The British are mad, aren¡¯t they? That Kate Bush with her crazy gyrating around a cello in the video for ¡°Babushka,¡± that daft loon Robbie Williams with his funky skeleton costume, those kerrr-azy Tellytubbies with their wacky dance routines ¡ª what is it about the British that makes them so totally off-the-wall bonkers?
Not the kind of report you see very often, and one that would probably seem a bit lazy, under-researched and perhaps just a touch racist, but replace the word ¡°British¡± with ¡°Japanese¡± and replace Kate, Robbie, Tinky Winky, Dipsy, Lala and Po with the likes of Kyary Pamyu Pamyu and current BuzzFeed favorites Babymetal, and . . . well, you know, the Japanese are mad, aren¡¯t they: What more is there to say?
When something seems mad, it may very well be the result of a unique and oddball talent like Bush, but when it seems to be happening institutionally and across the board, it¡¯s more often a rational response to irrational circumstances. To a large degree that¡¯s what¡¯s happening in the idol scene in Japan¡¯s dysfunctional pop industry.
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