What I hate about most J-Pop fans I meet in real life
 

The other day, I was talking to someone, and I found out that she was Korean. So I asked her the obvious...

Me: So you're Korean... do you by any chance listen to K-Pop?
Her: No, but I'm a huge J-Pop fan though.

Pretty cool, right? I was pretty happy to have found another J-Pop listener.

Me: Awesome! I'm a big J-Pop fan as well. What artists do you listen to?
Her: Oh, I just listen to music from like animes and stuff.

Yeah, that's right.

Me: Really? I don't really watch anime. I usually just listen to, like, mainstream J-Pop artists.
Her: Yeah, ok... do you listen to "[insert random theme song from some anime here]"?

So basically, she just asked me if I, in present tense, listen to some obscure song from an anime.

Me: No, sorry, I haven't heard of it. Who's it by?
Her: It's from [insert anime show here].
Me: Ok. So, have you ever heard of Ayumi Hamasaki? (last hope here...)
Her: No.

What a disappointment! I mean, I'll admit, I was also at a point where I was just beginning to explore J-Pop, and I had a few songs that I listened to over and over, without really knowing much about the artists, but I was 12, I wouldn't have asked people if they regularly listen to some specific song, and I certainly didn't think of myself as a J-Pop "fan" yet. Sadly, I still have yet to meet, in real life, a J-Pop fan like me, someone who has at least heard of the major artists, and preferably, knows what "an Oricon" is.

Sorry if this sounds like too much ranting, but this is annoying. Have any of you guys had any similar experience?

^I was like that once... But in time, I was more into J-POP than anime songs! :) Every once in while, I'll listen to them! ^_^

Well, I think it's pretty subjective.

I wouldn't expect someone who says, "I'm a fan of Japanese music/J-Pop!" to know the "mainstream" artistes, cos J-Pop can mean A LOT of different singers/music, and not just the one we know.

Granted, if someone was a huge fan of older J-Pop music and asked if you knew Seiko Matsuda/other older singer, you might not know who they are either if you're not into oldies. Similary, if a J-Pop fan is crazy about Enka, and you're not into Enka which means you do not know any of the artistes in Enka, does that make you less of a J-Pop fan?

^You make good points, but I hate J-Pop fans who only know anime songs too. My cousin is like that, and it makes me sick. The worst it when they refuse to listen to any artist that isn't connected to anime in some way. But, that's just me.

All of the time X_X...Most of the people that I meet are just like your experience~ They listen to only the Naruto soundtracks and call themselves J-pop fanatics :thud

That is the BIGGEST disappointment EVER.

I know that Jpop represents a HUGE group of genres and artists...but meeting people that SAY they LOVE Japanese music, come to find out they really only like Japanese music because it's in anime, to me, don't really have a passion for the music...they just watched some anime and liked the songs, and took them, and it's very annoying.

In any case, when I hear of people knowing some Japanese artists, I take time to evaluate what that actually means.


It's like me and French music. I've listened to people like Alizee, Mylene Farmer, and a few other bands. I dont go around saying that I just LOVE French music and I listen to it all the time, and I'm so into their scene.

I happen to like/love some artists that happen to be French and sing in French, but if you start going down the list of the who's who in the French music industry, I'm gonna be totally lost.


Now I'm not saying that everyone has to be so intense into jpop like I am... but if someone says that they are just the biggest Japanese Pop lovers...those fools better know who Ayu, koda, namie, hikki, morning musume, etc, along with the bigger name bands are at the VERY least.


sorry, long post. I hate those people. I stay away from them.

Lol, i know what you mean, I think that's the thread starter & emiko feel too...

Well, then again, some J-Pop singers get famous BECAUSE of anime songs... so... lol. Some anime songs are pretty good too, but I know hardcore "only anime songs plzzz if not it's not J-POP!!" people are... ignorant and annoying, so we ignore them :laugh

I agree wit the OP! That has happened to me as well, and it's really annoying. lol

I have seen tis experience a lot. I dont mind because I live in the country where Ayu is a stranger for them. ahaha. nobody love jpop here except japanese.

This happens to me a lot... and the fact that they're usually calling themselves otakus and smell bad like they haven't showered doesn't help either :-/

I hate people who call themselves otakus like its a good thing. Its not.

I don't think anyone has a right to deem others as not being "real" Jpop fans. You have your tastes. They have their tastes. Keep it to yourself. There is no law that says if you haven't heard of Ayumi Hamasaki or Utada Hikaru or Namie Amuro that you are a faker. What if all the Japanese people said foreigners aren't really Jpop fans because they aren't truly part of the culture? Anyway, her definition of what is Jpop may be different from yours. You may think Jpop means the big sellers. The Ayumi Hamasaki's, the Utada's, the XXX48 groups. Other people might think its anime/game songs because thats how they were exposed to Japanese music through those media first. Knowing about things like Oricon is really irrelevant actually. I was a fan of Ayu and never cared about charts until wayyy later. That's just my opinion though....since you've opened up this thread for discussion. Not trying to put you down or w/e.

If the person says she listens to the Japanese anime songs, she might listen to JPop later! Maybe that person doesn't know much about Japanese music and thinks anime songs are typical jpop songs!

I started to listen to Japanese music because of animes! I really liked some openings so I searched for more songs of some bands and soon I was really into jpop and tried out many other artists (not only "anime artists").
My point is, if that person is interested in anime songs she might try out other jpop songs and becomes a fan. But I also think to say "I'm a jpop fan" at that point is kind of wrong, the person should have been more specific, like "I like japanese anime songs".

I used to be like that, only listening to anime related music. :innocent

But after branching out into other albums from artists who sang various anime themes, then listening to other artist who were "similar" to said previous artists, I eventually stopped listening to anime music all together.

I'm proud of my J-music heritage though, without anime I never would have heard Ayu, Utada, Koda Kumi, Gackt, BoA, X-Japan or heaps of other artists. Though these days I've been selling off my anime DVDs to pay for my Ayu addiction... :D

i think when someone grow older, they will have a lot more diverse music...
it's normal for otakus to just like anime song...
anime song is not that bad though, i like it too...

i think japan has a very diverse variety of music though, i think it's the most diverse in this entire world...
from jazz, RnB, pop, rock, metal, electronic, trance, reggae, enka, swing, waltz, classic, dance, techno, latin, arab, ethnic, etc...
the music choice is so wide..so like it or not, when someone grow older they will try more variety on their music choice

I was just like that when I had no idea what is Jpop is.
In Philippines, VOLTES 5 and SLAM DUNK's 1st opening and ending was very popular because of re-runs, same as HUNTER X HUNTER.

If you try to play any mainstream Jpop artists in public, they'll be shocked for sure.
Seriously, I tried it on my high school and it was really proven.
They gone with "WTH?!?" reaction.

Not until Ayu changed everything what I view on Jpop.
Like me, as a music lover, I need to go beyond that boundary.

Sadly, only few people dare to do it.

Music Industry in Japan is really huge, there are lots of artists to try and explore its specified genre.

I met a Japanese who doesn't know who Ayumi Hamasaki & Koda Kumi are.. :shrug

hmm i discovered jpop by anime too , I was addicted to Metanti Conan and i used to love mai kuraki and rina aiuchi and their stuff so i tried to discover more like ayu kuu hikki and more others <3 thanks to anime :laugh

LOL.

Yeah, I'm with the OP and Emiko on this one...

I don't judge people for liking Anime music at all. But if it's ANIME music that you like, don't say you're a Jpop fan. Say you like Anime music. Say you like Love Hina, Evangelion, and Case Closed music.

If you don't know who the artist is, and you only associate the song with an anime, you're not a jpop fan, you're an anime music fan. Don't misrepresent yourself. Jpop fans love finding other jpop fans, and part of it is because we're not really into anime as much. I only find out a jpop song I like is from an anime AFTER I already decided I like it. XD

"Do you know 'I can't stop my love for you'?"
"No, who's it by?"
"It's from Detective Conan." <-- You've got an anime fan on your hands! :(

"Do you know 'I can't stop my love for you'?"
"No, who's it by?"
"Aiuchi Rina." <-- Jpop fan. (This is an example of a song I didn't know was in an anime until after I'd already seen the PV :P~)

I'm not really into anime music (though I have some classics I'll always love and some composers I've been happy with), so meeting someone who's into Anime music isn't really gonna do much for me, is all. Again, I don't judge, especially since anime music is a great gateway drug to more jpop. But they need to show interest in branching out of the anime music world or I'm not gonna have anything to talk about them with, and that's disappointing.

i thought this was going to be a thread about how when you meet jpop fans in real life they often turn out to be really freaking annoying...because that has been my experience.

however, on the anime vs jpop side...i totally agree. i really think that anime and jpop are separate things in some way. i mean, to start with, normal jpop typically sounds much different than a typical anime song anyway. i hate when someone tries to tell me how much they love jpop when they only know anime music. it reminds me of a time a friend burned a cd for me of their favorite jpop and i was so excited, but it turns out that almost everything on the cd was anime music, and to make it worse, most of it was tagged not with the artist who sang the song, but the anime it was from. i don't care what anime its from, i want to know who sings the freaking song!

or like people who think that stupid "butterfly" song from DDR is by ayumi. i mean, seriously?!?!

but yes, i find it disappointing when you think you've met someone who maybe you can relate to a little, but in the end you can't at all. :(

It's hard to say though as I like a lot of singers that happen to sing anime theme songs (and I discovered some of them from when i watched anime) but I don't think of them in terms of anime but as Jpop singers. Such as KOTOKO and Nana Mizuki.

But I agree that most North American fans of Japan culture/entertainment/etc come across as Narutards that I don't want to associate with...

yeah, in Omegle -> where everyone lies.. :yes

I don't mind at all :shrug. May be because I love anime and I do often listen to anime music.
I discovered jpop through anime music and actually anime music is really jpop related.
All are used as image songs, opening and ending songs but if they weren't in anime you could call them jpop songs. I mean, ok you listen to anime music mostly but it's not so different from true jpop.
Even my boyfriend listen to anime music only, but he likes some Ayu songs too (especially Microphone and SURREAL) as my friends, one's a huge Gackt fan and anothe one is huge kpop fan. But they listen to anime songs as well.

The huge disappointed for me it's pettiness. Like: Omg I don't listen to anime music because it's for losers, and I don't listen to jpop because I would look strange.

Hmm.... well I don't casually chat with too many of them, but sometimes it's a little annoying when they don't know much about what they're listening to, or they treat every jpop song as gold.

Talk about living under a rock lol.

I agree. I was at kinokuniyas on sunday in new york city, and my friend and I were in the music section. (I bought ayu's rnrc cd/dvd) :D anyways. There was this kid in there too who came from an anime convention held a little bit away from kinokuniyas and all he did was look through the "anime music" section. he looked through bleach, naruto, one piece, yada yada yada. and he bought a few mangas, then walked out. I could tell that he knew absolutely nothing out side of anime. He didn't even take a 1 second glance at the "japanese pop" section right freaking behind him. All he cared about is what was being played in anime.

My friend is a bit like that also. He doesn't really listen to japanese music, but the few songs he has from japan are all from anime openings and endings. >>

LOL!
That was really strange! xD

It's not pettiness. It's just that time and time again, you meet someone who says one thing, and you start to think, "hey we have something in common." Come to find out that you dont have anything in common at all :/

Look, anime music IS jpop, but that doesnt stop anime music from usually leaning heavily towards certain sounds or artists, and OCCASIONALLY using some that are mainstream.

Remember where we are. This is a forum, for Ayumi Hamasaki. The most popular, overproduced/exposed pop there ever was. The other big artists here, are Koda Kumi and Namie Amuro. Hip hop / R&B artists.

It has been my experience with these anime fans, that they just aren't really into that type of music. Probably because it's just like all the stuff that's mainstream in their own country. And that's something that's going to be very different for people of this forum.


I know this doesn't hold true for everyone, but I would bet it does for a majority of these people. And I'm not putting down anime music, a lot of us got our start there, but there is a difference between where we all are now, and where these type of people are, who just like anime songs from their favorite animes and that's it.

There was a girl who lived next door to me in the dorms. And we both listened to Japanese music. The divide between our music was HUGE. She only listened to music from anime. I listen to actual jpop/rock/indie. And I love their urban scene. We had NOTHING in common. She didn't know any of my artists. I knew more of hers, but by like, albums, not particular songs, and certainly not from their particular anime.


As Deli said, "But they need to show interest in branching out of the anime music world or I'm not gonna have anything to talk about them with, and that's disappointing."

^
You have a good point and I agree with all you said.
I just meant there's a sort of hatred between most of animemusiconly lovers and jpop ones. They don't want to listen to each other favourite music, most of times.That's pretty awful. I've met otakus who don't know who Ayu is, but they ask me which song they should listen from her first. And it's pretty rare. Unfortunately there are who don't wanna listen someone else than random seiyuu. And I know how could be hard for a no-anime fan find a true jpop fan IRL, even though it's the first time I see people who listen jpop but hate animes lol.

I suppose in a way...they are both the same thing.
I Mean the japanese artists sing the songs for the anime.
And i remember i watched an anime and loved the song, decided to check out the artist, check out the rest of their songs but i didn't really like the rest of their songs, and wasn't really interested in the rest of the songs.
Others i've found through this forum or very few other anime's.
It could be because anime in certain countries is shown on tv as childrens programs which we watched when we were younger, and they don't show japanese music video's on music tv shows like MTV, kiss, box ect. So this might be a guildline into what people will want to see and have been shown by the media.

I do, i reaaaally do know what you are talking about, i've had my own experiance with it but upon a massive scale of lets say...a classroom full of people.
At my collage they do a "oriental language" enrichment lesson where its both japanese and chinese languages being taught, but its only the basics.
And i do admit...i did show off a little because i did self teach myself with 5 years worth of japanese through Books, music, tv shows ect.
And about ...4 people of about 20 were there purley for the language and not for "anime".
We also had to do a presentation on a country and what it is in that country that we liked.
all of them were to do with a certain anime show or manga book.
Until i decided to go all out and produce a "Japanese music and how it influences" and i think i opened up a lot of people's minds about listening to japanese music from those who don't do music for an anime.
I did a little music video as well so they could see and hear some of the mainstream and lesser artists.
I was quite proud but yet still a bit dissapointed to try and have a conversation with them about the japanese culture and food and all it was was just anime talk...:(.

Lol. My good friend is like this. I found jpop from utada hikaru from kingdom hearts. And it branched from there.
Although I watched anime at the time I didn't pay attention to those songs
Even one of my fav jpop artists eiko shimamiya I found from watching vids on yt as opposed to the anime she is well known for (I learned about the anime later)

I have no issue with liking music from anime as obviously the Eiko and other artists often have songs used in anime

Its only depressing when its like my good friend who claims to be a crazy jpop fan when all she really listens to is random songs from animes. She doesn't even know the artists who sing them. Especially since its usually each song from a different artist. Its the song from anime "x" or anime "y" ....and because from time to time I do know some of the artists I try to suggest more but if its not related to an anime she won't listen

I mean. Just call yourself a fan of anime openings and endings as that's all it really seems.
Until maybe they actually become familiar with who sings the songs and the artists

I think I only really dislike is when they say they're HUGE jpop fans which is often.

Just saying they like some jpop I guess is sort of true ...but barely
Its just saying ur a maniacal jpop fan or something when all u listen to is particular songs on repeat and don't know the artists is mildly irritating.
Cuz I mean really. The artists singing these songs like ayu for example are jpop artists.

I had friends who memorized all of dearest somehow without even memorizing what its called or that ayu sings it. And that's how they're like. "Huge fans"


But u know to each their own. Everyone has a different definition of fans.

Same here! There are people prancing around saying, "Oh, I'm so otaku, I love Japan and anime and manga...and anime...and manga..." And they think that because they know "KAWAII" and "SUGOI" that they are instantly Japanese language experts... And they think Japan is made of anime and manga. They don't love Japan, they just love anime and manga... I've met a few people like this and they are so annoying!!! (-_-)"

But on the plus side, I've converted a few "otakus" to liking Ayu, Perfume, Hikki, Ai-chan, etc. ;) Hope isn't always lost with them! :D

Yeah, I think when they call themselves "HUGE" jpop fans is when it's most annoying. If you've never heard of Sukiyaki or Ayumi Hamasaki, you're not a huge jpop fan.

Don't call yourself a huge jpop fan if you don't know japanese pop music. That's like saying you're a physicist after watching a few episodes of The Big Bang Theory.

Ah, the whole anime songs thing... Yes, it highly disappoints me to be honest. I love anime but I actaully KNOW the artists and enjoy them! There is so many *cough*weeaboos*cough* in my high school that claim they like Utuda Hikaru but only know her song "Sanctuary", Lia but only know "Tori no Uta", KOTOKO but only know "BLAZE", and so on...

Oh, oh, and I hate when they call it "anime" music! IT IS NOT ANIME MUSIC. It's a song by a artist that happened to be used in a anime!

Gosh, if people want to be real "j-pop" fans they need to go listen to some Ayu and Kuu and so on... Because one or two songs from a anime doesn't qualify you as a "j-pop" fan! Usually they only say that they like J-Pop to be cool anyways... GRR!

This drives me insane as well! This assumption has been spreading like a virus.

Lol, my sister stormed out of the room when I read this line out loud...

it does annoy me when it happens lol mainly because it happens all the time even my best friends only listen to anime and i have tried getting them into other artists because im like
me: "Sweet! you like jpop? here listen to this!"
them: "what anime is it from"
me: "....its not.."
them: "..oh...well, its ok but its not as good as this [puts on some random song from an anime]"
me:"-_-" lol

also, around where im from this is how people see "jpop" (anime and manga fans)
now, this isnt true for all anime/jpop fans but where im from it is lol and i get embarrased saying i like Jpop because people who dont listen to jpop (you know, the people who say its jsut plain "weird" or ask if you understand it and if you say no they say "thats weird" lol) automatically put you in that category! its so frustrating if you say "i like Jpop" they are like "oh you watch that anime *******" and im like "no...actually i dont watch anime, like, at all" and they just look at me like i have 3 heads because its just not heard of here.

also, on a side note (since i got to ranting about anime) one of the things i dont like about it is I dont like how everyone (around here at least) thinks that all anime is about weird kids with super powers and Robots and junk, because i do not watch that anime lol i watch animes like Nana and Kare kano where everyone is normal and no intergalactic battles are even mentioned :laugh ~~~kind of off topic~~ sorry :(

moral of the story: where im From Jpop fan= weird, socially awkward anime freak who thinks they have superpowers awaiting them when they become of age

Happens to me All. The. Time.....and I. Hate. It lol because i dont watch alot of anime so i have no idea what they are talking about

Its not weird if they didnt grow up in japan :P if they grew up in japan then yeah, thats kind of odd

I know what you mean
it annoys me greatly when people talk like "omgee thats so kawaii" or "omgee your such a baka" its like grr speak properly! either one or the other!

you know, its kind of like meeting a person from japan who says they love western music only to find out that listen to songs from disney movies or something, lol. :laugh

I want to kill those people sometimes... they're making those of us with genuine interest in Japan & its culture and language look bad. x_x

I can give one bit of input... I don't get "omg you must be an otaku" when I tell people I'm interested in Japanese pop music anymore. I get "Oh wow, really? That's so interesting! What's it like?"

One of the best things about transitioning into the adult world, lemme tell ya. People don't make assumptions. At my age, being into a foreign music market makes you worldly, interesting, and different in a good way, not automatically a nerd. I've made CDs for several people, they don't always love it sure but they were openminded to it.

Tough it out, kids!

Haha That is really annouying sometimes but so many people do it! :shakehead

Though I don't mind if people do Just like anime or find an artist through anime :yes...I just get annouyed when people think ALL J-Pop fans just like anime songs or found it through anime...I actually didn't know what anime was until after i was a Jpop fan xD I saw people with the pic's etc but i just thought they did em or something haha

Ugh, tell me about it. AHS and last.fm and things like that have made me think there are plenty of people who know Ayu and other J-Pop, but there really are still plenty of freaks out there who only listen to anime music and think J-Pop is limited to just that. Not people I have any desire whatsoever in socializing with :\

I just had a discussion about this with a friend today. The weaboos that talk like that..ugh. They come off looking a bit ignorant. Don't try to speak the language until you've mastered it, please.

That all does annoy me, the people who think they're HUGE J-Pop fans when they only know like, one song that came from a friggin' anime. I think everyone has pretty much said what I was thinking, though. :laugh

Same here....but I succeeded in introducing JPop singers other than anime singers to my friends who is like that.

There's so many people like that in my place. And we called them as "posers". They just "pose" like they knew everything about Jpop stuff. But, in fact, they just know very slightly, plus, they mostly got the latest news from local mags. For me, I dont believe local mags and it's an old news when it comes to local mags.

It's a bit disappoint for me.

NEWSFLASH: Anime is Japanese and Japanese pop artists sing these songs, thereby making anime OP and ED songs inclusive of JPOP.

I don't see the problem here. They like music from anime only, so what? *shrug* No reason to be elitist to them just because they haven't diversified their tastes yet.

I eventually got into Jpop via anime music but someone insulting my like for ZARD, Hironobu Kageyama and Field of View would drive me away from ever wanting to become involved in the Jpop fan community.

This, a thousand times this. Truth.

As for other japanese music fans, I've met a few but we always seem to have differing tastes. They'll be really into visual kei and j-rock and when I ask them about others all I get is "Ayumi who?"

I never met anyone who would listen to Japanese music in my country (only some anime fan, the usual) but I managed to introduce Ayu, KinKi Kids and Koda Kumi to some of my students and several friends :)

what's so big about a jpop fan not knowing who ayumi is?
some people in china don't know who Jackie Chan is.

Just because an artist is from your country doesn't necessarily mean that you know all artist from there.

bleh my 2 cents :laugh

Well of course, but any fan of Chinese cinema would know who he is. I'm sure a lot of Amish people don't know who Britney Spears or Lady Gaga is, but actual pop fans would.

I can totally relate to you :weep
So I go to my school's Japanese club, expecting people to totally know the J-pop music stuff [mainstream]..and all of the people are just anime fans! and only listen to "anime music".. >_< -disappointment- and I don't watch anime or read manga either so i have nothing to say about the topic. I only have a couple friends who actually listen to the non-anime music. x_x BUT all of them are anime/manga fans. :thud
oh, and j-rock seems to be more popular..-still unfamiliar-

i dunno, I understand..but at least i'm not alone :)

^omg SAME THING happened to me at St. Marys college of california.

They set up a Japanese club, and I went to the first meeting, which the Japanese teacher went too.

And they pretty much laid straight out that all they do is watch anime. We talked a little about music, but none of them knew who ayu or namie, or anyone else besides utada hikaru was...and they didn't really like me so much because I had only seen "mainstream" animes like Cowboy Bebop.

So we watched...I think TRIGUN? lol And the teacher was just like "ooo what is that? How interesting..." lol It was so funny. I was a little embarrassed though, cause I actually wanted to like...talk about Japanese culture...and I felt like the teacher had expected that too.

And you call that annoying? It's even more annoying when jpop/anime/whatever listener pretends to be japanese. They dress, 'talk' and act like japanese in western country. That's just sad to watch.

Wow, that sucks...
At my school, we don't have any Japanese classes, and all we have is... "Anime Club". So I just don't go.

My collage did.
it was really awful
i don't watch that much anime tbh
and we also had a japanese enrichment class, everyone from the anime club went and it was a whole new anime club just at a diffrent time.

I am actually looking for away to get into anime more...and actually find more anime theme songs (because they're all really great songs) but I don't have the time. >< The people that annoy me the most are the wannabe asians....its okay if you want to try other people's cultures but its not okay when you keep bragging about it and acting like you were born into it....like some people at school show off about using chopsticks in the cafeteria to their friends....and then they say things like "Oh, its not that hard. I'm a natural. Maybe you guys don't have the natural talent" o_o Its ridiculous.....and other people are like...I had "kbbq last night! Bibimbap at the cafeteria tonight! I'm practicically a Korean!"......and "I cook with real Chinese soy sauce." and I just want to slap them them across the head and say that ......Kikoman is a Japanese brand first of all and that second of all, its made in the US >< Some people think walking into a 99 Ranch market and shopping there makes them Asian locals. Its okay if they aren't bragging about it to others....and then there's the really funny ones who think they look like asians....."well, actually, I think my features look like so and so ___korean idol here___......" And its like....yo....you're white =/ No offense.....Its really kind of sad and delusional how some of these wannabes act. Think JpopYuna minus the false sense of stardom.

I see the OP's point of view and I can agree to most of it, but believe me, nothing is worst than Dir en Grey fangirls...its like you're living on a whole different planet.

I hate that so much! And its like Gwen Stefani in the first minute of Hollaback girl "Super kawaii!"....its like how old are you? what are you doing?

:laugh I saw a girl like that a few days ago. I was talking to a guy from China at the time and when he saw her, he just stopped talking and stared at her and said "Wowwwwwww..."

I agree with most of you guys. But I tend to avoid anime fans whenever I can. :| I find the ones who are like "You're such a baka! otaku kawaii sugoi blahblah" so embarrassing to be around, and they're the reason I don't tell anyone I listen to Japanese music until after I really get to know them. :/

I think I've actually met more real j-pop fans than anime music fans though. I even met a guy last year who knew who jpopyuna was.

Honestly, I would love to get into anime again too, because I really have a respect for animation...

but it's so hard for me to get into the ones that everyone likes...I just...can't take a lot of anime lol

Even Chobits episodes annoy me. It's like, the story is great, but the effects and music and everything just :/

The only anime I've been able to get into as I'm older is Last Exile.

@poetgirl: that is more annoying...but...it's annoying when you're supposed to be learning about culture, and people think anime automatically encompasses all of that lol

and lol @ dir en grey fangirls :laugh I knew many of those at my high school...it was crazy.

J-Pop is not just the music for the animes
There are really great diversity of music in Japan, and i love that

The opposite thing happens to me. I'm white, born in Europe in fact, but apparently after people hear that I'm into Asian music and whatnot, they get the impression that I'm Asian, and I have to correct them.

I don't know who jpopyuna is... ._.

I only know of one Dir en grey fan, but she acts completely normal. What are other fangirls like?

That's me too :laugh.

Its okay. She "retired". Now she's Park Sung Mi :rolleyes.....destroying Kpop instead of Jpop :P

Spoiler for your protection

:O She's korean now? omg.

MY EARS!!!!!!!!!!! I wonder, does she ever hear the song after recording it? because if she does and think its acceptable to post then she is a scientific anomaly.

The scary ones I'm referring to are delusional (think that the members of the band know about them and their 'feelings') and disturbingly obsessive (its Dir en Grey or nothing).

Diru is awesome :grumpy

;_; I thought she did the world a favor and stopped. I feel personally offended by that BoA cover considering that's one of my favorite BoA songs being slaughtered. :tired

From what I've scanned in this thread, I'm gonna go with the majority: not a big fan of those who say they like "Japanese music" but in reality just like "anime music".

To me, "anime music" has become pretty tunnel-viewed and focused on the electronic aspect of composition, and it's just very sugary. Of course there's the oddity where it would fit "our realm", but for the most part "anime music" seems much more over-produced than the mainstream music on Oricon charts now.

I'm not saying "anime music" isn't "Japanese music", because it most definitely is, but I consider "anime music" as a sub-genre of "Japanese music"; I'd rather someone say they like anime music rather than Japanese music if all their music comes from anime. I think because I'm one of those "exceptions to the rule" (my brother got me into Japanese music without even touching anime) I think like this, but I'm not gonna "hate" on those who really do faux pas, I think it's unfair to them.

In regards to the Utada-Ayumi-Namie comments, I think anyone who say they listen to Japanese music should mention at least one of those names, it's a travesty if not (I'd include Koda, Otsuka, and Nakashima Mika); it's much like not mentioning any Johnny's boyband, they've also become the core of Japanese music.

Also, enka =/= "J-POP". In any regards. Enka should be mentioned on its own, but I also understand there seems to be a lot of crossovers at the moment, so that line is slowly graying, making it harder to really distinguish between the two genres within a specific artist (e.g. Jero, one could argue alan, etc.).

------

Just a few thoughts.

Do we have on here? lol I'm a huge fan too but i dont think theyre gods gift to mankind.

mte

I'm pretty disappointed reading this thread since yeah, anime was my start and I stayed there for a while but I eventually branched out because well, the music was too good to resist. I'm glad I was in my own little bubble (as in not communicating with J-pop fans) when I did it though. If I had run into someone telling me just because I only knew BoA and DAI from the anime I loved (as if the reason they do song tie-in's in the first place WASN'T for promo :rolleyes ), that I wasn't a "real" J-pop fan and didn't *really* like J-pop music, knowing my temper that would've been an immediate turn off for me. So J-pop for me at one point, was the anime themes I used to hear at the end of an episode... then I discovered the good ol' internet. Quite frankly, I don't see how that's much different from being a fan of only mainstream J-pop artists, or just idols or just J-rock bands (but those people still get to call themselves "J-music fans" right?). :shrug

*leaves this thread*

I hate it when "otakus" insert Japanese whenever they can. Like, when I was in high school I knew some "otakus" by association and if I did something that they would have to say "thank you" for it was always "arigato gozaimasuuuuuuuuu". And I really dislike people who are "so into Japan" they disassociate themselves with anything from their home country. Like, will only eat with chopsticks, only date/hangout with Asian people, hate non-Japanese celebrities. I could go on. I tend not to hang out with people who like anything about Japan, because I've just given up. Although, now I've become the "otaku" because all the crazy Japanophiles make anyone who likes anything about Japan look crazy.

I totally get where you're coming from.

The general tone I'm getting, and essentially perpetuating myself, is people who center their whole library around anime themes, and don't even bother to go off and find other sources-- that's what's irritating.

Personally, I think BoA was just a fad (especially at the way she's been handling her career; it doesn't seem like she's rooted anywhere at the moment), but certainly DAI is one of the best Japanese artists in modern history. Fluctuating popularity, yes, but certainly influential.

At least you've found the internet, especially a great forum like this; I feel like no other forum is actually as nice and as giving like this forum. It's great to find/have things before their actual release date, and many of the people here are nice, as well. So don't worry, you're cool. :)

I'mmm... gulity of acting like a weebo! :laugh Back in high school, of course! ^^;; My brother jump started me on my J-POP drive (even though it was mostly anime music). Eventually, I slowly got around to listening to REAL J-POP! XDD That was in high school too (at my MOST weebo moment)!

OMG she's alive...and korean :thud

Does anyone remember this masterpiece?



I'm slowly moving back to the topic. :yes My friends are exactly like that, with the whole sugoi, kawaii, nande, doushde, baka, basically using every word like they're going out of style, and it's not even recent, it's been since I've known them (they're brother and sister and I've known them for like 5 years), they buy manga, watch anime and act like they know stuff about j-pop when the only songs they have or know are from anime. It erks me to my spirit. But it just makes me thankful for my other friend who's literally like obsessed with j-pop, if she wasn't around I would've gone crazy by know:laugh

Now I wish I still didn't know who JpopYuna is. GET OUT OF MY HEAD YOU MUSIC RUINER!

^at least you weren't here when she covered every single Ayu song as they came out

^X_X; She killed Kumi's BUT for me... At least for a while! ^^;

I also hate it when people call themselves real anime fans and yet all they know is like pokemon and inuyasha type of stuff.

Oh, and I've also had a person say "I'm a Jpop fan" and then when i asked the person what they liked, she started going on about the theme songs to Sailormoon, Chobits and CardCaptor Sakura.

Another thing I find is I got talking to this Chinese girl the other day. She knew like Wonder Girls and BoA when i mentioned them, but didn't know Big Bang, DBSK, SNSD etc. She even had never heard of Ayu, but claimed she moved over here from HK recently. Then told me she only listens to Cantonese and Mandarin singers for the most part.

Oh, and even more annoying, my roommates are Chinese and know ALL sorts of really old Chinese singers, but up 'til recently of constantly drilling them in their heads hadn't heard of more recent ones like Jolin Tsai, Leehom Wang or even Jay Chou.

This is the most disgusting thing I have ever heard in my life.

Auto-tune can't fix this.

I'm all about promoting people who have dreams and such but when you are tone deaf and sound like a belligerent toad squashed by a walrus engaging in mating rituals you need to be stopped.


When it comes to JPop fans... I have a hard time taking several of them serious when they try to wear fashions created in anime shows or by Japanese natives. There are a lot of things different people can pull off, but a chubby girl in the Midwest wearing a bunch of beads, colorful tops and fishnets with legwarmers, and dead hair dyed to a flaky purple/pink/blue swirl, well, I don't see myself giving her a great rating for first impressions.

I listen to JPop but I listen to so much more. If the person I can meet has something else to offer I will engage in conversation but if not I'll just say "hi" and leave it there.

You asked for what I hate....

It kinda saddens me this thread since I also listen to anime music and watch anime ._.

But I also understand the thing when you think you have alot in common with that person but it turns out that you don't have like nothing in common (I met alot of anime fans that mostly watch shounen anime like Naruto, Bleach, One Piece which isn't exactly my type)

I actually discovered J-music through anime, I had obsessions with the Inuyasha OST, Sailor Moon OST, Kotani Kinya, T.M.Revolution and Ayu in my early bounderies with Japanese music. It was really new for me, before I was listening to mainstream pop/R&B/Hip-Hop like anything MTV would broadcast *cough* and slowly got into animes and started to like it's OSTs, it felt like it really had emotion and the music was so wow compared to Rihanna or 50cent.
I didn't know relatives, friends or acquaintances who listens to J-music (except a close friend I had that I got her into Ayu) so I was really proud of myself that I discovered such wonderful music of Japan and I actually thought myself as being big J-music fan back then :laugh

I heard of Utada, Kumi, Namie etc later on (about a half year I think?) I was stubborn to listen to their music because they didn't really sounded like the type of music I listened back then (I didn't want more R&B, I just got out of it lol) + I hated when the youtubers always put Ayu down and say that Hikki & co. were the greatest ever. >_>

I slowly (but really slowly XD) got into J-pop until now that I actually have Ayu, Kuu, Hikki, JASMINE, ICONIQ, BoA in my top 10. I still explore the diversity of J-Music, either if it's in anime, mainstream or not.

So.. summary: I think it's good if they even got into anime music (which is still J-pop, J-rock), they just need time to obsess over it and then maybe they will be open to the diversity of Japanese music :yes

I started off with anime too... My first and still favorite is Sailormoon. I first saw it in Japanese, and always watch it that way. Same with every other anime like. Just I'm pretty selective. I don't like every last one of them just cause it is anime. But I still put a barrier between anime and Jpop. However, I must also admit I don't like most of today's anime, and if I do find one i like, it's usually not a super popular one. I mostly like the old stuff from the 90's... bit of the 80's too.
As for Jpop, my experience with Ayu came all by chance. I saw one of her albums on CDJ while browsing around, and out of just pure randomness of being like hypnotized by the cover I decided to buy it. I got it, put it on and was hooked. That was 8 years ago though.

I don't see how mainly liking BoA doesn't make you a JPOP fan at all. You don't need to love Madonna or Michael Jackson necessarily in order to say you're a fan of american pop, so it's not like liking BoA, but not really caring for ayumi or Utada, will mean you're not really into JPOP, regardless whether you think she's lesser influential than other artists.:rolleyes

Scanning through the thread as well and I agree with the majority. I was into anime but I didn't hear much of anime songs at all (in HK the songs are cut out, or replaced with Chinese version). I'm actually glad (and proud? :P) that I went into the JPop world via hikki. If my cousin didn't ask me to download First Love for her in the first place, I wouldn't get into JPop. But more precisely I think ayu was the one that brought me more diversity (as I only listened to hikki until LOVEppears was released).

I dun mind people calling themselves a JPop fan if they're only into anime music. To be honest tho I would only call them a animepopfan. They love the songs because of the anime, not because it's in Japanese. They can love the song Gravity from wolf's rain and still consider themselves a JPop fan, when in fact the song is in English.


Back in the old days, enka was totally not Jpop. But like you said, some enka are made into a more Jpop-friendly sound recently, so it's hard to say whether those enka are truly enka songs.

I hate when I search for a song or pv on youtube and the only thing I get is a bunch of ugly tone deaf people singing in bad japanese x_x
Even worst when they are dancing, even worst when they are bare naked using anime/jrock inspired outfits, and even worst when they are fat (being chubby myself, I say people should know if they body allow them to dress like Koda Kumi).

And I hate every time I see a vkei or a lolita here on Brazil, u see those people dressed with fake black leater or any other material designed for cold places, using tons of make up and sweating like pigs when the temperature is like 35C, 40C... ~~

^:roflmao:roflmao

that's why cosplay/vkei/lolita is only allowed in Japan (and probly some other asian countries) in my eyes. They are more dedicated in making clothes that are much closer to the anime characters (instead of using cheap plastic materials). They have better wigs, they're slimmer to fit into the clothes (sorry, but most anime characters are slim, so of course slimmer persons look better when they cosplay).

^:rolleyes

I'm kind of tired of people not understanding what we mean.

This thread is about what you find annoying.

And it is annoying when someone says one thing, denoting that, hey, you guys might have something in common, when you actually don't, because...what they said wasnt exactly true.

But whatever.

^are you talking about me? :P

Okay I'm sorry that I drift away from the original focus of the thread hehe. :P The thing is I'm lucky that I've never encountered a JPop fan who only listens to anime songs.

I think she was referring to CoriKaru:

Yeah, like emiko said, it's about people saying they're something, and you later realizing that oh... they don't know a thing about any major J-Pop artist...

I'm the same. I listen to a lot of anime songs, but I also use that as a channel to find more artists to listen to. I don't like it when people make this generalization about J-pop that it must be in an anime to be worth listening to. I notice that I absolutely don't get along with other anime fans, either... Maybe it's a generation gap? I've been doing this stuff for ten years now and all of the little mainstream fans just make me angry. Or is that just me?

I know how you feel. I've worked with tow natives of Japan for three years now and they didn't even realize that I listen to J-pop, watch anime, and speak a little of the language until about a year ago. My coworker was really surprised when she found out. The reaction was kind of like, "Woow! You like Japanese things? You aren't really like what I've seen of American kids who like anime." She was even impressed by the number of singers and actors that I knew. It really gave us something to talk about and she helps a lot with the language. She in her fifties and she's so much easier to talk to than any of the Japanophiles that come into work all the time.