Entertainment

SB19 and ARASHI fans collaborate on streaming parties

Image credit: @SB19TrendsPH

Sometimes people dread to go on social media because they’re afraid of trolls and toxic individuals. The fans of Pinoy pop (P-pop) idol group SB19 and Japanese boy band ARASHI, however, proved over the weekend that social media still has the power to unite and inspire.

As reported by Bandwagon, the fans of SB19 (A’TIN) and ARASHI (ARASHIANS), joined forces to hold two streaming parties. They held a YouTube streaming party on Oct. 17 and a Spotify streaming party on Oct. 18. Their goal? To put the spotlight on Asian pop music and introduce people to the songs of their respective idols. The collaboration was so successful on social media that #YTPartyARASHIxSB19 even trended at No. 1 on Twitter in the Philippines on Oct. 17. The hashtag also trended in Japan for over six hours, with over 67,000 tweets, according to a tweet by @ArashionMTVFLS that was brought to Digital Life Asia’s attention by @SB19RTSquad126.

Healthy competition

Here’s what Bandwagon said in its article about the remarkable collaboration.

“Over the weekend, A’TINs and ARASHIANs took over YouTube and Spotify as they held streaming parties to share music by their idols. The event helped music fans explore and appreciate offerings from their favorite J-Pop and P-Pop acts, who both come from different generations in the industry.”

It’s practically unheard of for two different fandoms to collaborate on such a scale. What makes it even more remarkable is that SB19 and ARASHI both have a devoted social media following. Because of this, the two fandoms often face off when voting for their idols in music shows. This includes MTV’s Friday Livestream, where fans send in their music requests.

Instead of becoming bitter rivals and toxic fans, however, the fans of SB19 and ARASHI show respect for each other’s idols and fandoms. In fact, a tweet by @SB19ATinJapan that Bandwagon cited shows that the collaboration even got a shout-out from MTV’s Friday Livestream host Kevan Kenney.

Promoting Asian pop

The final ranking for last week’s Most Requested Artist on MTV’s Friday Livestream was SB19 at No. 1 and ARASHI at No. 2. With this, SB19 became the Most Requested Artist for the sixth week in a row. This was its seventh week in total.

SB19 is composed of Sejun, Josh, Stell, Ken, and Justin. They have made history as the first Filipino act trained under the Korean Idol System to debut in the Philippines. For three years, ShowBT, a South Korean entertainment company that branched out into the Philippines, made them go through the same rigorous process that every trainee in South Korea undergoes to become a K-pop idol.

They became the first Filipino act to enter the Billboard Next Big Sound chart. Then they made history again as the first Filipino act to land on the Billboard Social 50, where they would become a fixture, reaching as high as No. 2, behind only the mighty K-pop boy band BTS.

ARASHI was officially formed on Sept. 15, 1999, in Honolulu, Hawaii. The group is composed of Aiba Masaki, Matsumoto Jun, Ninomiya Kazunari, Ōno Satoshi, and Sakurai Shō. They released their debut CD on November 3, 1999 with the single “Arashi’, which sold nearly a million copies. In 2005, they created the theme song “Wish” for the popular manga-based Japanese drama “Hana Yori Dango”, which starred Matsumoto as one of the lead actors. In September, ARASHI launched their first all-English song, “Whenever You Call‘, which is written and produced by Bruno Mars. 

ARASHI is Asia’s bestselling boy band, having sold over 54 million copies of albums, singles, and videos as of last year.