Bish (group) explained

Bish
Landscape:yes
Origin:Japan
Years Active:2015–2023
Spinoff Of:Bis
Past Members:

Bish, stylized as BiSH, was a Japanese alternative idol girl group that was founded in 2015 by their manager Junnosuke Watanabe. The group was conceived as a successor to Bis, an idol group managed by Watanabe that disbanded in 2014. They disbanded in June 2023.

History

Bish was initially announced in January 2015 with the idea to begin Bis again, and auditions began that month in order to find members.[1] [2] After the audition process, the completed lineup was announced in March, and members Yukako Love Deluxe, Cent Chihiro Chittiii, Aina the End, Hug Mii, and Momoko Gumi Company were revealed to the public. The members' eyes were obscured with black contact lenses and could not be revealed until they each attained 4,444 followers on Twitter.[3]

Their first song "Spark", from the album Brand-New Idol Shit, was released through the music site Ototoy as a free download: first as a demo version with vocals by their manager, then the finished version was released one week later. At that time, Yukako Love Deluxe chose to withdraw from the group before their official debut. In an interview with Ototoy, she cited reasons of stress and anxiety in relation to her withdrawal. She had recorded vocals for all tracks on the album, so her parts had to be re-recorded before its release.[4] Her voice was retained, however, on "Spark".

Bish released a music video for the song "Bish - Hoshi ga Matataku Yoru ni" in April. As the release of the album drew closer, Bish began to release more of its songs as free downloads. By 21 May, just six days before its official release date, all 13 of the album tracks were available for free.[5] This did not harm album sales, however, and their first album reached the 20th position on Oricon's Weekly Album Chart.[6]

On 31 May, Bish held their first solo concert, "This Is For Bis", at Nakano Heavy Sick Zero. Though venue's capacity was merely 80 people, it was chosen for its significance, being the venue where BiS' first one-man was held. During the show, the members announced an audition to recruit more members, and a single to be released in September.[7]

In August, Bish performed at the 2015 Tokyo Idol Festival. However, due to their fans and fans of their sister group POP (Period of Plastic 2 Mercy) failing to follow the rules of the festival during the groups' performances, both groups had all events on the second day cancelled. Footage from the festival that was broadcast on TV shows festival staff attempting to bring Bish's performance to a halt in the middle of a song.

On 5 August, two new Bish members were revealed: Lingling and Hashiyasume Atsuko, bringing the total number of members up to six. Just as the earlier members of the group, their profile photos were taken with black contact lenses. Their true faces could not be revealed until they gained more Twitter followers than Bish manager Junnosuke Watanabe.[8] However, Watanabe got bored of waiting and lowered the number to 5000 followers for both members, and their faces were revealed later that week.

On 14 August 2015, Bish revealed the music video for their first single, the Celtic metal song "OTNK", featuring the new members. On 2 October 2015 it was announced that Bish would release a second album with the title Full Metal Jacket. This was later changed to Fake Metal Jacket, and was released on 20 January 2016. Fake Metal Jacket was promoted with a music video for the song "Monsters", which originally appeared on their first album. Upon release, the album reached 5th place on the daily Oricon album charts.

On 19 January 2016, Bish announced at the final leg of their "Idol Is Shit" tour that they would have their major debut through the label Avex Trax in May 2016.

The group released the hardcore punk song "Deadman" as their major-label debut single on 5 May, billing the 99-second number as "(Probably) the shortest major debut song ever?!" The coupling track "earth" was composed by Tetsuya Komuro and the release was mastered by Tim Young. "Deadman" reached 5th position on the Oricon weekly singles chart, and shortly after its release, Bish announced the release of their major-label debut album in October 2016.

On 16 May 2016, member Hug Mii announced her withdrawal from Bish, citing family reasons as the cause. Her last performance was on 2 June.

On 1 August 2016, new member Ayuni D was revealed to the public. She made her debut with the group at the "TOKYO BiSH SHiNE repetition" event on 24 August, where they announced the title of their upcoming October album, Killer Bish.

Aina the End, the lead vocalist of the group, underwent surgery for vocal polyps at the end of 2016, which meant the group ended their activities for the year with the free concert "In The End". She returned in 2017, and Bish announced their single "Promise the Star" would be released later in the year.

Bish released their first mini-album, Giant Killers, on 28 June, featuring title track "Giant Killers" and "Shakai no Rule", the theme song for cartoon Heybot!, with lyrics written by Hashiyasume Atsuko. Certain editions of the album contain "Introducing Bish", a twelve-track compilation CD featuring new recordings of past Bish songs featuring vocals by Ayuni D.

On 4 November 2017, Bish had a surprise release of their second major-label album, The Guerrilla Bish, exclusively through Tower Records. The album was released at a price of ¥299 without any prior advertising, and the surprise edition is packaged without cover art or a lyrics booklet, a reference to Kanye West's sixth album Yeezus.[9] The music video for the lead song "My landscape" was filmed at the Mojave Air and Space Port's airplane graveyard in California, as was the photography for the album cover.[10] [11]

On 28 March 2018, Bish released the single "Paint It Black". The song was used as the second opening theme for the anime series Black Clover.[12]

On 3 July 2019, Bish released the single "More Than Like", which was used as the fourth and final opening theme of Fairy Tails final season.

On 22 July 2020, the album Letters was released, considered the band's "major 3.5th" album, containing 7 tracks.[13]

On 4 August 2021, the album Going to Destruction was released.[14]

On 24 December 2021, Bish announced that they will disband in 2023.[15]

In 2022, Bish released a new single every month, starting with "Final Shits" and ending with "Zutto".[16]

On 8 February 2023, Bish announced that they had established Bish Co., Ltd. and audition project Bish The Next, with the purpose of producing their successor group.[17]

Bish's final single, "Bye-Bye Show", was released on March 22.[18] It features all four members of the rock band The Yellow Monkey; vocalist Kazuya Yoshii wrote and produced it, while the band's three instrumentalists performed the track.[19] Additionally, the single's B-side is a cover of The Yellow Monkey's 1996 song "Spark".[19]

Bish disbanded on 29 June 2023, at their final concert which was held at Tokyo Dome.[20]

Members

Final line-up

Former

Timeline

Discography

Artist:Bish
Studio:7
Compilation:2
Ep:3
Singles:21

Studio albums

TitleAlbum detailsPeak
positions
JPN
Oricon

[21]
JPN
Billboard

[22]
Brand-new idol Shit 20 26
Fake Metal Jacket
  • Released: 20 January 2016
  • Label: Sub Trax
  • Formats: CD, digital download
13 13
Killer Bish
  • Released: 5 October 2016
  • Label: Avex Trax
  • Formats: CD, digital download
7 8
The Guerrilla Bish
  • Released: 29 November 2017
  • Label: Avex Trax
  • Formats: CD, digital download
5 6
Carrots and Sticks
  • Released: 3 July 2019
  • Label: Avex Trax
  • Formats: CD, digital download
4 4
Letters
  • Released: 22 July 2020
  • Label: Avex Trax
  • Formats: CD, digital download
1 1
Going to Destruction
  • Released: 4 August 2021
  • Label: Avex Trax
  • Formats: CD, digital download
1 1

Compilation albums

TitleAlbum detailsPeak
positions
JPN
Oricon

JPN
Billboard

For Live -Bish Best-
  • Released: 8 July 2020
  • Label: Avex Trax
  • Formats: CD
1 2
Bish the Best
  • Released: 28 June 2023
  • Label: Avex Trax
  • Formats: CD
1 1

Extended plays

TitleAlbum detailsPeak
positions
JPN
Oricon

JPN
Billboard

Giant Killers
  • Released: 28 June 2017
  • Label: Avex Trax
  • Formats: CD, digital download
4 4
Sticks
  • Released: 3 April 2019
  • Label: Avex Trax
  • Formats: digital download
Carrots
  • Released: 3 May 2019
  • Label: Avex Trax
  • Formats: digital download

Singles

As lead artist

TitleYearPeak
chart
positions
Album
JPN
Oricon

JPN
Billboard

[23]
"OTNK"201510 34Fake Metal Jacket
"Deadman"20165 16Killer Bish
20174 9The Guerrilla Bish
"Paint It Black"20181 3Carrots and Sticks
"Non Tie-Up"12 29
"Life is Beautiful"3 5
"Hide the Blue"
"Stereo Future"4 4
"Small Fish"2019rowspan="2"
"Kind People"2 4
63
"Tomorrow"2020rowspan="6" 48Letters
"Story of Duty"Going to Destruction
"Star"2021
"Zenshin Zenrei"
"In Case..."
"Stacking"
"Final Shits"20223 55Bish The Best
2 32
4 56
4 31
"Lie Lie Lie"3 57
4 51
"See You"8
5 28
"Up to Me"9 88
3 66
11
"Zutto"3 56
"Bye-Bye Show"20231 1
"Innocent Arrogance"rowspan="3"
"Patient!! (Bish ver.)"rowspan="2"
"The Next (Bish ver.)"
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

Collaborations

TitleYearPeak
chart
positions
Album
Oricon
[24]
JPN
Billboard

[25]
"Future World"
(Shingo Katori feat. Biah)
20193520200101
"Bad Temper"
(with Yuki Kashiwagi)
20219

Other appearances

Title!scope="col"
YearAlbum
2018Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon: The 25th Anniversary Memorial Tribute
2019Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra Tribute Collection: Rakuen Jyusan Kei
2020Mobile Suit Gundam 40th Anniversary Album ~BEYOND~
2022Ellegarden Tribute

Videography

Live albums

TitleAlbum detailsPeak
chart
positions
DVDBlu-ray
  • Released: 18 January 2017
  • Label: Avex Trax
  • Formats: DVD, Blu-ray+CD, digital download
19 9
Bish Nevermind Tour Reloaded The Final "Revolutions"
  • Released: 1 November 2017
  • Label: Avex Trax
  • Formats: DVD, Blu-ray+2CD, digital download
8 7
Bish "To The End"
  • Released: 29 August 2018
  • Label: Avex Trax
  • Formats: DVD, Blu-ray+2CD, digital download
8 8
Bring Icing Shit Horse Tour Final "The Nude"
  • Released: 3 April 2019
  • Label: Avex Trax
  • Formats: DVD, Blu-ray+2CD, digital download
3 4
And yet Bish moves.
  • Released: 15 January 2020
  • Label: Avex Trax
  • Formats: DVD, Blu-ray+2CD, digital download
2 5
Tokyo Bish Shine6 (Live at Zepp Tokyo 2020.8.19)
  • Released: 18 November 2020
  • Label: Avex Trax
  • Formats: DVD, Blu-ray+2CD, digital download
2 2
Reboot Bish
  • Released: 26 May 2021
  • Label: Avex Trax
  • Formats: DVD, Blu-ray+2CD, digital download
1 3
Bish presents From Dusk Till Dawn
  • Released: 3 December 2021
  • Label: Avex Trax
  • Formats: 4DVD, 3Blu-ray+photobook, 3Blu-ray+7CD+photobook, digital download
2 3
Bish Out of The Blue
  • Released: 15 February 2023
  • Label: Avex Trax
  • Formats: DVD, 2Blu-ray+3CD, 2Blu-ray+3CD+photobook, digital download
4 3
Bye-Bye Show For Never At Tokyo Dome
  • Released: 22 November 2023
  • Label: Avex Trax
  • Formats: 3DVD, 2Blu-ray, 3Blu-ray, digital download

Documentary albums

TitleAlbum detailsPeak
chart
positions
DVDBlu-ray
All You Need is Punk and Love
  • Released: 9 December 2017
  • Label: Space Shower Music
  • Formats: DVD, Blu-ray, digital download
40
Bish Documentary Movie "Shape of Love"
  • Released: 29 August 2018
  • Label: Avex Trax
  • Formats: DVD, Blu-ray, digital download
21 12
Bish presents PCR is Paipai Chinchin Rock'n'Roll
  • Released: 26 April 2023
  • Label: Avex Trax
  • Formats: DVD, Blu-ray
17

Awards and nominations

Award ceremonyYearCategory <--List wins first (sorted alphabetically), then noms (also alphabetically). Sort pending the same.-->Nominee(s)/work(s)Result
Japan Record Awards2018Best New ArtistBish[26]
MTV Video Music Awards Japan2019Best Alternative Video"Stereo Future"[27]
2020Best Cinematography"Letters"[28]
2022Inspiration Award JapanBish[29]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 「BiSをもう一度始める」渡辺淳之介プロデュース"BiSH"始動. natalie.mu. 6 June 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150801093219/http://natalie.mu/music/news/136065. 1 August 2015. live.
  2. Web site: BiSHオーディション開催!!. wack.jp. 6 June 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150816121052/http://wack.jp/bish.html. 16 August 2015. dead. dmy-all.
  3. Web site: 元BiSマネージャー手掛ける新アイドルBiSH、本人歌唱の楽曲配信 フォロワー4444人で素顔公開. oricon.co.jp. 6 June 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150924153236/http://www.oricon.co.jp/news/2050704/full/. 24 September 2015. live.
  4. Web site: 【BiSH】Episode3 ユカコラブデラックス、初インタヴュー「脱退」. ototoy.jp. 6 June 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150608011904/http://ototoy.jp/feature/2015040305. 8 June 2015. live.
  5. Web site: BiSHがアルバムから残りの4曲公開、全貌明らかに. natalie.mu. 6 June 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150522230644/http://natalie.mu/music/news/147892. 22 May 2015. live.
  6. Web site: Brand-new idol SHiT. oricon.co.jp. 6 June 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150701080227/http://www.oricon.co.jp/prof/646187/products/1121930/1/. 1 July 2015. live.
  7. Web site: よみがえる中野の熱狂!BiSH、先輩と同会場で初ワンマン. natalie.mu. 6 June 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150613090959/http://natalie.mu/music/news/149037. 13 June 2015. live.
  8. Web site: BiSH、新メンバーは2名!黒目がちアー写公開. Natalie. Natasha Inc.. 4 August 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150806004445/http://natalie.mu/music/news/156026. 6 August 2015. live.
  9. Web site: BiSH drop new album in secret, film MV in California. ARAMA! JAPAN. 6 November 2017 . 15 February 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180216084645/http://aramajapan.com/news/bish-drop-new-album-secret-film-mv-california/82263/. 16 February 2018. live.
  10. Web site: BiSH Go into the Great Wide Open With the MV for "My landscape"!. Japanese kawaii idol music culture news Tokyo Girls Update. November 2017 . en. 2019-01-08. https://web.archive.org/web/20190108200919/http://tokyogirlsupdate.com/bish-mv-my-landscape-201711134948.html. 8 January 2019. live.
  11. Web site: BiSH - My landscape (MV) and More. 2017-11-04. J-Generation. en-US. 2020-05-03.
  12. Web site: "Black Clover" Anime's New Opening and Ending Themes Revealed. Crunchyroll. en-us. 2020-05-16.
  13. Web site: BiSH 「LETTERS」特設サイト. 2020-08-20. BiSH Major 3.5th ALBUM「LETTERS」特設サイト. ja.
  14. Web site: BiSHの最新アルバム『GOiNG TO DESTRUCTiON』アニメやドラマ主題歌含む全14曲. 31 August 2021. Fashion Press.
  15. Web site: BiSH to Disband in 2023. 2022-01-03. Arama! Japan. 24 December 2021 .
  16. Web site: BiSH、12ヶ月連続リリース第1弾「FiNAL SHiTS」リリース ダンスシーンのみのワンカットで構成されたビデオも公開. 12 January 2022. Spice.
  17. Web site: "次なるBiSHを選ぶ" オーディション企画「BiSH THE NEXT」始動. 8 February 2023. Ototoy.
  18. Web site: BiSH、ラストシングル「Bye-Bye Show」制作ドキュメンタリーティザーを公開 アートワーク、特典画像も解禁. February 18, 2023. Spice.
  19. Web site: BiSH解散前ラストシングルのプロデューサーは吉井和哉、イエモンメンバーも演奏で参加. Natalie. Japanese. 2023-02-19. 2023-02-19.
  20. Web site: BiSH、6/29東京ドームでのラスト・ライヴをもって解散. 22 December 2022. Skream!.
  21. Web site: BiSH Oricon Style. Oricon. 2019-04-02. ja. https://web.archive.org/web/20190410150546/https://www.oricon.co.jp/prof/646187/products/. 10 April 2019. live.
  22. Web site: Billboard Japan Hot Albums. Billboard Japan. 13 June 2020.
  23. Web site: Billboard Japan Hot 100. Billboard Japan. 13 June 2020.
  24. Web site: Oricon Ranks. Oricon. 13 June 2019.
  25. Web site: Billboard Japan Hot 100. Billboard Japan. 13 June 2020.
  26. Web site: 『レコ大』辰巳ゆうとが最優秀新人賞 現役大学生のイケメン演歌歌手が涙の受賞. Oricon. December 30, 2018. ja.
  27. Web site: 「MTV VMAJ 2019」の受賞者発表。King Gnu"白日"が史上最速で「最優秀ビデオ賞」. Rockin' On. September 19, 2019. ja.
  28. Web site: Winners of the MTV VMAJ 2020 Announced. Arama! Japan. October 31, 2020.
  29. Web site: Winners of the MTV VMAJ 2022 Announced. Arama! Japan. October 17, 2022.