The Tokyo Idol Festival 2014 Thread

[tsutomo]

well, so far now they are following a different pattern from last year... but if it goes as expected, in the next waves of groups (two more this month?) they`ll announce the other big names that didn`t appear yet (super girls, 9nine, denpa gumi, cheeky parade...) if they are not announced by the 6th wave, yeah time to 

wattstax, as for groups more "rockish" you should look for shizukaze & kizuna and hime kyun fruits can. both weren`t announced yet though 

so far for me the festival has six groups I want to see (afilia, up up, passpo, predia, yuffie and lyrical) only... very average lineup... 

[shurastriker]

nice!! HR and LINKS are going

but no Mary Angel... I'm afraid


Also Curumi Chronicle <3
http://www.pav-studio.com/CurumiChronicle/

[qwiksXnd]

^^ Unfortunately Himekyun will be in Oita on 8/2 and 8/3. I wonder what their logic is for choosing a small club in Oita over TIF. But since they did the same thing last year, I bet the issue is behind the scenes. NanoCUNE and their other sister groups will also be at the 8/3 show.
http://himekyun.jp/pc/schedule.html

[tsutomo]

great. no BiS, no Bump.y and now no Hime Kyun or Frupoche. 

looks like this year I`ll have a lot of free time 





so the producers don`t go along well with Stardust Promotion, Alice Project, Mad Magazine records, Finolia Factory... who else? soon enough we`ll be able to make an "alternative" festival with all the "excluded" groups that`ll be more interesting than the original.

[shurastriker]

Make something ike the Idol Koshien FESTIVAL2014... or the akiba daisuki from last year

I know there are other idol fetival I just can't name them now but I think TIF is the only one that lasted this much

[Jul3]

^ I think half the groups who were at Idol Koushien Fest this year overlap with this TIF lineup 

I think there are loads of these day long idol festivals - is what makes TIF different is that is it a multi-day event?

[qwiksXnd]

I think tsutomo went to Idol Koushien, so he may be able to compare the two. But the scale is very different between TIF and other festivals like Idol Koushien and Idol Yokocho. Considering there are literally hundreds of idol groups, there will be a lot of overlap, but the overall lineups are different between the smaller festivals, TIF, and Idol Nation. Here are the stages of Idol Koushien compared with TIF.



Idol Koushien seems more like TIF 2011, back when the stages were all in the same area and the event was still relatively new. I was surprised at the naming of the stages for IKF though, since they used Hot, Venus, Smile, and Enjoy, which were all names of TIF stages (Hot Stage, Venus Church, Smile Garden, and Enjoy Stadium). I would love if there was a major idol festival like TIF or Idol Nation in the spring, since the weather would be much better.

[shurastriker]

group shot 

[Jul3]

I think tsutomo went to Idol Koushien, so he may be able to compare the two. But the scale is very different between TIF and other festivals like Idol Koushien and Idol Yokocho. Considering there are literally hundreds of idol groups, there will be a lot of overlap, but the overall lineups are different between the smaller festivals, TIF, and Idol Nation. Here are the stages of Idol Koushien compared with TIF.



Idol Koushien seems more like TIF 2011, back when the stages were all in the same area and the event was still relatively new. I was surprised at the naming of the stages for IKF though, since they used Hot, Venus, Smile, and Enjoy, which were all names of TIF stages (Hot Stage, Venus Church, Smile Garden, and Enjoy Stadium). I would love if there was a major idol festival like TIF or Idol Nation in the spring, since the weather would be much better.

Oh wow, I never realised TIF was spread out all over Odaiba - no wonder there's all this talk of running about everywhere 

I agree that in the Japanese summer that sounds insufferable - at least a lot of stages are inside.

I went to Idol Koushien - yeah, it was just in one venue, the other 3 stages were small and just put up for the festival - and I was surprised they were named like TIF stages also.

[tsutomo]

I don't see Idol Koushien in the same "league" as TIF. at least not theoretically. Idol Koushien, Idol Yokocho, Uta Musume, Love Mark Festival, etc... are all smaller festivals that happen several times a year (Love Mark for example runs basically twice a week or more) and have less groups (and specially less big names).

the only one I'd put in the same "league" with TIF would be Idolnation, but still that is a part of a bigger festival (a-nation) not a festival in its own and have FAR less participants.

the problem here, imo, is that if TIF loses the main acts (let's say this year none of dempa gumi, super girls, 9nine, etc take part of it. dempa already skipped last year) the festival loses its status. or I'd say its "purpose"... turns out being just "another Idol Koushien, Idol Yokocho, etc level festival". you can't really label something as the "the biggest idol festival of Japan" if it doesn't include half the main groups in the country.



oh yeah! I was forgetting the @Jam one. they'll have the big "@Jam Expo" edition this year, which could be compared to TIF (a lot of groups -80?- and a lot of big names). if they make it annual, we may have a serious rival to TIF. it will happen in august too.

[qwiksXnd]

I've been following @JAM Expo as well. Following it very, very closely. Hanarichu is going to be there! I think its great there are competing mega festivals trying to one-up each other. As long as things don't get violent. Along with Idol Nation, they all seem unique in their own way, so they aren't completely redundant. Although the point of TIF since its inception was to promote the entire idol scene (and world peace) and @JAM seems to be trying to do the same - just with the power of Yokohama Arena. For the record I don't really like arena concerts (no offense arena concerts). Also curious about the VIP tickets. That could be revolutionary. From what I know about Idol Nation and @JAM Expo, I'm on #TeamTIF - at least for now. I prefer stages that allow close access (and stalking opportunities). And for the record I totally hate arena concerts. Ideally Idol Nation is a week after TIF so I can selfishly check out both.

I'm very confident TIF will deliver. Sure every year they lose acts that attended previously, but they always gain others. Looking at the different lineups from 2010-2013, I think they are pretty equal (although 2011 was clearly the best because of a certain person who may or may not have been named Mano Erina).

[tsutomo]

they changed the previously called "nananon" to a duo with Naaboudoufu@Nana and Nozomi Maeda. and added Caramel☆Ribbon, so we have 72 groups confirmed. if they continue with the 111 groups limit, we have 39 to go.

[Daydreamer0Fly]

I believe it was said there would be at least 130-something groups this year? (I forget the number.)
I mean, we gotta expect all of iDOL Street, like every year. So that's the 3 main groups, plus the 6 trainee groups. That's 9 groups right there. So I dunno, thinking about how many will probably come from iDOL Street alone, I really hope we have more groups than last year xD
If Dancing Dolls would just be announced, I'd be happy, though xD (still hoping for Hiiragi Rio, though, as well. As well as a few others)

[wattstax]

New 21 groups announced:

Idol Renaissance
Aoyama Saint Hachamecha High School
Ange☆Reve
Akishibu Project
Especia
OS☆U
Oyayubi Princess
GALETTe
Caramel
KNU
Koike Miyu
Cyntia
Takoyaki Rainbow
Tsuki to Taiyou
Tokyo Performance Doll
P.IDL
Hime Carat
Houkago Princess
Yoshida Rinne
Lucky Colors
Riruchiru

[qwiksXnd]

GEM wasn't announced. Unless they misspelled GEM, which is completely possible.

I really like Houkago Princess. Hopefully this year they have their own stage so they can perform a longer set.

I've been checking iDOL Street schedules and all of the groups have TIF weekend open... so there is still hope (for i-Street fans). I think maybe I should start lowering my expectations just a little though.

[tsutomo]

if I`m not mistaken, 15 out of these 21 groups will appear for the first time. it`s nice to see Hachamecha, Akishibu, Houkago, Especia and KNU announced but...

I really hope in the next announcements they focus more in established groups or else this year we will have a festival with a lineup VERY different from previous years (which is not always a good thing).

regarding GEM, they were up in the sixth announcement last year, so there`s still time. Dempa Gumi has that weekend open too, so I`m praying for a comeback this year.



we`re up to 93 groups already and no signs of Anna S, Nzero, Izukoneko, Allover, Asfi, Otome Shintou, Namida, Camouflage, SIR, Shizukaze, Shibuya Dominion, Super Girls, Seishun Gakuen, Cheeky Parade, Chu-Z, 9nine, Nato Kan, PPP! Pixion, Party Rockets, PLC, RioRio, Flap Girls School, Fairies, Heisei Kotohime, Yurumerumo!, Yume Miru, Ryutist, Rev.from DVL... there`s too much missing. I`m already preparing myself for a big disappointment. 

edit- oh, this year we may have less announcements since we have already more groups than last year by the fourth announcement time... maybe just seven or six this year? one thing for sure is that even if they added all the groups I mentioned, they would already surpass the previous limit... and if they do this, they better set one or two more stages.

[qwiksXnd]

^ Completely agree. I wasn't sure whether I should mention how these updates are a little too obscure and kind of anti-hyping. Any reaction in Japan about the lineup? I remember last year you mentioned they were pretty critical.

Not related to TIF, but I was in class and laughed way too loud when I read your entry about Kawaii Nippon Expo (re: GEM). Feel the same about Palet (although still not a fan), and totally agree about Rev. from DVL Definitely don't hold back with your reviews.

[tsutomo]

I`m not following the 2ch threads so closely this time, but saw a lot of comments with the same concern. unless we have a great increase in the number of participants we`ll have too many newcomers (including some that I never heard about) this time. if this is confirmed, it'll be a change in direction from what we saw in previous years. remember we talking here that they used to choose only kinda established groups and oversee ones that don't have cds and a good fanbase?



  not only you read that crap I write, but you do it during the classes?!? shameful! 

[Daydreamer0Fly]

we`re up to 93 groups already and no signs of Anna S, Nzero, Izukoneko, Allover, Asfi, Otome Shintou, Namida, Camouflage, SIR, Shizukaze, Shibuya Dominion, Super Girls, Seishun Gakuen, Cheeky Parade, Chu-Z, 9nine, Nato Kan, PPP! Pixion, Party Rockets, PLC, RioRio, Flap Girls School, Fairies, Heisei Kotohime, Yurumerumo!, Yume Miru, Ryutist, Rev.from DVL... there`s too much missing. I`m already preparing myself for a big disappointment. 

Personally, I'd be shocked if iDOL Street didn't appear. They were announced pretty late last year. But every iDOL Street group has attended every year, so I doubt they'll suddenly stop. If any iDOL Street group stopped, maybe SUPER GiRLS, as they begin to get bigger. But really, I can't imagine iDOL Street disappearing. A very large number of the fans at TIF are iDOL Street fans, I noticed last year. THey seemed to be EVERYWHERE. And iDOL Street seems to bring a lot of girls to the festival, which I think is great.
Still holding out for Dancing Dolls (and Rio Hiiragi) but doubting it now :/ Out of that list (besides iStreet), I'd love ALLOVER, Chu-Z, Nato*Kan, PPP! Pixion, Party Rockets, Riorio obviously, and Fairies (though they seem to be pulling away from idol events so i don't think that'll ever happen)

[shurastriker]

Since Oyayubi Princess is already announced I wonder if nIo is going to appear at TIF since they are part of them anyways