J-Pop Idols of The 1980s: The Golden Age of Showa Era Pop (Anime Expo 2024) Panel Slides

I like to think that the 80s idol panel has a lot of variants in it, and it still has at least one more iteration before it hits its "definitive" version. Never let it be said that I don't take feedback though, as this version of the panel was re-written to take into account extensive feedback Callie gave on the version at FanimeCon. Her idea was that it should be more topical, with the idols taking a bit of a backseat as "examples" of the discussion. Admittedly that sort of goes against the title of the panel, but it also did make room for a few more to be mentioned in passing. There still needs to be some work to get the flow down right, especially in the first half, but it's getting there. I do think it was a bit unfortunate that AX gave the panel such a late slot, and that it was immediately after a very similar panel, but that's just the way things go. Hopefully ALA will take it again next year, and by then it'll reach its "final" version. Be sure to come to a panel near you, and thank you to everyone who has either attended one or somehow made it to this page!

Lastly, the songs from the opening montage can be found below:

• Naoko Kawai - Young Boy (1980)
• Hiroko Yakushimaru - Sailor Fuku to Kikanjuu (1981)
• Hidemi Ishikawa - Yousei Jidai (1982)
• Sayuri Iwai - Dream Dream Dream (1983)
• Kawai Kazumi - TOKYO Furare Komachi (1984)
• Yuki Saito - Shiroi Honoo (1985)
• Tomomi Nishimura - Yumeiro no Message (1986)
• Nami Shimada - Uchiki na Cupid (1987)
• Rika Himenogi - Glass no Kiss (1988)
• Eriko Tamura - Suki yo (1989)