Jpop: Devil No Id

Even though the new japanese trio Devil No Id obviously is a spin on the success that is Babymetal, I still think the concept has promise, even though it is not fully clear where it will take them. Further videos will clearify that but until then I will enjoy the dark color schem of "Eve".

• Devil No Id - Eve (革命前夜)

Jpop: Top 10 of the first quarter of 2016

The jpop top 10 this spring has a mixture of stylish and nerdy, sometimes even in the same video,d epending on your taste. Being me, there is a bias towards the otaku favorites...

First the five follower-ups.

15. Perfume - Flash. Live, the queens of japanese electronic pop rule. Not live, it becomes to static.

14. Dempagumi.inc - STAR☆TT Shichauze Harudashi ne. A must watch video.

13. exist†trace - Dream Rider. Whatever old fans says, these girls still rocks!

12. SKE48 - Chicken LINE. Their latest single has a great Blade Runner reference.

11. Suiyoubi no Campanella - Chupacabra. The 'it' group in Japan right now. Crazy and cool as usual.

And so, we come to the best of the best, top 10;

10. Ladybaby - Renge Chance!. A heavy metal - trans - jpop celebration of noodles. Of course. Welcome to familiar jpop territory.

9. Diachi Miura - Cry & Fight. The dancer and singer is back and this time he focused on the dance number, but the song is pretty nice too.

8. Faky - You. They have delivered stylish looks and poses from the start, but this is the first song that actually felt better than average.

7. Dark DPG - Forever 88. The evil sister group of Natsu no Mamono, they delivers some fun idol songs that is great fun and cosplay to die for (die of?).

6. Natsu no Mamono - Tokyo Moso Forever Young. Well, having seen Dark DPG (above), Natsu no Mamono is a natural companion, with about the same levels of wild dressups and singing, so charming I can't get enough of it.

5. FEMM - PoW! and L.C.S.. Pow! gave us what we expected and L.C.S. gave us something new. I honestly think they need to evelve their concept for the third cycle, but for now this is still great in all its graphicness.

4. Sasanomaly - Synesthesia Ghost. Formally a video of 2015, this had to be here as it has a visual style that's unusual and perfect for the song it illustrates.

3. Metafive - Luv U Tokio. This is what the campaign Cool Japan would want to convey, a modern day metropolitan suaveness.

2. Babymetal - The One and Karate. The princesses of jpop metal are back! Suzuka's singing in english on The One gave me goose bumps the first time I heard it - finally they have that perfect live ballad, and Karate is another great song too.

1. Niji no Conquistador - ↓Alien Girl in New York↑. Yes, I know, it is a idol group, and the song is in some senses a run-of-the-mill idol song. But. But! They deliver it with personality, and the song actually is quite well constructed if you listen to it. All in all it is the perfect combination of typical jpop - charming, nerdy and special.

Jpop/metal: Babymetal - The One

Last year's success story in the metal world, Babymetal, returned this week with their new single "Karate" which ticked all the expected boxes with a nice fantasy setting and their usual energy. With the next video "The One" they instead goes for live footage and a more emotional ballad, and this time lead singer Suzuka sings quite much in english. This feels like a perfect fan video and I'm quite sorry I can't be at the concert this saturday in London.

• Babymetal - The One

Jpop: Ladybaby - Renge Chance! (蓮華チャンス！)

No, this is not a bad taste copy of Babymetal. Well. The three members of Ladybaby may be riding on the waves that the idol metal girls of Babymetal has created, but Ladybeard has its own distinctive style that is one part beard, one part scream metal and one part kawaii Japan. This time around they have released two videos for each of the songs from the new single! The first song "Renge Chance!" is an ode to Ramen noodles (You can see the producer from many Dempagumi.Inc videos have been a part of the creation), and the second "C'est si bon Kibun" has been inspired and produced by clothes designer Higashi Kanae.

• Ladybaby - Renge Chance! (蓮華チャンス！)
• Ladybaby - C'est si bon Kibun (セシボン・キブン)