A fangirl story: How I became a Kamilia (KARA fan)

Finally I've come to this point! I'm excited to share how I became a KARA fan; even if it was not as colorful as my NEWS' fandom history, it's still essential to what I am now as a fangirl.

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I first saw KARA in October 2010, the girls all quirky and cute, but my impression was quite negative.

At that time, I was not the updated fan who keeps up with the fandom happenings nor downloads by myself. I thankfully had fangirl friends who did the job for me. One day in October 2010 a friend showed me a short clip from an episode of Music Station featuring NEWS and other artists (we didn't care who the others were xD); the highlight of the clip was Tegoshi dancing to a certain girl group's song. *click here if you want to check Tegoshi's fail (orz) butt dance out*

I got curious enough to research what girl group it was (of course I soon learned it was KARA) and watch the original version of the dance. I saw MR. (ミスター) PV, and I seriously disliked it from the first few seconds--I immediately closed the tab. I was disgusted. Pardon my impression, but I thought "Why are their voices like that? They sound unnatural!" and "Why do they dance like that? They look like sluts." I'm not saying they were wholly sluts though, it's just the video and the dance that made them look like that. And pardon my biased nature but Tegoshi dancing to the song was slutty but in a way that I like. And his voice (singing la la la~) erased much of my thoughts on the slutty dance, not to mention his was better than those girls' voices. So much for exalting my bias and criticizing another group!

Little did I know, with just a little effort, my impression would completely turn around.

After a brief period of time, when I became hooked on KPop (specifically Super Junior and SNSD), a guy classmate who was a fan of KARA tried to reel me in his fandom, knowing that I had knowledge of his favorite group. He did use a bait: Tegoshi! He said that if my bias tried to mimic KARA then at least I must know something them. The next thing I remember, we were watching KARA's variety show on his PSP. I can say that I was somehow forced into exploring this fandom but I had no complaints anyway.

We watched the MVs. STEP was the latest that time, so it was in this MV where he made me chose which member I like. I pointed at who he said was Jiyoung the maknae; I have yet to clarify this at the latter part of the post.* He also gave me some catchy KARA songs to listen to, and because I'm more of a JPop lover he gave the Japanese ones. I think my appreciation for the group ultimately started here. Because I loved Girls' Power so freaking much. It sounds the typical JPop, yes, but I loved how a KPop group sang the song like they were born in Japan.

I rooted for more KARA stuff, and although I still won't watch MR. I came to like the song. My guy classmate, by the way, studies Music Technology so he knows a lot about a lot of genres. (Yeah, lots of 'lots' :p) He told me another thing that made the interest ignite in me: KARA's musicianship. They're technically the worst singing idol group in KPop, but if you just look at the songs you'll see the huge difference between theirs and the other groups. The fact that their music has JPop influence... Did I mention I find that fact awesome?

July 24, 2012, was the day I proclaimed myself a Kamilia. (which is coincidentally Seungyeon's birthday!) From October 2010's bad impression, to 2011's sparking interest, I finally knew that I love this group enough to place them in the 2nd place of my main fandoms.

I was one of the anticipating people when Pandora was released. I was sincerely moved by the members' solos in KARA Collection. Oh, this incredible album made me determine my member-ranking, from fave to least: Seungyeon, Jiyoung, Nicole, Gyuri, Hara. Although, in all honesty, I love the girls equally! And then 2013 came, KARA's Tokyo Dome concert. The one that me, along with the girls, have been waiting the most. KARA's Japan fame paved the way for them to be the first group to perform on this venerated venue, a feat that I have already wished way back when I first knew how they were famous in the land. Upon achieving our dream, I got emotional and cried. The first time I cried because of KARA. The time when I realize they're not just my 2nd main fandom, they're my other family too.

Now, I'm a full-fledged Kamilia. Looking at all my social networking and journal entries and blog posts, I proudly say that the group I was close to hating before is now one of the groups I'm obsessing about. STEP is my all-time most played song; Speed Up is one of my favorite PVs ever; Ima Okuritai Arigatou is my tearjerker; Jet Coaster Love is one of my dedicated songs to Tegoshi *I have to include this because Tegoshi is my universal favorite and having a KARA song dedicated to him is indeed dokidoki~*; and MR., which I almost loathed before, is now thanked forever for leading me to KARA. ♪

About what I feel for Nicole leaving the group, I wrote my feels here. Withdrawal of members is not a new thing to me, but it hurts every time. Yet I'm trying to make it heal. Life goes on~~

At any rate, I love KARA and I'll support them as much as I can! ♥

* - clarification: in STEP MV, it was Seungyeon (not Jiyoung) that I chose because I remembered pointing to the red-haired girl. I think my classmate had mistaken it for Jiyoung ^_^

A tribute post: NEWS' 10th anniversary - THE 10 MAJOR EVENTS IN NEWS' HISTORY

Well my original plan was to do a retelling of NEWS' great history, fangirl-style (an overly-detailed, emotional and too much flowery content as I loooove NEWS so much). But I don't have enough time to do that and even if the 'feels' doesn't fade, the fangirl-style explanation would be too much of a drag!

Now, for the old and the new, outdated or updated NEWS fan, or just a lurker who seems interested with the "news" that is NEWS, here's a numbered list of major events in the group's history. 

This may not be the one you need but at least this is easy to read!

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1. NEWS was formed as a 9-nin (nin means "member") group on September 15, 2003.

2. Their first single, NEWS Nippon, was released on November 7, 2003, only sold at 7-11 stores for a limited time. Not long after, in December, Takahiro Moriuchi left the group...

3.  ...Yet they made their official debut of 8 members on May 12, 2004, with their single 希望~ Yell~ (Kibou~ Yell~)

4. In July 2005, Hiroki Uchi was suspended from the group, caused by an issue of underage drinking. In January 2006 Hironori Kusano voluntarily retired from the group for the same issue.

5. Because of this NEWS were put to hiatus for a few months, starting in May 2006 until they reappeared as a 6-member group in early 2007: at the 2006-2007 Johnny's Countdown (JCD) and releasing 星をめざして (Hoshi wo Mezashite) on March 21. During the hiatus (particularly November 15, 2006) the sub-unit テゴマス was formed.

6. In 2008 they were at the height of their 6-nin career; they released their consecutive #1 single Happy Birthday on the first day of October.

7. Their last performance as a 6-nin group was in December 2010. Then they became inactive again--and that was later considered as another hiatus.

8. Tomohisa Yamashita and Ryo Nishikido withdrew from NEWS on October 7, 2011. The members were down from 9 to 4...

9. ...And the "new", 4-member NEWS appeared in 2011-2012 JCD, had the official announcement of their comeback on April 15 2012, and continuously released new material (with the song compilation album BEST, the comeback single チャンカパーナ (Chankapaana), amongst other things) up to date.

10. They held their 10th anniversary live event at Tokyo Dome last September 7, 2013. And today, September 15, we celebrate our "10ve anniversary."

(sources: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4)

Reading this, one may not feel the "emotional package" NEWS' history has. But I assure you that their history, though describable, has feels that are too sublime. This is one of the greatest factors why the love of NEWS to fans and vice versa are indestructible, as time goes by.

It's been 10 years ne? NEWS さいこう! ♥

A tribute post: NEWS' 10th anniversary - THE THINGS NEWS MADE ME (AND US!) REALIZE

You're a fan of NEWS. And you know that today, September 15, 2013, is a special day for you and the whole fandom because it's NEWS' 10th birthday. Probably you are spending the day with your fan friends, whether physically or virtually. Or you're probably alone, forgetting your diet as you eat lotsa sweets while viewing every NEWS material on your laptop, and flailing hard like the girl in this gif:

I'll give this young lady a HIGH TEN.

While I also celebrate their anniversary in my own way (specifically, I was spamming my Tumblr blog with NEWS-related posts *Tumblr-addict here fyeah!!*), I also made a list of things that NEWS made me realize; the things they shaped in me. Ever since I became a fangirl a lot of my principles and beliefs adapted some NEWS-y things.

Here are some of these things. You can relate of course. And this is not all seriousness, a pinch of humor is present in here too. (Hey, NEWS are funny dorks and I am influenced xDDD)

**note: if you see a  (♠) ,  it is a link (a reference or a picture).**

-Everything has an ending. Whether happy or sad, these endings always teach us a lesson in one or many ways. Well, in this fandom there were a lot of endings...

-...But there's what we call a never ending wonderful story. NEWS. How many times have they underwent complications because of hiatus, member withdrawals, issues, etc.? How many times have the fans worried if NEWS will still survive, and if they could continue on? There were lots of unanswered questions before, but NEWS put an end to these by declaring they would stay with us forever. That is the true meaning of a never ending wonderful story.

-(A long and complicated) history is never a bore. Some non-fans loathe, or laugh at, or take pity on NEWS because of their history. But I absolutely think that aside from making the group (and the fans!) strong, their history is an asset in itself. Only NEWS took this really difficult test, and the reward is fruitful than ever.

-History repeats itself. Hopefully now, the bad parts of NEWS' history would never happen again.

-A four-leaf clover is lucky indeed. Since the 4nin comeback, everything seemed right. Maybe becoming 4 is their destiny...

-...But, numbers don't matter as long as we're together. Whether 9, 8, or 6, what's important is we're with NEWS as NEWS is with us!

-Patience is a virtue. This is probably the number one thing I learned from this fandom.

-There's hope, in the form a yell! Do the best and get the glory. Afterwards, you go bounce bounce bounce with me. :p (♠)

-"Week" is so mainstream. We call it "weeeek". (♠)

-There's another happy birthday song other than the traditional birthday song; it's longer yet more meaningful. And the best part is, it is sung by our birthday boys. Hehee~

groove to it like Keiichan. xD

-My blood type is O. You tachi, nani gata?

-Soccer anthems sung by boybands are actually GOOD. Take WORLD QUEST for example. (♠)

-We can run for our health, but we can also run for the trees. NEWS did that! (And they proved that running together strengthen bonds. So aside from the health and the trees, we can definitely run for friendship and love.

-There's a miracle of two in 130 million people. (♠) In other words, no matter how many people comes our way there's this one precious person we'll meet someday. (In what context? You decide :p). This also tells us that we should believe in miracles, as meeting NEWS itself is a miracle.

-A mistake can be a craze. See the famous ima wa? ,-(^o^)-'  (♠)

-Bambina is NEWS' common love interest. They even want to make her forget 'him'. *grins*

-A fighting man is someone who doesn't give up, getting a grip. Now I wanna be a fighting man. (♠)

-Variety is the spice of life. Picture this: one's a food freak, one's a geek, one's got a sweet tooth and one's got a swift foot. 8D

-(Speaking of "variety") They need to have a variety show! Yeeees they friggin' need that!

-Pacific is not just an ocean. Diamond is more than a rock...

-...And Chankapaana is more than just a made-up word. It is us, the whole fandom. ☆

-Life goes on. Don't forget. (♠)

-The best of NEWS is not only found in the BEST album. Everyday of their lives they give all their best to us.

-They definitely give us the news. Good news, bad news, news we don't wanna hear and news we've been wanting to hear. But as they say in their song Good News, "everybody's gonna get good news!" Okay, we are assured~

-I am loved. I love NEWS for their love for the fans. We feel every fiber of their love, don't we? :")

-Behind every wonderful story there is a beautiful love that makes the world happier. This is self-explanatory already. ♥

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And there are many other realizations, I could go on forever counting those out (if not for lack of time I will really add moooore in this post!). As the days passed, I grew more and more in NEWS' love. And as the years pass, NEWS grew more and more in everyone's hearts. How happy for me to be in this fandom, how heartfelt every moment spent with NEWS.

Happy 10th anniversary. We'll have more beautiful love in the years to come.