastes in groups and sometimes has to go to the most ridiculous lengths just to buy one little CD, I appreciate each and every step that Japanese artists and their agencies take to get a little closer to their foreign fans, no matter how small.


How do you feel about this news? Are there any Japanese artists who you wish took more notice of their fans abroad? 

Upcoming Jpop Boy Group Releases for November 2017

TRANS MAGICIAN on CDJapan

Release Date: 2017/11/08

On the 8th, Stardust group SECRET GUYZ will release their 8th single "TRANS MAGICIAN".

100degrees on CDJapan
Release Date: 2017/11/08

On the same day, THE RAMPAGE from EXILE TRIBE will release the single "100degrees". The single will also feature an English-language version of their 3rd single "Dirty Disco".

Help You on CDJapan

Releaset Date: 2017/11/15

On the 15th, EBiDAN THE STREET group Satori Shounen Dan will make their major CD debut with "Help You". The single will be released in 3 editions, each with a different bonus track. The bonus track for Type B is "It's My JK Life", the song the members wrote with the help of a group of high school girls.

Oh SMAP! | Former SMAP Members Throw Shade at JE with New Project

If you're a Johnny's Enterainment fan, or even just a Jpop fan in general you're probably aware of the fact that SMAP disbanded last year. SMAP was probably JE's best known group, having been in the entertainment industry for about 25 years. Their single, "Sekai ni Hitotsu Dake no Hana" is in the Oricon charts literally every week still despite being 15 years old. So of course it was met with great shock and sadness when such an influential group disbanded and departed from the agency.