Right, so there are exceptions to all of these, but they are generally good rules of thumb for j-idol versus j-artist:
1. Are they referred to as idols? Idols will often self-identify as such, especially nowadays with there not being a definitive look or vibe for an idol group. The media will also sometimes apply the label of idol to different groups, and as long as there isn't any protest from the artist, they're accepted by the public as idols. I don't think I've ever seen Faky refer to themselves as anything but a regular girl group. Which makes sense, because avex does just as many regular, performance groups as they do idol groups.
2. How are they marketing themselves? Is it by performance or by personality? Groups that identify more as artists, like Faky, focus more on the performance quality rather than how personable or individual the members are, whereas idols usually do the reverse. Some idols may have very high performance elements and may even do a lot of the creative work, but they generally don't use that as part of their brand.
3. When watching their MVs or live videos, do you feel like they're soothing or are they just impressive on the whole? Idols are meant to have a healing quality, so their concepts are usually different from people who don't identify as idols. A lot of times there will be a ton of focus on close-up shots so you can see idols' faces, or the videos will all be pretty soft, even if they're going for a darker concept. Faky is a lot more aggressive, visually and musically, and they're focused on sharp dancing and looking cool, which, to be honest, is not the forte of an idol. Even when j-idols are cool, they're still pretty soft.
It's something you kind of have to just experience and learn what is or isn't idol, but even then you'll run into in-betweeners like E-girls and Perfume where there doesn't really seem to be a right answer. Hopefully that's not to vague but unfortunately that's kind of how it is.
With only one nomination this month, our August Idol of the Month will be Arai Noa!
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Arai Noa is cute 
Hello, please support my vain attempt at adding more discussions to the jpop section.
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Which Ebichu solo song is the best?
I feel like Ebichu at this point are quite well-known for their unit songs, but their solo songs are honestly some of my most-listened songs. Which are your favorites? (there are correct answers) I will not be including Hirota Aika's song, as she is a former member and honestly, the song wasn't...
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minimoo
✨ᵗʰᵉʸ/ᵗʰᵉᵐ✨
I NOMINATE JURINA FOR SEPTEMBER PLEASE
Please specify full name and provide a reference photo you'd like to use for when people vote (only 1).
minimoo
✨ᵗʰᵉʸ/ᵗʰᵉᵐ✨
On Saturday, I was adding Berryz Koubou's music to my playlist and then I got sad because it's unlikely that they'll release some new songs soon with Momoko retiring from the music industry
On Saturday, I was adding Berryz Koubou's music to my playlist and then I got sad because it's unlikely that they'll release some new songs soon with Momoko retiring from the music industry
Yeah... I know a lot of people took them saying they weren't break up, but going on indefinite hiatus to mean that they would get back together in a few years, but it was pretty clear from how they announced it that it was a break up. Chinami also seems pretty content traveling and not doing much of anything as it relates to entertainment, too, and Risako just wants to be a mom at this point. Never say never, but I think they ended more or less for good.
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Please support this giant wall of text I wrote as another entry on helping newcomers to the J-idol fandom. This one is about how to parse through all the music that can exist from a single idol group, since many of the big ones have crazy huge catalogs.
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A Guide to Finding the Most Iconic Idol Music
A Guide to Finding the Most Iconic J-Idol Music Or, How to figure out which songs are best and/or most important in a giant, decades-spanning catalog of music Today, I'm going to talk a little bit about how to parse through the music of your soon to be favorite idols, because with the system of...
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Reminder that idol of the month nominations are due on the 15th.
My nomination this month is
Sasaki Rikako
My nomination this month is
Sasaki Rikako
I've been thinking about maybe starting a series of threads on significant moments in idol history, because I feel like that could be interesting to both new and existing fans. But if no one cares it's cool. I just want the Japanese section to be more active.
Also if there are any other topics for beginner guides that people want, please let me know!
Also if there are any other topics for beginner guides that people want, please let me know!
I did it anyway.
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Tomorrow is also the last day for idol of the month nominations, so if you see this and want to submit something, please do!
J-idol History Lesson: The Fukumura Dash
~Iconic Moments in J-idol History~ The Fukumura Dash Hello, and welcome to today's J-idol history lesson. J-idol has been around for around 50 years now, so there's a lot of history to dig through, regardless of whether you're new to the scene or an old pro. I don't pretend to know everything...
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Tomorrow is also the last day for idol of the month nominations, so if you see this and want to submit something, please do!
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I missed the notifications from the new posts in this thread 
I missed the notifications from the new posts in this thread
Yeah... The notifications are not particularly reliable. I get a notification for the Stardust thread every fifth post or so.
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Dw you'll probably get one as I'll have to make half a dozen posts in a row to catch up on everything that's happened in the last weekYeah... The notifications are not particularly reliable. I get a notification for the Stardust thread every fifth post or so.
I haven't been able to read your threads either but the J-idol history series is very interesting
Now on idol topics: TIF just keeps on adding big acts and at this rate I can see them adding Nogi/Keyaki too in which case they'd have pretty much the whole industry
(except Shachi)
(and the few groups that attend negifes)
Dw you'll probably get one as I'll have to make half a dozen posts in a row to catch up on everything that's happened in the last week
I haven't been able to read your threads either but the J-idol history series is very interesting
Now on idol topics: TIF just keeps on adding big acts and at this rate I can see them adding Nogi/Keyaki too in which case they'd have pretty much the whole industry
(except Shachi)
(and the few groups that attend negifes)
My posts are extremely long so I don't think anyone has read them. But that's fine, I enjoyed writing them, in any case.
Also except Morning Musume. And Juice=Juice. And ANGERME. And Tsubaki Factory. I swear, Hello!Project's pride will kill them one day. There's really no reason that I can see not to participate in the digital TIF, since everyone could use a little extra help these days. That said, I saw Kamiyado pulled out due to the "agency situation." Does anyone know more about that or is that just a roundabout way of saying their managers are hard to work with?
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I saw Beyonds and just assumed most or all of H!P were there. Maybe it's because they have or had physical tours. Come to think of it idk if UUG are there either.My posts are extremely long so I don't think anyone has read them. But that's fine, I enjoyed writing them, in any case.
Also except Morning Musume. And Juice=Juice. And ANGERME. And Tsubaki Factory. I swear, Hello!Project's pride will kill them one day. There's really no reason that I can see not to participate in the digital TIF, since everyone could use a little extra help these days. That said, I saw Kamiyado pulled out due to the "agency situation." Does anyone know more about that or is that just a roundabout way of saying their managers are hard to work with?
Agency situation? That sounds sketchy... If it's due to their managers then wouldn't the information come from TIF?
No, H!P has always been infamously absent from TIF and other idol festivals. I assume it's because they don't really need the additional publicity for most of their groups and I guess they feel it cheapens their brand to send established groups there. Or maybe they'd rather people pay them directly for the H!P tours to see all their groups. Hard to say, but they've almost never sent any of their groups to TIF. Kobushi and Tsubaki went in the last few years, but then they stopped. UUG is having a sort of reset, I believe? Otherwise they'd surely be there.
The information did come from TIF; Kamiyado's people said it was due to "scheduling," but they haven't actually announced anything for that weekend as far as I can tell so who knows?