2023 Japanese Idol Year In Review

Yes, you guessed it, it’s time for a look at the end of the year as far as the Japanese idols that I follow (and hopefully you follow) are concerned.  It’s been another crazy and sad year for me, personally.  This year I only typed up three articles for my “This Is Your Wake Up Call!” blog.  I wanted to type up more, but various problems kept me from writing more.  So much great idol music came out this year, and I’m going to try to share as much as I remember.   

Back in March I wrote an article about the groups Rabi Rabu IDOL School and Sweet Cherry Pepper’s.  So much has changed about SCP that you’re going to need a score card to keep track!  I mentioned in my March article about Sweet Cherry Pepper’s debuting on December 18, 2022 with five members, Murayama Hana from CherryChery, and four Rabi Rabu IDOL School members (now all graduated from that group), Higashionna Ruka, Miyuu, Shimabukuro Rairi and Kawamura Yunan.  Rairi was inactive for around three months, apparently even before the group’s first music video appeared on YouTube on January 14, 2023, and silently graduated on March 19.  A new member, Toue Miki, joined the group on March 12, which was officially before Rairi graduated, and photos of the five-member lineup without Rairi were taken.  This lineup began performing new songs in April 2023, which were eventually released as a single in August.  However, the new lineup of Sweet Cherry Pepper’s wasn’t meant to last long.  My favorite member (and the youngest in the group), Yunan, graduated on May 28.  So, the now four-member group continued performing live and recorded the single “Wonder Land”, which was released on August 25, 2023.  On September 23, Izumikawa Rio joined SCP.  But just when you thought this lineup might stick around for a while, Miki suddenly announced that she was graduating from Sweet Cherry Pepper’s and leaving Color’s Okinawa Modeling Agency on November 13.  Then on December 9, Moromizato Anon joined the group.  So now SCP has five members again.  But not for long.  The very next day Ruka announced that she was graduating from the group on March 3, 2024.  Ruka is one of the better - and prominent - singers in the group, so this will really change how the group sounds after she leaves.  Sweet Cherry Pepper’s have only been active for a year, and they have been through so many changes!  I hope the fans are forgiving of this.  I almost wanted to give up on the group, but I decided I want to stick around and possibly see if I can get their singles.  So, because Rabi Rabu IDOL School’s song “U・SA・GI” debuted on YouTube on December 30, 2022, and the Dance Version on January 10, 2023, I’ll share the Dance Version of the music video.  My pick for Sweet Cherry Pepper’s best song of 2023 was pretty hard to decide on, but I’m going with “StepUp!”, and I’ll also share the Dance Version of this song.     

In October I wrote an article on the SPIRAL MUSIC groups.  There have also been changes to some of these groups as well.  Thirteen days after I published that article the kids group Neko Punch disbanded.  The group changed its name to Neko Tiger (“Cat Tiger”, which is silly) and unfortunately lost a member (Takahashi Aoi), and they debuted under this name on December 3.  Member Kusumoto Miki is taking a break for the rest of the year, so only three members are currently active.  Also disbanding, on December 30, 2023, are KittyCat.  Members Mochizuki Cocona and Ayaka are both leaving SPIRAL, but apparently want to continue dancing.  I’m not sure where the girls will next turn up, but when I find out I’ll let all of you know.    

Neko Tiger

KittyCat

The international idol group ww lost two members in a short time.  Takahashi Kazaha graduated on September 24 and left SPIRAL MUSIC on October 27.  Kanda Punam graduated on November 19, and then was transferred to the group NYAAANYA on November 25.  Why, I don’t know.  NYAAANYA is not one of SPIRAL’s better kids groups, and now I feel I have to pay attention to them because I like Punam.  Thankfully, there are plenty of videos of ww with Punam as a member for fans to watch, including the music video for their only single so far, “Tokimekino SPACE” (“Sparkling SPACE”).  

Harajuku Gakuen, another SPIRAL group, is my current favorite idol group due to their fun videos and some of the silly antics that they do on stage. This year they released a single titled “Kiss ga Suki” (“Kiss is Love”), and it’s probably my most played idol video of 2023.  Can you tell whose lips are whose in the close-ups?  I can!   

Former Marble Angel member MOMOHA released her first digital single this year, titled “Hey, Are You Calling Me By Name Yet?”  She’s a great singer, and super cute!  There isn’t a music video, just audio, but it’s accompanied by a drawing that may be drawn by MOMOHA herself.  For those who didn’t know, she’s also a great artist.  

Jumping Kiss now only has three members, but they’re still releasing some terrific songs.  Their latest song is titled “BLUE MOON” (not to be confused with any other song with this title), which is pretty fun and energetic!   

Fluffy Star debuted a new song in April of this year titled “OVER CHARGE”.  According to the information in the description, Sara (the leader of the group) wrote the music and Tsumu wrote the lyrics.  There isn’t an official music video, but I’ll link the first live version that appeared on YouTube. 

Cook a dish, another SPIRAL MUSIC group, was set to debut their first single, “Seishun Shitai”, on December 12, 2023, and then pushed back to January 23, 2024.  Unfortunately, a lot of bad news for the group was shared on Twitter on December 19.  First, the group is set to disband on February 23, 2024.  Second, their single has been cancelled.  Leader Miura Reika has decided to focus on solo activities.  Kinohara Ruki and Shiina Mau have decided to cease idol activities.  Watanabe Arisa, Hananashi Rin and Sara will all re-debut as a new group on February 25.  Arisa, Mau, and Reika are my three favorites, so my biggest disappointment is that Mau is no longer going to be an idol.  Mau has been with SPIRAL for four years, first as a member of Konyanko and then KittyCat.  Reika’s solo single, “Love Letter”, is one of my favorites from 2023, so I’ll share the video again.     

RABBIT HUTCH has been around for over six years but hasn’t released a physical single in over three years.  The group’s latest digital single is titled “LIELIELIFE”, and the video features the girls divided into two teams playing what appears to be Go Fish.  I’ve never seen it played using the Joker cards, though.  By the way, member Goto Hinata released her first solo digital single, “Kiss no Mahou” (“Kiss of Magic”), on December 7.    

VITORON are the group formerly known as KUWAGATA☆KIDS.  The new KUWAGATA☆KIDS are the group formerly known as Rabi Rin.  Meanwhile, there’s a new Rabi Rin.  Got that straight?  Interestingly enough, when VITORON debuted the girls dropped their former stage names and now go by their real names.  My favorite of their original songs goes by the title of “Lucky Girl”.  Here’s one of the live versions.   

The group CRUiSE! disbanded on April 16, 2023, and I thought that a new lineup would debut sometime later.  Well, here it is December and there still isn’t a new lineup.  The former members of CRUiSE! are now performing solo, so they are at least active.   A week after CRUiSE! disbanded member Tonogawa Harauka released a solo video, “Harugon’s Quest”.  (Harugon being Haruka’s nickname, and the song is about her interest in games.) 

Lock★Rock BAB were a rock idol trio, and I like all their songs.  Unfortunately, the group disbanded on May 14, 2023.  Back in March they released a video of their song “Liar”, which is my second favorite from this group (after “Brave”).  The good news for fans of member Minashi Aura is that she performed solo for a time before joining Starwill Project Teen.  Here is the music video for “Liar”. 

Momonyan, former member of White Rabbits and Fluffy Star, has been performing solo ever since she left the latter group.  Although she has a few original songs, the official video for her song “Welcome to Nyanko Town”, was shared on YouTube on June 7, 2023.  (Yes, I shared a live version of this on last year’s list.)    

I want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!  As always, thanks for reading my blog!

Those SPIRAL MUSIC Idols!

Once in a while I come across an idol company that has several groups and singers that I really love.  Even if I don’t like every group they have created, there are plenty of interesting groups for me to say I love the company.  SPIRAL MUSIC is one of those companies that produces idol groups that I am a fan of.  They are a very indie company that aren’t as big and well known as some idol companies, but they have some loyal fans.  Select SPIRAL MUSIC artists have their CDs and merchandise on sale on the company’s website, but more often than not you need to attend the venue where they are performing in order to buy something.  Thankfully, the official SPIRAL MUSIC YouTube channel has several music videos and live performances for fans who cannot attend to watch.  SPIRAL MUSIC are known for recycling; that is, if a SPIRAL group disbands, their songs will continue to be performed by a current group.  I’ll focus on the groups I really like for this article, but I encourage you to check them all out for yourself. 

The first group I want to talk about is Harajuku Gakuen (which translates as “Harajuku School”).  They debuted on December 4, 2021 with three members, Okamoto Yuki, Yoshikawa Emin and Aoyama Nanako.  Matsuda Karen and Amakawa Mio, both from the group KittyCat, were added later that month.  Akizuki Rio was added to the group on February 20, 2022.  Yuki and Emin graduated from the group in March 2022, the same month that Sato Momo joined.  Takanashi Miku and Momiji both joined Harajuku Gakuen in July 2022, but Momiji was transferred to KittyCat two weeks later.  Emin later joined Chouonpa and RONPA~GREEN~, both also SPIRAL MUSIC groups.  Momiji was later transferred to NYAAANYA, yet another SPIRAL group.  (As you are guessing, many of the idols in SPIRAL MUSIC groups get shuffled around a bit.)  Harajuku Gakuen have released two singles, “Planet Rendezvous” (December 13, 2022) and “Kiss ga Suki” (June 27, 2023).  The videos for those songs are below.   

 

Next, I want to introduce Cook a dish, formerly known as RONPA ~ORANGE~.  This group debuted on September 24, 2022 with three members, Miura Reika, Shiina Mau and Watanabe Arisa.  Kinohara Ruki joined on December 11, 2022.  Hoshimiya Momona, Hananashi Rin and Momose Kanoka all joined on February 18, 2023.  Kanoka was previously in KittyCat.  Arienda Mai and Sara both joined on April 29, 2023, the same day that the group officially changed its name to Cook a dish.  Momona suddenly graduated on May 5, 2023.  Mai left the group on September 18, 2023 due to her poor health.  Kanoka graduated on October 8, 2023 due to a family situation.  Cook a dish have announced that their first CD single will be “Seishun Shitai”, which will be released on December 12, 2023.  Below is the live version of the song. 

Cook a dish leader, Miura Reika, also has a solo single, “Love Letter”, which was released on October 10, 2023.  The video is below.      

Konyanko (“Kitty”) debuted on April 18, 2018 with four members, Kanzaki Rino, Hanasaki Miharu, Monina and Kotoha.  Including all former and current members, a total of 42 girls have been a part of the group!  On October 27, 2021 the members of Konyanko were divided into two groups under the heading “Konyanko Kingdom”.  The groups are KittyCat and Neko Punch.  There are currently four members in each group.  (Note: The name Neko Punch, which means “Cat Punch”, was used before from 2011 to 2013.  Their single, “Moon Light Flower”, is also performed by the current lineup.)  Although each group performs separately, sometimes they are both present at the same live event.  Some of the former members were transferred to other SPIRAL MUSIC groups, such as Harajuku Gakuen, Chibi Mini., ww, RONPA ~ORANGE~ / Cook a dish and NYAAANYA.  While Chibi Mini., a duo featuring Takahashi Kazaha and Shiraki Hina of Konyanko, has released a single named “Kyupid” (“Cupid”), KittyCat and the current lineup of Neko Punch do not have singles.  However, current KittyCat leader AIRI has a solo, one-track CD-R recording of the song “Magical Cotton Candy”.  This CD-R was a limited edition, and it’s currently out of print.  The cover is below, along with a video of her singing. 

The group ww (pronounced “dav dav”) made their debut on August 27, 2022 with five members, Kokoa, Takahashi Kazaha, Lila Balding, Lin Oberndorff and Kanda Punam.  The group’s concept is “worldwide the mix girls unit”.  That is, most of the girls have mixed heritages.  Kokoa is half Japanese and half Thai.  Kazaha is fully Japanese.  Lila is half American and half Japanese.  Lin is half German and half Japanese.  Punam is half Indian and half Japanese.  Kokoa, Kazaha and Lila were all members of Konyanko.  Kazaha graduated from ww on September 24, 2023 and will be graduating from SPIRAL MUSIC on October 27.  They have a single, “Tokimekino SPACE”, that was released on April 4, 2023.  Here is the video. 

SPIRAL MUSIC formed over a decade ago, and there are many groups that have now disbanded that have songs and videos worth listening to.  I hope this article has been informative and let you know about some fantastic, up-and-coming idol groups that you may not have heard of.  I want to give a special shout out to the Japanese Music Wiki on Fandom, as the information there has helped me to write this article.  I’m an editor on that website myself, and I do my best to create and update many wikis, including those for SPIRAL MUSIC groups and soloists.  Once again, thank you very much for reading my blog!    

A Final CRUiSE!

Although the idol group CRUiSE! has often had many of their videos appear in my end of the year “best of” video lists, I haven’t written too extensively about them.  I feel bad about that because I’ve been a fan of these girls during their seven year career as CRUiSE!, as well as the years prior to that when they were in the group Hypericum.  Unfortunately, all the remaining original members, Aoi Miyu, Tonogawa Haruka and Akahoshi Nana, graduated from the group on April 16, 2023.  A new lineup of CRUiSE! will debut soon, probably with some of the trainees for CRUiSE!   

The first member of CRUiSE! that I became aware of was Haruka in January 2012.  At this time Haruka was a member of the kids group SpringBell, a duo with Koga Suzune, created by Office NOIR Modeling and Management.  When an older girl named Akimoto Mika joined them, they were known as SpringBell feat. MIKA.  This trio recorded a song titled “Puchohenzappu ~ Kodomo Sodan-Shitsu ~” (“Put Your Hands Up ~ Children’s Counseling Room ~”) that had a music video filmed for it in 2011.  It was also released on iTunes and eventually on a various artists compilation of idol songs titled “Our Shining Idol”.  Unfortunately, the music video can’t be seen on YouTube anymore.  (Either it was removed by the uploader or made private.)  However, here’s a fan video of them performing the song live, and I kind of like this better than the studio version since it doesn’t electronically alter the girls’ voices.   

A few months after discovering Haruka, I noticed that the members of SpringBell were posing with other girls from Office NOIR in photos.  One of those girls turned out to be Nana.  I never really noticed that Nana was in some of the videos featuring NOIR Kids, but I have some old videos from 2012 and 2013 that have her either dancing or singing.  I guess I didn’t know who she was at first.  Here’s a short video of Nana performing a cover song in December 2012. 

Haruka, Suzune and Nana performed some cover songs at a Summer 2013 Office NOIR event.  In October 2013 SpringBell feat. MIKA performed for the last time, the same day that the idol group Hypericum debuted.  Hypericum was initially the older girls who modeled at Office NOIR, but eventually the group included just about every girl that modeled for them.  Hypericum usually had 17 members, but the lineup changed often when some girls graduated from the group.  Sometimes they performed together, but often they were split into two groups.  Here’s a couple live fan videos from March 2015, with the group split up, that features some future CRUiSE! members.  I love both songs! 

Hypericum eventually disbanded on March 14, 2016.  Nine days later CRUiSE! announced that they had formed and would debut in April.  Six former Hypericum members were the original CRUiSE! lineup: Natsuno Sora, Aizaki (formerly Magoshi) Yukine, Sasaki Erina, Shiroki (formerly Kurogi) Remi, Tonogawa Haruka and Akahoshi Nana.  Aoi (formerly Tanaka) Miyu would soon be added, as well as short-lived member Nakamura Tina from Soror♥Baby→s.  Nana would also become a short-lived member of Soror♥Baby→s.  Here is a cover song performed by the eight-member version of CRUiSE! from May 2016.  

After three months in Soror♥Baby→s, Nana focused on just being a member of CRUiSE! once again (and Tina focused on just being in Soror♥Baby→s).  On August 23, 2016, CRUiSE! released their first indie single, “Koi no Juken” (“Love Exam”), coupled with “Cruising My Story”.  Kozakura Aina joined as a trainee in December 2016.  Erina and Remi left the group before the next single, “Mirai Shoujo A” (“Future Girl A”), released on March 21, 2017.  Otsuka Minami (later Minami Mugi) joined CRUiSE! in February 2018, also as a trainee.  Her only single as a member was “Dotten Kaimei”, released on May 22, 2018.  CRUiSE! also released two mini albums, “Cruising My Story” on July 22, 2017, and “Tamayura Seishun DAYS II” on April 21, 2019.  Both CDs contained new and previously released songs.

CRUiSE! have also released five digital singles, four of which featured a four-member lineup, and last year one single with the final three-member lineup.  In the meantime, CRUiSE! have had trainee groups, two of which, Cotton Candy and White Lily, were collectively known as C-FresH.  This name was abandoned in favor of C.C.C Project.  Compass is the name of the graduates from C.C.C Project.  Aina was part of Cotton Candy, which released a digital single titled “Shiroi Graffiti” (“White Graffiti”) in 2021.  Both Cotton Candy and White Lily have now disbanded.  The videos below are “Heart Chaser” by CRUiSE! and then “White Graffiti”.   

For those who are wondering, the reason I spell Haruka’s family name with a g instead of a k, as in most translations, is because of the way her name was spelled in English on her Hypericum blog header in August 2014.  I’ll share the photo below.  Whether I am using the wrong spelling or not, I refuse to correct one letter on the hundreds of photos I have saved of Haruka over the past eleven years!  I also saved the blog header for Yukine when she used the family name Magoshi, instead of Aizaki.  This photo will be below as well. 

I’ve been listening to J-Pop music for around 25 years now, and I discovered Japanese idols in Spring 2009.  Although many of the idols I followed in the first few years that I was a fan have now “retired” or have given up singing to focus on modeling or acting, Haruka is the one idol that I have followed for over ten years that is still active as a singer.  She now has a solo song titled “Harugon’s Quest”, which shows how much she loves to play games.  Harugon, by the way, is Haruka’s nickname.  Here is the video. 

I am curious to know who will be in the new CRUiSE! lineup, and whether they will be as exciting as the original girls.  I’m going to keep an open mind, even though I don’t think the new lineup will top the girls who were in the group during the first seven years.  I guess I’ll find out soon enough. 

As always, thank you for reading my blog!        

Rabi Rabu IDOL School & Sweet Cherry Pepper’s News

Photo Credit: glio_sm

Rabi Rabu IDOL School and their sister groups have been going through some changes lately, so I wanted to let all of the fans reading this to know what’s up! 

Back in December 2022 a new group named Sweet Cherry Pepper’s formed with four then-current members of Rabi Rabu IDOL School, Higashionna Ruka, Miyuu, Shimabukuro Rairi and Kawamura Yunan.  The leader of the group is Murayama Hana, who is also a member of CherryChery, a group that covers K-Pop songs translated into Japanese, which also has Ruka as a member.  Well, for some reason Rairi was inactive from January to March, so both Rabi Rabu IDOL School and Sweet Cherry Pepper’s performed live without her.  The weekend of March 18 and 19 was the final “Rabbit and Cherry Meeting”, meaning Rabi Rabu and CherryChery’s final performance and photo session together.  I think CherryChery officially broke up.  March 19 also saw six graduations from Rabi Rabu: Ruka, Rairi, Miyuu, Yunan, Sakihama Riko and Ikehara Kanon.  I think both Rairi and Kanon have left entertainment to focus on being students.  Riko is still modeling and appearing in a web drama named “Akari no Arika?” (“Where is Akari?”).  Ruka, Miyuu and Yunan will continue performing as members of Sweet Cherry Pepper’s.  And yes, that also means there are new members of both groups! 

Photo Credit: takaxo

Rabi Rabu IDOL School gained four new members.  Tanahara Yuume, Miyagi Rea and Higashionna Riria (maybe Ruka’s sister, I’m not sure) were all promoted from being a member of Rabi Rabu Baby’s (basically trainees) to being a regular member of Rabi Rabu IDOL School!  Another girl named Oyakawa Seina also joined Rabi Rabu.  (She doesn’t seem to be on the Color’s Okinawa Modeling website, so maybe she’s new to the company.)  The Baby’s group gained a new member, Yara Rizu, a six-year-old cutie pie! 

I figured some of you might want to watch some videos, so here’s a few exciting music videos for you!  First, Rabi Rabu IDOL School’s latest, “U・SA・GI”.  Then “Step Up!” by Sweet Cherry Pepper’s.  Then a video from 2021 with the original lineup of CherryChery.  

As always, thanks for reading my blog!