A-to-J Connections recently realized that we were a bit overdue for a new KOTO interview and as chance would have it, this would be our fifth interview with her and it would take place just prior to her special Fifth Anniversary Concert! If you don't know who KOTO is, let's give you all a very brief recap. We first officially caught up with KOTO early in 2016 with an interview and a live report that can be found HERE and HERE respectively. Just a few short weeks later we were lucky enough to catch up with her in Taiwan where she held her first overseas live! That interview was split into two parts and can be found HERE and HERE. A few months after that we arranged another interview that followed the release of her single "Butoh Yugi" which can be found HERE. LASTLY, we caught up with KOTO in October 2017, circa the release of her "Kotoraberingu" (Kotraveling) single and you can find that one HERE. Basically, you can learn all about KOTO in all those articles!
Since then, a lot of developments have occured! She had a successful crowdfunding campaign for a new album and MV in April 2018 and followed that success up by announcing her major debut, and the creation of a new label just for her called "KOTORA", through Universal Music Japan! November 2018 would see the first album from her in two years with the release of "Bye Bye Teens Lullaby" and she'd also release an MV for one of its songs, "Tiger Fighter Cyber Fighter"! As already mentioned, she recently celebrated her fifth anniversary and has even expanded into other things such as creating choreography for other idols! Basically, there's a lot to say, but let's move onto to the interview! A-to-J Connections recently completed one of our many trips to Japan where we conducted several interviews and attended many concerts and events. While there we were lucky enough to catch up with WHY@DOLL both at their oneman live at Shibuya GLAD and we were able to sit down with them for an interview! An interview that was both fun and informative and that we're ecstatic to bring you now! For those that don't know A-to-J Connections have been fans of WHY@DOLL for a while now and we even named their album "Gemini" a very close second as our idol "album of the year". (In an article that can be found HERE.) We all loved the singles that followed the album (Being "Sumire Iolite" and "Kimi wa Steady") and we gave their follow-up self-titled album, which released this past August, a great review as well. (That review can be found HERE.) We were really excited that we were granted this opportunity and we hope that everyone checks out WHY@DOLL from here on and keeps an eye on their future activities! Also, if you've never heard of WHY@DOLL before this, we encourage you to look into them more as we really can't recommend enough!
WHY@DOLL is an idol unit from Sapporo, Hokkaido that formed in May 2011 with five members, two of which would leave the following February. That February also saw the release of their first single "Fight!!". WHY@DOLL held their first oneman live in July 2013 and Zepp Tokyo and that November a third member graduated leaving WHY@DOLL as the duo they are today made up of Haruna Uratani and Chiharu Aoki. This change in lineup also marked the group's move to Tokyo. WHY@DOLL began 2014 with a challenge to make their major debut, an endeavor in which they were eventually successful and saw the release of their first major single, "Magic Motion No.5" released that September. They would release their first mini-album, "NAMARA!!", in 2015 and this would be followed by their first full-length album, "Gemini", the next year. Late 2016 and early 2017 saw the release of the singles "Sumire Iolite" and "Kimi wa Steady" respectively, both of which would lead up to their second full-length self-titled album. WHY@DOLL currently holds regular lives at Shibuya GLAD and is active on various platforms online including SHOWROOM. Links to more info can be found following the interview! J-POP Summit offers a variety of content at each of its booths every year and a regular favorite of the event is the Travel Pavilion which features several booths dedicated to promoting travel to various regions of Japan. J-POP Summit has featured music guests at the Travel Pavilion in the past, notably YANAKIKU, and this year was no different. Ayaka Ooba, Mayu Kishida, and Kokoro Araki of Fukuoka-based idol group, LinQ were the guests at this year's event and would appear at both their booth and perform on the Travel Pavilion Stage both days. Though the the three were technically graduated members by this point, they came representing the group and were officially titled "LinQ OG" in all official J-POP Summit materials. This interview was a fun one, and one of the few times we've interviewed only certain members from an idol group rather than the entire group as a whole. Note that we chose to credit the interview to "LinQ" as this is how they referred to themselves so we decided to honor that. So be sure to check it out and keep an eye out for more content like this in the future!
LinQ debuted in 2011 and being based in Fukuoka they serve as a cultural bridge between it and the rest of Japan. Their name stands for "Love in Qshu" a reference to the island of Kyushu where Fukuoka is located. They have a very large and varied lineup that is split into two groups titled "Lady" and "Qty". Besides releasing singles as LinQ, they have also collaborated with many other groups and have released many collaboration singles and unit releases. Also the songs "Furusato Japan" and "Treasure" have been used as ending theme songs for the popular Yo-Kai Watch series. J-POP Summit marks LinQ's first appearance in the US. A-to-J Connections recently attended J-POP Summit 2017 and we were lucky enough to sit down with ex-AKB48/Watarirouka Hashiritai 7 member and current enka soloist, Misaki Iwasa. We discussed everything from past lives, her favorite songs, and just what enka is for those that don't know! This is one you'll want to check out!
In 2008 Misaki Iwasa joined AKB48 as a seventh generation trainee member and participated in their first ever US appearance later that year in New York. In 2010 Misaki debuted as both a member of Watarirouka Hashiritai 7 and AKB48's Team A. 2012 saw the release of her debut single "Mujin Eki", which also featured an enka version of AKB48's mega-hit "Heavy Rotation", a trend that would be copied in later singles. The release of her third single, "Tomonoura Bojou", followed two years later and it was her first single to top the Oricon charts. She graduated from AKB48 in 2016 and focused on her solo activities which included her sixth single Sabakaidou and several overseas appearances including Hyper Japan in London and Japan Expo in Paris. J-POP Summit 2017 marks her solo debut in the US. We recently dropped by San Francisco's J-POP Summit and we were lucky enough to interview Babyraids JAPAN, an idol group who mixes rock and idol music to create their own genre of "Emotional Idorock"! We discussed their stay in San Francisco, their upcoming concert, and their thoughts on their latest singles! Be sure to check it out and look forward to more content from J-POP Summit 2017 soon!
Babyraids JAPAN originally formed as "Babyraids" in 2012 and released their first single, also titled "Babyraids", that September. In December 2014 they held a solo concert at Nippon Budokan, one of the most prestigious venues in Japan. To commemorate this major milestone they changed their name to "Babyraids JAPAN". They recently released their fourteenth single "Maru Maru Maru Maru Maru" in August and even more recently released their latest MV, "Bokura wa Koko ni Iru" days before their appearance at J-POP Summit. J-POP Summit 2017 marks their US debut, but the group performed at Paris' Japan Expo in 2016. The five-member group is partly produced by former Idoling!!! member Kikuchi Ami. We recently sat down with idol group callme to discuss their latest single "Bring you happiness". Seeing as we had interviewed them twice before we decided to do something different for this one. Rather than a standard interview, we settled on hosting this one live via our Facebook page and to bring the audience into the interview itself! It was a fun interview that saw the girls answering questions directly submitted by fans as well as asking fans questions of their own! There were lots of really fun, wacky questions towards the end as well and even an English corner! Be sure to check this one out and if you're curious to see the video of the interview itself, it is located at the end of this article. Be sure to follow us on social media for more interviews like this one!
calllme is a three-member idol group that is unique in the fact that they are completely self-produced. They formed early 2015 and have released two albums and four singles. The three members, RUUNA, MIMORI, and KOUMI were former members of the group Dorothy Little Happy. Their unique sound of upbeat pop music has won them many fans around the world. Their most recent single, "Bring you happiness", is the PR song for the Japanese Pallet Association. KOTO es definitivamente la favorita en A-To-J Connections y hemos hablado de ella en varias ocasiones. La entrevistamos antes en Japón (HERE para la entrevista. HERE para el reporte del concierto.), durante su primer evento fuera de Japón, en Taiwan. Taiwan (HERE and HERE) y recientemente, pudimos entrevistarla de nuevo. ¡Durante nuestro viaje a Japón! Fue una video entrevista y, por varias razones, sólo pudo ser realizada en japonés. (Video abajo) ¡Pero pronto estará la versión con subtítulos!
La siguiente entrevista fue realizada literalmente horas antes de una presentación especial de KOTO y la banda de Sasaki Kissa, Recoride. Fue también unas semanas antes de su cumpleaños y su presentación en solitario. Después de esto, fue lanzado su sencillo “Butoh Yugi” y su aparición en el Tokyo Idol Festival, siendo estos los temas de los que hablamos en la entrevista. Mantente al pendiente de A-To-J Connections para más información acerca de KOTO y visita los links al final del artículo (Y lo que están al inicio) para más detalles. KOTO is definitely a favorite of us here at A-To-J Connections and we’ve covered her several times. We’ve interviewed her once before in Japan (HERE for interview. HERE for live report.), during her first overseas live in Taiwan (HERE and HERE), and we recently interviewed her again during our recent trip to Japan! This was a video interview and due to various issues has so far only been released in Japanese (found below) but a subtitled version will be released soon!
The following interview was on the eve of a special live featuring KOTO and Sasaki Kissa’s band, Recoride; the interview taking place literally hours before. It was also a few weeks before both her birthday and oneman lives. It followed the release of her single “Butoh Yugi” and her appearance at Tokyo Idol Festival so these are all topics that we covered. Keep an eye on A-To-J Connections for more about her and please follow the links at the end of the article (and those above) for more information! First of all, let me just say that this is my first review at A-To-J Connections despite being on the team for a year. I’m not the best at describing sounds and song genres but I felt like writing a review so here it is. This new song by ANGERME, “Ai no Tame Kyou Made Shinkashitekita Ningen Ai no Tame Subete Taikashitekita Ningen” which in English means “Humans that have evolved for love Humans that have degenerated everything for love”. Ok, what is up with that title? It is horribly long and hard to say. I wonder how fans are going to shorten it? (Something to look forward to) This is the first song to feature Momona Kasahara, who just recently joined right after Meimi Tamura had left. Even though she doesn’t have the most lines, she got some key lines to showcase herself. Just like recent other Hello!Project single releases, this is one of the 3 songs in their triple A-side single which also includes the songs “Umaku Ienai” (Can’t Say It Well) and “Wasureteageru” (I’ll Forget For You). The song itself has EDM qualities to it and the lyrics are very futuristic. It is about humans in a futuristic world that have convenient gadgets and technology but they still have trouble finding love. The dance also reflects the lyrics and has a robotic feel to the movements. All the moves look sharp and cool just like the past couple of ANGERME dances. It really shows how much they have stepped up their game! Now the MV… Per usual for H!P songs, the MV is a simple studio shoot with a couple of backgrounds, lip-synching scenes, and a dance shot. Hearts show up in the MV signifying the love they are yearning for. Even though it is simple, I personally think it shows off the girls more with the cool tone colors and the almost post-apocalyptic setting. The costumes are also simple and the asymmetric dresses are a nice touch. I feel like I’m watching a Morning Musume MV from when they were more EDM heavy in their songs since it has a similar feel to the music and dance. I can’t keep my eyes off of Ayacho because she is a total beauty and has matured quite a bit now! I have nothing really to complain about in this song and MV to be quite honest. Lines are nicely distributed, there are cute scenes in there, and the dance looks stunning as usual. I actually didn’t the MV too much when they showed the short preview on Hello! Station but after seeing the full version, I’m a complete fan. I look forward to the lives for this song and the MVs for the other songs! Also hoping to see a dance shot for this song… (I’m sure I’m not the only H!P fan out there that misses Dance Shots for every song!!) The single comes out October 19th, 2016 so make sure to pick it up and support ANGERME for more awesome content! -Tiffany Fujii ANGERME - "Ai no Tame Kyou Made Shinkashitekita Ningen Ai no Tame Subete Taikashitekita Ningen" MV Ultra Mirakurukuru Final Ultimate Interview with Idol Group The World Standard! (わーすた) (Part 2)7/30/2016 Recently A-To-J Connections was granted the opportunity to interview iDOL Street group, The World Standard! The interview was held via Google Hangouts and was quite long so we split it into two parts! The first part can be found here! This second half deals more with fan activities, their personalities, likes and dislikes, and their goals for the future! You can really get to know the girls by checking out both halves of this interview, but you can find lots here in this half! This marks the end of our interview with them, but this won't be the last you'll see of them on A-To-J Connections! Also note that the video for the interview is up on our YouTube channel (and can be found below) and subtitles will be coming soon!
The World Standard (Also known as Wa-suta or わーすた) is an idol group formed in March 2015 under avex's iDOL Street label which also includes Cheeky Parade, SUPER GIRLS, and GEM. The five-member group is produced by Manaka Suzuki and their goal is to bring their unique brand of cute, idol music to the entire world! In order to achieve this goal they have recorded and performed music across many different genres and hope to record in different languages in the future. Their first self-titled album was released earlier this year and they will release their first single this September. They also recently held their first overseas live in at Shanghai's @Jam this past June. This is their first long-form interview for English-speaking audiences. For more on them look here for our Featured Idol Friday article on them! A-To-J: 海外のライブをした上で、他に行ってみたい国はありますか? A-To-J: Now that you’ve performed outside of Japan, what are some of the other countries you’d like to visit? 廣川 奈々聖: たくさんあるよね! Hirokawa Nanase: There’s a lot! 小玉 梨々華: たくさんある...やっぱり私たちは担当それぞれ分けて今外国語をそれぞれ勉強してるのでもう本当にたくさんの国に行きたいんですけど、やっぱりみんな担当している国にはかならず行って、そのメンバーが中心となって喋れるようにはしたいなと思います。 Kodama Ririka: There’s a lot… Even though we want to go to many different countries, since we split who is in charge of studying different foreign languages we each want to go to the countries we are in charge of learning the languages for. We also want the member who is learning the language to be the center point and be able to do most of the speaking. 廣川 奈々聖: あと、私個人的にフランスの何だろう...おしゃれな雰囲気...町並みとかすごい好きで...それからなんか雑貨とかもかわいいし、やっぱりなんか日本と海外って全然違うのでどこに行っても楽しいと思うんですけど、フランスは日本の文化も少し浸透してるところかなって思ってて...だから是非わーすたの「かわいい」をどんどん発信していきたいです。 Hirokawa Nanase: Also, I personally really like France’s how do you say it… stylish atmosphere and townscape! Their sundries are cute as well and overseas countries are very different from Japan so I think it’s fun no matter where you go… So I would like to send out Wa-suta’s brand of “kawaii.” A-To-J: ライブしてみたい会場やイベントはありますか? A-To-J: Is there any particular venue or event that you would like to perform at? メンバー全員: えーなんだろう、難しい... All: Ehh, I’m not sure, that’s hard…. 廣川 奈々聖: でもやっぱりアメリカってすごく大きい会場があるイメージ... Hirokawa Nanase: But I imagine America having really big venues… 小玉 梨々華: 規模が大きい... Kodama Ririka: The scale is big… 廣川 奈々聖: 規模も大きいし...だからまだまだ本当に自分の想像もつかないというか、夢の夢の夢のまた夢なんですけど、本当にアメリカはやっぱり流行の最先端の場所でもあると思うので、そんなところで大きい場所でライブが出来たらすごく幸せだな、って思います。 Hirokawa Nanase: The scale is big so… I really can’t even imagine it yet, it’s a dream within a dream, within a dream, within another dream but I really believe that America is the most updated in trends so I would be very happy if we could do a live at such a big place. |
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