Onigo Musume a.k.a. Onigokko are releasing their debut album "Toy Box". This news was reported earlier today on the official website, Twitter (Kawahara Kana's mom's account), Kana's blog and Hoshina Haru's blog. There will be seven tracks on the CD, with six of them previously released. I'm assuming this means the two singles from Haru ☆ Kana, Onigokko's subunit, are also included. All the singles from Onigo Musume and Haru ☆ Kana were venue-only singles. I am not sure if the album will be available outside of venues or not, but I will keep everyone up-to-date when I have more information.
The list of idols who are graduating this Spring continues to grow, much to the dismay of idol fans. Announced two days ago on the Prizmmy☆ website and the following day at "GROW UP LIVE" featuring Prism☆Box was Sema Ayami's graduation. According to this blog, Ayami wishes to concentrate on school.
When Prizmmy☆ first formed in 2011 there was only three members, Kubo Reina, Kusakabe Mia and Takahashi Karin. Ayami joined Prizmmy☆ sometime before the first single was recorded. Presumably Prizmmy☆ will continue on as a trio, just like they were in the beginning.
Two idol groups I love are expanding their lineups with two new members! This means that each group is currently or will be a five member group!
Himekko 5 announced on their blog on February 2 that the names of the two new members are Raisa (with the white bows in her hair) and Rinri (straight hair). There was also a video message about this as well. I can't wait to see a video with the new girls singing!
Aither's staff recently announced on Twitter and Yuuka on Aither's blog that Aither will be getting two new members on April 26. This means that U.S. fans will be able to see the new members at Aither's live at Idol Matsuri. I'm curious to see how the songs will be performed with five members.
Special thanks to friends on Facebook for helping me out.
Aither, the three member idol group comprised of former members of other idol groups that I profiled in November 2013, will be appearing at Idol Matsuri in Silverdale, Washington on June 20 to 22, 2014. This news was mentioned on Aither's blog, Idol Matsuri's Facebook group and Twitter. This is big news for fans of Aither in particular and indie idol groups in general. Although big, well known idol groups have played concerts in the United States before, Aither is either the first or one of the first indie idol groups to perform here. I'm pretty excited about this, and I'm hoping I can attend. Those of you who wish to attend Idol Matsuri and haven't registered yet, you can do so here.
This is another article I'm not to happy about writing, but I want to write down my thoughts about two groups I like who have already broken up or are about to break up.
SpringBell feat. MIKA is a young idol group I took an interest in back in January 2012. The group formed sometime in 2010 and the members of this group consisted of Tonogawa Haruka (born on January 17, 2002), Koga Suzune (born on May 30, 2002) and the oldest, Akimoto Mika (born on June 9, 1999). They had one original song to their credit, "Puchohenzappu ~Kodomo Shitsu~" ("Put Your Hands Up ~Children's Consoltation Room~"), which had a video filmed for it that was uploaded to YouTube on October 20, 2011, was made available on iTunes on July 18, 2012 and finally made it to a CD on the compilation album "Our Shining Idol", released on March 17, 2013. Mika also collaborated with electronica duo jumicchi on the song "Soft Cream Boy Ice Cream Girl", which was released online on August 31, 2011. (Actually, the title has the six words crammed together as two, but this is my way of making sense of it.) SpringBell feat. MIKA performed for the last time on November 25, 2013. I'm still unsure of the details about their breakup (info is hard to find when you're the only one who supports an indie idol group), but one member, Suzune, is continuing as a singer. Thankfully there are photos on both Haruka's and Suzune's blogs with the two girls together, so it's good to know they are still friends. Mika is continuing to blog as well, but what exactly she and Haruka are going to do is still unknown. Since the only video of SpringBell feat. MIKA's final performance that I could find was a one minute clip, and not a full song, I've decided to instead share a video of Koga Suzune singing and playing the piano.
A group I profiled not too long ago, KAGAJO☆4S, is breaking up in February. I was pretty upset at the news, especially since I had high hopes for this group as well. Originally they were scheduled to perform for the final time on February 1 with guests S ☆ spicy 2 and Minichia Bears, but while I was sleeping last night a second performance on February 8 was added to their website. Those of you fortunate to be in Japan on those two Saturdays will have the final chance to see this awesome group live. Here's the short version of their first indie single, "Oyoge! Shirasu-chan".
It's pretty sad to see these groups break up. They may not have been super popular or even on the minds of many idol fans, but I was a proud supporter of both of them. Much like all the idols who have graduated from other groups I love and moved on to other things, these seven girls will always be in my mind and always in my heart!
Sakuran Bom Bom are another young group of idols that I’ve recently become acquainted with. They first formed on July 24, 2012, the year of the London Olympics, as their website’s bio says, by Yamagata Dance Studio MPF. Sakuran Bom Bom aim to be big idols by the time of the next Olympic Games in Rio. With all the competition out there, I wish them luck!
I’ve been watching some fan videos on YouTube as the group’s official channel has nothing but talking videos, some of which promote a single. The live performances are mostly good, although like many young groups their live act needs polished as they are occasionally making minor mistakes. Still, I like this group. Out of the fan videos I've seen, this one is as good as any.
Sakuran Bom Bom are scheduled to perform at the Jimodol Festa on March 9, 2014.
Members:
Nono (Leader) - Born on July 28, 2000
Lydia - Born on July 1, 2001
Kairi - Born on November 27, 2001
Saki - Born on January 21, 2002
Ami - Born on October 17, 2002
Yumeme - Born on January 12, 2003
Miu - Born on April 17, 2003
Rio - Born on July 28, 2003
Kii - Born on March 1, 2004
A tip of the hat to Shura Striker at IDOLcore on Facebook for letting me know about this group. I also want to thank Bethany Walker and Suwano Chibineko for translating info used in this article.
Onigo Musume, or Onigokko, is an idol group consisting of girls in the third to sixth grades. They were being promoted as the youngest idol group when the group first formed on February 9, 2012. Today, however, there are other idol groups that consist of elementary school girls such as ESSE Academy’s Sakura Musume that are younger. Onigo Musume have released four indie singles so far. They also have a subunit named Haru ☆ Kana with just two of the girls, and this subunit has released two singles. One thing that is interesting about this group is that there are two pairs of sisters. The two girls in the subunit, Hoshina Haru and Kawahara Kana, have their own personal blogs, while each pair of sisters share a blog. Haru is the only member with her own Twitter account.
Members:
Tsukishima Meru - Born on June 29, 2001
Kawahara Kana - Born on September 22, 2001
Hoshina Haru - Born on January 6, 2002
Kisaki Ayuki - Born on December 8, 2002
Tsukishima Ai - Born on April 9, 2003
Kisaki Sakura - Born on April 12, 2004
