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AKB48′s Heavy Rotation PV

August 3, 2010 By

I’m not exactly the biggest AKB48 fan. I don’t know most of the members names or anything like that but since the video for Heavy Rotation is prime cannon fodder for debate I figured I’d put in my half a cent on it. My opinion on it may surprise a few people, or may be it won’t.

As always the opinions expressed in this article are my own and do not represent those of the other Selective Hearing staff. I don’t apologize for offending anyone because really, you should all be mature enough to accept other people’s opinions even if you don’t agree with them.

Heavy Rotation – Fan service or Skinemax material?

Heavy Rotation

Heavy Rotation

Heavy Rotation

Many people are getting upset over the latest AKB48 video. Why? Well if it isn’t obvious it’s because it’s gratuitous fan service type of promotion. This is coming after another type of fan service kind of video for Ponytail to Shushu. The ante is upped with Heavy Rotation. Gone are school girl uniforms and swimsuits and in are racy lingerie, cat girl outfits and in one case, nothing but bubbles. Oh and a lot of intergroup kissing.

From what I understand there are a few not of legal age members in this video so I can understand why people are upset. But I was also told that the majority of the featured girls in this video are pretty much of legal age so the directors, producers or whatever wonderful masterminds who came up with the concept for this (thank you very much by the way) could do whatever they wanted.

Heavy Rotation

Heavy Rotation

Heavy Rotation

Still, one has to wonder why AKB48 has to make a video like this in the first place? They are currently riding the wave of popularity that Hello! Project had a few years ago. There’s really no need to resort to videos such as this unless they are starting to lose steam as well. I don’t mean to speculate, but normally stuff like this is reserved as a way of either saving an artists career or indicating a change in direction.

Does that mean the next logical step for an AKB48 video will be to take the older members & make a softcore AV? I don’t mean to equate AKB with porn (although Rina Nakanishi going into JAV doesn’t help distance the two) but it makes sense to me. I & probably many others would probably be down with that. Before you AKB hardcores start getting your panties in a knot, remember that I’m calling things as I see them. Some of the Hello! Project hardcores I know probably are most likely laughing right now and would not be as neutral as I am when it comes to this subject.

Heavy Rotation

Heavy Rotation

Heavy Rotation

Although I can appreciate this video for the spectacle that it is, it makes me wonder what this says about girl group idol fans in general? Do the labels think they’re all single horny males, aged 18-35 with a lot of disposable income? I mean it’s somewhat true but it’s not exactly representative of the fan base in general. There are many equally horny female fans (y’all rock by the way) and fans of both genders who appreciate not only the girls, but the music they present as well.

Coming from personal experience, outsiders of this kind of fandom look at you like you’re crazy if you show them this kind of video. While it may be an easy way to introduce people to girl idol groups some folks may start looking at you all funny & probably start imagining you in a Pedobear suit. Again, that’s my own experience, I don’t know about the rest of you out there.

Heavy Rotation

Heavy Rotation

As for whether this is going too far? I think that’s subjective. It depends on how high (or low) you have your bar set for fan service and how easily you’re entertained by it. Come on, it’s idol music. Don’t expect substance over style.

And yes, there is a song attached to this video (although the visuals really overpower it) and while it may be structured like a nursery rhyme and isn’t the most complex in the world, it’s catchy and fun and I like it. Probably surprising to some considering I don’t actually listen to AKB as much as I do H!P. But catchy pop is catchy pop no matter who is singing it.


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Filed Under: AKB48, Featured, J-Pop, PV Review, Reviews
About Greg

Greg is the creator, administrator, editor, code monkey, overlord and general jack of all trades at Selective Hearing. He can be found lurking among the overseas Asian pop fandom and at most major conventions and events where a J-Pop/K-Pop act (or Gashicon) appears.

  • catchfivebats

    This is disgusting. So glad I’m a Momusu wota…

    • http://www.selective-hearing.com Greg

      Well that’s one way of looking at it. Like I stated before, not all H!P fans are not as neutral as I.

      • catchfivebats

        I actually have no REAL problem with this kind of thing in and of itself…but this is not what I’m into pop idols for, and I don’t feel it’s appropriate to be mixing this kind of material with what has almost always been an industry associated with an image of purity and innocence. There’s been talk for a long time of Akimoto “revolutionizing” the way pop idols are viewed, or something like that, but this is not the kind of revolution I feel is needed.

        And before people bring up photobooks, etc in rebuttal…first of all, nothing THIS blatant is in any H!P photobooks that I know of…and second of all, photobooks are meant to be a little risque/sexy, so nothing wrong there. Just keep the really risque stuff out of PVs. It’s sleazy and cheap (which I’ve said about AKB for a long time, perhaps unjustifiably…but I feel no need to hold back with this).

        >inb4 somebody brings up Melodies

        Personally I think that pulled the straight ‘sexy’ card over sleazy myself, but I guess you got me there. Still, GAM certainly wasn’t the flagship group of H!P and that is definitely not typical of H!P…whereas this style is slowly but surely becoming the norm with AKB.

        Whatever you like, I guess, but it doesn’t make me comfortable seeing this kind of material from an idol company as currently influential as AKB48…

        • http://www.selective-hearing.com Greg

          Thank you for expanding on your previous comment, I’m glad I was able to coax you into elaborating further and the points you bring up are definitely valid.

          Perhaps this blatant pandering to the lowest common denominator of fan is not exactly agreeable to those who hold the more traditional view of idols, but there’s no doubt that it does grab attention. Whether this translates to a high amount of sales is yet to be determined but most likely this will probably sell A LOT. Especially if there’s a DVD with the PV included.

          Yes H!P also tried this similar tactic with GAM, but nowhere near the level of Heavy Rotation. I agree that Melodies can be considered fairly tame in comparison as the imagery in that video was equally suggestive but it was done in a more subtle, less in your face kind of manner.

          As you have stated, it comes down to what you feel comfortable with.

  • garnetjester

    JAJAUMA PARADISE PV. ’nuff said. That thing scarred my mind with the stripper silk skirts, the fake rose tattoo in Rika’s boob and the general humping motions all through the song.

    There are only 2 underage girls here, BTW, so people should really stop crying PEDOBEAR xD And BTW, their selling almost 600000 copies of this single in 2 weeks proves that it isn’t only perverted wotas buying this single, but you know, normal people too.

    Oh, and Akimoto isn’t revolutionizing ANYTHING. Onyanko Club (his creation) existed back in the 80s and the sexualization of innocence is a common denominator in ANY kind of idol music, yes, even *gasp* H!P (Tanpopo’s Motto song is about sex, Morning Coffee too, Kimagure Princess, Almost everything V-u-den sang, Goto Maki’s stuff… Chu! Natsu Panty xD) whether you want to accept it or not is an entirely different thing.

    Of course, all H!P fans of the world are united claiming that there’s no way H!P would ever stoop this low, and that’s fine, whatever, just keep in mind that it’s not “a desperate strategy” because they are at their peak right now and “this is made for wotas” was probably not the concept the trendy woman director who shot this had in mind when she directed this xD

    • http://www.selective-hearing.com Greg

      I’ll give you V-u-den. That group was made for just straight up fan service, so there’s no denying that at all. When it comes to sales numbers, well that’s a different story. As we all know, wota buy multiple copies of everything so the numbers can, and probably are skewed between the general public and that particular group of fan. I’m not saying that number of units they sold isn’t impressive but lets remember how the core fan base and their buying power can mess up statistics to make things seem greater than they are. (The same can be said for H!P wota as well because some of their sales are quite questionable given the popularity of some of their groups)

      I believe that you may have taken my comment questioning the purpose of this video a little too seriously. I was only speculating as to why this kind of video was made (although it is blatantly obvious) and personally I like this video A LOT. (again for obvious reasons)

      As for the whole H!P vs. AKB stuff? Agree with the revolutionizing point. Akimoto is just recycling an established formula for modern times much like how Tsunku has done for H!P. It’s the same stuff in different packages and everyone should really get over it already. I can’t speak for others who comment here or for the other staff of Selective Hearing. That’s just my own personal opinion on this matter (which I have made clear in a previous article)

      Thanks for taking the time to comment.

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