While in Japan I was fascinated I visited Animate (many floors of everything manga, Yaoi, gamer related). The 4th floor had my beloved Yaoi but I started at the top floor being drawn upwards by the stairs decorated with interesting (& hot) characters. When I arrived at the top floor I was greeted by a room of TVs playing videos: anime, interviews, and a musical performance > and they were the characters I chased up a million of stairs. They were a band & tix were now on sale for their concert.
One of the ways bands become is by building platforms: manga (comic), anime, recordings, and finally concerts. The investment only continues for as long as there are fans to support to make moving to the next level profitable.
The music industry (any industry really) isn't a charitable organization. (Though I'm sure many people are lovely) However sponsors and investors want to see returns on their money.
This is why any hint of scandal and the funding dries up. The artists/band/performer disappear vanishing into the ether as if they never existed. (We've seen this a number of times)
And this got me thinking what if someone could afford to forego the reliance on others. How would that open up and change what audiences are able to see?
Many of the bands in Asia do fan service (acting physically friendly with other members/implying a relationship beyond friendship)... ((And there are many issues around that but let's put that aside for a moment)) A queer person seeing even the slightest bit of more would provide some validation not enough but so they'd know they weren't alone but sometimes the artists are a risk for doing so.
Now you know I tend to go big or go home... well, I decided Sage Nakamura (my openly gay LA trust fund studio drummer/vlogger) was going to be visible for the fans. By taking sponsorship out of the equation so he wouldn't be trapped by society's current views > he could push the envelop.
And he does... this is the story of him gathering the band and a mangaka (> manga artist) to create
KASHI-SEI (= which means visibility in Japanese).
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