Homicidols

Why Didn’t Anybody Say It Was February? Happy Birthday to Us!

/ Homicidol Maniac

Well … okay, so it’s mid-February, actually. But yeah, February 1, 2016, was the day I chose to flick the lights on for this ol’ website. I’d been “building it” for several months at that point, collecting assets and planning out a content strategy and the like, and then started writing a backlog of posts in October 2015. I hadn’t quite sussed out how Idol Twitter worked, nor had I found more than a handful of other Westerners to try to connect to, but I had a mission and a fairly decent idea of how to accomplish it.

On that first day, I think I had something like 5 total page views, and they were frankly probably all bots and/or people googling “Kuromiya Rei”. Because I have a background in analytics, I’d hover over the numbers in the early going, checking in at least once per day, trying to measure what did and didn’t work, what people did and didn’t seem to respond to. Not so much because I was trying to have a Popular Idol Blog or anything, but because dammit, I’m actually kind of a professional, and if I was going to do this thing I was going to do it right. There was an objective, after all: LEVERAGE WESTERNERS’ GROWING FASCINATION WITH BABYMETAL TO GET THEM TO LIKE BIS AND STUFF TOO.

I have no idea if that was ever actually successful. Yeah, there are anecdotes from people who are like “I saw a thing on YouTube and liked it and Googled it and I found your website and now I have a Zenkimi tattoo,” but how many are there really. My personal measure of success was always going to be whether a handful of certain acts came to the Americas and/or Europe/West Asian/Africa to perform, and while we’ve been so graced to welcome NECRONOMIDOL and Yukueshirezutsurezure and Oyasumi Hologram and 2& and Yanakoto Sotto Mute and even Chiaki, bless her, to Western shores*, I am shamed to say that not a one of the groups that I originally tagged for U.S. appearances has actually done so yet despite some of them being fairly significant acts not just in Japan but elsewhere in Asia.

So has the project failed? In that regard, it really has! But with five full years under our belts, and really just an absolute ton of development in idol and the fandom and even how casuals connect to it, I think that’s worth talking about a little, no? Continue reading →

The 2019 Homicidols Year in Review in Review

/ Homicidol Maniac / 1 Comment

Well, we made it. Despite enough tumult to sink even the steadiest of ships, loud idol and the international fan community that supports it have made it to the point where we can close the book on the humdinger that was 2019, take stock of what we just experienced and look ahead to what I think we all pray is a more positively oriented 2020.

Before we get too into the meat, we here at Homicidols Dot Com felt that it was appropriate to share this memorial video to the fallen, as composed by Daemon in an act of true devotion to heartache.

Continue reading →

A Very Homicidols Christmas Carol

/ Homicidol Maniac

Have a great day, everybody! We here at Homicidols wanted to give you all something very much how we do things to help you power through the family visits or car rides or even complete disconnect from this particular cultural tradition. Consider this collection of Christmas-related idol (and whatnot) stuff our gift to you!

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Your Homicidols Best of 2019

/ Homicidol Maniac / 1 Comment

Well, folks, you did it: After a nice fuckton of feedback and then three rolling rounds of voting, we got down to your collective community picks for the Best of 2019. There are loads of differences between the first time I did this and now, not the least of which being the level of sophistication and organization in the process, but it all comes back to the whole purpose of this site: To build a community that gives people who aren’t Japanese an easier way into the idol world and a quicker route to understanding — and supporting — these incredible performers. This year’s award winners really sum up that last part, too, I think, because while 2019 isn’t going to be remembered all that fondly by most folks, it was in fact full of great work, memorable people and big developments in this world we love in common.

Without further ado! Continue reading →

Your Homicidols Best of 2019 Ballot #3

/ Homicidol Maniac

Thank you all who voted so far in the Best of 2019 — we have one final ballot to release. Folks are showing up left and right to support their favorites, very literally one of the most gratifying things I’ve seen all year. You all love your idols without a doubt, as it should be.

Ballot #1 is now closed, #2 closes at midnight or thereabouts, and this one will close after tomorrow. We saved some of the best hardware for last, so flex those voting muscles and call your friends and tell them to get in here! Continue reading →

Your Homicidols Best of 2019 Ballot #2

/ Homicidol Maniac / 3 Comments

Dang, you guys are really cracking at these ballots! After just one day on Ballot #1, we’re already well on a pace to break the all-time participation record in the Best Of, and I don’t even have door prizes to give out this year! Same situation today as yesterday: Vote, do it honorably, and gnash your teeth over those who just barely didn’t make the cut as finalists.

#1 closes after today, and this one will close after tomorrow, which is also when #3 goes live for its two days in the sun. Who’s going to shock the world and take home hardware that nobody would have expected? Probably nobody because this is a popularity contest! Continue reading →

Your Homicidols Best of 2019 Ballot #1

/ Homicidol Maniac

Here we go! Ballot #1 up and ready for action. The community votes are what make up the official Best Of, so take this entirely too seriously and get your friends involved. Rules? There are no rules! Actually just kidding: The prevailing “respect other people” vibe that goes into The Rules around here pertains, of course, and as a result ballot-stuffing will result in things being invalidated. We have our ways of knowing!  Continue reading →

Your Homicidols Best of 2019 Voting Primer

/ Homicidol Maniac

Hell yeah, it’s everybody’s least favorite part of the year again! That’s right — it’s time for community voting in the Homicidols Best Of 2019! Or, more accurately, right now it’s not yet time to vote: It’s time for Maniac to ponderously explain the convoluted process by which you will vote, dampening both your enthusiasm and expectations! Continue reading →

Inspiration, Perspiration: The New Homicidols Dot Com

/ Papermaiden

It is never too late in the year to start taking good habits. And this year is no different.

Burnt out by the massive graduations that have befallen our fandom, Team Homicidols was looking for the best way to get those sweet, sweet endorphins to go on with our lives.

From here on out, Homicidols is a fitness-focused website with a theme of idols. Idols’ hard work is nothing if not inspiring, and you need to stay fit to keep these shows going!

Expect apparel reviews, workouts and more!

Let’s get sweating!

Three Years Later, How Is This Still a Thing?

/ Homicidol Maniac / 2 Comments

Well, happy birthday to Homicidols Dot Com, I guess! That was yesterday, if you’re keeping score at home, but I wasn’t in the mood to finish this thing that’s been in the works for a few weeks, so let’s do it a day late and pretend it’s because the cake needed to be replaced or something.  Continue reading →