Happy Disco

I couldn’t stay away for long! Hi, I’m Allyson, also known online as Serenyty or writerserenyty, and for about ten years I wrote a blog about Japanese idol music called Happy Disco, first on blogger and then on the Intlwota domain. While I’m still active in this fan community, over time my posts slowed and I decided to stop.

So why is Happy Disco back? More than anything, I missed the level of engagement I used to have with Japanese idol music. I missed the blogging community. I missed being able to interact with the music on a deeper level.

One of the biggest reasons I decided to stop was, in many ways, the idol music scene felt like it was less exciting. The start of the 2010s, when I got started with blogging, was known as the idol sengoku era, where there were idols striving to hit the heights of the then behemoth, AKB48. However, as that has waned, the Japanese music charts are being taken up less and less by idols, and we’re back to a lull.

However, while I don’t know if we’re quite at an idol peak yet, this is an interesting time. Idol groups are starting to be increasingly known overseas, where groups like XG are trying to be global sensations rather than focused on JPop. Groups like ME:I are taking a somewhat KPop based approach, forming as part of Produce101 Japan and coming to KCon in the US. However, it’s not just groups in a similar mold to KPop groups. Fruits Zipper is blowing up in Japan and recently had a successful show in Miami, proving that there’s space for a group that is the epitome of JPop to be successful. Both Fruits Zipper and Chou Tokimeki Sendenbu have blown up on TikTok, with catchy melodies becoming trendy. Atarashii Gakko has made major inroads with the international market, too, going on a successful tour in the US last year and starting a new one this year, now with much bigger venues.

So while things aren’t at the level of the peak idol era seen in the early 2010s, this is an incredibly interesting time to be a fan of Japanese idol music, and I wanted to be a part of it, sharing my thoughts and sharing recommendations to new and old fans alike. I started the original Happy Disco because I had too many opinions I needed to get out, and this is going to be no different.

Since this is a new start for me, I really don’t know what Happy Disco 2.0 (or is it 3.0?) is really going to be. I have a few ideas for some blog series I could do, but right now I’m trying to figure it out. More than anything I think there’s a lot of interesting stuff going on in the Japanese idol industry and I want to be there for it.

Please let me know if there are any types of post, content, or anything of that nature you would like to see from this space. I’ll likely be reaching out on social media for suggestions, but please feel free to put more here.

Thanks for checking out this new chapter of Happy Disco and I’m glad to be back!