IS THE FANDOM DEAD?

Apr 29, 2022 9:07 AM

Offline

Sep 2020

[Sorry for the rant but oh boy here we go]

I've discovered this franchise while the pandemic was ongoing. Needless to say, I've developed such a tight connection with the story and the characters. I tried meeting people online who likes Revue Starlight. I've also tried looking for other content (fictional things and the sort) but to my surprise, there are only few bonus contents coming from the franchise and seiyuus themselves.

I tried digging deeper as to why content was scarce considering that this franchise is from BUSHIROAD. After months of trying to scavange for content and daily observations with the fandom's behavior, these are what I think the factors of why Revue Starlight hasn't gotten its viral moment:

1. MASSIVE GATEKEEPING
This demographic is made up of those:
--> who can afford to watch the stageplays/buy merch
--> are somehow literate in 日本語
--> who are familiar with the japanese idol industry and how they're """strict""" about spreading content
--> who is too serious about the characters

Counterarguements:
1.1. P*RACY IS NEITHER GOOD NOR BAD. Y'all should not consider extremities with this topic jesus christ
1.2. The fandom is sooooo disconnected in so many ways especially when update comes out. Twitter always gets firsthand while Facebook and Reddit fans get theirs after a week or month or so.
1.3. Deleting the ONLY PAGE for Revue Starlight Updates is the PETTIEST move I've seen in a long time. It seems so selfish considering that the fandom is already small to begin with. Do some of y'all want more people to talk about the franchise or not?????? Like okay there were problems such as quote tweeting and shit but to suddenly erase YEARS OF TRANSLATED MOMENTS FROM THE FRANCHISE is really heartless imo. Not everyone can suddenly be nihongo jouzu and travel to Japan to buy Blurays and shit
1.4. OKAY I GET IT. Y'ALL DON'T LIKE SHIPPERS. But to say that AUs are bad or cringe is funny because AUs are proof that a fandom is still active :P
1.5. FOR THE SHIPPERS: BE NICE Y'ALL. PLEASE. We're only dealing with fictional characters not politicians/celebrities.
1.6. Some of y'all should know that streaming the movie on twitch is considered piracy as well. Torrenting is still a safer option xD
1.7. LL and Bandori became popular because of p*racy. DEAL WITH IT!
1.8. We need people who are willing to do subs I AM LITERALLY ON MY KNEES RN

2. The Audience
Revue Starlight is really popular in Japan (The movie keeps getting extended in movie theaters lmao). I mean cute anime girls with Takarazuka elements and WELL-CRAFTED SOUNTRACKS? What more could I possibly want...

...is what I would like to say but considering the interests of anime watchers outside of their actual demographic... Yea no... We're talking about hard-hitting, action-packed franchises with bigger budgets and a well-sustained ecosystem for the fandom (bonus footage, exclusive interviews from the seiyuus, etc.).

In addition to that, cute anime girls are ALWAYS put in a box. People rarely give chances to these kinds of anime because they're too busy trying to inflate their egos by watching popular and "unpopular" shows

To conclude this long ass rant, I just want a bright future for Revue Starlight. When I first watched the anime, I already knew that the story had potential. From the character designs, to the unmatched chemistry of the seiyuus, the stageplays, and the creative team behind this franchise. I never doubted their potential.

*shrugs shoulders* Oh well, I'm just going to rewatch every content that currently has english subs and wait for miraculous uploads of unsubbed content

cotimakuApr 29, 2022 9:13 AM

Apr 29, 2022 11:12 AM

Zigzag1202

Offline

Apr 2021

Hmm first time I've heard this. Is it really as bad? I remember watching it last year and thoroughly enjoyed it, but hearing that the fanbase can be this bad is actually surprising.

Idk, I never got the feeling the fans could be so pretentious

Apr 29, 2022 3:09 PM

nikotile

Offline

Apr 2013

I really like the franchise. Can you believe that my first post is a reply to a Starlight rant?

Anyway, I don't think the """gatekeeping""" is deliberate. But yes, I think the 日本語上手 and the gachikoi part are the ones that made the franchise stays niche. Most Starlight fans I met online are well-versed in the Bushiroad-related idol industry: stuff like D4DJ and Bandori, or even Assault Lily and Milky Holmes. So, it's usually not a conversation about Starlight seiyuu, but Bushiroad seiyuu.

Some people are quite serious about the mobile game. They even made an asset reader for it (https://karth.top/home).

Apr 29, 2022 5:35 PM

cotimaku

Offline

Sep 2020

Zigzag1202 said:
Hmm first time I've heard this. Is it really as bad? I remember watching it last year and thoroughly enjoyed it, but hearing that the fanbase can be this bad is actually surprising.

Idk, I never got the feeling the fans could be so pretentious

Facebook
- the more tolerable group tbh
- the best medium for game queries and troupe revue requests

Reddit
- the moderator is super strict about anti-piracy and they don't want people to promote cat torrent and other means lmao
- basically a dump for fan art and game queries
- the number of people active there daily can be counted on both hands

Twitter
- OH MY GOD THE WORST OF THE BUNCH
- bunch of puritans
- the fandom literally had a class war between pro-piracy and anti-piracy 😭 it was bad to the point where other fandoms from bushiroad franchises had to step in
- fans literally had to make a thorough explanation of why it is SO HARD to even use a VPN to buy/rent the movie because the payment is REGION LOCKED
- two english update pages were already deactivated for petty af reasons
- the fandom is also divided because people don't like 18+ fan arts lol
- forced people to join the starlight discord in order to watch the fan subbed movie when the bluray was still fresh out of the box

cotimakuApr 29, 2022 5:42 PM

Apr 29, 2022 5:50 PM

cotimaku

Offline

Sep 2020

nikotile said:
I really like the franchise. Can you believe that my first post is a reply to a Starlight rant?

Anyway, I don't think the """gatekeeping""" is deliberate. But yes, I think the 日本語上手 and the gachikoi part are the ones that made the franchise stays niche. Most Starlight fans I met online are well-versed in the Bushiroad-related idol industry: stuff like D4DJ and Bandori, or even Assault Lily and Milky Holmes. So, it's usually not a conversation about Starlight seiyuu, but Bushiroad seiyuu.

Some people are quite serious about the mobile game. They even made an asset reader for it (https://karth.top/home).

Yea majority of the fans are already in the bushiroad ecosystem. That's why Assault Lily and D4DJ didn't have a hard time getting fans because the seiyuus there were already known.

But what I don't understand is that Assault Lily already got a nendoroid and Revue Starlight hasn't until now.

Also, I didn't include the game in the rant because my problems with it are just with the R A T E S and the pvp match itself.

May 1, 2022 2:53 AM

EmilB

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Jun 2021

At least the threads on /a/ have been decent so far although rare.

May 16, 2022 7:31 AM

nikotile

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Apr 2013

EmilB said:
At least the threads on /a/ have been decent so far although rare.

Not really about the anime, but there is a regular thread on /vg/.

Sep 9, 2022 5:15 AM

dezhavhu

Offline

Aug 2015

168

EmilB said:
At least the threads on /a/ have been decent so far although rare.

I had a watchalong of the whole series with a bunch of /a/nons. It was really fun

Sep 9, 2022 5:52 AM

Dontbannedmemal7

Offline

Aug 2022

154

This anime is just on my list cuz its on top 100 waiting it to drop so im not gonna watch it

See All Discussions

Poll: » Shoujo☆Kageki Revue Starlight Movie Discussion KANLen09 - Dec 30, 2021	46	by GenesisAria »» Apr 26, 7:17 PM
» Picture change request GNOATXELELITE - Jan 14, 2022	2	by KitsuFrost »» Mar 18, 2023 5:16 PM
» Where i can watch this movie ?? PANDORAXXX - Jul 15, 2021	5	by KitsuFrost »» Mar 18, 2023 3:57 AM
» Does the movie end the story? Squilon - Oct 3, 2022	7	by Squilon »» Feb 13, 2023 10:21 AM
» Can I watch this without having seen the show? Gattz - May 28, 2022	5	by zech »» Jun 8, 2022 8:18 PM

IS THE FANDOM DEAD?

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Poll: » Shoujo☆Kageki Revue Starlight Movie Discussion

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