History Music / LadyBaby

** The first round of 2018 costumes, as mentioned above, have Rie and Nana showing off their model-tight midriffs and Emily showing off her long legs. Rie also likes to take scissors to Ladybaby T-shirts to allow herself to show off more skin.
** The fourth lineup has yet to do anything revealing, but three of the members – Mia, Rem, and Sakura – have pre-LB Instagram photos where they show themselves in varying stages of undress.

The group's first music video "Nippon Manju", relased July 4th 2015, was so ''weird'' even by Japanese standards that it became a viral hit – as of 2023 it has over 35,000,000 views. This success led to more music videos plus physical singles and multiple live shows, where Magarey's ability (and Rie's to a lesser extent) to cross language barriers helped the group gain an international following, allowing them to perform in Los Angeles, New York, Cologne, Mexico City, and London.

Unfortunately, LADYBABY soon gained a reputation for poor management and member turnover – Magarey left the group in Summer 2016 after a contract dispute, leaving Rie and Rei to continue as a duo for another year with a temporary Music/{{Prince}}-like name change. During this time, they released their first full album, which contained all but two of their songs with Ladybeard. They also continued to record more music of varying harshness levels and perform more shows, including an appearance at Tokyo Idol Festival. Then, in November 2017, Rei abruptly quit due to a falling-out with Rie, seemingly ending the group.

However, in January 2018 Rie announced, along with a "memorial" album of her duo songs with Rei, that she would reboot LADYBABY after overseeing open auditions. Less than two months later, Rie plus three new girls debuted as the group's "Third Generation".

Emily's scream abilities allowed the group to finally cover Ladybeard's parts live again. This version of LADYBABY was known for the members' closeness, high-energry live shows, and music becoming much more experimental. Unfortunately, despite its popularity (live shows in Japan regularly sold out), this LADYBABY ceased activities in January 2020 after nearly two years. While there were plans for one-off shows through that year, the COVID-19 pandemic kept them from happening, and the quartet went their separate ways while still remaining friends.

-->'''Rei:''' I'm not good with people, so I let Rie speak for me.\\
'''Rie:''' I speak for Rei.

** Rie = Dogs. The oldest surviving video of her, from 2013, shows her playing with her dog Chippy. She also has a loyalty streak. And of course her usual sad expression wouldn't look out of place in a Humane Society commercial. She was also photographed in 2019 hugging a Huskie with a look of pure bliss (both Rie and the Huskie).

* CampGay: None of the girls or even Ladybeard, but rather Ladybaby's original choreographer Mikity Honmono, who co-hosted ''Nadarezaka Rock'' with Rie (and formerly Rei). He's [[https://youtu.be/t7LFwrCS1ws extremely flamboyant]] on camera and is part of a male-Idol group called "Sakigake Gay".

* DistinguishingMark: Rie has what appears to be a large scar on her forehead above her left eye – [[https://twitter.com/ladybaby2015/status/1007499283317211136 the photo in this tweet shows it clearly.]] In the model shoots she did as a teenager it was usually covered by her bangs. Her hair isn't as thick these days, making it very visible in close-ups, such as her ''trolleattroll'' song "lost". It's even more obvious in a makeup tutorial she did for ''bis'' in mid-2018 that briefly showed her without makeup and her bangs pulled back. No one is known to have ever pointed it out, nor has she spoken about it.

** Emily and Rick screamed ''together'' in "Biri-Biri Money".

* Sena Kurusaki (來崎 せな) [-[D.O.B: ????-08-31]-]

* Ei Tsukimachi (月街 えい) [-[D.O.B: ????-09-03]-] – Youngest and tallest (173cm/5’8”!)

The project was originally created by costume company Clearstone, which had worked alongside annual modeling contest [=MissID=] and wanted to showcase its wares using two of the contest's winners, plus a six-foot-tall Australian cross-dressing wrestler. This lineup consisted of…

Unfortunately, LADYBABY soon gained a reputation for terrible management and member turnover – Magarey left the group in Summer 2016 after a contract dispute, leaving Rie and Rei to continue as a duo for another year with a temporary Music/{{Prince}}-like name change. During this time, they released their first full album, which contained all but two of their songs with Ladybeard. They also continued to record more music of varying harshness levels and perform more shows, including an appearance at Tokyo Idol Festival. Then, in November 2017, Rei abruptly quit due to a falling-out with Rie, seemingly ending the group.

** Rei = Rabbits. She draws one as part of her autograph and is occasionally pictured carrying around a plush bunny… which she stabbed to death in BRATS's 2015 music video, "Fourteen-Year-Old Disease".

** Rie = Dogs. The oldest surviving video of her, from 2013, shows her playing with her dog Chippy. She also has a loyalty streak. And of course her usual sad expression wouldn't look out of place in a Humane Society commercial.

* CampGay: None of the girls or even Ladybeard, but rather Ladybaby's choreographer Mikity Honmono, who co-hosted ''Nadarezaka Rock'' with Rie (and formerly Rei). He's [[https://youtu.be/t7LFwrCS1ws extremely flamboyant]] on camera and is part of a male-Idol group called "Sakigake Gay".

*** Rei may have worn pink-accented clothes during her 2+ years in Ladybaby, but the color she (and fans) have always linked with her is black.

** The fourth lineup has yet to do anything revealing, but three of the members – Mia, Rem, and Sakura – have pre-LB Instagram photos where they show themselves in varying stages of undress (all claim to be "cosplay girls")

*** Since chopping most of her hair off sometime in 2019, Nana has worn pink or blonde pigtail extensions. This continued for years after Ladybaby's original end.

** Rie likes to scream during live shows. Unfortunately for her, her voice is naturally high-pitched and cute to the point she ''can't'' be a true death-screamer.

* Rem Serizawa (芹沢 レム)
* Mia Kanrei (神黎 ミア)
* Sena Kurusaki (來崎 せな)
* Sakura Tsubaki (椿 さくら) – Screamer
* Ei Tsukimachi (月街 えい) – Youngest and tallest (173cm/5’8”!)

Ladybaby's official website is [[http://ladybaby-fc.com/ here.]] It has links on its main page to the group's social media portals, most notably the [[https://twitter.com/ladybaby2015 twitter feed.]] Every member, past and present, has a twitter account, though former members obviously talk about their own projects.

* ''[[https://youtu.be/7_F1x0cKoVE Hoshi-no-Nai Sora'' (2018) [[labelnote:†]]Also includes "bite me" and "Biri-Biri Money"[[/labelnote]]

LADYBABY is a {{Japanese|PopMusic}} kawaii metal {{Idol|Singer}} group formed in 2015 and lasting until 2020, then rebooted in 2023. Following in the footsteps of Music/{{Babymetal}}, its music mashes together one or many genres at once with cute girls and brutal heavy metal screaming… except when it doesn't.

The group's first music video "Nippon Manju", relased July 4th 2015, was so ''weird'' even by Japanese standards that it became a viral hit – as of 2023 it has over 35,000,000 views. This success led to more music videos plus physical singles and multiple live shows, where Magarey's ability (and Rie's to a lesser extent) to cross language barriers helped the group gain an international following, allowing them to peform in Los Angeles, New York, Cologne, Mexico City, and London.

Unfortunately, LADYBABY soon gained a reputation for terrible management and member turnover – Magarey left the group in Summer 2016 after a contract dispute, leaving Rie and Rei to continue as a duo for another year, and led to a temporary Music/{{Prince}}-like name change. During this time, they released their first full album, which contained all but two of their songs with Ladybeard. They also continued to record more music of varying harshness levels and perform more shows, including an appearance at Tokyo Idol Festival. Then, in November 2017, Rei abruptly quit due to a falling-out with Rie, seemingly ending the group.

Emily's scream abilities allowed the group to finally cover Ladybeard's parts live again. This version of LADYBABY was known for the members' closeness, high-energry live shows, and music becoming much more experimental. Unfortunately, despite its popularity (live shows in Japan regularly sold out), this LADYBABY ceased activities in January 2020 after nearly two years. While there were plans for one-off shows through that year, the COVID-19 pandemic kept them from happening, and the girls went their separate ways while still remaining friends.

* ''Nippon Manju'' (2015) [[labelnote:†]]B-side was "Ultra☆Lucky"[[/labelnote]]
* ''Agé-Agé Money'' (2016) [[labelnote:†]]B-side was "Beard-chan Robot"[[/labelnote]]
* ''Renge Chance!'' (2016) [[labelnote:†]]B-side was "C'est Si Bon Kibun"[[/labelnote]]
* ''Sanpai! Gosyuin Girl☆'' (2016) [[labelnote:†]]Also includes "Shan-shan Shantan" and "Onigirick Reviver"[[/labelnote]]
* ''Pelo'' (2017) [[labelnote:†]]Also includes "Easter Bunny" and "Lady Baby Blue"[[/labelnote]]
* ''Pinky! Pinky!'' (2017) [[labelnote:†]]Also includes "Me! Me! Me!" and "Generation Hard Knocks"[[/labelnote]]
* ''Hoshi-no-Nai Sora'' (2018) [[labelnote:†]]Also includes "bite me" and "Biri-Biri Money"[[/labelnote]]
* ''Damedame Tono'' (2018) [[labelnote:†]]Physical CD sold only at live shows in Japan, but available digitally.[[/labelnote]]
* ''Riot Anthem'' (2019) [[labelnote:†]]No physical CD, but downloading originally required buying its lyric book.[[/labelnote]]
* ''Haten ni Raimei'' (2019) [[labelnote:†]]Also includes "God's Not" and "LB 4 Future"[[/labelnote]]

* AllLowercaseLetters: The song "bite me" [-(which not coincidentally is Rie's longtime internet-handle)-] plus Rie's solo project from late 2017, ''trolleattroll'', along with both songs released for it thus far.

** Hell, their ''very first single'' had this – "Ultra☆Lucky" sounds absolutely nothing like "Nippon Manju"; the latter is the speed-metal-plus-cute-with-growling the group is known for, but the former is full-on J-Pop with no growling whatsoever (yes, Ladybeard actually sings).

** "Pinky! Pinky!", which arguably has some of Ladybaby's harshest riffs, was released alongside "Generation Hard Knocks". The latter is a slow melodic pop ballad that Rie is unable to perform without crying.

* GirlGroup: What Ladybaby became after Ladybeard left. More obvious with the 2018 four-girl and 2023 five-girl lineup. Officially, since Rick's "Ladybeard" character is a five-year-old girl, the group was ''always'' one.

* IdolSinger: What the girls technically are. That said, Emily long rejected the label – understandable since she's the screamer, genuine metalhead, and never had any desire to be an "Idol". She has openly questioned her decision to enter that part of the business, though video footage strongly suggests she enjoyed performing alongside Rie, Nana, & Fuka, even if she couldn't care less about doing cute promos or other Idol things. This extended to her later gig as [=PassCode's=] screamer.
** Rie herself said in a May 2018 ''Natalie'' interview that she wished to transcend labels and become more of an "Artist" – her two solo songs aren't even remotely Idol or pop in nature.

** You can't really have a "leader" in a duo, but Rie still did the majority of talking.
** In the 3.0 era, Rie is explicitly referred to as the leader on the group's website. Through her actions and words, she has made it clear that Ladybaby is ''her'' baby. As such, she took steps toward having some direct creative control – personally recruiting the new members, directing and editing music videos, getting her contacts in the industry to help write songs and/or join The Chaos, etc.

** Even in Japan, Emily will do this. During one show, she announced the following number by saying in English, "Next song's f**king called…"

* RevolvingDoorBand: Rie Kaneko was the only person to be in Ladybaby from beginning to end, at least in its original incarnation. By the time Ladybaby re-formed in 2023, she was unavailable due to being back performing with Rei.

* SheIsAllGrownUp: Deliberately invoked with the ''Fuu Am I'' photobook produced for Fuka's 18th birthday show. Some photos from it, including ones she posted on her own twitter feed, look like they'd fit in more with Rie's model portfolio, in stark contrast to the rather conservative clothes and costumes Fuka typically wore until Summer 2019 (and post-Ladybaby in her early 20's).

LADYBABY is a Japanese Kawaii Metal Idol group. Following in the footsteps of Music/{{Babymetal}}, it began as the unlikely combination of two cute Japanese girls and a male, long-haired, bearded, cross-dressing Australian wrestler turned DeathMetal singer. The original lineup consisted of:

* Ladybeard (real name Richard Magarey)
* Rie Kaneko (金子理江 – the older [-[brown-haired]-] girl)
* Rei Kuromiya (黒宮れい – the younger [-[black-haired]-] girl)

The project was announced by Magarey [[https://youtu.be/rtliSSbOCoA in March 2015.]] Their first music video, "Nippon Manju"[[labelnote:*]] (''Nippon'' is one of the two native ways to say "Japan", and ''manju'' is a Japanese confectionery often rendered as "red bean bun" in English due to the sweet ''adzuki''-bean paste inside, so the song's name could translate to "Japan Sweet-bun")[[/labelnote]], hit Youtube that July 4th and quickly went viral. Since its initial upload, it has been viewed over twenty-five million times. Over the next year, the trio followed up with more singles. Japanese music fans, in their best tradition of embracing the eccentric, were very enthusiastic about the group. So were people overseas, and the group took advantage of Magarey's ability to jump language barriers to perform shows in New York, Los Angeles, Mexico City, London, and Cologne to delighted fans.

In mid-2016, a poorly timed contract dispute resulted in Ladybeard leaving the group. Rie and Rei opted to continue the project as a duo, rebranding themselves "The Idol Formerly Known As Ladybaby". The new songs were often extremely different in style, resulting in a BrokenBase.

In 2017, [[https://tokyogirlsupdate.com/rei-kuromiya-withdrawal-ladybaby-201711135513.html Rei abruptly left.]] Her official reason for quitting was an acute throat problem that, if not dealt with, could permanently damage her ability to sing. Her statement also heavily implied there were [[https://kuromiyarei.com/ladybaby/2017/12/03/rei-kuromiya-quits-ladybaby-story/ other factors]] at work.

Rie announced a memorial compilation album entitled ''Beside U'', to be released in Japan two months later. She also said that she intended to hold open auditions for new members to join her. On February 25th 2018, she revealed the new lineup (and the original "LADYBABY" branding albeit with new logo), consisting of:

* Nana Ikeda (池田菜々) – Singer and Rapper
* Emily Arima (有馬えみり) – Screamer and backup singer [-(often has pink hair)-]
* Fuka Karasawa (唐沢風花) – Singer [-(the only one under 18 at debut time)-]

Rie subsequently announced a tour in Spring 2018 which culminated in the reborn group's first solo live in Shibuya on April 21st. In May 2018, Ladybeard temporarily returned to the group as a featured guest vocalist on the song "Biri-Biri Money". On October 27th 2018, they performed a solo concert entitled "We Are Ladybaby", their first show with a live backing band [-(known as "The Chaos")-] since Rei's final show exactly one year earlier. They would perform another show with The Chaos five months later to cap off their "Invisible Rice" tour – this show has been given a DVD release (the first since 2016). They continued to tour the small-club circuit in Japan and perform at various alt-Idol festivals and Two-Man Lives, along with the occasional international show in Asia, Europe, and the USA.

On October 29th 2019, the group [[https://www.ladybaby-fc.com/posts/7202038?categoryIds=1556916 announced]] it would "Suspend Activities" at the conclusion of its SEE YOU Reburn TOUR on January 13th 2020, with a compilation album of the same name also released on that day – a DVD of the farewell performance came out a few months later. While there ''were'' plans for occasional one-off reunions throughout 2020, the worldwide [=SARS-CoV2=] pandemic ensured those never happened, and the girls went their separate ways.

For awhile, the only end-stage member still active in the music scene was Emily, who became the lead singer for the band [[https://open.spotify.com/artist/4dsWTXURexEHnqVmphq3sI Shades,]] for whom she also served as lyricist; and created a [[https://soundcloud.com/emily-vocalist Soundcloud]] where she would upload new music, often a mix of screamo and Vocaloid. In August 2021, she was hired by Alt-Idol group Music/{{PassCode}} to replace its original screamer Yuna Imada who had retired due to failing health. Around the same time, Rie suddenly returned to the scene with a new solo project, [[https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpPgBXngEsN_oms4WwH-1uA "Ilie".]] As with Rie's previous solo runs, the music is much more Indie-Pop and more than a little confusing.

Meanwhile Rei, as she has been since before Ladybaby ever began, remains the frontwoman of her and her sister Aya's rock band [[https://www.youtube.com/c/BRATSOfficial BRATS.]] Ladybeard eventually decided, after his previous singing/wrestling partner Reika Saiki suffered a nasty injury in the ring, to resurrect the original Ladybaby 1.0 concept as [[https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcVEtby_5XGCu2zdKEifPUw Babybeard.]]

However, at the very end of 2022, suddenly and surprisingly, Rei and Rie came back together as a duo named (appropriately enough) [[https://www.reirieofficial.com/ REIRIE.]] They gave their first live performance in March 2023. No, they do not perform their old Ladybaby standards.

In November 2023, Ladybaby management announced via twitter that its effort to recruit new members was successful and announced the group's "Fourth Generation" with a re-debut that December 1st. They are…

Ladybaby's official website is [[http://ladybaby-fc.com/ here.]] It has links on its main page to LB's social media portals, most notably the [[https://twitter.com/ladybaby2015 twitter feed.]]

Compare also Music/{{PassCode}}, another four-girl Idol group with a screamer, which has been around longer and seen more success (in Japan). As noted above, that group ended up hiring Emily when it needed a screamer.

* ''Reburn'' (2020)

*** In September 2020, her longtime friend and former choreographer Mikity posted a photo of himself with Rie in which her hair is dyed bubblegum pink (so are her eyebrows).
** Fuka's hair is naturally black or extremely dark brown. In June 2019, the day she left ''Warepuwa'', she dyed her hair blonde with an under-layer of red.

* AloofDarkHairedGirl: Rei. When she was still a member of Ladybaby, she rarely spoke in interviews and is known to be quiet around people she doesn't know. After Ladybeard left the group, Rie took over most of the talking, culminating in this admission during the April 2017 ''Tokyo Girls Update'' interview.

* ButNowIMustGo: On May 30th 2019, Fuka announced she would leave her original Idol group Warepuwa, with her final performance as a member on June 21st 2019. Her stated reason was being a double-duty Idol for over a year left her exhausted, and she wanted to put her full energy into Ladybaby, which was set to begin its "Ride The Lightning" Tour the next day (June 22nd).

* TheCameo: Magarey briefly returned to Ladybaby in May 2018 as a featured performer in the recording and music video for the song "Biri-Biri Money" with the new lineup. The reason this does not count as PuttingTheBandBackTogether is that the reunion did not involve Rei, who had left to front her sister's band BRATS.

*** Rei may have worn pink-accented clothes during her 2+ years in Ladybaby, but the color she (and thus fans) have always linked with her is black.

*** Since chopping most of her hair off sometime in 2019, Nana has worn pink or blonde pigtail extensions.

* HarshVocals: Ladybeard did this in the original lineup. Emily Arima was in charge of this from 2018 to 2020. Sakura took over in 2023.

* IdolSinger: What the girls technically are (or ''used to be'' in Rei's case).
** That said, Emily rejects the label – understandable since she's the screamer, genuine metalhead, and never had any desire to be an "Idol". She has openly questioned her decision to enter that part of the business, though video footage strongly suggests she enjoys performing alongside Rie, Nana, & Fuka, even if she couldn't care less about doing cute promos or other Idol things.

LADYBABY was a Japanese Kawaii Metal Idol group. Following in the footsteps of Music/{{Babymetal}}, it began as the unlikely combination of two cute Japanese girls and a male, long-haired, bearded, cross-dressing Australian wrestler turned DeathMetal singer. The original lineup consisted of:

* Fuka Karasawa (唐沢風花) – Singer [-(and the only one under 18 at debut time)-]

However, at the very end of 2022, suddenly and surprisingly Rei and Rie came back together as a duo named (appropriately enough) [[https://www.reirieofficial.com/ REIRIE]], whose first live concert is scheduled to happen on March 25, 2023.

* ColorCodedForYourConvenience: As can be seen in the first photo above, Rie's and Rei's first costumes were blue and pink, respectively, to help distinguish them. This continued into their duo era with the white two-piece dresses, if subtly – Rei's outfit had pink accents and Rie's had bluish silver. Rie is still heavily associated with blue to this day to the point that, at her 21st birthday show, all the glowsticks waved by the audience were blue.
** For Halloween 2015, Rie and Rei dressed in coordinated costumes with Ladybeard. Rie wore white; Rei wore black (and devil horns). A year later, they wore completely different costumes but the same color dichotomy.
** In ''Warepuwa'', Fuka's other Idol group, every girl is associated with a color. Fuka's color was originally green. Following a costume and member shift in early 2018, her color switched to red.

* GirlGroup: What Ladybaby became after Ladybeard left. More obvious with the 2018 four-girl lineup. Officially, since Rick's "Ladybeard" character is a five-year-old girl, the group was ''always'' one.

* HarshVocals: Ladybeard did this in the original lineup. Emily Arima was in charge of this from 2018 to 2020.
** They screamed ''together'' in "Biri-Biri Money".

** In the four-girl era, Rie is explicitly referred to as the leader on the group's website. Through her actions and words, she has made it clear that Ladybaby is ''her'' baby. As such, she has taken steps toward having some direct creative control – personally recruiting the new members, directing and editing music videos, getting her contacts in the industry to help write songs and/or join The Chaos, etc.

* RevolvingDoorBand: Rie Kaneko was the only person to be in Ladybaby from beginning to end.

* SheIsAllGrownUp: Deliberately invoked with the ''Fuu Am I'' photobook produced for Fuka's 18th birthday show. Some photos from it, including ones she posted on her own twitter feed, look like they'd fit in more with Rie's model portfolio, in stark contrast to the rather conservative clothes and costumes Fuka typically wore until Summer 2019.

* [[WidgetSeries Widget Group]]: [[invoked]] You don't '''''get''''' more Widget than this, especially when Ladybeard was still around.

* KansaiRegionalDialect: Nana is from Osaka and does little to nothing to hide her native accent. Rie discussed this in [[https://twitter.com/ladybaby2015/status/969464484858245120 this video]] where she introduced Nana to the fans. Nana speaks with a noticeable Kansai lilt that makes Rie laugh. Nana also often uses the dialect on her livestreams.

* [[ExcitedShowTitle Excited Song Title!]]: They have a few – "Renge Chance!", "Sanpai! Gosyuin Girl☆", "Pinky! Pinky!", "Me! Me! Me!"