Month: January 2019

Revisiting a Friday Fun Phenomenon

/ Kerrie

How’s it going everyone? Same old? Sure has been for me at least, because (excluding the ones that were announced last year) I just got my first major oshi graduation announcement of 2019! Whoo-hoo?

Speaking of oshis however, you know who hasn’t graduated yet? Former Guso-now-Burst YuraPico, that’s who! In addition, her birthday just happens to be coming up this Sunday! And once again, her birthday event is named #YuraSmile of all things. Continue reading →

If This Is What We’re Getting from the New Shihatsumachi Underground Album, I– *passes out*

/ Homicidol Maniac

Man, you guys, we’re not off to the most rip-roaring start to 2019, but I’ll be darned if there aren’t some really great releases coming together already. That Zenkimi single? Have mercy. And now to follow up on an item that started as a Weekender throwaway just a couple of weeks ago, then grew into something that arguably should have become a full-blown post but OH HERE WE ARE, Shihatsumachi Underground, the announcement about whom included that they’re going to drop an album, are now in the process of fully teasing out said album, and here’s a chunk of a track that’s currently looping because I am a weakling in the face of it:

Continue reading →

Meet avandoned…

/ supremenothing / 1 Comment

The idol world doesn’t slow down for a second, does it?  And especially so if you’re one of the busiest bees in this bustling business, that is Beni Usakura. In a relatively short span, (especially in idol years), she’s gone from an abandoned audition candidate to group member to group leader, organizer, producer, marketer, and all-around DIY master of a hearty never-say-die group that is a breathing manifestation of her creative energy.

During the entire taxing process of preparing for Kotao’s departure, she’s been holding auditions for new members to keep her beloved group’s legacy going. Beni decided to tease us a bit for a couple of days, but at last, we’ve been introduced to her first officially inducted member… Continue reading →

What’s Next, HAMIDASYSTEM?

/ Homicidol Maniac

So in the Great Idol Purge of 2019, one of the key casualties for lovers of the dreamy pop sound and highly ambitious multimedia art projects was HAMIDASYSTEM, my personal Idol of the Year for 2018 and a growing presence among the I-like-good-things set. The announcement was a really sad one — how could this just up and go away? we cried through gnashed teeth.

Well, as it turns out, we might need to re-tool those expectations just a little bit, because it seems like the result is more of a “oh okay, neat” than a “/throws self into traffic”.

First up! HAMIDASYSTEM, or something called that, is, uh, kind of sticking around: Continue reading →

How’d You Like to Listen to a New BILLIE IDLE Single?

/ Homicidol Maniac

If you would, friend, have I got an opportunity for you!

Continue reading →

I See That Debuts Are Still in Fine Shape: Meet LAST IN MY CULT

/ Homicidol Maniac / 2 Comments

Okay, shut up, I’m late to the party, so sue me.

So a lifetime ago (Saturday), a buzz swelled up and over the wota scene like

Is … is that a kazoo?

Yeah, folks were popping off about these girls the other day, and for good reason — we get our share of punk idols, but not many who sound like the second coming of punk rock itself with idol as an incidental feature. If I didn’t know any better (time travel isn’t real!), I’d swear that I already own some of their music on a compilation CD somewhere. Continue reading →

Well, the New Zenkimi Single Is Going to Be Good

/ Homicidol Maniac / 1 Comment

Wake the heck up! After only recently delivering some details on their new double A-side single, Zenbu Kimi no Sei Da wasted no time tossing out a preview for you. And friends, what a preview it is. It’s not the A-A-side, but its partner, what good sense tells you should be called “Romance Sect” but they have romajized as “Romanse Sect” and that’s fine, it’s not like Zenkimi song titles are the easiest thing to deal with in the world anyway.

Of course it’s on the typical two-hour time limit, and of course we hold that time limit in absolute zero regard around here!

The goods after the jump. Continue reading →

Do Yourself a Favor and Enjoy Every Second of This New Marionet Song

/ Homicidol Maniac

Funny. I take out time the other day to sort of off-handedly complain about this being a boring stretch for idol, typically, as the winter festival season dries up and the talent gets into the meat of the academic calendar … and the last couple of days are just riddled with fresh new music and updates and things that warrant actual by-the-gods excitement. This being a holiday in the United States, I, uh, actually need to do Day Job work, so this is the last entry for today, but my goodness, have you guys heard the new one from Marionet yet?

Continue reading →

WILL-O’, Still WILL-O’, But Like New and Improved

/ Homicidol Maniac / 2 Comments

After several days of puzzling over tweets and off-handedly remarking things like “oh, I should remember to put that in the Weekender” and “wow, they’ve really come a long way in a short time,” ol’ Maniac here finally pieced together some stuff about everybody’s favorite Idol Formerly Known as Alloy Which Ah Forget It and, oh look, it’s kind of a big deal for them!

So last month, WILL-O’ released some “new” music, which was in fact an old petit pas! song re-updated with the most recent membership of the group that’s as close to a direct descendant of that group as it gets without having the same name, and it was cool and good. They stayed busy, though, as it was just the next round in a series (I love these) of monthly releases that incorporate not just new music, but sort of a soft reboot of the group, still called WILL-O’ but in this guise known as “O’currence”, which was rolled out yesterday at their company’s (Perfect Music) PERFECT SUMMIT.

Whew. You can get most of that from this tweet! Continue reading →

Rip Roarin’ New Melon on the Way!

/ Homicidol Maniac

Well, “on the way” is relative I guess, because it already arrived on Soundcloud yesterday, and “new” is true in the absolute sense but not for long because *trumpeting herald* Melon Batake a go go’s first major-label album, IKASUZE IDOL 1.2.3!! is literally right around the corner. However, the point of the post is that Melon gave us yet another track from it as a preview, and yes, it is indeed rip roarin’:

I love how Melon’s average track length is shorter than the time it takes me to write a typical Maniac sentence

If you like this, or you consider yourself a Melon fan, you need to go get this album when it’s available. It’s a major — we can help a beloved chika darling rise and break out if we support them on their big-time label! And wouldn’t it be neat if a group of idols dressed like superheroes roleplaying as interplanetary, uh, heroes performing horrorcore takes on surf rock and the like were the breakouts to prove the rule!