Youâre doing them a disservice by not including who they are! These girls are high school students. They are the Tomioka High School Dance Club from Tomioka High School in Osaka. They went viral in Japan when they got runner up in the âAll-Japan High School Super Cup Dance-Offâ held as part of Yokohamaâs summer of dance this summer (August 2017). Youâll know Yokohamaâs summers of dance from the regular mass Pikachu dances you see on social media each summer.Â
Theyâve blown up since then. The promotional video they made at the school has more than 30 million views. Theyâve been on tons of TV shows, including performances with Oginome Yoko, the original singer of the song (Dancing Hero (Eat You Up)) that they remixed for their dance.Â
This dance routine was riffing off the comedian Hirano Nora and actually includes some of her comedy catch phrases in the remix. (They even got her to join them eventually!) For the uninitiated, one of the most accessible forms of comedy in modern Japanese pop culture are comedians like this who create outlandish SNL type characters and then appear on one or more shows regularly as that character. Hirano Noraâs gimmick is that sheâs a woman from the height of Japanâs âbubble economyâ era in the 80â˛s when there were tons of newly wealthy yuppies. This is why the remix is called âBubbly Danceâ. (Compare her to similar comedy character Blouson Chiemi whose gimmick is that sheâs a modern, man eating career woman.)
These girls deserve all the fame theyâre getting. You can read about them in the Asahi Shinbun and also check out this piece on Akane, their 25 year old coach via Japan Forward.Â
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