(the) Road to the Deep East

As its typical 'America-as-our-master-complex'-esque name shows, 'Oscar' is one of the representative model agencies in Japan, which produced a lot of 'talents' for Japanese show business. For example, Mrs. Jan Alesi, Ueto Aya, and ex-(or still) members of Bishojo Club 31 belong to this agency.

http://www.oscarpro.co.jp/profile/index.html

And yesterday, this agency released an intriguing announcement. Oscar released an idol, for improper relationship with her manager.

This girl, Minami Akina(南明奈), nickanmed 'Ackiina'(アッキーナ）, 18-year-old from Kanagawa, was picked up by Oscar when she was 12 years old, and made her debut as a fashion model when she was 14 after training. And in 2006, when she was 16 years old, she became famous for the appearance on a morning news show named 'Mezamashi TV'. And she also started her activity as a pin-up swimsuit girl then, and 3 DVDs featured her became the #1 hit in 2006. (according to TBS's research.)

*A video clip will tell you more.


...But this girl had had 'an improper relationship', before she gets 18, dear my friends. The manager established his own agency after he left Oscar, and Akiina belonged to the agency. And the new agency denies this announcement from Oscar, namely, the relationship with Akina. And it seems she will continue her activity.

An idol girl and her manager fall in love... when we look objectively, this story is very beautiful. A man and woman who overcame the toughness of poor era succeed, and become one mentally and physically. When we look around, we can find a lot of the similar successful love story.

However, when we look from the view point of an idol otaku, this story is totally a disaster. Akina otakus might spent a lot for this girl, devoting and sacrificing their life. The otaku might go to a lot of events to support, but the person the girl was actually loving was the manager who was looking and jeering at him from his back!!

That's what idol business, and that's why a lot of straight persons perfer the real love. However, the point is she is a gravue idol. If she is a singer or dancer, there must be more to console her old fan boys. “She is a singer, and you can enjoy her performance. What will you want any more?” Maybe a fan of actress may have the similar point to be consoled, too.

How should we console those Akina fans? “All her body parts you masturbate with belongs to the manager.” That's the deadlock. Only a sophisticated hentai like me can enjoy this situation, with a painful but sweet jealousy. “Damn, how did the guy loved him? How many times?” - like a husband whose wife is unfaithful.

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But it's too early to believe in this announcement from Oscar simply.

We should notice that this announcement was intentionally released by her ex-agency of Akina. The truth might be like this : Akina and manager just became independent from Oscar, and Oscar spread a fake story to spread reputation on Akina, to promote other girls. In addition, recently, Akina was also covered an affair with an industrialist who got involved in political scandal. This story might be another bad reputation fabricated by Oscar, too.

Anyway, whether this Oscar scandal, or a love story of a gravure idol and her manager is true or not, it's sure the future of Akina will get tougher than before. She became just one of many gravure idols belong to a small agency, and Oscar and the industrialist who supported her isn't there anymore. And fans may not be there, too.

But if she and her manager overcame this situation, another beautiful and true love story may be born. I wish she won't get capture dy the darkness of girigiri mozaiku. (*<=Don't click the link when you are under 21.)

After her debut last year, Leah Dizon, a pin-up girl and singer from America, now seems to be becoming one of the icons of teens in Japanese. Not only unmarried guys who wants something to masturbate with, young girls are also admiring her beauty, or cuteness. Now in Parco, a famous fashion department store for the young, is appointing her as a model for the swimsuits in 2007. And it seems more and more, the chance to see her in TV shows is also increasing recently.

http://www.parco-swim.com/

There is a place can be called 'gaiji niche' in Japanese entertainment business. In this 'niche' Japanese TV audience wants some reachable exoticism (may sound odd to Western people) from the look of Western girls, and this Chinese-French-Filipino girl could succeeded to the throne.

However, as it happens to many people rose in the world, there appeared an envious counter attack to her. Naispo, one of the most quality papers in Japan as well as the Sun in the United Kingdom, revealed a very sensational scandal regarding to her. According to the article, Lear is actually a Japanese girl!!

Quoting the words from a editor from a pinup magazine, Naispo says:

“First, she was adversed as a girl from Las Vegas who hardly speaks Japanese, but later it turned out that she actually can speak Japanese very fluently. And she mentions some Japanese musicians' name as favorite musicians, X-Japan, Moriyama Naotaro, Utada Hikaru. It is last spring she came to Japan. Excluding Utada, it's mysterious that she knew such a (old) musicans. And her favorite food is Kimchi and yakiniku. It's also suspicious combination for a girl grown up in the United States.”

“Her profile, the story that the pictures she uploaded to the Web page in America attracted Japanese audience's attention and Leah promote to Japanese agency herself after that, seems to be fake and fabricated one. She had already planned to debut in Japan. It was a process of well-planned promotional activity.”

“Actually, she'd been in Japan before. Hence she knows about Japanese well, and can speak Japanese.”

“The agency is concealing the fact that she can speak Japanese to protect the 'myth' of Leah, and it needs the condition that she can speak Japanese.)
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Hence, Leah is not American, but Japanese, or at least, she can speak Japanese.

...Maybe the readers of this blog may laugh at his analysis in the first paragraph. Japanese culture is now being recognized deeply in many foreign countries for anime and manga's success, and there are lot of foreign Japanese lovers who know about Japanese music more than Japanese, just as some Japanese are geeking out in American or British pop.

And as for her musical taste, Naispo is concealing some facts to mislead the readers. Actually, she ALSO loves Red Hot Chili Peppers, DEFTONE, and Korn. What does Naispo's writer say to these bands? Red-chili's name certainly sounds a bit old to me, but does he say that they are not the taste of Americans?

It is true that she has a Japanese-American cousin, so she could have more chances Japanese-mania girls in the United States, but it's not so strange story. Japanese culture is now being recognized by foreign countries more than ever in the history, and admired more than Ukiyoe-boom in 17th century, as far as I guess.

But unfortunately, for the people of old generation, this situation can't be acceptable or believable, and this kind of groundless suspicion is made. And the people in the show business agenies are also the old deaf and blind who are missing those business chances in oversea. There is a proverb, “Seeing is believing”, but an agency can't think of selling a group oversea even after a lot of people admiring the group in Thailand.

Anyway, let's get back to Leah. I don't think she is Japanese, and she is good at Japanese only because she is learning it in the best condition. Amazingly, even when she barely speaks Japanese, she had been appearing the TV show as a hostess. She can't help being good at it!! It's very similar to the situation of foreign Sumo Wrestlers, who always surprises us by their too fluent Japanese.

Personally, I don't like Lear so much, but it's too sad there are some baka old and wicked men who are making groundless suspicions on Japanese culture loved in foreign countries. And I can easily imagine there would be some baka middle-aged office workers who believe in this article and boast this baka theory in a izakaya bar in Shinbashi. “Hey, do you know Leah-chan is actually Japanese!?”... As long as these bakas survive, it seems it will take a bit before the genuine opening of Japan to the world starts.