Post GAME analysis: "Perfume - The Introduction"

The time has come to talk about the three-part English subtitled “Perfume – The Introduction” video recently upped to YouTube. While this 30-min “Behind the Music” styled piece, apparently adapted from a 2008 TV special on the rise of Japan’s reigning idol unit may not be essential viewing for those who don’t care for robotic Auto-Tune pop, or seem remedial for those who were introduced to Perfume a long time ago, advanced foot soldiers in the “Cool Japan Wars” may still find some genuine diamonds and pearls contained within. That’s mainly because “The Introduction” offers a glimpse inside an industry that few foreigners have been privy to before: the sort that sees three middle schoolers leaving the hinterlands of Hiroshima to fend for themselves in the harsh and uncaring show-biz climate of Tokyo where they are re-groomed by techno impresario Yasutaka Nakata as the perfect vehicle for his Daft Punk and Kraftwerk fantasies before finally hitting the jackpot via sold-out concerts, big sales, and (that ultimate barometer of success) Pepsi Commercials.

Also, this is the only place you’ll find translated quotes from subcultural superheroes like Rhymester Utamaru and Roman Porsche articulating the importance of Perfume to the Japanese music scene. Back before Perfume’s fame went supernova, these two influential j-pop pundits rightfully positioned the group’s Nakata-created sound and performance style as “the last real hope for idol music” at a time when a once mainstream genre was content to either target children or creepy post-adolescent males (and often disconcertingly, both markets at once). 

What I find interesting about “Perfume – The Introduction” is that it also chronicles Perfume’s failed attempts to win over those audiences as well. Much of the running time is devoted to the girl’s Early Years of Bitter Struggle as they give thankless concerts on tiny local stages or are literally shoved in the corners of CD shops to be ignored by passing shoppers.  “The Introduction” also reveals Perfume’s 2006 bid to become “Akihabara idols” complete with standing on Chuo street handing out concert fliers to disinterested gaijin tourists...

With trendy drama-ready levels of adversity and hopelessness on the table, one has to wonder what finally tipped Perfume to the top of the heap? Was it a ‘70s shojo manga maelstrom of “tears and hard work”? Was it the "borrowed" pop hooks embedded in Nakata electro-Svengali’s knob twirling? The missionary fervor of early adopters like Rhymester and Roman Porsche? Or was it merely that the group finally signed to a major label that had the resources to plug them into the all-powerful, all-controlling relentless media promotion machine?

Actually, the biggest questions I have now are with regards to the origins of this video itself. Who made it? Where did it come from? Who am I and what is the meaning of life? Well, Jay thinks the “The Introduction” is a fan-made production of some sort. But I’m willing to wager that this is a record company / agency inside job through and through. The text overlays are too well integrated for a fansub, and the rumpy English smacks of the sort of hasty corporate translation that I now spend most of my days trying to decode for a living. The stated goal is merely to introduce... 

But whatever the case, let’s hope that it continues to spread the gospel of idol culture around before one of the Perfume girls becomes pregnant, gets caught smoking, or they are summoned to a US anime convention to start from zero all over again.

Comments

[Joseph Luster]

Thanks for linking this! I'm gonna have to give it a gander tonight.

[Dave]

Actually, this video has been circulating at least since 2008. I have the Japanese version when it was only part 1 and part 2. Part 3 was recent. If my memories of the Youtube comments 2 years ago does not fail me, some English fans contacted the original Japanese uploader on Youtube to improve the subs. I do not think it a corporation marketing ploy as I have seen this video improve over a 2 year period from being Japanese only -> Bad ENglish sub -> Good ENglish sub -> better video -> current form it is now.
Probably this thing was originally floating around Nico Nico but now no more.
And who says Perfume does not have creepy post-adolescent males? :D Those guys are still there but they have the decency to hide themselves. The Perfume fanclub is mostly male with a hefty dose of wota....

Post more idol stuff man, I know my fair share and not crazy or creepy like the rest of them :D

[Marxy]

I think the formula was right and Nakata did them a lot of good, but there's NO WAY they would have ever gotten so big if Amuse, their giant management company, had not picked them up. That's why they got all the tie-ups that let them go mainstream.