Anju has had a formula for a while now -- some combination of hard, funky and dramatic. Almost all of their songs, regardless of style or tempo, fall into at least one of those categories -- often more than one -- and neither of these songs really do. I guess Sister Sister is kind of funky, but it's...

So far this sounds like an awesome Juice=Juice album. Or Tsubaki Factory maybe.

"Forever Friend" preview:

AquaChan wrote: ↑Fri Mar 17, 2023 9:46 am This song is so underrated, it's sad that we don't get more performances of this albums songs!
This cover is good :P but I'm biased.

Seems like the vid was pulled, so I uploaded it to DM.

Omizu sounds really great on this. It's too bad that Mao wasn't able to get in on this, because I think it's right up her ally.

The new LGM song and video is straight-up contemporary girl group R&B complete with dance choreography, and as I predicted, miyou is getting big initial push.

Damn, she really is jinxed. I hope she recovers, because seeing idols graduate because of health concerns rather than because they're ready to move on sucks.

DonJuan wrote: ↑Tue Mar 14, 2023 2:39 am ...but honestly, I think it might be the best known out of the list.

Why you gotta harsh my buzz?

ONE PLUS ONE: Akari Endo × Yuka Miyazaki - "Hadaka no Hadaka no Hadaka no KISS" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A9m5UZJjaqk It's always great to see Yuka in stuff like this. Like Rena from the last ONE PLUS ONE, dancing is Akari's current strength. I don't think she's as good as Rena yet, ...

Everyone voting for Kei's "Never Forget" makes me happy.

If "Kobushi no Hana" isn't her grad solo, I'll be disappointed.

Mikitty held a 21st anniversary show, featuring a couple of familiar faces.

"Sister Sister" preview.

I wonder which would be worse: having never experienced the energy of a live show with cheers and chants, or having experienced it briefly only to have it taken away for three years? I suppose neither is worse than experiencing it for your entire career, then graduating in an empty hall. Pour one ou...

PV for "Romantic Nante Gara ja nai" dropped yesterday.



I really like Maa's voice on this sort of easy pop. Backup dancers are KSS members Honoka Hashida and Hasumi Uemura.

From Ichika's blog : Hi, there! How was your day? Thank you for your likes and comments. Today is ”National Dream Day” in the U.S. I’m super happy to inform you that one of my dreams will come true in May. Cheering out loud with will be allowed at H!P live performances from May 8. 　Yay!!! ATTENTION!...

Yup to both of those. And the JJ/Biyo and MM/OCHA duos are both sleepers that could be great, with each pairing an established strong singer with a good newer singer. I'm actually looking forward to Ebata's solo, too.

Riho got an acting gig.

Hina Fes 2023 lottery is complete! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVfje2V7xl8 Results in the spoilerbox. One group was completely shut out, while another got literally half their members in. :lol: A couple of the groupings have great potential, two of the soloists are heavy hitters, and one is intr...

Yesterday's Hello! Station features three performances from Juice=Juice's Feb 28 show: "STAGE ~Agatte Mina~," "POPPIN' LOVE," and "Never Never Surrender." I set the time of the video to Never Surrender, because Ichika gets Sayuki's fake at the end, and WTF, when did she...

Are these mostly from the Petit Best albums?

I'd be cool with both of them to MM.

Mikkity and Ichiro Ito of Every Little Thing recently appeared on each other's channels, interviewing each other and performing a song from each other's catalog. First on Miki's channel, they did ELT's "Time Goes By." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RlLah5u5DB4 The favor is returned on Ito...

ONE PLUS ONE Rena Kamimura (KSS) × Layla Ise: "SHAKA SHAKA TO LOVE"



Rena seems like a pretty decent performer already.

Here's an extended radio preview of "Motomeyo...Unmei no Tabibitozan" https://twitter.com/beyondsupdates/status/1632131930178109446 I'm ready for this. Hoshibe's cribbing from himself on this one. :lol: The chorus opens with "Koi no Crouching Start" and ends with "Gannen Bun...

So I've listened to this probably a dozen times now, and I'm still not sure where I'm gonna end up on it. I neither hate it nor love it, and I probably lean more towards the latter, but it's definitely odd. There are really only two parts and a recurring intro, and the concert band instrumentation g...

Yeah, just replacing Ebata or Ishiyama with Ruru, ReiRei or Riai would've been great, but this is still my favorite live of Mugan.

First week sales:

Oricon - 77,489
Billboard - 99,816

Youplus dropped a couple of MVs on the 21st of February, one of which is a Nakanishi solo. I'll get to that later, because the new group track "In Your Dreams" is really goddamn good. The song is kind of like if Perfume did a song without Yasutaka Nakata. It's kind of chill, kind of moody,...