Wrapping up the year’s best always comes with a strong exhalation. Relief. It’s a lot of work to get all of the gears moving, and I’m really just an administrator in the whole thing — poor Kerrie, for instance, even in prior years when she was “just” handling the art and stuff, really has the brunt of it fall on her. This year, she really took over, and Team got uniquely involved, and let’s crib a little bit from Kerrie’s own personal take on the year to explain:

In a vain attempt to keep everything in order and slightly less chaotic than previous years (although lets be honest, Best-Of season is always chaotic) I operated a special record for all Homicidols contributors and friends to add whatever happenings in alt-idol they pleased throughout the year, to make sure nothing got forgotten. Then at the end of the year, we got you, readers, to help us fill any missing gaps! Thankfully, most of your contributions were already in the shortlist, so there probably wasn’t too many hiccups. And what resulted was more varied nominations, a more efficiently managed Best Of list than ever, all with the exact same amount of reader salt over “But why isn’t ____ here!?”

Well done, you goofy weeb

But you don’t care about process — you’re here for winners. And I’m going to give them to you! Tomorrow, I’ll be sharing Team’s takes, which it may or may not surprise you both overlap and hilariously deviate from what you’re about to see, which are the official winners. This is a community effort, and these are the community results:

Annual Babymetal Memorial Letdown of the Year: Yuimetal-mageddon

Is it correct that Babymetal has won every Letdown of the Year award in the history of Homicidols.com? Yes. No! Kerrie tells me the first was SiS. I’ll be damned. But is it true that they’ve kind of always earned it? Also yes. Is it additionally true that, by almost any other standard, Babymetal smokes the competition in actually being great and super active? Why, yes! And hence this is the one time that giving this one out really stings — Yui was as original a figure in loudol as anybody, and her disappearance at the end of last year (plus subsequent remaining invisible!) was handled about as poorly as possible by Amuse. We don’t even get to say goodbye, which is itself as big a letdown as the uneventful graduation.

Surprise of the Year / Saddest Departure of the Year: Sari and Hina Departing NECRONOMIDOL

So bear with us a second because you put these two logical conclusions together and it makes a ton of sense, so why the hell are they different? Because Sari graduating was a bigger surprise than Hina, I guess, but everybody’s on board with hating to see the two of them go, period.


 

Debuts of the Year: BURST GIRL and Pour Lui

What the crap, you guys! Debuts are supposed to be for new things, not almost all of a group sort of re-branding and even sometimes doing their old songs, and the grandest dame of them all surprisingly joining up with some old friends after leaving the project that she founded that basically founded everything. I get it, though; these do count, and they’re worth bringing up.


 

Collaboration of the Year: tipToe. + Dots

We had ourselves a brief chat when I shared the results yesterday, with the consensus being that this is the biggest surprise in the whole selection. But you know what? I’ve noticed that our little idol singularities tend to have a much broader base of support than would be immediately obvious. And, for those fans who are into idols, period, beyond just the loud ones, tend to dig on tipToe’s dreamy little sound. So it ultimately makes sense that a record that combines the best of both groups would get a lot of love.

Performance of the Year: THERE THERE THEREs — a never-ending poor soil

Come on. It’s legendary idols in a rambunctious collision with adorable children. The various Western tours and the whole TIF business and whatnot, those were great moments, but nothing will ever top raven-winged weirdos dancing around with little kids.

Most Poised to Break Through in 2019: Gu-Gu LULU

The extent to which people were exorcised by this category was amazing. Almost as much as Gu-Gu LULU taking it in a walk. Yes, in Aqbi’s weird year of extreme highs, lows and returns, it was Ayano’s dropping the solo project to take up with a new BRGH-esque group sprinkled with chika veteranosity that folks saw not as the year’s best debut, but the debut best poised to become a big deal next year.

B-side of the Year: “Burnable Garbage”, THERE THERE THEREs

What a run by Aqbi! In truth, I think people were more upset about “SOIL” itself not being a shoo-in for song or single than almost anything else, and especially so when this (awesome) track showed up in the B-sides category. Tell you what, though: If you can honestly name a better one, I’ll buy you a Coke.

Song of the Year: “Original Satire”, Kaqriyo Terror Architect

This was a significant surprise, not because KTA didn’t have a great year, but because I thought they had more notable tracks, and I thought they’d get washed out by some others in this very heavy category. Nonetheless, they got here on merit; could Cultural Mixing have the same level of impact?

Single of the Year: “STRANGE AEONS”, NECRONOMIDOL

Get used to seeing this! Necroma was the runaway winner of last year’s Best Of, and this is the point where they begin to emerge as dominant for 2018, too. This one may have been bolstered by the late-arriving MV and, in true NECRONOMIDOL fashion, a B-side that could put you in the grave.

Video of the Year: “STRANGE AEONS”, NECRONOMIDOL

I– Well, it could have been predicted, and I’m not referring to just now finding out that the song led the year’s winning single release. Necroma videos are always in the mix here, and that’s for the simple reason that nobody makes better video more often. First clean win, though. A more recent release likely helped out!

EP of the Year: Identity Crisis, Kaqriyo Terror Architect

Interesting note about Codomomental groups: They’re always nominated for the big awards, but they never win. This year, though, their newest arrival is leading the charge and showing what might well be a different kind of loudol future. Identity Crisis, released late in the year, was the kind of follow-up record that cements a newer group’s legacy as something to follow, hard.

Album of the Year: VOIDHYMN, NECRONOMIDOL

This may have been the most loaded category this year, ironic considering that I was complaining loudly to Team that it was a weak year for both albums and videos, and yet! You could have taken this one any of several ways and been happy, but it was Necroma in the end seizing the trophy and then doing mocking things with it to everybody else in the room.

Friend of Homicidols: Tentenko

What’s great about this award is that it can mean anything to anybody. But for this inaugural go-around, is it possible to select a former member of BiS who’s now a solo DJ and producer who released a vinyl record in Europe because she could? I would argue that it is not. Tenten’s work is sometimes a punchline to a joke it wrote itself, but come on — nobody sums up these things half as well.

Performer of the Year: Hanako-san

Nobody doesn’t dig on 14th Generation Toilet Hanako-san, or however it is she’s styling it in English nowadays. She’s not everybody’s cup of tea, but that hasn’t ever mattered — she’ll headbang and shriek and have a food fight with her fans anyway, and civilians caught in the middle know to just go with the flow. Hanako-san got a really big opportunity to step beyond the chika stage to join idol royalty in California back in August. By bringing her milk-and-condiments-and-screaming routine to whole new audiences, nobody managed to grow so much and gain so much more new respect. It’s an honor to bestow this one.

Idol of the Year: NECRONOMIDOL

What constitutes greatness? Is it quality? Output? Fan devotion? Touring? What about all of them? Since their debut, Necroma has always stood apart based on their unique theme, pants-wetting musical style and growing presence on the chika stage. Other than Babymetal, has any idol act ever done more touring internationally? Who else has plural icons in the membership? Who else not only doesn’t disappoint with any one record release, but only seems to get better over time? The Darkness Girls are facing some big chances, but there’s no reason to believe that they won’t remain at the top of the heap for a very long time to come.

Congratulations to the winners! And congratulations to the nominees, and to everybody who nominated and voted. For transparency’s sake, I’ll include a voting breakdown in the Team post. Kerrie is already beginning to compile possible nominees for next year …

Stay tuned for Team’s takes, and then a very brief look ahead to 2019 and then always-fun Year in Review in Review. I’d also love to announce a break until the new year, but there’s way too much going on in idol right now!