Gacharic Spin & DOLL$BOXX Information Masterpost 2018

Warning: this is quite a long post, if you’re just looking for videos and song recommendations you can just scroll straight to the end

Gacharic Spin is an all-female rock band based in Tokyo, Japan, formed in 2009 by two friends and former high school classmates, F Chopper KOGA and Hana. Their sound varies wildly, from hard rock to dance pop to funk, but usually settles somewhere around the range of energetic electro-influenced pop rock. Their signature assets according to fans include their talented musical skill (particularly the technical slap-bass of F Chopper KOGA), complex songwriting, wild visual aesthetics, and an unforgettable live concert experience.

In terms of their marketing strategy, you might think of Gachapin (the band’s nickname) as a rock band that leans on some of the tactics of the grassroots idol scene. Members have a designated color, and you can guarantee that at any live show you’ll see a sea of fans decked out in their favorite member’s color. They’re very active on social media and take several opportunities throughout the year to interact with their fans, at in-store meet and greets and photo op events, at the merch booth at their shows, at fanclub-exclusive casual gatherings, etc. The band takes their touring schedule very seriously, performing upwards of 100 shows per year throughout the country, and each show is a spectacle, rife with penlights, costumes, props, choreography, and fan chants. Performer Mai, the band’s own hype-woman, leads the crowd in these interactive elements of the shows, and the fans dance and chant in sync in harmony with the band–a far cry from the usual fist-pump-head-bob of your typical rock concert and more in line with what you’d expect to find at an idol show. But don’t let their appearance fool you: the members of Gacharic Spin are some of the most technically proficient female musicians active in the scene today.

DOLL$BOXX is a side project of Gacharic Spin and their friend and vocalist, Fuki. They are a more traditional rock band and more familiar to overseas audiences, with their music video Take My Chance practically viral on Youtube with 2.5 million views. More on them later in the side projects section, but if you found this article through your exposure to DOLL$BOXX, welcome! You’re lucky enough to have stumbled upon not just one but two amazing bands and I hope you’ll give your support to both of them.

Gacharic Spin Members



(left photo is in Gacharic Spin, right photo is DOLL$BOXX - except Mai)

F Chopper KOGA (2009 - present)

Position: Bass, Leader

Real Name: Koga Michiko

Color: Yellow (Green in DOLL$BOXX)

The leader and founding member of the band, F Chopper KOGA (interchangeably called Chopper or KOGA for short) is the emotional core of Gacharic Spin. She is the spokesperson for the band, appearing in radio interviews and leading the MC’s during concerts. Toward the end of the larger concerts, she is known to give a heartful, tear-filled speech of appreciation to the fans and her fellow members. Her bass skills are no less than virtuosic; she plays a slap-bass style inspired by Les Claypool. She has released two instructional bass DVD’s and was named in the top 20 bass players alive in a Japanese magazine ranking (the only female to make the cut for ANY instrument in that article). She is also influenced by KISS and especially Gene Simmons, whom she credits as the inspiration for Gacharic Spin’s gregarious performance style.

KOGA is often teased by her bandmates for her tone-deaf singing (she’s the only current member without any lead vocal credits) and for occasionally stumbling over her rapid-fire words, for which she’s been given the nickname Kami-sama (written 噛み様, a pun on the verb 噛む “to fumble one’s words”). Outside of the band, she’s devoted to her dog Suku, who is an unofficial mascot of the band. She’s also interested in radio work and hosted her own regular radio show for about a year.

Hana (2009-present)

Position: Drums, Vocals

Real Name: Sano Hana

Color: Blue

In addition to her full plate as the band’s drummer and one of the two lead vocalists, Hana, described as a “musical otaku” by her bandmates, is also the musical leader and main songwriter of Gachapin. In her career she’s something of a perfectionist and spends long hours in the studio practicing and writing, even without the other members present. Hana is a long time veteran of the music world. Growing up, she lacked any real hobbies and enrolled in some dance classes for something to do, and ended up auditioning for some idol groups at her musician parents’ encouragement. She joined the youth idol group PRECOCI and later joined the kids’ band 12.Hitoe as a vocalist, but it wasn’t until high school that she started to experiment with playing instruments. Today, she can play at least ten instruments, and in past bands has been a bassist and a guitarist. You can even see her on rhythm guitar in Gacharic Spin’s song “Boku Dake no Cinderella.”

Despite her serious demeanor towards her work, Hana is just as goofy as her bandmates. During her drum solos at concerts she’s known to don a yellow helmet with cowbells and jingle bells duct taped to it. She was also named the “Bakadan Leader,” the biggest idiot in the group, after a quiz event. She’s also the most prone to getting pranked by her bandmates; she’s had her drumsticks swapped out for chopsticks, she showed up to her birthday event to find her bandmates all dressed in her stage costumes from throughout the years, and she got slapped with the unwanted nickname “King” that’s haunted her ever since. Outside the band, she’s into fitness (just take a look at her biceps sometime), currently learning boxing and practicing to climb Mt. Fuji. She also has a fondness for birds.

TOMO-ZO (2010-present)

Position: Guitar

Real Name: Midorikawa Tomoko

Color: Pink

TOMO-ZO is the self-described “idol-type” of the group. Wherever she wanders, you’re sure to see an absurd amount of pink, glitter, bubbles, and toothy smiles. In the early years of the band, her gimmick was that she was an eternally 14 year old magical girl, and during MC’s she would hit the audience with a magic spell that would knock them back into their seats. In 2014, she came out to put the record straight: she was not actually a magical girl, but in fact an ancient alien from Nicorin Planet who is currently 400,000,014 years old, and now she hits the audience with her “TOMO-ZO Beam” which blasts them with her alien…psionic powers or something. I don’t know. Her sweet personality is also a little shady; during oneman concerts she gets her own MC section where she “introduces” each of her bandmates by telling an embarrassing story about them, and then introduces herself by saying something like, “I’m sorry that I’m so cute!”

As the only guitarist of the group, TOMO-ZO has a lot of responsibility in delivering Gachapin’s melody while Hana and KOGA drive the rhythm. And even though she isn’t officially listed as a vocalist, she always gets at least one lead vocal song in each album. They’re usually ridiculous. She’s also the only member to have performed a solo tour outside of the group. Additionally, she is responsible for designing all of Gachapin’s merchandise. TOMO-ZO is known both for her sweet tooth (she’s known to carry around lots of sweet treats and once said that her dream was to have a house made of candy) as well as for discreetly being a big carnivore. Hilariously, TOMO-ZO is the leader of the strait-laced, dark color schemed, super serious DOLL$BOXX.

Oreo Reona (2012 - present)

Position: Keyboard, Vocals

Real Name: Suzuki Reona

Color: Purple (with white as a secondary color)

On paper, Oreo Reona (also called Oreo or Oreo-sama) is the keyboardist and one of two lead vocals, but in practice, she’s…so many things. Something like Gachapin’s trump card, during a live performance you’re likely to see her all over the place, rushing out to the front of the stage to join Mai as one of the dancers, jamming on the keytar or even playing acoustic guitar on certain songs, and of course, standing upright on her keyboard during climactic moments of the show. She’s the self-proclaimed “sexy member,” with lots of moans and suggestive motions, but she’s just as much the band’s comic relief. Sometimes you’ll see her sporting tiny shorts, fishnets, and a light-up bra harness that shoots out fog. Sometimes she snatches off her own wig mid-concert and waves it around in midair. Sometimes she’s a hamburger. It’s a beautiful mess. She’s often the victim of slapstick in the group - getting pans dropped on her or smacked in the back of a head with a shoe; forced to bungee jump as she shrieks at the top of her lungs; getting her face crushed into her own birthday cake. And sometimes she’s her own victim and takes a faceplant onstage. It’s OK. She’s sturdy.

Oreo is usually teased for her laziness behind the stage and for her big appetite. Whenever the band goes overseas, you’re guaranteed to see a social media post about Oreo gushing over the food. Another running gag is her ongoing, unsuccessful struggle to find a good man, which was the theme of an entire tour in 2016. Oreo studied ballet as a kid, and subsequently became Gachadan’s dance coach when they became part of the lineup. She adores pandas, especially after Gachapin visited China in 2013 and she drew the short stick to get to hold a baby panda. Lately, she’s also taken an interest in Mexico (mostly because of the food). Despite her constant antics, the members seem to think highly of Oreo’s intellect, as she was ranked the #1 most likely to pass a general knowledge quiz.

Mai (2013 - present)

Position: Performer #1

Real Name: Morishita Mai

Color: Light Blue

Mai is currently the sole member of Gacha Gacha Dancers (Gachadan for short). Rather than playing an instrument, Gachadan is responsible for standing center stage and leading the choreography and getting the crowd pumped up and playing along. Mai has one lead vocalist credit to her name (Tokenai Candy, which was released as Gacha Gacha Dancers together with Arisa). Mai is in charge of creating choreography for the whole band, and after Nenne’s departure in 2017, she started to take on even more responsibilities. She’s started to learn guitar under TOMO-ZO’s tutelage and now plays guitar occasionally during Gachapin’s lives, and has a guitar line and rap verses in the lead track from the G-litter album, “Redline.” She’s also been responsible for coaching Gachadan Jr. On top of all that, Gachadan used to promote independently as an idol unit outside of Gachapin, with their own concerts, but that has stopped since Nenne’s departure. Mai is not a member of DOLL$BOXX, but she did make a cameo in their “Hero” music video.

Despite her slim body, Mai is well known for her big appetite. She’s often posting on her blog about different ice cream flavors she’s tried and asking for recommendations; she’s also a fan of REALLY spicy food. She likes South Korean culture and music. She’s often called “Sweet Devil” because, according to her bandmates, her innocent face is just a cover to hide her true nature. She’s also Hana’s #1 workout buddy. Outside of Gachapin she has a prolific gravure idol career as part of the Chu-Boh idol circle, but she hasn’t been active in gravure since graduating high school a couple years back.

Gachadan Jr. (2017 - present)

Gachadan Jr. aren’t really true members of Gachapin, but rather are a rotating stable of performers that back up Mai onstage. In 2017, Performer #3 Nenne took a hiatus due to medical reasons, but much of Gachapin’s choreography relied on having 2 bodies at center stage, so Gachapin recruited about 20 young girls to participate in one of their big concerts. Nenne left the group permanently, and instead of hiring a full-time replacement for her, the Gachadan Jr. lineup was pared down to three girls who rotate to appear in certain live performances: Misaki, Anna, and Hazuki.

Former Members

Eita (2009)

Position: Guitar

Eita was the original guitarist of Gacharic Spin, but left due to creative differences before any CDs were released and was soon replaced by TOMO-ZO. Years later, Eita formed a band with Armmy called TAKAEITA.

Armmy (2009-2012)

Position: Vocals

Real Name: Ashitomi Takae

At the start of Gachapin’s existence, the band only had one dedicated vocalist, with Hana solely listed as the drummer. Like Oreo, Armmy’s character was based on over-the-top sexiness that sometimes eked into comic territory. Armmy left the group after an extended period of absence in 2011 due to poor health. She was off the music scene for a while but then formed a band with EITA, but unfortunately she passed away suddenly in 2015.

Arisa (2013-2015)

Position: Performer #2

Real Name: Kamiki Arisa

Color: Green

Arisa was hired alongside Mai as the first generation of Gacha Gacha Dancers in 2013. She was adored by her fans for her “genki,” “baka,” goofy personality. Despite that, she also had an occasional friendly rivalry with Oreo about who was the sexiest member. Just after Gachapin’s major debut in 2015, Arisa decided to leave the group to focus on her last year of high school. She hasn’t been seen on the entertainment scene since then.

Nenne (2015-2017)

Position: Performer #3

Real Name: Konishi Nene

Color: Orange

Nenne was an underclassman at Mai’s school who attended the same dance classes as her, so Mai invited her to come see some of Gachapin’s live shows and got to know the members. When Arisa announced her intention to graduate, Nenne became a natural candidate to replace her, as she had been a member of two idol groups in the past and could also play piano. They began to train Nenne behind the scenes before Arisa’s departure, so Nenne was ready to go iimmediately after Arisa left. Nenne was the first to push the envelope of the Gachadan position as she also acted as a backup keyboardist/pianist to Oreo. This granted flexibility to the band, letting Oreo come out front as more of a lead vocalist while Nenne took her station at the back of the stage. You can hear Nenne’s work throughout the Music Battler album, including the twin piano duel at the start of Nostalgic Blue. Nenne went on hiatus from the group in 2017 due to hearing damage. She spent several months in recovery, and while the condition did improve, but she decided to fully withdraw from the group to prevent any future damage. She remains in contact with the members and attends some of their lives, and she also remains active on Instagram and Twitter.

History

Ultimately, the story of Gacharic Spin is the story of KOGA, so it’s worthwhile to take a few paragraphs to tell her story. Born and raised in Nagoya, KOGA set off on her own at age 14 to move to Tokyo to get her foot into the entertainment industry with a dream to become a TV announcer or producer. She soon met a producer named Kihara Michiko, the president of the briskcrew talent agency, who signed KOGA on to her agency as a gravure idol (think racy swimsuit modelling). One day, briskcrew decided that the idols on its roster were going to hold a fanclub event, and encouraged the idols to come up with fun ideas for the fans. Some of KOGA’s seniors approached her about their idea to form a one-time band for the event, and since the other members had already chosen the other instruments, KOGA was left with being the bassist, despite never playing one before. The fan event was such a success that briskcrew decided to make the band a permanent fixture, and the punk-pop group The Pink Panda was formed.

At the same time, KOGA was working part time at a recording studio, which gave her a chance to broaden her horizons and learn about different rock bands that she heard the studio musicians covering. Her two biggest influences were Primus, which lead to her adopting her signature slap-bass style that became the basis for her nickname, and KISS, whose theatrical, over the top performance style she wanted to emulate.

Pink Panda grew in popularity and started to get scouted by major labels. What happened next is subject for debate, but KOGA’s side of the story is something like this: the record label wanted Pink Panda to tone down their boisterous style and try to go more mainstream, and specifically they noted that they’d never had a female slap bassist sell well. Rather than kick their friend out of the group, Pink Panda decided to split amicably with a full breakup. The remaining members, minus KOGA, went on to form another band called Blistar.

Short on cash, KOGA was ready to throw in the towel and move back to Nagoya, but her producer, Kihara, seeing the talent KOGA had, pleaded with her to stay. If KOGA would give it one more chance and form another band, she’d have the full support of briskcrew behind her all the way to the end. KOGA agreed but with conditions: this would be her last band, and she would only do it if one other person agreed to join: her high school classmate (and onetime bandmate in a jam band she was temporarily in during the Pink Panda days), Sano Hana. Hana was already in a band of her own at the time, so KOGA was surprised when Hana immediately agreed. Originally the plan was for Hana to continue working in her old band concurrently, but since she was a bassist in that band and KOGA wanted her to be the drummer in the new band, she decided to give one up and give her full attention to just one instrument.

The two founding members named the band Gacharic Spin. Orginally it was a bacronym because they liked the word “Gachapin” and wanted something they could shorten to that. Now, they explain it as a combination of “Gachagacha,” the onomatopoeia for the clattering sounds that a gachapon capsule machine makes, and “Spin,” mixing things together. Therefore, Gacharic Spin is mixing together several clattering, clashing elements.

The band recruited Armmy on vocals and Eita on guitar through an audition process, and the group started to perform in clubs. The group got an early boost in popularity from old Pink Panda fans, but in the back of her mind KOGA had anxiety that those fans could wander off at any time. So the band pursued an active touring schedule to try and get as many new fans as possible. Only a few months in to the band’s formation, Eita left the band due to creative differences, and they held another auditon, where they found TOMO-ZO, from the recently disbanded girl band EU-PHORIA (whom KOGA had shared the stage with before as Pink Panda). Apparently, they hit it off great with TOMO-ZO, and took a liking to her the moment she entered the room. With their permanent guitarist now onboard, they entered the “Gachapin 2.0” formation, and the group hit the studio and recorded their first two singles, Lock On!! and Hunting Summer all at once.

2011 brought Gachapin their first mini-album release and their first overseas appearance in Houston, TX. Toward the end of the year they also started to perform with a support keyboardist on tour, TOMO-ZO’s former bandmade in EU-PHORIA, Oreo Reona.

In 2012 the band reached its biggest crisis to date, a period they call the “Gachapinch” era. Armmy was repeatedly absent due to chronic health issues. The band had to cancel several co-headlining shows as a result, but they still had a headline tour of their own coming up. They recruited several of their acquaintances from different bands to act as guest vocalists throughout the tour. Two of these guest vocalists turned out to be very important: their own support keyboardist Oreo Reona, and Fuki, the lead singer of the power metal band Light Bringer.

After the tour, there was still no indication that Armmy’s condition was improving, and the band was finding it difficult to contact her at all. They made the decision to remove her from the band, with the intention to recruit a new permanent vocalist. Around the same time, Oreo was hired as a permanent keyboardist. However, the band had a tour in France already lined up for that same year, and it was too late to back out. The band decided to move forward with the France tour, with Hana and Oreo splitting lead vocal duties. The dynamic worked better than expected, and when they returned to Japan they decided to keep the four member lineup, which became known as “Gachapin 2.5.” This formation released the single “Nudierhythm” together.

For the rest of 2012, Gachapin went on the backburner a bit while the members started to work on another project. During the Gachapinch period, they developed a rapport with Fuki from Light Bringer, and the two parties had casual talks about doing a collaboration together. The talks escalated until Fuki and Gachapin decided to form a side group together called DOLL$BOXX. Their debut album, “Dolls Apartment,” was released in 2012 under the major label King Records.

After Dolls Apartment’s promotional cycle ended and DOLL$BOXX went back on the shelf, it was time for Gacharic Spin to resume its activities in earnest. However, the members decided that the 2.5 formation was lacking something. Oreo and Hana were the main vocalists, but both of them were at the back of the stage. Koga and TOMO-ZO stood out front but were mostly occupied with their own instruments. This led to a void, no front woman standing at center stage to get the crowd hyped up. The solution they found was to hire two dancers as support members. Through her connections in the idol industry, Kihara recruited Mai and Arisa, who became the first generation of “Gacha Gacha Dancers,” Gachapin’s support dancers. The new formation was dubbed “Gacharic Spin 2013 style.”



All of these changes in such a small period of time–cancelling shows, losing their vocalist, and then completely relaunching the band with a totally different lineup and performance style, were a big gamble, and the members worried about losing their fans–but, to their amazement, the fans largely stayed with them, embraced the dancers, and the band’s future was secured. In 2014, the Gacha Gacha Dancers became full-fledged, permanent members, and later the same year, after all these struggles, the band signed a major label deal with Victor Records, releasing their major debut Sekira Liar / Tokenai Candy in 2015.

Since going major, the band has continued to have some ups and downs–the loss of Arisa, and then later gaining and subsequently losing their third dancer Nenne–but nothing compared to the troubles they’ve overcome so far; they are continuing to barrel forward as they always have, with an insane touring schedule, regular CD releases, and a loyal army of Gachaman & Gachapinko (male and female Gachapin fans, respectively) cheering them on every step of the way as we inch ever toward their 10th anniversary next year. Their biggest milestones since going major have included recording an ending theme for the Dragon Ball Kai anime (their 2nd major single Don’t Let Me Down) in 2015; performing a oneman live at the legendary Hibiya Outdoor Amphitheater in 2017; more overseas shows in the United States (San Francisco, Houston, and Chicago), South Korea, Taiwan, and China; and completing a 23-show oneman nationwide tour culminating in a double oneman show (Gacharic Spin and DOLL$BOXX both performing separate, full-length headline sets on the same day) at Tokyo Dome City Hall in 2018.

Discography

Singles

Indies 1st: Lock On!! (2010)

Indies 2nd: Hunting Summer (2010)

Indies 3rd: Setsunaku Melody (2010)

Indies 4th: Nudierhythm (2012)

Indies 5th: Boku Dake no Cinderella (2014)

Major 1st: Sekira Liar / Tokenai Candy (2015) (available on Spotify)

Major 2nd: Don’t Let Me Down (2015) (available on Spotify)

Major 3rd: Shakishaki Shite!! / Aru Busu no Shoujo (2016) (available on Spotify)

Major 4th: Generation Gap (2017) (available on Spotify)

Albums

Side Projects

Never content with the status quo, Gachapin has participated in a number of side projects and collaborations over the years.

DOLL$BOXX

DOLL$BOXX (called Dorubako by fans) is a band formed by the instrument players of Gacharic Spin and Fuki, a vocalist previously from the bands Light Bringer and Unlucky Morpheus. The project arose out of the chemistry between the two acts when Fuki was a guest vocalist on the Gachapinch tour. Their debut album Dolls Apartment released under King Records in 2012 (technically, it was Gacharic Spin’s major label debut as they did not sign to Victor Entertainment until 2015). DOLL$BOXX toured through the end of 2012 in support of the album, but disappeared into the shadows for several years.

They reconvened briefly in 2014 to support a music video collection DVD, but for the most part DOLL$BOXX went completely radio silent, leading many to believe it was just a one time collaboration. However, in 2016, Fuki signed to Victor Entertainment as well, and with all five musicians on the same label finally, a path forward appeared. Hints of a DOLL$BOXX reunion swirled, with a one-off reunion show performed in February 2017. Then, Fuki appeared as a guest performer at Gachapin’s Hibiya Yaon concert in June and confirmed the suspicions: DOLL$BOXX was back, and a new mini-album was in the works, released late in 2017. DOLL$BOXX has remained active since then, with two tours and hosting their first music festival, DOLL$FESTA, in 2018.

DOLL$BOXX sports a heavier hard rock and less electro-influenced sound than Gachapin. Fuki’s swooping vocals are complemented by Hana’s backing growls, a talent of hers seldom showcased in Gachapin. Their music video Take My Chance has over 2.5 million views on Youtube and has spread outside of Japan due to their tongue-in-cheek parody of idol culture juxtaposed with their aggressive sound. Onstage and in interviews, DOLL$BOXX has a much more serious demeanor than Gachapin, but it’s immediately apparent that this is tongue in cheek as well, and that behind the serious faces and dark clothing, they’re having a blast and trying their best not to laugh and stay in character.

Members

TOMO-ZO (leader)

(leader) F Chopper KOGA

Hana

Oreo Reona

Fuki

Fuki

Position: Vocals

Real Name: Tenge Fuyuki

Color: Orange

Fuki is a very prolific singer in the Japanese hard rock/heavy metal scene. She gained notoriety as the lead singer of Light Bringer, and was a member of that band when she first met Gacharic Spin on tour. She volunteered as one of Gacharic Spin’s guest vocalists during the Gachapinch tour, and the collaboration was so successful that the two sides decided to team up and form the side project DOLL$BOXX while each remaining in their original bands. During DOLL$BOXX’s hiatus, she also participated in the recording of Gacharic Spin’s major debut best-of album, singing guest vocals on Black Survival (a song originally recorded by Armmy, but it became deeply associated to Fuki during the Gachapinch tour). Light Bringer has since disbanded, but Fuki is currently active in three different groups: DOLL$BOXX, Unlucky Morpheus, and her own solo project Fuki Commune. She’s also participated in a myriad of collaborations and side projects, including Sound Horizon, Nozomu Wakai’s Destinia, Carbonic Acid and Dragon Guardian. Her solo career has included many video game and anime soundtrack contributions including Terraformars, Kaitou Joker, and the Hyperdimension Neptunia series.

Fuki is well-respected in the scene due to her powerful, pitch-perfect, metal-influenced technique, as well her signature “high-tone” vocal style, but despite her power metal background she’s proven herself equally proficient at pop music and ballads. Fans also know her for her geeky side; she loves anime, games, and Sanrio characters (her favorite is Cinnamoroll), is frequently seen cosplaying on her social media pages, and is a founding member of Unlucky Morpheus, which started as a doujin metal circle performing rearranged covers of songs from the Touhou Project video game series and selling their work at Comiket.

DOLL$BOXX Discography

1st album: Dolls Apartment (2012)

Mini-album: high $pec (2017) (available on Spotify)

Metallic Spin

Metallic Spin is a European metal band that has gained popularity while touring in Japan, covering songs by western metal acts. Despite the similarities in names, and the fact that the bands have performed together often, they have no relation to Gacharic Spin.

**yes, but seriously, they are just Gachapin in wigs and makeup. The running gag is that they’re a totally different set of people, and it’s taboo to suggest otherwise. The original vocalist of Metallic Spin was Fuki/”Ki-fu Richards,” but now the vocalist is a guy from Saber Tiger.

Members

Kawai Tomozo (Guitar)

Nose (Drums)

Anarchy Stocking (Keyboard)

Chopako Gaefu (Bass)

Gezan Satsuporo (Vocals)



Gacha Gacha Dancers



Gacha Gacha Dancers (Gachadan for short) is the collective unit name for Gachapin’s performers. Therefore, the 1st generation of Gachadan was Mai and Arisa, and the second generation was Mai and Nenne. In 2015, Gacharic Spin released a double A-side single, Sekira Liar / Tokenai Candy. Tokenai Candy was credited to Gacha Gacha Dancers, was entirely sung by Mai and Arisa, and had its own music video. The single was released in two limited edition types, one cover featured the instrument team and the other cover featured the Gachadan team, and they had a contest to see which version would sell more copies. If Gachadan sold more, they would get their own solo CD debut. In the end, Gachadan fell short, but they still occasionally got to work outside the group attending some idol concert events as a separate unit. After Nenne’s departure, Gachadan’s outside activities have ceased so far. Gachadan has at least one unreleased original song called Banban.

Unofficial Local Idol Group Project

In 2014, someone thought it would be a good idea to create a fake idol group out of Gachapin’s members to be their opening act at a show in Atsugi. TOMO-ZO was the producer, and Hana, KOGA, and Oreo became the members in this masterpiece of a group called USUGI.

The show happened, USUGI released a demo CD, and someone had the even more brilliant idea to keep running with it, so Gachapin launched a full “unofficial local idol group” project in which they created a separate fake idol group for each city in their spring tour. Each unit had a different mix of Gachapin members, was themed around a certain part of that city’s culture, and lampooned a range of musical styles from classic Showa-style bubblegum pop to modern kawaii metal. At the end of the tour, they put on a battle of the bands event between all of the different idol groups, and they repeated the process again in 2016 with a new roster of idol groups to integrate their new member Nenne into the fold.



Hilarity ensued all around.

Teradaric Spin



Gachapin’s latest side project is a collaboration between the 4 instrument players and Terada Keiko, the lead singer of the long-running all-female band SHOW-YA. Gachapin has looked up to SHOW-YA as their “older sister band” for years, and they are a perennial participant at the SHOW-YA hosted music festival NAON no YAON. In 2018, Gachapin and Terada got together to form a side project together; they embarked on a mini-tour and also performed at DOLL$BOXX’s DOLL$FESTA event. Gachapin posted a survey on Twitter asking fans what Gachapin and SHOW-YA songs they would like to see covered, and they built the setlists for the tour based on those responses.

Links & Resources

Official Pages

Music Videos

Listed in chronological order by CD release for each band. Bold links represents videos I recommend watching first for newcomers. A lot of their later videos only have short versions posted on Youtube, so I provided links for both the short, official version (higher quality + give them more hits) plus a link to the full version on another site whenever possible.

Gacharic Spin

DOLL$BOXX