Your Homicidols Weekender #310

I apologize for the low energy this week, but I have an excuse. I’m sick. I’ve been home recovering from the (non-COVID) bug I picked up during my recent travels, but living vicariously through all of those out there on the road seeing out favorite idols up close. It looks like people had a great time with Isiliel up at IDOLFEST. And congrats to everyone who could make it to Atlanta on short notice and hang out with BPM15Q this weekend.

In other news, the PLANCK STARS controversial competition where the member with the highest sales got a bike and the lowest had to debut in AV has concluded. Now that the internet has moralized, pontificated and collectively gotten their self-righteous knickers in a twist about it, the results have been announced. The member who sold zero tickets and will make their AV debut is… Puri-chan, the shiba inu (Zarunrun, the monkey, also had zero sales so they went by seniority). I hope the puritan hipsters had fun freaking out on Twitter about a unit that’s notorious for outrageous pranks. Idol is serious business. Continue reading

Reader’s Best: Richard’s Top Ten Favorite Idol Songs of All Time

Welcome to the 20th entry in our Reader’s Best series. We’re in the home stretch now. Thank you again to everyone who participated. Way back in the beginning I mentioned how the submissions ran the gamut, from entries with descriptions as simple as, “This tune slays!” up to songs lists accompanied by essays complete with footnotes. While most of our song lists have leaned towards the former, we’ve now come to the submission that most closely aligns with the latter gross exaggeration.

Today’s chapter is from Richard (aka Richimetal over on the Homicidols’ Discord server) and it is close to being a novella. This is not a complaint. Anyone who can crank out 2,300 words about their favorite idol songs is definitely going to endear themselves to the Homicidols heart. If they’re not careful, they may find themselves writing idol blogs posts on a regular basis, and therein lies the path to madness (or, at least, to the complete loss of all free time).  Continue reading

Your Homicidols Weekender #309

I picked the wrong time to go on vacation. While I was running around the Southwestern US this past week with little access to robust wifi, all sorts of unexpected news (like Candye♡Syrup staging a surprise reunion), surprise A-list releases, and inexplicable idol shenanigans (I’m looking at you, PLANCK STARS) were lighting up my feed. I’ve spent the last couple of days trying catch up, but it’s a losing battle. Luckily, I have both Team and the denizens of the Homicidols’ Discord server to help keep me informed, but the biggest news was hard to miss.

No one was expecting a BPM15Q reboot in 2022, much less a Stateside performance, but that’s exactly what’s happening. Rinahamu and nicamoq didn’t give us much notice, but if you can find your way to Altanta next week, you can witness the US debut of these two legends.

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Reader’s Best – RED:DOT’s SUKU & Carrythezero’s Top Ten Favorite Idol Songs of All Time

We keep the Reader’s Best series rolling with two lists curated by Carrythezero and Pepjin (RED:DOT’s SUKU) Klaassen. These two share an affinity for both classic alt-idol songs and tracks by some of the best new units around. These may be the first lists to include multiple tracks that might see a nomination in the upcoming Best of the Year polls, so pay close attention!

Let’s go!! Continue reading

Your Homicidols Weekender #308

Welcome to the weekend! I’m actually writing this week’s blurb on Thursday night since I’m traveling tomorrow (Friday) so I can spend the next few days following BAND-MAID around on the Southwestern leg of their US tour. The States have been quite blessed lately with an influx of Japanese artists dropping by for the first time in quite a while. First it was MELON BATAKE A GO GO back in September. Next we get SENANAN, Miyako and Rinchama in Texas plus Isiliel along the West coast in November, Hanako-san in LA in December, Planck Stars is coming in early 2023 and now, Broken By the Scream has announced they will be returning to our shores in February:

Before we all run out and get a second job so we can afford all this travel, let’s look back on what happened this past week: Continue reading

Reader’s Best: Ash’s Top Ten Favorite Idol Songs of All Time

We’ve had a lot of big news dropping lately and the potential blog posts are backing up around here. Still, I don’t want anything to get in the way of the next entry in our Readers Best series if, for no other reason, than we want to make sure we get through everybody’s submissions before Christmas.

Speaking of presents: today’s top ten list is curated by Ash and it is another deep dive into rare tracks, B-sides and album cuts. It also features the debut appearance of a couple of these artists in our Readers Best exercise. I’m pretty sure you’ll make at least one new discovery from this collection so, let’s go!! Continue reading

BABYMETAL’s Back. Tell a Friend.

Twelve months-and-a-day after sealing themselves away from the world, BABYMETAL have completed their restoration and announced their imminent return from hiatus.

Unfortunately, it looks like restoration didn’t include refurbishment of the Yuibot.

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SENANAN and a Mini-BURST GIRL/Guso Drop Reunion Coming to the US

SENANAN is returning to the US and bringing Miyako (HINAGAKU. and ex. BURST GIRL and Guso Drop) and  Rinchama (Sentimental Shishunki and ex. BURST GIRL and Guso Drop) along with her. The three will be appearing at Oni-con XIX in Galveston, Texas, November 11th through the 13th. SENANAN will be representing Tokyo street fashion brands KRYclothing and XRN. Rinchama and Miyako will be working as models for XRN and also performing a mini-live, reuniting as performers for the first time since departing BURST GIRL. Continue reading

The Unstoppable Force That Is Himari Tsukishiro And Isiliel

In her eight years of activity, Himari Tsukishiro has proven herself one of the most determined chika idols in the business; having recently claimed the title of longest-reigning NECRONOMIDOL member, overseeing more member switches than your average football coach, her admitted refusal to take a day off, and in just the last few years, branching into stage acting and a solo career, the latter of which recently commemorated its first anniversary. There are many reasons why Himari has become one of the most recognizable and prominent figures in the alt-idol fandom, and her sheer willpower and dedication in a notoriously-volatile industry is one of the most overlooked.

And yet, I know I wasn’t the only one who worried about her future upon the announcement of NECRONOMIDOL’s hiatus two months ago. While she reassured us that she wouldn’t be gone for too long, the fandom rippled with uneasy deliberations of “But what if this is it?” Lucky for us, though, Himari kept to her word, with the announcement of a US tour beginning later this month. But that wouldn’t be the last we’d hear from her.

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Your Homicidols Weekender #307

Cal here doing the blurb. I had my first gauntlet of university classes this week, so I’ve been adjusting to “not spending all of my time consuming idol content constantly” and instead, “being a productive human being.” I actually had a parody of idol graduations planned for an article, starting with a notice about Homicidols member activity and having me apologize for drunkenly tweeting at 3am. But instead of graduating, it’s enrollment! I put Homicidols on my university application and now, I go to a very, very good school for Japanese studies. One of the best in the world. I really wouldn’t be here without constant support and feedback from all of you so… thank you. Idols are my passion, so it really isn’t an exaggeration to say i’m at school because of Homicidols.

I really won’t ever graduate from Homicidols too, even if I get busy. In fact, I want to use learning Japanese to be able to take things to a new level here. In two years when i’m in Japan for my international year, i’ll try and interview idols and producers as much as I can. 約束します!

But what happened with those beloved idols this week? Well:

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