Personally I think it's a good idea to basically eliminate drama and scandal. It's not particularly fair on the idol, but when they are given a contract they have a choice - to sign or not to sign!

Considering most of the idols are very young anyway, I'd imagine most of them aren't interested in boyfriends. Not when they have a whole load of other things to be doing.

This kind of reminds me of the squeaky clean image Blue Peter presenters supposed to have had, lol.

Fans of idols do behave rather oddly possessive, though. It's something I can't quite understand.

@MissMisa - You mention the clean image of Blue Peter presenters, and I immediately thought of an 'Armstrong & Miller' sketch. (For those not affiliated with British comedy, 'Armstrong & Miller' are a double act that have a TV show full of different sketches. Its very funny.)

YouTube - Armstrong & Miller - An Apology

@evanny & MMM - Wow. I didn't know such pillows existed. I'll have to check that out. Thanks for the info (^_^)

LMAO, I've seen that, it's amazing. Funnily enough I seem to remember an apology like that, I think it was about the scandal involving a fake phone-in competition.

Uhhh.... are you referring to Visual Kei? or.. Vietnamese rock or? I'm gonna go with Visual Kei..

And I'd say you are COMPLETELY off with that. Visual Kei artists are seen just as much as idols as any members of a jpop group - genre doesn't change role. The 'switch' in matter is generally determined from how the needs change per genre.. If you watch concerts, you'll notice that just like jpop fans go crazy over their groups - VK fans go crazy too.

I think that you believe your beloved VK artists do whatever they want, because that's the image of them that you have. You see them as this 'breakout' from the Hollywood tendency that we all know so well - while in reality they are just as enslaved as actors in the jpop/kpop scene.

Lol, I don't think you can get much more obssessive than otaku...

I agree with you, for the most part. Almost every celebrity is significantly influenced by the public... despite whether their image portrays them as rebels. In fact, acting like rebels, in some cases, is directly resulted from attempting to hook the audience. But that's another discussion.

Though, I think your use of the word 'enslaved' is a little harsh. These people made their decision to be subject to such scrutiny when they signed the contract. It seems like a very hard life, but I'm sure it doesn't go entirely without its pleasurable fruits -- especially if they genuinely love what they're doing.

Actually, "enslaved" is not as far off as you might think. I am thinking of Johnny's Entertainment Group which represents all-boy bands. The individual compensation is surprisingly low, and 20 hour days are commonplace. Days off are few and far between.

Yes, don't get me wrong, I wouldn't say it was too far from the mark either.
I was actually looking more at the literal implications of the term.

I found they pillows. They look cool. I also read about a Korean guy who married his

It remind me of when Hide (X) died in 1998, 4 girls commited suicide and 2 succeed. I remember that it's the beginning of the end for VK scene (temporarily). After that Luna Sea disband, Glay and L'arc became less visual, until 4 or 5 years ago when Alice Nine, Nightmare, Gazette or whatever Oshare band brought more attention to the genre. After this X and Luna Sea made their come back. Bravo!

Explain. You misunderstood me, because you reiterated everything I said.

The reason why I say they are not really viewed as idols is because the VROCK scene is actually not that big in Japan, and I'm thinking in terms of the general public. Also, I wrote "aren't really considered idols", not "they are NOT idols". They are only idols to their fans, and again, the VROCK scene isn't as big in Japan as some people think it is(I used to think this way too, until the president of Cure Media USA said that it's not really big there, and I'm sure he knows what he's talking about).

Also, Gackt is JPopish, and apparently, he is(or was? I don't know, I don't pay attention to Gackt)getting married. Miyavi was seeing somebody, and when he got her pregnant and married her, everybody reacted.... in a very interesting manner. And he was signed on to PSC!! So as I said, I'm sure that VROCK band members, and not just them but anybody and everybody else will do whatever the hell they want in the end.You can think wrongly about me and my opinion and why I have them, I don't really care, but please read carefully before you start putting words in my mouth and thoughts in my head that were never there just because of what you've seen elsewhere, I'm not whatever you think I am.