Exodus: A Journey Towards Wotadom

Indulging one's self into an ocean of Japanese pop culture and fandom may sometimes seem uneasy and awkward but still there are a lot of things I'd like to explore, unexplore and re-explore in this colorful world of idols.

The very first anime I loved Cyber team in akihabara

I came to love Japan since I was 6 years old. Unlike any other kids my age. I've been more interested in anime than cartoons. My constant exposure to anime got me hooked with the Japanese language and culture that I grew up dreaming to visit Japan and wishing I WAS Japanese. While some thinks it's a twisted idea, then it's okay for me to say that I grew up twisted just fine!! XD

If you remember this song, you had a f*cking awesome childhood!!!

Even then, I already liked listening to anime songs, with "Fushigi yuugi's" opening theme being my favorite. I even had to standby in front of the TV with my cassette just to record the opening and ending songs from my fave anime. Then came this time during my 3rd year high school when my English teacher asked us to write a poem and I effin' ran out of ideas cause all we did in that class is to write, write and write.

So I decided to watch Music Station on Animax with the hope of that some english translation of the songs might give me some bright ideas, but no it didn't =(... Instead, this is what opened the doors of idol world for me. It shocked me to see boys almost the same age as I am, singing and dancing as a boy group, and that is in the case of Hey!Say!7

I was so starstrucked with Yuto Nakajima that I began to search the internet about them but since they just debuted back there were limited infos, pic and vids. And how embarrassing for me to confess that I fell for some poser in Friendster, I honestly think or rather really wanted to believe that it was Yuto's real account XD (Okay go ahead and laugh at my foolishness but hey, I was new to FS that time T_T)

Then came the rumor about Yuto dating Yurina and Ryosuke dating Risako and just like some JE fangirls, I started hating on Berryz Kobou, most especially Yurina. So that's why I kinda understand haters cause I've been on the same boat too. It was also around that time when I found out about C-ute through J-Melo w/ Tokaikko Junjou.

But the only thing that gave me little interest in them is that Saki is sharing the same last name as Yuto. And I saw this video on Youtube entitled "Berryz vs ºC-ute" so I clicked on it, thinking that it was some 0sort of contest or something, unknown to me it was one of H!P's concert. I initially thought they were rivals and since I was a BK hater back then , it was only natural that I sided with C-ute. I tried to search more about C-ute then I found their Ookina Ai De Motenashite PV and I instantly fell in love with the song and the video, of course Airi also became my instant oshi. I tried giving Berryz a chance, I listened to "Tsukiatte no ni Kataomoi"

And damn! The song is so catchy and Risako was so gorgeous in the PV that even my friend who hated her admitted it too! It was only later when I found out about Morning Musume and realized that all of them are under the banner of Hello! Project. Slowly, my love  for C-ute and eventually for the whole H!P Family (Yes, I came to love Berryz Kobou finally!) had overpowered my love for Hey! Say! 7  as I lost interest in them when they turned into Hey! Say! Jump.

What truly attracted me to H!P was their cuteness and their energy when performing. I even began to style my hair like them that my HS classmates might have thougt it was weird to have a high ponytail, high bun and twin tails as a hairstyle. But I couldn't care less, it was pretty cute. I did fandubs and dance cover too and sometimes thinking I was an idol too everytime we perform for the school's dance revo (lol). I could honestly and proudly say that H!P has inspired me as a performer too =)

My 6 years of fandom towards H!P gav me ample oppurtunity to get to know who's who and helped me gain new friends, friends that I haven't personally met yet but I would love to. And time flies so fast and everyone would start to grow up and eventually graduate (Oh my dear Reina T.T) but I would still carry this baggage of love and will look forward to share it with real people out there. I had a terrific time getting to know varied personalities in the idol world, mostly in H!P. I was able to withstand even the not-so-good elements (ehem* Fanservice* as non-wotas think it's slutty or porn) and fully embrace the good.

Okay, so much for the long post but THANK YOU for reading. =)..
I'd like to hear your journey towards wotadom too, be it in H!P or any other idol groups out there!