The backwards thinking of several individuals I met on various websites did not thrill me. I used to be active on a Discord sever for the idol group Devil ANTHEM. I made the mistake (?) of complimenting 18-year-old Takekoshi Kurumi, by saying she had “nice legs”. This caused one individual to respond with “Please don’t lewd her.” Excuse me? I gave the girl a compliment and some clown thought I meant something bad. Typical of today’s politically correct youth. I also rediscovered an old thread on a forum I created named “Japanese Female Idols”. Unfortunately, one person called me “creepy” and another questioned whether idols under 20-years-old had talent! Oh boy, not this again…. I also decided to share a video I love for amorecarina Osaka on another forum and one guy called this “disturbing”. Sigh. More Western world people who have a misconception about Japanese idol music and don’t realize this is pretty normal. I mean, why does being a music fan mean I can only like music from singers and groups who are around my age? This is entertainment, people, not something world shaking. Oh well, who needs them? I love Japanese idols a lot and I don’t see myself stopping my interest in this music anytime soon.
So, never mind the mainstream, here’s what I thought of the indie scene in Japanese female idols this year!
Hiwillow announced in March that they were to film their first music video sometime in the summer. However, leader SHIKI announced in May that she would be leaving the group in June in order to focus on her studies. Before she left, Hiwillow performed a new song titled “Baby Baby” twice on SHOWROOM Live. I assumed that this was the song that would be filmed as a video. I’m not sure if Hiwillow lip-synced to a studio recorded song or if they sang the vocals live. If they lip-synced then this would explain why the song hasn’t been released as a single yet, since the song can’t be released with SHIKI’s vocals. In August Hiwillow debuted a new lineup with new members KAHO and AINI. They performed “Baby Baby” at an idol campus event. I suppose that Hiwillow will re-record the vocals with the new lineup and release this version as a single. But as to when, I can’t say.
In the meantime, Hiwillow collaborated with Heart of Hearts maid café on the song “Aozora Furenzu” (“Blue Sky Friends”). It seems four older girls are the main singers on the track.
The new idol song I’ve played the most these past few months is “Rabi Rabu IDOL School Song” by Rabi Rabu IDOL School. I think I discovered this group on Twitter. I didn’t immediately pay attention to them after following their Twitter, but when they uploaded the video for their song I watched it. The song starts like a traditional Japanese school song, with some nice piano music, but then transforms into a catchy dance tune. Interestingly enough, the members of the group at least partially wrote the lyrics! I love this new trend where the idols write the lyrics. (For the record, Fluffy Star, soloist Aoshima Momo and two members of Menkoi Girls have also written lyrics for their songs.) Sadly, three of the girls in the video - Yume (pink), Hina (red) and Tiara (orange) - left the group on September 27 due to the coronavirus restricting the group’s activities. Honestly, I think the parents of the girls were (rightly) worried about their daughters possibly getting infected, and not that any of the girls were actually sick. A month later Riko (green) announced that she was taking a break from the group after their December 19 performance. There go all my favorite members. But you’ll be happy to hear that Miyuu (black) no longer has a cast on her arm and there are some new members now.
Speaking of Aoshima Momo, in March she and her, ahem, ‘twin sister’ Lei released music videos about graduating from elementary school. You’ll recall that Momo never used her family name until late June of this year when she entered the Junior Earth Japan beauty contest (reportedly the fourth largest beauty contest in the world). Well, since Momo is a common name, she added Aoshima to enable better search results for her. I guess this worked in her favor as she won in her category! Congratulations, Momo!
Unfortunately, she cut her hair afterward. Oh well, hair today, gone tomorrow. In October Lei released a Halloween single with a rock beat, “Invitation to the party”. I like all of Momo’s songs, but I guess “Invitation” is my favorite of these newer three.
Another soloist I like is Reika (full name, Nishkawa Reika), former singer for the idol groups Rainbow 7 and PARLISH. Reika released three physical singles and two digital singles in 2021, the first of which was released on my birthday, January 20! The A sides to all her singles are written for her, but Reika herself writes the music and lyrics to all the B sides. Like I said, I love this new trend! The B side to Reika’s second single, “OSHIGOTO” (“JOB”) is my favorite of her songs so far. Some of her songs sound more like artist songs, but “OSHIGOTO” is definitely an idol song. In the video Reika is seen wearing different outfits, but primarily a balloon skirt! Towards the end she looks like a bride as she walks down a church isle as if she was about to get married. Because of the song’s title, this may or may not be a metaphor to Reika being married to her job. Well, I guess if you are 19 years old and it’s not mandatory to go to school anymore you could be married to your job.
MOMOHA from Marble Angel is currently in the same beauty contest, Junior Earth Japan, that Aoshima Momo entered. I think MOMOHA is one of the cutest girls I’ve seen, so I think she’ll get a prize! Her group Marble Angel released a new single this year, “Rainbow Marble Story”, but the title song uses the music from their song “Smile” with new lyrics added! One of the songs from this single is “TENJIN☆BIGBANG”, which was first performed when Takada Shiori was still in the group, then recorded when Marble Angel was in a transition phase with just four members. This video features the lyrics, some of them in English, at the bottom of the screen.
☆Fluffy Star☆ released their debut single “STEP☆UP” on July 10, 2021. I mentioned this song in my first article of 2021 and shared a live performance. Well, since “STEP☆UP” was released as a single in 2021 it counts as a new song! The cover for the single features the girls drawn as manga characters, and it was drawn by member Shi (second from the left in the picture). So, this is how Shi imagines herself and her friends in manga form. Sadly, Momo (or Momonyan, which is her nickname, second from the right) graduated on September 19, 2021. Momonyan is now a soloist, and you can follow her on both Twitter and Instagram.
Sometime when I wasn’t looking, Ohzora Mitsuki, former member of RABBIT KICK and Campus, joined the group 2o Love to Sweet Bullet. If I’m going to be honest, I’m not too impressed with some of their songs that were recorded before Mitsuki joined the group. However, I do like a song they released in August named “Barebare Kamo”. Unfortunately, there is only a short two-minute version on YouTube. Now that I know Mitsuki is a member I will have to pay more attention to 2o Love to Sweet Bullet and try to figure out what exactly this name means.
Cotton♥Candy was a subunit of CRUiSE! that uploaded a video back in January 2021 titled “Shiroi Gurufiti” (“White Graffiti”). Yes, I said “was”. The members are Kozakura Aina and Shimokama Kokona and were part of what was known as C-Fresh at the time. This was a part of CRUiSE! that consisted of two trainees’ groups, Cotton♥Candy and White Lily. Now it seems that these groups are disbanded. Aina was a trainee with CRUiSE! since 2017, and I was excited that she finally became part of an actual group, since it seemed she’d never be an official member of CRUiSE! Now Aina has left and so have some of the other trainees. I’m disappointed. Kokona, meanwhile, is now an “apprentice” (read: trainee) for CRUiSE! and the new trainees’ program is known as C.C.C Project. Whatever.
On October 24, 2021, the members of SPATIO ERPHY became members of SPATIO. Completing the lineup is Airi and Manami. I think the other members of SPATIO graduated, which is why SPATIO ERPHY were simply absorbed into the senior group. I don’t think there is any new music from the current lineup, but I’ll share a photo.
The cuties in KUWAGATA☆KIDS released four new videos to YouTube in 2021, including a new version of their first song, “Happy Happy”. It was pretty tough to choose just one song for my Idol Year in Review. I guess I’ve watched the video for “FREEDOM” more often than the others. Sadly, at the end of October both Mana / Marna (I’m still not sure which is correct) and Luna Luna graduated from the group. Also, Luna Luna’s siblings Oscar (a boy model who didn’t sing) and Ririan, who was in sister group Rabi Rin, also graduated. There were too many graduations this year!
Rock idols COLORLESS (whose members do have official colors) released a new song last month titled “Dreamer”. Konone takes the spotlight here, but she has a good voice, so I don’t mind much.
Graduations in 2021 included amorecarina Nagoya (who dropped the ‘Nagoya’ from their name for the last few months of their activities), who disbanded at the end of October 2021. Misaki from Menkoi Girls disappeared sometime this year when I wasn’t paying attention. And as I reported in my two-part article “Sakura Gakuin and Me”, Sakura Gakuin broke up at the end of August 2021.
As always, the idols I follow are those you need to leave your comfort zone to truly appreciate. They are not the popular girls on big music labels, nor the sexy girls who get by on looks. But for those idol fans who think outside the box, the rewards for discovering amazing new singers and groups are worth it!
