Tokyo Idol Festival 2011 Part 5

So, I've been putting off this post for a while. I go on the Tokyo Idol Festival website, and lo and behold, they've added new groups. Will this madness never end?

Passpo: THIS group is why I've been putting off this post. And before I get haters, the reason why is because I know they have a lot of passionate fans and I just don't know that much about them, so I don't want to get things wrong.
Passpo's a travel-themed idol group with ten members. They were formed in 2009, made their indie debut in 2010 and just now made their major debut in 2011.
The group is relatively new, however they generated a lot of buzz around them, especially during their Indies phase. Their first single, Shoujo Hikou, got #1 on the weekly Oricon and sold 42,706, which is excellent for an idol group major debut. However, according to Generasia, its drop from #1 to #102 set the record for the biggest drop from #1.
Regardless, they are becoming a bigger and bigger group, and I know a lot of people love them for their energy and rock sound. However, one member said she'd shave her head if the group didn't get the weekly #1... and they're releasing their single the same week as AKB48. So soon we might have a bald idol!

They're going to definitely be a big headliner for the festival, though!



BA5: According to the new summary on the Idol Festival website, the 5 Bs stand for Big, Broad, Buzz, Beat Beauty. I'm not sure that big and broad are things you want your idol group, but there you go.

I haven't heard much about them before, and finding information about them is a little tough, since BA5 can go anywhere. However, according to their Idol Festival information, they do regular shows on Nico Nico Douga and other streaming websites. Also, from what I can tell on their website, they are a promotional group surrounding Broad Ace, an internet service provider.

Also, from what I can tell, they've released a single and an album. There are five members in the group, but it looks like two of them have graduated, since they're under the OG label on the site, but I haven't seen much with BA5 with only three members.

Still, finding much about them is kind of tough, so this Idol Festival is perfect for them!



Pinkish: This is another group that has apparently been around for a long time (since 2002???) but hasn't done much of anything. There are currently three members: Haruna, Mao and Aoi. However, only Haruna has been there for that long (since 2003), with Mao and Aoi hailing from 2009 auditions. So the lineup isn't too stable.

They seem to do mainly mini lives in places like malls, as well as doing shows on the internet on ustream. That's the amazing thing about the internet; it allows for girls to do this!

They've released a single and an album, the album in 2006 and the single in 2008, which is called Yume Miru Ichigo. The group has done a few TV shows, but nothing I recognize.



Fine: On all the information they're listed as "Special Girls Unit Fine" But everywhere else it's just Fine, so I'll go with that.

A quick word of advice to people who might start up an idol group some day: Don't make names just average English words. Finding information about said group is going to be tough, and therefore will make life a little bit harder for prospective fans. If you search AKB48 on the internet, you're not going to have trouble finding the idol group.

However, I did find their homepage, and it seems that they're an indie idol group with nine young members. They're also under the same company as Oh Campee, that I've covered before, so they've done a joint live with them.

They don't seem to have a PV like Oh Campee does with Happy Happy Birthday, so this video was the best I could find of Fine. However, if you know and love them, please share information with me! The girls in this video have really great energy and seem cute, and could probably be very great idols!



Forchun: I really can't find much about them other than their blog and a video on YouTube。

http://ameblo.jp/for-chun/



They seem to be more of a sexy group than anything, but they don't even have a Japanese wiki page or non-Ameba website, as far as I can find.