members

Yuna :*(

/ Homicidol Maniac / 1 Comment

Got to wake up to very bad news this morning. I’ll thank Papermaiden for messaging it without trying to soften the blow: “Yuna out of PassCode.”

It’s been a few years since Yuna first went on hiatus due to an ovarian cyst, and the way her and management’s statement reads, the pressure of performing eventually just got to be too much. You know she was taking a break from the STRIVE tour over the last several weeks — a break that in retrospect feels more like “take a few weeks off and think about it” than “get your rest” — so I can’t blame her for not feeling like coming back was the way to go. Continue reading →

Oyasumi Hologram Lives!

/ Homicidol Maniac

Last year’s devastating loss of Hachigatsu-chan felt like it would be curtains for Oyasumi Hologram. Yes, it was clear that the project would have some legs going forward (those videos of Kanamil and Ogawa made it clear), and arguably OYSM could have become a solo project of Kanamil’s and probably nobody would have batted an eye. And frankly, any continuation was going to be a good one, and so really could have come in any configuration. This, though? This goes far beyond anything I would have expected.

The “OYSM5” name they were using for the gig should have been the deadest of giveaways; also, hi Janice

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PIGGS’s First Single Is Really Driving Something Home for Me

/ Homicidol Maniac / 1 Comment

Yeah, first, I know. But it’s true! PIGGS has only released excellent longer-play material so far; “T.A.K.O.” drops a week from today as the official first single of Pour Lui’s emeritus project.

I’ll tell you: I had no idea what to say about it! You can only complete so many permutations of “it good” before you run out of ways to put some kind of spin on a piece, and “it good” is just padding in a very similar way to how I’m padding out this sentence to increase the post length and give you all some extra bang for your buck. So let’s get it out of the way and talk about something that did strike me, maybe meaningfully, while watching this sucker.

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This Is (This) WILL-O”s Last MV

/ Homicidol Maniac

Other than I think one remaining closed fan event, the current system of WILL-O’ is done. No more releases (we already took care of that anyway), nada. I don’t know why I was surprised that they announced one final MV, these things being fairly standard, but I can proudly say that I knew exactly what it would be like when I saw the announcement!

The puzzle’s a really nice touch though

What’s next? Presumably a new regime at some future point, doubtlessly following in the same musical tradition. In the meantime, you may want to get caught up on your WILL-O’ video action, as they’re apparently deleting a ton of stuff off of the YouTube channel at the end of the month.

All the Zenkimi Things

/ Homicidol Maniac / 1 Comment

Following the demise of Yukueshirezutsurezure and some membership turnings-over in KAQRIYOTERROR both building on the absolute tumult that was Zenbu Kimi no Sei Da last year, I think it would be fair for fans to wonder what all might be going on over at Codomomental HQ. Yeah, between akugi and Tokyo Tefutefu there are interesting new things afoot, but this is idol and for all we know they could self-destruct in a matter of of weeks — Tsurezure and Kaqriyo and Zenkimi are much more established quantities. And so it was that when the phone buzzed for a solid 10 seconds’ worth of notifications coming in under Zenkimi’s byline, of course I was a little concerned.

But as it turns out, at least for now, it’s all good! Continue reading →

Vivid Chicken Goes out in Style

/ Homicidol Maniac

You know how when you have particular plans to do a thing but before you start the thing you give the ol’ TL a visit, and then you see people referring to another thing and that thing is actually kinda more interesting than the first thing, so you shift gears and decide to do the new things instead of the old thing? That’s enough stretching out that sentence. Yes, that was today, just know, when I saw this MV (released today!) from Vivid Chicken (it’s been a minute since I posted about them in a real thing!) and gave it a spin and immediately thought you’d really like it:

That’s a lot of fun! I love a lot of things, two of which immediately pertain to this song, and they are punk anthems and idols. Smash ’em together? Even if the idols in question don’t typically do punk anthems? That’s a tasty burger, friends. And if the meat and cheese are good and the jalapenos are grilled as opposed to plain? Tasty, spicy and filling. This is some beautiful vintage stuff. Man, I really ho–

What? Continue reading →

Let’s Discover Some Idols: REBEL REBEL

/ Homicidol Maniac

I had wanted to do another Let’s Discover today, but a thing happened and I felt like the opportunity was too good to waste, so instead here we go.

“Ah, POP iD” would go the standard-issue entry point to this post, for it is the exact mood, “nothing says loving like your intrepid dedication to rock-themed-and/or-adjacent idol groups, for which I am forever in your debt.” While that’s a perfectly cromulent (and correct) opening sentence, this one goes a little bit differently, because it was fellow POP iD enthusiast Chris who discovered these idols and talked about them in the Team chat recently, and so I made a point of following up with REBEL REBEL (Twitter) at some near point of convenience. They debut next week, like really for real, but the other day dropped their first tune, which is a doozy: Continue reading →

Making Sense of More Change in Zenbu Kimi no Sei Da

/ Homicidol Maniac / 2 Comments

In part ignore the title on this one because I’m not actually trying to make any sense of this news for you; this is my way of working through an unhappy thing in my head and subjecting you to the process via blog post. You’re welcome.

So a couple of days ago, you likely saw the announcement from Zenkimi that, to add insult to injury following their hiatus-and-also-two-members-are-leaving announcement from, what, a month? two months go, dropped the biggest bombshell to date:

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Lots of Change Is Afoot for the Various Up Up Girls

/ Homicidol Maniac

I take no credit for this — Kerrie brought it up in chat and I just stuck it into the queue so as to have pieces in one place, to which Kerrie responded “OH GREAT YOU DO IT” and thus does one the least well-versed-when-it-comes-Up-Up-Girls-at-least people is the bearer of what is almost assuredly some degree of bad news, but these things do always depend on perspective.

So! Yesterday, Up Up Girls announced that, following a big-ass outdoor live on the 26th, the old regime will be no more and a new regime will rise.

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Arrow Heart Is Still Alive and You Need to Appreciate That

/ Homicidol Maniac

Who among you who regularly read ol’ Homicidols Dot Com in the early days, when I posted any and everything and marveled at the very ability of idols to exist on this mortal plane, are still around to reminisce with me? Ah, the glory days, when Alice Project fanboys sock-puppeted their way to … something, and we did stupid things purely for the sake of trying something new. And, pertinently, they were the days when I was blown away in so many ways by the persistent presence of a little idol project called Arrow Heart.

Listen to this! I’d do anything for a clean recording to really appreciate it — as Phillter (remember Phillter?!) once put it, they’re basically FRUITPOCHETTE sans some polish. And the neat thing about idols, you don’t need them to rock the hell out to appreciate them, as demonstrated: Continue reading →