Members of top idol group AKB48 have been complaining bitterly of outrageous mistreatment at the hands of the creepy otaku they gouge into attending handshaking events, with many such fans apparently making obscene and degrading remarks to idols who are in most cases mere schoolgirls.
AKB48 admonishes fans to be more civil in an official statement:
Recently we have been hearing of trouble at events; some have been making fun of the members, saying nasty things to them, or even frightening them with toy cockroaches.
AKB48 members try their hardest each day to attain their dreams, and we hold handshaking
These handshaking events aren’t held so the idols can hold back their tears and smile to fans as they say horrible things to them.Most of our members have no social experience and are just middle or high school girls. They may not know how to interpret some of the things adults say as jokes in many cases.
AKB48 member Sayaka Akimoto recounts her distress:
I want to enjoy shaking the hands of plenty of fans.
So please, take care to display proper manners. I may be an idol, but I am a human being too.
You can’t just do what you like to me, you know? I won’t just smile at you as you say and do anything, you know? Person to person is the idea, yes? Sayaka wants you to think about that, yes?
Various other members make similarly angry complaints about fan behaviour.
Toy cockroaches are actually the least of their worries – according to fans present, Tomomi Kasai was forced to endure fans telling her the following:
“I jacked off this morning before I came to see you!”
“I Tomonanised earlier!”
“So you’re wearing pink underwear today again?”
“Tomomi, your body is looking as sexy as ever!”
“Say ‘Oh! It came out!’ whilst doing this [gesturing as if holding a penis] please!”
For those not familiar with the business model of such idols, handshaking events typically involve dedicated fans paying significant amounts (whether directly or indirectly by being forced to buy multiple copies of the same CD to obtain a complete ticket) to queue and briefly meet the object of their obsessions, shaking their hand and perhaps posing for a picture.
In many cases a burly minder actually stands behind the creepy otaku with his hand on the subject’s shoulder to ensure he does not damage the merchandise:
Whilst the creepiness of idol followers is already notorious, there is a distinct lack of sympathy for the idols who deliberately encourage their obsessive tendencies for their own profit:
“What a handsome lot!”
“What are those guys holding their shoulders doing?”
“It reminds me of someone holding two rutting dogs together.”
“You’d expect this sort of thing, I’d think?”
“Shut up, prostitutes.”
“They’ve quite a nerve, lecturing fans about morals whilst forcing them to buy multiple copies of CDs to meet them.”
“Seems a lot of people don’t even like the girls they go to see now. People like you guys.”
“What on earth are people who do that stuff thinking?”
“Didn’t you make these customers yourselves?”
“What do you expect from AKB fans?”
“If your business is milking idiots and weirdos, don’t complain when they actually show up.”
“Idols are just for onanising over, don’t they realise that?”
“The only moral collapse here is in your sales methods.”
“Just ban the weirdos.”
“If they did that, most of their customers would disappear.”
“Bringing a toy cockroach is probably a result of not having met a woman since elementary school, and not having progressed from there.”
“If you don’t like it, quit. There are 47 replacements for you.”
“Why would fans say those things to them?”
“There is a section of their fans which thinks of them more as hostesses than idols.”
“Don’t they just want their favourite idol to remember them by doing something outrageous?”
“Given that they treat their customers as tools for extracting money from, I can’t see what right they have to complain at this treatment.”
“Just quit holding these events – oh, sorry, that would wreck your CD sales!”
“They pays their money, they does as they please.”
“Gathering all these social rejects, what do they expect?”
“What about the people using these children to make money off them?”
“They should do some training with hostesses as to how to better serve their customers.”
“Popular vs unpopular guests:”
“If AKB48 had any morals themselves they wouldn’t be using those tactics to exploit these freaks.”
“It’s actually a perfect match.”
What if justin beaver also starts having handshaking events?
Sexual attraction to 3D is morally evil. All these guys need to get waifus.
I’d say the one big screw up here is the damn “buy the most merchandise = the bigger the chance of meeting your favorite idol!” system – because 90% of the time only the most extreme nutjobs are the ones with the insane nerve to actually spend millions upon millions JUST so they can win the chance of attending these handshaking events.
It’s like a reverse sieve: they’re flawlessly collecting the worst possible kind of crap out of their fanbase to attend these events.
…At the expense of mere children.
– Brb, gotta get my faith in humanity to stop violently smashing it’s face against the wall again.
If I was one of these girls I would 1st kicked the guy in his nuts. Then wipe his nastiness back on his face before I scrub my hands and leave the event. The promoters/managers could kiss my sweet little ass after that.
I would wear gloves and use earplugs for the next event and mace any guy who tried to cross the table to grab me. Just saying..
a jobs a job