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The story
Following an appearance on the music show “CDTV,” Juice=Juice’s performance drew praise even from fans of NiziU and FRUITS ZIPPER, sparking discussion on 5ch’s Hello! Project board. While plenty of posts were positive — “breaking new ground,” “I’m not even surprised anymore” — opinions split on whether this recognition from outside fandoms reflects genuine new-fan acquisition or is just a passing trend. Even among longtime Hello! Project fans, views were divided between those who felt the group should embrace the results it’s delivering and those with a more cynical take that fans riding the hype train would leave just as fast.
What people said
Breaking new ground. Juice=Juice is nuts (in a good way).
[Former WithU (NiziU fan) / whole family now obsessed with FRUITS ZIPPER]
They do play festivals though.
Except for the guy who complained about Takaishi's MC bit.
Hope ANGERME can pull that off too.
It's an honor.
FRUITS ZIPPER, on the other hand, has a lot of songs you'd already heard somewhere, one way or another.
But this time a lot of people are actually getting hooked, right?
Yeah, they'll probably bail just as fast too.
I just want to get you to look on the bright side.
Juice=Juice's live shows are turning into full-on "oshi-katsu" territory now.
@
Zepp DiverCity and Garden Theater — the crowds are so different it's giving me chills.
So this is what "oshi-katsu" (all-in fan devotion culture) is like.
Worrying about fading after getting popular? You can worry about that once it's actually popular, lol.
It's pretty sad that the ones most bothered by Juice=Juice's rise are none other than Hello! fans themselves (the so-called "Wolf" crowd — a notoriously harsh corner of idol fandom).
That's probably because all they're worried about is whether they can get into the shows themselves.
Well, as for that — they were dragging each other down even before Juice=Juice got big, and before they knew it, the "leg" they were pulling on was way up over their heads and out of reach, so now all they can do is throw rocks at it.
You really can't tell unless you compare them on the same stage.
In the end it's just about whether you personally think it's good, so who cares.
FRUITS ZIPPER was the lower-billed act the first time they shared a bill, after all.
But not even wanting to reach that level is exactly the Hello! fan mentality.
Alright, good luck — you're the underdog here!
Background and Key Points of the Discussion
Music programs like “CDTV” often feature multiple idol groups performing back-to-back, giving them a chance to showcase their performances directly to fan bases they wouldn’t normally reach. NiziU and FRUITS ZIPPER, the groups cited for comparison in the thread, are acts that have rapidly built name recognition over the past few years, drawing a different kind of fan base than Hello! Project groups with much longer histories. The thread split over whether positive reactions from other fandoms should be read as genuine new-fan acquisition or dismissed as a passing fad — some praised Juice=Juice’s ability on its own merits, while a persistent, more cynical view held that fans who just jumped on the trend would leave just as quickly. It’s worth noting that the posts don’t specify exactly which broadcasts are being discussed or what criteria are being used to rank groups as “above” or “below” one another — this remains, ultimately, just fan impressions and speculation.
※This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Hello! Project board) thread “[CDTV] Juice=Juice Shows Other Fandoms Too Much of Their Charm, Proving the Point of Playing Festivals.”
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