At the beginning of December 2021, I had the pleasure of attending the very first live of Buddha TOKYO. Here are my impressions about it!
We’ve talked before (briefly!) about Yumegiwa Last Girl and Yureru Landscape in our weekenders. These groups by Sainantan Tracks have impeccable music, even if we haven’t had time to properly cover them yet, and the company has outdone themselves again with their new group Buddha TOKYO.
While Yumegiwa Last Girl are “Strange pop” and Yureru Landscape were a chill hip-hop group, Buddha TOKYO are simultaneously Buddhist themed (hence the name) and doing neo-soul music/music from the UK in the early 2000s. This is expressed interestingly enough in their costumes, as they are sportswear inspired, with the classic striped look while having Buddhist elements such as the mala some members wear.
Onto the live itself: the unveiling live was free and had Yumegiwa Last Girl as the opening act. While I liked their music already, I was surprised by how impeccable they were live. The choreographies are very interesting, lots of pointing to involve the public, they have kind if dance offs between the two halves of the stage for some songs.
The public has impeccable clap calls that elevate the percussion/rhythm of songs like Yumegiwa and the voices are harmonious, with everyone hitting their notes. They feel very polished.
If you are a fan of Maison Book Girl, RAY or Yanakoto Sotto Mute, you should do yourself a favor and give them a chance, they will likely become a new favorite.
Surprisingly, that polish extends to their brand-new sister group. As it is a first live, you would expect some mess ups, but no. Everyone looked consistently SO COOL. Member RÄI_Lie, who per her twitter post is less experienced than the other members and feel very indebted to their teachings, was having the time of her life. Her smile is very contagious. M1co.png also grabbed my attention with her amazing looks and elegant floral arm tattoos. Their voices are entrancing. The other three members are also very charming, but the aforementioned two are the one who caught my attention the most.
The girls performed four songs. I honestly couldn’t wait for them to release an EP, first because I need to loop that and scratch the itch of re-listening to their songs, but secondly because I need you all to be able to hear this unique group. And then, for Christmas, we got that EP. You can listen to it here. I honestly have never heard anything quite like it. Their stage presence is great, but even if it wasn’t idol and the affective and visual dimensions weren’t involved, the music itself is solid enough that I would want to share it with non-idol fans as well.
They are setting the bar extremely high for other idol groups who will debut in 2022. Long live Buddha TOKYO!
