More groups have been announced! My work is cut out for me!

ICT Lovelies

A group I haven’t heard of yet! These girls come from the “Happy Super Generation,” which, from what I gather, gets girls to become full-fledged idols, and supports/trains them. A lot of focus is on the idea of them becoming “real idols,” and working hard to debut. So these are five girls (one generation) from a project aiming to get girls with no stage experience to become real idols. (One of the things that I always thought defined an idol was that they didn’t really need experience and were new to showbiz, but that’s another blog post).

ICT Lovelies released their first mini album “Dare ga Debut Dekiru no?” (Who can Debut?) last November and have since released another mini album. So even though there’s not too much about this group out yet, they have a surprising amount of original music out there. Most of what I found is rehearsal videos, and I haven’t seen a PV yet.

They seem to have a more rock-themed sound and are actually pretty good performers so far. The whole “we want to debut!” theme is a bit stale at this point, and there are plenty of groups doing that whole thing. Still, for all their emphasis on the group being new and fresh, they’re actually pretty strong already as a group, and I find myself interested in them, despite my skepticism at their concept and and at Happy Super Generation as a whole.

I have no idea if they’ll go anywhere from this, but I like them already, so I’d recommend checking them out.

Afilia Saga

Afilia Saga is one of the many groups that I feel like I should follow more but I don’t. And it’s a shame, because they’re definitely a solid group that’s worth paying attention to.

Afilia Saga, formerly Afilia Saga East, is formed of maids at the Afilia Saga maid cafe chain. The chain itself is set in an imaginary Afilia Kingdom, with a role-playing, magic concept to it as well. Needless to say, the ins and outs of the maid cafe chain are a bit irrelevant to fans outside of Japan (though I know I’d be all over this if I was in Japan), but it does explain why members have unique stage names, like Louise Sforzur and Laura Sucreine. It’s all a part of the maid cafe.

So far the group has released multiple singles and two albums (the most recent release was their album Archism, that came out in April of this year). If you aren’t familiar with idol groups other than the main mainstream ones, Tsunku (of Hello!Project fame) wrote their song “Knee-high Egoist.” He’s also producing the Akihabara Backstage Pass cafe and their idol group with the Afilia Saga producer Chiyomaru, and Afilia Saga is considered to be a part of that massive group.

Like I said earlier, this is a group I wish I’d follow. I like the concept (though I wish I’d see more of the whole fantasy world in their PVs, from what I’ve seen at least), and most of the songs/PVs I’ve heard are quite good. This is a well-produced group with really good production values, so if you want a group that’s not quite as indie as the rest of Tokyo Idol Festival, Afilia Saga might be a good group for you.

Victory

This is a hard band to look up. Victory is not a very good idol group name if you want people to be able to easily look you up.

That said, I’m not finding anything on them, and if you know anything please tell me. There’s no webpage linked, and all I can find is this picture on the TIF site. They’re holding guitars so I guess they’re more of a band? Perhaps they’re a self-composed idol group, like Kurikamaki, and just picked a name that’s really tricky.

Otherwise I’m stumped. Sorry guys.

EDIT: This morning I was alerted that Victory created their official site.

http://anagashima.wix.com/victory-

They were a band of five girls created when they were in their last year of Elementary school. Now they’re a high school age band, and have participated in Teens Rock Festibal in HITACHINAKA as well as Rock in Japan 2011. So as opposed to be more idol focused, it feels like they’re going the route of SCANDAL and other bands.

In 2011 they released their first single “Niji” (rainbow) and have since released another single, “Home.”

They have some videos on their website, and I have to say that even though I wouldn’t classify them as idols, they kind of fit into my alternative/indie rock genre that I like to listen to when I’m not listening to JPop. These girls are clearly talented (the vocalist is wonderful and there’s some great instrument playing in Home) and I can see myself becoming a fan. So if you’re open to rock and bands as opposed to strictly idols, take a listen.

Usa Usa Shoujo Club

This is the group behind one of my favorite idol groups, Rhymeberry. While Rhymeberry was a subgroup, they’ve become their own separate act so I’ll cover them as such.

The group currently has 11 members that perform regularly at the Akasaka Genki theater. The average age of the members is a very young 13 years old, because they (like Sakura Gakuin) graduate the girls once they hit high school age. Personally it’s not my favorite tactic, and I think it’s one that ultimately hurts groups (especially since they have to graduate some of the popular members), but if you like really young idol singers then Usa Usa Shoujo Club is one to check out.

They’ve had multiple subgroups in their time; Chu Ni, Zipcode, and now Little Rabbits. Rhymeberry, the rap subgroup, has been the most successful. However, in the past year Usa Usa Shoujo Club has released their debut single “Number One” which sold 1000 copies (which tells you what level of popularity they’re currently at).

Personally, while I like the group, it’s a bit hard to follow all the new members and graduations, especially since the main focus is on performing. The group is pretty good, though, and they’re very cute, so if you can get past that mandatory graduations thing then I definitely would recommend them to you.

Also, go read my friend Magic Thomas Jefferson’s write up of going to an Usa Usa Shoujo Club event HERE. He talks a bit about going to one of their live events, and helped me out getting my initial information about the group last year (which got me into Rhymeberry).

S★Spicy 1

This is one of the first acts of the year that I’ve never heard of before, and wow it’s kind of an interesting one. This act actually comes from Stardust Promotions of Momoiro Clover Z, Shiritsu Ebisu Chuugaku and Team Syachihoko fame. Only, this has been around before MomoClo’s big major debut in 2010.

This was originally a group of “big sister” idols known as S Spicy, but became a solo project of Kurita Moe, S Spicy 1. They released one single “Exotic Spice” in 2010 but haven’t done much of anything since.

This feels like they’re doing what Nice Girl Project has done, by trying to bring back projects from old (See: The Possible, Ogawa Mana). The only songs from this group/solo act, Exotic Spice and Crying Face, are on the official website and definitely aren’t bad at all. So it’ll be interesting if they actually try promoting this, considering how well Stardust has been doing lately.

Unfortunately, this lack of activity and the name have made finding videos about this group pretty difficult. So if you like Stardust groups you might be a bit frustrated trying to find any more. All I can provide is the link to their website where you can listen to the songs on their site (Exotic Spice is pretty good)

http://official.stardust.co.jp/s-spicy/profile/profile.html