The Tokyo Idol Festival 2014 Thread

[tsutomo]

boys and girls, this is one happy day. it was announced some hours ago that this year we'll have once again the biggest and most famous idol event in the world: Tokyo Idol Festival, aka TIF. as always being realized in Odaiba. August 2nd and 3rd.

there were a lot of rumors and fear that last year edition was the final one. wrong. the festival will continue, despite the increasing rivalry with other major festivals and producers. the first list of groups has already being revealed and... imo, even they didn't add a single group more, the festival would already be awesome. 

(last year we had 111 groups and HKT48 being the "big surprise name". place your bets what we'll have this year. Momokuro finally? Nogizaka46? Denpa Gumi.inc returning?)

official site: http://idolfes.com/2014/

38 confirmed groups:

Idoling!!!
Idoling!!! NEO
Idol College
Airis
I☆Ris
Up Up Girls Kakkokari
Afilia Saga
Weather Girls
Ultra Girl
AeLL.
Victory
X21
Oranche
You Kikkawa
Mai Kotone
Sakura Gakuin
The Possible
Sunmyu
JK21
Starmarie
Seishun! Tropical Maru
Sexy☆All Stars
Narumi Takiguchi with Control-S
Dream5
Doll☆Elements
Dorothy Little Happy
Negaigoto
Negicco
Passpo☆
Palet
Predia
Powerspot
Fudanjuku
Puzzle Girls
Maria
Lovely★Doll
LinQ
Linda Sansei

who is planning to attend this festival? I'll be there no matter what. 

[qwiksXnd]

I'll be there no matter what ... once SUPER GiRLS and GEM are added.

A person I know predicted TIF would be announced this week. But this same person also thought PASSPO would get a big sponsorship deal with SUBWAY just because they eat there all the time.

"Big name surprise" prediction: NMB48 (because of SKE and HKT)

"Medium name surprise": E-girls

"Small name surprise": Himekyun returns

Other random predictions: hopefully predia is on the mainstage (and 9nine, assuming they attend again). And Sakino Chiba's super indie group is invited.

The most important prediction of all: Mano Erina unretires for just one day.

For anyone on the fence about visiting Japan, this is the reason to finally get yourself to go. You will not be disappointed... unless none of your top ten groups are attending, in which case you should become a GEM fan.

[Daydreamer0Fly]

I will be there without a doubt.  So far, the group I'm most excited to see is coming is I☆Ris, since I really like them and was really disappointed they weren't there last year. I didn't manage to catch them at all during my trip (their only live was the day I left ;___;) so i'll definitely be catching them. Them included, I'm pretty interested in seeing 13 of the acts announced so far. I have a great feeling about this year!

My guess for one of the surprise names was gonna be Juice=Juice, since they are H!P, but still new and up-and-coming. But since it's the same daya as the H!P summer concerts, there goes that theory 

The groups I most hope get announced now are Dancing Dolls, Prizmmy, Prism☆Box, Party Rockets, Babyraids, and Fairies (Doubt this, though, as it has yet to happen). And I'd also REALLY love to see the soloist Rio Hiiragi
This is not including all the iDOL Street groups, which I of course need to see, but I am sure they'll be announced haha.

[shurastriker]

big surprise... QunQun is invited to TIF
medium surprise... Hiroshima MAPLE*S are going
small surprise... some AKS related group

all groups i follow closely are already listed so the rest is just info

[tsutomo]

groups I want to see (and have big chances to appear): Hime Kyun, Rio Hiiragi, Bump.y, Akishibu, Chu-Z, 7cm

groups I want to see (and have small chances to appear): Dempa Gumi, Team Shachihoko, Fairies, Asfi, Next Shojo Jiken, Gouhou Lolita Syndrome

groups I want to see (and are just pipe dreams): Perfume, SKE48, Momoiro Clover Z, some korean group

groups we'll most likely not see there (I would be shocked to see announced): H!P groups, Alice Juban... BiS 

if I had to place a bet on someone unlikely to appear but a gut feeling tells me we'll see there: some ex-AKB soloist

since they already started 'spreading' the acts that get called, we may see almost anyone there, even some girl band or pop act (like Gatcharic Spin or Shiho Namba) 

[Daydreamer0Fly]

groups I want to see (and have big chances to appear): Hime Kyun, Rio Hiiragi, Bump.y, Akishibu, Chu-Z, 7cm

You think Riorio has a good chance? Oh gosh, I hope so!!!  And I forgot to mention Akishibu, that'd be great!! (I'd love Chu-z, too, actually. haha)

[eyeless]

What are the chances for any stardust group to participate? maybe 10%   

Anyway, I hope they do streaming on nico like 2012, because I definitely can't go

[tsutomo]

just to let speculations continue, AKB already announced a handshaking event for the next single in the second weekend of august. which means at least for now all ~48 groups are available to participate in TIF this year. 

the tricky thing will be the Idolnation announcement. whether it'll happen in the 3rd weekend or in the same days as TIF. in this case we could see TIF losing some big names.

[wattstax]

Probably will go there, as I am planning to attend the PASSPO One-Man-Flights in Osaka and Nagoya 1 week prior. And as PASSPO will participate in TIF... Why not? 

Though I am a bit concerned if I get along in such a big venue and how it works in general (Never visited a concert or festival in Japan, and I can't speak Japanese). Any english infos on the net regarding TIF? How to get in? Are all the stages in buildings? Where will events like Handshaking take place - Grand Market? 

Anyway, my faves beside PASSPO are:
Idoling!!!, Up Up Girls Kakkokari, Weather Girls, Palet, Predia.

Hoping for Baby Raids and Party Rockets, as I prefer Rock-Idols
Super Girls would be nice too.

[shurastriker]

they always have handshake events and a place for merchandising so doubt this year will be any different

no idea if any info is in english, doubt it, but surely they have lots of signs and stuff like that

[tsutomo]

groups I want to see (and have big chances to appear): Hime Kyun, Rio Hiiragi, Bump.y, Akishibu, Chu-Z, 7cm

great, I jinxed it. 

the pic Shura posted is the layout from 2012 (I guess) but it's basically the same stuff every year, so it works.  as you can see, there are stages in open places (where you don't even need tickets) and indoor. each stage is pretty distant from each other, so be prepared to walk a lot, use some maps or GPS and don't forget to drink a lot of vodka water cuz it will be hot as hell. some staffs may understand a little of english, but it won't be difficult either way for you to figure out where are places by yourself, since there will be some big signs and lanes, insanely huge lanes everywhere!!! 

and hey, if you want, you can accompany some other foreigners there  (last year no H!P meeting occurred, let's see this time...)

[qwiksXnd]

We'll all meet at the Gundam statue at 7AM sharp. Kidding, but I am fine meeting up if anyone else is.

^^^ You'll be fine even if you only have limited Japanese. If you are able to go to Osaka and Nagoya for PASSPO flights, TIF will be a breeze. The website does a good job at providing all the necessary information like ticket availability and performance schedules. The tricky part is coordinating your personal schedule to fit the performances you want to see and the handshake/photo times for each specific group. But creating the perfect schedule is also fun... unless there are time conflicts between your top groups.

[wattstax]

The map looks really huge, but GPS?  I already know, that it will be hot. Been to Japan one time in the middle of August and it was hell. I swore, to never go there again during summer. So much for promises Better than rain anyway...
But as you said, it will be fun to experience (hopefully). Following other foreigners or the flow of people seems to be a good approach. And I agree: Planning your schedule is half of the fun 
Thanks for the advice regarding time conflicts. I will take a coin with me, for Head or Tails

Regarding the Passpo flights: This will be my first concerts in Japan, so no experience right now and nothing to compare it with. 

Meeting up is alright with me

Be prepared for more questions when new official infos are up 

[qwiksXnd]

Hope everything goes well with the PASSPO concerts. Last year I went to SUPER GiRLS concerts in Tokyo and the next day in Osaka... and it was pretty hectic.

And I agree about summer weather in Tokyo, but fortunately the last two years have been fine - with the exception of day 1 last year when it rained out a few night performances. There are a lot of indoor venues though, and after 4PM it gets a lot cooler. Honestly it's so fun, that you don't even think about the weather (unless it starts raining). All of the stages are within walking distance - that map from above is from 2012, the layout from 2013 was different. They changed some of the stages, making them further apart, but still within 5-10 minutes of each other (except maybe the Venus Fort stage which I never went to). I agree with tsutomo that the lines could be pretty bad last year. Unfortunately they removed more stages than they added, and since attendance was higher than 2012, it meant more people packed into fewer stages. I hope they open up both Zepp Tokyo and Zepp DiverCity and have two competing main stages and also add the second stage back to the roof (Secret Court). I think they removed Secret Court last year because too many people found out about it.

[wattstax]

Hope everything goes well with the PASSPO concerts. Last year I went to SUPER GiRLS concerts in Tokyo and the next day in Osaka... and it was pretty hectic.

From Tokyo to Osaka? Even Shinkansen needs 3 hours. Why you haven't written about it in your blog? 
PASSPO should be fine though in that regard, as there are 5 days between.

Now I am anxiously waiting for the new Stage Map.

[Jul3]

Hope everything goes well with the PASSPO concerts. Last year I went to SUPER GiRLS concerts in Tokyo and the next day in Osaka... and it was pretty hectic.

From Tokyo to Osaka? Even Shinkansen needs 3 hours. Why you haven't written about it in your blog? 
PASSPO should be fine though in that regard, as there are 5 days between.

You can also catch an overnight sleeper train, which isn't too bad... I don't think I've ever spent more than 1 night at a time in Osaka actually 

[tsutomo]

Unfortunately they removed more stages than they added, and since attendance was higher than 2012, it meant more people packed into fewer stages. I hope they open up both Zepp Tokyo and Zepp DiverCity...

THIS. it`s actually one of my major concerns and I really hope they change their approach this time. we need MORE stages, not less. 

last year to get the elevator to the sky stage was a pain in the ass during most of the day.

I don`t go the handshakings in TIF to be able to see more groups, so I pretty much end up running from one place to another, all day long.  it is quite an exercise and I`m always looking at the GPS in the cel cuz I get lost pretty easily.  (well, this is not related to TIF only. I always get lost when I`m walking around)

this friday we`ll have the pre-festival night at O-east. would be nice if they announced some more groups there (or at least in the same day).

[tsutomo]

YEAH! they didn`t disappoint me! today they announced more 33 groups (71 total now):

Amihime
Usa Usa Girls Club
HR
S★spicy
Electric Ribbon
Kurumi Chronicle
3min
G☆Girls
Through Skills
Yufu Terashima
Tokyo Joshiryu
Tokyo Cheer2 Party
Tsuribit
Na-Na
Nananon
Barbee
Bakusute Sotokanda Icchome
Hachikin Girls
Vanilla Beans
Bitter & Sweet
Prizmmy☆
Baby Raids
Bellring Shojo Heart
Why@Doll
Mito Gotouchi Idol Kakkokari
Yanchan Gakuen
Mousou Calibration
Ry-moon
Lyrical School
Links
Le Lien
Watchmina 2014
Onelittlekiss


some unknown groups, some big names, several appearing for the first time... but no surprises yet.

[wattstax]

Yeah, Babyraids!
Wow, I didn't expect Tokyo Joshi Ryu. Other Groups don't tell me much. Any recommendations (style like Babyraids)?

[Daydreamer0Fly]

Yessssss Prizmmy!!! That means two of the groups I wanted most who were not there last year, i*Ris and Prizmmy, I can see this year! I'm so excited I could screeeeaaaaammm.

I'm feeling really nervous, though, because Dancing Dolls was not announced. They were announced in the second wave last time, and I want to see them again more than anyone. (Favorite idol group after all.) Considering when their next single releases, they won't release a new one while i'm there, so no promotion events. If they aren't at Toyko Idol Festival, I fear I won't get to see them D:

However, Cheeky Parade and SUPER*GiRLS also haven't been announced yet, and I am sure they'll appear as they do every year. iDOL Street fans seem to make up a large portion of the people who attend TIf, after all xD So there is hope for anyone, I suppose~ So definitely still hoping out for Dancing Dolls and hopefully Hiiragi Rio this year!!