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Tabloid Tokyo (and Haru ramblings)
Yay, my computer is back from the doctor repair shop! My sister's computer was okay, but it's really nice to have my own baby back! ^_^
Today's topic is Tabloid Tokyo: 101 Tales of Sex, Crime and the Bizarre from Japan's Wild Weeklies, a book I found at the library that contains a sampling of articles from various Japanese weekly tabloid magazines. The stories range from sex scandals ("Ex First Lady in Sex Scandal?") to crime stories ("Cops Look on While Yakuza Kill") to odd and/or cute stories about animals ("Spa Treatment for Stressed Out Pets"). Some of the stories are funny, some are sordid, some are horrifying and/or tragic (like the one mentioned above where the police allegedly stood by and did nothing while some yakuza beat a young man to death), and others are simply bizarre. Not really all that different from US tabloids, I suppose.
Two of the stories in the book reminded me a bit of Youka Nitta manga:
"Star Athlete in Gay Porn Flick" is about a star college baseball player who had three pro teams interested in signing him--until it was revealed that he had starred in a very graphic gay porn video. The player, who is not named, was supposedly already out as gay, although that couldn't be confirmed with the player, who refused to speak to the reporter. At the time the article was written, his baseball career was in limbo while "the university reviews whether he can be recruited by the pro leagues--if they still want him."
It reminded me of Iwaki and Katou's porn careers in Haru, of course. The article made me wonder how the baseball player could possibly have been so foolish, especially since he was at least somewhat in the public eye. Did he really think no one would find out about the video? I don't know how widely in circulation it was (the article claimed it was "being sold nationwide and promoted on the internet"), but if he was lucky enough to become a successful pro player, the tabloids would have going digging for dirt sooner or later--in this case sooner rather than later. On the other hand, young people can sometimes do stupid and/or reckless things without fully considering the consequences. (Although that's certainly not a failing reserved solely for the young!) In the flashback story in the manga of how Iwaki and Katou met, Katou accepted a role in a porn film on a whim while he was going to college. He wasn't famous at the time, so if the news got out, it wouldn't have embarrassed anyone outside of his immediate circle of family and friends, but Iwaki did point out that it would taint his career if he decided to become a mainstream actor. In the end, of course, Iwaki and Katou embraced their porn careers and eventually went mainstream after first becoming famous in adult videos. However, their story is fictional, and likely things didn't turn out so well for the baseball player. (Though it does start the plot bunnies percolating, wondering if there are young colleagues of Katou's and Iwaki's in the porn industry who hope to emulate their success, but are finding that the public is not so welcoming of them.)
The other story was about host clubs, and naturally reminded me of When a Man Loves a Man: "Hosts Service Female Patrons." The article talks about how the number of host clubs has recently been soaring (as of 2003 when it was originally written), but quantity doesn't necessarily equal quality. The founder of Japan's first host club dismissed the newcomers as "pubs without a license," and there have been incidents of violence, with two hosts who were murdered by coworkers. (Not for stealing customers, as one might expect, but for lying about playing at the National High School Baseball Tournament and for having a bad attitude.) Some of the less savory clubs send their hosts out on the streets to hustle business, tricking teenage girls into ordering a glass of iced tea and then charging them 20,000 yen (about $200) for the privilege.
It might be interesting to see the hosts of WMLM dealing with the competition of these cheaper, more unsavory host clubs. Maybe the new clubs are trying to lure away their customers with cheaper prices, or maybe their hosts target the WMLM hosts and try to rough them up. (Although I expect that Shinkawa and Kenzaki would probably kick their asses!)
Today's topic is Tabloid Tokyo: 101 Tales of Sex, Crime and the Bizarre from Japan's Wild Weeklies, a book I found at the library that contains a sampling of articles from various Japanese weekly tabloid magazines. The stories range from sex scandals ("Ex First Lady in Sex Scandal?") to crime stories ("Cops Look on While Yakuza Kill") to odd and/or cute stories about animals ("Spa Treatment for Stressed Out Pets"). Some of the stories are funny, some are sordid, some are horrifying and/or tragic (like the one mentioned above where the police allegedly stood by and did nothing while some yakuza beat a young man to death), and others are simply bizarre. Not really all that different from US tabloids, I suppose.
Two of the stories in the book reminded me a bit of Youka Nitta manga:
"Star Athlete in Gay Porn Flick" is about a star college baseball player who had three pro teams interested in signing him--until it was revealed that he had starred in a very graphic gay porn video. The player, who is not named, was supposedly already out as gay, although that couldn't be confirmed with the player, who refused to speak to the reporter. At the time the article was written, his baseball career was in limbo while "the university reviews whether he can be recruited by the pro leagues--if they still want him."
It reminded me of Iwaki and Katou's porn careers in Haru, of course. The article made me wonder how the baseball player could possibly have been so foolish, especially since he was at least somewhat in the public eye. Did he really think no one would find out about the video? I don't know how widely in circulation it was (the article claimed it was "being sold nationwide and promoted on the internet"), but if he was lucky enough to become a successful pro player, the tabloids would have going digging for dirt sooner or later--in this case sooner rather than later. On the other hand, young people can sometimes do stupid and/or reckless things without fully considering the consequences. (Although that's certainly not a failing reserved solely for the young!) In the flashback story in the manga of how Iwaki and Katou met, Katou accepted a role in a porn film on a whim while he was going to college. He wasn't famous at the time, so if the news got out, it wouldn't have embarrassed anyone outside of his immediate circle of family and friends, but Iwaki did point out that it would taint his career if he decided to become a mainstream actor. In the end, of course, Iwaki and Katou embraced their porn careers and eventually went mainstream after first becoming famous in adult videos. However, their story is fictional, and likely things didn't turn out so well for the baseball player. (Though it does start the plot bunnies percolating, wondering if there are young colleagues of Katou's and Iwaki's in the porn industry who hope to emulate their success, but are finding that the public is not so welcoming of them.)
The other story was about host clubs, and naturally reminded me of When a Man Loves a Man: "Hosts Service Female Patrons." The article talks about how the number of host clubs has recently been soaring (as of 2003 when it was originally written), but quantity doesn't necessarily equal quality. The founder of Japan's first host club dismissed the newcomers as "pubs without a license," and there have been incidents of violence, with two hosts who were murdered by coworkers. (Not for stealing customers, as one might expect, but for lying about playing at the National High School Baseball Tournament and for having a bad attitude.) Some of the less savory clubs send their hosts out on the streets to hustle business, tricking teenage girls into ordering a glass of iced tea and then charging them 20,000 yen (about $200) for the privilege.
It might be interesting to see the hosts of WMLM dealing with the competition of these cheaper, more unsavory host clubs. Maybe the new clubs are trying to lure away their customers with cheaper prices, or maybe their hosts target the WMLM hosts and try to rough them up. (Although I expect that Shinkawa and Kenzaki would probably kick their asses!)