Nippon TV's "Yoru no Oto" featured =LOVE (Ikorabu).
Maika Sasaki's visuals are insanely strong.
Currently, their TikTok views have exceeded 2.2 billion, and in June this year, they became the fifth female group in history to achieve a solo concert at the National Stadium. A Tokyo Dome show is already set for 2027.
However, while footage from their debut was playing, center Maika Sasaki said this:
"I was doing it while thinking, 'I'm definitely quitting after this is over!'"
The oldest member, Sana Morohashi, also spoke about her past struggles with whether to graduate, even mentioning how producer Rino Sashihara stopped her while crying.
I was unexpectedly moved by the words of these two.
The reason is that I see them on the ground every week now.
On the ground, it's already like this
When you go to a bar with karaoke, without exaggeration, =LOVE songs play about 10 times a night. Someone finishes singing, and the next person puts in another one of their songs. Those kinds of nights are common.
There was a transition to get to this point.
About two years ago at drinking parties in Shibuya, Shinjuku, and Roppongi, =LOVE's "Zettai Idol Yamenaide" and "Seishun 'Subliminal'" were songs sung by young handsome guys and idol-type girls. They were popular, but they were exquisitely niche "insider" songs.
Now, they have become songs that almost all girls take the lead in singing. From a bartender's perspective, it plays so much you'd think it was a programmed radio station.
By the way, the song currently occupying the position of "Zettai Idol Yamenaide" seems to be Juice=Juice's "More! Mi Amore."* Girls who are proud of their singing often sing it.
As for M!LK, they are already in the hall of fame. They reached the general public with "Ii Jan," and from there, they hit three in a row with "Sukisugite Metsu!" and "Bakuretsu Aishiteru." I think they are monsters.
Recently, AKB48's "Suki-ish" has also been a hot topic because center Momoka Ito is too cute, and people are starting to say, "Is the AKB era returning?" If they hit a truly god-tier song within a year, I think something incredible will happen.
I'm from the hardcore AKB generation who dressed in drag to dance "Manatsu no Sounds good!" at a school festival, so honestly, I'm praying for their resurgence.
Actually, "Tokubetchu, Shite" caught fire later
I want to write one interesting fact here.
"Tokubetchu, Shite," which spread awareness of =LOVE all at once, was not a song that sold immediately after release.
It came out at the end of February 2025 and once disappeared from the charts. It caught fire from mid-April. On TikTok, dance videos using the second verse of the song suddenly started circulating. From there, it made a comeback and ended up sitting in the Billboard Top 100 for 35 weeks.
In other words, it caught fire on its own more than two months after release.
This kind of viral hit on SNS is a phenomenon that modern artists cannot ignore; rather, it is the phenomenon they should pay the most attention to.
Of course, there are exceptions like M!LK, who hit three in a row. But even that is the result of doing it for 10 years since their formation.
I have never seen anyone hit three in a row starting from their very first attempt.
My representative work is still Takoyaki
Now, I'll talk about myself.
My most-viewed video on YouTube is still the takoyaki video. It has over 12 million views.
I'll never forget December 29, 2019. I released that when I was stagnating at around 20,000 subscribers.
I was working as a floor staff member at a hostess club, barely scraping by on living expenses. I was truly at my limit, out of ideas, and desperately needed to put out a new project.
In the middle of that, while I was taking a crap during work, the idea came to me.
"Wouldn't it be interesting if a former Gindaco employee posted a video of themselves actually grilling takoyaki?"
I flushed, went home, and the next day, without any particularly elaborate editing, I tried putting it out.
My channel, which had been getting 1,000 views a day until then, hit 1 million views two days later.
What I found out from later research was that everyone said, "It came up in my recommendations when I was at my parents' house." In other words, it was New Year's special demand. It was simply a matter of good luck.
And until I retired as an entertainment YouTuber, no matter how much of a soul-searching project I put out, I never exceeded those view counts. As a result, no matter what I did, people would just say, "Kattu, just stick to grilling takoyaki."
There is a gap between what you think is interesting and what the public thinks is interesting. Luck and trends ride on top of that.
That's why I believe virality isn't something you can aim for and create.
However, please don't misunderstand
This is the most important part.
Thinking "Since I can't aim for virality anyway, I'll just upload whatever" is completely wrong.
You might give it your all and not grow. Even so, you have no choice but to give it your all. Everyone who has succeeded with content has followed this path.
In the first place, even with that takoyaki video, if I hadn't put out a mountain of high-effort videos before that and reached my limit, the idea wouldn't have come to me in the toilet. Even with "Tokubetchu, Shite," if they hadn't been releasing songs for years, it wouldn't have even been in a place where it could be picked up by TikTok.
Occasionally, I see people who conveniently only take in the first half of the argument and continue to put out sloppy work. They are just using it as an excuse for laziness.
You can't choose whether you hit a home run. However, you can choose how many times you stand at the plate.
Even after hitting it, it's not that sweet
As a side note, it's also tough after you hit a success.
You can milk a successful topic a few times. But you certainly can't milk it 150 times. Eventually, people get bored, and you're forced to change direction.
It's the same for artists; if you continue with the same tone for a few songs, people say, "This person only makes similar songs." You get criticized if you hit, and you get criticized if you change.
When I did a collaboration shoot with So Takei in the past, he said, "You can't survive unless you keep changing," so I think this applies to any industry.
Still, I want to talk about the time before they were famous
Honestly, anyone can talk about the time after someone becomes successful.
What I really want to focus on is the story before they made it.
Even though =LOVE is in its 9th year since debut, they are still sometimes introduced as a "rookie-like group." Fans who have supported them for a long time must have feelings about that kind of introduction. For those who know the time when their concerts didn't sell out, the current view is joyful, but at the same time, feels a bit distant.
Even so, they didn't quit. There was someone who cried and stopped them, there were people who were stopped and stayed, and at the end of those 9 years, there is a song that plays 10 times a night at karaoke now.
Of course, there are also people whose efforts were not rewarded. Those who failed halfway through must have worked just as hard. Even so, continuing patiently without giving up until you succeed is, after all, no ordinary feat.
Virality cannot be aimed for. Because it can't be aimed for, you have no choice but to continue.
I think I fall into the category of a casual fan, but I want to continue supporting =LOVE, AKB led by Momoka Ito, and everyone in M!LK.
I usually utilize my experience from my YouTuber days to act as an SNS management and video consultant for companies at OCTOPUS Inc. If you "don't know how to increase your turns at the plate," please feel free to contact me via X DM or [email protected].
