Seifuku Koujou Iinkai - Da! Da! Datsu-Genpatsu no Uta

[EmEl]

SKi is an idol group that was formed in 1992 and has been intact more or less in these past 19 years. Even during a break during the dead-idol era of the late 2000s, they managed to have some sort of activity. Watching their show while sitting in a tiny hall of mostly 40-year-old men, it's easy to focus on nothing but the stage and believe that you are watching some previous generation's idols. On the stage are girls wearing an old-style of schoolgirl uniforms with skirts that reach some of the performers' knees. On the stage are girls singing from a catalog of 20-year-old songs, all written in the same style in which it's impossible to tell the era it was composed.



On August 15, they will release a new single. It is an anti-nuclear song. (Composed by AKIRA. Is it the same man who has arranged H!P songs?)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ByP8m3XOZdw



The description includes terrible English translations, but you'll get the point.



Everything is incongruous. The lyrics do not match the dance. The lyrics do not match the composition. The performers' faces do not match their words. I saw this video a month ago, but the cynic in me can't let it go. Is this song a prime example that idols have no willpower? They will do whatever is told to them? I hardly believe they care so much about this issue. It's in the same realm as making them puppets who sing about not taking off their school uniforms. (The b-side is far more traditional in terms of the style of protest songs.)



In no other video that they have uploaded did they include English lyrics. Clearly they were trying to get this message across all across the world. Or are they merely trying for free publicity? This video gained 100 times the normal amount of views they normally get, so in response, they've uploaded more of the same song again and again. One is another performance, but the title is Romaji to lure the international clicks. The other is from the very show I saw live.



Before I saw them, I couldn't decide if it was all a marketing ploy. Surely small artists are allowed to have protest songs even if it ends up benefiting them, right? Protest songs cannot be relegated to the already-famous.



But as I was there, I happened to notice the group's 24th album sitting on the goods table. Released in 2003, this album also had songs that attempted to have more meaning than a normal idol song. Among its songs were titles such as "I Don't Understand War" and "World Peace Now". I decided that this is just who this group is. They will never be incredibly famous. This is just who this group is.



The song is admittedly a nice idol pop song. I just will have to stop knowing the lyrics to be able to enjoy it without constantly wondering how the dance and wota chants possibly fit in.

[freezingkiss]

They are CUTE. Who is the eldest, and who has been there the longest? How many generations do they have? I have many questions. Do they have a website/j-wiki page?



THEY ARE SINGING LIVE. <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... #>/wub.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':wub:' />

[EmEl]

Haha, ok, done with my silly persona who wrote the intro post. They are cute, aren't they? It's so odd to see when there are so many famous ugly idols running around.



Here's their profile page. The leader, Anna, is a thirteenth-generation member. The newest members are from the 16th generation. And there are a couple girls who are in the "lesson generation". The leader has been there the longest. The oldest is Momoka (because the other oldest graduated last month even though she's still on the site's page), but she announced her graduation at the show I was at on Sunday. Anna will become the oldest at 17.



The woman who plays guitar and sings the b-side is 31. She's from the third generation. She was the leader back then, but now is the "Chairman". (Their name means Uniform Improvement Committee, so she's the chairman of the committee).



Their wikipedia is essentially two lists: a whole ton of girls and a whole ton of CD titles <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... /wacko.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':wacko:' /> I have a pamphlet that lists all 1200 of their song titles.

[Shoujo Q]

I tried looking this group up on google and came up pretty empty. A group that has been around for almost 20 years and I Don't know about them? D: I must learn, digest and find some music!



But this little tidbit of info made me chuckle. (Though I probably shouldn't have.)

[EmEl]

Well, you've the little bit that's on their youtube channel http://www.youtube.com/user/IDOLJAPANRECORDS



And the first Thursday of every month (sometimes more), they broadcast their free show on ustream.



It also doesn't help that their fans call them "SKi". Almost impossible to search for that on google.

[Melon]

You post about the most interesting idols.



This group interests me both in concept and longevity.

[momoirosaya]

I find it interesting that one of their 1st gen's is named "Maeda Atsuko." Different Kanji, but still XD

And Kikuchi Ayako is pretty close to Kikuchi Ayaka. A few other close ones as well.

And there's Kobayashi Marina, and AKB KKS has a Kobayashi Marina too.



No H!P names D: Well there are a couple close-ish ones, like Nakamura Saki. Change the 'mura' to 'jima'.



I wonder how much they sell...

Interesting lyrics...

But I think I like it :D

[Anderei]

I clicked around on the names that had links, and Machiko Tezuka, formerly of SKE48 and now in SDN48 was a ninth generation member.

[EmEl]

So, since the last two people seem to be interested in the former members, here's a site I found that has pictures and info of almost all the members.



http://www.shidekashi.org/member.html



The site's mainpage also has some sort of newsletter about SKi's activities from every month since May 1995.

[Anderei]

Looks like the average tenure isn't very high. Some of those girls were barely there.



Oh, but I loved how some girl's years of birth aren't certain. '1986年or1687年' Fair enough, I suppose, since it seems like they were members who were there for a really short amount of time.



I wonder why some girls have pop up profiles and others don't.





Looks like some of the girls share a blog on Oricon. Scroll way down for their posts.



And here's their discography, including stuff by individual members.



Wow. I wonder who they hire to do all their music? I'm intrigued by this group.

[Melon]

Okay, now for a more detailed response.



After surfing through the links, I cannot believe what I am hearing. I cannot believe there are activist idols. Furthermore, I can't believe Japan has cutesy protest songs. <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... /lmfao.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':lmfao:' /> Truly, they have ascended past the realm of gods when it comes to manufacturing cute. The b-side is really nice. I liked the sound of her voice a lot.



1200 songs MY GOD. <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... nfused.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' /> I'm afraid to touch that. Someone give me the 20 track BESUTO because I'm not touching that with a ten foot pole.



GAME 32st CD Albumアイドル・ジャパン・レコード IJRM-0051 2007.12.1発売

STOP!STOP!STOP! 33st CD Albumアイドル・ジャパン・レコード IJRM-0052 2011.1.1発売



wat. Why was there such a huge gap in release.<img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... >/rofl.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' /> It's like they came back now that idols are in vogue again. <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... >/rofl.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' />



nonsense offtopic ramble-clicks blog link-oh look cute pictures oh hey arina tanemura has another series out and it's not in ribon wtf oh well haven't read her stuff since early high school lulz-



Oh man, even the videos from 2011 look like they belong in the yesteryear. It's like I'm watching something ripped off a VHS from the 80s. :lolololol:



How did you find out about them, Em-El?

[Anderei]

They look like they've been using the same cameras to take photos of them ever since this group was started. The girls who joined in 2010 look like they're straight out of the early 90s.



I saw some of the tracks from their 33rd (omg lol) album on YT. Songs are cute, but those girls look so bored.



If I could find a place to listen to all of their stuff, I would totally take on a 1200 song challenge. I do not fear it.

[EmEl]

If you want to see a large gap, look at their singles. They basically focused on only albums. 33 albums and only 9 singles. The 1200 songs actually refers to all their subgroups and stuff (The Duet, angel, etc.). As a total, they have 46 albums and 18ish singles.

[quote name='Petit Melon' timestamp='1311920521' post='104832']

wat. Why was there such a huge gap in release.<img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... >/rofl.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' /> It's like they came back now that idols are in vogue again. <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... >/rofl.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' />

[/quote]

That's almost exactly what happened. In 2006, when it sucked to be a female idol group, they stopped activities as a group, but still existed and did events and stuff just not organized as such, and as you can see they released two albums in 2007 (basically they broke up, but not really. I don't really know). And that ties into how I found them.



[quote name='Petit Melon' timestamp='1311920521' post='104832']

How did you find out about them, Em-El?

[/quote]

Well, they renewed activities as SKi in September of last year. So in August, they were out handing out flyers outside of like every Momoiro Clover event I went to. I pretty much ignored them. But then my wota friend is a big fan, so he gave me a ticket to try them out last week.



(even this dedicated fanpage for the current leader and this fanpage for the group looks like they were made in 1995 <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... /laugh.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':lol:' /> So, yeah, we got lots of pictures at least. The chairwoman has a fanpage as well)

[aisasami]

I saw their older singles at various 100 yen shops but never picked them up. Ugh, I should of picked them up because they looked interesting.



[quote name='Saya' timestamp='1311901810' post='104794']

I find it interesting that one of their 1st gen's is named "Maeda Atsuko." Different Kanji, but still XD

And Kikuchi Ayako is pretty close to Kikuchi Ayaka. A few other close ones as well.

And there's Kobayashi Marina, and AKB KKS has a Kobayashi Marina too.

[/quote]



You forgot their is a Mizuno Ami there too, same kanji... </Sailormoon>

[EmEl]

It got a PV.



<img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... >/rofl.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' /> I know you're a small company and all, but please take ".mp4" out of your video title.



It only features five of the main girls (including the unfortunate=looking one. I guess the sixth main girl was busy. She's included in the 3 seconds at the end of the video).



I'm gonna go ahead and guess this is their first PV in 12 years. It's barely a PV but it's one of my favorite songs of theirs.

[Shoujo Q]

I'll never complain about a UFA PV again.



And which one is the unfortunate one? Because I see a few that could hold that title.

[Anderei]

Well it COULD have been worse. But the song is nice.