Imagine having to debut as an idol during pandemic lockdowns. Idoling, as an industry, was unsurprisingly able to adapt to full-time virtual performances and lots of livestreams and the like, but those things are all much easier when you’re an act that people know about. Something with fans, like. Much less true for something that has been building toward a first public appearance but hasn’t so much as stepped onto a stage with an audience yet! Obviously a lot of units went on hiatus basically before they even officially launched; others went ahead and did what they could and made the most of it, and frankly those feel like the ones that made the smart decision.
This does bring us to AKIARIM, yes, who had a debut pretty much just as things were starting to go completely haywire but stuck it out and made it work after hitting the pause button and re-debuting in the summer after things had settled down a bit. Hence the anniversary tour and various other festivities all happening now! Among them:
They’re doing the single-per-month thing and just released their third:
Definitely go through their Spotify for the others
At the kickoff live for their anniversary tour, they also dropped an MV from this track off their debut EP:
And then for good measure published this from the live, too:
2021.6.24(土)
AKIARIM 1st ANNIVERSARY TOUR【MOST EMOTION GIGS】
@ 渋谷TSUTAYA O-WESTでの「ALL IS WELL」を公開!フルコーラスはこちら!
【定点CAM】AKIARIM「ALL IS WELL」@ 渋谷TSUTAYA O-WESThttps://t.co/15N5UvBmGX pic.twitter.com/M9lRVqCAb0— AKIARIM(アキアリム)六ヶ月連続配信リリース中! (@akiarim) June 27, 2021
And hell, it was the same week, let’s toss on this staff cam too:
So things are looking pretty good! I love a success story born out of global catastrophe, no matter how small.