2014 Top Idol List: 10-1

Greetings mortals, and welcome back to the countdown of impressive idols who impress me by doing impressive things. Or something along those lines. This time we come to the top ten, those who make me think this year will be all about their awesomeness. Usually my thoughts are completely wrong, but I reckon I'll get it perfectly right one year.

20-11 was filled with 48 girls. 10-1 is also filled with girls, but I can't remember if they're 48 or not yet. Probably. If you have 250 idols you're sort of decimating the field. Anyway, some recapping action:

20-11 went a little something like this:

20. Yogi Keira
19. Ego Yuna
18. Tani Marika
17. Shiraishi Mai
16. Jonishi Kei
15. Kimoto Kanon
14. Shiroma Miru
13. Murashige Anna
12. Nakamoto Suzuka
11. Nabilah Ratna Ayu Azalia

Once again the rules:

1. I define idols as current members of a current group who currently release idol music, or solo singers who do the same and are generally defined as idols.
2. If a former member of an idol group redebuts under a different name or as a solo singer, or both, and is still primarily known as an idol, they qualify.
3. However, members of retrospective groups that merely take the limelight away from current members do not.

And top ten time.

10. Suzuki Airi (°C-ute)
(9/8/3/10)

Airi is basically this list's eternal mainstay. I can't see her going a whole year without impressing me somehow. This year her photogenic reign of tyranny continued, she kept being a really cute and derpy mindjob spanner and did some weird song with Risako. She came to Paris, again, and this time I actually met her, nearly got moe'd to death, and still utterly failed at taking a decent picture of her. Her vocals have remained consistently steady, and yea, another year of awesome to come. Probably. Usually is.

9.  Ariyasu Momoka (Momoiro Clover Z)
(-/-/7/8)

What would Momoclo do without their token pint-sized mini moe? Despite spending the first quarter of the year being unable to talk, due to an operation on nodules or something. What resulted was adorable. After recovering, she's still incapable of pronouncing anything, still sings like a fucking rocker, and it's still all fine. I'm hoping that this year, without a hampered start, she gets the best year ever. And a photobook or something.

8. Ishida Ayumi (Morning Musume.)
(-/-/-/4)

I think it's fair to say Ayumi saved Momusu for me. What with electrodancemusume and '14 and whatever the hell tosspot idea Tsunku thinks up next going on, Ayumi is refreshingly simple. Not in a dig at her intelligence way, just that she's happy to take things as they come and move on. Her poor character courtesy of 2ch probably introduced her to people in a big way, and even now she's probably riding somewhat unknowing on the coattails of that. But yea, she still stands out the most for me in Momusu. She stood out by far the most in Juice=Juice when she covered for Karin, but that's to be expected. J=J seem pretty dull to me at present. Still, this past year, with glorious (though mildly plagiarised) photobook and the cutest reactions on that wake-up-concert-prank thing, she's riding high again. Now she just needs to bump off Riho and take the centre spot for herself...

7. Nakagawa Haruka (JKT48)
(-/-/16/-)

Oh Harugon. More than a year in Jakarta has changed her nearly beyond recognition. When she left she was slowly being pushed backwards, as younger and fresher girls were taking her place. Cue an adult image-change, disassociation from her nickname, and a transfer. I don't think many expected her to last long. I doubt fewer still expected her to emerge not only unscathed, but approaching conversational fluency (though pronunciation lacking) in Indonesian, getting a role in an Indonesian drama (along with Stella, also formerly of JKT, and Gackt. Fucker is still everywhere) and basically fitting in better than she did in AKB. Takajo has been left behind in the dust, splitting her time between AKB and JKT means neither gets her full attention and it shows, she's seemingly fading. Harugon, on the other hand, sat out the election, and instead took centre in the JKT version of Koisuru Fortune Cookie. Not bad for a mid-line girl whose only claim to fame before JKT was being in Mayuyu's glorified solo unit before they decided to let girls go solo. I see Haruka getting only better from here, and watch out world.

6. Akiyoshi Yuka (HKT48)
(-/-/-/-)

There's something oddly refreshing about watching young idols who actually act like children. Some often grow up incredibly quickly in the pressure-rich environment (see Matsui Jurina and Kudou Haruka, for example), so when you get the occasional Kago-Tsuji, Sato Masaki or Akiyoshi Yuka, you can't help but be amazed by their ability to stay young at heart throughout it all. Granted, with Kago it sort of went horribly wrong somewhere, but still. Akiyoshi, if you don't know, is in HKT. She's just been promoted to Team H, but she made her name as a kenkyuusei. This year HKT had two programmes that stuck in my mind: Tonkotsu Mahou Shoujo Gakuin, and Odekake. On the former, Akiyoshi decided to ask the guests any number of rude questions, but with an air of childish innocence that made it impossible for any of the guests or producers to get pissed off at her. Odekake gave us this gem, among other things. So yes. We'll see what the future holds, but it looks pretty good.

5. Kawashima Umika (9nine)
(-/1/8/3)

Much as with Airi, it seems like it's almost impossible for Umika to have a bad year. This time around, she acted in one of the weirdest but most amusing dramas I've ever seen, called Pin to Kona! which is about kabuki. Because, you know, kabuki rocks. She was also in Tank Top Fighter with Ono Erena (which was quite good until I stopped watching when dramacrazy decided to jack in and I moved over to other places which didn't work), and the latest incarnation of the ever expanding backwards, forwards, sideways and in no general direction at all Spec. Musically, 9nine have ripped off Yes, Ayreon and Perfume and got away with it this year, and now they're the new ending theme of the Magi anime, an honour formerly reserved for shitty J-rock bands and Nogizaka46, so it's some exposure. Anyway, new photobook coming in March. Probably some more amusing drama roles. 2014 looks sweet.

4. Michishige Sayumi (Morning Musume.)
(12/10/17/-)

With Sayu's leadership now in full swing, it's easy to underestimate her influence. Whilst leaders of H!P past have been pretty uncontroversial, Sayu seemed to get quite a bit of hate from Reina fans who thought that a narcissist wasn't best placed to be in charge. Well, she's proven that wrong quite conclusively. On the balance of things, I'm gonna go out on a limb and say Sayu is the best leader Momusu has had since Yuko. Kaori was so laid back she was horizontal. Yossie was cool and drove them forward but didn't really function as an idol at the same time. Yaguchi and Mikitty... well, the less said the better. Aichan was just a large wall of blandness who got in the way of more interesting members and probably did more to hurt Momusu as a whole than Kago, and Gaki helped get the 9th and 10th gens in shape but ultimately was a minor relic. Sayu though, occupies sort of the same position as Yuko did. Far older than anyone else in the group. World of experience (though with Sayu at least it's idol-based, not OL-based as Yuko had) and manages somehow to keep them somewhat functioning as a team, whilst not leaving their own character in a rut. As it is, Sayu still feels just as fresh as the other members, perfectly happy playing silly games with them or doing the dancing and singing, which she still sort of sucks at, but it's not like she's out of place like Yuko was. At this rate she could go another five years and I doubt anyone would notice that she was 17 years older than the youngest member of the 15th gen or something. She's just impressed the shit out of me. Well done Sayu.

3. Motomura Aoi (HKT48)
(-/-/-/-)

I wrote a bit on my year in review about Kojima Fujiko. I called her an utterly indolent wastrel, which is true. She also has a smile which sort of closes her eyes at the same time, I suppose you could call it a "shit-eating grin" or something if you wanted. Motomura Aoi has that same smile. Aoitan is HKT's queen of crying her fucking eyes out. She cries at almost everything. Or so you think. Until they went camping on an episode of Odekake, and she randomly took control, brushed everyone else aside, started a fire using the power of her mindtwigs and stones, and pretty much did everything because most of HKT are cute but utterly useless. So now she was the crybaby who was the fire venus. But wait. On another episode of Odekake they did some more outdoor stuff. Aoitan found some worms and bugs and then took great delight in tormenting the other girls with them, then pissed them off by giggling the entire time. She's also a spanner. Definite one to watch.

2. Okada Nana (AKB48)
(-/-/-/-)

I had thought, when I wrote my list last year, that my top spot in AKB was practically guaranteed to be Iwata Karen. Twelve months later, and I can't see anyone displacing Nana. This year she's been promoted to Team 4 and been the standout girl of that team in my eyes. Her face is capable of such a wide variety of amusing expressions, yet somehow Ooya Shizuka on AKBingo made her the most recognisable member of any generation since the 10th with one simple phrase: "Ain't you taking it too seriously!?" Since then, Nana's had AKBingo specials all about her "majime" character, and how far she can be led astray if given directions by those she holds in a position above herself. It's a character, but it's an amusing one. She's also fantastic to look at, so yes. Probably a good one to keep an eye on. Not gonna declare her my AKB oshi though, as history shows that I'm never gonna have another one for more than a few months.

1. Oota Aika (HKT48)
(-/-/9/-)

This entry pretty much mirrors that of Harugon above. Middle-row AKB member in Mayu's shadow transfers and suddenly finds a new lease of life. Only with Lovetan, it's not translated to increased popularity so much as increased influence. Though her popularity has risen too, I suppose. But yes, when Team KIV finally starts, it's Lovetan who'll be leading the charge. Considering she was once one of the youngest of AKB, she's overcome her younger cohorts and become truly powerful simply by relating her experiences. It's interesting to think that during the whole of 2013, HKT lost a total of one member. Other groups lost them by the hatful. I put it down to increased responsibility for Sasshi (who was obviously proven right in how she attempted to handle the HKT scandal vs the theatre manager at the time, who is no longer theatre manager but Sasshi is) and Lovetan. Between the two of them they've turned HKT into a functioning unit. Their combined experience as a pushed-to-shit-and-then-scandalled and clean-as-a-whistle-but-displaced-by-newcomers obviously keeps their youngers in check, making sure that they retain their characters and yet never cross the boundaries (or at least, visibly. There are rumours circulating about Sakura, Aoitan and someone else seeing blokes, but who honestly cares as long as they're still performing well?). Besides that, what does Lovetan have over Sasshi that gets her on the list but not Sasshi? Well, a wicked sense of humour, when she's on her game. Lovetan is one of the few girls who you really do have to wonder if that twinkle in their eye is just the lighting or if they actually are really sadists who want to hurt you. In a nice way. She's also gloriously sexy. And still capable of being heart-stoppingly moe when she so desires. So, impressed in 2013. Massive hope for 2014 now she's officially a captain, and that hot mess called Watarirouka Hashiritai is getting disbanded too so maybe even more of a hint of a coming breakout moment. We'll see. For now, she's my #1 pick for greatness.


So there you have it, my list for the year. Two posts in a week. It's like rain falling on the Sahara or something. Doubt it'll happen again soon, unless I drastically change my blogging habits. Still, never hurts to hold out some hope...

Beats of 2013

This has been a bit of an odd year musically for me. Once again, idols utterly failed to release a great deal that I found particularly interesting. Momoclo had a great idea but it was let down a little in execution, and both H!P and AKB have disappointed me. I've been gradually exploring more and more indie idols due to this, with mixed results, but that's sorted out one entry on this list at least.  Metal has once again been a mixed bag, with at least one standout release that ripped me a new one. Prog has done me in again this year, with most of my albums coming from that end of the spectrum. Last year's inclusion of jazz nutcases Panzerballett also led to me doing some jazz listenings this year, one of which made it onto my bottom half list at LI.

Originally I planned for this post to be like last year, with all of the Beats crew chipping in. However, that never materialised. Eventually I asked wu if he wanted to do a roundtable where we review our own favourites of the year, and then throw them at each other to see if we could find anything to love in each other's faves. But that was back in December and I've not heard from him since then, so I figured I'd just get on and release this considering it's been sat as a draft on here for about a month and a half now.

So yes: albums you should have listened to last year, by Krv.

ChthoniC - Bú-Tik

Song pick: Supreme Pain for the Tyrant

So, ChthoniC strike back. They've come a long way from the days I used to admin their forum and get reviews published on their album sleeves; nowadays the press following them is more professional and Doris is a sex symbol. I moaned two years ago that Takasago Army suffered somewhat from their change in the way they wrote songs, writing Taiwanese folk or enka songs and then metallising rather than the opposite. This time they've sorted out that minor problem, and refocused into utter carnage. In this respect it's sort of the opposite from Ayreon. Seediq Bale, Mirror of Retribution and Takasago Army comprised a (George Lucas ordered: with the third installment being released before the second) trilogy based around Taiwan's occupation and subjugation by Imperial Japan, and then the Second World War, and then the Chinese nationalist takeover thereafter. Freed from the constraints of this story, they chose to present a chronology of battles through Taiwan's history, leading to a much more focused and violent record than any since Seediq Bale. And it works, especially as they've all matured as musicians since then. Jesse's riffs are more biting than ever, and no longer can they be classified by genre as they used to be. He can be playing the most black metal thing ever written in a Chinese mode while chugging metalcore behind it. Since Seediq Bale I complained there were no true "anthems" in Chthonic's discography since Onset of Tragedy (from 2002's Relentless Recurrence), but Takao from Takasago ended that drought. However, this time there are about 7 songs I could have chosen for my song pick here. In the end I chose the one that had the coolest video, but so many to choose from is disturbing. Glorious album. Hopefully they release a DVD of their joint show with Babymetal in February.

Orphaned Land - All is One

Song pick: All is One

It's not often a metal album picks "being fucking nice to each other" as its theme, but Orphaned Land have done just that with their newest album. If you didn't know, Orphaned Land are from Israel. They're comprised (last I heard) of a melting pot in and of themselves, with Israeli Jews, Arabic Muslims and Levantine Christians all comprising membership in the band at some point. They're banned in a bunch of Arab League countries simply for being from Israel, but at their heart is a message of "stop fucking shooting each other, fools", which I wholeheartedly agree with. They have about as much respect for the Israeli establishment as you'd expect from a metal band, yet their new album is probably more prog than metal. It's as beautiful as anything I can ever remember having heard, mixing Arabic and Northern African influences with Jewish ones, weaving them with prog and metal, and then singing about politics on top. If you've heard of Myrath, it's a bit like that, just a bit more heartfelt. I think the last time I remember hearing a metal album this good that spoke about peace and harmony was Lykathea Aflame's Elvenefris, not that you could tell from the music. Still, worth a listen and a call to the local Israeli consulate that it's time to stop fucking around with Palestine and just get on with their lives.

Bellring Shoujo Heart - Bed Head

Song pick: [audio:http://www.intlwota.com/metalhead/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/13-Ice-Cream.mp3]

Bellring Shoujo Heart, if you've never heard of them, are an idol group. A rather bizarre idol group who seem to be stuck standing with one foot in a timewarp back to the 60s, but an idol group nonetheless. This, their first album, presents such a weird and wonderful mix of bizarre, progressive and downright out-there songs that you'll be checking what colour of tweed your jacket is, then realising it's in black and white. Some songs sound like they emerged fully-formed from the 60s, and some sound like they emerged from prog bands of the present, such as the song above which is more Muse than Muse are nowadays. The girls themselves are also gloriously bizarre. Mizuho is my favourite, probably, simply because she seems so utterly unenthusiastic in her proclaimations of enthusiasm. TIRA is also cute as a really cute thing. So cute, in fact, that the Japanese government won't give her a visa, so at the moment they're reduced to six members. Either way, the best idol album in fucking years, and if it hadn't been for slightly lacking production, possibly ever.

Ihsahn - Das Seelenbrechen

Song pick: NaCl

So, Ihsahn's released (another) new album, this time in a bit of a new style. He's gone fully experimental, and it's up there among the best things he's ever done. I like Ihsahn's solo stuff before this. After was a sexy piece of saxophonic aural violence, and The Adversary, angL and Eremita all had some nice stuff on them. Also, I quite enjoyed Hardingrock, and of course you can't mention Ihsahn without the now (once again) reformed Emperor, of which three of their four full-length albums were masterpieces of the black metal genre. So what does Das Seelenbrechen bring us that's new, other than a German title? Well, less black metal, for one. Jazz, progressive and noises best describe this album. There's also a song which sounds more like a Starofash/late Peccatum song than anything Ihsahn's ever tried doing without his wife, Ihriel, featuring on it prominently. It's called Pulse and it's a sexy piece of jazzy triphop. The opener, Hiber, got stuck in my head on first spin and has stuck there since. Regen sounds like Änglagård up until it becomes bombastic as fuck. Tacit 2 and Tacit (in that order) are progressive drone like you'd get from Khanate followed by jazz excursions into insanity. Rec starts slow then goes prog as fuck, M is a droning ambient sonicscape that reminds me of Thorns, and See is the most brutal song on the album in a way: it'll rip your skin off and leave it hanging on a stick. In a way, this is Ihsahn just doing what he wants. It all progresses slowly into a weird mess of gloriousness. Thank fuck for Ihsahn.

Haken - The Mountain

Song pick: The Cockroach King

This won't surprise anyone really. After the amazing debut of Aquarius and the pretty fucking awesome followup Visions, Haken did some soul-searching (and Tom and Hen took a break to record To-Mera's Exile album, also a must listen) and came back with this, their best record yet. In a way, they mixed the two sides that the first two albums showed off so well: the bizarre circus atmosphere and weird song structures of Aquarius with the maturity and gravity of Visions. What we ended up with is several slices of really sexy music that is sexier than a really sexy thing bathing in a really sexy bathtub full of sexy chocolate. Or something. I can't really say much more than that it's fucking awesome and you should be listening to it right now. Stop reading this and listen.

Tooting my own flute: My band released another album, called Elemental. Pay for a beer for me by buying it. But only if you really want to.

2014 Top Idol List: 20-11

So, once again it's time for my top idol list. This isn't, despite the name, an oshi ranking. Those are easy enough to pull out of the hat. It's more a "who has impressed me in the last year and gives me hope for their year ahead", and also "who justified their place on the list from last year by having a stormer of a year" type thing. It's my fifth year doing this, and so it becomes difficult to think of what to say at the start of it.

The rules, as usual:
1. I define idols as current members of a current group who currently release idol music, or solo singers who do the same and are generally defined as idols.
2. If a former member of an idol group redebuts under a different name or as a solo singer, or both, and is still primarily known as an idol, they qualify.
3. However, members of retrospective groups that merely take the limelight away from current members do not.

So let's begin with a recap of who I thought were potentially amazing last year, and their former ranks (if they had them) in the format 2010/2011/2012:

20. Shiroma Miru (-/-/-)
19. Yogi Keira (-/-/-)
18. Kodama Haruka (-/-/-)
17. Kudou Haruka (-/-/-)
16. Hirota Aika (-/-/-)
15. Miyawaki Sakura (-/-/-)
14. Ikoma Rina (-/-/-)
13. Kashiwa Yukina (-/-/-)
12. Ichikawa Miori (-/-/5)
11. Momota Kanako (-/-/-)
10. Suzuki Airi (9/8/3)
9. Iriyama Anna (-/-/-)
8. Ariyasu Momoka (-/-/7)
7. Iwata Karen (-/-/-)
6. Yamamoto Hitomi (-/-/-)
5. Watanabe Miyuki (-/-/-)
4. Ishida Ayumi (-/-/-)
3. Kawashima Umika (-/1/8)
2. Kimoto Kanon (-/-/1)
1. Kinoshita Momoka (-/-/-)
God: Murashige Anna (-/-/-)

The god ranking last year was disturbing because I don't think I'd ever seen more potential in an idol before. At the end of this post or the next one you'll know my current feelings on it.

So, now we come to the regretful bit: girls no longer on the list.

Graduations:
- Kashiwa Yukina left Nogizaka46 after sitting in the back row and doing basically nothing.
- Yamamoto Hitomi ruined the lives of everyone who became enamoured of her silly awesome oneshot gags and quit.

Fall out of list:
-Kodama Haruka and Miyawaki Sakura from HKT. Not quite good enough this year.
-Kudou Haruka from Morning Musume. She needs more whisky, fags and hard drugs to make her voice get even worse.
-Hirota Aika from Ebichuu. Simple lack of airtime.
-Ikoma Rina from Nogizaka46, lost centre, lost some funnies, maybe next year.
-Ichikawa Miori, Iwata Karen and Iriyama Anna  from AKB48. Lemon needs a new gag and NMB hasn't improved her in the slightest. Karen's still a spaz, but she can't stand still too long, others are vying for her place. Annin came first in the AKB Mechaike test, which was a bad idea. Not enough silly answers to make her funny. The sports test was better but still improvement needed.
-Momota Kanako from Momoclo. Flexibility only gets you so far.
-Watanabe Miyuki and Kinoshita Momoka from NMB48. Milky cut her hair. Fishing failure. Momoka is still a winning comedian, but the lack of downright grotesque artworks from her this year dropped her down.

Almost Made It:
 -Hagiwara Mai from °C-ute, mostly a reaction to her France appearance where not only was she revelling in being popular, but also stepped up her game as a result.
-Boss, Okada Kanna, Moriyasu and Komada Hiroka from HKT48. Boss decided to ruin every programme HKT were on by being Boss. Okapan is still delightfully cute, and her G+ videos point to her making a breakthrough soon. Moriyasu's now the one to beat on Odekake, as they've replaced 2013's "Overthrow Tani!" calligraphy with "Make Moriyasu Enthused!" She's also good at piano, and nearly killed everyone when she said something rather inappropriate on AKBingo which got censored, leading to dirty speculation on forums. Komada has just impressed me on the sidelines in Odekake and hopefully she'll gravitate towards the front soon.
-Horiuchi Marina and Kikuchi Moa from Sakura Gakuin. Both are vying for my Sakugaku oshi position now Suzuka's left, but with Marina graduating in like three months it'll probably be Moa. She is the most brutal person in the world, after all.
-Suzuki Kanon from Momusu nearly made a stunning comeback, with the lulz obtained by Momusu's recent dokkiri prank and Norks' bizarre antics during it, as well as her humourous insistence that she ain't fat, just chubby. It works in context, and she seems to be using it to her own gain, so I don't think it's a bad thing. She's somewhat recovered from the Sato-virus too, where she didn't know how to take someone younger, crazier and just downright insane than her.

So, onto the actual list. Finally.

20.  Yogi Keira (NMB48)
(-/-/-/19)

A quick glance at Keira's Google+ will tell you all you really need to know. She's young yet, but she's growing into a stunner. She's also gloriously silly, as Docking and now Manabu-kun showcases. And then there's Geinin. She (and someone else, probably Shuu) became fairies from "Suberiland" (suberi, if you don't follow AKB well, is the basic character-type of Takahashi Minami. She tells a "funny" story and it falls completely flat) to convince Nana (NMB's Suberu Devil) to keep failing to save their Suberiland from destruction. It was utterly bizarre and frankly hilarious. She's not frontline yet, but I can see her being the centre in the future once Sayanee and Milky trot along.

19. Ego Yuna (SKE48)
(-/-/-/-)

Considering how photogenic she is, there are a surprising lack of magazine photos of her. But yes, another one of the young generation, waiting to usurp the thrones of their elders. Ego is really young, looks even younger, and acts it too. As much as Momoclo's Shiori tries to act like everyone's little sister though, Ego's got the whole thing down perfectly, as showcased on Ebifriday Night. If there was ever a girl to stake money on usurping the fans of every wota who enjoys the cute little sister motif, this would be the one.

18. Tani Marika (HKT48)
(-/-/-/-)






Speaking of hardly any pictures, Tani has basically zero. So instead I've used a video. Tani is basically the Gaki of old. On crack. Always outspoken, randomly busting out in a high pitched voice, and never afraid to jump in front of anyone with a camera. There's screentime busting, then there's Tani. There's also Murashige. Definitely a rival pair to keep an eye on, now they're both in KIV.

17. Shiraishi Mai (Nogizaka46)
(-/-/-/-)

Nogizaka has been undergoing some switchups this year. First, Maiyan became centre for Girl's Rule, displacing Ikoma, and then the very next single was replaced with Hori, the up-and-coming 2nd gen. But despite this, Maiyan has made my list. Why? Well, she's stunning. Pretty much every picture she's in is fabulous. Secondly, she's variety gold. When Nogibingo started airing she got creampied (in the literal sense) in the first episode, and started crying because she'd always wanted to be creampied. Can't help but respect that.

16. Jonishi Kei (NMB48)
(-/-/-/-)

Jonishi has impressed me this year for several reasons. One is, of course, as you can see above, she got back. She's also incredibly flexible and has had some magazines dedicate a feature to her and her flexibility, which is nice to look at. Her face is a bit weird but she gives off a bit of a Linlin vibe to me, which is good. Also scores high on the "her G+ amuses me" so she ends up here.

15. Kimoto Kanon (SKE48)
(-/-/1/2)

Kanon is still gloriously cute and silly, her facial expressions make me laugh and her minorly sadistic personality is always amusing to watch, so why has she fallen so much? Well, Ebifriday Night was one of the reasons, in which she didn't quite shine as brightly as the others on display. Sekai Seifuku Joshi is also still shit and no one, not even Kanon, can do anything about that. Magical Radio turned into a farce. Still, with her making frontrow on Utsukushii Inazuma, maybe a push is about to start, so she hasn't fallen off entirely. Maybe now she's 16 she'll be put in the photobook queue as well. Not that SKE seem to get a lot.

14. Shiroma Miru (NMB48)
(-/-/-/20)

 
You can always count on Miruru to brighten your day with either cuteness or being a totally nutcase spanner. Which it is depends much on the situation. She is probably the most derpy of the NMB members, but backs it up with confidence and supreme power which is totally unjustified but amusing to watch. Manabu-kun always features her bizarre answers, when you're not sure if she's trolling or not. The challenges in that programme also usually feature Miru, who is truly a sight to behold when failing badly. Her Google+ is a treasure trove of weird photoshopped images, eccentric fashion choices and cute nightmares. Or something. The future of NMB.

13. Murashige Anna (HKT48)
 (-/-/-/God)

Another who deserves more magazine scans. Murashige is still a glorious spanner, hyperactive in the way that no one else quite matches. She's also cute as hell. The only magazine scan I could find of her was a makeup tutorial that coated her in shitloads of blush and basically turned her into Triendl Reina. Granted, Reina's cute as hell as well, but Murashige has the ability to become even moreso. On Hyakkaten, Odekake and AKBingo she's been active as hell, and it wouldn't surprise me if she continued to improve now she's in KIV and able to harass some newcomers. She does need a new gag though.

12. Nakamoto Suzuka (Babymetal)
(-/-/-/-)

Su-metal has improved markedly as a vocalist in recent times. She's also cute, funny, and quite a good older sister role model for Yui and Moa in Babymetal. Her own older sister, Himeka, is also an idol in Nogizaka46, and acts about as differently from Suzuka as possible. Whilst Suzuka emanates gravitas and composure in her performances, and acts like a pretty normal person in interviews and such, Himeka is basically Nogizaka's Momoko. Always doing the annoyingly cute act. But oh well, as a sibling power duo they're definitely the top in the idol world.

11. Nabilah Ratna Ayu Azalia (JKT48)
(-/-/-/-)

Speaking of metal and idols, Nabilah. Yes, she's Indonesian, in an Indonesia-based group, etc etc etc. Who cares. Nabilah is awesome. I don't understand a great deal of Indonesian (I can pick up the basics easily enough, but not everything), but Nabilah is fucking demented. She randomly does silly impressions, shouts really loudly at everything, and enjoys the music of Necrophagist. Her oshi in AKB is the dearly departed Oku Manami, who's pretty much my eternal oshi too. She has more twitter followers than most of the rest of JKT put together, and has even overtaken Maeda "Still Can't Be Fucked" Atsuko. So she's a headbanger who shares my oshi, is crazy and funny. What's not to like?


Anyway, part two will come sooner or later.