Jekyll and Hyde

Catching up with Jekyll x Hyde

/ Homicidol Maniac

Man, you guys remember Jekyll x Hyde? Or Jekyll and Hyde or & or however you want to style it. Management-san seems to like “x” these days, so that’s fine. But man, remember them? I wouldn’t be mad if you didn’t — I know that my last actual post about them was two full years ago, so unless you’re familiar thanks to some sporadic Weekender appearances, we certainly haven’t done much to bring them to your attention.

Now, I imagine that a few things have probably happened in, like, two years’ time, but frankly I got a bad back anymore, my days of diving deep into the Internet for random idol unit membership past info are in the past, so let’s just presume that membership=changed and maybe a fan or two can fill in the gaps. What clearly has not changed is that Jekyll x Hyde is one of the most reliably interestingly units in the game — musically, that is, and of course they are; they’re from Nagoya — and a recent spate of Papermaiden sort of re-discovering them for herself got me thinking that maybe it’s time for a refresher post.

So if you’re unfamiliar but you have a passing familiarity with foundational texts in English-language science fiction, you have probably sussed out that the group has some kind of tie to duality. And you’re right! They have a light side (Jekyll Mode) and dark side (Hyde Mode) and frankly they’re both just fine, so let’s survey some recent stuff. Continue reading →

It’s Alive! A New One from Jekyll and Hyde

/ Homicidol Maniac

Well if this isn’t a blast from the past! I don’t know how many of you guys recall when Jekyll and Hyde, my all-time favorite duality idols, was something that I tried to keep up with, but man, those were good times. What a group! They didn’t seem to release much stuff, but they performed constantly and lived in this corner of chika that always seems to produce quality acts that don’t quite crack through to a bigger presence. Most notably, though, they seemed to always be holding auditions, as if there were multiple side and sister projects planned. It was a trip.

And then things happened and directions shifted and before long I’d almost completely forgotten about the group. It’s been almost a year since the last thing, which was itself oddly similar to the thrust of this piece! Shame, Maniac, shame. Thank heavens for YouTube notifications, even when they’re several days late and seem to be completely devoid of context! But as soon as I realized what I was looking at, I knew that this was nothing to Weekender, but something to stick back out there to a group of people who are always hungry for more new idol and for whom this particular more idol just about is new — and in MV form!

Idols should always two-step

Man, that’s some frickin’ idolcore right there. What with all of the arthouse, alt-pop, post-rock whatever have you trends running through idol anymore, it’s awesome to hear a group killing a song in that particular vein of blendered genre-disregarding noise that made me so enthusiastic about this stuff in the first place. Nice hook, good vocals, punchy tune — you could do a lot worse, and they didn’t do bad at all!

So what is J&H up to anymore? Well, despite being down to two members (from their previous, like nine), they unveiled this sucker at their one-man a few weeks ago. This member business appears to be a calculated and fairly recent development at that, though, as photos from said one-man will indicate. Those kinds of changes are usually indicative of trouble, so maybe that’s the whole point of the MV. I don’t know! It’s been ages since I was invested in J&H, so I’m even less on top of things in this case than I am with most of the things in idol that I’m not at all on top of anymore! If you have details, they’re very welcome in the comments!

And, Finally, Jekyll and Hyde Anew

/ Homicidol Maniac

Man, John isn’t kidding about it being forever since there was another going on with Jekyll and Hyde, a significantly underrated and underappreciated unit out of Akiba. It’s not that they aren’t constantly performing and releasing live video and stuff — it’s that, well, it’s the same stuff on long-term repeat. Not a bad formula in the scene, but tough for filthy gaijin like us to connect with.

I guess they did something new! Take it away, John:

I have not talked about Jekyll and Hyde for quite some time, like 18 months. They are not one of the acts that folks think about when talking about non traditional idols. How about a look at these song samples mentioned in the title.

via Jekyll and Hyde Have Some New Songs To Sample — Straight From Japan

The Duality of Idol: Jekyll and Hyde

/ Homicidol Maniac / 1 Comment

While we continue to prep for Halloween, it’s no surprise that the world of idol is in no way short of appropriately themed performers. But for every on-the-nose-we-are-zombies-okay, you get something as — well, I was going to say “refined,” but let’s go with “higher concept” — higher concept as Jekyll and Hyde (Twitter).

Disclosure: I in no way understand the photography on their website

Cute by day, violent by night. Exactly half of that describes me in particular!

“HELL YOU DEAD END” short

Oh, yes. Continue reading →