Gombers Reacts | Karen Girls "Over the Future", MoiMoi Audition & Babymetal cover

#karengirls #babymetal #moimoi #overthefuture
Hey guys, got something just a little different today, I hope you all like and enjoy it :)
Getting to see the girls in some of their earliest performance days was such a wonderful little change to the journey. I can't wait to start seeing more stuff from their Sakura Gakuin days (I know this isn't technically, but still lol)
As always, thanks so much for all the love and support. I love you guys, and you guys truly make all of this so much more fun.
Peace and love always.
Karen Girls "Over the Future" PV
• Over The Future PV - K...
Yui + Moa Audition
• 【さくら学院】「Over The Futur...
Babymetal "Over the Future"
• BABYMETAL-Over the Fut...
*Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use. No copyright infringement intended. ALL RIGHTS BELONG TO THEIR RESPECTIVE OWNERS
Background Music
Track: Chilling
Music composed and recorded by Oak Studios
Creative Commons - Attribution ND 4.0
• [No Copyright Music] C...

[@kevinhiggins7547]

One of the other girls is Ayami Muto who went on to Sakura Gakuin and the student president the first 2 years and In the sub-unit Twinkle Stars along with Yui and Moa

[@Wombatmetal]

This song is so linked with Yui, that when Yui was unable to perform at Legend S because her doctor said no, Su used Over the Future as part of the sound check.

[@schelin1447]

Probably one of the most important songs in BABYMETAL history :)

[@ndox9009]

smol MoiMoi is always adorable. after watching how Japanese idol girls dance many years , me think Su always make wide movement when dancing. it maybe one of the reasons why Suzuka Nakamoto fit perfectly with Metal genre.

[@jakemuller8626]

Good thing you got all the info. Now you know how special was this for tomato princess. Full circle complete! She also said this, i borrowed: 🌸 _"If you are sick now, someone you love is sick, even if you are not sick, but have something troubling you, or when you are lonely... It would make me happy to think that maybe listening to Sakura Gaukin or BABY METAL, or watching the DVD is sending you that Power to make you feel better. So that is why Karen Girl's is very special"_ 🌸 Yep little Su-chan there, and also Ayami Muto-chan she posted a "10 Babymetal Budokan" poster at her IG account today, she's an all time fan part of The One

[@ferr44]

Fantastic reaction! So glad you read Yui's letter. Shoutout to funnytoss for the guidance! Man, I love the moment when Su appears halfway through the song. She's so cool (on stage), lol.

[@SAKURA-Times]

Nice over the future trilogy! Seeing their growth makes me smile. I wish there was a day when they would all be on stage again. Please continue Babymetal reaction.

[@lordrahl2345]

That spotlight hitting SU for her entrance gives me the chills every time. 🤘🦊🤘

[@minamihideki7123]

"Zettai" is written in Japanese as follows, "絶対、ゼッタイ、ぜったい". We write it in Kanji normally, but if we wanna some emphasize its meaning or write it casually, might write it in Katakana. BM song title is in the case, I think. It means "absolutely, definitely, no doubt, by all means", and so on. If I watched the third video, I would imagine they could have become a super idol duo, only being Yui & Moa. So Su- joining here, The three girls are the strongest triangle on earth!, zettai!, haha. In the second video, we can see Yui has zettai a talent of dancing.

[@jakemuller8626]

Interesting, thanks for the short lesson. So you think "forever" as another translation or meaning is inaccurated? For example in "Zettai Karen Children" or "Ijime, Dame, Zettai"? Although i totally get if the meaning is "absolutely" in that context.

[@minamihideki7123]

@@jakemuller8626You mean "forever" is from Sonisphere 2014, "No more bulling, forever", right? This song title is officially "Ijime Dame Zettai", so I do not think it is inaccurated, but for sure, it might be like a interpreted translation, or like a message, thought from their official, I guess. Here is the meanings of the word "Zettai" from a Japanese dictionary. "絶対(zettai)": 1 noun ①There is nothing else to compare or oppose ②To be unconstrained or unrestricted by anything else ③The ultimate principle of the universe over which man has no control ④No mistakes, perfection ⇔ relative, relativity 2 adverb "絶対に(zettai ni)": ①No matter what ②(followed by a negative word) "Never to be defeated, never to be forgiven, never to be opposed"

[@jakemuller8626]

@@minamihideki7123 Yeah, that's what I thought but i wanted to be sure. Thanks 🦊🤘

[@jeffschreifels8651]

I love how they had only Yui and Moa for the first half of the Babymetal cover because they knew Su would dominate with her voice and stage presence. Then Su makes her grand entrance to complete the circle and infuses so much power into it.

[@autohmae]

I think you misunderstood the intention of the "Fox God messenger" in this... Yui and Moa performed half of the song as their audition, leaving Suzuka's spot in Karen Girl's empty. Then they do the same at the Babymetal concert and half way through Su-metal joins them to make it whole.

[@jeffschreifels8651]

@@autohmae Well, saying 'they knew..." was not the best choice of words because I do not know that is what they were going for that but the effect is still there. If it were all three from the start much of the attention would have been taken away from Moa and especially Yui because Su performs with such power.

[@autohmae]

@@jeffschreifels8651 It's really suspicious to me that Suzuka's spot was kept empty in the audition. And let's remember the audition was kind of fake to begin with. They were already selected, it was just a formality to start the tradition of doing auditions for SG. And the "Fox God messenger" was an SG teacher, the "life style teacher". So he was right there to influence them. It's possible it's just luck and the first half/second half idea only came after. Just like the luck of Suzuka being born in the month when X-Japan performed their Last Live at the Tokyo Dome. So it almost seems like Suzuka was born to continue the metal royal blood line of Japan.

[@jeffschreifels8651]

@@autohmae I can never get a handle on how the selection process worked. Did they compete for entry or were they hand selected? Like a sports team scouts players. I've never heard any reference to auditioning other than that little clip of OTF. I kind of figured they had to do more than that to get in.

[@autohmae]

@@jeffschreifels8651 Pretty certain all members were asked/selected to be part of pre-SG training group, which is a group which, if I'm not mistaken, was initially larger than 12 and existed for months before SG was officially announced. Thus this 'audition' video we see pretty much only exists to establish the audition and 'transfer-in' process or introduce new members in SG. Yui (in an interview with Mori-sensei) has said after the training group ended it went quiet for a few months for Yui and Moa from the side of Amuse. But SG did a photoshoot and interview. So Yui and Moa could be established as transfer students. Yui wasn't sure if she had heard at the time from Ayami or her family that SG was already doing activities.

[@rexeros8825]

Moa and Yui came to the show because they wanted to be like Karen Girls. The producer arranged this song for them because the girls really dreamed of singing it on the big stage, and even with Suzuka, who was from Karen Girls. The girls said that they were incredibly happy that they sang this song. Not everyone in life manages to reach their idol, and even surpass him in fame :)

[@MegaHogzilla]

You can really see Su's genuine admiration, love and respect for her senpai and former bandmate, Ayami Muto, in SG's first graduation night. For Yui and Moa to share the stage with Su and Ayami had a profound influence on their development.

[@Hgoenge81]

Great song and amazing story. Thanks Koba! Kitsunes up 🤘🏻 😎 🦊

[@martinmetal7481]

Great triple 😁 tiny Su maybe as tiny as Yui and Moa in the audition clip . My favourite parts are the smiles on Yui and Moa's faces and Su coming in like a boss 🤘❤❤❤🤘🦊

[@Codametal]

Yay yay yay!!! Full circle. Well done. Don't hide the adoration. When you suddenly have a personal investment in one of the members, it's hard not to like whatever they're in regardless of the genre. Yes, it's really bubblegum poppy, but darn it, Su-chan is just so cute in this one. And our first lovely SG Student Council President Ayami-chan was awesome too. And gosh, you should see what Yuika-chan is doing now too. All three are very talented girls already at that age.

[@JMxx6204]

Great reaction as usual. I agree it was clear from Karen Girl’s ( & even before) that Su had something special. And wow has she delivered on that.

[@davidsmith1225]

These girls have always been so amazing 😎

[@Wombatmetal]

Just so you know, Japanese girls often speak of themselves in the third person. Takes a bit getting used to, the diary was from Yui The Anime this song was the theme of is Zettai Karen Children, Zettai means always. The wings from the Babymetal logo comes form another Karen Girl's song, My Wings, and stand for Su. The Skull is for Yui, and the hearts Moa,

[@rexeros8825]

Moa and Yui was fans of Karen Girls :)

[@dangermouseuk78]

Yui's family were friends with Ayami muto's family who was one of the Karen's girls and also member of Sakura Gakuin. She got perform with 2 of her idols and was very happy to perform over the future with Su. Interesting side story karen girls performed over the future in front of 20.000 people at a Anime concert at a young age. Ayami said she and Yuika was very nervous just before performing while Su was just having a little sleep. There are also many videos on youtube of Su in her ASH days Actors School Hiroshima, were she performed with her Sister Himeka who later went on to Join Nogizaka 46. Also in her ASH days she performed with Riho sayashi future morning musume and later Avenger with Babymetal.

[@seregamolodets5286]

🍅🍅🍅 🤘🏼🦊🤘🏼 Over the Future is such an important song. Was the 3rd song I heard from them and it just cemented me as a fan.

[@jancmyon4240]

There was a video when they performed at Saitama Super Arena 2008 at Animelo and there was behind the scene clips. Before the show the girls said - (Suzuka was 10yo) Ayami: I might get nervous, but I would like to do my best and make it a great performance. Yuika: I am a bit nervous but I will do my best to make it a fun performance. Suzuka: I will do my best so the fans can enjoy a good performance. (my note: always wanting to give the fans the utmost) After the show - Ayami: At first we were nervous but the 3 of us did our best and it was fun. Yuika: At first I was nervous, but it was really fun. Suzuka: We did it with good feeling so I am happy. (my note: no talking about being nervous, propably she was, and feeling happy that they did a good performance. If that isn't being a pro then I don't know what is) And one more fun story from that same show from r/Babymetal on Reddit from December 2014: ”In today's "Night of Spica," two members of Karen Girl's were eventually on the program together. It was like their first time to work with in 6 years. Ayami was asked to tell one memorable Karen Girl's episode, and she mentioned a Su-chan trivia in their Saitama Auper Arena live 6 years ago. Back then the three were elementary schoolers and had not performed in front of huge audience like > 20k. Ayami and Yuika were kind of nervous under that circumstance. With that said, Su-chan was the one sleeping like a log at their dressing room until an hour before they went on the stage.” Kitsune up/4

[@Singulitarian]

Notice that even though it is sugary pop, the instruments are mostly a rock band. This trend followed in Sakura Gakuin.

[@emb5091]

As usual..great reaction! Those 20 minutes went by FAST! 🤘🦊🤘

[@jonabitstream]

I'm sure that these girls (when they were girls) grew up knowing they were lovelier/more talented at music and dance than other girls, and how that might make a youngster dream of being famous someday, but it boggles my mind that these 8, 9, 10-year-olds can muster the focus and discipline to fulfill their aspiration to be performers. The enormous workload needed to get the choreo, the singing, being in front of huge crowds (eventually). I'm glad Japanese celebrity culture does more to protect the private lives of their stars, but may I be granted one wish: please, is Yui really happy and healthy now?

[@stevechevy3382]

Nice reaction. The story of this song and how it connects Yui Moa and Su is amazing. Gotta get you right in the feels. It's the story of what got Babymetal together. By Koba picking Su to front Babymetal it became destiny for MoiMoi to join. It's part of what makes it extra sad that Yui left.

[@DaElfer]

hearing Su sing it with a more mature voice is awesome

[@rexeros8825]

the girls dreamed of a modest jpop group, but as a result they soared much higher than that. And now many girls dream of becoming like Babymetal. Japan has been invaded by Babymetal clones. Almost every school has musical performances - covers of Babymetal. Dozens, maybe hundreds of bands across the country dress up as girls and sing their songs... as best they can.

[@jamesmcclung153]

So good! You're right in the doorway to SG. Just a small jump to the Nendo Tests, Su's Surprise Appreciation Party and graduation speech, Yui and Moa's graduation speech, and all of the wonderful music videos and performances.

[@TheHenrymontemayor]

as you can see in the 'audtion' video even at the young age of 10 Yui already has that technical prowess that she is known for...

[@Singulitarian]

Su- was a year younger, but carried the vocals even then.

[@MacTaipan]

Yui looks so cute in those baggy pants (but admittedly in anything else, too).

[@Killem911]

Hahaha so weird to see Ayami being taller than Su when they were in Karen Girls.

[@rickwagner-]

🌸 🏫 / ⚡ 💀 💕 / 👧 👧 👧 It's amazing to have all three of these videos reacted to, and in the perfect order. funnytoss is a great guy, and that was solid advice. He's also responsible for many of the English translations of BABYMETAL interviews from Japanese magazines, along with Capable-Paramedic. The diary/blog entry was from the perspective of Yui Mizuno, as a Sakura Gakuin member. Just for clarification, Yui uses the word "kazoku" in her original blog post, which can mean either "family" or "a family member". It's more likely that a single member of her family was in the hospital, rather than her whole family. "Zettai" is a pretty common word. It can mean "forever", or "absolutely". "Ijime, Dame, Zettai" is a play on an anti-drug campaign slogan, reworked for bullying. And you probably know that 'Zettai Karen Children' was the anime series that Karen Girl's was created to provide music for. Although Koba was not involved, the Karen Girl's choreography was created by MIKIKO, who is also well known for her work with Perfume, BABYMETAL, Sakura Gakuin, and her own dance group ELEVENPLAY. Did you notice that Su makes her entrance during the BABYMETAL cover at 'Legend D', at the same moment that Yui and Moa's audition version ended? Nothing happens by coincidence. : )

[@road-runner]

That was outstanding, thank you so much, Gombers. So glad Steven guided you so well. Yep, we love the full circle. And you are already an advanced Megitsune so no need to add anything more. Well, only a final thought: without this song, BABYMETAL would (probably) never have existed. Or at least, as we know it... Think about it :) Until next time!

[@rexeros8825]

Baby metal rocked the very culture of JPop, seriously tipping the scales in the direction of heavy music. Thanks to Babymetal, other Japanese bands got their chance in the Western world. The fame of Babymetal turned the eyes of Western fans to other Japanese bands as well. Japan should be grateful to these girls and their producer.

[@MarkSpohn77]

Karen girls also did the song called My wings which is where the inspiration for babymetals logo came from with the wings prominent in the logo representing Su the heart in the B representing Moa and the skull outside the logo representing Yui which I always thought was almost foretelling as Yui is no longer with Babymetal

[@faceplantor5647]

Great content👊🏽⚡️ You are an official a Babymetal nerd… (like me)

[@tomiputra3720]

In BM cover, after su come out the aura changes like being powered up, but yui and moa part is also good just more to kawaii aura

[@hi-wind9335]

Wow yeahhhhhhhh💓what are cute !

[@yunametal344]

great reaction‼ #moimoi

[@ktcworks]

tIn Karen Girl's, Su was a year younger than other two and that tells she was good.

[@steenbronkegmail1]

-Over The Future was released on November 20 of 2013 with the DVD and Bluray "Live Legend IDZ Apocalypse". -The debuted live and recorded in the Legend D show at Akasaka Blitz on December 20 of 2012. -Over The Future it's a original sng by Karen Girl's released on 2008. Suzuka Nakamoto was member of that group. Over The Future (Cover)(Eng. below) Kanari kiteru muteki no pawaa. Maji de ii kanji. Zettai karen! Dakara make-nai. Ashita e saa ikoo! YEAH! Zettai! Daitan! YEAH! Saidai! Daitan! Tada matteiru dake no kinoo o nugisutete. WAKU WAKU dekiru kyoo o te ni shitai. Fureau dake de wakaru kokoro no rimittaa. Tokihanataretara hora, YES! CHANGE THE WORLD! Atsui batoru nando mo torai. Riaru o tsuranite. Zettai karen! Dakara make-nai. {Suriru ga saikoo./ Ashita e saa ikoo!} Yuuki ga sekai no yami o terashi-hajimeru. Anata ga kureta kiseki afureru. Dare ni mo nite-nai egao hokori ni shitara mirai o ima koeyoo. YEAH! Zettai! Daitan! YEAH! Saidai! Daitan! Konna konnan datte angai heikida shi DOKI DOKI shinagara mata hamatteku. Teyuuka "matteru no wa raku dake ja-nai" koto wakari-hajimeteru kara, DON'T LOSE MY WAY. Kizutsuku no mo osore-naide doko ni demo ikeru. Zettai karen! Sore ga porishii. Itami mo tanoshimeru. Namida wa yume no arika o sagasu kagayaki. Sorezore chigau hikari o hanatsu. Kanashimi kakaekomu nara watashi mo nakoo. Mirai wa kono te ni aru. Yuuki ga sekai no yami o terashi-hajimeru. Anata ga kureta kiseki afureru. Dare ni mo nite-nai egao hokori ni shitara mirai o ima koeyoo. WE CAN TRY OVER THE FUTURE WORLD. (Eng.)________________ It's coming a lot, an invincible power. It's really a good feeling. Absolute cute! So we aren't defeated. Let's go to tomorrow! Yeah! Absolute! Daring! Yeah! Maximum! Daring! Casting off the yesterdays when I was just waiting around, I want to get the today that I can anticipate. Just touching each other, I can feel the limiter on your mind. If it is released, see, yes, change the world! We'll try to win the heated battles again and again. We'll be the real to the end. Absolute cute! So we aren't defeated. { The thrills are supreme./ Let's go to tomorrow! } Courage starts to illuminate the darkness of the world. The miracle you gave me overflows. Now that we feel proud of our smiles similar to nobody, let's get over the future. Yeah! Absolute! Daring! Yeah! Maximum! Daring! Meeting with this kind of difficulties, actually I'm alright. With my heart beating fast, again I get into it. Or rather, "what wait for us are not only easy things". I'm starting to realize this, so I don't lose my way. Not afraid of getting hurt, I can go anywhere. Absolute cute! It's our policy. I can even enjoy the pain. Teardrops are the glitters to search the whereabouts of dreams. Each emits a different light. If you keep sorrow in your heart, I will cry together. The future is in our hands. Courage starts to illuminate the darkness of the world. The miracle you gave me overflows. Now that we feel proud of our smiles similar to nobody, let's get over the future. We can try over the future world.

[@TheHenrymontemayor]

Yes Su was so cute, and she had her *ahem* “interesting” dancing style 😅😅😅

[@KDTGrave]

Please! React more to Sakura Gakuin

[@teuchterloon9130]

I can't believe I was the 45th 'Like' on this video, making me take it away from 44. I feel so dirty. Yui's story is probably the best thing about early BM me, how much she loved Karen Girl's, the music getting her through the family illness, performing it with Moa for their 'audition' (they were both hand-picked, they didn't need to audition), then joining SG with Su and Ayami (both in Karen Girl's) then finally performing it with Su on stage at her own concert. I totally get why it was her dream come true. God, I love Yui...

[@crimson0119]

I wondered if Yui ever wanted to ask Ayami and Su to do a Karen Girl song with her when they were in Sakura Gakuin together.... Ayami is one of the other girls in Karen Girls Gombers, and she was also the first Student Council President of Sakura Gakuin....and i wonder which of the 3 Karen Girls Yui looked up to most....

[@Codametal]

I would have died if Ayami walked out to sing the cover with BM.

[@crimson0119]

@@Codametal That would've been cool... Moa can take a break, and let Yui, Su and Ayami do the Karen Girl song!

[@arielasentista6637]

Based on an SG interview with the Oriental Radio duo, it was mentioned that Mizuno looked up to Muto. But then again, Nakamoto-san wasn't there so still open to interpretation

[@parcevil]

Son los distintos aspectos que puede tener una canción y que alrededor de Su-metal se aprecia mucho la evolución y talento de los demás (incluída la baby bones band).

[@gombers7935]

Gracias por tu comentario 🖤, lo siento mi español es muy mal. Hablo muy un poquito 😁🦊🖤🤘

[@Hadesillo]

Not Koba but the Amuse writing team was already in charge of writing the Karen Girls songs. They have another MV, My Wings. At that time, 2008-09 I still used to watch anime, and I remember My Wings as a popular song among the anison communities; of Over the Future I don't remember anything. It wasn't Karen Girls version though, the popular one was the one that appeared in the anime, that was sang by the voice actresses, among them Hirano Aya that was pretty popular at that time due to her role as Suzumiya Haruhi. lol I went off-rails a lot xD There was in 2008 a summer anison (anime song) festival in Saitama Super Arena (audience 15.000) were Karen Girls performed. That's when Yui could finally see Karen Girls live, but there was someone else there. I think it comes from an interview that Koba mentioned he saw Su in there and her strong voice made him decide he wanted that girl for his next project as producer in Amuse, a crazy idea from a madman that wanted to merge idols and heavy metal. Shortly after, Su was put on his charge and they gave her the first version of Doki Doki Morning, that at first still didn't have the metal elements, it must have sound a lot like a Karen Girls song. This must have been in 2009, a year before Sakura Gakuin even existed. Oh and I think it was Ayami or Yuika that mentioned that in that day they were very nervous to be performing in front of a full arena and when they looked for Su before jumping to stage they found her taking a nap xD Ayami and Yuika were the other two Karen Girls, you already saw Ayami in that Sakura Gakuin episode. She joined together with Su and she was the first president. To this day, she is still very close to the Babymetal girls and has professed admiration for Su numerous times. Just today she mentioned in her insta that she went to the current Babymetal exhibition in Osaka thanks to Moa having invited her. Oh yeah, that famous 2008 Karen Girls performance if you guys wanna check: vimeo.com/625870765

[@rickwagner-]

The Karen Girl's Farewell Concert was in 2009. That's the performance that Yui attended, not the 'Animelo Summer Live 2008' at Saitama Super Arena. Kei Kobayashi (Kobametal) was there because he was the manager for Mini-Pati, who opened that concert. That was the first time he saw Suzuka performing live.

[@Hadesillo]

@@rickwagner- Thanks for the correction.

[@brutalshow3364]

Неимоверно ❤️🦊🦊🦊❤️

[@luisfernandomunoz6315]

Suzuka Nakamoto later known as Su-metal had a beauty mark on her chin when she was part of Karen Girls. Both versions are really good.

[@silly_programme5061]

You are correct that Su's star power is unmatched. :)

[@punkskaterpizza]

I'm very curious about something: Gombers you've done Kimi To Anime Ga Mitai live at either budokon or legend 97 right?

[@user-lr4wk2qx8v]

coool

[@outwest1014]

I have always thought when Key Kobayashi (Kobametal) saw Yui and Moa's audition video he immediately knew he had his "Dance and Scream" team for his Jpop/Metal group. When he saw Karen's Girls perform he spotted Su and knew he had found his singer. He then insured she got into Sakura Gakuin. Kobametal did not have any to do with Karen's Girls. Su Story; Karen Girl's were to perform before their largest audience yet, 2 of them were very nervous, but Su took a nap and had to be woken to go on Stage!!

[@autohmae]

I think you might be underestimating the 'Fox God Messenger', my idea is it's his influence in this audition that Yui and Moa took Ayami's and Yuka's spot and thus left Suzuka's spot empty. The audition was more formality to start a SG tradition then a real audition, Yui and Moa had been training as part of the pre-SG training group for months.

[@outwest1014]

@@autohmae I do know that Yui and Moa were assigned to Babymetal. Moa in her 10th year interview said that. As to before you are the first to tell me there was even a pre-SG group.

[@cjkoehler]

🤘🦊🤘

[@changarts6317]

Yow Gombers, you shoul check 'The One - Stairway to Living legend' by Babymetal ..

[@sreypovchun663]

Yui's two favourite artists are ariana grande and cannibal corpse.

[@kevinhiggins7838]

Sometime check out Ayami Muto’s video of Betty.

[@Yosephu666]

I Love Ayami Muto

[@Singulitarian]

Su- takes it to the next level.

[@smashstuff86]

2:08 Japanese girls under a certain age refer to themselves in the 3rd person under certain context. I don't fully understand it yet.

[@DeePal072]

Yes indeed, you heard right "zettai", as this song was the intro for an anime series "Zettai Karen Children" and the Karen's Girls were formed essentially to contribute to its OST. They actually had a cameo in one of the episodes. It got quite a success at the time, so they were able to perform in TV shows and live festivals. The uniforms they wear are close to those of the protagonists. Anyway, yes SU was the younger member, still her stage presence was already outstanding 😅👍🏻 I love that YUI was able to fulfill her dream of singing this song, on stage, with both MOA and SU, it meant a lot for her. 🤘🦊⚡

[@Lirukazu]

Sasuga SU-SAMA 15:37

[@Grington300]

Excellent reaction, too few get to see these three videos or to realise and appreciate the context and significance, so well done FunnyToss for the recommendation, explanation and links as well. No, Koba was not involved with Karen Girl's. I believe he was working with another Amuse group, Mini Patti (who would also join Sakura Gakuin when that was formed) and they were at the same show that was the Karen Girl's farewell performance and it was there that he first saw Su performing and where he was so impressed with her singing style and stage presence and the idea for her fronting a fusion metal-Jpop band started to form in his mind (and I'm sure someone will correct the details I may have got wrong in there).

[@rickwagner-]

That all seems right. Although "Mini-Pati" is the preferred English spelling, short for "pâtissier". Koba has mentioned in interviews that he had several ideas at the time, but that the best one was to have Suzuka front a Metal group. I have to wonder what the other ideas were. : )

[@Grington300]

@@rickwagner- Thanks, I thought the double t looked wrong ... I was always useless at French.

[@autohmae]

Well, we know he was extremely likely at the Karen Girl's show (he was, as far as I know always accompanying them at live performances. Just like with Babymetal). We don't really know if that was his first time seeing her perform live or some other show or if he had seen her in training before that.

[@rickwagner-]

@@autohmae Koba has specifically mentioned in interviews that he was at that show. It's possible that he saw Suzuka perform before that, but it would be a bit odd not to mention it.

[@autohmae]

@@rickwagner- ahh, well, as far as I know he didn't say it specifically, but as you said it's almost 100% certain anyway

[@user-tx6xc4om6n]

一番小さい子がSuだね。😊

[@benoitlandry9193]

Hello Gombers, greetings from Canada... I was asking myself what 可憐 (karen) means, so I searched through my kanji dictionary (The New Nelson), and I found out that 可憐な (karen na) has two different meanings : 1) poor, pitiful 2) cute, sweet, lovely... The second meaning certainly applies with perfection to Suzuka, Ayami and Yuika... I also found out that 可愛い (kawaii) means : dear, darling, charming, lovely, sweet... How to choose which term to utilise, I'll leave it to the subtleties of the japanese language... Have a nice day, see you!

[@egodreas]

"Zettai" means "absolutely". _Over the Future_ by Karen Girl's was the intro music to an anime called "Zettai Karen Children", meaning "absolutely lovely children". So _Karen_ Girl's is _Lovely_ Girls (with the apostrophe almost certainly being a spelling mistake). As for "Ijime, Dame, Zettai", the direct translation would be "bullying, no good, absolutely". So just a coincidence.

[@ThePsychosocialite]

Zettai can also be translated as "forever". Whenever Babymetal perform Ijime, Dame,mZettai on a big stage they play a short video at the start that end with "No more bullying, forever" Which is the literal translation of the song's title.

[@egodreas]

@@ThePsychosocialite Well, technically, mine was the literal translation, and the one that Babymetal themselves use is a paraphrase meant to better convey the intended message to a foreign audience. The title of the song is actually a parody of a slogan from a famous anti-drug campaign from the 60's ("mayaku, dame, zettai" = "drugs, no good, absolutely"). The wording comes across as rather cheesy, or perhaps a bit childish, and has been made fun of a lot in Japan. But it is a bit much to assume that the English speaking fans will get that joke, so the more conventional "no more bullying, forever" was chosen instead, even though it's arguably less accurate.

[@rantingrodent416]

@@egodreas the whole idea of a "literal translation" is kind of wrong. Translation doesn't work that way. You can't consistently map words in one language to words in another language 1-to1. "Zettai" and "Absolutely" do not actually mean the same thing, but in many cases they would each be the best choice to express the same sentiment in English and Japanese. In other cases there are other English words (or phrases) that would more closely match the sentiment being expressed by "Zettai"

[@egodreas]

@@rantingrodent416 Certainly. I'm not saying that literal translations are better. Even the ancient Greeks distinguished between _metaphrase_ (trying to preserve the exact meaning of each word) and _paraphrase_ (trying to preserve the intended message of the text, using other words if necessary). But I was initially just talking about the words themselves, as she explicitly asked about the meaning of "zettai". Thus the literal translation. As for the meaning of the title as a whole, you can of course express that in many different ways. Babymetal themselves first used "no more bullying", then changed it to "no more bullying, forever". Something like "absolutely no bullying" or "bullying is an unconditionally bad thing" would work just as well. And if you want an American audience to be in on the original joke, you could make it "just say NO (to bullying)", as that would borrow the phrasing from an equally cheesy drug campaign in their country. Translation theory is a tricky thing, and there are rarely any perfect, or even good, solutions.

[@BlackArr0w]

A few missing points here: Yui's family was friends with the family of another of the girls from Karen Girls, Ayami Muto, who also joined Sakura Gakuin, so she was thrilled to join the same idol group of 2 of the 3 girls that were in Karen Girls. Somebody also mentioned that Yui decided to follow the Idol career after seeing that last Karen GIrls show, the same show that convinced Koba to invest on Su. Yui already met Moa many times at different auditions and she convinced Moa to go with her and try the Idol career instead of only modeling. Someone also mentioned that the audition tape from MoiMoi was just a formality, since they were already chosen to enter SG. When yui was at the hospital, she couldn't go in the Emergency Room were her relative was kept, because she was too small, so the nurses put on the Karen Girls songs for her. When Yui performed Over the Future with Su, she said that it was a dream that came true! Karen Girls has another song, "My Wings": in the MV there are some wings that are really similar to the wings that appear behind SU when she sings the song "Amore" One last thing: The first time I watched "Over the Future" from Karen Girls, I was so confused when I was looking for SU, since I didn't realize she had a mole that gets covered in makeup nowadays xD

[@shma1israel]

I hate to be that guy but every time I hear the 'Karen' in Karen Girl's name pronounced like the female name Karen, I twitch a little bit (possibly due to what that name stands for in today's public culture). The Japanese word has no connection to that, and it's pronounced KAH-REN, not KEREN. You can hear the correct pronunciation throughout the song, it's the word immediately after ZETTAI ('zettai karen'). But mixing that up is completely understandable, and I have seen the group being referenced as either 'Karen's Girl' or 'Karen's Girls' several times (and the confused apostrophe in KAREN GIRL'S surely doesn't help with parsing the name correctly, either). ;-) But thanks for doing this! Two more interesting points I haven't seen mentioned: Su was in the Yui position while in Karen Girl's (meaning she was the smolest, youngest (I think) and cutest of the three, same as Yui in Babymetal). And in the audition tape, it's obvious that Yui is a natural talent as for dancing, she completely owns it. I'm not sure if the audition was the first time MoiMoi met each other, and whether they had time to practice the choreo in advance; if not, it's just awesome how well it worked, and that's what Koba would have noticed.

[@rickwagner-]

Yui and Moa knew each other from Amuse Kids division and modeling jobs before Sakura Gakuin began. They both signed with Amuse, Inc. in 2007, the same year that Suzuka did. They practiced this choreography together, although Yui already had it memorized from watching the Karen Girl's DVD over and over. Strictly speaking, this wasn't really an audition since Yui and Moa had already been selected for Sakura Gakuin. Even though SG began in April 2010, and Yui and Moa didn't officially "transfer in" until August, in reality they had been training and rehearsing with the rest of the group from the beginning. In both cases, they established a Sakura Gakuin tradition.

[@shma1israel]

@@rickwagner- Thanks for the info. I'm sure that was mentioned somewhere in the helpful/unhelpful guides, but I must have missed it.

[@rickwagner-]

@@shma1israel I don't think they covered that in the Unhelpful Guide, or in CrypticMisery's more up to date guides.

[@aegonthedragon6341]

When you realize that BM is totally Karen Girls inspired in it's concept.

[@autohmae]

Karen Girl's, Mini-Pati and Babymetal seem to have all used Perfume as their example. And very big maybe Perfume took the idea from Candies from the 1970s. The manager of that group is the founder of Amuse Inc.

[@johnschultz7765]

A few different things... Koba was producer for Mini-pati at the time of Karen Girl's. They were a separate idol group under Amuse sponsored by the Ministry of Agriculture, etc. Do not know his other duties. It was the Karen Girl's final performance that impressed Koba. But being at the same agency perhaps he already was exposed to them. Mini-pati was absorbed into Sakura Gakuin and became a sub-unit with its initial 3 members. Yui and Moa, along with Hana, became the 2nd generation members. And we now know that Koba was a (if not the) producer for Sakura Gakuin. Yui told the story of her being a Karen Girl's fan in her Sakura Gakuin journal. She used 3rd person because that is the convention in Japanese speaking. We do put our faith in the translator. Some of the notes I have read say that family member or members can be read. Yui was probably deliberately vague to protect family privacy. I had heard early on that Yui comes from a properly respectful and traditional family. If one considers all available information, one can deduce which family member was most likely ill. But not really our business and does not matter to the plot. Did you catch the bit of Karen Girl's choreography that was reused for Babymetal's Road of Resistance?

[@ajhilton7]

J-pop > K-pop

[@AlizeeDefan]

I think the future of BABYMETAL is done. At this point with the most beloved member having not been on the set For three years now he’s not going to return, Yui Metal most likely will never return. The fact the girls are in their mid-20s now and my name hardly like BABYMETAL even if it’s not what this point as they probably want to get married and make babies of your own before the 30 years old. I feel the last time concerts they did at the in Japan, We’re definitely goodbye shows forever with BABYMETAL. Hopefully the Management and BABYMETAL Will have the guts to make a formal announcement about the break up, Instead of trying to milk this act for another couple of years. It’s time to say goodbye unfortunately but that’s life

[@emb5091]

"Most beloved member"?....maybe for you, but not for me and many other fans. The group may not be the same without her, but they are doing great still without her. Also, the way Amuse is with marketing and how all record labels work is that when its time for a group's final "Goodbye" , they will tell everyone that the shows will be their final shows. This will maximize the profits from those concerts and from merch sales...which we all know is very important to Amuse. So, there is NO way that the recent shows were the last shows without announcing them as their final shows. These girls are doing what they always wanted to do...perform for the world and be superstars/idols. After Yui left, Moa and Su didn't have to continue BABYMETAL, but they still did. MOST female stars continue to perform while getting married and having children. I really doubt Moa or Su will stop performing. Will they stay as BABYMETAL forever? I don't know. I think it's possible that BABYMETAL will retire at some point. But I don't think it will retire or end anytime soon while they are still VERY popular and getting more popular all over the world. It does not make good business sense. It is possible for each of the girls to do other things while still keeping BABYMETAL alive. Su has talked in the past about how she would consider musical theater as a career.

[@crimson0119]

@@emb5091 Yeah, unfortunately the expiration date for Japanese (and even kpop ) acts are very short... But I do wish and hope that Babymetal can have the longevity of groups like Nightwish. 🤘🦊🤘

[@emb5091]

@@crimson0119 Yeah, I don't expect them to go on for much longer, but I highly doubt they will end without a real CLEAR announcement of a final show or final tour, to maximize profits and for the sake of fans. But I guess only the fox god knows!

[@rickwagner-]

Yui was amazing, but I don't think she was the favorite member of every fan. That choice is pretty well distributed among all three. Also, at 22 years old, I wouldn't consider either Yui or Moa to be in their mid-20s. That's even a bit of a stretch for Su at 23. If you have been following the group for a while, I'm surprised you hadn't heard that "BABYMETAL" refers to a "newly born genre of metal", and is a play on "Heavy Metal". ヘビメタル = Hebimetaru = Heavy Metal. ベビメタル = Bebimetaru = Babymetal.

[@crimson0119]

@@emb5091 If BM only stayed in Japan and focused on Japanese as core audience, yeah they would be finished by 25ish or so.... (how old is Perfume by the way?)....But if Koba is able to get BM to branch out to the US or somewhere overseas more, I'm sure they can last a it longer.... I'm still hoping that Su and Moa can colab with more female fronted groups like Nighwish, Epica, Amaranthe, etc....