Modern Idol Classics - My Selection

A few days ago, I was rewatching some music videos and it crossed me that one particular song would be one of my picks when it comes to the most representative songs of the late Heisei era in terms of idol music - it's catchy and prone to be liked by the general public. So, I decided to brainstorm a few others I would consider worthy of entering that category and joined them in one post. It is a top 6 of my Modern Idol Classics (from 2010 to 2019).

1. BiS - nerve

This one takes first place for me because it is personally one of my favorite idol songs ever, and I feel like it embodies what was the late Heisei for idol music. The traditional idol trope started to be defied by some groups such as BiS and now we have a pot-pourri of genres being presented by the kind of performer one would consider an idol. I also feel like, even though there is still one or two major groups ruling the idol scene, there is a larger number of "tiers" when it comes to popularity. No longer do we have the popular idols and the underground ones, there is more to that, and the idol scene in this moment is very diverse.

2. AKB48 - Koisuru Fortune Cookie (恋するフォーチュンクッキー)

To me, this was the absolute peak of AKB48, since which they have started losing momentum as the "national idol group" of Japan. So, it seemed like an obvious pick for this selection. To this day, this is the go-to song to present in all kinds of TV specials, and had a small revival when it propelled the Thai sister group BNK48 to national stardom. I like this song very much! It's catchy and retro sounding and I don't really get tired of listening to it. I think it is the true classic of AKB48 and showcases the very best this group has to offer.

3. Keyakizaka46 (欅46) - Silent Majority (サイレントマジョリティー)

I feel like it had been a long time since any group had such a strong debut single as Keyakizaka46 did. This song was the absolute hit of 2016 and made me hooked into the group for quite some time. Besides this A-side, "Saimajo" is a very solid single with really good songs (I feel like I still want to write about it someday). I haven't been following Keyaki closely, but it seems to me that the popularity they achieved at the time of their debut has vanished a bit. Still, Silent Majority is unforgettable.

4. Maneki Kecak (まねきケチャ) - Kimi Wazurai (きみわずらい)

This is actually the song I mentioned at the beginning of the article. I don't know if it is surprising, since this group is, let's say, at a different level of popularity as the other groups I mention in this article, at least in the West. But to me, this song is an absolute classic. I think it's the whole progression, starting slow and then building up to a quick succession of emotional lyrics. At first, I had to get used to the difference in sound and skill in the members' voices, but it definitely grew on me.

5. BiSH - Orchestra (オーケストラ)

Well, Orchestra comes in the same category as Kimi Wazurai - a slow progression that builds up quickly. I find it better executed technically in Orchestra, but there is something about the rawness of vocals and emotions in Kimi Wazurai that also pulls me into that song. But when it comes to whether they are classics, they both are. And Orchestra is one of the songs that brought BiSH into national fame, and they keep rising by the day, which has been amusing to see! Let's hope Reiwa brings a lot of success for these girls.

6. Nogizaka46 (乃木坂46) - Kimi no Na wa Kibou (君の名は希望)

I wanted to include a Nogizaka46 song because they are the current top idol group in Japan, and whenever I think about Kimi no Na wa Kibou being used as a jingle in the Nogizaka Station, the song stands out to me as a classic. The thing about this group is that they have several songs that stand out to the general public, but not one that one can pin-point as their true number one hit. When it comes to sales, I think Influencer takes the cake, but Kimi no Na wa Kibou is, in my opinion, the one tune that better appeals to the general public. It's a pop song without a doubt, but it sounds so warm and with lyrics so encouraging that I would recommend it to anyone.

Yurina Hirate - Yamanotesen (山手線)

Source: La_mela

This is a topic I already talked a bit about in my introduction post. I had ventured through the world of vintage idols for maybe a year and half when I decided it was time for a break - from vintage, not from the idols. So I decided to follow one of the only recent idol groups I knew, which was AKB48.

After some time browsing their members and songs, I stumbled upon this, at the time, recent group called Keyakizaka46 (欅坂46), the sister group of Nogizaka46, which in turn is the "official rival" of AKB48 (another way to say that the profit ends all in the same pockets). They were about to release their third single when I started hearing about them, and had a seemingly permanent center member called Yurina Hirate (平手友梨奈) (affectionately called "Techi", shortened from "Hiratechi").

With only 14 years old, she passed the audition singing "Hoshizora no Distance" (link to J-Canuck's article), a quite mature song for her age. And that was probably part of what Yasushi Akimoto ended up basing the image of Keyakizaka46 on: a tale of resistance of youth towards the shackles of society. And Hirate ended up embodying that image on stage and in her soul, as she herself says in interviews.

"Yamanotesen" (山手線) is Hirate's first solo song, included in the 2016 debut single of Keyakizaka46, "Silent Majority". The title song was a big hit by itself and the whole single is a pretty solid one, so I plan on writing another article about it.

The lyrics were written by Yasushi Akimoto, as usual with all groups under his wing. The theme coincides with the aforementioned image choosen for Keyakizaka46. There's a girl who doesn't know which "train stop" to choose in order to reach happiness and love in the future, so she keeps going around in circles. As does the railway line that circles the Tokyo metropolitan area, Yamanote Line.

And this is the thing I wanted to mention. The song sounds like it could have been taken straight out of Momoe Yamaguchi's early repertory (pre-"Yokosuka Story"). And look at the picture I started the post with: she resembles Momoe-chan, doesn't she? Not only physically, but also in the tone of the songs she sings, both solo and with Keyakizaka. Just when I "was supposed" to take a break from the older idols, lol. And it's not just me to notice this: it was already mentioned in media several times.

I'm not as passionate with Keyakizaka46 as I was when I met them, but I still keep an eye on them. The picture I posted is from a magazine released this week. I just can't keep myself from feeling happy when I see Hirate looking like one of my favorite singers of all time. By the way, this girl is also a fascinating person by herself, and I wonder where the future will take her.

To finish this post (I swear it's the final line about my hyping with Techi and Momoe-chan, lol) here's Keyakizaka46 singing Momoe's "Hito Natsu no Keiken", in the 2016 edition of FNS Uta no Natsu Matsuri. The group's singing is far from good, but it's worth it for that initial solo line.

P.S.: These days I'm more into Keyakizaka's "little sisters", Hiragana Keyakizaka46. Maybe I'll get to talk about a deep-voiced girl called Kyoko Saito and her great cover of Akina Nakamori's "Desire".