☆ Best of Stardust Planet 2019 ☆

[Sasori]

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Stardust Planet is the Idol Division of Stardust Entertainment. It's flagship group is Momoiro Clover Z. With a total of 12 groups, it can be challenging to keep up with all the releases throughout the year. With this in mind, I decided to take a look back and pick out what I thought best represented Stardust Planet in 2019.

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*Disclaimer: I excluded some groups either because they didn't release anything of note this year or they're too new and haven't released much yet.

*Edit: To be clear, I only included releases that have official MVs with the full version of the song. This means I excluded short versions and any releases without an MV.

☆ Honorable Mentions ☆​

Amefurasshi is a newer group and haven't had any official releases yet, but they've put out a bunch of songs for sale at live events with accompanying live MVs. The members were originally part of 3BJunior, Stardust Planet's trainee group. When they disbanded, Amefurasshi was born. Their concept is supposed to be like an ameba, continually changing. It's anyone's guess what they'll evolve into, but the group has two of the best vocalists in the entire division, Aira and Moeka, so keep an eye on them in the future. The MV for "Rain Makers!!" was released on Jan. 1st 2019, so it seems fitting to include it here.

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[Sasori]

☆ Best of Stardust Planet 2019 - Newer Groups ☆

Takoyaki Rainbow
"Digital Native Generation"​

Takoyaki had a pretty quiet year. They released a full album and one single, but the lead track from the album isn't very memorable. The single makes up for their lack of output and the MV has a humorous yet poignant take on modern communication.

Hachimitsu Rocket
"Chuuken Hachiko"​

Hachi were also pretty quiet this year. They only released two singles, their 4th being the standout between the two. The title of the song is taken after the famous dog who waited every day at Shibuya Station for his deceased master over a span of 10 yrs.

Iginari Tohoku-san
"Bubble Poppin"​

After 4 yrs, Iginari finally released their first official MV. Bubble Poppin serves as the only real summer song released by a Stardust Planet group in 2019. At 9 members, they're the largest group in the division.

Sakura Ebis
"Kira Kira" and "214"​

SakuEbi have set themselves apart from most other Stardust Planet groups. Their image and musical style is more artistic and experimental. The MV for Kira Kira is especially striking thanks to the unusual choreography. They recently changed their name to Ukka in order to differentiate themselves from Shiritsu Ebisu Chugaku, the senior group that mentored them during their trainee days.

Tokimeki Sendenbu
"Victory Story" and "Shape Up"​

This was a big year for TokiSen. They're the first of the newer Stardust Planet groups to break away from the pack. They made their major debut on Avex and their first and second singles on the label charted at #3 and #2 on Oricon respectively. Keep an eye on them in the future as they continue to rise.

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[Sasori]

☆ Best of Stardust Planet 2019 - The Stardust Sisters ☆​

*The Stardust Sisters are named as such because the three of them are sister groups to each other.

Team Shachi
"Rose Fighter" and "Rocket Queen"​

This was the year Team Syachihoko carved out their own identity. The little sister group of Momoiro Clover Z and Shiritsu Ebisu Chugaku, they've pretty much been Mini Momoclo since their debut. After Ito Chiyuri graduated from the group in Oct. 2018, the remaining 4 members rebranded as Team Shachi. They began dressing in monochrome costumes with their member colors acting mainly as highlights. They also added a horn section, the Brass Min, which changed the group's sound.

This year, they achieved a career first. Their MV for "Rocket Queen" featuring gameplay of a video game collaboration with Mega Man surpassed 1M views. 2019 was definitely the year that Team Shachi stepped out of their older Sister's shadow. From this point on, they will be charting their own destiny.

Rose Fighter was a special release used as the re-debut of the group under the new name and formation. It's a great example of the new direction Team Shachi has taken.

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A collaboration with Megaman, this is the official video featuring the group, guest rapper MCU, and the 87 member strong Chuetsu High School marching band!

Momoiro Clover Z
"The Diamond Four", "Road Show", and "Stay Gold"​

In their 11th year, Momoiro Clover Z show no sign of slowing down. They released their self titled 5th studio album, their first since 2016, starred in their first stage play, and take the lead in a brand new Variety Show featuring various Stardust groups traveling all over Japan.

After the graduation of long time member Ariyasu Momoka in Jan. 2018, Momoclo started referring to themselves as the Diamond Four. This is the lead track for the 5th album and features a hefty amount of rapping. The lyrics refer to the members themselves and include allot of references to Momoclo's history, inside jokes, and other things that long time fans will be familiar with. The MV was shot while the members were on vacation.

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A stand out from the 5th album, Road Show is basically an EDM hype song and has been the new opening number for Momoclo concerts throughout 2019.

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Momoclo finished off the year with this epic release on their 20th single. Stay Gold is arguably the strongest individual release of all the Stardust Planet groups. It's another departure for Momoclo and has a wistful melody that leaves a lasting impression.

Shiritsu Ebisu Chugaku
"Trendy Girl", "Pandora", and "Jump"​

While Momoclo may have had the strongest individual release, 2019 was definitely Ebichu's year. They released the most material of any Stardust Planet group including two studio albums. They also celebrated their 10th Anniversary, so it was a big year all around for them. It's really hard to choose between releases, but I think these four do a good job of representing their range.

Trendy Girl is Ebichu's 13th Single. It's deceiving when you first listen to it. At first, it sounds like so many other songs, but the melody and arrangement go a long way toward establishing it's own identity. It's great for repeated listens.

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Pandora was a special pre-release for Ebichu's 6th studio album, "playlist". It's a return to the Heavy Metal side of the group.

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Wrapping things up is Jump, the lead promotional track from "playlist". It's a bit of a departure from what Ebichu have done recently. It's a powerful song with an anthem like quality featuring a rather unconventional MV even by Ebichu's standards.

☆ ☆ ☆
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And that brings the Best of Stardust Planet 2019 list to a close. I hope this gives a good idea of what the division has to offer and helps as a starting point for anyone interested in exploring these groups further. Overall, 2019 was a very strong year for releases. Here's hoping 2020 is just as great!

 

[Lurkette]

I'm going to pretend like you didn't just skip my children and the best Stardust album of the year. Everyone go listen to Batten Show Jo Tai's BGM!

 

[abra]

Thanks for the breakdown, Sasori

2019 was a great year for Stardust Planet musically, especially the Stardust sisters.
Team Shachi reinvented themselves. Rocket Queen was one of the most fun releases this year, and Rose Fighters was a great start to the year. It's a shame Dreamer was released at the end of 2018 because that was great too.
Momoclo's album was great, as was stay gold. They are only really missing a true standout song this year. That being said Arin's Bunny Gone Bad is in my top 2 Stardust Planet releases this year.
Ebichu stood out with their mature sound including "Trendy Girl" (SotY?) and "Donten". I'd say they had the highest high of any Stardust artist. Jump and Pandora were good too.

For the other groups, Hachiroke's Chuuken Hachiko has to be my pick. It was a big surprise for me, standing out with its unique sound. Rocket Future was more standard fare but it was very solid.
Speaking of solid, that's how I'd also describe Tacoyaki Rainbow's "Motto motto motto hanasou yo -digital native generation-". Many of the Stardust singles have been catchy yet a bit glaring. DNG has solid production value, lacks the glaring vocals of other singles, is very catchy and has a fun MV to boot. For me that puts it above other groups' songs that might in some ways be more exciting.
Finally I have to mention BST's Killer Killer Smile which is both powerful, catchy and very well produced.

Apart from them I enjoyed Crown Pop's Summertime Rule for its chorus, Iginari Tohoku-san's Bubble Poppin' and BOLT's Koko Kara (I just wish the full version would be available online). Sakura ebis/ukka also had very interesting song releases.

I'm going to pretend like you didn't just skip my children and the best Stardust album of the year. Everyone go listen to Batten Show Jo Tai's BGM!

Killer Killer Smile really went hard

PS: I love your sig

 

[Lurkette]

The whole BGM album goes really hard, which I wasn't fully expecting since they were pretty committed to ska as their signature sound until last year.

Overall Stardust was pretty weak for me this year, but I always support and keep my ears open for something excellent (like Jump because that's what I'm about). I never listened too much to Sakura Ebis because it was always somewhat unclear what their role was in the pantheon of Stardust groups, but since they (and Ebichu) swept the Idol Composition Awards it's probably time to commit to a listen.

And thank you! @softest_bun made the set for me and i should give her more credit for making things for me for nothing in exchange but friendship and nonstop compliments

 

[abra]

The whole BGM album goes really hard, which I wasn't fully expecting since they were pretty committed to ska as their signature sound until last year.

Overall Stardust was pretty weak for me this year, but I always support and keep my ears open for something excellent (like Jump because that's what I'm about). I never listened too much to Sakura Ebis because it was always somewhat unclear what their role was in the pantheon of Stardust groups, but since they (and Ebichu) swept the Idol Composition Awards it's probably time to commit to a listen.

And thank you! @softest_bun made the set for me and i should give her more credit for making things for me for nothing in exchange but friendship and nonstop compliments

idk if the idol awards reflect the songs released, it seems to be more about which groups has more fans voting. I think Ebichu really deserved first place this year but idk about the song choices except for Donten, they seem a bit random. The first place sakura ebis song is fun though.

 

[Lurkette]

Oh for sure, there's always bias and the shrimps are heavily favored in this particular competition, but these awards are very transparent (you can actually see individual votes on their website) and I've always used it as a good jumping off point for finding good, new idol music even if I don't always agree with some of the selections. But my favorite track on MUSiC was COLOR so I accept my misfit choices.

 

[abra]

Oh for sure, there's always bias and the shrimps are heavily favored in this particular competition, but these awards are very transparent (you can actually see individual votes on their website) and I've always used it as a good jumping off point for finding good, new idol music even if I don't always agree with some of the selections. But my favorite track on MUSiC was COLOR so I accept my misfit choices.

Yeah, I think it's impossible to have a "fair" music award due to many reasons. This one actually measures up favourably against the official music awards (like JRA).
Color is a good song but I can't judge it fairly since I was very happy to see Ebichu and Momoclo collaborate and perform together. A good choice though.

 

[Sasori]

I'm going to pretend like you didn't just skip my children and the best Stardust album of the year. Everyone go listen to Batten Show Jo Tai's BGM!

I wanted to include BST, but they've only been releasing short versions of their MVs as of late. I didn't feel like a 90 sec. clip really did them justice. Had they released the full version of Killer Killer Smile, it definitely would have been on the list. I also wanted to keep the source as accessible as possible, so I stuck with YouTube. This wasn't just to showcase the songs, but the MVs as well. That's why I excluded Reni and Arin's solo releases. I would have loved to include them, but they didn't put out any MVs and I didn't want to just post the audio.

 

[Lurkette]

I wanted to include BST, but they've only been releasing short versions of their MVs as of late. I didn't feel like a 90 sec. clip really did them justice. Had they released the full version of Killer Killer Smile, it definitely would have been on the list. I also wanted to keep the source as accessible as possible, so I stuck with YouTube. This wasn't just to showcase the songs, but the MVs as well. That's why I excluded Reni and Arin's solo releases. I would have loved to include them, but they didn't put out any MVs and I didn't want to just post the audio.

I see, I see, valid points across the board. I will allow it, especially since there's obviously so much work you put into the whole thing and it's great.

I'm definitely not a fan of the short MVs either; I miss the days when Victor would splice in some behind the scenes material in the middle to try and prevent people from using the YT version as a streaming song, because then we at least felt like we were getting something in exchange for the song being paused in the middle.