Goodbye, Dempagumi.inc! And thank you for saving the universe!
By the time I publish this, a little over a month will have passed since Dempagumi.inc — my absolute favourite group of all time — performed their final shows. On a smaller scale, things have moved on as normal: the final seven members seem to be having a fun, quiet-ish time. The fans (even though some seem to be scrambling around, maybe looking for a new main group) are also okay. Even if the world itself doesn’t feel super okay, things keep moving forward, which in itself is a very Dempagumi thing.
Even if it feels a bit selfish, I want to stop for a bit. I want to go back in time and look into my own path towards Dempagumi.inc’s Ending: both as a set of shows and as the culmination of how the Legendary Akihabara Group saved the universe. Sort of.
As far as origin stories go, mine with Dempagumi.inc was one of extreme reactions: the first time I listened to their music, I remember immediately deeming it too much, too intense, too hard to approach. It would only take a few days before that same excess of energy drew me back in. Before I knew it, I was grasping for anything I could find about the group. The more I learned about them, the more my love for this group of outcasts became central to my entire existence.
From that moment onwards, my relationship with the group would be defined by how they never stopped moving me. No matter what was going on in my life, I was always taking time to check in with the girls: no matter what was at the forefront of my life, I was always excited for new music, new costumes, and new collaborations with artists and creatives the members themselves were fans of. Even when the group was going through changes I didn’t necessarily agree with, I wanted to be there, and I wanted to absorb as much of this thing that never once failed to bring me joy. Not even at my lowest moments.
That connection not only kept me engaged as a fan, but it became such a constant that, the very moment it was announced things were coming to an end, I started planning and moving every piece I could to make sure I could properly send off the group that reshaped my life.
Once the day arrived, I could feel something shaping up both in me and in everyone else around me. Every moment before the show felt like something was bubbling up: every murmur during the hours-long merch line, every fan photo op, every little conversation, it all felt like everyone’s emotions were building up into something that would burst into a non-stop frenzy the very moment the first day show kicked off.
Given the often-frantic nature of Dempagumi’s catalogue, it makes sense that both shows’ could be described using similar words. However, there was something that only clicked with me as the two days of spectacle happened in front of my eyes.
Highly energetic as they were, Dempagumi.inc were also an act of impeccable precision. Maybe it was the result of years of demanding live shows, but it felt like every note sung, every bit of choreography, and every call and response with the fans happened right when it needed to. It was like seeing chaos make sense of itself, and that somehow included me. Even if I struggled to keep up with the calls, even if I sometimes raised my white penlight too high when focus wasn’t on Risa, getting to experience the combination of all these things felt like their shows had been waiting for me for years.
Something I found interesting — and that in retrospect was probably decided to avoid sentimentalities interfering with the girls’ performance — was that at no point during the shows were there any pauses to speak. From the moment both days opened with Girametasu Dempa Stars, it was clear this was about to be nothing but the unfiltered euphoria fans came to expect from the group. It was almost as if their departure gift was a show where everyone could just have a fun time without stopping to think about what would come once the music stopped.
Even with virtually no talking, the shows felt slightly narrative in their flow and structure. From the background lights that acknowledged every former and current member, to the stage costumes evoking the type of kimono women wear when visiting a shrine at the beginning of the year — as if to visually highlight that this was something the members needed to do before they could properly start their year — it was clear these shows had a definite purpose: to tie any loose ends before everyone could say their goodbyes.
This felt particularly palpable when the show took a quick moment to let fans say their goodbyes to all the girls who had previously graduated the group, including both a very quick “where are they now” shot during the first day’s end credits and a last second graduation ceremony for Moga Mogami. No matter how joyful the quick reunion may have felt, it also signalled things were definitely coming to an end.
Another perfect example of this sense of narrative and purpose were the two performances of W.W.D ENDING. Branded as their “final new song”, ENDING recapitulates how the many ups and down faced during Dempagumi’s years together were, in and of themselves, the group’s biggest triumph. In a way that no other idol unit could, Dempagumi.inc not only used the final reprise of their famed W.W.D series to pat themselves in the back for the growth they experienced together, but also allowed themselves a final respite from any sense of failure that may have lingered, now that things were coming to an end.
The first time I saw the song performed on stage, I immediately remembered how the night before, I told a friend that there’s a kind of sadness that’s worth feeling. In retrospect, I realize the sadness I felt over Dempagumi.inc ending came from how much they brought into my life, especially by gifting me with the ability to embrace both the positives and negatives about myself.
When I think about the way Dempagumi.inc became the legendary group they’re regarded as, I think a huge part of it comes from the way its fifteen members allowed themselves to be seen, flaws and all, as a group of loud nerds who very openly embraced what was true and important to them.
This earnestness, as clumsy as it may have sometimes felt, was probably the means through which I think the group saved the universe: by remaining so openly vulnerable while facing a world that often felt daunting and cruel, Dempagumi.inc inspired others to do the same. Had I not discovered them, had I not let myself feel things with an intensity that often wanted to follow the way they expressed themselves in their music, I don’t think I’d have the connection to art and to my own emotions that shapes so much of my perception of the world.
If Dempagumi.inc saved the universe in any way, it was by making it a place where members and fans can allow themselves to furiously exist as themselves. No matter how daunting or scary or embarrassing that intensity may sometimes feel.
I say this because it happened to me. And, in many ways, it saved me.
Standing at the other side of The Ending, I occasionally find myself feeling a type of sadness that is hard to articulate, even if it signals things are just moving forward. I also can’t fully shake off the feeling that a once-in-a-lifetime kind of greatness slipped through my fingers. However, I also feel incredibly lucky for the many ways Dempagumi.inc changed my life by welcoming me into their universe. And I feel lucky to know I will always carry that with me.
To every single member of the group, thank you so much for changing my life. To all the creatives involved, thank you for lending your talents to the girls, their vision, and their stories. To all the nerds and the friends (and nerd friends!) I made along the way, thank you for sticking along the 11 years that always felt like capturing lightning in a bottle.
To me, thank you for somehow making it all the way to those two shows... What a way to say goodbye to the one thing that completely reshaped your relationship with art and life and love.
