BiSH

For pages and posts that relate to Brand-new Idol Shit (BiSH).

I’ll Definitely Take This Version of Kinder, Gentler BiSH

/ Homicidol Maniac / Leave a comment

I was so tired, you guys. Like you know when you reach a point where not even sleep seems like it’s going to get the job done, and what you really need is to remove any and all obligations from your schedule for a few days while you blissfully do absolutely nothing of import? That’s where I was yesterday! And I thought to myself, you know what, you still need to finish the week, but let’s keep the sideshows to a minimum and just chill when possible. No projects, no working out, no bringing the job home, no idol.

So of course on that last point I knew better immediately and thought out loud, “Right, and now watch BiSH or somebody drop another MV and then all your not-plans will be for naught.”

Silly, silly Maniac. If I’d been mindful in even the tiniest way, I’d have known that, yes, another BiSH release was looming, and with it likely something to talk about. They were pretty clear about the build for CARROTS and STiCKS — one EP each in April and May, and then the full album in June — and had already provided one MV as promo to prove it. Why was I sleeping on this?

Here we are, then. And can I admit that I had the most conflicted smash of the Play button of my entire life? The song title and general visual aesthetic put my mind right down the path of expecting yet another Kentacore ballad that would probably sound very cool and nice and possibly even powerful, like that style is at its best, but very much the same, and yeah, that blunts a lot of enthusiasm. On the other hand, their last lead song and MV were absolutely delicious and reinvigorated my old passion for the group, so I had to see where this landed one way or another, right?

Yeah. Continue reading →

BiSH Certainly Knows How to Make an Announcement

/ Homicidol Maniac / 1 Comment

Things have been quiet on the BiSH front lately, haven’t they? Sure, sure, they announced a big-ass new tour with an awesome theme, and they have all of the usual tie-ins and promoted merchandise and all that jazz, but … yeah, the thing that put BiSH on the map in the first place (their music) was kind of bereft of attention, and by all parties it seemed. It seemed.

Because what better day to near-guerrilla-drop a new album in a split concept over a 30-day span than April Fools’ Day?

Continue reading →

So You Will Be Able to Download New BiSH

/ Homicidol Maniac

Ah, BiSH. Or maybe, rather, “Ah, WACK”. Few things can get a Western wota het up easier than the hard side of idol’s big bad and its steady flagship, at once inimitable and sublime and a bunch of less complimentary things lately because why mess with your cash cow, you know? The BiSH members are always up to some kind of (well-compensated, no doubt) shenanigans these days, to the point that it’s easier to move around various live clips from big shows or catch an interview than it is to find new envelope-pushing music.

So heck, let’s put it all together! Continue reading →

Shade or Not Shade? Pour Lui’s Spin on BiSH

/ Homicidol Maniac

My friends, while idol is in many ways so akin to other performing arts, up to and including professional wrestling, the one thing that it so often lacks is real, true, genuine interpersonal drama between figures. Idols usually just ganbare-fist for photos and vow to do their best and applaud politely for everybody. It’s neat, and a neat feature, but also a little placid sometimes, especially for those of us who like some good ol’ fashioned beef between parties.

Who better to throw shade and get those hackles raised than OG idol shit-stirrer Pour Lui, who’s original BiS spared no sacred cows the occasional bit of grief? Yes, that’s the ticket. But at whom would she throw her shade, and in which way, and to what ends? And hell, considering how well-orchestrated things in idol tend to be, how can you tell what’s real shade from weak shade from goofy teasing of one’s friends, neighbors and senpai? Fortunately for us, and especially those of us who enjoy the munching of popcorn while pots are stirred, Lui got together with friends to do what can only be described as a BiSH diss video:

Oh man! That’s … that looks like shade! But is it shade? Continue reading →

It’s the Exciting Stuff We Yearn for, BiSH

/ Homicidol Maniac

Of course, who cares what I think when BiSH is absolutely raking in cash for WACK, and the train seems to only keep accelerating. Look, it’s another video game tie-in (like right after making fun of that)! They’re like in all of the media! Even more than they used to be!

“stereo future”, the single, is out in December, but we get the video today:

Or, humorously, they shared the link late last night before the video had even officially published, leading lots of people* into I-didn’t-read-the-tweet-shut-up confusion. But it’s not something to miss, so of course I was up early for the express purpose of winding up wishing that I hadn’t done that. Continue reading →

Nevermind, Ayuni D Has the Best BiSH Solo Project

/ Homicidol Maniac / 4 Comments

Did I know that former gas station attendant Ayuni D was being hooked up with a solo project? And, unlike Chitti and Aina, it’s a standalone EP? (/checks notes) I did not! It’s a total surprise! And yet, here we are, and the dang record drops tomorrow and oh my goodness where the hell has this song been?


Also, I didn’t know that she could play the bass better than me

You know, I spent all this time thinking that Aina’s various solo projects, and then Chitti’s getting one of the most legitimately nice songs that I’ve heard in a while, that these were harbingers of big changes. Hell, when Ayuni D joined BiSH two years ago, I said in some conversation elsewhere that those two were probably going to be the next to go, to seek greener pastures than idol stages, and that BiSH would be “Atsuko and Ayuni D’s group in a couple of years.” (Yeah, I remember that but I can’t remember … Anyway.) Continue reading →

Dang, Chitti, You Crushed It

/ Homicidol Maniac

Lo and behold, the first MV from that double A-side split solo single by (captain) Chitti and (center) Aina from BiSH has arrived! I felt good from the preview; the whole song and nice narrative video kind of makes me feel like I should be doing more with my life:

Does anybody else ever watch these moments in films and the like and think, there’s no way that’s real, nobody actually does that, also be careful because those sparks could probably burn a hole in your head, while also thinking, man, I’d really like to be doing that too? Asking for a friend. Continue reading →

Let’s Just Call It the Boss Single

/ Homicidol Maniac

In case it hasn’t been obvious, I’ve become a little bit of a BiSH skeptic over the past year or so — even my original support for the last single waned in retrospect. It grieves me, actually; my all-time idol top 10, regardless of whether it’s song-album-video-person-whatever, has BiSH all over it, and I remain an ardent supporter of the idea of BiSH and the incredible barrier-breaking potential that I think they have. This is why, even almost two years into a long run of mostly being disappointed by them, I get the giddies when they spin off new stuff, especially new stuff that appeals directly to my own biases!

That’s a split solo single for Aina — nothing new there — and the Captain herself. Continue reading →

Let’s All Agree to Only Let BiSH Do Sneaky Releases

/ Homicidol Maniac / 13 Comments

BiSH seems to thrive on stealth releases — folks were tweeting about a mystery CD single that popped up in record stores early today (Japan time):

Which for some reason I could only find a really recent photo

What could it be! Would there be an official announcement or anything? Several hours later, yes, of course, but also an MV! Continue reading →

WACK Wins by Having Nothing to Apologize For

/ Kerrie / 2 Comments

All of my reactions to WACK news lately seems to be along the lines of “well, that happened.”

It all started on Friday, with this foreboding billboard atop Shibuya’s famous 109 building:

“We haven’t done anything yet, but we apologize in advance?”

Well, that’s ominous. Granted, I can think of many things WACK should apologize for, but this is now. Well, the future. Eyebrows were raised. Questions were asked. Just what exactly is this future scandal WACK have had to apologize in advance for? It got even worse when Watanabe tweeted out the words many a WACK fan dread; “Announcement at 24:00.” There was panic, theorizing (mostly from me) when eventually, the fateful moment came. Continue reading →