Rival Waah - BABYMETAL's "Doki Doki Morning"

BABYMETAL's "Doki Doki Morning"... at first I thought this was weird and creepy and laughed at it. The concept is cute and hilarious: three tweens/teens moshing about to Death Metal with trolling bits of cutesy bubblegum in between. The older girl, the vocalist, makes some hilarious idol-y faces while still keeping a tongue-in-cheek badassedness. The younger girls, though; they may be scarier than the Olsen twins.

Eventually this song became more than just an odd novelty to me. I genuinely like this song now, even if the girls are still a little creepy to me (I think the lead girl is cool, it's just those neo-Olsen twins...) So when I hear about their new song, I was excited. But I think whenever something epic comes around, it dooms its follower. Their new song is just another creepy novelty song to me. Maybe it will eventually grow on me like the first song did. Only I doubt any of their future songs can match the feeling of watching "Doki Doki Morning" for the first time.

I kind of wonder what will happen to this group in the future. They aren't going to remain "baby"-like forever. And isn't their mother idol group the group that graduates girls when they enter high school? And even if the older girl can stay because of her vocals and image as the group's face, I get the feeling the other two girls can just be easily replaced by fresh screaming pre-teens. I guess I'll continue following this group and see what happens! (And maybe it will take a few more songs to break out of the high expectations I have due to "Doki Doki Morning"'s epicness.)

Rival Waah - Fudanjuku's "Love Spider"

Since embedding is disabled, please watch the video on YouTube here.

I'm in love with these "guys." Color-coded? Check. Cute and cool at the same time? Check! Goofy? Check. Nerdy? Check. No need for a cod piece? Cheeeck! There's even a manga about them, which I would seriously consider buying if it was released in English. The concept of the group is genius, at least from the perspective of a female idol group that wants to bait female fans just as much or more than male fans.

Fudanjuku's "Love Spider" is another song that has a "this is so 80's feel." Can you tell I like songs that incorporate retro sounds yet? Hee. And that beginning little tune that repeats later in the song! It's like a herald of awesomesauce and just those five seconds get stuck in my head. Which then recalls the rest of the song and it gets stuck in my head, too.

Fudanjuku may not sound much like a male group. Some of the girls come close, but many are unmistakably women, which dictates how the group sounds as a whole. But that doesn't matter, because they all look like gorgeous guys. If they didn't charm me so much as idols, maybe I would want more consistency between their sound and image (even if that meant altering their pitch and having them lip sync in live shows.) But no, I'm content to listen to this awesome song while admiring their gorgeous cosplay. This is a group built on fantasy and I don't mind playing along.

I love Yellow's nose, hehe. But otherwise, I don't have a favorite, they are all cute with their own precious quirks.

Rival Waah - Denpagumi.inc's "Kuchizuke Kibonnu"

When other blogs mentioned this song, Denpagumi.inc's "Kuchizuke Kibonnu", they seemed to focus on the gimmick of the music video, which is "animated" with Polaroid photos being laid on a table. That is cool, yes, but without being a fan of the individual girls (and the photos themselves aren't enough to endear me them either... they are too small and go by too fast), I'm not so interested in the video itself.

But I love this song. The verses remind me of the 80's, the instrumental has a pleasing bass, the voices show emotion despite being rather cutesy. I listen to this song purely for aesthetic enjoyment and not because I have favorites "adding meaning." Is this really idol music? Not that I'm complaining.

But it also makes me realize that music has no bearing on whether I want to become a fan of an idol. Despite liking this song, I didn't have any desire to become fans of the individual members. Listen to more music from them, yes, but get to know the girls? I didn't have a reason to. I guess it really does take funny videos and pictures, or a music video full of character to appreciate idols as idols and not judge them solely as performers or artists.

Rival Waah! - Clover Rangers!

I like groups with prominent color-coding (image colors.) It is easier to recognize members in an unfamiliar group and more fun to learn the members. And it gives an immediate recognizable symbol for being a fan, like a flag. Wear a pink shirt to a Berryz Koubou concert and fans will think you're a Momo fan. But outside the idol context, color-coded characters are probably more familiar in the form of super-heroes/magical heroine kinds of shows. Sailor Moon, Madoka Magica, Super Sentai... a.k.a. Power Rangers! It's not unusual for idols to actually play female Rangers. And H!P's Berryz Koubou and C-ute has used the concept of Sentai-style color-coded teams in their Berryz Kamen vs. Cutie Ranger concert (recently revived!) But Momoiro Clover Z's "Densetsu ~Owarinaki Kakumei~" took it a step further, with actual suits (as in with helmets, not just another funky themed idol outfit) and makes references that those familiar with Sentai/Rangers will appreciate.

(It's pretty lucky that the bottomless pit of the group has the image color 'Yellow'. Perhaps they started from there?)

I was worried that I'd lose interest in Momoiro Clover after Akari/Blue left last year. She was my favorite and I thought she was the best singer. As the first Akari-less video, "Densetsu ~Owarinaki Kakumei~" reassured me that the group was still going to be fun to follow. I still haven't picked a new favorite, so I'm still a casual listener, but these goofy girls are still worth my time to listen to and watch their music videos. Their music is actually really catchy and fun-sounding and they have cute anime character-like voices! At the moment, they are probably my favorite non-H!P group.

This was a roundabout way of saying every second of this video is pure awesome!