ใใใฃใ It's Spacy!
If you have been following my since before I had 160(ish) followers you would know I'm a huge jpop wota. During the 2000s/2010's we had many instances of gyaru idols, not idols who simply cosplayed as gals, but idols who held popularity and influence in the community as gal celebs. Who are these celebs, and who are my fav gyaru idols?
Former AKB48 - Itano Tomomi
If you don't know AKB48, I don't know what kind of rock you've been living under, but the influence of Japan's best selling of all time idol group will never and can never be underestimated!
Itano Tomomi was no small presence either, being a first generation member and being present in almost all AKB singles from their indie debut, Sakura no Hanabiratachi, to their major debut with Aitakatta, to their smash hit and iconic karaoke tune, Heavy Rotation, and her final single, Koi Suru fortune cookie, Itano Tomomi or commonly known by her nickname Tomochin, served as a leading member of AKB throughout her almost 8year tenure as an Idol. However, Tomochin was undeniably and uniquely AKB48's fashion leader. The term fashion leader can be defined as 'an influential person who introduces new styles which spread throughout fashion culture and become part of fashion.' No matter the event or the shoot she was doing, Tomochin always made waves with her fashion sense and gal attitude. Even in 2024, Tomochin is still involved in Fashion with her own brand Rosy Luce. Fans still reminice of 'Tomochins gal days', In 2006, Tomochin dyed her hair without her companies permission, but instead of punishing her, the company decided to let her off, with the producer of the 48group (and many other groups like the 46series and Onyanko Club) Akimoto Yashushi saying 'every class needs an exception' After this, she started to display more of a gyaru image, which definetly set her apart from her other teammates.
Overall, it doesn't matter what you think of tomochin, she was AKB48's gal icon, with that gal influence still reminising with idols of the Reiwa era, with Sakurazaka46 member Inoue Rina talking about Tomomi when referencing the times she really admired gyarus.
Former Morning Musume -Tsuji Nozomi
I myself am not a huge hello project wota, but I do like nono, W and morning musume as a whole, so this section won't be me rambling like the last one. Tsuji Nozomi, also nicknamed none, debuted in morning musume as a 4th generation member along with Rika Ishikawa, Yoshizawa Hitomi, and Kago Ai, in 2000 on the single happy summer wedding in may of that year. Since she was younger, nono had always had a love for gyaru, as she was even in ganguro when doing her morning musume audition. Her older sister was also a ganguro, although her style toned down over the years, In 2019, she referenced her gal days, saying "10 years ago, I used a white pen liner under my eyes. Now it's like, what the hell was I thinking? Why did I do that?" After her graduation from morning musume in 2004, she joined her fellow momusu generation mate and close friend, Kago Ai in creating a duo unit called W, although a few years later, W went on haitus due to Kago Ai being involved in a scandal (she deserved better idc).
In 2007, Kago Ai was set to join a new HP group called gyaruru, but suddenly withdrew and announced her pregnancy and marriage. Ever since then, nono was been working as a tarento, a model and an idol, modelling in many gyaru magazines, like popteen, ranzuki, and the mama gal magazine, I LOVE MAMA, earning the title of mamadol, or mama idol. Although nono isn't a gal anymore, she's definetly held her own influence as a popular mama gal and idol of 4 adorable kids, and her style was always adorable!
(The source for all of this comes from the hello project wiki ,if something is wrong here, unfortunetly you may have to throw hands at the HP wiki and not me!)
Former SDN48 - Nachu/ Takekawa Natsuko
Ok I know I've said SDN48 was hag hell and the auntie dungeon multiple times but I didn't mean it like that. And since I'm on the subject, let's talk abit about SDN48. SDN48 were a sister group, or more appropriately, an older sister group of AKB48 who debuted in 2009 with their single GAGAGA. SDN48 disbanded in 2012 after 3 years (mainly because they were flopping). Now, SDN48 were supposed to be the sexy older sister group of AKB, meaning their members were much idol then the traditional age that an idol debuts at which can range from as young as 11 and as old as 21-25 if we were to talk in 48g franchise terms. Many older members of AKB48 and sometimes their first sister group SKE48 were transferred to SDN48, however, their management was pretty crap and the group went nowhere really, in general, they were wasted potential, and many of the girls they transferred from AKB had the potential to make it big, just for SDN48 to tank their potential, however, Nachu is very different from this, building her career from being a measly understudy for other girls, to joining SDN full time in 2010, and staring on variety shows, and even akb variety shows like AKBINGO, and AKB's home produce (shit) drama called Majisuka Gakuen, where she played the main leads comedic relief best friend, Onazuki Daruma. Nachu was not only skilled at variety due to her funny personality, but stood out from other SDN girls due to her sujimori hair and unique over the top gyaru look. According to the akb fandom, her likes are 'PapaPara, TekuPara, TeraPara, blog, Gyarusa, tanning salon' Even after SDN48's disbandment in 2012, she continued to appear in dramas and variety, also still in gal, but stopped doing gal at some point, as she reminisced on her gal days on her instagram she 'was an adult now.' In terms of being an actual idol like Nono and Tomochin, Nachu can't really compete in that category, but I do love her so she gets a shout out!
Former HP group - Gyaruru!
If you remember me name dropping Gyaruru when talking about Tsuji Nozomi, well done for paying attention, bc it's now time to talk about them. Gyaruru was a former Hello Project group formed in 2007, with Tsuji Nozomi, Natsuko 'Gal' Sone and Tokito Ami being the original trio line up, but after Nono went on maternity leave, she was replaced by Abe Asami, who is also the younger sister of former morning musume idol Abe Natsumi, so ig everything comes back around?
I'm gonna be lazy and steal the quote directly from the hp wiki
'Formation of the new group was first noted in the gal magazine Ranzuki in the June 2007 issue -- which was released in mid-April. The official announcement was made on the April 24, on the TNX website and at a special launch event. Gyaruru is described as a 'Para Para gal unit' and danced to upbeat, eurobeat inspired songs.'
The group released their first and only single 'BOOM BOOM MECCHA MACCHO' in the same year, and officially disappeared in 2008, although Gyaruru is having a reiwa era revival, which shows how gyaru is returning back to the spotlight in 2024!
Gyaruru were a pretty short lived group, so in general, I don't have much to say about them, but their music was good, I wonder what would've happened if Nono stayed in Gyaruru?
This is the end of this blog post, I could've published this like 2 days ago but i got rlly lazy and decided i was gonna let this die in my files but I did say I would post more, I have more ideas coming, more discussions aswell, I'm also gonna start posting on Instagram
Also, Any information thats incorrect concerning HP pls don't kill me I don't know anything ab HP ๐ญ
- bye bye, Spacy
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