(no subject)

[babbled.livejournal.com]

I was watching some older Arashi clips when I noticed that they were (every so often) calling the guys by their "first" names. It got me thinking... are there any fans here who have been in the fandom since the time that they were being addressed by their first names?
About when did announcers start to always address them by their family names? (I'm assuming that age and the politeness that comes with age is what shifted how they were being addressed?)

Also, a bit more off-topic: Has anybody noticed that shift in names in any of the other (JE or not) Japanese bands you follow? Additionally, is this more of a male phenomena or is this seen in girl groups as well? (Hello Project scares me too much for me to investigate by myself, I must admit.)
And finally (an end in sight!)... has that announcer-shift affected how the Japanese fans address their idols?

Comments

[red-kei.livejournal.com]

err. . I'd say on sho's like utaban they adress them by first names. . because it's better, it gives off a familiar feel, while on show's like MS, it's where they are just getting their music out and having small shit chat, so, I think it's like that.

[babbled.livejournal.com]

I meant the announcers.

[linhkawaii.livejournal.com]

I know that in KAT-TUN, Kame used to call Jin as "Jin", but now he only calls Jin "Akanishi" in public. I don't really notice about the rest, but maybe it's a secret rule in public or something?

[hontowa.livejournal.com]

I haven't been in the fandom long enough to comment on this happening with Arashi, but I can shed light on some girl groups, since H!P scares you XD With idol girl groups, like Morning Musume and such, its pretty common for announcers to refer to them by whatever their cute nickname is. For instance, member Abe Natsumi was often referred to by announcers as Nacchi rather than "Abe-san" or something. I think it also depends on the show though. Shows like Music Station, where commentary with the artists is just a quick distraction while performances are being prepared, the hosts don't seem to be on as "familiar" a basis with the artists. On shows like Utaban however, where the talk part of the show is the main thing, the hosts can develop a "relationship" with the guests as they make more appearances. Not to say they become great friends or anything, but they may develop a particular running joke (The pork belly thing with Gackt, Ohno vs Nakai, picking on Iida Kaori and Yasuda Kei) and it seems more appropriate to refer to the guests in a more casual way.

Hope that helped in some way, sorry it was horribly long and rambly XD

[ayamixr.livejournal.com]

i think they try to call each other by last name when they are on TV so that the audience would know who they are talking about but in private, they probably use first name/nickname... since they have known each other for more than 10 years...

[babbled.livejournal.com]

...
I meant when did the announcers of the concerts/programs they're in addressing them by the more respectful family name.

[babbled.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the info on idol girl groups! I've always thought that announcers can "get away" (not really the right term) with addressing girl idol guests by cute nicknames because girl-idols are supposed to be devastatingly cute.

IMO, there has to come a point when male idols become more insulted than endeared when they're referred to with a -chan suffix (well, unless you're baka a la Aiba), and slowly the given name is replaced with the family name as a form of respect for their adulthood, regardless of the relationship the idol has with a host. Granted, MS, etc. are more standoffish because the show isn't talk-centered, but even in Utaban I would think that at a certain age of maturity, the family name would become the one used. It's kind of frustrating to try to find when that shift occurred for Arashi though, since most of the English-speaking part of the fandom really haven't been around that long.

[hontowa.livejournal.com]

Thats kind of what my theory was with Arashi, that it had more to do with them getting older or more respected as artists, or even just them settling into well known nicknames. For instance, with Aiba, Nino, and Ohno, you rarely hear them being referred to by their first names, even by fellow members (obviously I'm talking on television, not in private), whereas Sho is rarely referred to by his last name. So it could just be something simple like that, who knows XD