Month: March 2021

Hikicomoteikoku and Like a Whole Basket of New Stuff

/ Homicidol Maniac

This is what I get for holding off for a couple of days to post about something new from an emerging unit — even if I try to close the loop fairly quickly (by my standards these days), there’s the risk that whatever is good and hot and new is going to be superseded by more new stuff. And so here we are with everybody’s favorite shut-in idols, Hikicomoteikoku, who over the weekend dropped a new song for us as just part of a whole package that apparently extends all the way into today.

The song:

Lyrics? Lyrics! Continue reading →

NELN Did It

/ Homicidol Maniac

Twelve months since their debut in the teeth of “in these uncertain times,” NELN has very literally gone full circle and made it to the end of the journey they promised — the final monthly MV has been delivered. There’s been an incredible mix of mostly high quality all along the way, and to say that I’ve been anticipating this with real feeling is a little bit of an understatement — each month’s MV has come at slightly different times “toward the” end of the month, so I’ve been following the dang Twitter account like a bloodhound since Sunday. Today, payoff.

That’s just absolutely lovely. The thing’s an homage to the whole sequence of MVs that got us here over … wow, NELN, I doubt that “do a year-long debut sequence while society closes due to worldwide pandemic conditions” was the actual design, but it paid off perfectly. And here in this MV we get that story played out again, referring to the past works and I’m sure riddled with other Easter eggs that people far more in the know can inform on. Different strokes for different folks and all, but I’d be pleased if this one came up in the Best Of discussion. The song is of course quite nice on its own, though a little done at this point in the sequence, but it serves its role as tentpole very well.

What’s next for NELN? We’ll find out soon!

Oh Lord, ASP Has Kind of Landed

/ Homicidol Maniac

As well-documented by Cal the other day, new WACK unit ANAL SEX PENIS was pre-unveiled at the close of the company’s annual audition/boot camp/torture center. You’ll get more out of the experience by reading the post, honestly. I don’t need to re-explain it. But in the intervening time, which is to say like two whole days, the group shot past the original Twitter follower goal set by one Mr. Watanabe Junnosuke, so the goal posts were moved and have since been surpassed again, and whether that has anything to do with this first first audio sample from ASP isn’t as important as the possibility that at some point the stupid masks will come off, literally and figuratively, and we’ll know if this is another EMPiRE situation or more of a SiS.

Anyway, first song, for what it’s worth: Continue reading →

Hayasaka Nanse Has Some Harsh Words For the PTA!

/ supremenothing

You totally know Hayasaka Nanse even if you don’t recognize her name right away. She was a member of the legendary (at least around these parts) Shoujo Kakka no International, i.e. one of the most groundbreaking and seminal chika idol units of all time!  Yeah sure, they never got “famous” but they certainly made an impression that still resonates with the idol underground. At the time, Nanse went by the stage name “Fukumaru Mochi”, and shortly after that group disbanded, she became known as DJ OMOCHI when she joined up with, yep, you got it, the beloved rap-idol unit RHYMEBERRY! See, I knew you knew her!

When RHYMEBERRY came to an end, Hayasaka Nanse didn’t join any new groups, but she didn’t fade away either. She maintained her social media presence and streamed live fairly frequently, stating her current role as a vlogger personality and voice actress. (Two frequent post-idol career paths.) And while I don’t fully expect her to entirely brand herself as an idol again per se, it’s very pleasing to see she still records new music on occasion, and now has even graced us with an MV that fits appropriately within the Homicidols canon.  Are you stoked yet? Well, you oughta be! Let’s check it out!

Continue reading →

WACK Penetrates the Limit Once Again

/ Cal

Oh good lord, it is happening again. This year’s WACK AUDiTiON CAMP ended in a resounding success: new members for GO TO THE BEDS, PARADISES and WAgg but in addition to that, we have an entire group of bondage-clad identityless idols who need YOUR help to be freed from their uh… bondage.

Say hello to ASP, ANAL SEX PENiS!

No, really.

Promo image for new anti style group ASP

Continue reading →

Your Homicidols Weekender #227

/ Homicidol Maniac

Good morning! I hope you’re all doing well. Much to my surprise, yours truly somehow got a vaccine appointment without even trying, so I’m still feeling a bit of the fallout from that, which is a nice way of saying that I was not in any way prepared for the outcome of the WACK auditions (post incoming) and actually did a pretty cruddy job of Weekendering this one. Apologies! It’s mostly video!

Anyway!

You know what’s nice about not really having been privy to Necromageddon 2020? Being subsequently completely unfazed by Necromageddon 2021:

Continue reading →

Team Homicidols Reacts … to the New BiSH Song!

/ Homicidol Maniac

The damn thing’s already been viewed more times than most idol groups can hope for their entire lifetimes’ video corpus, so I doubt that you aren’t aware of the new digital single from BiSH. Theme song? You betcha! Starring Atsuko? As it should! Kenta? Is there any other way?

Rather than do the usual thing, I thought I’d plagiarize the results of the Team Chat from yesterday and give you: Team Homicidols Reacts! Continue reading →

This Is (This) WILL-O”s Last MV

/ Homicidol Maniac

Other than I think one remaining closed fan event, the current system of WILL-O’ is done. No more releases (we already took care of that anyway), nada. I don’t know why I was surprised that they announced one final MV, these things being fairly standard, but I can proudly say that I knew exactly what it would be like when I saw the announcement!

The puzzle’s a really nice touch though

What’s next? Presumably a new regime at some future point, doubtlessly following in the same musical tradition. In the meantime, you may want to get caught up on your WILL-O’ video action, as they’re apparently deleting a ton of stuff off of the YouTube channel at the end of the month.

ATARASHII GAKKO!: Freaks, Out

/ DAEMON

ATARASHII GAKKO! dropped an MV for the new song “Freaks”, featuring Indonesian rapper Warren Hue and whole heya of sumo wrestlers.

Once again utilizing the square, Instagram-friendly aspect ratio, the members display mini-super powers as they battle sumo wrestlers in a battle to see who’s most goofy. Continue reading →

Homicidols Investigates: Osaka Shunkashuto

/ Homicidol Maniac / 2 Comments

You may have seen the news that, for the first time in more than four years, Osaka Shunkashuto* is losing a member. That’s sad for them! But it also rekindled a thread of discussion in Team chat last week about Syukasyun, about whether they are in fact still good or are now boring. I thought this warranted investigation!

Background: I loved Osaka Shunkashuto. During that formative I-want-to-hear-it-all period, my first exposure to them was the incomparable “C’mon!”. Of course I wanted to hear a lot more from them after that. Sure, the indie work wasn’t all hits, but that era of the group, doing fun rock covers and channeling throwback R&B and soul in a way that nobody else was while old boss Soezimax helped them develop gripping video content, they felt undeniable and inevitable.

You know who else loves Osaka Shunkashuto? Chris does. I recall that some of our earliest interactions were about the group, including during the period that I believe began in earnest only after they signed with Avex but maybe during the time with Fujiyama Project, which is when the shade began. Not from Chris; oh no, the man is a true believer. From me, you see, and I feel like my increasing frustration with the group that really began around the “New Me” single and definitely peaked with the SSFW album was perhaps a little too pointed and vocal, for Chris would chastise me for it. He would also insist that no matter how much kvetching I did, SSFW was in fact good and fun.

Nonetheless, this argument was broached against last week, when Chris asserted (no, I will not give you context) that if only we/I would give Syukasyun another chance (now, at least two years since I wrote them off forever), then we/I would see the truth. That this was asserted in the context of allowing that yes, the case was undermined by recent-est work, only served to embolden my commitment to the assertion that SSFW is boring. However, being the kind and generous and extremely handsome Maniac that I am, I deigned to quite literally hear the two competing arguments as to whether Osaka Shunkashuto is boring and then render a flawless, beautiful verdict that cannot ever be questioned.

Bring on the evidence! Continue reading →