+1 SINGING, +7 DANCE, +2 RAPPING.
DISPATCH, 06/24/17: Mirage Media has officially released information about main dancer, Makiyama Hibiki, also known as Echo, on G-ZER0’s official website! Echo is a ‘96 liner and has been beloved by fans since his debut in 2013. Find out more about Echo below!
I, MAKIYAMA HIBIKI, have read and understand the terms and conditions as my position of MAIN DANCER and agree to honor the standards that are to be expected of me as an employee of MIRAGE.
OOC INFORMATION
Preferred name: rae
Pronouns: she/hers
Timezone: cst
Other muses: n/a
IC INFORMATION
Faceclaim: nakamoto yuta
Name: makiyama hibiki
Stage name (if applicable): echo
Idol concept: there are two parts to echo’s image: part one and the part hibiki hates is generally being considered the foreign one. mirage likes to push the fact he’s from a different country though hibiki himself tries very hard to not play into the “silly foreigner” stereotype because knows it’s a hard image to escape from. the second part and the part that hibiki generally likes is playing up to his skill in dancing. if there’s a dance cover to be done he’s on it, boy or girl group it doesn’t really matter to him. he has no issues being labeled the dancing machine of the group because it’s something that he enjoys doing.
Points Sorting: acting - 00, singing - 01, dancing - 07, rapping - 02, concept - 00
Birth date and age: october 31, 1996 (20)
Company name: mirage
Group Name (if applicable): G-ZER0
Group Position (if applicable): main dancer
Strengths: 01. DANCE/CHOREOGRAPHING - when it comes to dance in any form hibiki is usually the go-to person. he’s usually the one who catches on to the choreography fastest if he’s not the one choreographing. if he is the one behind the choreography he’s known for pushing boundaries with creative and memorable choreography. he is also a patient teacher, someone who’s willing and able to help the other members when they’re struggling with a certain point. 02. COMPOSING - truthfully composing is never something that hibiki thought he’d find himself doing. he was happy just being the main dancer, however, once he started dipping his toes into the composing world he found that it was something he both enjoyed doing and something that he was fairly talented at. 03. RAPPING - while his skill in rapping isn’t quite as developed as it could be he’s passable enough at it. hibiki isn’t going to be taking on the korean underground any time soon but his rapping is acceptable enough for a few bars in a song here and there. truthfully speaking his biggest strength where it comes to rap is lyricism.
Weaknesses: 01. SINGING - hibiki certainly isn’t tone deaf, and he’s capable of singing a line or two here and there, however, his vocal range is rather pitiful and he tends to start sounding unsteady and breathy if he sings too much at once. his voice is more suited for harmonizing than holding down a lead vocal for an extended period of time. 02. PRONOUNCIATION - although he’s fluent in korean he still tends to struggle with pronounciations here and there, which is something that clearly marks him as a foreigner. however his struggles with the language mean that he’s often having to re-record his parts in the studio so that the lyrics actually sound the way that they’re supposed to. 03. VARIETY - most of hibiki’s parts in variety shows consist of him near-perfectly reproducing other idols choreography. and while that talent is certainly entertaining it’s really the only thing he can show off on variety shows because the rest of his parts tend to get cut because he’s extremely resistant to playing into the oblivious foreigner stereotype. hibiki’s reluctance to accept that and play into it sometimes gets him in trouble with the company as well.
Positive traits: affectionate, optimistic, passionate
Negative traits: indecisive, moody, competitive
PERSONAL HISTORY
hibiki watches as okasan dotes on his elder siblings. with them she is kind and gentle. however, whenever hibiki approaches her she is replaced by a cold and cruel woman. if he scratches his knee and comes to her in tears she sneers at him and tells him that boys shouldn’t cry. if he has a nightmare and finds his way to his parents’ bedroom in the middle of the night she tells him to go back to his own room and stop bothering her. then hibiki watches as okasan cares for the smallest of bruises on his brother’s leg or he wakes up only to find that his sister slept in his parent’s room last night. otosan is not much better, he seemingly forgets that hibiki even exists.
when hibiki is nine he overhears an argument between his parents. it is then that he learns the truth. okasan hates him because he is not her child. he walks away from the wall where he had been hiding and goes to his room. the knowledge that okasan is not his real mother sits heavy in his small chest. the next day he goes to his otosan and asks who his real mother is. he gets hit for his trouble.
hibiki learns the answer to his question when he is twelve. his real mother is a porn actress. and she abandoned him on his father’s doorstep almost as soon as he was born. any fantasies he has of his mother loving and caring for him are shattered by cruel callous words from his adoptive mother (by now he no longer calls her okasan, she is not his mother after all). “your mother left you here with us,” she says, “you’re here only by the kindness of our hearts.” the words weigh down on him weeks, months, years after they’ve left his adoptive mother’s lips.
he learns to dance from an older classmate at school. whenever things at home become too much for him hibiki finds himself practicing dancing with his friend. dancing soon becomes an escape from the constant storm that is his home life.
at fourteen hibiki is street-casted by an agent from a company called mirage. and his parents are pushing him to accept the offer. suddenly his parents are interested in him when they never have been before. hibiki accepts the offer purely because it offers an escape from his house. it’s harder than he expects at first. he is the foreigner trainee, the one who makes amusing mispronounciations. but dance is the same in any language and soon enough the other trainees take note of his skill as a dancer.
it takes a lot of sweat and tears but hibiki finally debuts two years later as the main dancer of g-zer0. it takes a while but eventually he gets some composing and choreography credits under his belt. hibiki doesn’t want to only be the “foreign one” and he works hard to shake the unofficial title. the only thing he can’t seem to shake is the shadow of his parents. they show up to every showcase pretending to be supportive and caring when hibiki knows they are anything but. and when he turns nineteen hibiki goes through a very public separation with his parents – however, luckily enough the media and public seem to take his side on the matter and hibiki is finally able to move forward.