Category Archives: Idols

Feature Article, Idols, Interviews

A Reason to Never Oshihen: An Interview with GARUDA, HALUKA and Satanic Punish at Ikigai Vol. 2

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Kelly, Amanda
Translators: Justin, Baz

Hosted by The Chocolate Brothers and the Dutch Idol Community and held between September 20th in Arnhem, The Netherlands, and September 21st in Koln, Germany, Ikigai Vol. 2 saw the return of GARUDA and Satanic Punish on European soil, as well as marking the debut of DIABLEVOIX’s Haluka in her first overseas tour.

For these two evenings, fans of these three acts had the chance to experience a show filled with incredible vocals, relentless energy, and the possibility of a strained neck the following morning, thanks to all the headbanging that went on.

For some fans, however, the weekend did not end at the Blue Shell with a final song, as those who had purchased off-kai tickets had the absolute pleasure of joining GARUDA, Satanic Punish and DIABLEVOIX’s HALUKA for an off-kai event the following Sunday.

It is also that, on this day, Beyond Senpai’s Kelly and Amanda were fortunate enough to attend as well and, for the first time since this site’s inception, both Amanda and Kelly were given the opportunity to deliver their first in-person interview to these three legendary performers.

So, it was with a great amount of nerves and some shoddy Japanese pronunciation that our interview began. With the help of Justin and Baz, who aided in translating the performers answers for us, Beyond Senpai joined Yuffie, Haluka, Manamu and LinLin at the front of the event hall to deliver the Ikigai Vol. 2 Interview, right in front of the fans…

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Idols, let's talk about

A Reason To Live: Why I Love Satanic Punish

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When I first met Satanic Punishes Manomu in Germany at IKIGAI Vol. 1 in 2023, she asked me what kind of idol groups I liked during one of our first cheki sessions. I answered honestly, expressing my love of cute and orthodox idol groups such as Houkago Princess, LONDON BLUE and others. Then Manomu asked:

“If you’re a fan of cute idols, why do you like Satanic Punish?”

I didn’t know how to answer that. I just do. Honestly, I forgot I was even asked this until the same question was posed to me this year during IKIGAI Vol. 2, this time from the groups newest member, LinLin. “You like cute groups? So why Satanic Punish?”

It was almost like Déjà vu and, once again, I couldn’t give a decent answer. All I could say was “I really like the lyrics,” and the group itself. This time though, the question stuck with me and has since made me really think about why I like Satanic Punish.

I don’t think there’s ever an easy answer as to why you like something as much as you do. There are multiple factors that come into play, from how something looks to how it makes you feel deep down; those sorts of feelings and reasons can be hard to articulate in any form I think, but as always, I will try my best.

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Idols, Music Review

Expressing The Duality of Human Nature: A Look At GCiB’s Suki ni nare! and Aishite

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*All images used within this post have been sourced from @gcib_official on Twitter.

Since unveiling their brand new line-up back in June of this year, idol group GCiB have started making waves the social media platform Twitter (otherwise known as X). With a mission to grow their fanbase both nationally and internationally, the group have begun posting in both Japanese and English while also promoting their latest releases, Suki ni nare! and Aishite, both of which have been teased on social media ahead of their release.

Originally making their debut in February 2022, GCiB — originally known as Girls Crying in Bathroom — is a girls’ dance and vocal group that wish to go beyond the mere cuteness we expect from idols and express their strength, fragility and versatility through their music. With a major line-up change in the last quarter of 2023, the group has since returned to the idol scene as a 5-member unit from June of this year.

Comprised of original members Suzuki Nanaka and Suzuki Minami, as well as new members Aicha, Kosaka Momono and Isshiki Hanane, GCiB have now made their re-debut with two new tracks that are sure to entice fans both old and new into their unique worldview.

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Idols

13 Songs to Define Houkago Princess

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With a thirteen year tenure and 61 songs to date — not including variants of the same song released in different years — there is no denying that Houkago Princess have a pretty decent discography under their belt. Over the years, Houkago Princesses sound has continued to evolve and new tracks have undoubtedly shined over older ones, so it begs the question: which of these tracks truly defines Houkago Princess, and which ones have stood the test of time?

It’s time to take a look at some of the songs in Houkago Princesses repertoire and see which ones currently define the group as a whole.

Back in July of 2011, I was reading my daily dose of Tokyohive when a little article popped up about a new group that would make their debut. With a debut date set for August 7th 2011, Houkago Princess was soon born. Now, 13 years on, the group is still thriving and their music has truly evolved since their humble beginnings in Ikebukuro.

With this milestone in mind, I wanted to create a list of thirteen songs that I feel truly define Houkago Princess, be it in image or sound. With so many songs, it makes sense that some will be performed more than others, so I wanted to challenge myself as a fan of the group and their music to whittle down exactly which ones currently define the group as a means of celebrating their 13th year as a group.

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