Fans of multi-member Japanese group usually have a so-called oshimen, the personal number one favorite member of the group. Then there might be the oshi-wrecker, the person who makes you doubt your choice for oshimen every now and then. And if you follow such a hierarchy, there must be a member that is your least favorite of the group as well. I’m planning to do a small series about this and MANACLE kicks it off.
This Tokyo based group has a peculiar background. In March 2020, three members of the underground idol veterans NECRONOMIDOL announced they would leave the group. Then two of them started to recruit members for their own idol group MANACLE. One of their recruits was another ex-NECRONOMIDOL member Takatsuji Hina (高辻ひな), formerly known as Yotsuyu Hina (夜露ひな).
She joined NECRONOMIDOL in the spring of 2015 and stayed active for almost four years. She appeared on three studio albums and five mini’s or ep’s, as well as touring the US and Europe before she left in December 2019 in order to focus on her university education. During her time in NECRONOMIDOL, her image was more the little sister, partially thanks to her higher pitched voice and her limited size. She’s small. Here she is in the video of the song “Ithaqua”. We might need to add that the little sister type is not very common in ultra dark idol. But her stage personality had a huge gap towards her own personality, which might have contributed to her departure from the group. Most people believed that was the end of her idol career, which at nearly four years long still was quite above average.
So in 2020 two of her former colleagues also leave the group, but in a less amicable fahsion. The renegades Risaki “Okaki” Kakizaki, Rei Imaizuma and Michelle (who was one of Hina’s replacements) arrange their own graduation event. Much to the surprise of the audience, they re-unite with other former members Sari, Hina and Kenbishi Kunogi on stage. That surprise becomes even bigger when Risaki and Rei announce they would be starting a new group and that Hina would join them. The whole episode might be one of the more severe ones shocking the underground idol scene in Tokyo. Not sure if her education was done after two years, but she certainly seems a lot more mature, more assured of herself now.
Okaki – Hina – Maon – Ray
The group MANACLE also recruits Maon, formerly known as Ran Mao from AIBECK. The agency M-Smile picks them up, making them somewhere between a self-produced and produced idol group. Calling this a supergroup might be a bit presumptuous, but they surely hit the ground running with their positively vibed, more poppy approach to undergound idol music. Even in this video for “Look at me!” Hina is the second one to appear, just as in the previously posted video link.
So why is Hina my least favorite member? She is awesome… she surely can sing, she’s a good dancer, she has a sense of humor and is quite fashionable. She’s just not my type of idol. Which says a lot about great idol groups. All the members are different, have distinctively own personalities, on and off stage, so they can appeal to and attract new fans as individuals. MANACLE has been able to become such a group, which is interesting to see because none of the members were type-casted like so many production companies do. Also, “newcomer” Maon has been able to carve out her own role between these three former colleagues, which is quite remarkable. It will be interesting to see what the future will bring for MANACLE, since Risaki Kakizaki has left at the end of 2022. A new member will be presented soon. Shoes to fill…