Idols & Us (Patreon)

From time to time, we get asked about what made us interested in Japanese idols and why we wanted to become idols ourselves! You might think there is an easy answer to it, but it actually isn’t at all! 😆 This might get a bit long...!! 💦

⁽ᵍᵉᵗ ʳᵉᵃᵈʸ ᶠᵒʳ ˢᵒᵐᵉ ᵃⁿᶜᶦᵉⁿᵗ ᵖᶦᶜᵗᵘʳᵉˢ ᵒᵒᶠ⁾

To be honest, we’ve never been too interested in the large, "national-scale" idol groups like Hello! Project or AKB48 and it’s sister groups, and our introduction to idols actually starts with someone who isn’t an idol at all! 💓 Momoi Haruko, who is a singer, songwriter, seiyuu, and idol group producer, was actually the one who first introduced us to idols, and has always been our number #1 inspiration and influence. Our first exposure was actually from the “extras” section of a Genshiken DVD we got as a Christmas present from our parents. It was live footage of Momoi in her unit, UNDER17, performing the song “Kujibiki Unbalance” and we were instantly hooked by both the energy and connection she had with the audience. It was like nothing we had ever seen before! ✨ It was a separate world that existed only there for that moment, and together with the music, we were hooked. 😎

⁽ʷʰᵉⁿ ʷᵉ ᵖᵉʳᶠᵒʳᵐᵉᵈ ᵃᵗ ᵃ ˡᶦᵛᵉ ʷᶦᵗʰ ᵃ ᵇᵘⁿᶜʰ ᵒᶠ ᶦᵈᵒˡˢ ʷᵉ ˡᶦᵏᵉᵈ ᵃⁿᵈ ᵃ ᶠᵘᵗᵘʳᵉ ˢᵉᶦˢʰᵘⁿ ᴳᵃᵏᵘᵉⁿ ᵐᵉᵐᵇᵉʳ ᶦⁿ ²⁰¹³⁾

From then on, we became full "Momoists" and tried to get any goods or information about her that we could, and listened to her music constantly. For the two of us who were very shy and into our own hobbies, she was someone who was like us and enjoyed moe and otaku culture, and it was nice to have a role model who promoted embracing what you love and being unabashedly yourself. 💗 Maybe it’s different now, but at that time there really weren’t many girls who liked only bishoujo characters and moe anime, mainly just fujoshi (who we can get along with but honestly we don’t relate much with). We felt really alone. 🥲

At that time though, Momoi was signed under avex mode and was releasing lots of music and doing lots of different jobs! We would wake up early to listen and watch her radio shows despite only understanding bits of it here and there, and listened to her music, especially during really difficult times for us. Her lyrics always gave us strength! 🙌🏻 We didn’t really have many close friends and we were always studying, so it meant a lot to us to have someone there supporting us and making each day more bearable, even though Momoi (obviously) didn't know we existed. 💦

⁽ᵒᵘʳ ᶠᶦʳˢᵗ ᵗᶦᵐᵉ ˢᵉᵉᶦⁿᵍ ᵐᵒᵐᵒᶦ ˡᶦᵛᵉ ᶦⁿ ²⁰¹²⁾

Because of Momoi, we began to think that we’d love to be able to make others smile and feel moved through our own music one day too. ✨✨ From around that time, we got into 80’s idols like Onyanko Club, Lemon Angel, and Wink, and eventually found out more about current idols (at that time). The groups we were most into were Afilia Saga East and Dempagumi.inc. We listened to Hello! Project and AKB48’s music here and there mainly because we had access to it (RIP BOOK-OFF’s Vancouver location but thank you for the 10 cent CDs 🙏🏻), but they didn’t connect with us as much. Maybe it’s because both the members of Dempagumi.inc and Afilia Saga East were girls more like us with geeky interests, just like it was with Momoi! 😆 They were working hard towards their impossible dreams, and we wanted to challenge ourselves and do the same!! 🔥

At the time, odottemita was a popular trend, so even though we were more confident in our singing than dance (we used to hate dancing as kids), we decided to learn dances and upload videos online, do them while streaming on Nico Nico Namahousou, and also perform at anime events in Vancouver. 💪🏻 We did that for a little under 2 years or so until we were able to go to Japan and try performing in some very small live houses mainly in Akihabara. It was definitely an experience like no other! ☺️

What we like most about Japanese idols is the message that they promote: that you can make anything possible with hard work. You don't need to be good at singing or dancing or even be cute, you just have to do your best!  ✨ And that really is what life should be all about. Even if you don't reach your dream, you'll get somewhere, and it's better to try and regret than never try at all! We also love the bond between idols and audience. The idol may be be the one on stage, but it's everyone who makes the show what it is! There's a totally different energy and culture made at that moment! 🥹

In the end, we became idols because we wanted to bring smiles and fun to other peoples lives, to spread amazing music we love, and challenge ourselves as well. To be honest, we’re quite shy and private people, but we feel that it's worth the sacrifice to be able to do what we want to do! Every decision in life is just like that! We feel our crazy dreams are worth those sacrifices. ✌🏻

As for our photos (and upcoming video...), do we think they're embarrassing? YES, of course we do. It was a different time, and things were very different back in pre-2015... 💦 Do we regret doing any of this? Absolutely not. All the experiences we've had have made us who we are today! It’s also because we took the risks and did things that we weren’t used to that we were able to do even more amazing things. It’s also because of that, that our paths have been able to cross too! 💗 Please look at these photos and video with kind eyes or at least laugh at us because we're big goofy geeks! 😝✌🏻