Tokyo Idol Festival 2011 Part 1

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I didn’t cover it last year, but this year’s Tokyo Idol Festival is coming up soon! This is a festival for relatively indie idol groups that seem to be largely unknown by the public. And so, it’s really exciting to see new girls and groups. The list came out a while back, so here’s a quick primer (of what I can find) from the internet of these girls.

http://www.idolfes.com/2011/ Full list here.

Idoling!!!: This is AKB48 producer Akimoto Yasushi (AKA Aki-P)’s other project (EDIT: Apparently I’m an idiot and messed this up ><) This is Fuji TV’s project to do a variety show done by idols. They’ve collaborated with AKB in the past for AKBIdoling, and as such I don’t know if I’d quite consider them THAT indie. Regardless, they’re cute and fun. I don’t follow them much, but like I said in a previous post I do like Idoling!!! member Yazawa Erika. They have quite a few members and generations already, and have a good number of fans. Their main claim to fame, other than collaborating with AKB48, is their show Idoling!!! They’re at the point where they aren’t as popular as the AKB48-related groups, but are still really popular, at least compared to a lot of these other groups.

I LOVE this song too! So catchy!

iDol Street ストリート生: I know that they’re by Avex, and are related in some way to Super*Girls, Avex’s current idol project. They might be trainees? Idk, I just had trouble finding much about them, other than that they’re related some how to Super Girls. So.. yeah. 
Afilia Saga East: These girls are an idol group based off of maid cafes, and one of their unique features are choosing anime-type names for themselves. I think I’ve heard of them before, but they haven’t really made it big yet. But yeah, I don’t know if they still work at maid cafes, but that’s where the girls in the group come from. They’re a bit tough to find on the internet, but they seem really cute so it’ll be interesting to see them live.

NOTE FROM COMMENT BY SHURA:
Afilia Saga East girls still work in the Afilia cafe/restaurants… they are produced by Shikura Chiyomaru (5pb label executive producer) and Halko Momoi (epic idol legend) 
So there you  have it! They still work in the Afilia cafes, even though they’re idols. That could be interesting if you’re Japanese; it’s kind of the ultimate idols you can meet experience!



Oh*Campee: Surprisingly enough I know these girls!!

They are SUPER indie; I don’t think their one song, Happy Happy Birthday, has actually been released as a single or anything. The one place I know they’ve performed is at the Sanrio amusement park (one of the members blogged about it). As you can see, the video is very cheap and the group has a low budget, but the girls in the group seem like they’re having fun in performing this. I think this is the one video of them that exists online (as far as I can find). I hope they’re fun to see live! 
Cocolo Colon: This is a TERRIBLE name for an idol group. However, I looked up their Japanese wiki page, and it looks like they’ve been doing stuff since about 2005. They feature two members, Kaho and Erina; they at one point had another member named Miwa, I think, but she’s since left.

It’s hard to find too much about them right now, but they’ve released this song, Otome Gokoro as a single and have had a few albums. They actually performed at the  Tokyo Idol Festival last year, even though I must have missed this performance or it wasn’t on the DVD. Still, they seem cute and this is a catchy song; don’t know which one’s which yet, but we’ll see!
This is only the first 5 of the 31 listed groups for the festival, but I’ll be trying to find out more about the rest of the groups in subsequent posts! Indie idols yay!

30 Day Idol Challenge Day 17

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Day 17: The first Idol you noticed.

I found this exact video online, so the first girl I noticed was really Momoko, which is interesting because she’s now one of my least favorite idols. I also don’t have much of an interest in Berryz Koubou anymore. But Gag 100kaibun Aishite Kudasai was my first ever song/PV, and for that I am grateful. I still love the song to this day, and I’m very glad that I discovered this song because it’s catchy, and the dance shot is fun to watch.

30 Day Idol Challenge Day 16

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My posts for this haven’t been super consistent, though to be fair to me I’m having a blast at CONvergence, the biggest (??) sci-fi convention in Minnesota. It’s super fun! And yes, I do have fandoms that aren’t idol related. Any other Doctor Who fans around here?

Anyways yeah.


Day 16: Your favorite Idol from a group not listed above.

When I saw this question I was originally in a rut as to how to answer it. Could I do H!P, since I haven’t mentioned Yajima Maimi, who I adore? But I’ve already done H!P, should I do Super Girls or PASSPO? I know NOTHING about PASSPO (though the songs I’ve heard are pretty solid), and I like Super Girls’s MAX Otome Gokoro, and two of the members (Reira and Kaede), but I don’t know that much about them.

So I picked Kuumin, Yagami Kumi, from SKE48. It’s technically not AKB48, and I really love Kuumin’s interesting personality (Nya~han!), her dance skills (in general, SKE48 is the superior dance group to AKB), and her voice. She tends to sing cutsier songs (Wimbledon e Tsurettette and Ookami to Pride), but I like her voice a lot!

(and she can sing Mushi no Ballad!)
So even though her closeness to AKB48 might make her a bit of a copout… I don’t care at all. Yagami Kumi is amazing!

Correction

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As I’m currently at a sci-fi convention (which is now the one place I’ve been stopped and complimented for my Ongaku Gatas shirt), this is short, but I just have to say that I’ve had Reconquista on repeat pretty much all day, whenever I’m not in panels. This is just as addicting as Top Secret was for me back when that was released, and the only other stuff that has been this addicting are select AKB songs. Good on ya, Hangry & Angry!!

Hangry & Angry F – New single! Reconquista!

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Hangry and Angry suddenly announced just a couple of days ago that they were going to be releasing their first single (Sadistic Dance the song doesn’t count because it’s considered just a digital single), entitled ‘Reconquista’; the date for the physical release is 8/10, but all of a sudden the PV and the digital release came out! So now I HAVE to review it.

Song: This is actually a lot poppier sounding than their other efforts. This is IMO the song that most shows their idol roots. It’s not a bad thing (though I know a lot of people preferred their more “serious” rock sound. Still, it’s a good/catchy song that’s definitely worth checking out. My only beef is that there’s a lot of cosmetic autotune, which is a bit annoying from someone who loves these girls voices. However, it does fit the song fairly well, so it’s not too obtrusive (like, for example, the autotune in Morning Musume’s Only You was). Of the voices, I think that even though Yossy’s voice is usually seen as better, I think that Rika’s voice really fits the song a lot more, and was the most pleasant to listen to. I liked Yossy a lot, but Rika made me wonder how this would be if it was a solo project, which I do think would be a good choice.

All in all, it’s a good song; different from before, but that’s not really a bad thing here!

PV: Yarn + Hangry & Angry is pretty much my dream, as a knitter. The one thing that’s immediately noticeable is that this IS way low budget. There’s not much in the way of backgrounds and props like their earlier effort of Top Secret had. This is really the quintessential PV on a budget; all inside, minimal props, minimal changes. However, the concept they used of H&A being marionettes strung up by yarn and eventually cut off ended up being a pretty solid/interesting concept, and even though it’s obviously cheap the setting is visually pretty interesting.

The one thing that really does carry the PV into rewatchability territory for me is the real talent of both Yossy and Rika. These girls have over TEN YEARS of experience, which is a lot in Jpop idol time, or even in terms of female artists in Japan. These girls are charismatic, know what they’re doing and are enjoying what they’re doing, which clearly shows. The real strength of Hangry & Angry is that they’re Yoshizawa Hitomi and Ishikawa Rika, not new girls with no experience. JPop idols without too much experience really can be great, but so much has come from their Morning Musume experience, to make Hangry & Angry all the better.

Overall: While I certainly think that earlier efforts such as the Top Secret song/PV were better, but this is still a great release from a very consistently great group. I can only hope they start consistently releasing singles and that they keep themselves active!! So I definitely encourage a buy; it’s only 99 cents on iTunes, and the more people who support these girls now, the more chances we’ll have for more singles!

30 Day Idol Challenge Day 15

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HALFWAY THROUGH, I WILL PREVAIL.

Day 15: Your favorite Momoiro Clover member.

Easy easy easy it’s

A~rin, Sasaki Ayaka!
For those of you relatively new to my blog, I LOVE Momoiro Clover. They’re probably my all time idol group. They’re energetic, fun, cute, all around great dancers and singers. Their newest line-up, Momoiro Clover Z, is looking to be great; they’re having two singles come out next month, and I plan on reviewing both songs/PVs.
I love all the members, at least of the line-up that have had singles (MomoClo was a VERY indie group, and had former members before they even got a PV), but A~rin’s my favorite. She’s the “idol” type of Momoiro Clover, has the color pink in their color scheme, and is quite girly. She’s also fairly mature as a person, despite being only recently 15 and the youngest of the group. She’s cute, fun to watch, and has a nice, fun-loving personality.
Also, I’m quite convinced she’s the idol second coming of my favorite idol ever, Ishikawa Rika. Ayaka’s from Kanagawa (same as Rika), has the color pink, is the member that is both cute/sexy, is a bit strange, and is mature for her age. 
But seriously, I love all the members of Momoiro Clover, and so if you aren’t too familiar with them I urge you to check them out!

OMG.

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I just was alerted that I’m the next Summer Refreshment poster for International Wota, and I got the nicest write up of my 30 Day Idolathon series by Ray on that site.

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The Doctor shares my enthusiasm

I’m not doing this blog searching for money or fame, because honestly, with an idol review blog, I’m not going to find either. I started this blog because I have so many thoughts about the idol business, and I used to just rant/rave to my friends, who I don’t think appreciated this.
Still, it’s REALLY nice to be recognized, especially in a big spot on probably the biggest idol review blogspace in the English-language idol fandom. I don’t NEED hundreds of comments or thousands of views or anything like that, but the fact that some people read my stuff makes things A LOT more worth it.
So now, next week, I’ll be doing my Summer Refreshment post, about Idols, seasons, bikini PVs and more. Happy Disco will also be taking a field trip to get my refreshment treat, gelato at the Mall of America. I have some fun ideas for this post, so I hope people will enjoy it!

30 Day Idol Challenge Day 14

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Day 14: Your favorite Idoling!!! member.


Ah, Idoling!!!. If I pretended to know more than the basics about them I’d be lying. I do know, however, that I LOVE their song Me ni wa Aoba Yama Hotogisu Hatsukoi 

However, of all the members, the one that really catches my eye and that I’ve enjoyed seeing once in a while in AKBIdoling!!! stuff is…

Yazawa Erika!

While mostly known by non-Idoling!!! fans as the one with the really big breasts, she just has a really fun attitude. In the PV for Me ni wa Aoba… she does wotagei and ends up really having fun with the whole thing. I once heard that she hurt herself and couldn’t do a concert because she was HEADBANGING too hard.

She’s the energy queen of Idoling!!!, which makes her a treat to watch, whenever I watch something with Idoling!!!

New AKB Dating Sim set in Guam~

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It was just announced that the sequel to AKB48’s first dating sim (or rather, rejection sim) game, “AKB 1/48 Aidoru to Koishitara”, which will be titled “AKB 1/48 Aidoru to Guam de Koishitara” (REALLY original title there) will be released in October.

I talked a bit about the first game here but even though some people are somewhat negative about it, I don’t think it’s a bad thing. I’ve seen the videos of my favorite, Oota Aika, and yes it has made me flail about uncontrollably when she tells the camera (me!!) that she loves me. It’s marketing at it’s finest; who DOESN’T want to have their favorite idol tell them they love them?

My only issue is that I’m a DD (meaning that I like everyone). Lovetan is my favorite, so I’m sure I’d go with her, but rejecting the rest of them would be HARD. I’d be going through the game and then suddenly I have to reject Mariyannu? I LOVE Mariyannu! I have to reject Wasamin? How does that happen? I’d also have the issue of going “OK, I’ll replay the game, but THIS TIME go with Wasamin!” and then run in to the roadblock of having to actually reject Lovetan. This game would be emotionally stressful XD.

This time around, I don’t think there’s many more differences other than the whole “It’s in Guam! Bikinis, hooray!” I mean, it’ll be cool for us fans to see new vids of our idols telling us they love us. But if someone was a casual fan, I doubt this game would be super popular, especially if they had the first one.

I don’t think the brand new Team 4 is included in the game, but they have the 90 minute video which includes Ichikawa Miori going “Anata no Kanojo ni naritai no~” Instead of “Fresh lemon ni naritai no~” which made me giggle.

All in all, while this is definitely not revolutionary (especially being a sequel to their other game), I’m excited to see the stuff surrounding the game. I don’t have a PSP, so I doubt that I’ll be getting this game, but I bet those AKB fans who have a PSP are thrilled right now!

30 Day Idol Challenge Day 13

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Day 13: Your favorite AKB48 member.


This is super ridiculously easy for me…

Just from looking at my blog, it’s pretty easy to see that I’m a huge Ishikawa Rika fan. However, what’s not as apparent is my undying affection for AKB48’s Oota Aika.
First, you can obviously see she’s cute. I really do go for the cute types, so straight away I noticed her adorableness, her one dimple, and the fact that lolita clothes REALLY suit her. 


Then I noticed her on stage; Lovetan (best nickname ever, am I right?) always looks like she’s having a blast on stage. She’s not the best singer or dancer, at least technically, but she’s always really fun to watch in performances. This next performance in particular is REALLY fun to watch, especially near the end, to see how fun Lovetan is.

Then I started to learn about her personality; Lovetan is a HUGE anime nerd, and talks about it nonstop on her blog, and is really not afraid to say anything about that. She is slightly sharp-tongued, but in an adorable way. Basically, Lovetan is pretty honest and says what she means, which I think is a good quality in an idol, since so many idols are kind of fake. This ends up being kind of funny, because while she often complains about being harassed by Sashihara Rino, she later complains about being neglected by Sashiko. Ahh, Lovetan, you can’t get it both ways.

She’s also a Miichan wota, which ends up being an adorable thing.

And a while ago I was able to watch Lovetan’s birthday LOD, where she was read the SWEETEST message from Iwasa Misaki, who talked about Lovetan being really nice and inclusive to Wasamin, even back when Wasamin was a kenkyuusei, and now they’re close friends. It’s the sweetest thing and Lovetan ends up crying, as did I, when I first heard it.

Lovetan is an amazing, funny, wonderful AKB48 member. She has a fantastic personality, cute appearance, cute voice and great performance skills. I’m always proud to be Lovetan oshi, because she’s just THAT amazing.