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TOKYO IDOLS. A film by Kyoko Miyake, producer, Felix Matschke, Bob Moore, Kyoko Miyake; cinematographer, Van Royko; editor, Anna Price. London, UK BrakelessLtd.; Quebec: EyeSteelFilm, 2017. 1 online resource (88 mins.) In Japanese, with English subtitles. URL https://kyokomiyake.com/#/ tokyo-idols/.
Japanese idols are young, (mostly) female pop stars known for their childlike cuteness, their can-do attitude, their colourful costumes, and their relentlessly cheerful songs. By far the most famous and successful idol group is AKB48, which is composed of over a hundred members who move up and down in ranking in annual fan elections. As the documentary Tokyo Idols points out, Japan may still be in the midst of a recession, but the idol industry is booming: it's worth an estimated US$1 billion annually. A disproportionately large number of hardcore idol fans are adult men, many of whom spend huge amounts of money to connect regularly with idols through "handshake" meet-and-greet events.
Tokyo Idols follows 19-year-old Rio, who seems to be on the brink of idol stardom, and a group of male fans in their thirties and forties known as the Rio Brothers, as well as numerous other idol groups and fans. We watch Rio and the other idol groups perform, interact with fans online and in person, and struggle to get wider exposure in an over-saturated market. We also watch the Rio Brothers and other fan groups passionately support their favoured idols: chanting and performing carefully choreographed movements at their live events, collecting endless pictures of themselves posing with...