Hey Arama! Japan! It’s Friday, so it’s Open Post time! Feel free to chat with your fellow readers about whatever you like! Enjoy!

And something new is being done starting this week. The Question of the Week will be posted in the post now.

This week’s Question of the Week:

Oh No They Didn’t! has a post titled “Adele Flops… in Japan.” In that post, there were several JPop fans bemoaning the current industry, saying things like:

C’mon, the fact that Japan is not into the powerful singer/songwriter type of artist is NOT news. They’re still fapping over the 2130984th iteration of whatever half-talented randos are currently enlisted in AKB. I miss when powerful sexy girls like Utada, Ayumi, Namie, Mika, and Kumi slayed the charts…but I guess J-pop is all about mediocrity nowadays as long as it wears a schoolgirl miniskirt and a smile /rant

and

I mean, my ass is all over this post getting salty as hell over the current state of J-Pop. AKB smash records continually while Ayu and Utada are MIA from the charts its like I’m living in the Twilight Zone. damn kids get off my lawn, old_man_yells_at_cloud.jpg, etc etc

and

waiting for this whole AKB thing to be over like

and

Right now Japan is all over the cutesy-innocent girl next door thing so Taylor being popular is not a surprise in the least. Somehow within the last 8 years or so musical tastes in Japan just shifted to be…generic. Like trying to ape western pop but without any of the defining characteristics that made the genre unique. I mean, I used to look forward to watching Music Station but now its a chore. idk

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Sounds about right. The Jpop female singers that were big when I was a teen and the ones that are big now are vastly different in terms of talent. The male lead bands in Japan are still quite good, but everything with women is mostly idols with a cute gimmick. I’m annoyed Babymetal is a thing, because even metal music needs to be infantilized.

and

Music in Japan has been so stagnant the past couple of years. Most albums are so boring to me now, whereas Kpop keeps stepping up its game for me. Idk I could rant about the Japanese music industry all day, esp regarding idol culture and how they REFUSE to appeal internationally and are getting left in the dust by Korea and even China anymore.

and

I dunno about that Adele album performance tho, what’s the current trend with JPOP music right now anyway?… but isn’t most of Japan into them sexy performers/moe virginal bullshit largely right now? I think those are the acts that reach millions/hundred thousands quick in Japan. They tend to underappreciate the hidden gems of a voices that they have. e.g. MISIA, KOKIA, Crystal Kay….

I look at these and I can’t help but think how this isn’t really reality. It’s kinda like people being stuck in last decade and bemoaning a trend that is pretty much dying. I mean, look at how several idol groups were dropped from Kohaku this year and replaced by singer-songwriters and bands. What do y’all think of these quotes and how they relate to the current industry?