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!
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