MADKID, Axcels, and ALL the happenings...
What’s Happening? #28
We are now counting down to the final two CIRCUS release events before we officially end the CIRCUS period of MADKID's year. For the first five months of 2019, the boys have been very busy, almost non-stop. And then, after the end of their CIRCUS live tour in the last week of May, we don't get to hear any new announcements on what's to come. That's what the last What's Happening? post was about.
But in this edition of What's Happening?, something new did emerge. It isn't just new, but also big as well. First, let's talk about what they've been up to as of this writing.Final CIRCUS Release Events: Fukuoka and Miyazaki
It's almost becoming a bit of a tradition that SHIN's beloved hometown of Miyazaki would be the final spot to end their release events. And another bit of a tradition is that once after their Miyazaki release event is over, Shin stays behind for a few days to be with family and make guest appearances at local radio stations and TV shows while the rest of the group head back up to Tokyo. The schedule for the final release event weekend are as follows:- 6/29 - Fukuoka (Kashiihama (1:00 p.m. JST) & Hakata (4:00 p.m. JST))
- 6/30 - Miyazaki (2:00 p.m. JST & 4:00 p.m. JST)
- 7/1 - SHIN will be guesting at the local Miyazaki (MRT) radio show GO! GO! WIDE
Summer in Okinawa
Earlier this week, the guys made a 5-day summer break in Okinawa. If you're a bit familiar with the geography and lifestyles of Japan, Okinawa is one of Japan's popular destinations, especially during the summer, if you can't afford Hawaii. We were able to learn about their retreat when some of the members began posting photos and video clips mentioning where they're currently located. These few days became one of their few chances for them to unwind, rest, and also do some reflections and brainstorming on what they're about to do during the rest of the week.
Just remember, we're nearing the end of June, and June is also the sixth month of 2019. Once we hit July, we are now halfway near the end of 2019.
During that Okinawa week, Axcels across the globe were at a buzz when SHIN finally posted a photo of himself in his IG Story in Okinawa...
https://www.instagram.com/p/BzJMt1agx1B/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet
... without his shirt on.
There's no denying that gazing at the visual and physical attributes of your favorite biases is simply natural for every fan(girl). Among the members, SHIN was the only person who hasn't posted a single photo of himself shirtless until that day. Personally, I expected he'd have somewhat of a chiseled, muscular body because he mentioned a few times on his livestreams that he does work out in the gym every morning as part of his daily routine. Despite his androgynous visuals and stature, he showed to everyone how 100% male he really is since birth. He's a natural athlete , so everything you see here is simply natural.
The day after the guys flew back home to Tokyo, a very huge and overwhelming surprise suddenly came for the Axcel Fam. I'll get to that in a bit.
Summer Festivals All July!
... and August. Tentative schedule.- 7/5 - BREAK OUT FESTIVAL 2019 MADKID, M!LK, ONE N' ONLY, and ONEUS
- 7/11 - BUZZ-UP J 2019 Summer BuZZ, Cool-X, Kouta Shinri, JUNON SUPERBOY ANOTHERS, MADKID, TOKYO TRICKING MOB
- 7/15 - SHIBUYA SUMMIT Supported by SWISH, DANZEN FEST, and JOL FEST
- VENUS FES 2019 SUMMER
- 7/22 @ TSUTAYA O-EAST (Tokyo)
- 7/23 @ BIGCAT (Osaka)
- 8/15 - SHIBUHARA FEST
Crunchyroll EXPO 2019 (San Jose, California, U.S.A.)
MADKID's appearance at the 3-day Crunchyroll EXPO 2019 marks the group's first-ever live performance OUTSIDE JAPAN.
For the Axcel Fam, this is huge. One of MADKID's goals since their formation back in 2014 was to be able to perform at a live audience around the world. Many of us global Axcels haven't been fans that long, but for those who were just jumping in the Fam via The Rising of the Shield Hero, this is a huge treat for all of us!
In a way, it would only make sense because Crunchyroll, the anime streaming service that aired Shield Hero to the global audience, holds a huge anime convention located in San Jose. The Rising of the Shield Hero just ended this week (hopefully just for this season), therefore anime cons from around the world are now open to inviting the cast, crew, and those involved in producing and airing the anime version of one of my personal favorite light novel series.
Right now, it's a bit difficult for me to write a bit more about this because I'm personally stoked. You see, I'm a local. I live around 25 miles north of San Jose. It would only take me a freeway drive just to get there. Of all places they could have come to do their first international live, it would have to be in a city only famous among techies and tech buffs and nerds altogether.
I'll write more about my personal take on their upcoming Crunchyroll EXPO performance on The AXCEL Side.
That's it for this post. Till next time, Axcels!
BIRTHDAY ALERT: YOU-TA
Summer is coming soon, and if you've been an Axcel for a quite some time now, you also know what it means for MADKID when it comes to this hot and sizzling season. If not, it simply means that three of the five members have their birthdays coming very soon. Our first birthday alert for the summer starts this month of June.
On Saturday, June 15, YOU-TA will pass his mid-20s period and will turn 26-years-old. Like with LIN's birthday alert 2 months ago, this is also my first birthday alert post for YOU-TA as well. But unlike LIN, who has personal preferences with the things fans do for him, YOU-TA will welcome any fan arts/edits and gifts, as well as your overwhelming love and support by tweeting or posting on his IG post a happy birthday. You've got about two weeks as of this writing to prepare something for him. And, for my commemoration for YOU-TA's birthday, I'm sharing you all his cover of JUJU's classic ballad Yasashisa de afureru you ni. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=okEOktHnKEE
What’s Happening? #27
Oh my, it's June! It's the prologue to the summer season! After several months of being completely active from the release of RISE to the release of their major debut album CIRCUS and finally their CIRCUS live tour, MADKID and its dedicated AXCELS are finally going on rest mode. In actuality, the CIRCUS release events are still ongoing throughout the month of June, but the boys will now be going through their own sabbatical period, spending time with their family and friends (outside the biz) and of course, preparing for their next activities this coming summer and throughout the rest of 2019.
In this latest What's Happening? post, I'll be covering more on what's happening right after the end of the CIRCUS live tour and also what's happening out here in the interwebs with the global Axcels and of course, this site.Nothing new after CIRCUS?
For many of us "veteran" Axcels, a period of silence usually mean the boys are cooking something up and rather than hyping things up in public, they would announce it to us when the right time comes. Besides, the boys are as human as the rest of us and they too need their rest as well, right? Besides, it's too early to release something brand-new when CIRCUS just came out last April. And knowing MADKID, they love to take things slowly, which also means they also love making the Axcels anticipate so much with what's to come. For new Axcels, waiting is daunting, but for long-time Axcels, this is quite normal. The pattern that we all caught was that right after a one-man live or a live tour, the boys would usually introduce and announce something brand-new to their fans. But with the CIRCUS live tour, no new announcements. In a way, for me it seems kind of shocking because I thought I caught their pattern, but in some way, it is also understandable, given that their latest live tour was revolving around their major debut album. Let's wait till maybe July or August. Maybe something new will come up. If not a new release, it may be a new live tour or maybe more. But, as they say, good things come to those who wait.Shin's injury of 2019
That "wrap" that Shin has around his neck is not a new fad accessory. It is a neck brace. He's one of the more fashionable members of MADKID alongside Yuki, but seriously, that is a neck brace.
If you've been following MADKID for at least since last year, Shin is one of the most diligent members who almost never missed a single MADKID live event. Of all the several events they've participated, Shin only missed two.
Last year, Shin scared the entire Axcel Family when he tripped himself on stage during rehearsals and injured his left foot. Luckily for him, it wasn't too serious, or otherwise, it would have costed him his entire career. For some two months, he had documented in the MADKID LINE Blog about the status of his foot, just to ease the worries of everyone. After all, Shin is one of the prominent dancers of MADKID, and losing him because of this injury can be costly to both MADKID and the Axcels. Good thing he took it easy, continued on participating in their scheduled events, and eventually his foot healed.
I don't have the entire story about his neck just yet (hopefully I'll find out soon), but it was probably another rehearsal injury. If you are an Axcel who have been following Shin (by himself) for awhile, one of his favorite signature dance moves that he would normally add to his routines is the head snap. I haven't seen him snapping his head in the dances for awhile now, so maybe he tried to do it again? Maybe he overexerted himself a bit with that head snapping. Hopefully I'm completely wrong about this.
Please, Shin, I know your neck injury may seem minor because you haven't skipped a single live event since you got your neck brace, but please take care of yourself.
Hello, Uncle YOU-TA!
The first time that I became an Axcel last year, the first blog post that I read from YOU-TA was about the wedding of his big sister Ayumi. He and the rest of MADKID were present on that beautiful occasion, giving their love and support for the newlyweds.
Over a year later, we have another update. Ayumi gave birth to a beautiful baby girl just a few days ago. The president of MADKID becomes the second member to be a new uncle. Be sure to stop by his Twitter and Instagram and give your blessings and congratulations to YOU-TA and his sister and hubby.
He'll have plenty of time during this sabbatical period to spend in taking care of this little one, so let's all give our love and support to YOU-TA and his family. More blessings and power!
New Project: AXCEL STYLE DISCORD CHAT
Sometime last week, a few friends and I set up a brand-new Discord Chat server for global Axcels. I have to thank The Rising of the Shield Hero anime staff for giving MADKID this huge opportunity to showcase their musicianship with two opening themes, RISE and FAITH. As the Axcel Fam continues to rise, I think it's finally the right time to create a community system that would bring all global Axcels together. Japanese fans are always welcome, but the main language of communication would be English, but either way, please come and join! I don't know if the Discord widget at the main page of this site is working because for some reason, it's not working on my end. So instead, I'll share you guys the direct link: AXCEL STYLE DISCORD CHAT SERVER. All of the tutorials and tips on the Discord chat are all in there. You can bookmark the URL provided to you or you can download the Discord app if you would like to access it through mobile devices. I'll be there, some awesome global Axcels will be there, so please spread the word around.Something new on AXCEL STYLE?
A few months ago, I've proposed some suggestions and ideas that would not just make this site thriving, but to also give an opportunity for some Axcels to express their love, support, and knowledge about MADKID. I think I may have presented them at the wrong time and no one really signed up for the projects, so I decided to scrap it. Instead, I'll be opening another blog category separate from the rest of the MADKID-related blog that will focus more on the "fan side" of myself as an Axcel. So far, I've only been writing MADKID-fan related posts on my personal blog, but most of my readers there aren't J-Pop fans, and are mostly ignored. I won't be spending too much on this new blog feature just yet because I'm much busier real life than it is here on my fandoms. I don't have all the details yet on how I'm going to start this new feature, but when I finally start it, please do keep an eye on it. I also started opening another side blog project called ASIATIC TAKES, where I'll be writing about my personal experiences and takes on Asian pop culture and just Asian culture in general. That will include Asian dramas, J-Pop and Asian pop music in general (K-pop included), my life as an Asian growing up and living in the U.S., etc. If you're into this side of the Asian experience, please do come and visit when you can. I would write about my MADKID fan-related posts over there too, but I feel that it's a lot more appropriate here on AXCEL STYLE. As I've always told myself, all for the love of MADKID. And that's it for this post. Till next time, Axcels!![[CD REVIEW] CIRCUS](https://axcel.style/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/img_20190403_2136111098525384425090172-1024x768-450x300.jpg)
[CD REVIEW] CIRCUS
BIRTHDAY ALERT: LIN
It's been awhile that I've announced a Birthday Alert quick news. I remembered KAZUKI being the first Birthday Alert post that I made when AXCEL STYLE first opened. YUKI and SHIN came right after. After some six months, we have a new Birthday Alert post!
This Friday, April 12, LIN will be turning 25-years-old. 25! Our behind-the-shadows mastermind is the majority of the brains of all the music and concepts MADKID releases and performs since their very early beginnings back in 2014. Because he's always staying hidden from the rest of the members because he's always busy making slay music that gives MADKID its own signature brand, he's got very specific tastes when it comes to how fans should greet him or even give him a gift. He isn't like the other four members who are open and active to fans, but that doesn't mean we should also ignore him too. Instead, let's all just give him the love and respect he deserves for who he is and his versatile talent and creativity in music, words, and flow. When it hits 4/12 JST, you can tweet him with any one of the following:- Share your favorite MADKID and/or LIN tracks on social media and hashtag #MADKID #LIN #BIRTHDAY. You can find his songs on iTunes/Apple Music, Spotify, or even his SoundCloud. Feel free to tweet him directly, but don't go all yarakashii/sasaeng on this guy by declaring your obsessive infatuation with him.
- If you have any, in addition to the one above, maybe recommend some music that you feel LIN may like to check out. He needs inspirations and references too when it comes to his work too, you know.
- FANART! LIN loves FANART! If you are a fan artist, show off your skills and show your love through your art. Even the simplest fanart that you can do, he'll definitely appreciate it. Then, just tweet to him or tag him on Instagram.
What’s Happening? #26
April 3, 2019 is what happened. All in one day, we've got a lot of moments that just happened, all from premiere releases to a few updates to event announcements. For sure, this is one of those really long What's Happening? posts, so there'll be a lot of writing for me on this one. No, this isn't a late April Fool's post, although I'll write a bit about April 1st later in this post. It's not about April Fool's Day because this particular something isn't really a joke. In fact, it's an important day for me personally and my connections and relationships with MADKID.
"FAITH" MV Released
Here is the day we've been waiting for: the new 2nd anime opening theme for the ongoing series The Rising of the Shield Hero: FAITH. Please watch: https://youtu.be/A0iJkPbU7yA Their biker leather outfits really do reflect the feel and concept of FAITH, which as you can see, is a lot darker and edgier than the music video for the previous single RISE. Hours after the release of this MV, Episode 13 of Shield Hero will also premiere this 2nd opening theme (and its English version on the English dub version), as well as the new ending theme, also performed by the same artist as the previous ending theme. I'll let you all be the judge on what you think of both the song and the music video. A lot of the comments I've seen on the MV on YouTube still preferred RISE over FAITH, but that's natural and expected. We would say the same thing that the previous ones are a lot better because it was just newly released. Eventually, as we listen more, we get to appreciate and even like this song as much as we did with the previous. Personally, for me, I have no preference between the two songs. To be honest, I'm not a super huge fan of rock in general, but I do like some rock-concept songs in general. Both RISE and FAITH included. Both songs are composed and performed by MADKID, as long as it's MADKID, that's all that matters. I may be familiar with Shield Hero before the light novel series became an anime, but MADKID is my priority here. So many chains of events are happening during the MV that I had to re-watch it several times to finally get the picture. After giving up a bit, MADKID Twitter finally explained the message behind the song and the visuals of the MV. The visuals depict the members being tied in chains in different ways. Reflecting this to the Shield Hero storyline, Melromarc is tying him down the second time with another nasty criminal case . However, at the same time, it also represents us tying ourselves down to our negative thoughts and beliefs, just like how Naofumi still has issues trusting anyone, especially those associated with the Melromarc Royal Family, like Mel, for example. The clown mask that we see in several scenes in the MV represents these negative thoughts/beliefs that has been clouding our mindsets. The choice to break out of the shackles is up to us. You can remain clouded with these negative thoughts by being tied down and leaving the clown mask on your face or you can break out of these chains and free yourself. The song also just landed moments ago in the YouTube Music Hotlist for Japan, so it really is well worth listening and watching it. This same day also, if you live in Japan, the theme is now out on iTunes. The rest of the platforms will release this song on the 12th. Otherwise, wait on the 24th for the digital edition of their upcoming album, CIRCUS."FAITH" is BREAK OUT's April Opening Theme
If you have been an Axcel around the time of last year's release of their 2nd major single Summer Time, you should recall that male artist-oriented TV talk show BREAK OUT featured Summer Time as their opening theme for the month of June 2018. This year, FAITH is now featured as the April 2019 opening theme. Along with that is also MADKID's guesting in the show to talk about their upcoming release of their first major album and their upcoming live tour, CIRCUS.
There was a feature during the episode in this BREAK OUT released a preview of yet another music video coming from the album with the title song, CIRCUS. We don't know when this MV will be released, but my speculation may be on the same day as the album release or sometime in early May to promote their live tour. We'll just have to wait and see.
"CIRCUS" Album CD Jacket Visuals
And they're here, they're out, and they're hot! Don't forget to mark your calendars! April 24th.The Return of MADKID RISING HOPE
The continuation of MADKID RISING HOPE radio show picks up today also, with KAZUKI, LIN, and YOU-TA. Catch them every Wednesdays (until July) on the JFN PARK app!
April 1, 2019 - April Fool's Day
Every year, MADKID pulls up their own brand of April Fool's joke. Last year, they announced that MADKID will have a sixth member, who turned out to be one of their managers, Yokota-san. This year, MADKID announced that starting on that day, the members have swapped roles. The new roles were: SHIN - rapper LIN - vocalist YOU-TA - rapper KAZUKI - main vocalist YUKI - vocalist To prove that this was for real, they even have an alternate version of RISE with the guys assuming their new roles. You can watch the entire video on MADKID Instagram's IGTV, but you can watch the preview on their Twitter. Do you think the new roles fit the members? You be the judge. https://twitter.com/MADKID_official/status/1112568783091060736 When it hit midnight (JST) on April 2, 2019, the members decided to go back to their original roles.April 1, 2019 - Not Exactly April Fool's Day
April 1 may be April Fool's Day to many, but as an Axcel, April 1 is an important day for me. I've tweeted this on my personal twitter and also posted this on the AXCEL STYLE Instagram, but here I am again, being redundant and writing all about it again. This is how much this day is important to me.
There are a lot of stories prior to April 1, 2018, but that would be going off-topic and it wouldn't be appropriate to write about it, so I'm going to cut to the chase. This portion of this post is all about how I discovered MADKID and all the important details that led me to become a full-pledged MADKID fan, getting involved in coming up with the AXCEL fandom name, joining the MADKID Official Fan Club after two months of being a fan, and finally to building and maintaining the AXCEL STYLE site.
I'll try to make this short and sweet, but if you don't like much reading, you can skip this portion and be done with it.
#1 - How, when, and where did you find MADKID?
It all happened two years ago - early December 2017. To clarify things, I didn't find MADKID, so to speak. MADKID, or rather, one of the MADKID members, found me. The place? Instagram. I'm a hobbyist photographer and a straight-out foodie, regardless that I'm diabetic. Most of my posts on IG are the food of any kind that I've experienced dining. One of the types of food and refreshments that I love to post are different kinds of boba/bubble teas. If you are one of the people who had a chance to know me on social media (Twitter or IG), I've already told you this portion of the story. If you have been a long-time Axcel and you follow all the members closely, we all know that among the five of them, only one member who is addictively connected to boba/bubble teas. 😏 On that day in December, I just came home from a local concert to commemorate my old high school friend's memory. My late friend was a member of an Asian-American boy band that was on their peak back in the late '90s. I would write a whole post about them and how I'm closely connected to them, but again, that would be off-topic and will not write about that here. But in some way, it kind of explains my affinity to Asian boy bands in general, but somehow I can't find myself getting attached to Korean/K-Pop boy bands. I feel like K-Pop boy bands are lacking something, but again, that's another story. I'm actually working on another blog project that is mostly about Asian pop cultures such as Asian pop music from an Asian-American's point of view. When I have it done and completed, I'll let you all know. If you're interested, please follow my personal Twitter. Just as I was going to bed, I got a lot of notifications of likes coming from the same person and all the images he liked were all old boba/bubble teas I posted some years ago (2015-2016). I've always been opening to meeting new people on social media, especially those who have common ground with me. I figured that this mysterious person is a huge boba/bubble tea fan that I decided to check on his profile. All I got from the profile was MADKID, that he's Japanese, and other hashtags. Looking at his photos, they were mostly photos of himself. My first impression was that he was some kind of a model or a trainee in the entertainment industry of sort and didn't really look at his profile carefully. At that time, I was following a Japanese vlogger who shares his love of my old home country, so therefore I have some attachment to the Japanese in general. Still, I thought of him as a fellow boba/bubble tea lover and completely ignored him. Looking back, I felt really bad, because eventually, this member became my ultimate bias member of MADKID. And then, my youngest sister's birthday (March 31) came. We were only watching random YouTube videos until a particular video popped under my Recommendations section. The video? It's the music video of MADKID's debut single, Never going back. As I was watching the music video, I suddenly recognized one of the members. I went back to my Instagram to see if it was the same guy that I saw. To my big shock, it was him. The one I personally called the "boba/bubble tea guy" on IG. My curiosity about him and MADKID got to me and the next day, my research of MADKID began, starting on YouTube.#2 - How did you finalize yourself as a MADKID fan?
When April 1 (afternoon) came, I started searching for more videos of MADKID on YouTube. I found several of their songs, some were half-MVs, and fell in love with a lot of them. I even began searching for fancams and I found one fancam that a global fan took of their performance of the Never going back coupling song, Rain. I think it was Rain that pretty much solidified me as a MADKID fan. So, I left a comment letting the fancam owner know how I fell in love with the song and thanked her for the fancam. Personally, I didn't expect a reply, but moments later, I got a reply from her. We ended up following each other on Twitter. However, she noticed the location on my profile and advised that I should also meet another long-time fan who has known them since their early years. She also turned out to be a local and only lived some 30 miles from where I live. She now happens to be the owner and translator of the AXCEL STYLE subsite, Letters @ AXCEL STYLE, and my closest friend within the Axcel Family, both online and now in real life. We don't just talk and fangirl about MADKID. Because we're locals, we talk about other issues too, from personal to the things that happen around our hometown. When I first met Karu-chan and got to know each other better, she first informed me that MADKID members do individual livestreams to talk and chill with their fans and wanted to introduce me to the guys. I was nervous at first and I really didn't expect that as a new MADKID fan that I can get a little deeper than where I am. I'm not new to being a fangirl of Asian (mostly Japanese) boy bands, and I've set my limit to being just a fangirl, listening and buying their singles and albums, and oogling over my favorite member(s). At that time, I didn't have any favorites, as I have yet to get to know the members based on their profiles, short clips, etc. But, to learn that these guys do livestreams? I was seriously nervous but didn't want to show it. I was nervous for several reasons: I haven't spoken, read, and written in Japanese for years and second, the age gap. I waited for the time that I can get a chance to meet at least one of the members if not all. I thought I would wait for a while because of their busy schedules. Turns out it didn't take that long for me to meet a MADKID member. It happened the next day.#3 - Talkin' and Chillin' with MADKID on Livestream
MADKID has a monthly web show on LINE (LIVE) called MAD MUSIC, but I missed the April episode because I was still brand new and exploring around MADKID from the members to the work they've done in the past. But, the members also do their own personal livestreams and fans can get to talk and hang out with them, near and far. Karu-chan introduced the 17 (now known as 17 LiveAF) livestreaming app to me. I had a cheap smartphone then and that it had a lot of stuff in it. I was able to download it, but the memory was so low that it wasn't working for me properly. The first member I (sorta) met was KAZUKI. The video was running but the comment box wouldn't appear that I couldn't type anything, not even a short hello, but I heard KAZUKI calling my name many times and I felt bad that I couldn't respond, so I just relayed my messages through Karu and then to Kazuki. Once again, because of the phone issues, I decided to get my phone to work properly again. A few days later, I was able to get the app going and I noticed that I missed a lot of notifications: I see YOU-TA, YUKI, SHIN, and KAZUKI being online, and I was a bit upset that I missed a lot of them. Luckily at that time, YOU-TA was online, so I joined his stream. When I went there, he was singing karaoke with requested songs, which meant that he wouldn't be able to read my comments, even my single hello. I think that was the last time that I've been to his livestream because he halted livestreams right after that time. After YOU-TA, I noticed that KAZUKI was still on, so I went to his stream and finally introduced myself formally. He remembered me and was glad that I finally was able to get the app working. I said to myself that the next time, now that I'm prepared, whoever comes on first and I get to catch him, he may end up becoming my bias member. Two days later, that particular member turned out to be SHIN. If you haven't figured it out yet to this point, "boba/bubble tea guy" is none other than SHIN. 😅 https://youtu.be/WuKy3x2CKHQ When I first introduced myself to SHIN, I was kind of nervous. I actually greeted him with ohayou gozaimasu instead of konbanwa because of the time zones. Right with that comment alone, SHIN already figured out that my location isn't in Japan and began asking me questions about my location in English. He also began memorizing my name by repeating it to himself, so that he doesn't forget me next time. Because I was nervous at that time, I even apologized to him by saying that my Japanese isn't that good. He responded to me with a smile saying "My Japanese is not very good also." Somehow, I felt at ease at that time and I knew that he only answered that so that I would feel more at home. We chatted, exchanging comments, about my hometown mostly (because he was curious) and a bit about me, what I do for a living, etc. His stream ended early, an hour later, and I was a little sad that it ended. But, when I said "goodnight" to him, I remembered him responding with "Thank you for coming. See you again!" Definitely, I would be seeing him again. Eventually, I met YUKI last. Despite his cool and fashionista exterior, he's also a fluffy puppy underneath, just like KAZUKI and SHIN. Like with SHIN, he spoke to me in English, he even complimented my Japanese even though I wasn't that confident. He even commented that "Nobody speaks perfect Japanese anymore, so you're good." That gave me a bit of ease that I can become more confident in commenting. As days go by, I started going to their livestreams and hang out. Among KAZUKI, SHIN, and YUKI, "boba/bubble tea guy" won my attention and my heart. Even if that's the case, I still talk to all of them when I can. Before, I would write both in English and Japanese so that the guys would understand (especially with SHIN, who really want to be better in English). Eventually, I stopped writing in Japanese because SHIN wanted a challenge by reading all my English comments without any Japanese translations. At that time, he has gotten better and better and I'm glad, so much that it motivated me to be better at Japanese. It's like both of us are competing to see which one of us will be the most fluent in the foreign language we choose to be fluent. Even today, we still do that. There have been many changes with livestream platforms (especially with SHIN), but eventually, technical-wise, I've found some ways to continue communicating with them. No region-locked apps can stop us global fans from not being able to hang out with the members anymore. That's what I say. I'd write more about my livestream days, but I want to move on.#4 - Establishment of the official fandom name: AXCEL
Starting May, I started joining in their monthly MAD MUSIC web shows, commenting like I would with the member individual streams. I also learned that for the last few months that the guys and the fans and even the staff have been throwing out suggestions for fandom names. We global fans on J-Pop Amino unofficially called ourselves the MAD FAM because it had a bit of a ring to it. I wanted to suggest this but it was a little too late and that we didn't think of that name until much later, so we just went with whatever was already suggested. June 7's episode of MAD MUSIC will finally determine the final name for the fandom name. The entire story is actually written in the About section, but basically, I was one of the participants in that episode who voted for the name. I was voting FAM BABY at first because it was close to MAD FAM, but I eventually ended up voting for the name AXCEL. It had a really powerful meaning behind the name that I felt happy to finally call myself an AXCEL. On that same day, I joined the MADKID Official Fan Club, establishing myself as a legit AXCEL.#5 - AXCEL STYLE
Throughout those months, starting April 1, it was more than enough for me to finally make my contribution by expanding Karu's mission to spread the word about MADKID to the world. We're all aware of how difficult this would be because much of today's pop culture is immersed in K-Pop, but we can't let that stop us from introducing MADKID to the masses. These three months was more than enough for me to open a fansite solely dedicated to MADKID. Because AXCEL was still a brand-new name, I decided to use the name as the domain and even naming the website. Not only because of our close attachments and connections to the members on a (somewhat) personal level but because I find that the AXCEL fandom quite unique. Not very many (Asian) artists and groups would give this special type of fan service of communicating with fans through livestream (let alone being in live events), stretching their reach to non-Japanese fans. To me, it felt perfect. Everything fit together. AXCEL STYLE was born. At first, it wasn't my intention to show it off to the members because it will strictly be in English. I even thought that the members wouldn't waste their time checking out a fansite that's made by a fan because you know, too busy, right? Well, I was wrong. During one of SHIN's livestreams, a Japanese fan revealed to SHIN that I just launched AXCEL STYLE. On that day, SHIN started asking me questions, such as "When will you tell me about the site? I wanna see!" I eventually gave in and gave him the URL. Much later, it looks like the word has been spread, and I've gained some followers and even likes from YUKI (and even later on LIN) whenever I tweet about a new blog post written here. I've made fansites dedicated to my favorite boy bands back then, from ARASHI to even a few Filipino boy bands I ended up liking for a short time, but AXCEL STYLE is the first fansite that the members actually know about. I didn't want to dare to declare that AXCEL STYLE is the very first MADKID fansite existing, because I know there were more MADKID global fans before me (and after Karu) and some of them probably had a fansite dedicated to MADKID. I'll never know. And then in July, I opened a Twitter account and an Instagram account dedicated to MADKID and related to AXCEL STYLE. Just a few months ago (from this writing), I also opened a mini-YouTube channel. Whew, this post is getting really long, so I'm going to end this post right now. Thank you for taking the time to read and see you again next time, Axcels!
What’s Happening? #25
Spring has officially begun last week (3/20) and March 2019 is reaching its end this weekend. It also marks the end of RISE as the opening theme of the hit anime series The Rising of the Shield Hero. It also marks the end of the group's second radio show run on the JFN PARK radio mobile app, MADKID RISING HOPE. And because the Spring season has begun last week, March also marks the end of MADKID's Winter season... and just the winter season in general.
But April 2019 also marks the beginning of something fresh and new. We already know what they are, right?CIRCUS 1st Album Release Events
If you recall from the previous What's Happening? entry, the release events for their upcoming 1st major full-length album CIRCUS kicked off last March 16 in Tokyo. The boys sported out their brand-new outfits representing their 2nd opening theme for The Rising of the Shield Hero, FAITH. It's quite a change from their previous black and red attire for RISE, as they rock them biker/rider outfits. Their style already hinted to us that FAITH will have a similar concept as RISE.
During these first few release events, the guys performed FAITH for the first time. However, it's also the first time that they performed the third track from the RISE single release, Deteitteyo. Fancams are allowed to be shared and posted in public again, however, we only get to see the latter and we have to wait until April to see their release event performance of FAITH.
If you haven't seen Deteitteyo yet, here's a fancam. The sound isn't exactly the best, but imagine that this was taken using a mobile phone camera and take note of the distance between the person taking the camera and the stage. Still, please enjoy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_yT0W8pr78
The future of MADKID's radio shows on JFN PARK
Yesterday (as of this writing) was the last day of MADKID's radio broadcast, MADKID RISING HOPE. The only way for radio shows to continue on, even with different radio show names and formats, is for everyone to listen to their radio as many times as they can, as they are pre-recorded radio shows after all. It was mentioned in late December's What's Happening? post that this radio show will run every Wednesdays for 3 months starting early January, and as stated, the radio show ended at the last Wednesday of the 3rd month: March 27.
But, the radio show's final airing reached in the Top 10 that it was decided that MADKID will have a new radio show that will run until July 2019. Introducing FAITH
Starting next week's episode of The Rising of the Shield Hero, the 2nd opening theme FAITH will finally premiere--- both versions. If you watch the English dub of the anime on Crunchyroll, the English version of FAITH will also be premiered on that episode as well. The 2nd opening theme (Japanese version) will also have its premiere release digitally on iTunes (Japan region-locked on this day) as well on that same day. On April 12, the rest of the streaming platforms (Spotify, Google Play, etc.) will release the song worldwide. On April 24, their 1st album CIRCUS will drop, which will include FAITH and its English counterpart of the song, as well as RISE English version. This means all y'all Shield Hero fans who dig both RISE and FAITH, whether if it's in Japanese or English, should buy their album on that day.Introducing TANABE-YA
If you've been noticing on the main page of this site, I have been posting episodes of KAZUKI's brand-new YouTube talk show, TANABE-YA. I haven't given much info on what the show's format is about, but if you have been watching and paying attention, you should be familiar with the format already. Kazuki is the group's official MC, spokesperson, comedian, and an all-around motormouth. This guy can't stop talking that he wished to have his own talk show to organize his random talking. He finally got one starting last February: TANABE-YA. The show's length is about 20-25 minutes. The name of the show is fused with Kazuki's last name (Tanabe) and the word heya, which means room. So, in English, the show's name will be TANABE'S ROOM. Kazuki also has a co-host: a comedian and fellow 17/LiveAF streamer who goes by Mori Grill Chicken. The format of the show is as follows:- Every episode will introduce a guest. Kazuki's fellow MADKID members were his first guests (naturally). After MADKID, he will be having a different guest.
- I don't know if this is going to be a permanent segment, but fellow MADKID member SHIN also has his own segment, in which he introduces a type of food, from snacks to refreshments, that's only native or local to his hometown of Miyazaki. He is also a spokesperson for the flagship Miyazaki grocery store KONNE, located in Shibuya, so Tokyo folk has a chance to check out snacks, refreshments, and other goodies not found anywhere else but Miyazaki. I really do hope Shin continues to share us all his favorites!
- A type of card game with Mori-san and the guest(s) for the rest of the show.
What’s Happening? #24
It hasn't been that long since I posted the latest What's Happening? post. I mentioned in the previous post about the Major/Urgent Press Conference that was to be held earlier today (PST) and was livestreamed on LINE LIVE through MADKID's LINE account and LINE LIVE channel. I had to sleep really early to be able to wake up and catch up with this press conference and I'm glad I was able to participate.
We now finally what the huge urgent fuss was about during that last-minute planned press conference, and here it is!
1st Full-length Album Release: CIRCUS
I don't know about you, but ever since the announcement of this spring's live tour CIRCUS came out, I started to wonder the meaning behind the tour's name. Normally, they would name all their one-man lives and live tours from the latest singles released. The CIRCUS tour was announced at the same time as the 3rd major single RISE right after the end of the GIANT KILLING live tour, and the first initial thought that I had was "Shouldn't the new live tour be called 'RISE' instead of 'CIRCUS'?"
Finally, we've got our big reveal during the major/urgent press conference. You can watch the entire press conference here.
As always, there is a Type A and a Type B version. Both types will contain 15 songs in total. Aside from some of their tracks released last year and the two anime openings RISE and the upcoming FAITH, we also get fresh new tracks:
- CIRCUS
- COME
- Sayonara...
We also get four bonus tracks:
- RISE English Version
- FAITH English Version
- Sing for you
- STAY GOLD
Preorders are now available in your favorite online outlets like CD JAPAN, HMV, etc. You can check out the Exits section for the links of online stores you can preorder from.
But wait, there's MORE! Our boys also got new visuals!
CIRCUS Promo Contests
There are two promo contests that officially began today: a photo contest and a Twitter social media promo contest. For international Axcels, we're only able to participate in the Twitter social media promo contests, with some few requirements that may be difficult to fulfill. But there are some easy promo contests under this. More on this later.
But first, let's talk about the photo contest.
Release Events Photo Contest
If you plan on visiting Japan from the dates of March 10 to May 12, then yes, you can participate on the Release Events photo contest.
All you have to do is look on a scheduled release event list below that you plan on attending:
If you can't read Japanese, please contact me and I'll list out the places written above. I don't plan on listing them here on this blog post.
When you get there, all you have to do is take candid photos of MADKID during their performances. If you've got some mad photography skills, whether you're using a shiny DSLR camera or your mobile phone, here's your chance to show to the world of your discriminating photographic eye.
Not sure what this is? I recommend checking out the Twitter accounts of fan photographers Muteking and MiLKTEA POPCORN, who earned their places as two of the prominent fan photographers for MADKID. Check out their Twitters and see all their beautiful candid shots of MADKID, almost to the point that their subjects seemed to be more posing on purpose than being candid. These shots are prime examples of what this photo contest is all about.
Good luck!
Member-hosted Promo Contests
Starting today until June 30, 2019 (JST), Axcels can now participate in a variety of member-hosted promo contests to celebrate the upcoming CIRCUS album release. All you have to do is submit your entry on Twitter and add the following hashtags: #MADKID and #(member name)コンテスト. The latter hashtag is written in Katakana, meaning you would have to write the tag the way it looks. You can just copy/paste from here.
We don't know what you'll get if your submission was chosen. We'll find out more about the rewards later.
For example, say you made a RISE dance cover video on YouTube for SHIN's dance covers contest. When you tweet your submission, you would tweet along with the hashtags:
RISE dance cover.
#MADKID #SHINコンテスト
The following member-hosted contests are as follows:
SHIN: Dance Covers
Calling out all dancers and aspiring dancers around the world! Love MADKID and their dance routines to their singles? Submit your dance cover version of your favorite MADKID song. So far, they've got dance videos of Never going back and RISE available on YouTube. You can also find fan cams of their live performances from their past release events. The song you choose doesn't have to be the ones included in the album.
I have to rewatch the press release archives to see if you can also submit a different original dance you've created from one of their songs. SHIN, who is one of MADKID's best dancers, will be the one who will choose the winner. Impress him with your sweet styles, swag moves,
Hashtags: #MADKID #SHINコンテスト
LIN: Favorite Lyrics & Your Reasons Why
If you're not that much of an artistic or a creative person, you may want to participate in LIN's promo contest.
All you have to do is to submit your favorite MADKID song lyrics. It doesn't have to be the entire song, it could also be a few lines or more from your favorite MADKID song. Along with those lyrics are your reasons why you like these lives and how it resonates to you personally. One requirement is that your reasons have to be written in Japanese. Therefore, you'll have to find someone who can speak Japanese, especially if that person also happens to be a fellow Axcel.
If you're stuck, you can even contact my friend, Karu-chan of Letters @ AXCEL STYLE, through Twitter DM. She's offering her own Japanese translation service just for the MADKID promo contests.
Hashtags: #MADKID #LINコンテスト
YOU-TA: Catchphrase Contest
"The catchphrase is 'Play with me!'"
If you have been a long-time Axcel, we're all very familiar with MADKID's catchphrase. It's always been MADKID's signature catchphrase, so much that Axcels have been saying these words along with them, and we're very used to hearing the boys saying these words right in the beginning and the end of their segments, from lives to release events to even livestreams. But, what if one day that MADKID decided to change the catchphrase into something a lot catchier than "Play with me!"?
YOU-TA wants to challenge all you writers, poets, and (social media) marketers your best-ever catchphrase that would describe MADKID and Axcels altogether. Since Play with me! is already in English, the catchphrase can also be in English. You can even use Japanese if you prefer. Along with the catchphrase, you also have to explain why you chose these words and how it relates to MADKID. Just like with LIN's promo contest with the lyrics, you will also have to write your explanation in Japanese.
If you don't know anyone who is well-versed with Japanese, you can even contact my friend, Karu-chan of Letters @ AXCEL STYLE, through Twitter DM.
Hashtags: #MADKID #YOUTAコンテスト
KAZUKI: Fanart Contest
All you artists, illustrators, and graphic designers, this promo contest is for you!
KAZUKI is known for his stylish doodle (?) art and is always amazed at all the fanart and the edited graphics that fans make of MADKID or even of himself that he decided to host this contest for all the artistically talented Axcels around the world.
Create your art, traditional or digital, and simply tweet the fan art with the hashtags below:
Hashtags: #MADKID #KAZUKIコンテスト
YUKI: Fashionista Contest
To all the Axcels who aren't afraid to show off their unique fashion styles, natural fashionistas, cosplayers, and (wanna-be) models! Got what it takes to match YUKI with your obsession over stylistic outfits? Now you have a chance to show off your fashionista swag by joining in YUKI's Fashionista Contest!
There is one requirement that would probably give international Axcels a bit of a disadvantage: You must have at least one MADKID item as part of your outfit or an accessory. For example, the live tour goods that you get to purchase when you come to a live event with all the shirts, towels, shopping bags, tote bags, and pins, any one of those should be part of your stylish attire. Even the clothes that MADKID collaborated with AGEM'9 can also be considered.
You can order some of the goods through the Nippon Columbia store through a shipping service such as Tenso. I haven't tried ordering directly through a Japanese shipping service before, so I suggest you make your own research and check the shipping service out.
Hashtags: #MADKID #YUKIコンテスト
AXCEL STYLE New Site Theme
I don't have it completed yet. In fact, I haven't started with it.
I actually had this post already completed earlier, but there was some kind of a bug in the CMS system that didn't even save half of my post. Therefore, I had to start over with this post. Anyway, proceeding.
It's been a personal tradition of mine to change site themes per single or album that MADKID releases through time. If my memory serves correctly, AXCEL STYLE has gone through several theme changes... I think 5 times already? The first time I've launched the site, I wasn't quite organized as I used to and was debating on what to include in this fan site. Once I finally figured things out, I decided to minimize the site theme changes by following every MADKID release.
I also normally grab my color palettes based on the group's latest photographic visuals. However, for the CIRCUS group photo, red with some pinkish hues is the dominant color. Since we've got red for the current version you're seeing now (RISE version theme), I decided to get deeper with some of the prominent colors of the CIRCUS visuals and noticed that the flamingo bird at the background appeared a lot with the individual visuals.
So, in short, I plan on putting up a site theme with flamingo pink (or something somewhat pinkish) as its prominent color. The display/heading fonts I will be using will probably be close to the outline-style heading fonts that the promo images posted above have. As always, it would take me about 3-4 days to even a week to complete one theme, so please stay tuned for the new change!
That's it for today's What's Happening? post! Till next time, Axcels!
THE AXCEL SIDE Fan Takes, Fan Stories, etc.
[The AXCEL Side] The End of a Decade
The AXCEL Side 2020, end of the year, holidays 2019
By now, I’m pretty sure you’ve been wondering what MADKID has been up to. Maybe a few of you have been wondering what I have been up to and why I haven’t been really talking about MADKID as much as I used to in these past few months and talk about something else. Talking about […]
[The AXCEL Side] Fan Art & Other Babbles
The AXCEL Side digital art, fan art
Even though the featured image for this personal blog entry has YUKI in it, this post is NOT about YUKI. For this entry, I’m going to talk about my personal thoughts and views regarding art in general. I felt prompted to write about this because recently, thanks to MADKID’s new photo shots that they’re currently […]
[The AXCEL Side] Do you know the way to San Jose? #2
The AXCEL Side california, crunchyroll expo 2019, fan experiences, MADKID, san jose, sf bay area
I’m working remotely again at a very small and quaint neighborhood coffee shop near my workplace and since then, not only that I’m going through my usual work duties, but I’ve also been busy doing some maintenance on my other existing sites. I know, it’s been over two weeks since the end of Crunchyroll Expo […]
[The AXCEL Side] Do you know the way to San Jose? #1
The AXCEL Side #MADKID, california, crunchyroll expo 2019, fan experiences, san jose, sf bay area
As an East Bay local stuck in the middle of East Bay , I do know my way to San Jose. But, that’s not the point I’m trying to make with the title of this post. I guess you can say that this would be my very first fan experience post that doesn’t really much […]
[The AXCEL Side] Doubts about AXCEL STYLE
The AXCEL Side doubts, personal fandom, web dev talks
Yesterday (8/15/19 U.S. PDT), I posted my second attempt at an Instagram Story Q&A box on the AXCEL STYLE Instagram account. I’ve done this before earlier this year or sometime late of last year, but unfortunately, no one really dropped a question that I can answer and post it on the IG story. Just out […]
BIRTHDAY ALERT: KAZUKI
I know that this is a somewhat late post (for me), but in a few days as of this writing, MADKID's resident MC, jester, home appliance human Wikipedia, abstract-ish sketch artist, and award-winning 17 LiveAF streamer KAZUKI will be turning 25-years-old this Sunday, July 21. KAZUKI has officially hit the mid-20s mark, and he's the type of guy who wouldn't hesitate to do something special for his birthday. In fact, he already did by posting his "final cover" at age 24 - Sayonara Elegy by Suda Masaki.
https://twitter.com/KAZUKI_MDKD/status/1151838434668867587 So, be sure to tweet or comment on his IG and share your love as you greet him a Happy Birthday!