Ladybaby Will Live(?)

Color me somewhat surprised — after Rei unceremoniously split and Rie started up on her solo project, I was among those who thought that Ladybaby, of whatever iteration, was as good as dead. Yes, this is idol, and humans are interchangeable parts, and Ladybaby management has been pretty cutthroat about personnel in the past, but still.

So then imagine how hard the coffee shot out of my face when I read this:

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My Response to Rei Leaving Ladybaby May Surprise Many

As it turns out, Kuromiya Rei’s taking a break from Ladybaby performance due to throat issues was a more ominous development than anybody reckoned; for that and other reasons, she’s withdrawing, and the whole Ladybabyverse is in an absolute tizzy:

Rei: Out immediately. Rie: Wait and see. Ladybaby: On hiatus, but effectively done. Continue reading

Hey, You Guys Want a Surprise Ladybaby Song?

Look this thing just kind of happened!

It’s a limited delivery! It’s available for download! If you want it, go and get it!

Oh, So This Is What That New Ladybaby Was All About

Okay, fess up: Who else saw the title “Pinky! Pinky!” and thought the song would be about something along the lines of, I don’t know, some fashion thing or even just something else generally kind of cute, potentially dark-cute, whatever. I ask because I’m going to call you a liar if you try to convince me that you definitely thought it was a reference to a blood oath made via pinky swear and came packed with a video featuring a violent escape from a distopic school?: Continue reading

Here’s That Stuff about the New Ladybaby Single, Finally

I swear, The Idol Formerly Known as Ladybaby’s management has some kind of allergy to just doing Twitter normally and I sat and sat and waited for some kind of anything like a “hey, our third single is coming out and it’ll be lots of fun and you should buy it on this date!” tweet or Facebook announcement or anything, and the world straight passed me by and I guess this’ll have to do:

Natalie.mu. Details! Viz Major also located the track: Continue reading

Fashion Fortnight Flash #1

Hello friends! Maniac here. Papermaiden had such a good time with that NSLE interview that I said, pitch me an idea for something that you’d like to write regularly, and she said, I want to write about fashion and stuff, and I said, knock yourself out, I bet people will like that. So give it a read and let her know what you think!

Welcome to Fashion Fortnight. In this bimensual column, you’ll find a (very self-indulgent) summary of what happened with idols in their para-musical jobs related to subculture and modelling. You may think of the Flash-type columns as a way to assemble all the great visual publications you’ve missed because you weren’t looking! In the Fashion Fortnight Features, you’ll find (most likely self-indulgent as well) more focused investigations into a specific topic or item that has been all the rage and is related to our beloved Homicidols.

Without further ado, get the links and some previews after the jump! Continue reading

Familiar Faces in Unexpected Places for This Tuesday WTF

Good morning, fellow disciples of the cute and disturbed! It’s Papermaiden, back for a second punctual post before I finally am on top of my things and starting my own column every fortnight or so.

This week, we’re doing something a little different, graciously sponsored by The Ender Partner talent at finding really dubious stuff on the Internet.

So Partner the End drags my overworked ass in front of the TV, asking me for 25 minutes of my time to show me something he refuses to disclose anything about. Here we are, watching a guy (King Lionel) trying to become an Internet celebrity. His whole act is based on parodying either pop songs or remixing children traditional songs to make them sound like club anthems. He managed to land a deal for a show sponsored by the Ontario French Television network on the web and their cable network. In this episode, he was invited by a Japanese management company who just wanted to meet him and he uses this trip to make himself known to the general public.

But the bit that interests us starts right here:

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I’m Pretty Okay with ‘LADY BABY BLUE’

I didn’t intentionally not do anything with the latest video from The Idol Formerly Known as Ladybaby yesterday; one only has so much time, and priorities and juggling and whatnot, but I enjoyed having the bonus of perspective from people’s reactions to this one:

The first thing, obviously, is that it doesn’t really sound like a regular Ladybaby song, you know? Continue reading

Inside the Homicidol Mind: Kuromiya Rei on Being Idol

Happy Monday, amigos. Seeing as how quiet things had been lately in the idolverse, I had originally intended to make today a little introspective, a chance to look inward into the minds of the people who provide the entertainment that we all love so much. But now we can do that across a couple of days intead!

Today’s entry is none other than Kuromiya Rei, who was interviewed for IDOL AND READ a few months ago. Kayseur put together a very thorough translation for the piece, which runs the gamut from idle talk about relationships to her feelings about Ladybeard and her broad musical career, among a number of other topics.

On addressing her past

You can’t convey all of your feelings through text alone. Aren’t social networks nothing but a place to flatter your ego? Text isn’t enough, if you want to talk, you can just come meet me after our lives during the goodies sales, and if you can’t come, just call me out in the street! Judging people on looks alone isn’t very pretty. There are times when I talk a bit harshly and some where my tweets are a bit extreme, but I don’t want people to look at my words, I want people to look at the real me. I don’t want to be judged on my past, that’s why I deleted all of my tweets.

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The Newest Ladybaby Is Almost There

I didn’t have a good opportunity to get this added yesterday, but Terry (not John!) did, and you all may as well get your material that way. And it’s Thursday Hurtsday, and why not shoehorn in a little death pop for old time’s sake? My only complaint: TIFKAL needs to cool it with the piped-in man-voice, as it sounds increasingly ridiculous. We’re going to get that with Deadlift Lolita; time for Rie and Rei to move on.

Another day another YouTube notification……and look who it is the ladybaby girls! feels like only yesterday we got to enjoy their MV for the B side “Easter Bunny” from their next single. Now they are back with the main dish “Pelo” already! an boiii does this song have some nice guitar licks (pun intended)

via The Idol Formerly Known As LADYBABY – Pelo MV — Straight From Japan