The Mask Girls, Kamen Joshi, are not only 2016 Homicidols Corenament Final Four participants; they’re becoming a bigger deal all the time. Topping the charts is one way to do that, but so is getting how this whole idol thing can work for you, being visually compelling and musically addictive. Reader Tara44DD has been loading up Kamen Joshi’s profile comments, so let’s share with everybody and see if they aren’t prevalent in even more places right now.
Most notable is this Reuters slideshow:
I like how Nodoka’s like, “no, not the face,” when she’s one of the most photographed idols I’ve ever seen.
Tsukino Moa in a boat on a sea of people made this “Pictures of the Day” list from the Telegraph.
A version of the same also appeared in the Hindustan Times. I don’t know how big idols are in South Asia, but India in particular seems like it could be a very fertile market.
Thanx for posting. Obviously Reuters is a worldwide news source for many outlets, who subsequently copy & paste from them to fill pages. We continued to follow the progress of the article as it literally circled the globe,.appearing in several middle eastern countries, Africa. most asian countries and landing stateside on fox sports news in Wisconsin, S. Dakota, and several rock radio stations in Indiana and Tennessee. No big deal, Japanese underground idols regularly get global press attention, it must be KJ’s turn this week.
Fascinating. The New York Post went a step further and compiled a video. http://nypost.com/video/is-this-japanese-pop-group-cute-or-a-horror-show/?utm_campaign=SocialFlow&utm_source=NYPTwitter&utm_medium=SocialFlow The best quote came from the South China Morning Post stating, “With their masks and synchronized dancing, and music that mixes heavy metal riffing with saccharine interludes, the Masked Girls are the Slipknot of the J-Pop world”. But, like you said, no big deal, nothing to see here. Although I can’t recall which underground idol had their turn in the global press last week, but I certainly will be anxious to see whose turn it is next week.
It’s possible that KJ has the right combination of elements to rise above the fray and not be considered a Babymetal clone. Considering that other obvious clones are busy trying to be more “kawaii” than the other, KJ appears to be jumping ahead to a more mature level of visuals. When the young, western boys realize what’s lurking behind those masks and get a glimpse of Moa the heart bandit and hardbody Anna in a bikini, that may require a new label other than “kawaii metal.” Yes, they are cute, but sexy is a whole different ball game.Combined with the music, the choreo, the masks and chainsaws,the juxtapostions just multiplied immensely.
Something like this??? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qhp3AvJWWfo Hot Damn.What cars?? Didn’t see any cars. Speaking from a male perspective, and considering they’re all of the appropriate age, I say, bring on the sexy headbangers. In addition to the marketing angles you noted, I’ve seen many comments on Babymetal videos stating how great the music would be for anime. “Soul” is the opening theme from”Gackt”, where Moa, Misa, Anna, Erina and Nodaka do VO for the characters,in addition to their latest single which is also an anime theme. Seems as if they’re creating quite a recognizable brand and keeping in line with fun aspect of the genre.
Does the world need another, new sub-genre of metal? Why not. Like many words in Japanese, some have similar meanings depending on the context. Several words appear to mean “sexy” or “hot”,some don’t have that “roll off the tongue” appeal that westerners would readily adopt. However, one jumped out at me as somewhat of a westernized slang term to describe “sexy”. “Sekushii Metal” does have a nice ring to it, no?
Just in considering their size (numbers) and ability to work in a lot of different styles, I do have to think that they could become a Pretty Big Deal if they played to their strengths — or if they really want to. They could probably move a ton of branded merchandise in the West right now just thanks to the uniqueness, even if they made it an angle juxtaposed with Babymetal’s more metal-idol-next-door image. Or they could completely conquer Japan. At this point, the options are probably many and promising.
HaHaHa, Sekushii Metal, that’s GOLD!!!! Note to self : Contact copyright office asap. Register the term “Sekushii Metal” for future endeavors.Lyric Holic would fit that category as well. This entire genre is a playground for creative ideas where no stone will be left un-turned. We have young girl idols, teen idols, the elderly idols KBG84, dark idols and on and on and on.It appears as if our humble site host may forever be re-configuring or creating sister sites to accommodate all the niche’ categories. Let the insanity continue. LoL
Kamen Joshi is the best, I saw them a couple times live in June!! Had my pics taken with them & loved every minute of it!!