![]() Buying hundreds of copies of a CD just to pump up the popularity of one of the members is a good way to make a lot of money for the producers, but it’s also a deeply offensive example of the obscene end of capitalism.Īll of the above, and so much more, plays out to surprising detail and depth in Idol Manager. ![]() Why did he do that? Because each CD came with a voting slip, allowing him to vote for his favourite girl 600 times in the annual “choose your favourite girl” poll. And when the groups aren’t actively encouraging every creep in Japan to become outright stalkers, they’re encouraging the most disgusting excesses of consumerism in 2017 a man was arrested for purchasing 600 copies of the same CD, and dumped the lot of them in a forest (illegally, of course). In 2014, an obsessive “fan” wielding a saw attacked a couple of girls, again in AKB48, at a handshake event, where men (predominantly) pay a fortune for the opportunity to touch the hand of their favourite girl. ![]() I won’t spend too long in this review qualifying just how problematic idol groups and culture in Japan can be, but for just a few examples: in 2013 AKB48 idol, Minami Minegishi, was forced to shave her head after “being caught” spending the night with her boyfriend (idol fans don’t generally like hearing news about “their” girls having sex lives). It’s more than happy to fail you and your idol business, and while it has got a cutesy charm and lots of pretty girls, Idol Manager also doesn’t flinch from the reality that this industry is deeply problematic, often associated with all kinds of the seediest individuals and businesses. ![]() Idol Manager doesn’t flinch from anything. I assumed it would be focused on fanservice, with very little serious simulation. Three years ago, when Idol Manager popped up on Kickstarter, and promised to give you the opportunity to manage your own AKB48-style J-Pop idol group, I assumed that it would all be something of a joke.
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