Melody Lien

This is a unit produced by KOUTAPAI, who has written/arranged stuff for Idoling!!! and SDN48. Notably he arranged Idoling’s Don’t Think! Feel!! and wrote SDN48’s Min Min Min. So if you like those songs (which I do) it’s safe to assume there’s going to be some solid music.

Melody Lien was formed in August 2011. Since then they’ve had a successful (over 300 in attendance) one man live. While there are six members on the TIF picture there are only five member profiles,
so there must have been a fairly recent graduation. The thing that amazes me is that, for a fairly unknown group, they’ve already put out seven singles, their latest being “Sensei ni Rei.” So if one thing that frustrates you about indie groups is a lack of music, that shouldn’t be a problem with Melody Lien! The only notable issue is that while they’ve put out seven singles, their last one was in February, so it seems that the group has slowed down a bit.

Another notable fact about the group is that they have a regular live every Friday at a maid cafe. It’s only 1000 yen, so it’s a very cheap event. Then, after that event, for 500 yen you can go to a “tea party” event where there are games with the members, they do solo karaoke, etc. It sounds like a really fun event, and one that would allow an idol fan to get close to their idol.

As expected, the music is pretty good. It’s hard to tell because YouTube isn’t updated that much. This is the biggest shame; the girls are energetic and cute, they have some good ideas and good backing, but it feels like the group has lost a bit of traction. Hopefully they can gain it back, and Melody Lien can come back strong.

Momochi Minami

I have decided that if I ever become an idol, that I will declare Momochi Minami as my ultimate rival.

Momochi Minami is an idol who always wears an anime face mask. Previously I declared that Momochi Minami hangs out in the Uncanny Valley, which I stand by. Momochi is often kind of creepy.

She is an Anison (anime song) DJ and also is a part of the Bakusute Sotokanda　Icchoume group. She also does a lot of live events, but hasn’t put out any singles of her own. So she’s not necessarily a solo idol.

Honestly, I’m more fascinated by Momochi Minami than anything. I think it’s hard to specifically be her fan, especially if you can’t go to her events, but it’s easy to be fascinated by her.

Yumemiru Adolescence

Yumemiru Adolescence is a five member idol group of girls who were models for the magazine Pichi Lemon. Their dream is to grow from models to actresses, so this is their “adolescence.” They perform once a month using song, dance, and I think acting as well.

So far they’ve put out two singles and a mini album, Nakimushi Sniper. They’re putting out a new mini album in November, so they’re still a fairly active unit!

It’s kind of interesting that Yumemiru Adolescence’s goal is acting; I suppose that’s true of bump.y as well, but it’s still unusual. I also suppose it’s a good thing, because these girls’ vocals are pretty weak. If you need strong vocals, this group may not be for you.

That said, Yumemiru Adolescence is a pretty standard idol group. That’s not a bad thing, but there aren’t any big gimmicks other than the whole actress thing. The members are all very pretty, though, and have a lot of energy, so if you want to support a pretty new idol group who have that going for them, then Yumemiru Adolescence may be for you.

Rhymeberry

Rhymeberry is one of my top five current idol groups. They are consistently excellent and you should be following them.

Rhymeberry consists of three MCs (Miri, Hime and Yuka) and one DJ (Hikaru), and they do idol hip hop. I found out about them at last year’s TIF, and since then they have continually impressed me. They were originally part of Usa Usa Shoujo Club, but now they’re their own idol hip hop unit, and have really set themselves apart from their original group. Last year I compared them to Babymetal, and I stand by that. Both Babymetal and Rhymeberry are doing an unusual genre for idol music, were originally a subgroup, and now have surpassed the original group in popularity and renown.

Rhymeberry has put out three singles so far, their latest being SUPERMCZTOKYO. While I buy their singles and enjoy them, watching the live performances makes the difference with Rhymeberry. The members sound better live, and have a lot of great energy while rapping on stage. They have started putting out PVs, though, and both of those have been superb.

Their sound is also really interesting, too. I didn’t go into Rhymeberry as a rap fan, but they’ve made me appreciate it. Sekaichuu ni I Love You, for example, features 1920s era music as the back for their rapping. The girls are all talented and every song is great.

I honestly can’t recommend Rhymeberry enough. They are one of the most interesting and consistently good groups out there, and you need to follow them.

Lucky Color’s

This is being posted after some bad news for Lucky Color’s fans; Alisa, the lead singer, just withdrew from the group. So this is now just a unit with two members, Kanon and Miina.

This is a local vocal dance unit from Okinawa, formed in 2010. There really aren’t that many units from Okinawa, at least that I know, so it’s always good to see more of them. Their theme is, you guessed it, lucky colors; each member wears her own lucky color (Kanon’s is blue and Miina’s is yellow-green).

So far they’ve put out one single in 2010 and a mini-album last year. So they aren’t the most active group in terms of putting out singles. However, they do have a number of live performances on Youtube.

Lucky Color’s is a group that has lost a lot of members (there were two other members who left earlier) and are in kind of a weird place right now. They mostly have live performances on Youtube, which are mostly street lives and the like. However, the fact they’re from Okinawa is a pretty cool thing, and they seem to be a pretty solid group in terms of performance and singing. So I hope the best for the two remaining members!