Hey guys, Mandi here. For a long long time I've been meaning to write reports of concerts and events on here, but every time I simply take too long and never finish writing until the event is so long gone, no one would care anymore. Well, I'm gonna try and change all that now by TRYING to keep things short and sweet. So, sorry if I don't have complete set lists or tons of photos every time. I tend to write a lot so the articles might still be kinda long, but I'm just going to focus on my highlights and forget the small details. I hope you'll like reading my impressions on different events and get a little taste of what it's like to attend them anyway!
Akiba Daisuki Matsuri is becoming an Akiba tradition, taking over Bellesalle for 2 days in the summer with vendor booths, shows, robots, and of course lives and idols. I attended this time mainly to see Toromi, Metropoly V and Momochi Minami on MC. Ryohoji also had their own booth where you could buy Toromi's CDs and Ryohoji's various goods.
When I first arrived, Toromi, Metoko, and a bunch of Akiba maids from various cafes were perfoming uchimizu to much fanfare, with tons of photographers swarming about. (Mini video here.)
First up was some members Backstage Pass, and I noticed back stage Momochi Minami (Who was the MC for the event) was dancing along with them. Officially Momochi is a member of Backstage Pass too, I wish she could have performed with them. Towards the end, two of the members broke out into otagei to show their Akiba pride which was pretty cool. Once their part was done, most of their fans left, leaving the audience much smaller for Toromi up next, unfortunately.
Toromi once again performed along with Metoko instead of Kikouden Misa, but I love Metoko so either way I'm happy. Lately Toromi is super busy not only with her manga, but also with the Ryohoji cell phone game available on android and iOS, so she doesn't perform live much anymore. I was really happy to see her on the stage once again. They started out with 如来16, then なむ×きゅん and finished up with 寺ズッキュン！愛の了法寺！, a pretty typical set list for a Ryohoji themed performance, though a little short. While Toromi was bonking people's heads for 如来16, Metoko decided to bonk some people with her syringe. When she bent over to bonk me, a bunch of ultra orange glowsticks spilled out of her bag and off the stage! She scrambled to collect them and couldn't figure out how to get back on the stage at first. It was pretty funny. Needless to say she gave up on anymore bokusatsu for the rest of the live!
(Yes, this was the best photo I could get of the stage!)
As for the lives themselves, most of them were very cute and great dancers, though not exactly my thing. A strange thing to note was how few of them were based in Akiba. WE LOVE even came all the way from Nagoya! Speaking of WE LOVE, they performed some pretty awesome acrobatics. The fans cleared a big runway through the venue, and one of them got off the stage and did crazy hand flips all the way through the crowd. Gotta admit, that was pretty impressive!
After it was all done, Momochi tossed some candy she keeps stowed away in her hair decoration into the crowd, and I got some, woohoo! (A guy caught it right in front of my hand, but then gave it to me anyway! How kind!)
Creative spelling!
By the way, unknown to me at the time, the whole event was live broadcast on Youtube! Plus, the live itself is uploaded in full in glorious (??) 240p along with lots of other stuff from the festival. If you just wanna see Toromi, skip to about 1:37:00 in the video! (By the way, I stood right near the camera man, yet was mysteriously not captured on film at all. Whew...)
Another terribly blurry shot from me, but you get the idea!
7/27/2013 マーベルエール単独公演 Vol.2
As most readers are probably aware of by now, I'm a big fan of idol 森永まみ (Morinaga Mami), and by association, support the company that produces her, Marvel Yell. Recently, Marvel Yell started a new series of independent lives. Usually their lives focus on lots of varied performers and collaborations, but these lives focus solely on their own idols, and are great for their fans as they cover songs of other Marvel Yell idols, past and present. Not only is the event reasonably priced, you get a discount on your first visit, and a point card to gain free photos and other goodies with the more you attend.
This was only the second time they held this event, and my first time attending, so I got a nice discount. As usual, the crowd was super fun, and the idols delivered various kinds of performances with lots of variety. The performances were split up among all the idols so they only sang a couple songs each at a time, allowing them to return again with costume changes. The scheduling of the event can't go unmentioned - on the same day as the huge idol festival TIF, which Marvel Yell was turned down from. It was nice to see their fans chose this event over the larger one.
Of course for me, the highlight was Mamipyon's performances. Her group numbers were great, and her covers were 椎名セイカ's 夏色エール (Natsu Iro Yell) and a slow song by Sakuragawa Himeko (Sadly I forget the name of the song! Forgive me! I warned you these reports aren't gonna be perfect!!) Her solo songs were the hot blooded 「16才」 and her signature number 「トルネード」. However, her best highlight may have been her comedy performance. She performed an absolutely hilarious skit about trying out to be a mahou shoujo. Definitely her best comedy skit yet that I've seen. Check her blog to see her outfit from the skit as well as her other costumes.
As usual for a Marvel Yell live, the stage was decorated nicely.
There were 2 new performers, 西野めあり (Nishino Meari) and 佐藤愛佳 (Sato Manaka). Sadly, they both must have gotten a little too nervous during their debut and forgot the lyrics pretty badly, with Meari even asking for a re-do and starting again from the beginning. As expected, the crowd was still very supportive. Honestly, considering they both had the same problem, I'm more likely to question their management than their skills. I wonder if they were given adequate time to practice? Anyway, I'm sure they'll get better with time.
Next to Mamipyon, my favorite in Marvel Yell is probably ソラ豆琴美 (Soramame Kotomi) aka Kotomyu. Calling herself 「アキバのうたのおねいさん」, she always delivers a cute and fun performance, and I love her song 「いっしょにあそぼ♪」, though she didn't perform it this time. At one point in one of her songs, all of the fans back up to the back of the venue and then dash the stage. One of my friends shocked me by doing a forward flip and rolling to the stage instead of running! What made it even more hilarious was Kotomyu mimicked him and did an awkward half roll maneuver on the stage. I just love that free and fun atmosphere.
Mamipyon photo was free with pre-registering for the live, plus Kyuuri CD.
The main MC for the event was the always hilarious 二階堂彩 (Nikaido Aya.) Her obsession with cucumbers causes the crowd to break out in green colored lights. She had a new CD focusing on her love for cucumbers called 「それがいちばん！～きゅうりはきゅうりで～」. The title just sounded SO denpa, I knew I had to buy it, even though she didn't sing it during the event. After listening to it at home, I have to say, it is pretty denpa, but her deep voice isn't what you usually hear in denpa songs, so it feels kinda different than I expected. Her voice is probably more suited to cool songs, even though her personality is more on the silly denpa side.
After the live was over I got to talk with Mamipyon and get her to sign the pre-reg bonus photo. Sadly the CD I wanted to buy was out of stock, but they said they'd bring it next time. I also got Nikado Aya's autograph and talked to her for a bit, she seemed a little disheartened when I admitted I didn't really care for cucumbers, so I told her I'd try to get used to them. (This is true though, I really am working on it!!) She said she had heard about me from Mamipyon which was nice.
Ok, that about wraps things up! Hope you guys enjoyed it, look forward to more live reports in the future!
When most people think of idols, they think of cute and sweet young girls aiming for mainstream popularity. Some may see them as distant role models, while others think of them as nothing more than models who pose with microphones. Although idols are often cute and moe, "denpa" is not often a word associated with them. I too didn't see much overlap between idols and the world of denpa, so I rarely took notice of idols in general for many years, until at some point, the world of "地下アイドル" (Chika Idols) started to spark my interest, and I realized the world of idols goes far beyond the stereotypes.
"Chika" literally means "underground", which is where you'll have to go digging around to experience the awesomely fun and definitely obscure world of chika idols. (Some prefer other terms like "Live Idol", "Indies Idol" or "Real-kei Idol".) The different kinds of "idols" you can find is almost endless, so you might as well forget most of your preconceived notions about what an idol should be, from performance to looks to personality. Often, people have the negative image that idols hate their "gross" and "kimo ota" fans. Meanwhile, many chika idols aren't afraid to hop in the audience and join in the otagei while waiting for their turn to perform on stage. It's not to say that they aren't ambitious and aiming to be their best, but you get the feeling many of these girls are happiest performing this way: close to fans, in small venues, rather than the distant "star" feeling so often associated with the idol world.
Most chika idols are, like the term implies, quite underground and unknown, so in order to garner up enough funds for lives, joint lives with many artists are the most common way to see them, so even if you are only a fan of one or two artists, you'll become more and more familiar with lots of other artists over time, and feel a strong sense of friendship between their collaborations rather than rivalry.
Here's a few artists who have stood out to me in my relatively short history exploring the world of chika idols:
FICE
FICE is a group that just emanates such a purely WEIRD vibe, it kind of feels weird to apply the term "idol" to them. Going to their lives is like being transported to another dimension - strange music blares as the audience dances in perfect unison to the members on the stage, who include some comical, alien characters in addition to the expected line up of girls in an idol group. Their lyrics vary from suggestive to just outright weird, with songs like コンチ音頭 or even venturing into the world of BL by writing the OP song for Naked Butler.
At first, FICE can be shocking and even confusing, but any denpa fan will quickly pick up on the appeal. Their music is not necessarily cute or moe, but when you look back on their past, you can see how they evolved as a fusion of idol and denpa and culture. FICE was founded in 2001 when 炎 (e-nne meaning "fire") and 氷 (hyou meaning "ice") chose their identities as FIRE and ICE and started performing together claiming to be androids, making their own original music under the concept of "Denpunk", meaning "Denpa" and "Punk" fusion hailing from Akiba. Back then, idols were not particularly popular, and terms like "akiba-kei" idols simply didn't exist. The closest thing was "pre-idols", who were all basically idols seen as having potential for a major debut. They attempted going to these kind of events, but found themselves quite out of place. Being the pioneers they were, they decided, if there isn't a place for us, well, make one! They began performing on the streets of Akiba, renting out karaoke rooms and doing joint lives, and performing in the first budding otaku restaurants. However, their street lives were featured on TV, and soon Akiba's steets became crowded with tons of performers, often with bad manners. Eventually street lives became banned in Akiba, but FICE's impact was already made, and to this day they still routinely hold join lives with other up and coming chika idols, working as performers, event promoters, composers, lyricists... They do it all. And don't forget they also perform with a full band under the name ＦＩＣＥ座ＲＡＩＮＢＯＷ.
FICE is definitely inspirational in the way that they built their own place to belong instead of trying to fit into a pre-decided mold. At their recent 10th anniversary live, they proudly proclaimed they don't plan on stopping any time soon, and are looking forward to their 30th anniversary and beyond.
One of the most unique aspects of a FICE performance is not the performers, but the audience. Split in half between fans in blue shirts and pink shirts, they stand to either side and do slightly different choreography depending on which side they are on. The dances are quite unconventional - one song even has the audience doing squats, push ups, and laps around the venue. Usually when you think of idols, you think of cute girls up on stage basically being worshiped by the audience, but FICE's lives are completely different. Rather than worship or admiration, the feeling is friendship and unity, considering the audience is performing along. It's not about being cool, or even about being cute. It's about embracing nerdiness, weirdness, and DENPA... and it sure is refreshing to take a step out of the real world for a while, forget about society, and step into FICE's fantasy world.
Mixing the world of doujin music with idol music, plus add a splash of cute artwork on the side, and you have Rameru. Her name comes from KyaRAMERU (Caramel), and she is just as sweet as the candy! Maybe you remember her from the doujin circle "caramel paradox" where she teamed up with CHEEBOW in 2008. She also formed the unit "さんせっと…" in 2009, both have since disbanded, but Rameru continues releasing her own solo music at M3, plus performing at numerous chika idol lives. Her music ranges from cute and soothing to funny and denpa. You can really feel the earnest effort she puts into everything, from drawing the album covers to working up the audience at her live performances. One of her best idol buddies is 栗宮まろん (featured later in this article), and they're teaming up for a 2 man live "らめる＆栗宮まろんツーマンライブ～キャラメル☆マロンラテ～" on 10/30 at 大塚deepa! Who out there cares to join me, huh?? In the mean time, you can check out the recordings of their past web show together, まろん＆らめる の 笑っていいかも？
I was first drawn to her CDs while browsing at M3 and the cute cover artwork caught my eye. After a quick sample listen, I snatched up some CDs based on her recommendation of which were the most "denpa". Since then, I'm always looking forward to chatting her up at the next M3 or live event, and we even have done art trades! "Sweet" doesn't begin to describe the kindness! I finally got to see her perform live at J-Geek, and confirmed she is great live in addition to her CD recordings. Denpa, doujin music, and idol fans should all keep their eye on her. Her goal is to become an anison singer, and I'm cheering for her all the way!
Another wacky idol who's attitude is pure crazy denpa. Unlike your average idol who stays up on stage... Metoko-chan (Don't call her "Metro-chan!) isn't afraid to not only hop off stage, but... beat her fans to death?? Is this kindess or not?? Don't worry, it's all an expression of love! Being an actual nurse, her outfit took inspiration from none other than Nurse Witch Komugi-chan, or more recently traditional moe-nurse cosplay, and violence inspiration from Bokusatsu Tenshi Dokuro-chan. Metropoli V-chan describes herself as an idol who's the fairy of the subway living underground in Tokyo Metro's subway system by day, and working as a nurse by night. She used to go by "Tokyo Metro-chan", based on the idea that subways (chikatetsu in japanese) is underground just like a "chika" idol. However, Tokyo Metro didn't like her using their company name, hence the name change. (Supposedly her current name was suggested by Tokyo Metro's lawyers.) (The "V" is pronounced "Five" for those who are wondering.)
Probably best known for her "unique" way of expressing love for fans by beating them with a giant syringe she has appeared on many variety shows in Japan, bewildering "normals" by exposing them to the wild side of chika idols. Claiming to be born on 7/4/1941 (currently putting her at 71 years old!), her real name and any other personal details are completely unknown. She is quite cute, but she isn't afraid of acting completely weird, dorky, and over the top, charming otaku and frightening normals, respectively. If you're looking for an idol who is the sweet and refined type who has a perfectly trained voice... look elsewhere. Metoko is here to kick butt and make you laugh!
DnS readers probably know her from the occasional doujin music collaboration, but to this date, she's only released one album as far as I know: 撲殺天使ドクロちゃん －メトロちゃんVersion－. The title track is her cover of the iconic Bokusatsu Tenshi Dokuro-chan OP song, filled with her trademark mix of cuteness, violence, and humor. Check out all the other tracks, and you'll find a pleasent mix of slower, uptempo, even rap songs, all oozing with Metoko-chan's unique character. I surprised myself by getting addicted to the somewhat slower paced "東西線あなた専用車両", which references lots of station and line names familiar to those who ride the Tokyo Metro subway system. The actual sound of the song is somewhat melancholy, but the weird background vocals and lyrical puns make the song quite hypnotic. She also has one single, 「恋は一撃必殺～120％ラブパワー～」, which I haven't managed to get my hands on yet.
Of course, like with most chika idols, the best way to experience her performance is live! For those of you who can't get enough Metoko-chan but can't get to any of her lives in person, check out the other CDs she's been a guest on, and cruise her many clips on youtube to cure (or fuel?) your Metoko fever.
No stranger to DnS at this point, Morinaga Mami aka "Mamipyon" has quickly become one of my favorite artists. Taking inspiration from old school tokusatsu heros, Mamipyon takes the identity of a hero of justice, fighting evil aliens and the like. Her most common opponent is "Tarirariran", the little girl evil alien who is usually seen wearing a randsale backpack and/or bloomers. Tarirariran's "evil" is usually limited to petty crimes such as pretending to cry and then stealing the lunches of school girls who comfort her, but she is Mamipyon's rival none the less. These stories are played out in short drama tracks on CDs, skits during lives, or video productions screened during the costume changes at her lives. (Her mini episode featuring Super Mami and Tarirariran is available on Nico Douga, for a fee.) The best part is, every role, from Mamipyon to Tarirariran, to Tarirariran's masked minions are all played by Mamipyon herself! The humor she injects into these skits is great, and the B-movie grade production values are endearing to anyone familiar with old tokusatsu TV shows. Despite her current career as an idol, Mamipyon's initial goal was to become a seiyuu, and she attended seiyuu school while performing street lives in Akiba, singing her famous "Tornado" song even back then. She also is the leader of the unit TEAM雪月花 (Team Setsugekka) along with 杉田琴美 (Kotomi Sugita) and 桜田麻乃 (Mano Sakurada) and used to also be in the spacey band known as NECOMIMI☆スペースノイド.
Very active in the chika idol live circuits, Mamipyon has some of the most dedicated fans out there, and she is always kind and thankful to all of them. At a joint live with other aritsts, she covertly mixed in with the audience during the finale, and then surprised me by approaching me personally to thank me for wearing her t-shirt and cheering for her. It doesn't get much more personal than that! But of course, the most important thing to me for any artist is their songs and voice, and Mamipyon does NOT disappoint in these areas. I always lament she doesn't have more samples up online to help spread the word of her awesome songs. The PV for Tornado is at least available on nico nico douga now, but I assure you, she is much more than a one hit wonder. Her wild denpa songs are extremely fun to listen to live and go wild with wotagei, but it's just as fun to listen to her cute voice and wild music on headphones at home. Mamipyon really is the whole package when it comes to a DENPA idol.
Another chika idol aiming to be a seiyuu, this cute and talented girl sings lots of great covers of Momoi Haruko, Karen Girls, and others while proudly proclaiming her love of denpa songs. Unfortunately, she doesn't have a dedicated homepage, only a blog, so finding out info is a bit difficult. As far as I can tell, she hasn't released any CDs, just a DVD which appears to be more gravure focused than music. Her one original song I've tracked down, "UP TO ME", sounds quite promising, and anyone who covers Momoi songs is worth checking out in my book. I'm looking forward to her 2 man live on 10/31 with Rameru to become more familiar with her, as I've only seen her live once so far.
Their music isn't denpa style, but from their wild visual-kei style to their tradition of passing out tequila shots and chugging the rest of the bottle in the crowd, this group offers a unique experience you aren't going to find anywhere besides a chika idol live. Yui Kanan and Minori Takei's wild style is certainly a far cry from idols who could create a scandal by drinking alcohol. They love both cosplay and visual kei style, mixing up cute, cool, feminine, and masculine. Another unique factor is they have performed overseas quite a bit and put effort into connecting to their fans around the world online. Any of our readers see them at Japan Expo or any of their other overseas appearances?
This contrasting pair of Shibuya gal 『立花さな』 and Akiba-kei moe voice girl 『はるかぜらんらん』 are regulars in the chika idol world, evident when you attend their lives and the entire audience starts dancing in unison to their complex para para dances. Known for their sexy outfits, they are notorious for going on stage in a costume with no skirts, just bare shimapan. They were even stopped by another performer as they walked out on stage who hurridly warned them, hey, you guys forgot to put on your skirts!!
Photo via 綾川ゆんまお's blog. From left to right: 立花さな、綾川ゆんまお (Collaborator, not a member of noisy), はるかぜらんらん.
ゅん((・∀・))ゅん (yun((・∀・))yun)
Self proclaimed denpa artists, I am eager to track down some more info and experience more of their lives, as I've only seen their brief guest performance at FICE's 10th anniversary. Another blue and pink combo who isn't afraid to mingle with the crowd in their otagei antics, going by the names of 白湯 (Paitan) and 天空みりん (Amakara Mirin).
You might be wondering at this point, WOW, these artists sound so amazing, why haven't I heard of them before?? Where can I hear / see more?? And this is where the downside of chika idols comes into play. Most of them run on a shoestring budget, working other jobs to support their idol career. Online promotions for the most part are very low priority and limited to a personal blog and twitter account, and maybe if you're lucky, a few poorly shot live videos. Online PVs, song samples, online ordering, purchasable song downloads, all are few and far between, which can make it quite exhausting to follow multiple artists, especially for those outside of Japan. I personally really hope that more chika idols learn from the doujin world, who strangely are often even better than most pro artists at promoting themselves online, understanding the value of videos, samples, and easy to navigate sites in addition to personal blogs. (Even if doujin music is still annoyingly difficult to order for those overseas, usually their online presence is good at least.) It's easy to see how effective good online presence can be when you look at how far Dempagumi.inc has come - full or short size free PVs on youtube, live streaming of concerts, itunes downloads, effective use of social media... We can only hope other artists see their success and follow in their footsteps. But one thing is for sure, if you are looking for a fun slice of otaku culture you can't find anywhere else, make sure to check out some chika idol events next time you visit Japan, you won't regret it.
Any readers have any chika idols on their radar they'd like us to check out? Let us know if there's anyone you'd like to know more about, and of course, comment on their blogs, twitters, and such to let them know they have fans across the globe!
