It's a great week to be a fan. I just realised this. Because seriously major things happened in my fandoms --
* apparently it is confirmed that there will be a Lymond television series. This news still intermittently makes me hyperventilate, ohmygoodness, hahaha. I really didn't think this would ever happen. Because while yes, Lymond has a loyal fan-base, we are extremely tiny, extremely, extremely tiny. I swear, there must be like less than 30 persons on tumblr just reblogging each other's stuffs. Sure, we have serious, much older readers who obviously don't do tumblr, but you know -- when there's no strong collective, there's no traction. So I just didn't think any production company would pick it up.
And do you know how obscure Lymond is? (Then again, Mammoth Screens that has signed a deal for Lymond has had a history of adapting good and not necessarily popular classics I think, hmmm.) Even if Lymond gains attention, I think only a fraction of the audience will ever get through the first book! It's so hard to read. I'm trying not to be elitist here, but I can generally tell if you'll be able to get through Lymond or not -- you have to be a serious reader. I have lent it to persons and they haven't been able to get through it and then they fail to understand the awesomeness of it.
The general sentiment of our tiny fandom is extreme excitement coupled with fear -- because how can any television adaptation give justice to this complex and rich story?
* BTS has been winning a pile of awards since the release of Wings in October, and then they won a big Asian Artist of the Year Award just a day or two ago -- and omgosh, I have been a fan only maybe for 6 months, but how much I love them is so unexpected. It's like -- my love for Big Bang and Arashi in the past is only to prepare me for loving BTS now. It's ridiculous. Watch them, I really think they're not done conquering the music scene yet. People are still comparing them to other kpop acts, but I shall venture to say that they are different and will slowly stand on their own, the way Big Bang did. The fervour they are eliciting on a worldwide scale is pretty much unseen before, with respect to a korean musical group.
I have this theory -- and it's why I keep quoting Big Bang and Arashi. Big Bang is super talented, G-Dragon as leader especially is seriously one of a kind (pun intended, haha!), so that guarantees somewhat, that Big Bang will always have that respected spot at the top of the music scene. But Big Bang, does not have the magic of Arashi. There's just something about Arashi: it's really not their music so much as a love and a kinship that they engender in fans that really starts to transcend. People love Arashi together; all five of them bantering and working and performing has kind of an inspirational quality. People love the friendship between them, and the genuine passion and sincerity that shines through, and that is something you cannot really manufacture. This ineffable quality really shouldn't be underestimated -- because it is the reason Arashi is loved so well in Japan (excuse the rest of the world because Japanese media does not market itself well -- and despite that Arashi did enjoy a lot of fan love globally). You have little kiddies who love Arashi as well as 80-year-old grandmas who adore them as well. And of course, everyone else in between. It is phenomenal.
Now, BTS, appears to me to have both of these elements. Maybe not yet grown to the level exemplified by Big Bang or Arashi, but they have it. And the prospect of this potent combination of talent and genuine kinship with fans really truly excites me. We have seriously talented boys in this group -- what with that brain of Rap Monster leading the pack with all that songwriting and composition, and Suga's crazy lyric and rapping skills (I mean, I know close to nothing about rap, but whatever he does is pretty much mesmerising), and J-Hope's unbelievable dancing, and Jung Kook's amazing voice (that almost had him win on another contest all by himself!) -- I won't list each one of them, but they're each very talented in their own unique way. Big Bang has this too -- you could take any one of them out and they could potentially be successful solo acts. It's amazing to put equally talented persons all in one group.
At the same time, ohmygosh, these boys are really boys, and they clearly love each other like brothers. There's a camaraderie, or beyond that really, a deep connection, between all of them that really shines through. People love it. Their production company, deliberately or not, showcases this to fans via their ingenious youtube channel called Bangtan Bombs, and it is gold. It is hitting jackpot. Fans start to really see that dynamic between the members and love them far beyond the music. I see it -- the gifs on tumblr, the adoration of the members in all their goofiness, the nicknaming of the boys as though they're your friends. It's amazing -- and I saw this with Arashi too. A common fan exclamation is, "They make me so happy!"
And that's why I love them so hard.
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