Perfume is a Japanese techno pop girl group consisting of three members, Yuka Kashino (KASHIYUKA), Ayaka Nishiwaki (a~chan), and Ayano Omoto (NOCCHi). The group have been active since early 2000 and are known within JoJo's Bizarre Adventure for one of their songs being the namesake of Chocolate Disco, the first Stand in the series to be named after a Japanese language song.

History

The group was formed in 2000 by Ayaka Nishiwaki, Yuka Kashino, and former member Yuka Kawashima (河島 佑香, Kawashima Yuka) in the young talent academy Actor's School in Hiroshima. Because the three of them had the kanji for "fragrance" (, ka / kaori) in their names, they decided to name the group "Perfume" (香水, kousui).

This section requires expansion.

KASHIYUKA

 
Kashino with volumes of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure on her bookshelf in 2009.
 
Kashino's bookshelf in 2010.
 
Kashino's collection of JoJo figures.

Yuka Kashino (樫野 有香, Kashino Yuka) is known by her stage name KASHIYUKA.

KASHIYUKA is infamous for being a big fan of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. Her favorite part is currently Vento Aureo, and her favorite character is Giorno Giovanna. She also likes Bruno Bucciarati and Jotaro Kujo. When Perfume appeared on the TV show Music Fighter in April 2009, KASHIYUKA revealed that JoJo's Bizarre Adventure was the thing that she was currently most into. She initially disliked the series because of its crude art style, but later begun reading it after a JoJo fan passionately recommended it to her.[1] In an interview with Perfume in the music magazine What's In from March 2009, KASHIYUKA also mentioned JoJo as the manga series that she was recently addicted to.[2]

While on stage during the Perfume Second Tour in October 2009, KASHIYUKA talked about the appearence of Chocolate Disco in Steel Ball Run, saying that she was very happy to hear that one of her songs made it into her favorite manga.[3]

On April 16 2010, Perfume made a guest appearance on the show Happy Music hosted by TV personality Becky. During the show KASHIYUKA was asked to show something that made her happy, to which she then held volumes of Steel Ball Run to the camera to discuss JoJo. She also presented photos revealing various figures she has in her room, including a copy of JOJO A-GO!GO!. KASHIYUKA also showed a photo of her bookshelf containing over a hundred volumes of JoJo lined up side by side. At the end of the show, Becky and the other members of Perfume re-enacted the cover of SBR Volume 14.[4]

On March 1, 2010, KASHIYUKA was invited to Araki's house for an interview, though the details are lost due to it only being posted on a "members-only" blog, which has since been deleted. The blog also featured a JoJo style picture of the members of Perfume. In 2012, Kashino was also invited by Araki to the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure's 25th Anniversary commemorative party in Tokyo.[5]

KASHIYUKA has incorporated JoJo poses into the group's choreography, notably in the cover art of the "Fushizen na Girl" (不自然なガール, Fushizen na Gāru)/"Natural ni Koishite" (ナチュラルに恋して, Nachuraru ni Koishite) double A-side single and in the "Natural ni Koishite" music video.[6]

a~chan

Ayaka Nishiwaki (西脇 綾香, Nishiwaki Ayaka) is known by her stage name a~chan.

In an author's comment from Ultra Jump in March 2010, Araki describes coincidentally meeting a~chan while out shopping.[6][Notes 1]

Ayano Omoto

Ayano Omoto (大本 彩乃, Ōmoto Ayano) is known by her stage name NOCCHi. She joined Perfume in 2001 after it was founded, replacing original member Yuka Kawashima. Prior to joining Perfume, she was a member of earlier idol groups Happy Baby (ハッピーベイビー, Happī Beibī) and La Ayanota (ラ・アヤノータ, Ra Ayanōta).

While on stage in October 2009, KASHIYUKA mentioned that NOCCHi's hair was similar to Bruno Bucciarati from Vento Aureo.[3]

Relevant discography

#

Cover Single Name Artist Use Release Date
1   "Fan Service [sweet]"
  1. "Chocolate Disco" (チョコレイト・ディスコ, Chokoreito Disuko)
  2. "Twinkle Snow Powdery Snow"
Perfume Name of Chocolate Disco February 14, 2007

"Chocolate Disco"

"Chocolate Disco" (チョコレイト・ディスコ, Chokoreito Disuko) was included as one of the two tracks featured on "Fan Service [sweet]", Perfume's ninth single. It was released on February 14, 2007. The song "Chocolate Disco" was later included as the fifth track on Perfume's debut studio album GAME, released April 16, 2008. Following its release, GAME has been cited as one of the most successful techno pop albums of all time,[7] with many of the the tracks being compared to French duo Daft Punk.[8]

The song "Chocolate Disco" was used as the namesake for the Stand Chocolate Disco in Steel Ball Run,[9] making it the first Stand in the series to be named after a song from a Japanese artist. People at the time speculated that the first Japanese Stand name would either be a song from Shoko Nakagawa or SOUL'd OUT, since both had close ties to Araki and were notable fans of the series.[10][11] The inclusion of "Chocolate Disco" was very unexpected, as Araki is rarely known to listen to Japanese music.[12]

Music producer Yasutaka Nakata, who wrote and composed "Chocolate Disco" for Perfume, said in an interview that his favorite manga was JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, and that he was impressed to find out about the appearance of Chocolate Disco in the series.[13] Nakata was very happy to have his song featured as a Stand and would advertise it as such whenever he played it at events.[14]

The name of Chocolate Disco was later changed in SBR Volume 17, noticeably having a different spelling than the one used in the single.[Notes 2] The spelling of the user's name was also changed from "Disco" to "D-I-S-C-O."[Notes 3]

Gallery

Videos

Trivia

  • A popular fan comic depicting the members of Perfume with different Stands was created in June 2008. The comic showed Yuka Kashino with the Stand "Chocolate Disco." Interestingly, this was posted two months prior to Chocolate Disco's reveal in Steel Ball Run.[15]

Notes

  1. "While I was out shopping I met a~chan from Perfume. What are the odds? Was it Fate? (maybe not...)" (SBR Chapter 81)
  2. 『チョコレイト・ディスコ』 → 『チョコレート・ディスコ』
  3. 『ディスコ』 → 『ディ・ス・コ』

References

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