Qumali Depart - Goku LOVE Jodo (極LOVE浄土)

It has been a while since I last posted on Kayo Kyoku Plus. Since then, Christmas has passed. Me and J-Canuck exchanged postcards, which was a very pleasant experience! I decided to send handmade postcards to my friends because I love crafting and it was a lot of fun.

As of recent, I have been re-listening to a lot of my favorite artists, especially aidoru, in order to remake my favorites playlist. It has been a really pleasant experience because I have been feeling like exploring what is going on the aidoru scene and put aside my most listened artist my last year, BiS, since the line-up I was most familiar with has disbanded. I still love them a lot, though.

One song that was frequently stuck in my head since its release is the focus of today's post: Goku LOVE Jodo (極LOVE浄土) by Qumali Depart (クマリデパート), released in November 2019.

Qumali Depart is the second group founded by the agency ekoms, after Maison book girl. I have always seen them as Bukuga's "little sisters", but Qumali's sound is a lot closer to traditional idol tropes. As for their peculiar name, their concept is stated as "the department store for the world's hearts", which explains the Depart. They have also played with the double meaning as "departure" by dressing as flight attendants. As for Qumali... I don't know, but it sounds cute. I would also like to praise their round-looking logo, which looks very cool.

The logo makes for very cool merchandise (retrieved from ekoms' online shop)

The title Goku LOVE Jodo is a pun on the phrase gokuraku jodo (極楽浄土), which is essentially the Buddhist paradise (more specifically, of the Jodo sect). This motif is very present in the music video for the song, as the members show up dressed as angels, and the lyrics feature other mythological themes, such as the Sanzu river (三途の川), which is said to separate the world of the living from that of the dead.

Other than those interesting tidbits, the song is essentially a dance tune. Although penned by Kenta Sakurai (サクライケンタ), ekoms' producer and Maison book girl's mastermind, the arrangement by Dance☆Man (ダンス☆マン) is the main feature of this song. The choreography is fun and the music video is bright, with a lot of bling. Combining 90's over-the-top aesthetics, some late Heisei references such as the tapioca milk tea craze, and hope for Reiwa, it makes for an overall very fun and catchy song.

I have seen Qumali live in Japan during my trip last summer and took a picture with my favorite member, Fuuka (white color member). They delivered a very fun performance, and I really want to see them again and meet the other girls.

P.S.: Click here for my favorites playlist on YouTube! It is still under construction, but it has a lot of my most listened artists in the past few months.