28 replies to this topic

[Blu-Cherri]

 

Self-produced comedy idol duo Nama Hamu to Yaki Udon. Also known as Higashi(East) and Nishi(West).

Quote from TIF English section on them

 

 

Namahamu & Yakiudon A JK girls’ unit named from their favorite foods. JK is a short for “Joushiki wo Kutsugaesu” which means “we explode the established theory.” They produce themselves in planning, lyrics, songs, costumes and so on. They usually have a short skit during their concert, it has a good reputation.

 

 

 

Nama hamu birthday: 1997.8.22

Yaki Udon birthday: 1998.3.1

 

As you might have guessed the group name comes from their favourite food "Raw ham" and "baked udon" (although I thought it was fried udon? maybe someone can help me here...) Their fans are suitable called "gluttons."

They just last month played their 3rd one-man-live! In front of 3,000 people in TDC. They also now regularly appear on various "niche" idol TV shows so I imagine even fans of other groups have started to notice them more and more. They managed to catch Oomori Seiko's attention and she wrote a song with them!

They even recently (won a competition to?) appeared in the Tiger mask anime!

 

So here are some videos

FIRST the only subbed video I've found so far of a performance of theirs

 

Then in the tiger mask anime

 

Then with Oomori Seiko!

 

They also have their own kawaiinTV show "THE*Nama"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjUHOvOd5ZE

[iwabo]

Love them. The fact they are self-produced is the icing on the cake. I see them less as idols with a comedy theme but rather as a comedy duo who make a big use of music.

Even if you don't understand anything of what they say their delivery and timing is just so well done you'll laugh your ass off anyways. One of the most hilarious moments of them (at least in my opinion) when they performed at Jam Expo and made jokes about getting roofied by wota.

 

Also, Higashi recently formed a unit with her two younger sisters.

[Moklar]

Already caught them three times on my trip in December last year.

 

When I was preparing to get in line for a cheki a woman approached me and said she noticed me before and I said it was my third time seeing them, she explained she was the mother of one of the girls and she was helping out selling merchandise. She basically confirmed that the girls they did everything themselves and was working really hard and getting up at like 4 am to make things work. (she spoke decent English).

 

Even with no Japanese knowledge they are extremely fun, although I am a bit afraid being singled out not understanding anything that would be embarrassing.

[Blu-Cherri]

On one TV show it sounded like one of their mothers at least was somewhere behind the cameras so it seems like they help out regularly :3 Pretty sweet Make sure to brush up on your "wakarimasen~" (I don't understand) response maybe to be safe lol.

 

They also have a calendar out! http://www.yesasia.c...-0-en/info.html I have literally nowhere to put it so I'm unlikely to buy it but still really awesome they have one :3

 

On the hyper japan survey(it was a survey for people who went to the recent event) their name was on the tick list for suggesting which acts you'd like to see. Couldn't click fast enough

[iwabo]

When I was preparing to get in line for a cheki a woman approached me and said she noticed me before and I said it was my third time seeing them, she explained she was the mother of one of the girls and she was helping out selling merchandise. She basically confirmed that the girls they did everything themselves and was working really hard and getting up at like 4 am to make things work. (she spoke decent English).

 

I assume that was Higashi's mother then, she's super cool. You can see her here on Line Live with the youngest sister Noel. https://live.line.me...roadcast/220913

All of the lives on their channel, despite being 90% talking, are somehow super entertaining as well. At the very least you will easily understand how Higashi was able to bloom into such a creative and fun person, that family seems super awesome.

[Moklar]

^ yeah I think that was her.

[iwabo]

Nishi was guest today...so good  https://live.line.me...roadcast/246929

[mixedmedia]

They're definitely more comedians who do music than idols from what I have seen. I think they are funnier than a lot of people who only do comedy but, I hope that they aren't forced to become blander as they get more popular (to appeal to wider audiences). While the poop song and the "farting competition" was funny when they did Akasaka BLITZ in March, there was way too much stupid toilet humor for TDC. There was a toilet in the middle of the stage which they sat on and pretended to use during the concert. 

 

The language barrier definitely limits their audience to mostly Japan. Sometimes I have no idea what they're talking about but they go so fast that something else will usually follow which I can grasp. I wonder if they would become more popular if they started making videos with subtitles too? 

 

Still, I think they're pretty good songwriters. "Tamago Kake Gohan" and "Cucumber" are really catchy. Hope they can get some sort of distribution deal so their music isn't only available when they perform.  

[Mizura]

I've been aware of them for a while and I finally watched that subbed video. It was pretty funny and I like how they worked the songs into the comedy as well.  I would love to catch one of their shows live, but I have to actually get to Japan first. And I'm glad to hear they are doing a bit better, since I heard in TIF2015 show they weren't really that popular.

[Moklar]

Btw. the three times I saw them they never did the same show, the songs were the same but the skits within the songs were different.

[arwald]

interesting talk between idol group producers:

• Kim Yasuhiro - producer of Lyrical School
• Take Taichi - producer of You'll melt more and Leppoco
• Rickey - producer of Necronomidol
• Tanaka Koji - producer of Bellring Girls Heart
• Nishii Marina and Higashi Risa  - producers of Hamahamu to Yakidudon

 

[iwabo]

Thanks for posting this, I remember when I first found out about them I saw this too and got really curious what they might talk about. Maybe someone can tell some interesting details?

 

Also, as it's in the related videos too, I love this one. It shows super great how quickly they can jump scenes and execute them perfectly.

 

[arwald]

I'm sure there are parts I misunderstood, feel free to correct

 

 

(starting from 2:33)

 

Q: What was the reason to become producer?

 

• Take: It was Momoiro Clover Z
• Higashi: Same here! I love them!
• Nishii: I love them!
• Higashi: Who is your oshi?
• Take: Slightly more into Shiori
• Nishii, Higashi: Yeah, it looks so
• Rickey: I entered some international company 4-5 years ago and I got involved into some event with Momoclo, so I followed them to Malaysia
• Take: I also followed them
• Rickey: Really?
• Take: And that was the turning point, where I thought that I could do that myself
• Rickey: Reall.. No way.. You went to Malaysia? I was interpreter there.
• Take: There was an interpreter? Oh, right..

 

Q: What is producer's job?

 

• Higashi: The job of a producer is to see how it looks, not the goods but girls. How to decorate them, how to show them, how do they look. A person who creates the appearance.
• Tanaka: Yeah, someone who looks from outside and produces the impression. Well, the one with the money. With this product there is this value, and because there are certain needs, if you use this amount of money then there will be this profit.
• Kim: For me, intuitively the most important thing is to decide upon something from different options. Also, to entrust someone other things.
• Rickey: However, it's so important to entrust things to others. When Necronomidol was just made, I was about to do everything by myself. That's just my nature. As time went by I realized it's impossible to do everything alone.
• Higashi: Like sharing of roles.
• Kim: Yeah, if you do everything by yourself you'll end up thinking 'Nothing will work if I'm not around'
• Tanaka: Take-san, you got more staff members recently, right?
• Take: Yeah. Somehow I was doing everything, I was a manager, director, producer, I did all those works. Now I'm leaving those things to managers and focusing on PR
• Tanaka: And doing good
• Take: Will be doing good from now on
• Tanaka: And if they don't listen to what you say, you'll punch them
• Kim: It's so scary if Take-san beats his girls
• Take: Punching.. umm, well, if you bump with them..
• Kim: Then you punch? How scary!
• Take: I don't. I don't, but..
• Tanaka: Indeed, he looks like he does
• Take: When there is some tension with girls. You have this kind of experience, right?
• (Tanaka is famous for scolding group members and make them cry)
• Tanaka: Yes, I have. Bumping sometimes. And after that I treat them kindly. Like "Sorry"
• Take: It's like DV. And then you become gentle.
• Tanaka: I feel like I'm ruining lives.
• Take: Members' lives?
• Nishii: Ruining members' lives?
• Tanaka: I notice that I'm quite brutal to people. I wonder if those girls will be able to love again. They receive big trauma. I notice that.
• Take: Did girls who graduated talk about this fights?
• Tanaka: Nope, graduated girls stay masochist. Well, I don't think they became one. Well, of course, there are some girls..
• Higashi: Idol will eventually graduate, right.
• Tanaka: Yep. What about graduation for Namahamu to Yakiudon?
• Nishii: No idea.
• Tanaka: Probably not graduation, but disbandment, since there are only two of you.
• Nishii: It will become a disbandment, right?
• Higashi: I think it will happen when our relationship becomes really bad.
• Tanaka: When it becomes bad, I think it will be fun. Like having separate dressing rooms.
• Higashi: Distant from each other.
• Nishii: We're doing skits and when breathing is not same, tempo goes wrong. And it becomes boring. 
• Higashi: It's scary when we both become over-enthusiastic.
• Nishii: It may become boring.
• Take: Do you have fights or instructings?
• Higashi: Our characters are oppposite. We found it good to have them opposite, but those opposite parts bump with each other. And for that reason we have Namaudon meetings.
• Nishii: We have one today too, after this.
• Higashi: Today we have a meeting.
• Nishii: Perhaps we will have a debate today. A fist fight. And after that we become gentle.
• Rickey: One part of producer's job is to become a scapegoat. To cover members, to not let members become a scapegoat, take responsibility for everything. 
• Higashi: I often hear that producers or top people are blamed a lot.
• Tanaka: When they say like that, it's peaceful there among them.
• Higashi: We were talking about sharing roles. We want to focus on performances and as for other things.. not because we don't want to do that, but because we can focus.. but there is noone to entrust it too. We do CD packing ourselves and stuff like that. There was a lot of things to do when we had our first One-Man Live. The day before we panicked because we felt that everything before led to this Live. And we realized how important is sharing roles. We leveled up.
• Kim: Yeah, it's so difficult to do that by yourselves. That's your strong point.
• Higashi: Yeah, maybe that's why there are people who support us.
• Tanaka: You two have boyfriends?
• Nishii: No!
• Higashi: I want one!
• Nishii: I want to marry soon.
• Tanaka: Want to marry?
• Nishii: When I become 20.
• Tanaka: That's how many years later?
• Nishii: Two years later.
• Tanaka: Do you have someone?
• Nishii: No.
• Take: Are you free about that?
• Higashi: Absolutely free.
• Nishii: Do anything you want.
• Higashi: If I'll get one, I'll introduce him to you maybe.
• Nishii: And upload to Twitter. "Date Now"
• Higashi: "Disneyland"

[iwabo]

Ohhhh awesome thanks a lot. Some really funny bits in there.

 

I feel like it would be the toughest for Higashi and Nishii to eventually give up (some parts of) being selfproduced. There is always this danger of it changing the product. I feel like those two girls have a very clear vision of how they want their products to be like so if that clashes with eventual other staff members...it seems difficult at least.

[arwald]

Nishii Marina and Chankoropi went to location shooting (for Hobohobo I guess)

[atmospherium]

Sad news for fans of the ham and noodles:

 

https://tokyogirlsup...1701116669.html

[iwabo]

The TGU article really just barely scratches the surface. Nishi made a few long tweets, Higashi made a big blog entry, both explaining their view on things. It still don't fully get it, but overall it's sad that something got in between their friendship and trust. I hope some time off will maybe make things better for them to come back after a while. What these two managed to achieve completely on their own is incredible, some professional agencies with big staff don't even manage that. I hope their individual endeavors will be great (looking forward to especially Higashi's project with her sisters) and that at some point they will find back together.

[Blu-Cherri]

I hope a break gives them a chance to relax and recover from this and come back   I understand if they don't but it would be great if they could.

[Mizura]

I'm hoping they continue as a group eventually as well. But if they are happier not doing that, I do respect the decision. They were an interesting group and I've only just recently been getting into them.

[TotallyUncool]

I hope that they both do well (in their careers and in life), whatever happens.