So, most of you know of Para Para Paradise. Everyone thinks it looks weird, pretty much everyone is terrible or gets terribly bored with it, and most people feel and look like an idiot while playing.
But it's much more than a game where you shake your hands like an idiot. In fact...it's a dance style, with hundreds of club events every year and a huge following in Japan.
Konami made Para Para Paradise to cash in on not only the popularity of the Bemani series, but also to cash in on the big Para para boom going on from 1999-2001. Para Para Paradise is also the name of a DVD series, which was quite important in terms of making para para easy to learn.
The game only lasted two mixes and didn't fare well. Most people play it once and forget about it. But there's something about it...it's a little weird, and so is the dancing, but no one knows anything about it. So that's where I come in.
Now, what you might not know is that Eurobeat has been around a loooong time. So has para para. How long? Since the late 80's. Disco became popular, and men that worked in clubs would make dances to impress the ladies. I don't see how this would impress them...but okay.
Eurobeat came out of disco, as did techno. From these two musical genres, para para was born, and it flourished and spread to the masses. Yes, flourished. I swear.
There's a lot more to it of course, but I won't bore anyone with the details.
So you're asking yourself "What kind of music do they make dances for? Who makes this stuff up? WHO makes the dances? And why is it popular?"
What kind of music do they make dances for?
Para para routines are made for anything you can imagine. Seriously. Techno, trance, eurobeat, house, eurodance, pop, J-pop. The main kinds of music are eurobeat, techno (old style house and rave music and new style hyper techno), and trance. Avex publishes the majority of dance music in Japan that is related to para. There have been plenty of dance compilation series...but more on that later.
Who makes the dances?
For the most part, three clubs in Tokyo currently have teams that choreograph dances that most people learn. There are other clubs that choreograph, but they aren't considered official by Avex. In case you were wondering, the three clubs are Starfire, 9LoveJ, and Velfarre.
Where do you learn the dances?
If you live in Japan, it's easy. Get your friends who are into it and learn from them, or go to a club and watch, or get some videos.
Clubs make videos and give them out on special nights (though the entrance fee is often about ¥500 more expensive...so the videos aren't really free). Avex also has a number of dance compilations that are tied into or related to para para, and DVD's are released periodically. Other clubs also refilm them, as do fans in other
countries.
If you live outside of Japan...it's not so easy.
Who dances?
Anybody. If you go to a club, you'll see salarymen dancing next to a twentysomething couple dancing next to a trendy teenager. Each club has a different crowd and caters to different tastes. For example, If you like older music, check out King & Queen in Roppongi. If you're young and into ganguro/sentaa/etc fashion, as well as trance techno AND euro, check out 9LoveJ in Shibuya.
What's this about clubs?
Certain clubs play eurobeat, techno, or a mix or other genres as well, and people dance the set routine for the song. Some do their own or another version, and some events are geared towards certain crowds or fans of a certain period of the music.
When you get to a club, you pay the entrance fee, go in, and dance. Usually everyone dances in circles, sometimes a few small circles (or many small ones) or one huge circle, depending on the crowd and the club.
What compilations are there?
Currently, Avex has 4 series that are related to para para.
Super Eurobeat has been around since 1990, and consists of Eurobeat (no surprise there). Volume 171 was just released and Volume 172 is just around the corner. Special volumes, such as 160 and 170, include para para dvds.
We Love Techpara is a series geared towards those who like techno more. This series has a mix of house and hard techno and has had 4 releases, 3 CD/DVD sets and 1 DVD. Volume IV is coming out in December.
Super Best Trance is all trance. Trance para isn't that hard to learn as most of the routines are extremely simple. The series has over 10 releases, with most of thr trance being remixes or eurotrance...with the occasional hardstyle or anthem song thrown in. Avex has included DVDs with Super Best Trance 4 and 6, and also pressed a DVD called The Torapara...but it gets boring quickly.
Gazen Para Para is for those who are interested, but not die hard, fans of para, as well as Eurobeat, Trance, and Techno. There are currently 7 cds released (a few also including a dvd), 2 dvds, and another dvd on the way. These are the best value of the bunch, but there are also a lot of classics (read: songs that have been on too many cds like Night Of Fire, Tsunami Comes, Not For Sale, Vamos A Baila, Sunday (Overhead Champion Remix) etc.)
So...why is this popular?
I can't say for sure. There have been booms in the past. For example, the arrival of disco created a boom. There was also a great surge in interest around 1992-1995 with many clubs opening, including King & Queen, Maharaja, and Juliana's Tokyo, which are all legendary for their own reasons. Night Of Fire created a boom on its own in 1997, as did Mickey Mouse March (I'm not kidding) in 1999. After 2001, interest died down. However, around the summer of 2005, interest began to pick up again. Since then, para has become more popular, Avex has pushed and promoted like crazy, and fashion magazines and models have become a large part of the scene.
Is para popular anywhere outside of Japan?
In 2001, it was somewhat popular in countries near Japan, such as China, Hong Kong, and Malaysia, thanks to videos being released there. However, this didn't last long. Now, there's a small community in nearly every country, and a pretty big community in South America (specifically Chile and Brazil). The internet and piracy has helped, of course, but so have the cheaper prices and better compilations.
Avex currently has no plans (that I know of) to export para para.
Where can I buy these cd's...and where do I start?
Assuming you don't like in Japan, and even then, not in Tokyo, it might not be so easy. First, I reccomend
HMVif you're interested in buying any materials. They have the cheapest shipping, sales, a point system that's much better than that of CDJapan, and a lot of other things.
You can start (if you like) by checking some stuff out on YouTube, or joining some forums. Para Para Stage, Bahamut Forever and Eurobeat Prime all have pretty active discussion boards, so check them out. YouTube obviously has videos...illegal ones...but videos. For some examples of the dance style, check out:
Big On Emotion(Eurobeat) Hyper Techno Venus (Techno) Fire On The Beat (Eurobeat) Made In New York (Techno)
If you want to buy something, a good start would be Super Eurobeat Vol. 170 for Euro, We Love Techpara III for techno, Super Best Trance 6 for trance, and Gazen Para Para presents Campus Summit 2006 for all three.
If you're interested, join a forum, buy Campus Summit 2006 off of HMV, and just have fun with it! Get off the couch, dance, and try to have fun. Besides, it's Japanese. (
that means its cool btw)
So. This isn't the most informative article, or the best explanation of what para is, but I hope it helps to demystify the whole "para para" thing.
I hope the reader does believe me when I say this: Para para is much more than a (pretty crappy) game. It may look stupid...but give it a try. It's fun!
Para para...wait...it's more than a game? 
