concept The most unusual release of 2022

stan BISH · August 16, 2022

A few months ago i was checking the schedule for new albums and singles and it came to my attention a rather strange release, i don't think i've ever seen any other album being released in these circumstances, i wanted to share because i feel is legitimately interesting

On April 27 of this year the group "Maid in!" released their first album "unusual", the group was formed in late 2021, is not uncommon for groups to release a full album soon after debut, the strange thing is that the very same day a new group called "at Seventeen" held their debut with an album also called "unusual"

but that's not all!

also on April 27 the group "Doll x doll" released their debut "unusual", maybe that wouldn't be that strange it if weren't because two new groups "Naniwa Moemoe Club" and "rurulu" also launched their first album, which you guessed... "unusual"

of course there is a reason for that, i think a picture is going to make it easier to understand how "unusual" became the most unusual release of 2022

just to recap

This simultaneously was the first album of 5 different groups and the debut of four of them
They are full fledged groups with different line ups, songs and concepts

not only in the Japanese scene, but even around the world i couldn't find any similar case, "unusual" feels like a very appropriate name for it

to add more context "Maid in!" is a 17 member idol group (right now they seems to be the largest active girl group in a single unit) they were created in 2021 to commemorate the 17th anniversary of the maid cafe "At-home cafe", all members were employees there, despite being their own groups "rurulu", "at Seventeen", "Naniwa Moemoe Club" and "Doll x doll" are collectively "Maid in!"

the groups are not only very different from each other but also well produced, particularly rurulu's debut has become one of my favorite songs of the year, at this point it pretty much has secured a place in my top 5 J-pop release of 2022

i recommend checking them since the four groups together cover all bases of Jpop and i feel there is something for everyone

rurulu -「Night dress」

Doll x doll - ドールズノート

Naniwa Moemoe Club - 倶楽部みゅ〜じっく

at Seventeen - HYPER SONIC!

"Maid in!" announced a new single and i saw them pop up in my feeds so i thought the timing was good for this thread

Maid in! - Kyururinpa!

https://jpop.fandom.com/wiki/Maid_in!

stan BISH · August 16, 2022

i like rurulu, i listen to them regularly so i definitely want to see more of them in the future

and to add some context, these are 5 different albums, 4 mini album for the individual groups and a full one for "Maid in!", all versions contain all songs, the difference is the cd box and package

that's why at the time i thought it was so strange how so many groups released an album with the same name the same day