2016 Homicidols Corenament Round 1 AFTERMATH

/ Homicidol Maniac

Round 2 is open! Go vote!

Voting is closed! Congratulations to the winners: You’re moving on to play another day. Losers, you made a valiant effort, and we’ll roast you suitably for it. Here’s the Round 2 preview — voting begins at 0:00 EDT on March 23.

All of the results and stuff from Round 1 are recorded below for posterity.

Winners

By seed:

The Spunky’s sudden charge to take the Punk Idols conference championship, plus Psybou Kanojo’s sudden mid-week retirement, sent the expected seeds into a tumble. The ultimate result: Almost total chalk. There was only one upset, Kamen Joshi’s smashing victory over You’ll Melt More!

The biggest loser, though, was idol metal, which got embarrassed: Fruitpochette put up a good fight against BiSH, only to fade late, and Necronomidol got a little too focused on a South Seas vacation against a very game opponent in Party Rockets GT. Yes, much like the old Big East conference, you felt that they deserved to have the most bids, but then they went and lost half of their representatives in the first round.

The biggest winners, then, were the punk idols. The Spunky may have needed a miracle run to their conference title to get here, but they won, and ultimately in convincing fashion over legacy entrants Himekyun Fruit Can. Screaming Sixties fought a brutal back-and-forth battle with Zenbu Kimi no Sei Da, with multiple lead changes and longstanding ties, but prevailed in the end despite a desperation heave by Kiminosei. In fact, had that final shot been made, idolcore would have gone a perfect 3-for-3 in Round 1 and had bragging rights over everybody going forward.

The Losers

It’s not nice to kick anybody when they’re down, but:

  • Osaka Shunkashuto, you were the poor 16-seed lamb being fed to the #1 lion. All things considered, you hung in there well enough that some of the other heavies in this bracket have to be considering their chances better than they’d hoped.
  • Himekyun Fruit Can not only could have won; they arguably should have won. Who the hell are The Spunky, anyway? HKFC came in like a down-season Indiana, all legacy and cultural weight, and damn near rode their experience to victory, but their opponents’ youthful enthusiasm was too much to overcome.
  • Yukueshirezutsurezure made it respectable, but everybody warned that they were still too young to deal with the pressure and a more veteran, athletic PassCode, and that was a good warning. Watch out in the future.
  • Necronomidol actually led in this contest several times, but their hearts were never truly in it; New Caledonia was calling. Still, once more of their very good new album is available to share, they’re going to be a very tough out in future years.
  • Fruitpochette are full of regret. Nearly everybody thought they had a title-worthy song representing them, but whether it was the distractions around Mina’s upcoming graduation or a no-mistakes kind of match against BiSH, they just couldn’t hang in there long enough. Their future is uncertain, but they have nothing to be ashamed of.
  • Guso Drop seemed like such a sure Cinderella: They just missed the cut to get into the Corenament, then had their only other option taken away, but managed to earn a spot when Psybou Kanojo dropped out. Of everybody not in the Corenament, they had the most support by far. But when put in against the upstart Deathrabbits in what should have been a chance to show their mettle, the Gusos dropped the ball and wound up being trounced. Maybe it was the loss of Shion. Sure.
  • Zenbu Kimi no Sei Da actually had a great draw in an early projected bracket, but ran into the Screaming Sixties buzzsaw in Round 1 instead. Still, they literally almost pulled off the small upset. Like their sisters in Tsurezure, they could be a powerhouse in the making.
  • And finally, You’ll Melt More!, the one legitimately upset conference winner in the whole game. YMM led for substantial portions of the round, but again did the Mask Girls’s base of support slowly and surely take command. You’ll be back, YMM. Just don’t turn into the Pitt Panthers of idol.

The Bracket

A full head-to-head, including projections(!) will go up either Monday or Tuesday evenings. But based on what you see here, how do you see the rest of the Corenament shaking out?

Voting for Round 2 opens 0:00 EDT on Wednesday, March 23, and is open until 24:00 EDT on Sunday, March 27.

  • Second round: Voting open March 23-27.
  • Third round (semifinal): March 30-April 2.
  • Final: April 4.

 

Round 1 Results

There’s way more in common between Babymetal and Osaka Shunkashuto than meets the eye. In Su-metal and Maina, these are two of the strongest lead singers in the game, and they’re both backed by members who are primarily dancers but can contribute vocals in their own right. “Megitsune” is one of the songs that made skeptics into believers; “Let You Fly!!” is part of Shukashun’s quick rise from high school dance unit to absolutely respectability.

The Spunky got here on the strength of a quick, overwhelming fan response; Himekyun Fruit Can are like the grand dames of idol rock and the leaders of the Mad Magazine outfits. To most fans outside of Japan, they’re both a little bit unknown, but that has nothing to do with whether their music is good. Because it is damn-hell-ass good. When pop punk meets pop rock, only one can be left standing, but everybody who sees the conflagration will feel pretty good about it later.

PassCode were, to me, the biggest surprise of the entire entry round — not because they aren’t awesome, but because I didn’t realize how well-regarded they are by fans. And they’ve earned that over going on three hard-working years now, blending digital hardcore with punk and chiptune to make one of the most distinct sounds out there. Yukueshirezutsurezure, on the other hand, debuted not even four months ago, but they’ve been on fire from the jump. Here we have distinct, definitive songs; PassCode’s “Club Kids” sounds like a Blink-182 song being violently taken over by Code Orange; “Kyousoukaichinari” could be just another sickly sweet pop song until all that hurt and rage burst forth.

It wasn’t a surprise that Yurumerumo! won out among the other alt-idols, but whether they even belong on this site is still a matter of debate … until you see this song, “Only You,” performed live, especially the performance with Hijokaidan that felt like it was tearing the club apart. For Kamen Joshi, it was a question of sneaking up the ladder over the full voting period, their fans making it work and showing in this song choice that they’re the ones listening — other songs by the Mask Girls are better known, charted higher, etc., but are any of them better musically than “Soul”? This matchup already feels like the aftermath of a car accident.

There are idol groups that have hardcore niche fans even inside the niche, and Party Rockets / GT are exactly that — not everybody knows them, and not everybody who does likes them, but they have a ton of great material and a good core of fans to match. As much as such a thing exists, they define “kawaiicore.” Fittingly, then, they’re matched with the Dark Girls, Necronomidol, the devil’s rejects, in the Heathers section of the bracket. “Kasabuta” is just a great hard rock song with an inspired video; “Lamina Maledictum” is murky, blackened NWOBHM that shows Necroma in their natural environment. Angels vs. demons; keggers vs. corruption; awesome vs. awesome.

Somehow, this virtual rock-idol all-star game is happening in the opening round instead of closer to the end, but that’s what makes this fun. BiSH have more than met the challenge of continuing BiS‘s legacy, but fans felt that “Hoshi ga …” is still their defining song. Up against them are idol metal’s solid #2, Fruitpochette, who worked the club and festival stages so hard that they’re about to lose a member to a bad kidney. Does the all-too-clever (dammit) “CleverDick,” all jazzcore and post-thrash dance beats, have what it takes to upset one of idolcore’s most defining tracks?

An accidental collision if there ever was one: Deathrabbits more than earned their way in by taking the DEATH POP DEATHMATCH play-in round from Ladybaby, but their reward is the sentimental favorite, the Corenament’s likeliest Cinderella, Guso Drop, who would have been added had the DEATHMATCH busted but needed circumstance and the sheer force of their fans’ will at the zero hour to make it here. Both proved that their fans are for real; when push comes to shove, though, is it the death-poppiest song available, or the most melodic hardcore, that moves on?

The very middle of the bracket is the worst place to be; not only are you matched up against your perceived equal, your reward is likely to be a heavyweight on the other side. The thing is, either of these songs could make a run for the title. Screaming Sixties made good on slow-burning promise when they unleashed “Only Place We Can Cry” on the world; Kiminosei followed a denpacore root sound with the shuddering, thundering “ShitEnd Placebo.” Both make you want to grab a shotgun, but for very different reasons.

Voting for this round is open until 24:00 EDT on Sunday, March 20.

63 thoughts on “2016 Homicidols Corenament Round 1 AFTERMATH”

  1. BiSH V’s Fruitpochette……. ARRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGG, how can i choose (two of my favourites) and Screaming 60’s V’s Zenbu………….. sooo hard

    And this is just round 1

    I need a lie down

  3. Some fantastic music on this page. Should be archived for the listening experience alone.That Necronomidol song has such a cool “old school” metal vibe and the Kamen Joshi song has a certain elegance to it, had to listen twice. A “high five” to Maniac for setting this up. Does he ever sleep???

    • Thank you! I need a like button for these comments. 🙂 I’m one of those fortunate people who only need to really sleep once or twice a week, and come on — the Corenament needs love!

    • Most of the song nominations made perfect sense, even when they were diffuse; Babymetal, HKFC, BiSH, a lot of individual songs nominated but a clear general consensus. But this was OVERWHELMINGLY the favorite among Mask Girls submissions, like 9:1. Did not see that coming.

      • An example of a strategic song nomination from us in the Alice camp. An obvious choice would have been “Genkidane”, a great track that garnered many accolades.However, as this genre continues to evolve at a rapid pace, we concluded that the year old track might not stack up as well in a side by side comparison with the newer breed. We concurred that “Soul” would be more representative of Kamen Joshi today. Highlighting a more mature and tasteful refinement that would hopefully stand out from the rest. Judging by some of the comments here, I believe we chose wisely. Let the insanity continue. (;_;)

  5. My votes:
    BM – Megitsune, as much as I really enjoy 大阪春夏秋冬, this is the song that got me started in this whole genre, and is a really solid idol-metal track.
    HKFC – Four Dimensions, but kinda “meh” about both options here…
    Passcode, although having “Club Kids Never Die” as their sole representation in this tournament is a little surprising…did I miss the vote for the song selections somewhere? :/
    Kamen Joshi – Soul. Where has this song been?! It’s awesome! Now it just needs a real MV to go with it.
    Party Rockets GT – Kasabuta. I thoroughly love this song. The lyrics, the video, the riffing….had it stuck in my head for going on two weeks now and listen daily. Also, Fumika is just about the cutest girl I may have ever seen, haha.
    Fruitpochette – CleverDick. I gave the BiSH song a fair listen, but I’m not really a fan…
    GuDro – Hirari Hira Hira. How does Deathrabbits have so many votes again? Something smells fishy here…especially since all of the others (besides the one with BM) all have around 40 votes total and this one battle has 50+ as of this writing.
    Zenbu – ShitEnd Placebo. It’s haunting and refuses to leave my brain.

    • You were actually one of the few people to do nominations the right (original) way! There was a separate form that I made, and people responded better to it than submitting in comments. They also went “Club Kids” by about a 2.5:1 margin over the other PassCode stuff. I love the song, but yeah, I agreed with you before as to where their most strong work was. Alas, these games are for everybody to build, not just for me to be IT’S MAH SITE. 🙁

      • BTW, I learned last night that “Club Kids” is a cover — I had no idea.

        I have a rule about covers: You either do it better than the original, or you make it very, very different. I think PassCode improved this song dramatically.

        • Absolutely, I couldn’t believe it either the first time I heard that too. They really made it their own though, Yuna’s vocals tended to help with that, haha!

    • Oh and you know, I think the Deathrabbits Army is still all het up after yesterday. Site’s getting way more Facebook hits than it would normally for this number of shares, and they drove the DEATHMATCH into the ground to beat Ladybaby. It’ll probably dissipate over the next few days, and goodness knows what happens when I start to ping the idols and fan groups about this.

      • Is it possible we could have a Babymetal vs. Deathrabbits showdown in the finals. Let the insanity commence.

          • Since you can’t edit comments, let me give a reason as to why that would be sad: If that happens then this would have really turned into a popularity contest (I now know to fear the Rabbit Squad 😉 ), and THAT would be sad, because many of these great bands are not that popular, even among members of this Hard-Idol community. And if the point of this is to provide exposure to lesser-known groups, then just having this end up being a popularity contest means we all lose…(cue sitcom lessons-learned music)

          • Hm … can’t edit comments … might have to look into that. (Also starting to think that we might be ready for some forums in the not-too-distant future — you all can be a chatty bunch. :))

            My heart was warmed earlier. Now it’s practically gushing blood!

  6. Wow, seeing them all together in one place really makes you appreciate how this scene is thriving. I hope they’re all making money, because it sucks to see people quitting.

    • It does. But that’s a big part of why this site exists — if more people, period, can discover the artists and want to get their music (and merch and fly to Japan to go to their shows), it can mean that more of them are able to make a decent-enough living at it to keep going, or maybe they’ll be able to become veritable stars and be really great for a long time. And if they want to tour abroad … ?!

      • Now we just need more idols to realize that the rest of the world wants digital music, not having to pay for import taxes from ordering CDs via import websites (I’m lookin’ at you, Passcode, Q’ulle, and Fruitpochette!)…Granted, I’ve seen more CD and digital releases rather than CD exclusive releases over time from many of these bands. And yes, Japan’s music industry is HEAVILY physical media based right now, but I can’t fly to Japan every 2 months to pick up another new single from Passcode, now can I?

        • I’m sorry, Phillter, I thought you were just describing a wonderful, blissful dream life filled with Yuna screaming in your face. 🙂

          You’re totally right, though. It’s actually not hard to publish on most international hosts — you just need a publisher that’s registered in that country or with whatever service. It’s not like digital files require much overhead; I honestly think that labels are missing a rapidly growing opportunity for big profits.

          Homicidol Records. Heh.

          • Yeah…that would be a nice dream…I’ll be moving to Japan this year, so hopefully that dream won’t be too far off from a reality 🙂

            Homicidol Records…That’s got a nice ring to it (^_-)

          • I’m like, when a pocket idol can out-harsh you, it might be time to re-evaluate basically a whole bunch of things. She’s on the short list of people I’d completely lose it to meet in person. So, like, say hi for me, you lucky duck.

          • Hmmmm, Homicidol Records. That does have an interesting ring to it. As you may or may not know, in the early eighties, as the NWOBHM, Thrash, and Speed metal was heating up, countless unsigned bands appeared on compilation albums,run by new, independent labels, subsequently launching several artists to legendary status. You obviously have the analytical knowledge to decipher if the west is truly prepared for a full onslaught of eastern music, I have something equally Important…….CASH. I am always on the lookout for interesting new ways to invest in ideas I have a passion for. This page of artist (sans Babymetal) would make an outstanding “Beginners Guide” or “Best of the East”, so to speak. The iron is hot my friend, it may be time to strike. Your thoughts?????

          • You should’ve seen my face when I first saw this! I’ve been way too busy with actual work and family and stuff the last couple of days.

            So! This is an appetite-whetter. I am extremely risk-averse, personally. The amount of research I’m even just thinking about is nuts.

            But this, truly, is a sweet thing. I do have longer-term aspirations than just “dude with a music site,” and they don’t involve working with my current employer, security being great and all. Stick around; after a little, it could be a compelling conversation.

    • …But they are certainly a big part of the scene, and deserve to be here as much as any other band that is here ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Although it’ll probably devolve into a popularity contest in some way, this is supposed to be a competition about the music, not just who is the name behind it.

        • What can I say, I got a huge heart when it comes to this music. Everyone has their story of “I heard this music was a thing, and I thought, ‘yeah, sure’, then gave it a shot and…”, and mine is that this music LITERALLY changed my life. If you wanna know the story, gimme some way of private-messaging, and it’s yours 🙂 not gonna bear my whole soul to the internet haha

          • I would be interested in hearing your story, as I too have story involving life changing events, which this music helped me to overcome.

  12. Deathrabbits vs. Guso Drop is the round with the most traffic, currently leading over all other rounds with the most votes. Deathrabbits still have a place in my heart but yeah GO! Guso Drop!

  13. MANIAC PLEASE CALL IT RIGHT NOW! I’m begging you!
    BM, HKFC, Passcode, Kamen Joshi, Party Rockets GT, and Zenbu are all winning!

      • The funnest thing is seeing the little spikes in my traffic-o-meter, comparing the start of that to Twitter activity, then looking to see who the beneficiaries were. Today was Tsurezure’s turn to get a big-ass surge in a short period of time. If well-connected fans keep sharing with their networks, I may never close this round!

  15. Just so you know Maniac! People are voting multiple times by using different devices (phone, tablet or pc) Also they might use their phone but using diffenrent browsers, this will giving them multiple votes.

    • Including me! 🙂 No, I know; I can only use blocks via cookie as opposed to blocking IPs. It’s a little defect, but one that a little more in the way of resources in the future should be able to help.

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