Heya, I noticed there wasn't a Asian music thread, and I was horrified, so now there is one YAY @_@

I love J-Pop and K-Pop, my fav bands are Orange Caramel and Block B. I also like watching Vs. Arashi, a Japanese game show starring J Pop idols Arashi. Luckily there is a TV show weekly that keeps me up to date with everything Asian Pop. Hope there are some Asian Music fans out there, Miyazaki Girl Out!

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Hi MiyazakiGirl. I don't tend to follow the Japanese young music scene, but I do pick up on a few bands and artists via anime op and ed songs. However I know there's a couple of Tavern members who do have some interest and knowledge in Japanese popular music. I hope they'll post and talk about things with you.

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Isakaya High School Roleplaying Info

"An old man like me stands no chance fighting against a high school girl in her underwear" - Oshino Meme, Nekomonogatari (Kuro)

Looks around for FFF... HEY! FFF, someones looking for you....

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I'm more into J-rock than J-pop myself, but I enjoy a little K-pop from time to time. BIGBANG is the band I like best (especially G-Dragon and TOP). I also like a little SHINee, Nu'est and Girls Generation.

My biggest love in Japanese music, in all music in fact, is Kamijo (see my avatar). I encountered him first in... oh, 2008 it was, while he was the lead singer of the band Versailles. I've never loved a band like I've loved Versailles, nor a singer like I love Kamijo. I've seen Versailles twice in London, and I'll be seeing Kamijo there at the beginning of March. I even have a VIP ticket, which means I'm going to get to meet him. Words cannot express my excitement.

I also like Gackt, BUCK-TICK... I enjoy Vocaloid as well.

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I was listening to Gackt and X Japan the other day! And Dir en Grey's new album.

Started off as a huge jpop/jrock fan but I listen to a lot of kpop now, and other Korean musics as well. Like Kaz, Big Bang is my favourite and BTS are my fav rookies. And for girl groups, I love Apink, MissA, and Girls Day.

Orange Caramel is fun, though. Nana is sooo cute. ^^

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Block B will always be my favourites...but I'm interested in what you have had to say about J-Rock and K-Rock, because my favourite voice on Block B (P.O.'s) has a real kind of gritty edge to it- his bits of their songs is where I headbang. Origato for replying to what I'm sure are pretty boring words on my part (sorry). So LONG LIVE ASIAN MUSIC!
P.S. I'm pretty new on the vocaloids scene- my friend Beth is really into Hatsune Miku(who isn't)- so any nice vocaloids???? Origatoooooooo!!!

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I prefer the male Vocaloids myself. VY2 (also known as Yuuma) is my favourite. I also like Kaito and Gakupo. Among the girls, Luka is my favourite.

Here is a playlist of some of my favourite Vocaloid songs: link

And don't worry, you're not boring! It's nice to have someone new and enthusiastic around. ^.^

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I hardly ever listen to any vocaloids except in nightcore stuff, so I'm listening to that playlist now. I never even knew there were MALE vocaloids! Duh. I'm so out of the loop

Thanks for the link!

EDIT: Oh wow, that second song made me cry!

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Isakaya High School Roleplaying Info

"An old man like me stands no chance fighting against a high school girl in her underwear" - Oshino Meme, Nekomonogatari (Kuro)

I liked the "Hello/How Are You" bits, but souldn't seem to get into the others so much. Some I liked the tune, but not the vocal, (I listened to 5 or 6 of them...

I found the "Russian Roulette" lyrics disturbing. "Clingy Boy..." was sad and "Vanilla" sounded like a soundtrack for a spy film (ala James Bond)

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Hey. I like Kpop. Actually, a friend of mine got to see Block B live awhile ago and one of the member serenaded her on stage. I write papers on Korean pop culture sometimes for my classes, usually from a critical point of view. I'm really into the Korean hip-hop scene and would love to have some time to form a critical analysis on it... because I'm weird.

I like Block B for their style. I'm not really a fan of the image of some of the new boy bands out there (I'm looking at you, BTS) but I'll still listen to their music to keep up with the scene. By image, I mean how they're presented to the public. Not that they're ugly or anything, they aren't. haha I prefer artists like Akdong Musician. I'm usually a fan of most of YG's artists since they were the first ones I was exposed to. Daesung is my bias and he has a lovely voice.

That being said, I listen to a lot of K-rock and J-rock. I love quite a number of Japanese indie bands that my Japanese friends are almost always surprised to hear that I know them.

Right now I'm looking forward to Lizzy's and Miss A's comebacks.

OMG OMG OMG Another Block B fan (sort of its close enough) YOUR FRIEND GOT SERENADED!!!???? *Okay need to calm down* Which member was it... My favourites are Taeil (for his amazing vocals) and P.O. (his grooviness in general). Australia doesn't get many Asian pop stars on tour down here...although it has a very big fanbase. We did have B1A4 touring but they didn't come to Tasmania Ah well... Block B are cool because they not only have amazing songs, but they also have the ability to make fun of themselves and have a good time! They are so kawaiiiiiiiiiiiii! @_@

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Haha what don't you like about how BTS are presented to the public, FFF? I mostly liked them for their music (so catchy) and man, can they dance, but then I watched some of their random videos and found them to be so silly and fun.

JYJ have great vocals, btw. Shame they still get shafted on the music scene in Korea

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It was U-Kwon, I think. They gave her a rose also.

Ahh, fen, I'm not sure where to even start on BTS. XD I think it might be their fan base that kind of bothers me. I like them, but ever since their Boy In Luv MV I've been kind of... bothered? I know it's for fan service but the fact that young girls romanticize what goes on in that video and want it to happen to themselves doesn't really sit well with me. But then again my other Kpop fan friends felt the same way in regards to them. Same with their song War of Hormone. The first time my boyfriend gave that song a listen and looked at the subtitles I thought he'd died. lmao That song is all sorts of weird anyway. I'm cool with their cocky, "tough boy" attitude and look (since you know, that's mostly a front) I just feel uncomfortable with their music sometimes. Probably me and my feminist views or something. XD Anyway, it makes it really fun for me if I want to do a study on them. People think it's really weird that I do projects on Kpop or Korean culture, but my professors think it's great.

My boyfriend's friend runs a successful blog criticizing aspects of Korean pop, but I can't remember it now. She's from the same country as him but moved to Canada.

Ahh ok, no, I totally get that. While I'm not involved in the BTS fandom at all (really, kpop group fandom is a scary place in general), some of their newer songs make me uncomfortable as well haha. They're very much written from the stereotypical male teenagers perspective. They don't hold anything back, which in a way is commendable, but it's also disturbing considering they have so many young female fans.

I do think that underneath all the production, they're just a bunch of fun guys who work very hard and care a lot about their fans, which makes me forgive some of their questionable music choices Also the fact that there are some concerning tropes and norms at the core of Korean culture that I think would be pretty difficult for a newbie group to do anything about, even if they were aware of them.

Hm I think I saw somewhere you were reading about Japanese feminism. Makes me kinda curious what feminism in Asian countries is like - I know very little about it.

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I know they're just a bunch of silly kids for the most part, it's their companies pushing that branding on them.

Feminism in Asia is usually seen as not a very big thing but it's still there. Because I was trying to consult books or websites on Korean feminism last semester, my friends asked their friends from Korea if feminism is big there. It's not but it still exists, just differently from the west. The word might not be used but you can still find stuff on women's issues. I know here quite a few of the international students, since they get involved in areas like fine arts, anthropology, sociology, philosophy, they get exposed to concepts of feminism and work with it themselves. I like to look at different feminist theories. Some girls I know happen to be radical feminists, but not in the way the world might see it (different kinds of radical feminism, which are interesting to look into). As for my boyfriend's country, there's still a lot of issues for women. Some of his friends and coworkers from there happen to be feminists. I like to look outside the box of western feminism and see how it's applied in different countries. I like looking at the lives of women in other countries and seeing what is expected of them, and how they've been challenging traditional gender roles and breaking out on their own.

Haha, ranted a bit. But it's cool to look into.

I just read your thread fff, and it sounded great! That IS something worthwhile to look into! You go for it! I might even have a little look myself!
Origato for the interesting topic!

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origato

Are you trying to say 'thank you' in Japanese???

I suppose that there is some differences in pronounciation, but I always thought that it was arigato???

Forgive me, it really doesn't matter as we all understand anyway...

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Yeah, I don't think there is a difference......Maybe they both sound the same when they are pronounced??? Anyway, I'm getting Japanese lessons soon

Origato/Arigato

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Heh, it is arigato.

A few of us here at the Tavern study Japanese, myself included. In fact I think there's a thread about it here somewhere... maybe it got pushed onto the second or third page. Might be worth reviving. Anyway if you want help with learning I'm sure we could be of some assistance. ^.^

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We should definitely revive that thread! It's pretty useful.

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