Let's Feel Some Deep Emotions With Some Talented Idols - aLive to Rainy (アライブとレイニー) - New Age Idols Spotlight - Now Disbanded!
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| Photo Courtesy: Official Twitter |
The usage of impressionism in music (according to Wikipedia) dates back to the late 19th and early 20th Century and is a movement that conveys moods and emotions of the subject, rather than details.
To be honest, I have never really listened to this kind of genre until a couple of years ago, thanks to this group.
Idols usually sing happy melodies or angry rock, but what about some real feelings that you might relate to in one way or another?
If you want to listen to some true emotion, this group is for you.
Let me introduce you to aLive to Rainy (アライブとレイニー).
Group Information
aLive to Rainy (アライブとレイニー) is currently under aLive Enterprise.
Their concept is that they are an orthodox impressionist idol group. It's an interesting concept for an idol group.
The group debuted with six members. As of this post, there are currently three members of the group, with their own individual personalities and talents.
The group was formed in March 2017 but didn't make their official debut until September 2017. In between their formation date and their debut date, they did a lot of promotional activities. For the first time as an idol fan, I never knew there was such a thing as a trial live, but one was held on July 19th. After the trial live date, two members left the group before the official stage debut.
Shortly after their one-man live in September 2017, they added one new member on in November of the same year, to bring their total to 5 where it stood at until the past year or so. Since the pandemic began, a couple of the members have left with the most recent one being in June 2021.
Over the past four years, they have done a lot of promotions and continue to work extremely hard to get where they are now.
Upon the release of this article, aLive to Rainy has released 5 singles and 1 full album. I will share how you can listen to those further down.
Shall we move on to learn about the members?
Update! It was announced on December 7th, 2021 that the group will be dissolved on February 19th, 2022. Announcement
I was heartbroken to find this out (I might have cried a little bit) but I wish nothing but the best for the members as they go their own ways.
Member Information
As I mentioned above there are three members of the group. To all of your surprise, there is no color coding. I will link in their various SNS platforms where you can follow them if you'd like.
Amamiya Misaki (雨宮光咲)
May 3rd, 1997
Original Member
Asahi Takii (瀧井あさひ)
March 1st, 1996
Original Member
Seira Watari (渡セイラ)
August 1st, 1998
Original Member
Former Members
Sakurai Tsukune (桜井つくね) - Original Member - Withdrew July 2017
Komiya Shii (小宮しい) - Original Member - Withdrew August 2017
Nishikawa Sari (西川沙里) - Original Member - Withdrew May 2020
Murase Kaname (村瀬叶芽) - Joined November 2017 - Graduated June 29th, 2021
For a brief moment, there is a slight thing I want to mention. While doing research for this article, I discovered something that surprised me. I knew of Asahi-san longer than I thought. Back when I became an idol fan in 2014, there were a lot of idols that I became a fan of. One of those groups was named info.m@te. Asahi-san was under a different stage name (Yamato Reina) at that time and I was a fan of hers way back then. To be honest, I think she was my oshimen of that group. Like most idols, I lost track of her until 2019, but didn't have the realization until a few months ago. I apologize to Asahi-san for that. It is like an awkward reconnection by sheer coincidence. Anyways, that was a brief story time with Tyler.
Discography Information
1st Single - Blue Monday (ブルーマンデー) - Released March 28th, 2018
2nd Single - New Order (ニュー・オーダー) - Released October 3rd, 2018
3rd Single - Morning Glory (モーニング・グローリー) - Released March 26th, 2019
Distribution Start - SINGLE COLLECTION - Released April 4th, 2019
1st Album - umbrella - Released December 25th, 2019
4th Single - Differencia (ディファレンシア) - Released December 23rd, 2020
5th Single - Glorious Brilliance (グロリアス・ブリリアンス) - March 24th, 2021
You can purchase all their singles and albums from their official store.
If you want to listen to aLive to Rainy on the go, the album "SINGLE COLLECTION" up to "Glorious Brilliance" can be streamed digitally. There are a lot of platforms to listen to their music, but as for me, I use the following platforms:
Music Video / Song Information
In this segment, I want to showcase some of my favorite music videos and songs.
The first one is from their second single New Order (ニュー・オーダー) and the song "AdoLF".
This one will be short and sweet. I honestly really like this song a lot. It has the rock melody with the strong vocals to back it up. The lyrics are really emo but it is nice to jam to. I have watched this video and listened to it so much over the past week that I can't get over it. Just like in the video, it makes me want to run but not in the way they are intending. The end bridge gives me goosebumps right before it hits the chorus at the end. I don't know why but it does. Maybe it is the power of it that causes it. Who knows. As for the video, it is quite cinematic. The members look both pretty and cute. There is not much choreography but that is fine for such a video as this. By the way, when it comes to the audio version, they released it on their "SINGLE COLLECTION" album. It is the 2019 version, so make sure to check it out.
The second song I want to share is from their 1st album "umbrella" and the song that is the same title as the album name.
This was the first music video that I saw of theirs. It brings back some memories when I first saw it and led to the initial fandom. "umbrella" is such a really good song. You can see how they have improved since the last music video both as a group and also personally. Their individual voices shine through in this song. To be honest, the melody sounds really uplifting and it is relaxing, if you know what I mean. Yet when you read the lyrics, it is not all puppies and rainbows. There is some nice choreography in this video and it shows the impressionistic style that their concept is based around. Their stage outfits are very modest but really pretty. Personally, I like the zipped jacket look, but that is just me. The solo shots of the members are really nice and even the dancing in the dark is a good look. This is one of my favorite songs of theirs even though at first, I was not into it at all.
The last music video I want to show to you, the readers, is their song with the exceptionally long title, egaita kuso wo tede shimesu kotowa aruga mamano jibun wo sarakedashita danpenteki miraizoto sono sakini aru ichikakerano hitogenomu (描いた空想を手で示すことは、在るがままの自分をさらけ出した断片的未来像とその先にある一欠けらのヒトゲノム) or in English "Human genome of a fragmentary future image and one fragment in there which it was to show the imagination that I described by hand, but revealed oneself who made it." That is the longest song title I have ever seen in my entire life. Just so you know, it is 9 minutes and there is a reason behind it. It is one of the songs from the 4th single, Differencia.
I honestly hoped you got past the really good story part and listened to the song. Truth be told, I was really enjoying watching the drama unfold. Can I say that each of the members styles suit them well. You have cute, pretty, and wow. That is all I'm going to say. Each of the members acting looked natural-ish, so I give them credit where credit is due. I haven't seen a lot of videos like this one, but I liked it a lot. The song itself is great as well. I'm always drawn to their strong voices. It leaves an impact immediately and you can't help but be stunned. This track is one that I will listen in the care more often than I do. The up-tempo and bounciness of the song make it a fantastic listen. The lyrics are not as emo style as some of their previous works so that is nice. There is so much I want to say but I don't think there is enough time for me to say it.
I'm going to now include just a couple of my favorite songs that don't have videos. I will use Spotify for the source but all rights go to aLive Enterprise.
This track is titled, "New Game (ニュー・ゲーム)", from the single, Differencia.
This song is my kind of groove. I like the 8-bit start that sets the playful and upbeat tone of the track. Whomever played the bass guitar did a great job. I caught myself playing air guitar. Compared to some of their other songs, I like the positivity of the melody. It has subtle video game beats throughout that still let you know that it is meant to be a game. The vocals are really strong and match this song very well. It's very pop style. I have honestly listened to this song numerous times while writing this, enough times that it is in my On Repeat playlist. I hope to hear this style come back in some of their future singles.
The last song I want you to listen to is titled, "Guernica (ゲルニカ)", from the groups most recent single earlier in 2021.
Do you want to to rock out? Guernica will do the trick. I like a lot of genres of idol music, as you all know, but having a rock vibe really gets me amped. When I listen to this song, I want to go on a run, or work harder. Something about it really pleases me. There is a segment after the kick-ass instrumental that is fantastic that I replay it over and over. This verse in particular shows off their vocal ranges. From the high pitches to the deeper solos, it goes from 0 to 100 real quickly. Just like the previous one, I am constantly listening to this track. If I were to share a particular song that shows off their strengths, this one would be it. I love this song in general!
Overall Review
How I came to find about this group is a bit of a mixed bag of sorts. Let me start by saying that I wasn't fully into the group until earlier this year, to be honest. But, let's go back in time.
According to my YouTube watch history, I knew of them in 2019 probably through Twitter and then on YouTube. They released their music video for "umbrella" and I watched it to learn more about the group. Later on I found these videos.
It is planning for the show they were doing. They were doing a variety idol development show for ChibaTV at the time. The videos from that show are quite entertaining. It features as you can tell members Asahi-san and Seira-san. Watching this again gave me a little bit of nostalgia. It wasn't even that long ago.
Weirdly enough, I kind of lost track of them for some time. Even though I followed the members, they ended up getting lost in the sea of idols. I sincerely apologize for that.
Let's fast forward some and I was scrolling one day on my Twitter back in January and I saw a tweet from someone I was following but it surprised me by how long it was before I saw their tweets again.
Believe me, it happens more than you think.
I came across a tweet from Asahi-san and I had a thought of, "I wonder what she is up to, nowadays." Some things had changed since I last saw them, yet the group was still around and it made me happy.
I watched the music video for the drama MV and I was sucked back into the world of aLive to Rainy. It didn't take long.
I looked up their music on streaming sites and listened to it a lot. It is very nice music when you want to go for a drive or just relaxing.
This group has released so much good music over the past few years that I didn't share and they continue to shine on stage, regardless of being in a pandemic. They work so hard, from performances and midnight training, to promotional activities. I'm pretty sure it is tiring but they are doing their best to achieve their dreams.
I haven't had the chance to talk to the members besides SNS, but I hope someday that I can say hello directly.
Down here, I will leave a message to the members in the hope that they read this:
To the members of aLive to Rainy:
Congratulations on recently celebrating your 4th Anniversary! The road has been a long one. hasn't it? You all put in so much effort every day, that I am always amazed. You each have your own individual personalities, that make each of you so special. You are talented singers, dancers, promoters and so on. If you looked back on yourselves 4 years ago, do you think you have improved? I certainly think so. It shows when you go back and watch your old videos and see the growth you have made. That statement is both for you all individually but also as a group. Things are difficult right now and I realize that you can feel it. Even with that, you still put in 110% all the time. You always make your fans happy through your performances and even those that can't make it to the performances. It really means the world. We are all looking forward to your bright future. I honestly hope that you all will continue to keep performing for a long time to come. Always be yourself and never give up. I will continue to support you all from afar for the time being. I wish you nothing but the best and please continue to be safe and healthy in these uncertain times. Much love and support from Oklahoma USA.
Official Links
You can follow me on Twitter or please feel free to leave a comment if you want to.
As always, no matter wherever you are or whatever situation you may be in, Have A Great Day!
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