j1m0ne's blog

I was listening to the Kyo no 5 no 2 special seiyuu unit Friends and planned to write an entry moaning about how they ruined one of my fave Jpop songs when the thought struck me – why am I expecting to hear anything good anyway? History tells me that these sort of projects have a 70% chance of being shit, right?

So I tried to comb my brain and my digital music archives for evidence of good seiyuu units, and had a good laugh in the process, listening to songs I haven’t heard for years. Sadly, some of the stuff I used to have seem to have gotten lost somewhere (oh gosh I miss my Banana Fritters and Chiffons collections). But yeah, seiyuu units tend to suck 70% of the time.

Units That Worked

Tiaraway – worked because:
i) Shikura Chiyomaru wrote them decent songs
ii) Both Nanri Yuuka & Chiba Saeko not only could sing, but had voices that complemented each other well – Yuuka being the higher-pitched vocal powerhouse & Sae having a deeper, richer tone.
Watch: Omoide good night PV

Banana Fritters – ’90s seiyuu super group consisting of Hidaka Noriko, Yamadera Koichi & Seki Toshihiko – they were awesome! As awesome as cheesy ’90s groups can be, I suppose. Can we petition for a comeback?
Listen: Kon’ya wa Bacchigoo

E.M.U. – No, they’re not named after the animal. Entertainment Music Unit were a 90s all-male group formed for the Sotsugyou M game/radio drama series, and they had at that point, some of the better male idol potentials in their ranks – Hayashi Nobutoshi aka Canna Nobutoshi, Midorikawa Hikaru and Okiayu Ryotaro, all of whom were signed to Aoni Production. They also had one Sakaguchi Daisuke, who functioned best when his mouth was kept shut. I quite enjoyed watching their high-energy singing/dancing lives, though it’s cheesy as hell now.
Watch: Thank You live

And it probably doesn’t really count, but I looooved

lalala,lala♪♪lalala,lala♪♪ Mahou no kuni no… [smack, shut up j1m0ne]

Units That Sort of Worked

Aice5 – Horie Yui was the only reason anyone took notice of Aice5. It probably didn’t help that Kurobara Hozonkai (Horie’s goth project) was superior in every way.

Weiß – I thought they were entertaining – I loved Velvet Underworld! The PV still sends me into hysterics too. But I was probably going through my Seki Tomokazu phase back then xD

Chiffons – Not too well known, but I liked their 90s-influenced Jpop style… oh hang on, they were from the 90s =_= I’m guessing the fact that they (Hikami Kyoko, Masuda Yuki, Kojima Sachiko) all looked like grannies didn’t help their appeal…
Listen: SnowTrain + Uso

Yamato Nadeshiko – People recall the Horie x Tamura yuri dynamic more than the cheesy songs, surely.
Listen: Mou Hitori no Watashi

B-VOICE – The seiyuu group from the Anime Tenchou spin-off B-Tenchou Kohosei, which was great in theory – it combined four of the better vocalists amongst female seiyuu (Paku Romi, Minagawa Junko, Saiga Mitsuki, Kobayashi Sanae) but it didn’t help that their songs were shitty.

CELL DIVISION/Suzuki Tatsuhisa & Hatano Wataru – Short-lived pairing formed for their CELL DIVISION Keep on Going radio show, but I thought it was good while it lasted. Suzuki & Hatano are both competent singers (Suzuki especially), and I thought their songs were alright – Sweet Depression was a personal favourite.

Units That Didn’t Work

Prits – A group of seiyuu whose association was via the Sister Princess anime, though they somehow ended up with 3 out of 4 who couldn’t really sing. It would’ve been more exciting if Prits consisted of Nana, Nogawa Sakura, Horie Yui & Yuzuki Ryoka instead.

DROPS – This was an Aoni project like E.M.U. With a limited pool of talent to pick from, came up with a selection that looked dumb even on paper. Kouda Marika with Kaneda Tomoko? Their management must’ve been smokin’ some real crazy dope when they thought this one up.
Watch: Furare Kibun de Rock’n'Roll PV

P.K.O. – God, they sucked live. But I found their songs rather amusing, and even if they try to look like some hardcore rap group or whatever, the fact remains that they sang songs for cheesy DiGi Charat.
Watch: OnlyYou~Kimi o Mamoritai~ live

PoppinS/Nakahara Mai & Shimizu Ai – Yuri factor drove sales (witness Himitsu Dolls) but their songs were awful.

Nabatame Hitomi x Ito Shizuka – I have no idea what made anyone think this visually, vocally challenged, on-the-cusp-of-achieving obasan-ness duo would shift CDs. Not even the goddess of yuri can help them [oh, and their songs suck. a lot.]

MixJUICE – I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry the first time I heard them on Wandaba Style. A joke unit for a joke anime – even the seiyuu involved (Nakahara Mai, Ueda Kana, Saito Chiwa, Morinaga Rika) cringe when reminded of their existence.
Watch: Otome ni Sasagu

DD – I can’t really find the right words to express just how much fail DD (Kishio Daisuke & Namikawa Daisuke) are. The gimmick of having all their songs titled D.. D.. (Dreaming Drive, Dramatic Dive!) just adds to the stupidity.
Watch: Double Destiny PV

Clover – RAMS’s failed attempt at a girl idol group. Had appalling songs.

Lovely Idol Mk.3 – It might’ve worked better if they ditched Goto Yuko. One wonders what was going through Momoi Halko’s head (why am I standing with this bunch of retards?) when she was doing this.

Whoops!! – Gets my vote for worst seiyuu project of all time. Sakamoto Maaya must be doing her best to bury Whoops!!

Osakana Penguin – Awww, they (Inoue Kikuko & Iwao Junko) were cute obasans but their songs were just (ry. Cutesy country doesn’t do anything for me!

TAMAGO – Kadowaki Maii & Fukuen Misato are tone deaf. And would you name your band EGG?

And those are just a few examples. Anyway, seiyuu are better off working solo, or with some pro musician to make it work like UNDER17, GRANRODEO, Yosei Teikoku etc – and to prevent egos from getting in the way of course.

I figure that my ドM tendencies are what’s keeping me listening to this kinda stuff.

Note: I am away for the weekend again, this time volunteering at a free medical camp in rural villages (+10 for sin cleansing) – so emails/enquiries etc will be attended to earliest on Monday.