Hey oh y’all,
Welcome back – Akihabara round 2!
I apologize for the lack of organization and clarity of this
– I didn’t intend it to be a full scale analysis of AKB48 and maid cafes, but
by the time I had dumped most of my ideas down, it turned out to be (though not
nearly as organized) and I didn’t feel like editing it (I’m tired ok?).
So we started our trip at a games/anime store – everything
ranging from recognizable to the I didn’t know that was a genre to the I don’t
want to ever meet the guy who buys this genre. Then AKB48 theatre and store! Am
I really the only one of our group that likes AKB? Unfortunately tickets are
lottery based, but I really want to go! Maybe I’ll go to NMB48 (Namba – Osaka)!
Yes, I admit I did buy 2 CD singles (Manatsu no Sounds Good and Eien Pressure)
– Japanese music is really hard to get in America (and expensive for just a few
songs). See importing economics and international copyright (stuff I should
study more on – if anyone has more information please let me know).
But come on…they are a cute group with a good sound and a
unique music structure (sure I know nothing about music theory, but this ain’t
a standard Western 4-chord song).
Just look past the skirts and perceived-as-creepy fan base
and try a new type of music.
Interesting point – there are supposedly “family” AKB48
tickets that are in some ways easier to get, but in order to apply you have to
be a heterosexual couple. Perhaps less surprising is that girls tickets are
cheaper than guys tickets. I do admit that AKB48 is a heavily gendered
construct – often to excess (just see the Heavy Rotation official music video…I
prefer to watch the Tokyo Dome performance, it’s less excessive).
On the thought of music – (read implied generalization
disclaimer) – it seems that American music favors talented singles, while
Japanese music favors ensembles who are theoretically mediocre but together
become good. This is a reflection of the overgeneralized narrative of American
as individual based and Japan as group based. This gets extended to AKB48 –
some people argue – why do you need 48-plus members to sing? Harmonies rarely
exceed 5 people (the implication is that a larger group makes a bunch of
mediocre singers sound good.
–
anecdotally/hearsay-wise, in Japan, it is
possible to sound too good and outshine people you shouldn’t be outshining (ex
at karaoke, the goal is to build community so old Uncle Joe’s terrible
“Yesterday” would fit perfectly here).
Then we went to a maid café. I don’t know if I mentioned
prior, but I have been to other maid cafés. It’s cute and perhaps not
necessarily as demeaning as Western views may think.
Are the clientele…well odd? Yes. And having women in short
skirts who refer to you as the equivalent of “master”…well questionable? Yeah.
Add in that the selling point is the ability to talk to, take pictures with,
and play children’s games with maids (who even on their birthday are
17…always…) and you’ve got yourself an unusual combination.
But it is a controlled experience – there are rules to
interact with maids written explicitly on the menus – ie no touching, no
photos, no harassing, no asking for personal information, etc. Also, the maids themselves get to construct their
own character and outfit – accessorizing accordingly (one had a panda toy),
changing their name, etc. There are scholars who analyze this as acted or play
relationships – they use the term quasi-relationship: the maids act and receive
attention and people (mostly older single men) who lack meaningful
interpersonal interaction receive…well… interpersonal interaction...
(sigh…yes, it’s true you have to pay for it and that gives
it a weird surface feeling and there are people who take it too seriously –
someone there was collecting photos… - but by accounts it’s fun for the maids
and it’s definitely fun for the clientele and apparently there are even maid
rivalries – maids take their work seriously.)
– And that’s not to
say that women don’t go to these cafes (much rarer but it does happen) and
there are butler cafes of parallel (again much rarer in comparison but it does
exist).
And let’s be honest – the moe moe kyun kyun doki doki
(mimetic words for your heart beating) spells does make things taste better and
it’s cute to boot.
In a similar line – this is also the allure for idols – the
idols get to be “cute” and “popular” and the fans get to “interact” and
“support” their favorite idols (see idol handshaking events).
There are also “theme” maid cafes – though we were unable to
find one, I wanted to look for a tsundere café. A tsundere is a character
archetype that is usually cold and mean to the main character, but deep down is
lovey-dovey and has a soft spot. So for a maid café, when you enter, you get
yelled at and for duration of the experience you are criticized. But as you leave,
the maid starts to feel sad, apologetic, and clingy. I haven’t really looked
into the psychological allure of tsundere, but I do understand it. Yes, my
favorite manga romance heroines tend to be tsunderes (I do recommend Nisekoi in
Shonen Jump).
Yes – this culture of play relationships does sometimes
extend too far – if this becomes your basis for all interpersonal interaction, that’s
not healthy…But when kept in proper context (as long as you recognize it’s a
constructed experience), it’s an enjoyable experience. It’s also fun to confuse
your host mother when you say you like AKB48 and maid cafes on one hand and shojo
manga and pandas on the other.
On a completely unrelated note – I do not like maid cafes
because they use keigo – that’s complicated respectful form that I’m not used
to hearing so I couldn’t understand the maids – of course they can’t break
character and use normal language so thankfully my friends are better at
hearing than I am.
Just a thought.
Harajuku was ok…the most memorable things were weird
cosplayers, expensive coffee, and playing ninja on the streets.
Then we had dinner and then we had another gaijin jam
session on the streets.
If you want a more organized essay on maid cafes/Japanese
idol culture – email me directly and I’ll put something together for you.
DC
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