Anyways... Idol Battle Alive 2026 has officially begun! And the episodes are even longer than last years!
If you're unaware of IBA, its a newly founded yearly idol competition where different groups compete for five million yen (or 31,678 USD). The groups are evaluated on five criteria; Stage production, expressiveness, vocal ability, performance skills, and idol appeal. The group with the most polished performance according to the judges gets the five million yen!
Last year's winner was OCHA NORMA, one of Hello! Project's newer groups. 2026 is the second year the shows been running, and the first year I've been able to watch the episodes come out in real time. Needless to say, I'm very excited to see what group gets the yen of approval.
This years contestants are: SKE48, NMB48, Oishii Aimai, Pixel Ribbon, Maneki Kecak, #Mooove!, RE-GE, Ringwanderung, and Rosy Chronicle. They've invited a pretty diverse cast, from well established groups, to newer groups, and mega-popular groups, to lesser known ones. I appreciate that they don't exclusively focus on groups from companies that already make well over five million yen.
Enough yapping, start the show!
Buckle in, it’s a whole hour long!
Title card!
This girl is SERIOUS!
And this girls not, lol
Last years winner, our lovely OCHA NORMA-sama~
And their little sisters, Rosy Chronicle!
This is actually the first time I’ve heard their music, and I got to say they’ve very diverse in their sound.
From high energy songs with traditional elements,
To more mature idol-like songs,
To fully gothic inspired hits! They’re pretty unique
Now onto my favorite segment, watching the girls train
“I thought it was scary” she says
…I can see why
This screenshot doesn’t do her much justice, but girl on the right is super cute. Center girl seems to agree, although the girl on the left completely zoned out…
Off to a summer idol fes! These two are so cute together!
Their performance was rudely interrupted by the rain. One of the poor girls is completely soaked!
Luckily they were able to go back on stage. This is the song they were practicing during that training segment!
Now’s time for the song segment. Rosy Chronicle has brought you: Misery ~ Ai no Tenbin ~
I don’t have many notes on this part. Pretty nice vocal performance paired with dramatic choreography
Very nice! Although nothing particularly memorable
Next up, we’re introduced to Oishii Aimai.
I’ve actually been listening to them quite a bit recently. Their discography is really good.
They’re a very very talented group, which is why they won a special gift of one million yen last year. But this year, they’re aiming for the five million!
Haruka~~~
I have a thing for red-haired idols, I don’t know why
Kawaii <3
Smiley Mikuru. Have you ever seen such a cute smile?
They’re phenomenal performers. If they don’t win, I don’t know what I’ll do.
This feels almost theater-esque
And sexy~
Another smiley Mikuru
“Run wild” Haruka says
Let’s see how wild they can get with their song “Mary”
Kick!!
Haruka’s just so cool… and she’s got a cool voice… and red hair…
How mysterious you two are!
:o
Oishii Aimai, let’s win the five million yen!!!!
Now, moving onto NMB48!
You’ve never seen a group take silliness as seriously as NMB.
I should’ve gotten more screenshots of their segment, although theirs wasn’t as interesting as the others. I did enjoy the part where they were walking around Osaka. But of course… I forgot to take any screenshots. So have this shot of their stunning captain member.
Say what you want about modern 48G, but the girls really do love their groups to death.
And now they will present; Seishun no Deadline”
Their captain (Keito, right?) has really good stage presence, although her vocals could use a bit of work
These three sound so good together ahhh!
This choreography is really pretty
Captain-san stunning in the center as always
And now, the final group to be introduced in this episode is…
Maneki Kecak!
Excuse me for my poserness, but I actually hadn’t heard of this group prior to IBA. Their name is apparently pronounced Maneki Kecha, even thought it’s spelt Kecak.
Nya~nya~
As I said, I hadn’t heard of them before this.
THEY MADE IT TO BUDOKAN A WHILE BACK?
They weren’t kidding about this group having great vocalists!
These girls are serious!
Gahh these ishous are sooo beautiful!
Don’t their sleeves look like bubble wrap?
Just want to… pop…….
What a beautiful 11th anniversary show!
…and one died. Rest in peace…
A few months before IBA however… one of their members ended up withdrawing due to a breach of contract. It was actually quite interesting to hear the members thoughts on this. I feel like idols don’t often talk about these sudden withdrawals, despite them being so prevalent in the idol industry.
But even with one less member, these four are determined to win!
And now, listen to the final song of the episode; Kimi Wazurai.
This girls voice is one of the best I’ve heard in a while… holy
She’s got a nice voice as well
Kawaii!
They’re really strong performers, although I wish their choreography was more interesting. I’m pretty sure this song is quite a few years old though, so maybe their newer stuff is more dynamic.
And that concludes the first episode! Even though we haven't met all the groups and idols participating yet, there's already so much to root for. As far as I've seen, I don't think any of the groups are "bad" options for the prize.
If you couldn't tell, my favorites so far are Oishii Aimai. But I would be happy seeing any of these groups win, especially after seeing how hard each and every one of them are working for this. This is such an enjoyable program, I hope it continues for years to come and funds all kinds of idol groups.
I think I most want to see the prize go to one of the smaller groups participating. I'm not against a 48G or Hello! Project group getting the 5mil. But knowing how short smaller idols careers can be, seeing them get this funding for putting on a fantastic show would be genuinely inspiring to other smaller groups trying to break out of Chikadom. Just like how iLiFE went from being a group very few had heard about, to one loved by thousands. This show could possibly create an arc like that for the next generation of idols.
The second episode is already out, so I'll be sure to review that as well soon! I assume we're gonna meet the groups we haven't been introduced yet there. Be sure to tune in then!
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