issue 8// vol 46

J-Pop Spotlight: The 46 groups

» J-Pop analysis

Jerrison Oracion
Senior Columnist

 

This is J-Pop Spotlight: A column where
every month until the 2020 Tokyo Summer
Olympic Games, we explain some of the
biggest musicians in Japan performing in a
genre that is starting to go mainstream in
North America.

n the history of J-Pop, there are well
known groups that defined their era and

revolutionized the genre. In 2005, famous
record producer and songwriter Yasushi
Akimoto created AKB48, which originated
the idea of a group performing in their own
personal theatre (theirs was in the Tokyo
neighbourhood of Akihabara) so fans can
engage with the group in person. This also
set a standard for meet and greet events.

When I began following J-Pop fulltime
in 2013, the group was mainstream—seen
everywhere in the entire country. Akimoto
created a rival group for AKB48 in zou. The
group is called Nogizaka46, and they were
also founded on the idea of idols you can
meet. As the decade went by, more sister
groups for Nogizaka46 were created—all
together, they are called the Sakamichi
Series (or the 46 groups)—and they are one
of the biggest idol groups right now.

Compared to AKB48, they appeal
to everyone, and have groups that have
different styles for each type of hardcore
idol fans. The rest of the 46 groups
include Keyakizaka46, Hinatazaka46, and
Yoshimotozaka46.

Nogizaka46 is an easy breezy group,
and you can see such traits in their
synchronized choreography and elegant

 

clothes. Their breakthrough year began

in 2017, when they got the award Best
Song in the Japan Record Awards—the
Japanese version of the Grammy Awards—
two years in a row for “Influencer”

and “Synchronicity.” The group could
make history this year by being the first
musicians to get the award three years in

a row.

Keyakizaka46 is the opposite of
Nogizaka46. Their songs tackle serious
topics, beginning with their first hit single
in 2016, “Silent Majority,” which talks about
rebellion and challenging the system.

The lead member of the group, Yurina
Hirate (nicknamed Techi), is the forefront
member in many of the singles they have
released. Their choreography is very
intense and passionate.

They had an understudy group called

Hiragana Keyakizaka46. When more
members were put in the group, they
started to form their own group personality
that was more cheerful. In February 2019
during a press conference, the group

was made independent and renamed to
Hinatazaka46. The group can be described
as Nogizaka46 with the choreography of
Keyakizaka46. Their recent hit single “Ts

it OK to like you so much?” shows their
unique style and it was the number one
song on Billboard's Japan Hot 100 between
Sept 30 and Oct 6.

The most interesting group of all is
Yoshimotozaka46, which is a collaboration
with one of the biggest talent agencies
in Japan: Yoshimoto Kogyo. The group
consists mainly of comedians—both boys
and girls, and elderly members as well.
While you might think that they are doing

Mistress of pointlessness

>» A review of ‘Maleficent: Mistress of Evil’

Craig Allan
Staff Writer

wwew wv

hen it comes to Disney’s live action

remakes, I have no love lost for
them. To me, they are cash grabs of the
worst kind. Disney is simply recycling a
script from the past. However, one of the
bright spots of this live-action remake
renaissance of Disney is 2014’s Maleficent.
Maleficent was an outlier because instead
of merely making an almost shot for shot
remake of the animated version, Disney
went with a more original idea, centring
the film on the evil Maleficent from
Sleeping Beauty.

The film may not be a classic, but
Angelina Jolie dons the wings of Maleficent
well, and focusing the film on the villain
made it feel different than other Disney
adaptations. Of course, because the
film made a worldwide box office gross
of $758 million dollars on a $180 million
dollar budget, a sequel was practically
guaranteed. Thus, we have Maleficent:
Mistress of Evil.

After seeing this movie at an early
screening, I must say that whoever thought
that this was a good idea should have taken
a long nap to think it through.

There is very little to like about this
movie. While the production shows
glimmers of Disney magic through some

 

set pieces, every other part of this movie
is terrible. The previous movie ended
with Maleficent as a hero, and Aurora
(Elle Fanning) unifying the two kingdoms
and seemingly starting a relationship
with Prince Phillip (played in Maleficent:
Mistress of Evil by a re-casted Harris
Dickinson).

How does the movie get around the
fact that Maleficent is no longer evil?
Simple, the story is just retold in a fairy
tale style game of telephone, with the
story being altered and warped with each
telling. This movie is set ftve years in the
future from the first movie. Phillip was
there for what happened. He would surely
tell his kingdom that Maleficent is a hero,
as the most credible storyteller. Also, does
this kingdom not have any contact with
Aurora’s people, who would also tell the
story of the hero Maleficent? It is later
explained why the story turned against
Maleficent—but again, it was only five
years ago.

Along with this glaring issue, if you
have seen any movies in your life, you can
easily figure out where every part of this
story is going. There is little imagination to
be had in this story.

As for the cast, everyone is sleeping
through their performance in this movie.
Despite being in the title, Maleficent
barely feels like she is in the movie. Jolie
is hardly in the movie, and when she is, it
feels like she is a side character. The worst

performance must be Michelle Pfeiffer as
Queen Ingrith though. Pfeiffer overacts
the hell out of this movie. As for the other
actors, their performances are completely
on auto pilot. Seeing such lackluster
performances, I’m surprised that someone
saying the phrase “That cheque’s not going
to bounce right?” didn’t make it into the
film.

Of all the sins this movie commits
though, the biggest one may be simply that
it fails to justify its own existence. There
was no need for this movie. Maleficent

 

arts // no. 7

Promotional image for ‘Silent Majority’ by Keyakizaka46

this for charity or fun, but they are actually
very serious about the group, shown in
the music videos of their songs. The group
has EXILE TAKAHIRO (also known as
Takahiro Tasaki) doing their choreography.
One of the members in the group,
Yuriyan Retriever, was seen on season
14 of America’s Got Talent doing body
building—she even saw Simon Cowell!
The 46 groups are rising up the slope,
and there is a group that is for everyone.
They will probably get more attention
because they could be involved in the
Tokyo Summer Olympics.

Favourite Members:

* Nogizaka46: Rena Yamazaki

* Keyakizaka46: Nanako Nagasawa

+ Hinatazaka46: Kumi Sasaki (Captain)
* Yoshimotozaka48: Riho Miyaki

was a standalone movie, and a good one at
that. The movie tries to make a reference
to not judging people based on one bad
experience and hearsay, and there may

be some illusions to modern day racial
tensions—but in the end this is a boring
and unnecessary sequel.

I fail to understand why Disney
thought that this was a story that had to be
told, outside of the huge profit intake of the
first movie. This movie is a one hour and
58-minute curse that can only be broken
when the credits start to roll.

‘Maleficent: Mistress of Evil' promotional image via Disney