When WACK first began to expand to the international market, in the midst of things they attempted to launch a news website. They must have left the actual freshly-born website in the hospital and come back with the afterbirth instead, but from that we got DiG YOUR OWN IDOLS.
With Watanabe’s name plastered all over it, the website was routinely mocked for poor quality, not understanding that foreign idol fans have their own culture and loan words already, and the phrase “Yasuko Oomori” in the same breath as bragging about not using AI translations for Watanabe’s personal articles. Sure, you have the Jpop wiki maintained by a bunch of enthusiasts, sure you have Homicidols for journalism, but wouldn’t you rather have your hobbies and favourite groups patronisingly explained to you? You’re not Japanese, so you totally don’t understand, you need to be told.
Some people did learn about cool groups from it, so it wasn’t a total car crash. But perhaps the website could have been actually good. Perhaps a certain fansite offered to do all of the translation work for free and was rejected on the basis of “we can do it better.” Perhaps a lot of other things happened too that we won’t go into for now. But, a fansite is just that, for fans. Some of these groups don’t have that much in the way of English language content, so as much as “running a Japanese interview through ChatGPT and calling it a day” is lazy as hell, it’d be a shame to lose a drop of water in a desert.
- Seiko Oomori: Expressing the Emotions of Japanese Girls at 120%—Idols as Counterculture
- MAPA: The Alluring Eccentricity of a Group Often Compared to a Theatrical Performance
- PIGGS: The Raw, Unfiltered Idol Group that Embraces Humanity and Team Spirit
- BiTE A SHOCK: The “Second BiSH” and the Barriers They Have Overcome
- MAMESHiBA NO TAiGUN: Exploring the Dual Appeal of an Idol Group Produced by Comedian Kuro-chan
- ExWHYZ: Discussing the freedom style that emerged as a counter to mainstream idols
- GANG PARADE: An 11-member group that transforms exposed emotions and stories into entertainment.
- ASP: The Wonderfulness of “Idol Culture,” the concept of punk, and thoughts on their fifth London show.
- KiSS KiSS: Talking about idol culture, including “classic idols” “cute,” and “benefit events”
going going WACK 