The local focus of idol is one of its charms, but also one of the stupidest ways to get idols who you nominally like lost in a shuffle. Me, I’m personally a big mark for Nagoya idols for some reason, with a lot of ancillary respect for Osaka. Of course you’re going to wind up doing a lot of Tokyo-area local stuff, too, when you start looking at idol, given that (pick a neighborhood anymore) is in one form or another an epicenter of idol culture.

Because you do that, see, and then you lose track of the good projects — sometimes it’s just one or two, honestly — in other big cities (Kyoto!) or prefectures (Ehime!), purely because the incessant drone of idol-related media and fandom doesn’t sound as loudly over those spots.

Which brings me to Yamaguchi and Yamaguchi Kassei Gakuen, or …

山口活性学園改めYamakatsu、地元山口の最大ホールでワンマン「ISHIN」 https://t.co/YIlvL9czt3 pic.twitter.com/AAlMYuWwfB

— 音楽ナタリー (@natalie_mu) January 23, 2018

Yamakatsu! I don’t know the exact reason for the name change, though I imagine that eight singles and, like, a long-ass time together will necessitate no longer having a pretend school affiliation. They’re more-or-less adults!

They made the big reveal at a one-man, ISHIN, which … frankly, I’m a little bit lost, because they have a November 2018 date circled for them to achieve a challenge to … reach the same venue? (Darn these terrible Japanese skills!). This also happened not recently, which goes to show what operating out of Japan’s version of Iowa will do to your visibility. What matters is said eighth single coming in April, and still being a big enough deal to be with Fujiyama Project, which you may associate with such acts as sora tob sakana and Osaka Shunkashuto, among others. Basically, a mid-major, like Perfect Music without any of Maniac’s personal obsessions attached.

So that’s cool. Phillter, the former Western world’s no-doubt-biggest fan of the Idols Formerly Known as Yamaguchi Kassei Gakuen, is no doubt having some feels.

Because it does most of you nothing to not have some context, here’s some context: During that ISHIN one-man, Yamakatsu unveiled a sequence of fan-favorite songs, which I guess had been voted on and ranked, and performed them; in other words, if you wanted to become a Yamakatsu fan, this is where you should start.

That’s a hell of a MIX

They were also part of Idol Koushien (again), so enjoy the set: