12ki member "Mirai Shoujo" Audition - FINISHED.

[Zunu]

One thing I'd like to point out (again) is that following MM as a non-Japanese speaker, and following them from the native perspective is like following two different groups. Those of us who can't follow the radio shows, and the concert banter, blogs etc., or who struggle in terms of fluency, are missing out on a lot with respect to their personalities. Even if you're 75% fluent, it's that last 25% that contains the most subtle humor and most sophisticated content.

As a result, instead of looking at the girl's entire image, as foreigners we tend to focus on the physical traits of the girl. Or the broadest most-slapstick and least refined forms of humor. So, if a girl gains weight, it stands out for us because her appearance is such a major aspect of how we think about her. Or if she's less goofy than before, it comes off as boring because who she's turning into needs more than pantomime and Nihongo 101 to appreciate.

Yes I AM overgeneralizing, but I think at least some of the overemphasis on physical traits has to do with this.

[Sohee]

^A big reason to why we need more translators for H!F. It's difficult to get to do everything on my own ;~; (We have one more guy, I think, but he's been MIA for a while)

[Pavlova]

I don't know, it's not like 2ch discuss their physical appearance any less than we do (in fact they do it a lot more if anything).

Also even the people who aren't fluent get a lot of translations so I don't feel that this such a fair assessment. I just feel people are stanning a bit and it's like "no, we can't ever criticize anything about the girls". Which is why I didn't go to some other forums and stuck to here.

Kei was teased by TV show hosts ALL the time. Are we saying this had nothing to do with her looks? Seriously..

We make assessments about other people all the time without knowing a quarter of what we know of these girls.

[Starra]

2ch are generally dicks about it though . The threads tend to be "look at this fatass" and stuff. Or they post unflattering pictures of girls as jokes.

Also translations aren't always accurate and sometimes an understanding of culture is important in context too.

[Sohee]

Culture or popular people/things/character/TV/whatever at the time they're doing it.
For example "Ima deshou!" is something used for events and such lately, which would make no sense to any foreign fans but it's a popular CM airing in Japan that people make fun of/refer to all the time.

I do try to put in notes like that though when it's accurate and could help the understanding. But it definitely is difficult a lot of the time. >>

[Pavlova]

well, the fact that they are dicks about it proves my point. they don't necessarily focus on the "subtle things" any more than we do.

[Starra]

They don't have to. They kind of understand them. As foreigners, we don't tend to as much.

[Pavlova]

So basically we don't have the option to focus on them, and they have yet to choose to focus on other stuff, yet we ... still focus on that other stuff more?

That doesn't even make sense.

Most of the Japanese wota are a lot more superficial. They really are dicks about it. They choose not to focus on the subtle stuff. Yes, if we had the option (more understanding, more translations) we might be less superficial because of it. That doesn't make us "more superficial" than Japanese fans. Not if you look at any of the stuff they are saying most of the time.

[Starra]

I'm saying people are less likely to understand the appeal/characters of girls unless they have a grasp of Japanese culture.

Not all the time obviously, but.

[Pavlova]

Of course, that's a given, but Zunu was comparing us to the Japanese fans (that's what I got from it, anyway) who clearly, despite understanding such things, most often focus on looks and such.

I think it's inevitable if we talk about idols, who are girls who among other things will appear in magazine and photobooks, we'll talk about their looks.

I think we also value vocal and dance talent a lot.

Personally I am not big on Japanese humor at all (I'm not big on any humor other than my own culture, actually, which is some sort of common phenomenon) so their whole "catchphrase" and "persona" and all that stuff flies like 30 ft over my head.

I care more for girls who are down to earth and interesting without giving in to that type of stuff.