Wow, it's been so long since I last blogged (5 days?!), much due to me being lazy and not finishing up my post on JE countdown (yes, no kidding). Later perhaps.

I've been thinking recently whether there's a surefire formula to creating an insanely popular group in Japan and after giving it much thought, it seems there are only 4 or 5 requisites to be fulfilled before one group/artist can be truly called popular.

The pre-requisite for GROUPS is that they be purely female or purely male. Mixed groups like AAA and mihimaru GT tend to have a harder time being popular.

Other than that, these are the 4 qualities needed in a popular group:

1. Young (Below 30s)
2. Sings / Writes songs very well
3. Is controversial in some way / Sells sex
4. Gives off homo-tendencies

While truly, most singers/groups, even popular ones, don't fulfill all 4 points, the general trend shows that the more points one/a group fulfills, the more popular he/she/they will be.

You may argue at this point of time that some singers/groups (ok this singer-slash-groups things is starting to be a bitch to type, I'll call them artists from hereon) fulfill only one quality, yet are insanely popular. Well then, let me try to explain.

Let's take Kobukuro, #3 top seller in singles. They are PURELY male, hence fulfilling my pre-requisite for groups. Moving on to the 4 points, they only fulfill 1 - sings / writes songs very well.

Now let's take Utada Hikaru, #2 top seller in singles. She is purely female (much doubt to her earlier years though xD) and fulfills only 1 point - sings / writes songs very well.

So it seems that it is possible to be popular with only one point, as long as that point is singing very well and you really do it INSANELY well.

It seems however, not very possible to be popular using only one point from the other 3 points. A very very young singer who can't sing well and doesn't sell sex will be just adorable, but not worth buying. A singer that sells sex (or looks) that can't sing well, is not young and does not give off homo-tendencies is... weird.

Also, it seems that the combination or point 1 + 3 would result in... not much results. Such a case would be Leah Dizon. I really love her, but someone please get her a new voice. And me new ears, she killed mine during the 58th Kouhaku.

After much digression, it is time to prove my point. Here are a few groups that are insanely popular at the moment.

[Tegomasu]
Points fulfilled: 1, 2, 4 = 3 points
Best sales in 2007: 147,611 copies for Kiss Kaerimichi no Love Song

You can't deny the fact that Tegomasu is a young group, and they sing undeniably well for a JE group. And if you don't sense the homo-tendencies radiating between the two, get yourself some therapy.

[Koda Kumi]
Points fulfilled: 1, 2, 3 = 3 points
Best sales in 2007: 1,022,448 copies for Black Cherry

She's still pretty young, sings well and sells sex (like DUH, do you even know Koda Kumi?), which seems to be a better combination than 1-2-4.

[Arashi]
Points fulfilled: 1, 2, 4 = 3 points
Best sales in 2007: 429,832 copies for Love so Sweet

The 1-2-4 combination seems to not be working as well as 1-2-3 still. Arashi is pretty young, sings pretty well for a JE group (except Matsujun, oh my) and homo-tendencies are turned to HIGH in this group (Ohno X Nino in Ohmiya SK is woah).

Let's bring out another 1-2-3 combination to see how well they do.

[EXILE]
Points fulfilled: 1, 2, 3 = 3 points
Best sales in 2007: 1,500,000 + copies for EXILE LOVE

See, selling sex works better than homo-tendencies. EXILE is reasonably young, sings very well and sells sex (their whole shirtless stint in 24 Karats made a lot of fangirls very happy). Now all they have to do is start hugging, kissing and groping each other and BAM! 10+ million sales! xD

Ok, enough with the 3 points groups, let's take a look at some 2 points groups to see how well they do.

[Hirai Ken]
Points fulfilled: 2, 4 = 2 points
Best sales in 2007: 118,302 copies for Elegy

While this doesn't seem so bad, let's compare it to his before-30 career. Back when he was still "young".

Points fulfilled: 1, 2, 4 = 3 points
Best sales: 555, 330 copies for Kiss of Life

See. Some may point out that at 32 years old (meaning he only fulfilled 2 points, no longer being young), he still sold close to 900,000 copies of Hitomi wo Tojite, which seems to conflict against my theory. However, that was back in 2004, and since then, he has not seen 300k sales again (unless you count Utabaka, but that's cheating. 23 PVs?!). Age is definitely a factor in Japan.

[Morning Musume]
Points fulfilled: 1, 3 = 2 points (Leah-Dizon-Syndrome)
Best sales in 2007: 61,322 copies for Kanashimi Twilight

Oh wells. Some may argue that Morning Musume sings well, but they don't sing TOO well, resulting in this. Homo-tendencies were not included because GakiKame don't seem to be getting it on as... passionately as the JE boys. xD

[AAA]
Points fulfilled: Doesn't matter because they don't fit the "purely of one gender" requirement.
Best sales in 2007: Discounting freak sales for Climax Jump, 41,294 copies for Get CHU! / SHE no Jijitsu

Which is probably why Avex is trying to make them an all guys group. They already fulfill points 1 and 2. Certainly they could be asked to sell sex and homo-tendencies are already brewing with Nissy X Hidaka.

While there aren't any groups that I can think of that fulfills all 4 requirements in Japan, Korea seems to have a few examples. Super Junior is young, sings well, sells sex (see pictures below) and has definite homo-tendencies, which made them the insanely popular group they are now. Dong Bang Shin Ki is another group that fulfills all 4 requirements.


Could I be correct and have just discovered the biggest theory to ever hit Japan's entertainment industry? xD

JE countdown post soon. Loads of pictures on that one.

Labels: AAA, Arashi, EXILE, Hirai Ken, Koda Kumi, Morning Musume, Super Junior, Tegomasu, Tohoshinki