Editorial comment
Here I was hoping Aya was on the road to normalizing her career, but that notion seems to be in my dreams. In reality, her career is becoming a large looming uncontrollable nightmare. Her recent revelations about her love life have caused quite a stir among her fans, creating lots of unnecessary and ultimately harmful drama. How Aya is coping with this is something we’d all like to know.
More after the jump.
Recently Aya appeared on a television program with two other celebrities. One was a actress about her age and the other was a female interviewer twenty years older. The program was a girls talk format, done over lunch, where questions were asked and answered. Aya was very open about her life outside of the studio… maybe a little too open. In this interview she confirmed that she’s had a bad dating experience which lead her to date several people simultaneously, in the hope of finding that one compatible person. She also admitted she likes older men; those around thirty or older.
Needless to say, her fanbase was incensed with these revelations. That, coupled with the rumor that she no longer wants to voice anime but go mainstream with her career, has lead to a bombardment of very negative comments. It doesn’t matter what the profession or who the person is. Once they become a fan favorite, it is assumed that they will dedicate the rest of their career to those fans and not have a normal life. To those who have this mindset I say, “Get a life of your own.”
Aya will be 23 on the 8th of October. I see nothing wrong with dating , or even going out with many different people at the same time. The person she finally chooses to settle down with will know that she’s looked around and has settled on this person. It removes the “I didn’t look before I leaped into this relationship” condition. Because of this, she should be happy with who she settles on. I hope those who she’s dating now understand that she IS looking and when she’s ready she’ll settle on one person.
Dating older men? Why do this? She’s looking for stability her peers cannot offer to her, and seven years is not that much of an age difference. If it was 15+ years, then there could be concern; yet I know couples that are 15 to 20 years apart and have wonderful relationships.
This behavior goes back to my original editorial which stated she was trying to find herself. If it were up to me, I would not have been so open about my personal life, but I can understand why she would want to open up. Feeling pressure to stay in the spotlight is the curse of every Japanese idol. “The fans have to know what I’m doing, they just have to, or I’ll lose popularity…” The price of fame seems pretty steep to me.
Aya, I’ll say this to you: live your life as you see fit. Remember the first person who has to be happy is YOU. But a word of warning: happiness at the misery of others is not true happiness. You have a fanbase to contend with. However, seeing what the more negative fans are saying about you, it would not surprise me one bit if you wished to be somewhere where Aya Hirano™ was neither heard of nor popular, so you could have your life back.