Behind most popular virtual vocal groups is always a bunch of famous voice actors. They get different collaboration deals easily. They get fans easily. They can climb to the top easily. But for those whose identities remain private, they can only rely on Niconico or other difficult means to showcase their talents.
Eight of Triangle is one of the latter. Scouted and signed by Toei, they rise to stardom thank to their true talents. This fact has been further confirmed by their first overseas concert at the annual Animation-Comic-Game Hong Kong (29th July).
▍A Concert that Surprised the Audience of Hong Kong
Eight of Triangle is not quite well-known in Hong Kong. The reason why I found out about these guys was the concert. I was casually roaming at the venue, then I heard some cheers followed by a sweet upbeat J Pop song that got me a deja vu. It almost sounded like the credit roll of some Japanese romance dramas. It almost sounded like the feeling of one’s teenage first love, or shy first kiss.
This was it. My feet just moved on their own and led me to the main stage. There were two anime guys on the screen, one was singing while the other one was assumably playing a keyboard. To be honest, I wasn’t too keen on the animation at first. It lacked the dynamics, sense of engagement and naturalness that Idolmaster and Tuskiuta have.
It was the series of adorable songs and the refreshing vocal that made me stay. The singer didn’t use much autotune at the live show. All I heard was a pure, uplifting teenage guy who was probably not very experienced in performing, which is the opposite of some new singers pretend to be. No wonder why once an audience stopped, he didn’t leave until the very end of the show.
▍A Name Not Big But Potentially Bright
Despite no pictures were allowed during the performance, their booth did welcome visitors to photograph.
The staff members told me about the two musicians – Kazuto, the 30 year old composer and Ray, the 24 year old vocal. Their story begun when Toei Animation spotted the two music maniacs perform live on the streets of Ginza. Upon discovering their talents, the former decided to help them debut as virtual idols in 2015. It might not be the true story of how they rose to stardom considering the fact that they are virtual idols and very probably have a made-up background like any other of their kind. Yet, I do admit I buy the story, mostly because they are not famous and street performance is one of the best ways to get noticed by big labels. Everything seems to make perfect sense.
As a virtual idol group, they are very different from the rest. Usually, the voice actors behind such groups do not behave in character in a performance, be it concert or radio show. They address each other using their real names and talk to each other just like they usually do. I would say this is a performance by the voice actors rather than the idols.
Kazuto and Ray, however, live their lives as Kazuto and Ray.
Whether they write a daily tweet, speak in a radio show or talk to the audience on stage (they are not actually on stage, they sing in the control room), they are themselves. Nothing sound staged. They do not need to read the scripts written for Kazuto and Ray because they do not voice the characters. They are Kazuto and Ray themselves.
They seem so real to the audience. One more reason to earn my respect.
▍A Few Songs to Recommend
They have released a few albums so far, but I would suggest listening to their very first album The Triangle at the beginning. This album basically sums up the sound of Eight of Triangle – mostly sweet, but sometimes can be as nostalgic and exciting as a group of high school girls and boys fooling around by the riverside after school. They are trying to make some mature tunes with their recent release Nijihoshi, which is again a sweet song but feel more polished in terms of feelings and lyrics.
▍A Place to Get to Know Them
They are very active on their official Twitter account. The latest info are also up there. Kazuto and Ray also have their personal Twitter to chit chat with fans and provide daily updates.
Their songs are surprisingly good :ooo thanks for introducing them to me