Eagle Documentary Series: My Idol, My Body and Soul

Ah… Yossha ikuzo! Fire! Cyber! Fiber! Diver! Viber! Ja-ja!

Tora! Hi! Jinzou! Sen’i! Ama! Shindou! Kasen tobi jokyo!

Chape! Ape! Kara! Kina! Rara! Tusuke! Myo-hontusuke!

Person 1: J-pop? Umm… I like it, but I don’t understand [the language].

Person 2: Not really.

Person 3: Not really.

Person 4: Nope.

Person 5: I like it.

Person 6: I like it because it’s really good.

My Idol, My Body and Soul

Sandy Suwandi, J-pop fan: My name is Sandy. I’m 19 years old. Um… I really like JKT48. I like them more than other girl groups because they’re pretty unique. Their group performances on the stage are what draws me to them. As I follow their growth until now, I… I feel closer to them. They hold events that make fans get to know them better.

Friend: Hey, San! Are you still going to the [JKT48] Theater?

Sandy: Of course! Come on in.

Friend: Are we going now?

Sandy: I don’t know, man. I haven’t showered.

Friend: Oh, what? You should shower. You’re going to see your oshimen.

Sandy: At that time, we went to the Theater. I queued for the waiting list from 7 a.m. just to be able to watch her performance and birthday celebration. I did all I could to get inside the Theater. Whatever happened, I had to get inside to join the celebration.

Friend 1: Say ‘hi’ for me.

Friend 2: To who?

Friend 1: You know who.

Friend 2: Okay.

Sandy: It’s really hot today.

Friend: It is.

Mulyati, Sandy’s mother: That’s how he is. Sometimes, he comes home and asks for food. I ask him, “Did you not eat anything?” “No, I didn’t.” He does it for something like this. There are times when he comes home very late and says, “Yeah, I ate. I ate once.” It’s like he comes home to eat. I thought, “How did it become like this?” Well, what can you do? He holds back on eating not because he doesn’t have any money, but because he is really got into [JKT48]. I don’t know. As a parent, I only know that this is what he does outside.

Sandy: What do you think is fun with wotagei?

Sandy: I haven’t really counted my expenses for idoling activities because I’m not that… I don’t spend money that often to support them. I know I have priorities in life.

***

Emil Chandrawisesa, J-pop fan: My name is Emil. Among fans, I’m known as “ecwx”, Bang Emil, or Bang Em. I’m in my forties, and I work in IT.

When I first became interested in JKT48, there were fans who questioned me. “Why is someone your age following idols? Don’t you have something better to do?” Come on, man, take it easy. I mean, take Doraemon for example. Adults still like to watch Doraemon. It’s entertainment. I don’t take it too seriously. It’s just having fun. There are many who mock me, but not my friends. It usually comes from the younger fans.

Emil: At one point, my oshimen was Kaoru Hayano of Team K, AKB48’s second generation. In around March or February [2009], she announced her graduation from AKB48. At the time I was short on money. I had told my friend, who invited me to go to Japan with him, that I couldn’t meet the budget for the trip. [Hayano’s] announcement was either Friday or Saturday. On the following Monday, I booked an airplane ticket to Japan. I was there two weeks later. That’s the story of my most impulsive and unplanned trip.

If you ask whether there have been conflicts of interest, I would say there have been some, but they never escalate too far. I try to keep a balance. I don’t want the people around me become unhappy because of my idoling activities. There are times when we lose control and forget ourselves, but they never turn into big conflicts.

Emil: I want this to be a hobby that I can enjoy for a long time, so I don’t want to ruin my relationships. If we ruin our social circle because of this hobby, then it won’t last very long.

Sandy: This is my first CD [by JKT48]. I got it at their first anniversary event for free.

Emil: I don’t have a big collection. This is a fan of Haruka Nakagawa when she was still in [AKB48] Team A.

Sandy: Then I have this fan.

Emil: This is a T-shirt made by the AKB48 Fan Community when AKB48 came to Indonesia.

Sandy: These are their CDs—their single releases.

Emil: My first AKB48 single, “Skirt, Hirari”. It was released 2006 when they weren’t signed with any record label yet.

Sandy: Magazines.

Emil: There are two posters that I like. The first is of Cindy Gulla, along with her autograph. And then, this is a poster from the release event of “Chance no Junban” with Haruka Nakagawa’s autograph.

Vivi Sofiana Marisca, Emil’s wife: I don’t mind his interest in JKT48 because… Actually, it’s very different from my interest in music. He often accompanies me to watch concerts and other music events.

Emil: I like to invite friends and fellow fans to visit my house to get to know each other better. Sometimes when there’s a fan gathering, I’ll ask my wife to come. That way, she knows what [JKT48] fans do together.

***

Sandy: Here we are at fX Sudirman.

Sandy: I’ve been scolded [by my parents] before. I bought so many CDs and was scolded. “This is a waste of money that’s better used to buy books or other things.”

Mulyati: He brings home new CDs—those ones in his room. Even when he already owns one, he would buy another. He said it’s because… “Yeah, there are [handshake] tickets,” he said. Why does he need to do that?

Sandy: I’ve borrowed money once. It was from my class’s activities fund. There was a new single being released that day… Uh, wait. Concert tickets, not CD singles, were being released that day. I was considering whether I should use the money or not. In the end, I used it to buy the ticket and replaced it three days later with my own money.

My mother once told me, “If you want to watch, go during weekends or holidays. Don’t go on a weekday when you have to go to school. Don’t force yourself and come home so late when you have things to do the following day.”

Emil: The reason I bring my wife is to familiarize her with it. It’s easier to build trust when my wife knows what my hobby is like. Sure, the girls are pretty, but that’s all there is to it. She knows what I’m spending my money for and what it’s like to watch theater performances, socialize with other fans, and attend handshake events. She won’t get jealous if she knows the boundaries in this hobby, and it doesn’t become a big deal.

Emil: Today, I’m watching Team J’s performance of the Demi Seseorang (Dareka no Tame ni) set list. It’s really crowded, and you can see there are many banners on display there because today is the birthday celebration for two members, Rachel and Gaby. As a fan of Rachel, I have to watch it.

Emil: I’ve enjoyed listening to Japanese artists such as Hikaru Utada and Ayumi Hamasaki for a while. They’re great artists. Honestly, AKB48’s musical quality was a far cry from their songs at the time. Why, then, did AKB48 catch my attention? When I first saw AKB48—when my friend showed me their videos—I thought to myself, “Wow, these are middle school teenager, but they’re trying to become big stars.”

Vivi: I’ve seen and listened to his stories. “[One of the members] was wearing this hairpin today.” That’s usually girls’ talk, but it’s now guys talking about it.

Sandy: My source of income is…allowance from my parents. I would save some for idoling. The rest would go toward my other expenses, such as tuition fees or daily expenses.

Sandy: Hello, Bang.

Emil: Are you going to the two-shot event?

Sandy: Who are you getting a two-shot with?

Emil: Rachel.

Sandy: Oh, Rachel. Is she going to be in the sixth single?

Emil: I don’t know. We’ll see.

Friend: Are you buying CDs?

Emil: I don’t have any money right now.

Sandy: The cost… Since I don’t have my own source of income yet, sometimes when there’s an event or concert, I was like, “Oh, well. If I can’t go, then I won’t force myself. There are other chances for me to meet them.”

Mulyati: He would come home with CDs or T-shirts, ones that he bought online. He keeps buying them one after another. “You keep spending money on this and neglect your the other needs.” He would then say, “That’s my own business, Mom, not yours.”

Sandy: I promised my mom before I started college. “Don’t worry, Mom. When I start classes, I won’t be following JKT48 anymore.” But I got to know many friends and became crazier in following them. It’s not that I hope for one of them to become my girlfriend. I understand and realize who I am and who they are.

Emil: There are people who like JKT48 simply because they’re pretty. There are also people who see them as ideal girlfriends. Others sometimes ask me, “What are your intentions? Are you trying to become their boyfriend?” One person’s mindset is different from another. You don’t have like JKT48 just because of their appearance. Some think if you like an idol, then you are trying to date them.

It might be because I don’t have a younger sister or a daughter. It’s like watching your daughter or little sister. It’s fun to see them grow. I can’t fantasize about them because I see them as kids, so it’s unthinkable. It’s probably the age difference.