Quote:
Originally Posted by njanjayrp
Namie's international fan base has never been as big as Hikki's or Ayu's. Not to mention that she only started gaining a bigger fanbase outside of Japan in 2006...
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She was pretty well known among japanese descendents, and those were a big part of the jpop overseas fanbase before the internet got this popularized. I know (and by "know" here, sometimes I mean "personally know") some people who actually follow Namie since her first peak. Depending on how big she was over Asia (and considering the So Crazy Tour was recorded in Seul, I believe she was pretty big), descentents or immigrants from other Asian countries also had a big chance of knowing her at that time.
Some people also got to known jpop because of anime before the 00s... The ways they had to get material was far different and it was very similar to people who bought fansubbed anime on VHS tapes... And those also tended to be her fans as she was the biggest thing at the time...
So, she HAD a western following way before 2006, but once internet got more accessible during the early 2000s, Ayu and Hikki got a massive fanbase... and Namie's failed fanbase (that reminds me of Ayu's nowadays fanbase) bashed both girls kind a lot because... well... they stole their idol spotlight.^^
*feeling old*