Phantom Siita is in the midst of their first world tour and, by all accounts, are drawing audiences from a pretty diverse mixture of subcultures. Members from the fandoms of Ado, anime/anisong, J-culture, and underground idol are all converging as the rookie unit exposes the world to their macabre yet elegant take on retro horror. The end result has been a lot of people getting exposed to alternative idol for the first time and rarely a day goes by lately that I don’t see a post on reddit or Discord along the lines of:
“I’ve become a really big fan of Phantom Siita. Are there any other dark-themed idol groups out there that I might like?”
The answer to this question is, of course, “Hell, yes.” Phantom Siita is one of the newest entries in a long, dark, rich (and, quite possibly, cursed) tradition of groups that lead, as Ado put it “…a heretical existence in the idol industry. Frightening and beautiful, making you want to reach out even though you know it’s scary.”
As a guide to those just now discovering the wonderful world of alternative idol (come on in! The gate’s wide open), and also to save the time and trouble of writing out a response every time the above inquiry get’s posted, here is a list of six deliciously dark idol units (and a few bonus entries) in order from oldest to newest. We will be focusing on active units only, although our first entry comes with a caveat.
NECRONOMIDOL
While they are currently on a years-long hiatus and have only one official member (Himari Tsukishiro), we could not make this list without including the OG Darkness Girls: NECRONOMIDOL. Founded in 2014, NECROMA became one of the most prominent units of the genre by combining dark wave, black metal, goth fashion, and inspirations direct from the mad mind of Cthulhu.
NECROMA has produced some of alt-idol’s most iconic images and songs of the past decade. It would be hard to have a Top Ten Songs list without their dark wave anthem, “Skulls in the Stars.”
And their MV for “ITHAQUA” is practically required viewing for entry into the genre.
Currently, the aforementioned Himari Tsukishiro is touring the world with her solo project Isiliel. If you love black metal, goth idols, and/or girls who can wield a sword she is definitely worth checking out. Visit her Twitter often as she tours constantly and may soon be heading for a town near you.
Jyujyu
Born just two months after NECROMA back in 2014, Jyujyu have been a dark and enduring presence in the genre except for a brief period when they disbanded (March 2022) and the establishment of their current system (July 2024). The group’s concept and themes are rooted in the word for curse: 呪 (“noroi”). They don a gothic lolita style and their music leans towards dramatic and progressive hard rock, post-punk, and metal.
The style and mood of Phantom Siita’s MVs are heavily reminiscent of Jyujyu’s bloody, alt-idol classic, “Noroi Hajime,” which is as much required viewing as “ITHAQUA” above.
Their sister unit, Cinder-ella is also definitely worth checking out.
XTEEN
Be sure to turn on safe search before Googling this unit, but emo, goth, horror punks XTEEN (pronounced “christine”) bring some B-movie camp to their gothabilly idol unit.
Ado dabbles on the edges of noise, hardcore, and some other of the more extreme genres, so I don’t think it is too much of a stretch to recommend some dirty punk to newcomers arriving via Phantom Siita. Just remember that this is the underground, where idols work second and third part-time jobs to make ends meet and not everyone has an agency or anisong superstar backing them with sky high production values. That’s nothing a punk idol would necessarily want anyway, but XTEEN does bring some prominent friends to the table like SAKI (Mary’s Blood and NEMOPHILA) who donates some heavy guitar riffs to their punkabilly cause.
As a bonus Himeka Himekasa of XTEEN moonlights as the excellent gothic lounge solo project, Heroine is Me xxx.
YA’ABURNEE
“Not Gothic, but Grotesque & Cute” idols, YA’BURNEE, came into the world in late 2023 with the theme of, “Part of the world is bleak and godforsaken.”
In their short existence they have been quite productive, releasing an EP, full album, several singles and scoring six Homicidols Best of the Year nominations as a rookie unit. Their music is not monogamous to any genre and draws from rock, acid jazz, and Eurobeat. Their Best Song of 2024 nominee, “Love Harassment” sounds like a straight-up, pop idol tune about perfect love until you realize it’s being delivered by bloody, baroque marionettes singing lyrics like, “I love you so much, I’ll sterilize you with boiling water.”
They also occasionally hold special lives called “Blood Festival Sanctuaries” where audience and idols alike get covered in (fake) blood. As they embark on their second year of existence, there’s still time to get in on the ground flood of this madness.
(Trigger warning; Self Harm)
Oiran Dochu
Oiran Dochu debuted just two short weeks after YA’ABURNEE, so they are also just entering their sophomore year. The unit takes their name from the Edo period practice (now re-enacted at festivals) where high ranking courtesans held processions through the streets to advertise their houses. While the group superficially represents themselves as a “Japanese culture unit,” the façade quickly disintegrates as their take on that culture, while beautiful, is decidedly dark.
Take “Kagome Uta,” with the lyrics:
No matter how gorgeously it is dyed, only sorrow glimpses in and out
It’s fine if you just sing cutely, just sing the spring like a skylark
“My budding love is the color of cherry blossoms”
A pitiful caged woman begs for food with a song.
As a bonus, at the center of Oiran Dochu is Miyako Akatsuki who veterans of this site will instantly recognize from the legendary punk idol units Guso Drop and BURST GIRL. There is literally no reason not to get behind this unit.
Mazari
The youngest group on this list, Mazari just debuted this past September. Their theme also revolves heavily around the concept of curses but it’s very difficult to sus out details as they use that old kanji that only Hanako-san can read. After the dissolution of their original agency, they emerged under the MAD’S iNK banner along with former agency-mates MAD MED (ex. MAD MEDiCiNE). While their catalog isn’t too deep just yet they show a massive amount of deep, dark potential. We are invested.
That’s just a sampling of what the dark and beautiful world of alternative, underground, and independent idol has to offer. For more recommendations, or to make recommendations of your own, please visit the Homicidols Discord Server.
