Tuesday, December 31, 2019

Best of Stardust Planet 2019 - Part 2


In the first part of this list, I covered the newer groups of Stardust Planet. Now it's time for the Stardust Sisters: Momoiro Clover Z, Shiritsu Ebisu Chugaku, and Team Shachi.

*It's probably obvious, but the Stardust Sisters are named as such because the three of them are sister groups to each other.


☆ Best of Stardust Planet 2019 - Part 2 ☆

Team Shachi
"Rose Fighter" and "Rocket Queen"

This was the year Team Syachihoko carved out their own identity. The little sister group of Momoiro Clover Z and Shiritsu Ebisu Chugaku, they've pretty much been Mini Momoclo since their debut. After Ito Chiyuri graduated from the group in Oct. 2018, the remaining 4 members rebranded as Team Shachi. They began dressing in monochrome costumes with their member colors acting mainly as highlights. They also added a horn section, the Brass Min, which changed the group's sound.

This year, they acheived a career first. Their MV for "Rocket Queen" featuring gameplay of a video game collaboration with Mega Man surpassed 1M views. 2019 was definitely the year that Team Shachi stepped out of their older Sister's shadow. From this point on, they will be charting their own destiny.

Rose Fighter was a special release used as the re-debut of the group under the new name and formation. It's a great example of the new direction Team Shachi has taken.


A collaboration with Megaman, this is the official video featuring the group, guest rapper MCU, and the 87 member strong Chuetsu High School marching band!


Momoiro Clover Z
"The Diamond Four", "Road Show", and "Stay Gold"

In their 11th year, Momoiro Clover Z show no sign of slowing down. They released their self titled 5th studio album, their first since 2016, starred in their first stage play, and take the lead in a brand new Variety Show featuring various Stardust groups traveling all over Japan.

After the graduation of long time member Ariyasu Momoka in Jan. 2018, Momoclo started referring to themselves as the Diamond Four. This is the lead track for the 5th album and features a hefty amount of rapping. The lyrics refer to the members themselves and include allot of references to Momoclo's history, inside jokes, and other things that long time fans will be familiar with.


A stand out from the 5th album, Road Show is basically an EDM hype song and has been the new opening number for Momoclo concerts throughout 2019.


Momoclo finished off the year with this epic release on their 20th single. Stay Gold is arguably the strongest single release of all the Stardust Planet groups. It's another departure for Momoclo and has a wistful melody that leaves a lasting impression.


Shiritsu Ebisu Chugaku
"Trendy Girl", "Pandora", and "Jump"

While Momoclo may have had the strongest single release, 2019 was definitely Ebichu's year. They released the most material of any Stardust Planet group including two studio albums. They also celebrated their 10th Anniversary, so it was a big year all around for them. It's really hard to choose between releases, but I think these four do a good job of representing their range.

Trendy Girl is Ebichu's 13th Single. It's deceiving when you first listen to it. At first, it sounds like so many other song, but the melody and arrangement go a long way toward establishing it's own identity. It's great for repeated listens.


Pandora was a special pre-release for Ebichu's 6th studio album, "playlist". It's a return to the Heavy Metal side of the group.


Wrapping things up is Jump, the lead promotional track from "playlist". It's a bit of a departure from what Ebichu have done recently. It's a powerful song with an anthem like quality featuring a rather unconventional MV even by Ebichu's standards.


And that brings the Best of Stardust Planet 2019 list to a close. I hope this gives a good idea of what the division has to offer and helps as a starting point for anyone interested in exploring these groups further.Overall, 2019 was a very strong year for releases. Here's hoping 2020 is just as great!

Monday, December 30, 2019

Best of Stardust Planet 2019 - Part 1


Stardust Planet is the Idol Division of Stardust Entertainment. It's flagship group is Momoiro Clover Z. With a total of 12 groups, it can be challenging to keep up with all the releases throughout the year. With this in mind, I decided to take a look back and pick out what I thought best represented Stardust Planet in 2019. Because there were so many releases, I thought it would be best to split the list into two parts.


*Disclaimer: I excluded some groups either because they didn't release anything of note this year or they're too new and haven't released much yet. I also only included releases that have official MVs with the full version of the song. This means I excluded short versions and any releases without an MV.

Honorable Mentions

Amefurasshi is a newer group and haven't had any official releases yet, but they've put out a bunch of songs for sale at live events with accompanying live MVs. The members were originally part of 3BJunior, Stardust Planet's trainee group. When they disbanded, Amefurasshi was born. Their concept is supposed to be like an ameba, continually changing. It's anyone's guess what they'll evolve into, but the group has two of the best vocalists in the entire division, Aira and Moeka, so keep an eye on them in the future. The MV for "Rain Makers!!" was released on Jan. 1st 2019, so it seems fitting to include it here.


☆ Best of Stardust Planet 2019 - Part 1 ☆

Takoyaki Rainbow
"Digital Native Generation"

Takoyaki had a pretty quiet year. They released a full album and one single, but the lead track from the album isn't very memorable. The single makes up for their lack of output and the MV has a humorous yet poignant take on modern communication.


Hachimitsu Rocket
"Chuuken Hachiko"

Hachi were also pretty quiet this year. They only released two singles, their 4th being the standout between the two. The title of the song is taken after the famous dog who waited every day at Shibuya Station for his deceased master over a span of 10 yrs.


Iginari Tohoku-san
"Bubble Poppin"

After 4 yrs, Iginari finally released their first official MV. Bubble Poppin serves as the only real summer song released by a Stardust Planet group in 2019. At 9 members, they're the largest group in the division.


Sakura Ebis
"Kira Kira" and "214"

SakuEbi have set themselves apart from most other Stardist Planet groups. Their image and musical style is more artistic and experimental. They recently changed their name to Ukka in order to differentiate themselves from Shiritsu Ebisu Chugaku, the senior group that mentored them during their trainee days.



Tokimeki Sendenbu
"Victory Story" and "Shape Up"

This was a big year for TokiSen. They're the first of the newer Stardust Planet groups to break away from the pack. They made their major debut on Avex and their first and second singles on the label charted at #3 and #2 on Oricon respectively. Keep an eye on them in the future as they continue to rise.



And this concludes Part 1! Stay tuned for Part 2 with the Stardust Sisters!!!

Friday, December 27, 2019

Shiritsu Ebisu Chugaku - Alien Drama Interview - Part 1

"(Kobayashi) Kaho's answers are so creative,
she seems like an Alien with a mysterious point of view"

(From L to R: Rika, Hinata, Ayaka, Kaho, Mirei, Riko)

(*A quick note about the above picture. The drama is about the girls finding a flying saucer that crashed on the roof of their school. They discover that one of them is actually an alien, and the boy who arrived in the saucer is there to find out who it is. The fact that Kaho is dressed as an alien in no way spoils the big reveal. It's just a way to promote the show)

Based around the concept of "Eternal Junior High School Students", Ebichu are active in many fields including singing activities, Movies, Dramas, Varieties, and the stage. Starting in January 2018, the "new semester" with 6 members began, and distribution of their first drama in lead roles "You Fly in the Air After School" has started. In this interview, the members talk about the highlights of the drama which includes various elements such as youth, science fiction, love, friendship, and mystery.

--All of the you have have worked as actresses individually in addition to your activities in Ebichu.
What's your stance on acting?

Hinata: I've only worked as an Idol during my time in Ebichu, so in the beginning I wasn't interested in acting. However, as I gradually got jobs as an actress, I realized it was allot of fun playing someone who isn't like me. Recently, I've been working on the stage (In the production of "Taiyo no Uta"), and my desire to play different roles is increasing.

Ayaka: I also love acting. Right now I'm performing in a play with no dialogue called "Gear - Gear -". I'm studying a variety of theatrical styles, so it's a world I'm intersted in learning more about. You ride the melody with singing, but in terms of conveying the meaning through the lyrics, there are parts that are close to dialogue, so I think it's all connected.

Kaho: In Ebichu, expressive skills are important when singing and dancing during live performances,
so even if the way of expression is different in a play, it's importance remains the same. It's hard to remember lines, but the acting is really fun. I'm a bit greedy, but I wish I could be in a play while still performing with Ebichu.

Riko: When I appeared in the stage play "Saki-Saki-", it was my first time working as an actress, so I spent allot of time studying facial expressions. Since the, even during my activites in Ebichu, I feel like I've been changing little by little. I think there's allot you can learn by studying acting.

Mirei: I like watching plays. It's really fun to play a role and become a different person. In an Ebichu Drama, there are many roles that are close to who we are, so if you see yourself acting in a way you've never seen before, it can be very exciting. I want to do something difficult, with action, and play a character who's completely different from my Idol self.

Rika: I only act in plays occasionally, so when I get the chance to do one, it becomes an event. I'm like "Yahoo!". Now that all of us are working together like this, we can see different sides of each other, and discover feelings we didn't know existed. There's also a sense of searching for yourself. I hope we can do this more often from now on.

--For the roles that you played in "You fly in the air after school", was there an element that was close to you?

Rika: It was close to all of us. In the beginning, I heard that the character Kaho-chan played was going to be a cool role. It was someone similar to me, so I was really excited to see a new Kaho-chan.

Mirei: It was a big change, wasn't it?

Rika: The best change was in her intelligence (laughs). There weren't many scenes likes that, but she felt smarter than the real Kaho-chan.

Kaho: The role was the top of the class in school rank, but I'm not like that at all (laughs). I had to use allot of difficult words like "Jaxa", so I was like "Eh?!" However, everyone thought I was well suited for it.

Mirei: Because the screenwriter already knew us, so he probably thought "this girl seems to do this" and included certain actions. The character I played has a USB that looks like it's connected to a UFO, so I'd use that when I was charging my phone, but I'd normally never charge it that way (laughs).

Kaho: But Mirei-chan has the image of charging her phone immediately.

Mirei: I often forgot to carry my cell phone while it was still charging, which was a big deal in the drama. Little behaviors like these are reflections of ourselves. Like the scene where we see Hinata playing Jenga which is very intense. She's a big time gamer so that fits her type, but the atmosphere is a bit different from how she normally is.

(*After watching the drama, I still couldn't understand what the deal was with Mirei charging her phone. There's definitely something dangling from her bag, but they don't draw much attention to it and there's no noticeable scene of her charging her phone. I'm guessing it must have been some kind of portable charger)

Ayaka: Hinata has played allot of shy characters in Ebichu stage productions, but this time she played a rather strong girl. She doesn't normally shout that much, so I think it's a bit different from her.

Hinata: There are allot of really intense roles, but I don't usually get that angry. When I'm shouting in a loud voice, it actually lets me release stressful feelings (laughs), so it's fun to play a character like that. Ayaka's facial expressions and reactions are really exaggerated, like when she's supposed to be surprised and say "Uwa!!". I thought my personality was similar to the way she played her character.

Rika: Four years ago, when we did the drama "Robo-san", my character went in a really interesting direction. In this drama, I play the most standard High School girl. I had to think allot about "What is normal?"

--"Normal" might be the most difficult part to play.

Rika: Personally, I was very compatible with the Idol lifestyle, which meant I couldn't commit to being a student, so it was hard to get a sense of what my character would do everyday. However, during the first day of shooting, I had to talk about something ridiculous or weird that I was reading in the news. Suddenly, it hit me like "Ah! That's it". It was impressive.

(*Compatible is the best word I could come up with. I take it that Rika means that being an Idol went so well for her that she gave up school and focused entirely on her career)

--Kaho and Riko are still in high school.

Riko: I'm above and beyond the normal high school student. I'm the last female high school student!

Kaho: She's the last 3rd year high school student of the Hesei Era (laughs).

(*When Riko refers to herself as the "last female high school student", she's using slang. It's used by girls who are in their final year of high school and about to graduate. Since they are about to go out into the world, they're in a unique position, so only 3rd year students will use this.)

Mirei: However, these two have stronger personalities that normal high school students don't have.
They have a different view of the world because of the field they work in. Because of that, they say the don't know much about current trends (laughs).

Kaho: I can't get into fashion. I'll say "Is this popular now?", and I'll get a response like "That ended quite a while ago". There's allot of things like that (laughs).

Riko: I don't feel like trying to keep up with trends. I notice things at my own pace, so I'm usually like "Oh, it's over now" (laughs).

Kaho: After the trend went away, I'd start thinking "Was that good?"

Riko: The group members who've graduated from high school are more likely to be in fashion than the ones who are active students.

Ayaka: I think that Mirei's feeling of being trendy and up to date is close to the character she plays.

Rika: It's really exciting.

(*Something that might be interesting to know about this conversation is that they are using the slang "JK". It refers to "Joshi Kousei (High School Girl)". They just use the first letter of each word as it's written in English. When I wrote earlier about Riko using the slang "last female high school student", she actually used "LJK", which again uses the first letter of each word written in English "Rasuto Joshi Kousei". Of course, there is no "R" sound in Japanese, so you'd pronounce is as an "L".

What can be confusing is that this also refers to high school girls who go on paid dates. They pass out leaflets advertising "JK Walk" or "Walking Date". Just some extra context to be aware of so you don't say the wrong thing or get into a misunderstanding, lol)

Peri Ubu - 2You Magazine Interview

*This interview was published on 2020.3.24. Peri Ubu has gone in an entirely different direction. After BiS disbanded in May 2019, sh...