Ebisu Muscats -- Bibiru-Body de-Boo (ビビる-Bodyで-Boo) / Honey Popcorn -- Bibidi Babidi Boo

Honey Popcorn (source: allkpop.com)

One of the headlines of the K-Pop world this week is the debut of a group called Honey Popcorn, which is comprised of three Japanese AV idols. Yeah, that’s right… AV idols in Korea recording cute and virginal aidoru-like songs. The world can be quite ironic sometimes, and I just love it to death.

The other interesting thing about Honey Popcorn is how they’re a somewhat crossover group, since one of the members, Yua Mikami (三上悠亜), is also part of Japanese AV idol super group Ebisu Muscats (恵比寿マスカッツ). Not only that, but Yua Mikami was a member of SKE48 in the past, with a different name, Kito Momona (鬼頭桃菜), before starting doing porn… eventually landing in Ebisu Muscats, where she remains as a member nowadays (alongside her new activities as a Honey Popcorn member and lead girl). Apparently, other members were also part of aidoru groups before launching their respective porn careers. For instance, Miko Matsuda (松田美子) was once a member of NMB48 as Risako Okada (岡田梨紗子), and Sakura Moko (桜もこ) was formerly known as Yuu Ito (伊東裕) during her time as a member of Bakusute Sotokanda Icchome (バクステ外神田一丁目).

Honestly, I can’t even imagine where this crazy thing is going to head in the future, or if this group will simply fade into obscurity in Korea. In fact, the reception there, from what I’ve been reading, is far from being good, since the girls are facing prejudice because of their porn activities, and also from being Japanese. Well, we all know that both countries have their own share of historic problems, and no one really thought that a bunch of Japanese AV idols debuting in the highly competitive Korean idol industry would get praise from Korean people.

Diplomatic matters apart, Honey Popcorn’s debut single is called “Bibidi Babidi Boo” and, quite frankly, it’s better than I thought it would be. Sure, it’s not revolutionary by any means, but still catchy enough, and surprisingly similar to what cute K-Pop idol groups are recording these days.

However, what got me really interested in this whole story was another case of crossover between these two groups, and this time coming from the song’s title. The thing is, back in 2016, Ebisu Muscats released a single called “Sexy Beach Honeymoon”, which had a song called “Bibiru-Body de-Boo” included as one of the coupling tracks. Of course, the two songs have nothing similar besides the title and the crossover between members. Yet, for me, it’s too much of a coincidence that both projects, similar in nature and everything else, have interchangeable songs for both Asian markets. Well, I don’t know what happened, and maybe Yua Mikami simply started humming Ebisu Muscats’ “Bibiru-Body de-Boo” in a meeting for the Honey Popcorn project… which ended in someone liking the title and all, but I just thought this whole story was quite hilarious to begin with.

That these girls are trying to make some cash recording virginal songs in Korea (one of Honey Popcorn’s coupling songs is called “First Kiss”, probably just for the sake of being ironic) while also having careers in both Japanese aidoru and porn industries is also part of the joke. For me, though, I’ll take Ebisus Muscats’ “Bibiru-Body de-Boo”, which is quite catchy in its own right, as a nice reminder of this crazy story that heated up discussions in this yet very stagnant period of the year, both in Japan and Korean’s music markets. And I just love its disco sound, of course.