Tag Archives: Japanese music

MAZE Take No Enemies In Their First EP, ‘BLASTELLA’ – EP Review

July 27, 2025 beyondsenpai Leave a comment

For forever now, people have been waiting for a proper MAZE release outside of their usual digital single releases. As of 2022, the group has released seven singles under their current name, however if we were to include their discography from when the group had been known by miscast, then altogether the group has released a whopping 19 singles, with the first 12 being released between the years 2019–2022. Considering the group continues to still play some of those songs at their live performances, I have decided to include them as a part of their overall discography.

In late 2019, the group had released a self-titled mini-album consisting of 4 tracks, however since then we have only been given singles. With their 2022 rebrand to group we know now, MAZE have continued to release music at a slightly slower rate, and the fans have only become hungrier for more.

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Music Review, News

Explore the Depths of Grief & Loss in Re:O’s New Single ‘Violets’

April 9, 2025 beyondsenpai Leave a comment

Article written & Edited by Kelly-Mae Matt

After tapping into their darker side in their previous single, The Haunted, Re:O have since returned with their 8th single, Violets, which explores the depths of grief and combines Re:O’s signature blend of metal riffs with sombre and harrowing melodies and synthonic instrumentation.

Set to release on all streaming platforms from April 9th, 2025, Violets is a song that will captivate listeners through its mesmerising vocals, haunting piano melodies and its use of sombre and harrowing melodies that perfectly capture the feeling of grief and pain. For fans of Alternative Metal, Industrial Metal, Metalcore, Goth, J-Pop, Dark Pop, Nu-Metal, Post Hardcore and Rock, Violets is sure to bewitch both seasoned and new listeners of Re:O’s music.

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Feature Article, Idols, Interviews

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

March 3, 2025 beyondsenpai Leave a comment

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

October 3, 2024 Kelly Leave a comment

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

September 15, 2024 Kelly Leave a comment

*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

September 9, 2024 Kelly Leave a comment

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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News

Esprit D’Air announce ‘Seasons & Aeons’ Tour

August 2, 2024 beyondsenpai Leave a comment

With 2024 still in motion, Esprit D’Air looks towards an exciting future in 2025.

With 2024 already over the halfway point, Esprit D’Air is already looking towards the year 2025. With their 15th anniversary on the horizon, it’s no surprise that the group is gearing up to create a memorable year for not only themselves, but their fans as well.

Just announced on July 31st, Esprit D’Air will hold their highly anticipated Seasons & Aeons Tour for 2025, with dates spanning across Europe. From England to Spain, Esprit D’Air have so far packed their up-coming tour with an impressive 9 countries in 15 different cities. Beginning on 22 March in Bristol, UK, the tour will conclude in Barcelona, Spain, on 28 April, with additional dates to be announced.

Due to the incredible success of their last European tour, which saw 17 of their 22 tour dates sold out, Esprit D’Air will now be playing at bigger venues with a capacity of 500 – 1,500 attendees,

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Guest Article

Kickstarting Your Heart For The Cro-Magnons

July 30, 2024 beyondsenpai Leave a comment

Article by: Beth / @magnonrockcave
Edited by: Kelly-Mae Matt

The last time I wrote anything about The Cro-Magnons – or ダ・クロマニヨンズ as the t shirts are branded – they had 13 albums and counting. Now they have 17 albums, with at least 20 or so amazing hits among them. That’s not even counting the tracks by the same songwriters previous bands The Hi Lows, and perhaps the more globally famous The Blue Hearts. Basically, they’ve been writing great rock songs since 1985 and have barely ever stopped.

From L–R: Masaru Kobayashi (Ba.), Hiroto Kohmoto (Vo.), Masatoshi Mashima (Gr.), Katsuji Kirita (Dr.) (*Photo courtesy of Sony Music Japan*)

At this point, The Cro-Magnons are the longest running line-up of all three groups. Balancing the new energy of their current drummer Katsuji Kirita and bassist Masaru Kobayashi, alongside common denominators Mashima Masatoshi on guitar and Hiroto Kohmoto singing/playing the harmonica, the latter of which continues to steal the stage; this is not a bad thing and, as I have said before, Hiroto Kohmoto is a ball of energy and I just don’t know how he does it.

So, whether you have never heard of them and I convinced you in the past, or somewhere down the line you have heard a few songs and want to hear more, it begs the question: With this much of a discography, where do you start? Well, that’s ultimately subjective, and I’ll just cover The Cro-Magnons discography here, but I do have a source besides myself this time.

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Feature Article, Guest Article

Idols You Should Know (From The Depths of the Underground)

July 3, 2024 beyondsenpai Leave a comment

Article By: Benny / @Codomomentality
Edited by: Kelly-Mae Matt

Hello there! This is Benny / Codomomentality!

Over on twitter, I recently made a post expressing my desire to see the Western fans of Japanese music get into more idol groups. Right now, it seems like a lot of people stick to the same stuff but, once you really dig into the depths of Idol, you will see that there’s so many diverse and amazing groups hidden within it, and that’s what I would like to show the Japanese music fans today.

With that being said, here are 5 groups that I think we should all be talking about more and showing our support for!

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Music Review

Senpai’s Soundtrack: Songs For The Summer

June 24, 2024 Kelly Leave a comment

Now that the weather has finally started to brighten up in dreary ol’ England, I thought it was high-time to update my playlist with a few summer songs; and what better than to fill it than with some incredible Japanese tunes that were released this year?

Though I am more inclined to listen to the cuter side of J-pop – and there’s nothing wrong with that! – I have found a nice variety of tracks to keep me going this early Summer. From upbeat, adorable tracks to more heated tunes, this playlist is filled with the tunes that define ‘Summer’ for me.

Whether you find a song to uplift your spirits or drag you into the heat of an on-coming summer, I hope that you can also find something to enjoy here in my Senpai Soundtrack. Are you ready to tune in and give these songs a go?

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