I have dropped some stuff that are a bit longer than I normally do. That's because there are actually some thoughts behind them, but I usually write brainless posts sksjsnssnsm— Anyway, projects I will write about:
Paradox Live — Always had been the franchise I wrote my thoughts on ever since the start of the project. Reason for not writing about it anymore.
IDOLiSH7 — Mostly me talking about scenes in the anime of IDOLiSH7 (or Aninana like some people call it), but I also follow the game story for anyone wondering!
MILGRAM — Thoughts on MVs, except I never engage with the fandom so I have to figure it out myself somehow.
There are some other things I might write about, but nothing too lengthy (a comment at most) about something. Please read it as projects I'm into/follow: ARGONAVIS, Live us, HoneyWorks, utaites, Blackstar, HeavenlyHelly, DIG ROCK, Technoroid, Kare wa Vocalist, Visual Prison, Carnelian Blood, HANA-Doll, Hypnosis Mic, Tsukipro, and Tsukiuta.
I actually know more 2D music projects, but the ones above are the ones I listen the most to (probably). I also like these idol survival shows like PD101 if you haven't noticed. That's all you need to know :)))
Masterlist under cut!! Maybe this will be everything there is, maybe not, it really depends.
MASTERLIST
PARADOX LIVE
Phantom Illusion trailers: BAE
Phantom Illusion trailers: The Cat's Whiskers
Phantom Illusion trailers: cozmez
Phantom Illusion trailers: AKYR
Road to Legend: a random thoughts dump
IDOLiSH7
Speculation(?) on part 5 about TRIGGER (1/2)
Speculation(?) on part 5 about TRIGGER (2/2)
Scenes Aninana S3
Yamato talk with Momo and Yuki (S3EP5)
Searching the lost: alike and yet different — similarities between Kujo, Yuki and Nagi
IDOLiSH7 Anniversary 2022 Cards: remembering their value
I normally don't post HSR content on here, but I was so lucky… I saved up for nearly half a year and it was all worth it!! I managed to get Aventurine E6S1, but it definitely wasn't possible if not for the double double Aventurine 🥹🙏
Anyway, if you want to add, me let me know because I still have many friend slots (unlike Genshin) 🫶
I'm writing this and how did I leave the house at 10.30am and it's currently around 12.24pm and I just got on the station 50 minutes from my station?? The delays are insane 💀
Anyway, I changed the format a little because it's more logical.
S1EP1 || S1EP2
Notable things in the EP:
Iori is going to help out Tsumugi behind the scenes.
IDOLiSH7 is going to live in a dorm together.
Since Iori and Tamaki are underaged, they need permission from their guardians. It turns out that Tamaki grew up in an orphanage (may explain a little bit of how he acted in EP2).
Mitsuki says that Iori likes to take care of people like Tsumugi and Riku.
And the center is… 🥁… RIKU!!!
IDOLiSH7 is now doing street performances to get their names out.
We cut to TRIGGER and the management over there feels much colder compared to i7's.
Tamaki and Nagi seem to take the idol life not that serious (yet). Then you start to wonder what their story is… but we aren't able to know just yet.
We also get to see another side of Sogo… one that does seem a little threatening.
i7 is not allowed to perform for one month until TRIGGER's live.
Tamaki and Yamato start having a kinda serious talk and Tamaki says he wants to be on TV, while Yamato says he does it for revenge (but says its a joke after).
IT'S THE VIRAL MITSUKI AND NAGI SCENE Y'ALL.
Mitsuki tells Nagi that he never knows what Iori is thinking (kinda in a sad way).
We cut to the next scene wherein Iori says he became an idol because Mitsuki wanted to be an idol. Iori only became an idol, so they would take Mitsuki as well…
Riku asks Sogo if he likes TRIGGER and Sogo answers yes, but Riku answers that he's isn't sure if he can respect them or forgive them.
Then he asks Sogo why he did become an idol and if he is able to abandon his family for the sake of his dream...
Sogo answers that he already did and Riku is surprised because he didn't expect it from someone as kind as him.
Then you start to wonder why…
Personal comments (after re-watch):
This episode is the start of Mitsuki's and Nagi's friendship and it's going to be so so so beautiful.
This episode is quite packed because we kinda touch the surface of the reason on why they became idols. They all seem to have their own reasons and secrets that have yet to be revealed, but you can't help but think about it.
The last dialogue between Riku and Sogo was intense af actually. The shift from a cozy atmosphere to a tense one was so sudden. It also kinda make you realize that you still don't know anything about them (the characters in general).
Also, at the end when Riku leans in against his reflection in the mirror… A good shot, but not something you would consider kinda important…? Well, you will see :)
Past me things:
To be honest, knowing me, I probably rewatched that Mitsuki and Nagi scene for a few times.
I also clearly remember not knowing what to think of Tamaki. Kinda annoying? Kinda cute?? Endearing??? I was not sure and that's valid!
I'll simply write down things I remember from past me, notable things in the episode, and a few comments after this round of re-watch. I'll also try to keep it spoiler free!! For new watchers, the notes might give you some points to think about because I obviously didn't write them down without a reason.
Updates may be slow: I am a sad university student.
S1EP1
Past me things:
Past me definitely thought that the CGI was cringe.
Notable things in the EP:
TRIGGER appearance!!
First Zero mention in the episode.
Iori and his "correct" answers.
Tamaki not having a phone number and just being Tamaki is so Tamaki like.
There seems to be a long way ahead of them spreading their name to the public.
Iori's soft side seems to come forward more in this episode, but still keeping it to himself most of the time.
Riku mentions that his brother is an amazing and kind brother, but somehow seems to keep some information from the others...
The concert doesn't seem to be very successful, but the president (Takanashi papa) had already expected and seems to willing to invest in the boys.
This was a great lesson for Tsumugi, but it also gives us some insight that it is more difficult to spread your name in the public.
The boys… already expected only a few quests to come. They are so… kind? You can see how they are still very much motivated to give back to the people who do believe in them (Tsumugi too!). Small development, I guess.
First performance ever, MONSTER GENERATiON. Don't forget to pay attention to the lyrics because it describes the situation very well!
Also, small thing, the fans are very loyal ;)
TRIGGER seems totally different from their on-stage personas. They don't seem to be that close.
Personal comments (after re-watch):
I still think the scene with them deciding/dividing the singing parts is awkward af, but that's just a me thing.
My God, the MONSTER GENERATiON outfits are so old and Riku's fit is still hideous HELPPP.
Even though it was expectated that they wouldn't sell out the venue, I still think this was somehow impactful. This anime has no chill for the idols. With only 9 people being there, it is indeed quite a sad number for a venue of 3.000. Well, this only shows what work they still have to do. It won't happen all at once, but you will definitely be able to see your hard work pay off in the future…
Hi, I have literally nothing to do on the train (which is like 4 hours a day), so I might as well watch one of my favourite series ever: IDOLiSH7. This is also kinda a compensation for the time when I said I would post about i7: Third Beat, but I never did after the 1st episode.
I'll simply write down things I remember from past me, notable things in the episode, and a few comments after this round of re-watch. I'll also try to keep it spoiler free!! For new watchers, the notes might give you some points to think about because I obviously didn't write them down without a reason.
Updates may be slow: I am a sad university student.
Past me things:
When I watched this anime for the first time, I just wanted to say that this was my first ever male idol anime I watched. My expectations were low.
I tried so hard to remember everyone's names in the first episode… I even paused the episode for it to catch everyone's name, lol.
Yes, I am one of the people who clicked the episode away to see if I was watching the right anime when they were playing basketball.
Notable things in the EP:
The basketball game already gives away a lot actually. Not only how Mitsuki and Iori seem to be close siblings, but also how Riku seems very tired after the match. Don't forget that it's a three-on-three and Yamato is the referee as if he doesn't want to insert himself into the picture.
MAN. When Iori started to wonder if Tsumugi was the daughter of the president, it was Sogo to say that it didn't matter.
Mitsuki seems to be very shaken by the news that not all of them are going to debut, only three of them.
Once again, Iori comes at Tsumugi because she has broken their trust and it's Sogo again who says she can't help it.
Yamato is the first one to count himself out because he was only doing this for his revenge.
Sogo, who is always looking out for the people around him but himself…
To be honest, Tamaki is so brazen, but it fits him (and his age).
Riku talking to Iori and how great it is to be able to work together with them, and Tamaki also looking serious when these words are spoken.
Sogo giving the bottle to Tamaki, so he could make up with Mitsuki is so Sogo like. (Mending the relationships here.)
Personal comments (after re-watch):
I forgot how much I love WiSH VOYAGE!
While everyone does look very serious, it hits me so hard to see their feelings align for the first time. I know it's just the first episode and it's probably because I have seen this series many many many times already, but I can't help but get slightly emotional...
I also really love how Tsumugi pinpoints the strong points of everyone in this episode because you will only see their appeal grow and notice them becoming a better version of themselves throughout the series. It's a masterpiece.
Together with the scene of deciding their group name, I think the first episode was very impactful.
You may, or may have not, stumbled across this video, but yeah… My Tumblr is kinda dead, so I thought it isn't that bad of an idea to drop this one here as well.
There are some notes in the description, so before you go attack me because I haven't added XX role to YY seiyuu, please read the description 👊😔
Some Tumblr exclusive notes under the cut ✨
Why Paradox Live?
Yeah, I know I said I was not posting about Paradox Live anymore and considering the fact that the video was posted in October 2023, it seems pretty recent. However, I have been working on this video for AGES. I think that I will end up in somewhere in 2022(?) starting this video. I was still into Paradox Live and I had dreams to introduce people to it. Too bad that I'm a procrastinator… I mean, I could have chosen IDOLiSH7 as starting point as well, but Paradox Live had a bigger cast :)
My motivation to work on it
Guys, I'm not even kidding. I was planning to use Paradox Live to (hopefully) get some people into Argopro. The project had some difficulties and I wanted to pull people into it, so I did it in a very roundabout way. After all, not a lot of Paradox Live seiyuus are in Argopro like bro what am I even doing!? When starting with the roles of Kajiwara Gakuto (Allen's VA), there were barely any solos for Haruka (his role in Argopro). I remember downloading/ripping the audio of Orthros, because that song was barely introduced. Good old times.
What did I want to achieve with this video?
Guys, I'm just a girl who really likes sharing her interests and I'm a big fan of listening to music of several music projects because I think they are nice and they are different from other music if that makes any sense + you can listen to your favourite seiyuus!!! This was a video for my close friends because I always try to get them to listen to songs or to check out projects. This was merely a tool I used, I guess. My friends love me and I love them. In the end, it wasn't even needed because I post plenty enough on my insta story.
How I made the video
Bros, let me tell you. This was one hell of a dumpster fire of making this video. I'm not kidding. If you think you you can do it, go for it. I will never do it again.
I made the video on my phone. My phone has seen better days, y'all. I first made the template in Ibispaintx and after that I went into YouCut to put the audio over it. I absolutely hated it because you couldn't delete the files if you had the videos in draft (otherwise it will get corrupted which makes sense), but it took a lot of storage. I ended up saving them seperately per character, but the pain I had to go through everytime I made a mistake was painful.
This video is like 22 minutes long, but it took me nearly 2 years to finish it ( •̥ࡇ•̥ )
A little extra for you all <3
I still have the very first version of this video, so I thought, I might as well upload it for others to check out how ewww it kinda is, lmao. It was such a rough draft, but you can't have it all, right? Here is the link (the video is still unlisted, so you won't find it online if you don't have the link).
Another extra, which are the Paradox Live edits (this is a link to my Amino post, so yeah, it's a hell hole ngl) I did 4 years ago. I wanted to use one of them as my thumbnail actually, but I decided not too because people may not be used to that and thus may consider it over the top…
I was on my way to university and I was suddenly hit with the fact how times had changed. Kind of like the realization: “Wow, you've grown up! “. It's such a weird feeling honestly, but at the same time I think it's part of what we call life.
(Feel free to skip, because it's really not like the usual content)
This is a little writing on the spot about how I currently feel, so it may be cluttered. Don't worry, it's still kinda about music/multimedia projects I love so much, but I hope some may share the same sentiments and feelings as I do.
As always, I would love to hear your thoughts as long as it's respectful!
A STEP INTO AN UNFAMILIAR WORLD
I was never really into Japanese media like I am right now. To be honest, my world was pretty empty when it came to music. I don't even remember the artists I followed before I fell into this world, but it was probably not a lot. Music was simply not something that played a big part in my life.
I think that I wanted to try something new roughly 10 years ago, so I sort of forced myself to listen to vocaloid. It was something unfamiliar and I thought it was weird. They didn't sound human at all! Soon, I grew to love the fact how the vocaloid producers could make songs exactly the way they did. What would be something impossible for humans, was possible with vocaloid.
After that, I kind of branched out to the utaite world, but I think it was when I heard MafuMafu's ベルセルク (Berserk) that locked my place in this industry. I felt understood and that was the moment that I thought (maybe a bit cliché even), “So music really can save lives.” I didn't even understand the lyrics, but the raw emotion in the song really hit me like a truck. I was not alone in this world, because there were many others who resonated with the song. It was as if a warm blanket had been put on your shoulders on a cold night.
THE SPARKLING WORLD OF MUSIC PROJECTS
After that, I started to follow these Japanese artists and one day I somehow ended up on a video of Love Live! (just to be sure, social media wasn't really big back in the day, so you really had to do it with what you had at that time which was YouTube for me). I was surprised because they were anime girls, but the voice actresses behind the characters were also performing live? I had never seen something like that before.
I think I got into LL with the last few months of μ's. I didn't follow them that much, but I knew I kind of loved the feeling of supporting something that was so close to the things I love (anime and music in this case). So when Aqours was announced, I decided to follow them closely and that's how I became an Aqours defender. It was a fun time, but it was also still fresh after the disbandment of μ's, so people were throwing kind of emotional comments all the time. I think this made me appreciate them more, because they kept working hard and they kept giving to the fans. They looked absolutely lovely in my eyes, not only the characters, but also the VA's.
Anyway, I also stumbled on the MV of Roselia's BLACK SHOUT and I thought they were cool, but I never really fell into the hole of BanG Dream! as project, but I guess I did follow Roselia's music casually. Not after I lost the YT account because I didn't have a Google account, so I only remembered after I found the video again.
LET'S TRY SOMETHING OF A DIFFERENT FLAVOUR
After that, I played SIF and Garupa a lot, but I wanted to try something different. This is something unimaginable if you know me, but I absolutely refused to check out music projects featuring male characters. I thought it was stupid and why would I because I couldn't relate to them anyway, but oh boy, this aged so poorly...
Back then, I was on an app called Amino. It's a dumpster fire app nowadays, but I'll never forget the people I met online on there (but that's a story for another time). When you entered the app, you would get advertisement sometimes. I deadass got advertisement for the game of IDOLiSH7. This was very very very stupid. I would get i7 ads on YT as well and I was so confused. Anyway, I decided to give it a try but I was on my iPad and I was stupid, so I was locked out because of region lock. I raged, LMAO.
I still decided to give it a try since I saw that they had an anime season with these characters. This was mistake 1, because not only did I not know what I started, not only did I watch the cringe dance, but I fricking loved it. TRIGGER was introduced and wow, I listen to their songs and their songs are good too. What's happening? I didn't know either. In reality, I absolutely fell into their marketing trap and my life had never been the same.
Some other projects worth mentioning that I started to check out after realising that male music projects were good were Band Yarouze! and Kare wa Vocalist.
IT'S TOO LATE TO TURN BACK
I met people online who were into other projects and I met my bestie who introduced me to Hypnosis Mic back in 2018. I met more people, I started to follow more music projects in general. I actually didn't even like hiphop/rap music until I stumbled upon Paradox Live. These projects are really opening my eyes now, huh…
Anyway, a project that really changed my life forever was Argopro. I followed them in their beginning stages kinda (2018) and they still don't disappoint at all. They were building on a shakey base, but look how steady it goes (pun intended?) right now! I was even reminiscing about the times when the pandemic was going on and how strongly they were going even then. They were absolutely dominating the field. Here is the link of that small thread of mine.
Suddenly, there was a rise of several music projects too. I guess it was the perfect time for people to check out these projects, especially when they were not allowed to go outside.
HAPPY, BUT WITH A LINGERING SADNESS
I graduated from high school, but my high school times were absolutely wild. I tiered in games. Not in the biggest games ever, but I had a great time tiering in AAside and Hanipre (though both games are no more; do check out Kimisute 🫵). I went to school, did my homework and played games. That was basically it.
When I officially graduated, I started to understand the SOARA songs more and I felt a certain sadness within me. It was time for goodbye. It was an end of a chapter of my life. My friends and I were going to different universities and we were friends, but there were no aligning interests actually, so the interaction died out pretty quickly.
I started to attend uni and I was much busier than I was in high school. The 30 minutes cycling to school became a 2 hours ride on the train and I had to plan. There was no time anymore… there was no time to indulge myself into these projects that much anymore… It was an end of a chapter.
AND THAT'S WHERE WE ARE NOW.
Even though I'm mostly a closet fan and I'm afraid to actually take the first step for many interactions, I am no longer alone in this world. I bought CDs and albums, I bought online live tickets, I pulled other people into projects. I am happy.
This has been a mess, but I just wanted this to be off my chest while I'm on my way to uni.
I do feel bad when I'm missing out and when I'm no longer up to date with the story of the projects, but simply listening to their songs is more than enough. There is not something like a good reason to be a fan. If you enjoy it, you enjoy it, right?
Of course there are party poopers who are like the fandom police who tell you to do certain things and they make obnoxious comments like "how did you not know this?". They honestly make me sad, especially as a Genshin Impact fan, you know how bad it is over there. Do I really have to care about their words though? No, past me did not put a lot of effort to find happiness for the current me to throw away that easily.
Things have changed, of course they do. It's impossible to stay the same and I think it's valid to be sad about things you can't do right now. You are allowed to grief. It is okay and it will be okay. I always tell myself that. Even if the road seems long, it's still not a dead end. You got this, just like all the other times you did.
I just realized that all the links in the masterlist are dead because I changed user... Not that you have to go through a lot of posts to find something, but I will fix it when I feel like it hehe :)
MILGRAM dropped the MV of "Cat" and here are my initial thoughts on the MV:
First of all, the theme is kind of around Kazui being a magician throughout the whole MV. You see him pulling all kinds of tricks to surprise his partner. When you don't know how they pull the trick, it will always be impressive towards the viewer, so that's probably how his partner fell for him. She doesn't know what's behind the magic.
We also get a whole wedding scene in the MV, but I couldn't help but feel like everything was fabricated and everyone was just being fake af. Like tbh, everyone can feel that there's something off despite being it a happy occasion, probably because there's no real love and otherwise fake love.
You also see a lot of apples in the MV. This one scene has several apples, but they are all red except for one. The apple also appeared in Kazui's first MV "half", so this is a throwback to that as well. Anyway, green apples are often sour while red ones are often sweet. Kazui is trying to blend in with the rest, but he's not like the rest because he's hiding his true face.
It then switches to Kazui and his partner having dinner together. Kazui grabs his glass and you can see his wife through there. Normally, the vision will be warped a little because it's glass and there's substance in it. However, Kazui's partner is normal (except for the fact its mirrored). Why? Probably because she has no hidden intentions.
This scene flashes between the image of Kazui's partner and himself, except his head is depicted as a green apple. This image reminded me of something else: the son of man by Rene Magritte. This painting is one of the most well-known paintings for the surrealism movement and this is what Magritte said about it according to Wikipedia:
"At least it hides the face partly well, so you have the apparent face, the apple, hiding the visible but hidden, the face of the person. It's something that happens constantly. Everything we see hides another thing, we always want to see what is hidden by what we see. There is an interest in that which is hidden and which the visible does not show us. This interest can take the form of a quite intense feeling, a sort of conflict, one might say, between the visible that is hidden and the visible that is present."
I think that explains enough about what I want to say. After all, surrealism does depict reality in a not so realistic way, but rather in a sub conscious way.
The last few points for now is the end when the magic Disappears and the partner is not swayed by Kazui's actions anymore and he knows. He immediately falls back to his bad habits and his partner is horrified to see that he is a different person than she initially thought.
The dove also appears quite frequently in the MV, because not only does it fit the magician theme well, but I think it also kind of fits the tag that is used frequently in fanfics and that's "dead dove: do not eat" tag. It basically says, what it says. There's a dead dove, don't eat. It's an obvious warning, but curiosity kills the cat… and what's the title of the MV? You are right, it's "Cat". Kazui ends up eating the dove because he has fallen too much into his bad habits, even though he's aware of them being bad.
Last point is that the word "Masquerade" appears frequently as well and that can be a reference to the play by Mikhail Lermontov. Not only does it fall in line with the theme of his first MV again, the play itself is pretty dark and fitting for Kazui as well. I'm not well versed into this, so I will let Wikipedia do it's trick once again, so here's the plot from there:
"The hero of the drama, Arbenin, is a wealthy middle-aged man endowed with a rebellious spirit and a strong will. Born into high society, he strives in vain to gain independence and freedom. He lives by the laws of his society, and, in trying to defend his honor while blinded by jealousy and pride, ends up murdering his wife."
I saw this article on Oshi no Ko and I'm flabbergasted that no one is talking about it??? It was 5am in the morning, I opened my browser and I saw this article and the article chose violence. More under cut, because not only are they (unintentionally) disrespectful and because of spoilers, but also because they are mentioning kpop idols that have joined the stars a little sooner than expected.
Before I start, I'm a fan of Oshi no Ko. I wouldn't say that I'm following it religiously like some other things I do, so I'm definitely more of a casual fan. The reason I'm writing this is because I want to share my experience when I read these certain two paragraphs and what I thought when reading about them and why I think they could have written it better. I'm not a writer, so maybe I'm totally missing the point what they were going for, but alright. It's never wrong to share your experience and gain insight with the help of others.
There are several idol animes or idol media out there. All of them are different, or at least are trying their very best to leave a unique impression to the consumer. People who are familiar with them are often the ones who know that there are several series who are not a carbon copy of another series. The selling point is most of the time the music and characters and the people behind the series decide how much focus there will be on the music part or on the development of their characters. Nothing wrong with that, right? Some prefer to see more performances, while others prefer to explore the underlying problems their (favourite) character might go through.
As much as it kind of pains me as an IDOLiSH7 fan, for many it's Oshi no Ko that shows the dark side of this industry. Look. I'm a multimedia enjoyer and it always excites me to see people get into it, but then I saw this article and I was a bit… disheartened to say the least.
There are a few things that makes me feel a bit iffy in this paragraph. "… the narrative from exciting to bland in a heartbeat" was the point I raised an eyebrow. You see… apparently we only want to see the good part, so if it doesn't make you heart race like the first episode, it's considered to be boring? The first episode was phenomenal and I agree that it has set high expectations for the series, but you can't suddenly delve into the plot points without having a real base…? So, if they are losing fans in it's progress, it means they expected something else and might have thought that this might not be for them (at the moment because some do come back a few years later).
Another part that made me a bit uncomfortable, "over-glorified idol genre". Sorry, but I couldn't help but be reminded by that episode review of Technoroid that kinda described Technoroid as a hot mess. For some multimedia projects, an anime is a way to introduce the project. A way to sell their project to you. I wrote a little more about it here, but anyway, I don't think multimedia/idol media enjoyer appreciate that word choice since the genre isn't actually that big compared to other genres. Maybe it comes a bit as a shock to you, but as consumers of the media, we definitely know that some anime adaptations are bad. We know. We already don't get a lot (especially as overseas fans), so why complain when you can enjoy it? You can definitely write about your experience online, even if if it's a bad one. It becomes a problem when you are disrespectful though...
The point that made me think if it was really needed to mention it, was the point they started to list idols that have joined the stars a little sooner than expected. I'm not into kpop too much, but my sister is and I know how the news of these idols came as a shock to her. I'm not saying you can't write about them, but it's more the tone that hits me wrong. It's as if I'm talking with someone who is down talking on your interests, while you know that these people working on it are doing their best and that they are doing more harm than good. They could have worded it in a more respectful manner instead of using their names sarcastically in a sentence to prove a point, especially since the news of Moonbin is still recent.
This was also the point that made me think that some people the idol genre needs to address the issues in the industry rather than making it all colourful and that's where the i7 fans come around the corner. Oshi no Ko is great, but for many i7 enjoyers, it feels as if the world considers Oshi no Ko is the first idol anime that addresses these points. Don't get me wrong, I can speak for many that they are glad that people are enjoying it and that they might broaden their horizon with more idol media after Oshi no Ko, but I just want to say that IDOLiSH7 also has darker topics but people refuse to watch it since it looks more like your generic idol media.
By the way, the part that says they would benefit more from the reincarnation point made me laugh. As if we didn't get enough series surrounded around that. Once again, you have certain elements/themes in a series and the creator decides how much of each gets highlighted in the media. It's kinda weird to me that the idol genre is over-glorified, but the reincarnation trope not. It's just that the focus isn't the reincarnation aspect, but the industry as a whole (at least currently).
This also kinda applies to my next point: I can't really remember the show promoting itself as an idol exclusive show. Like I genuinely can't remember them putting the emphasis on the idol aspect. I feel like it's more about the entertainment industry than the idol industry only? People might have missed the point since they surely did show idol footages, but if you watch the first episode, than you will see that we kinda go quickly over Ai's idol activities because it's more about her than the idol aspect. How do I word this better… Let's say that Ai is a prominent figure in the show, even though she doesn't make it at the end of episode 1, of course people will know her. The thing about Ai is that Ai is shown as an idol. Ai and the word idol just come hand in hand and people see that and assume it's only about that despite the fact that Aqua and Ruby got a good chunk of the episode (if not the whole episode basically). They have to make you think it's about these happy colourful idols, so you can fall right into their sweet "shock value" trap.
When I was reading the article, Idolm@/ster came up to me. For your information, I don't know anything about im@/s, but the project by its name. It's probably because they wrote about idols not having a hard time and I know that people write about im@/s as being wholesome and being a fresh breath of air in all these current trends of the more serious and darker toned multimedia projects… but then there are people who write about the im@/s characters and what they are going through and that's when I'm wondering what im@/s truly is. Im@/s fans are built differently I think. That's not the point I wanted to talk about, but the last sentence of the paragraph in the image above was a bit unneeded, don't you agree? It sounds a bit mockingly to me, but I'm not sure…
Anyway, this was what I thought while reading that article. If you think differently, please share your experience in a respectful manner. If I offended you in any way, please let me know so I am aware of it next time 🙏
Passing time, so bear with me while I come in with my usual nonsense except this time it's Milgram.
Edit: I lied. I never posted this one and its very short but I wrote this when the MV was just out and I really thought I posted it on here. Where is the clown make-up because I need it ASAP.
Haruka was one of the prisoners I considered to be… protected. This MV however made me rethink like what did I just watch. The thing about his first trial song Weakness was how he was portrayed to be a person who wanted attention. There's nothing wrong with kids wanting attention from someone, right? If you look at the thumbnail of All-Knowing and All-Agony, you will notice that his shirt has been divided into two parts. Honestly, I didn't think too much about it until the MV actually dropped and I'm not sure if I feel disturbed or just kind of uncomfortable since we still know nothing and have to puzzle everything together, but what the heck.
I think the right side has to represent his current self, while the left side is supposed to represent his younger self. Just like in Weakness, he's comparing himself to… his younger self. That's what I think at least.
He looks younger in these clothes, so the only thing I can think of is that Haruka… may not be as young as we think him to be. The fact that he doesn't care about his age doesn't help much either, so there's that. Something had happened and he started to destroy everything around him and it happened that the fishes's luck had run out.
I have been busy and have barely time to type of stuff. Even if I type them, they appear on my insta story more often than here, so you can always follow me on there (@/laeteria_).
I don't remember posting about MILGRAM before. I thought I posted one on Haruka's 2nd trial song before, but I can't find it or my eyes are deceiving me. Anyway, here are my thoughts on Futa's 2nd trial song "Backdraft".
TLDR; Group pressure is very scary.
The "pressure, pressure" parts really do create the group pressure very well, since it's also a part everyone can chant along with (the more the merrier ehe). It only adds to Futa's drive to do things as it shows in the MV.
In the MV, he's like covering graffiti with graffiti and that gave me the feeling that he was getting rid of something that was "bad", except he covers it by doing the exact same thing since others do it as well. Kinda like doing what others like to make you look cool/stronger, but Futa is a bit of a coward if you ask me, so yeah. If you think about it, you never see Futa covering the graffiti as the first person until the part shown above. Maybe I'm looking way too much into it, but the fact that he covers the graffiti earlier in the MV with a slightly different colour red+he's the last one to add colour, makes me think that he really just went with what the group did. If you think about it, the graffiti gets covered up first and THEN we see Futa spraying his colour on it.
Though later in the MV, eyes appear on the walls and the "pressure" catches up to him. He sees himself covering the graffiti art, but this time he's the first person to start the action. He later realized what he had done and that he couldn't hide behind the back of the others. Better said, the others are nowhere to be seen and he has become the scapegoat.
He runs, but the fun part of the MV is that it takes place in a tunnel. If you think back to the start of the MV, you will see that Futa enters the "tunnel". He's at the start of the tunnel as the light falls in, but he enters it and takes the first step into the darkness. He keeps going further and further in, but the moment he realized he messed up, he keeps running straight ahead because he has, what you can quite literally put as, tunnel vision. He has cornered himself. There's no way back.
I've watched the first episode of the new season of IDOLiSH7 finally! I've decided to write down my thoughts on every episode when I've watched, so it won't be too much in depth since I'm writing this after watching it only one time. I will try to connect things as the anime progresses though!
Okay, I basically know what will happen, but the first episode was so intense…!? I already knew that part 2 will show the nasty side of the connections in the idol industry, but wow… I applaud TROYCA once again for another masterpiece of an episode.
I wanted to say that not a lot has happened this episode and that it was all introductory, but in reality, a lot has happened this episode alone. Continuing with the TRIGGER drama from part 1, we see the result of the scandal in a more noticeable way. The fans are unsure, but so are TRIGGER and Yaotome Production. Like they often said in the episode, they need to hold their head up high, otherwise they will be taken more advantage of.
Even though Yaotome papa knows he's walking straight into Tsukumo's trap by visiting Hanamaki Sumire at the hotel, he still puts another person's life above his own reputation. You will see that he isn't actually a bad person and that he actually cares a lot. I mean… Gaku sure resembles his dad. Maybe also that part with the popularity of the ladies, right? 🥴
Jokes aside, Yaotome puts his people above everything else, even if it's damaging to his own reputation of a label. You will see more of this later in story, but I won't go too much into it right now.
After that scene, we jump to a scene with Kujo and Tenn, which I think is really neat (and iconic tbh). While Yaotome says nothing is worth risking a person's life, Kujo is someone to actually play with the life of people and Tenn confronts him about it. These two scenes are the opposite of each other and that's what makes the scenes more powerful.
Tenn who's acquainted with Kujo and Yaotome, works with two different views. I already explained last season that Tenn has to make a choice at one point and this scene brings that kind of to the front again. He has to choose something. He can't choose both, since they are basically the opposite of each other. Anyway, this scene was good.
Also, kudos to this scene because I nearly teared up and for what… The voice acting, the soundtrack, the whole composition of this part… I had to watch it again, but maybe I'm saying that as a Momorin oshi. Momo will have his time to shine (quite literally hehe) this season as well, so let's look forward to that together, shall we? ;)
ABOUT THE ENDING SONG…
The ending song is an absolute BANGER btw. Not too fond of the opening, since I'm not a fan of Ayase's music (the MV is cute tho, but I won't ever analyse the MV because of the song itself). I already said that I expected ZOOL to take the ending song, since TRIGGER had the ending song in part 1 and since TRIGGER is getting pushed out of the picture, we are getting ZOOL.
It's very interesting to see how all members rather seem very disconnected from the idol world, except Minami who had been working in the industry since he was small, so I guess you can say he knows how to catch the attention of people.
Compared to PLACES, this ending shows how ZOOL is not a group yet. PLACES showed how tight TRIGGER actually is and how they look out for each other, but ZOOL? They don't look at each other nor do they actually look straight at the camera until the last part of the ending. Even if they look at the camera, most of the time they are covered by these chains or bars, so you can say that they are behind bars/chained up. They are not free just yet. Everything is directed and their own feelings have not been taken under consideration.
Especially this sequence above shows how they don't care and that they are still looking for the group/person they want to be. Haruka is noticeable in the dark compared to the rest of the members and I think it's because Haruka is not ready to face his issues… He's a frail boy after all.
OKAY, TIME TO WRAP IT UP. I will see you guys hopefully next week again.
ZOOL getting the ending song for the 2nd cour was totally expected, because TRIGGER is getting pushed out of the picture like I already explained before in one of my previous posts. Though, ZOOL's ending seems to be a bit interesting as well when it comes to visuals 👀
I'm extremely busy when it comes to university stuff, so I'm not sure when I will be able to write about the episodes and stuff, but I will try to manage 🙇♂️
Not really a lengthy something, but I just wanted to say that I really like how Tenn seems to be a step ahead in the MV and Gaku and Ryu somehow have to prove that they are a worthy opponent for Tenn. Kind of the feeling like, when I fall and no one seems to be there for me, will there someone to catch me?
The fact that Tenn seems to be playing with Gaku and Ryu in the MV, may imply that he knows they will be able to catch (up to) him. All in all, it's just a super cute MV.
