Fanservice

I often look at J-pop and J-rock and realize how different they really are; The lines blurred even more than with American pop, but there is one thing they all have in common, whether they care to admit it or not.

Fanservice.

It comes in many forms; Those big, poofy lolita dresses they put Sayumi in, Gackt groping Mana on stage way back when Malice Mizer was still around for Illuminati, Koda Kumi’s entire image is fan service for the female fans, GAM’s kiss, Toshiya licking Kyo’s neck right in the middle of songs.

I see this is a somewhat “touchy” (Pun, anyone?) subject, what with having your J-pop fans that either don’t care, like it, or are already writing a new yaoi fic about it.

Does it, however, take from an artist’s integrity?

Fanservice is there purely for one reason: To make the fangirls squeal and faint, and to make the wota want to whip it out.

J-pop and J-rock work as mirror images: When bands drop the visual image and the fanservice, they lose tons of fans. When J-pop groups start the fanservice, they get tons more fans, but not the kind they want. They get the kind who don’t buy merchandise and instead download it illegally, and the ones who buy EVERYTHING and are so obsessive they scary possible other fans away.

So, does fanservice really help or harm?