COUNTDOWN LIVE 2012-2013 A ~WAKE UP~ information thread

[harufi]

Apart from the cornrows I'm in love with her looks for this CDL!

She looks incredibly happy from these photos too, its great to see

[Mirrorcle Monster]

Wanna see the Together When... outfit so bad :/

[Bad Wolf]

kawaii culture is a massive part of japanese pop culture. i'm surprised people on this forum don't know that this applies to people, too.

[Jennie Mae]

So sad that there's no Ustream this year is it true that the Ameba Pigg stream only works if you're in Japan?

[FoxyPinkGirl]

Originally Posted by njanjayrp

STEP you/Shake It!<3 costume got the biggest applause & ovation @HLS. People loved it.

so adorable! it looks like the pink dress in the CDL photos from last night's show is kinda similar to it.

Originally Posted by Jennie Mae

So sad that there's no Ustream this year is it true that the Ameba Pigg stream only works if you're in Japan?

I've been wondering that too. that really bums me out that the New Year's show nor the final night of HLS were broadcasted for international fans, nor even considered. not right if you ask me

[TeamAyu2004]

^ its not something you have to put up with or her. this is something she likes doing because it brings her and others joy.

its like demanding a meat eater to not eat meat because you dont agree with it. It's ridiculous.

[mizuki-7]

^^
Maybe because she like that !! It’s their culture ! Japanese have probably a lot of things they find ridiculous in western countries. It's like that lol http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kawaii "A study by Kanebo, a cosmetic company, found that Japanese women in their 20s and 30s favored the "cute look" with a "childish round face""

[Chibi-Chan]

Originally Posted by TeamAyu2004

^ its not something you have to put up with or her. this is something she likes doing because it brings her and others joy.

its like demanding a meat eater to not eat meat because you dont agree with it. It's ridiculous.

Originally Posted by mizuki-7

^^
Maybe because she like that !! It’s their culture ! Japanese have probably a lot of things they find ridiculous in western countries. It's like that lol http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kawaii "A study by Kanebo, a cosmetic company, found that Japanese women in their 20s and 30s favored the "cute look" with a "childish round face""

If it's fun for Ayu or not to act like a child and make herself appeare immature and naive (and somewhat dumb) doesn't change anything on my opinion: I think it's degrading and Ayu should stop it.

[TeamAyu2004]

Originally Posted by Chibi-Chan

If it's fun for Ayu or not to act like a child and make herself appeare immature and naive (and somewhat dumb) doesn't change anything on my opinion: I think it's degrading and Ayu should stop it.

but in the japanese culture it doesn't make them immature and naive.
You are taking your western ideas and placing them in the japanese culture and its not making any sense.
Its COOL to do that.

You need to put it in more of a perspective of something that you do in your culture that is cool and other people think is stupid or uncool.

[maikaru]

Originally Posted by TeamAyu2004

but in the japanese culture it doesn't make them immature and naive.
You are taking your western ideas and placing them in the japanese culture and its not making any sense.
Its COOL to do that.

You need to put it in more of a perspective of something that you do in your culture that is cool and other people think is stupid or uncool.

Wow! You know, I think I was saying the same thing to you...

How ironic.

Anyways, yeah, sad to say that being cute is the ultimate selling point in Japanese culture. There's a reason why Ayaka, who is one of the best vocalists right now, can't outsell AKB48.

[Chibi-Chan]

Originally Posted by TeamAyu2004

but in the japanese culture it doesn't make them immature and naive.
You are taking your western ideas and placing them in the japanese culture and its not making any sense.
Its COOL to do that.

You need to put it in more of a perspective of something that you do in your culture that is cool and other people think is stupid or uncool.

Excuse me, but this is the whole point of it, also in Japan: to make women appear immature and naive.

[TeamAyu2004]

Originally Posted by Chibi-Chan

Excuse me, but this is the whole point of it, also in Japan: to make women appear immature and naive.

you are completely ignoring everything that everyone else and myself have said.
IT'S NOT CONSIDER THAT.
they do it because its cute. it has nothing to do with making a woman stupid, which is what you are saying. Women act cute because they are stupid and this is not the case.
they act like that because its deemed cute.
Japan is just all about the cuteness.
Look at the men... if you asked the average american man (one that doesn't know anything about the culture) about japanese men looking cute,, they would say he was gay and that is not the case.

Also, look up the police mascot for japan


that is cute.
thats just one example of the cuteness in the culture. Look up the video of the male politician doing the dance from the AKB song.. this is a culture that loves being cute.
its the same with men/women/boys/girls/older people.
there is no hidden agenda to bring women down, its in the culture.

[Andrenekoi]

Originally Posted by TeamAyu2004

you are completely ignoring everything that everyone else and myself have said.
IT'S NOT CONSIDER THAT.
they do it because its cute. it has nothing to do with making a woman stupid, which is what you are saying. Women act cute because they are stupid and this is not the case.
they act like that because its deemed cute.
Japan is just all about the cuteness.
Look at the men... if you asked the average american man (one that doesn't know anything about the culture) about japanese men looking cute,, they would say he was gay and that is not the case.

Also, look up the police mascot for japan


that is cute.
thats just one example of the cuteness in the culture. Look up the video of the male politician doing the dance from the AKB song.. this is a culture that loves being cute.
its the same with men/women/boys/girls/older people.
there is no hidden agenda to bring women down, its in the culture.

You have way too much reading problems, damn!

Chibi-chan is not saying japanese women act cute because they are stupid or immature, she never said it. Chibi-chan is saying japanese women act cute to look stupid and immature. And they do that because men find it sexy. And japanese men find it sexy because it puts girls on a submissive position.

And this is far from being something exclusive to japanese culture or to the East... Britney Spears' peak was 100% based on the fetish of being a submissive school girl, and a lot of famous celebrities and sex-symbols like Marylin Monroe, 90s Mariah Carey, Taylor Swift, Katy Perry, Miley Cyrus (and all the other Disney princesses) Carly Rae Japsen, etc, etc, etc use a innocente/childish/cute image to appeal to the public as submissive girls.

But I don't really think Ayu is strong enough to fight this all by heself, and I believe she perverts this idea a lot, so, I like it when she uses it most of the times.

[douggn]

Originally Posted by TeamAyu2004

you are completely ignoring everything that everyone else and myself have said.
IT'S NOT CONSIDER THAT.
they do it because its cute. it has nothing to do with making a woman stupid, which is what you are saying. Women act cute because they are stupid and this is not the case.
they act like that because its deemed cute.
Japan is just all about the cuteness.
Look at the men... if you asked the average american man (one that doesn't know anything about the culture) about japanese men looking cute,, they would say he was gay and that is not the case.

Also, look up the police mascot for japan


that is cute.
thats just one example of the cuteness in the culture. Look up the video of the male politician doing the dance from the AKB song.. this is a culture that loves being cute.
its the same with men/women/boys/girls/older people.
there is no hidden agenda to bring women down, its in the culture.

I slightly agree. If ayu is the only thing you like from Japan then you wont understand the culture. It prude to judge how a nation of people act in society from the eyes of another, yet alone just because its seen as different in a western view

[kimmeh]

Originally Posted by Chibi-Chan

If it's fun for Ayu or not to act like a child and make herself appeare immature and naive (and somewhat dumb) doesn't change anything on my opinion: I think it's degrading and Ayu should stop it.

You need to respect others opinions, and we will respect yours.

In my opinion; I don't think its degrading at all. Why should people be forced to act all grown up if they don't want to? Ayu still has a childish and girly side to her - good for her! I think Ayu is a strong and empowered woman; and she can do whatever she wants. I never wanna see the day Beautiful Fighters is performed in a "normal" outfit.

Also, consider the biggest female solo-artists in Japan, they all have their thing.
Koda is sex-sex, Namie is dance-sexy, Utada is all "seriousish", AI is innocent style. Not sure about YUI, but Ayu is definitely the cutsy-cute one.

[truehappiness]

Well, as much as some people may not like it, the Japanese fans LOVE it, so she is not going to stop any time soon. They are her main audience after all, so she might as well perform in a manner that they love seeing and saying "Wow, she's so cute!!!!!!!" at.

[jyujiw]

I'm proud to see how the cultural differences are respected here.

[Chibi-Chan]

Originally Posted by jyujiw

I'm proud to see how the cultural differences are respected here.

Actually this isn't a question of cultural differences. It's common to present women in advertising, pop culture etc. as childish as possible, Japan is just the country which carries this to the extreme.
Not long ago the scientific community found women to be only second-class humans because supposedly women weren't able to surpass the mental stadium of a child and therefore women had no rights.
Presenting women even today as childish as possible just shows that societies still like their women as dumb and dependent like 100 years before.

Edit: I'm not saying that adult women should always be serious and act grown up. But the way Ayu does it often and Matsuda Seiko and so on is such an extreme way of saying "I'm immature and just a little girl" that it has nothing to do with just having fun and not being serious.

[RealLight]

Sometimes I wish the world would have endend on the 21st. q

[TeamAyu2004]

^ no you weren't.
and please dont bring something into a current conversion that was weeks ago.

Originally Posted by Chibi-Chan

Actually this isn't a question of cultural differences.

actually it is and you are just ignoring it.