Idol Watch #17: March/April 2023
Rounding up the best idol songs from the past two months, featuring Not Equal Love, TONAi BOUSHO, Finger Runs and more, plus a report on Up Up Girls Pro Wres match in L.A.
Hi! Welcome to Idol Watch, a bi-monthly companion newsletter to This Side of Japan that’s all about Japanese idols! You can check out January/February’s here or past issues in the archives.
I’m happy to welcome back guest writer Jack Wannan for a feature on Idol Watch! For this column, he reports on wrestling idols Up Up Girls Pro Wres’s match in Los Angeles last month. He writes and edit a few Substacks, Knockdown News for MMA and Time Limit for wrestling. He has previously reviewed chelmico’s Gokigen for This Side of Japan issue #54.
Up Up Girls Pro Wres stood in front of a packed house that erupted when they announced they would perform their song “Upper Kick,” but something was off. They weren’t inside Korakuen Hall, Shinjuku FACE, or any other venue that they are usually tied to with their promotion company Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling. They were actually thousands of miles away from Japan, inside the Globe Theatre in Los Angeles.
They still remained in their element. The excited crowd clapped along to the song, some even singing along to all of the lyrics, with some light sticks in the crowd as well. The large turnout in L.A. and the enthusiasm of those in attendance was proof that Up Up Girls Pro Wres found their spot in the pro-wrestling world amid Wrestlemania weekend, the entertainment form’s most busiest week of the year.
Top wrestling promotion WWE ascends on an American city for numerous high profile events during Wrestlemania weekend, with this year’s concluding on April 2. Wrestlemania, a two-night show hosted inside a football stadium, is the high point. But it’s the dozens of smaller shows inside arenas, community centers and theaters that define the weekend.
Up Up Girls Pro Wres participated in the busy festival of wrestling this year as a part of Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling’s first-ever U.S. event on Friday, March 31, the day before Wrestlemania kicked off. The show was a long time coming as the promotion’s initial U.S. debut was scheduled for 2020, but was delayed due to the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Due to time constraints, this issue of Idol Watch will bring 7 selections instead of 10, but here are my favorite idol songs from March and April. Happy listening!
“Have a Nice Day” by TONAi BOUSHO [Avex Trax]
The WACK extended universe has recently welcomed in TONAi BOUSHO, a new group developed from the same variety show that brought together its sister act Mameshiba No Taigun. Following its uber-serious debut single, the now-quintet seems to be in a more cheery mood in “Have a Nice Day.” The sunniness more than peeks through the sleek pop-punk with it free from the grunge that muddied past WACK hits, and the jubilant arrangement turns into a fitting vehicle for the idols to deliver an optimistic chorus about paving a new way forward. “Kick away those falling tears / even the times that go wrong, have a nice day,” the idols sing. Kuro-chan’s minor lyrical clunkers notwithstanding, TONAi BOUSHO take the fun behind the titular lyric seriously.
Listen to it on Spotify.
See also: “Suteki Na Yokan” by CENT
“Take Me Higher!” by TELLMIT [ANTVOX]
TELLMIT grab for a more cutesy, sparkling electro-pop beat for “Take Me Higher!” than what their sort-of backronym of Tell Me Idol Trap might lead you on to imagine: think of the fizzy splashes of early CY8ER tracks supplied by producer Yunomi. But an aloof idol-pop affair, this isn’t. Like in their preceding single, the idols continue with their ambition to light a spark from underneath and, well, reach a higher plateau. Sentiments to forget about this rotten world and turn up go down a lot sweeter when the beats are as candied as this.
Listen to it on Spotify.
See also: “Dancing junkie” by CHU’SHYPER; “Mecha Mecha Kawaii!” by YOU’LL MELT MORE
“Wazato Azato Expert” by Iginari Tohokusan [Stardust Promotions]
Neither the hurly-burly synth-pop nor the internal monologue of a girl so anxiously caught up in love from “Wazato Azato Expert” scan as fully unique to the genre. And yet the way Iginari Tohokusan zero into current-day pop culture in their new one separates the single as its own thing apart from the traditional idol songs that work the burikko character. The lyrics directly reference social media as a platform for fostering new romance: LINE messages get left on read, and their hearts go from private to public. But even before you get to the Instagram-story chorus, the title already reveals the personality tapped into the zeitgeist: the idols switch back and forth from indulging to denying being cunning in their attempts to steal your attention, or azatoi—a descriptor that’s been growing into a buzzword in the past few years. Like FRUIT ZIPPER before them, Iginari Tohokusan try out a different, more sneaky method to secure your love.
Listen to it on Spotify.
See also: “KiSSES” by KiSS KiSS
“Kitsunebi Love Story” by Aishu TO Momentum [self-released]
Aishu TO Momentum get back to basics in “Kitsunebi Love Story.” While the group has either upped the heaviness or melodrama to their sound during the past year, a return to a classic pop punk as first introduced in their debut single feels refreshing in its verve. The lyrics fittingly, too, discuss of trying to revisit their roots in order to gain a better grasp of their priorities: “Do you remember? Are you going to forget? Before we grew up / Those days dyed in orange when we took it so seriously?” They begin the song. And Aishu TO Momentum continue the heart-to-heart conversation in “Kitsune Love Story” until they end up on the same page, the pop-punk riff ringing sentimental with a sense of nostalgia.
Listen to it on Spotify.
See also: “persona” by kasumisou to stella; “secrets” by RAY
“Escape!!” by Finger Runs [Disk Union]
Finger Runs share a home with psych-trance idols MIGMA SHELTER, whose early exploratory years are echoed in the creeping build-up of “Escape!!” And so bubbling trance synths, acid bass lines and Gothic atmospherics should be nothing new in a single by a group freshly debuted from AqbiRec. The grab-bag feel behind the 3-track single as a whole meanwhile reminds me more of the label’s now-defunct Gugu-Lulu, though Finger Runs rely on none of the scrappy charms afforded by amateurism as the latter group did. They still might be seeing what sticks, but the explorations already sound well-defined.
Escape!! is out now. Listen to it on Spotify.
See also: “eclipse” by INUWASI; “Tornado” by MIGMA SHELTER
“Tenshi Wa Dokoe” by Not Equal Me [King]
Not Equal Me has historically operated as the more traditional, innocent foil to their uppers in =LOVE, sticking with bubbly power-pop for their singles when the latter indulged in edgy alt-rock or bombastic dance-pop. But in “Tenshi Wa Dokoe,” they step out with a swaggering attitude backed by an equally loud synth-pop production as though they’ve had enough playing nice. If their flaunting gives the impression of them as a try-hard, the idols are already in the know: “‘I’m me,’ is that good enough for you? / I’m not trying to fool you, sorry for coming off strong,” they sing in the chorus, the latter line so half-hearted in its apology. If this devil-may-care group is the real Not Equal Me as they proclaim, hope there’ll be more from them.
Tenshi Wa Dokoe is out now. Listen to it on Spotify.
See also: “BLAZE” by ExWHYZ; “SNSKILLER” by meme tokyo
“Merit Demerit” by .BPM [A-INNOVATION]
After letting flashy Eurobeat pump behind them in their recent run of singles, .BPM embrace New Jack Swing in “Merit Demerit” presenting a whole new look. The change-up in sound can initially suggest a more formal approach especially following up a rather meme-like tune such as “Dancin’ Chicken.” But even as the beats and hooks turned silly, the idols always took the song and its subject of romancing seriously, with vocals punchy enough to nail a modernized cover of Akina Nakamori’s “Desire.” “Merit Demerit” appears no different with the idols deeply swayed by their own feelings. If anything, the new sounds places the group’s skills more front and center.
Merit Demerit is out now. Listen to it on Spotify.
See also: “Batabata Morning” by AMEFURASSHI
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