By NucleARtyom October 13, 2024

codomomental bulletin #73

On September 28, at the finale of their long-running “YMKWII CHINURU TOUR,” Zenbu Kimi no Sei da announced three new singles that will be released monthly.

“Koyubi” will be released on November 20, “MEMAIPOEM” on December 18, and another single, with a title yet to be decided, will be released in mid-January.¹

The group also announced their next tour, which will begin on January 11 and conclude in early May. No details yet, but it’s known that it will be a joint tour.²

The burden they carry is so large, so immense, that it’s just… wow. But they still keep moving forward, leading everyone. They’re so cool, I love them so much!³

From Mary Lust‘s Twitter.

In honor of Enma’s birthday, USHIMITSU revealed two demo versions of upcoming tracks, followed by another one:

丑03-USHIMITSU- · 屍BONE骸TOBE成JOBUTU仏_01.ENMA_ver.

丑03-USHIMITSU- · BAK3M0N0_01.ENMA_ver.

丑03-USHIMITSU- · 色SokZ空_01.ENMA_ver.

Thank you for so many birthday wishes.
I felt sad, I felt pain, I wanted to die. I had nothing. That was my life, but in the end, I’m glad to be alive.

Ah, I’m so hungry. Anyway, I’m full of energy now.⁴

From Enma‘s Twitter.

Unfortunately, U-RiCH has decided to withdraw from the project.⁵

I made the decision to follow my dream and turn zero into one by myself, so I ran away 💫
While I was held captive, I really learned a lot and had fun 🫧
Thank you for the care you showed me 🙏🥲

To those who were looking forward to my activities as an idol — sorry for confusing you with my selfish decision 🥲
I will keep doing my best in my own way in various things, so I hope for your support ⚡︎🙇‍♀️🎧⁶

From U-RiCH‘s Twitter.

Several new members were introduced:

Aira (ex-TOKYO OIRAN STORY).⁷

Nan (ex-TRANZEAL and HAJIMENI).⁸

404ERROR

It seems that this is the complete group lineup for now.

It has also been announced that AYA SOFIA will be in charge of the group’s choreography.⁹

USHIMITSU will perform twice on their debut day — in the morning and in the evening.¹⁰ Additionally, their participation in various joint events is already being actively announced.¹¹

The usual annual codomomental events held at the end of the year were also announced. Surprisingly, the tweet with this announcement was retweeted by the official KAQRIYOTERROR account.¹² At the moment, it’s confirmed that the group will not be performing at the two Halloween events on October 30 in Nagoya and October 31 in Tokyo. It’s likely they will debut either on November 25 in Tokyo or December 29 in Nagoya (the latter being more likely since it’s announced that all company groups will perform there).

Another general audition for codomomental has been announced.¹³ Successfully passing the audition gives a chance to join one of the following groups:

Zenbu Kimi no Sei da
TOKYO TEFUTEFU
Not Secured, Loose Ends
KAQRIYOTERROR
futatsuna
USOTSUKINAISHO
akugi
A New Group

The deadline for applications is October 31.

Interestingly, compared to previous auditions, the age limit has shifted: it used to be 14-27 years, but now it’s 17-30 years. It was also officially announced that the current activities of futatsuna and USOTSUKINAISHO are in a “pre-debut” phase.¹⁴ ¹⁵

On November 9, Seireki13ya will hold Yowa Minai‘s birthday concert, where, according to a recent livestream,¹⁶ the birthday girl will present her solo song for the first time.

I’ve tried to compile some interesting facts about Tademaru Ichiren, which were mentioned during the first talk stream of USOTSUKINAISHO, held in mid-June:¹⁷

First of all, the concept of the group is expressed by the phrase, “Lies dwell alongside the intimate feelings we wish to conceal — USOTSUKINAISHO (‘Liar’s Secret’).” In the recent audition announcement, it was also described as “a group that expresses complex girlish emotions through the lens of pop music.”
This is how Ichiren describes herself:

My name is Tademaru Ichiren. How should I put it… First of all, I hate losing. I don’t like giving up! In short, I’m really incredibly tenacious. I have a very determined personality, and that’s why I fell in love with codomomental and wanted to join!

She has such a restless nature that she even claims she can go without sleep.

First of all, I really hate putting things off until tomorrow. No matter what it is, like homework, I couldn’t relax until I finished it right away. I’d even get my summer homework done immediately! I hate being idle. I always want to be doing something, so I’m always doing something, and I want to keep that up in the future. I’m going to keep growing!

Her motto: “From thought to action, immediately!”

Ino Tadataka is my favorite historical figure. I decided that I want to be like him! After all, he took action without thinking about his age, didn’t he? Even at an old age, he was inspired to travel all around Japan. Although he couldn’t complete it, he still took action, didn’t he? And I decided that I want to be like him! From thought to action, immediately!

However, her character often led to misunderstandings with those around her.

How should I put it… In the past, when I would say things like this, I often got laughed at, because some people just don’t agree with the idea that if you put in the effort, you can achieve anything, right? But in this agency, my senpais and everyone else always accept me, and so I constantly think, “Ah, thank you for letting me be here!”

She had a fateful encounter with the idol world during middle school.

As for why I wanted to become an idol… In middle school, I went through what was probably the toughest time in my life, and during that time, the thing that saved me was music. The idols I watched on YouTube back then were shining so brightly, and even though I couldn’t see them in person, only through the screen, they still shone so brightly… That really encouraged me, and I wanted to become someone like that for others!

However, she didn’t immediately manage to make this dream come true.

When I was a child, I couldn’t even imagine performing on stage. So I’ve surpassed my past self.
I think I had the desire for it. I had this sort of yearning to stand out, but back then, it stayed just a desire. I couldn’t channel it properly. But now I’ve fully given it free rein.

Ichiren expressed what she sees as her goal within the group.

As for my personal goal, music has supported me a lot throughout my life, so now I want to become someone who makes people happy through music. And after watching the performances of my senpais, whom I met in this agency, the thing that moved me most recently was when I went to Shimokitazawa Flowers Loft to learn from the “Tefutefu” performance, and at that time, Ouhi-san really blew me away. I wasn’t feeling particularly emotional at that moment, but the tears just started flowing. When I saw it, I couldn’t stop the tears, and I thought, “I want to be able to deliver performances like that someday…” That’s what I decided! So from now on, I’ll be working hard to become someone who can make our beloved fans happy through the music I love, so I hope for your support!

And here are a few more small facts:

Ichiren practiced kendo for a time and even wanted to become a professional, “until she realized it wasn’t possible.” In general, throughout her life, she has had various aspirations.
Her favorite school subject was biology. Specifically, she enjoyed dissection. According to her, while it’s a bit creepy, she really liked doing delicate work and deeply concentrating on completing complex tasks that require a thorough and careful approach.
She claims that she lacks a “sense of taste in art,” which she has to compensate for with sheer effort, by analyzing other people’s works and trying to learn from them. However, she says that she does have a “sense of taste in language,” which she describes as “the ability to imagine what other people are feeling.”
At first, Ichiren was afraid to express her thoughts and ask questions that could provoke conflict, but through her activities in the group, she developed this skill, which is crucial for a leader.
Her favorite color is red (the color of her costume).
She was born in January.

When I was going through a really tough time, codomomental’s music saved me, and I thought, “Maybe I should keep living a little longer?” That’s what led me to apply for the audition 🕊️

I want to save someone with my singing too.
I want to bring smiles to as many people as possible — that’s my goal!¹⁸

After joining codomomental, I experienced the warmth and happiness of being loved, and I met many people who became dear to my heart🍀
Because there are people who cherish me, I’ve come to feel that I must cherish my own life as well.¹⁹

From Tademaru Ichiren’s Twitter.

Recently, USOTSUKINAISHO held the group’s first online performance, at the end of which Ichiren gave an important address to the fans.²⁰ She shared her feelings about the difficult situation the group is in and talked about what gave her the determination to keep performing, even on her own. You can check out my translation of her passionate and emotional speech below:

Unfortunately, the release of Not Secured, Loose Ends’ second single (“VanilLament“), which was scheduled for release on October 9th, has been postponed indefinitely due to production issues.²¹

I, Yuchiomi, even though I’m so assertive on stage, can’t even make eye contact with the cashier at the konbini and shyly mumble, “One set of chopsticks, please”… (;´༎ຶД༎ຶ) I need to become more sociable (;´༎ຶД༎ຶ)²²

Late at night, I suddenly felt like going to the konbini, so I went outside, and even though it wasn’t that dark, the stars were so clear! Maybe you could even see the Big Dipper! Though I’m not sure!
I, Yuchi, love looking at the stars🌌 Someday, I want to become a star too (a superstar)!🌌²³

From Higaminari Yuchiomi’s Twitter.

After the NSLE concert, during a break, I suddenly felt like trying to practice screaming, so I tried it and smashed my teeth against the mic, almost howling from the pain ( ◜ཫ◝)²⁴

From Tademaru Ichiren’s Twitter.

Not long ago, I released my translation of Mary Lust’s solo song, “Nil∴“:

If you’ve already checked it out, you might have been surprised by the song’s unusually oppressive nature. Now you can find out what caused this — I translated GESSHIRUI‘s blog post, where the lyricist details the crazy circumstances surrounding the song’s creation, as well as some rather dark aspects of Mary Lust’s past:

“The problem with Mary Lust is also a deeply rooted illness that has haunted her since birth.”

If you search the internet for “I want to die,” a hotline for psychological support appears on the page. I’ve never called it, but I hope it helps someone. Lately, I, GESSHIRUI, have been working on several projects. When it involves multiple artists, I start going crazy. What I mean is: when I’m working on, say, an album for one group, I can focus solely on that group and think only about them. But when work for other artists comes in, I don’t know how to keep my sanity.

Speaking of what happens in such cases, one of the symptoms is that I start writing random texts aimlessly. This is probably substitute behavior (I wonder if such a term exists?). I don’t know what to call it, but to avoid working on music and songs, I begin doing something else. Then, as a form of withdrawal, I start cleaning around me. Actually, it’s not even cleaning; it’s more like organizing. Normally, I don’t pay attention to it, but when I’m haunted by the need to write something, I begin aligning the items on my desk at a certain angle, checking if there are any stray hairs, sorting through documents that catch my eye, and on top of that, blocking all the information that comes into my field of vision. For example, this doesn’t just apply to documents, but even the text on product packaging — I start to feel an odd sense that they’re “watching me.” To the point where I feel like I have OCD. So, I start hiding all of it. And once I’ve generally finished with that and realize there’s nothing more I can do, I can finally face the songs head-on. It feels like a sickness.

Today, I want to talk about “Nil∴,” Mary Lust’s solo song from TOKYO TEFUTEFU’s mini-album of solo songs — “IIIIly.”

I can’t avoid writing about this. It’s not that I don’t want to; it’s just hard to confront this subject directly. With this realization, I’ve been working on my projects lately, but it seems the time has come.

Let me say upfront that this article is so emotionally sensitive that I ask only those who truly want to read it to continue. As I write this paragraph, I’m laughing, but further on, there won’t be much to laugh about. I’ll just be writing, facing something in my heart head-on, so I don’t think I’ll be able to show any restraint. So, if you decide to read it, be prepared. Although, it’s just my personal perspective.

In the continuation of the article… Uh… Let’s just say it’s the craziest thing I’ve ever translated.²⁵

If you want to read the continuation, follow these steps:

Follow this link and purchase the original article (¥300, approximately $2). The site accepts PayPal and foreign cards.
Copy the last three paragraphs from the paid section of the article.
Go to this site and paste the copied text into the text field. Click the “hash darling, hash!” button.
Below the text “You are awesome! Here is your MD5 checksum:” a password will appear. Copy it.
Use it on this page.

Surely, even if you know nothing about it, this song will still remain just as beautiful, but this article touches on things that I cannot tell you myself, and even though it may be difficult for you to accept, at the same time, I want you to know about it, so I’d be happy if you read it ☺︎︎︎︎²⁶

It’s gradually getting colder, and this brings about a certain painful feeling that most closely matches the “temperature” of my heart. Dazzling and bright things are difficult for me.²⁷

From Mary Lust’s Twitter.

For the first time in a very long time, I’ve encountered a work that truly touched my heart, and I’m very surprised — by my heart, which was moved, by the work itself that managed to do that, and by this small approach. By just slightly changing the way of emotional impact, the world changes its colors.²⁸

From GESSHIRUI’s blog.

When you get used to the warmth and happiness right in front of your eyes, you stop noticing their value and importance. And when you realize it, it’s always too late. That’s why I live reminding myself every day: truly recognize and understand it, because you are the only one who can cherish your precious world.²⁹

From Chimura Shifumi’s Twitter.

codomomental bulletin #73

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