SCANDAL is a Japanese girl band formed in Osaka in 2006 consisting of four students who met at a vocal/dance school. The band is named after a sex shop in Osaka which occupied the same building as a jamming studio where they practiced in their early days. Originally training to be dancers and singers, the girls took up musical instruments on recommendations from teachers. One thing led to another and...
Due to their songs being featured on the various endings of animes and videos games, the band has achieved a somewhat international fanbase and has performed at SXSW, Sakura-Con and AM 2 in the USA, Ani-com in Hong Kong and Japan Expo in France. They have also gone on very successful Asian regional tours almost every year since 2010, and have went even further in 2015 with a 10 concert world tour in 8 countries.
In August 2023, SCANDAL have been officially recognized by Guiness World Records for being the longest-running female rock band with an unchanged line-up.
SCANDAL are:
- Haruna Ono (vocals, guitar)
- Tomomi Ogawa (bass, vocals)
- Mami Sasazaki (guitar, vocals)
- Rina Suzuki (drums, vocals)
Studio albums
- Best Scandal (2009)
- Temptation Box (2010)
- Baby Action (2011)
- Queens Are Trumps -Kirifuda wa Queen- (2012)
- Standard (2013)
- Hello World (2014)
- Yellow (2016)
- Honey (2018)
- Kiss from the Darkness (2020)
Not to be mistaken for the American New Wave band known for their song "The Warrior".
Associated tropes:
- All Drummers Are Animals: Averted. Rina Suzuki is the youngest, girliest and arguably the cutest member of the band. Mileage does not vary. She has however, named Keith Moon as one of her favourite drummers.
- Animated Music Video: KOSHI TANTAN
- Anime Theme Song: "Shoujo S" (Bleach), "Shunkan Sentimental" (Fullmetal Alchemist), "Koshi Tantan", "Midnight Television" (Loups Garous), "PRIDE" (Star Driver), "Harukaze" (Bleach), "Yoake no Ryuuseigun" (Pokémon the Movie: Diancie and the Cocoon of Destruction)
- Answer Song: "Yumemiru Tsubasa" is the answer song to Hillbilly Bopp's "Yumemiru Korowo Sugite Mo", which the band has also covered.
- Audience Participation Song - Occasionally during shows, Haruna will let the crowd sing the last verse of SCANDAL Baby.
- Auto-Tune: Some songs, such as "Queens Are Trumps", "Brand New Wave", "Sisters", "Electric Girl" and "Saishuheiki Kimi" use it.
- Band Toon: Had their own anime back in 2010
- Big Secret: In a 2017 interview with Music Saturday
, Haruna and Rina tell theirs Haruna is something of a masochist and ever since she got her own place, Rina goes around only wearing her panties at home., after hearing about this Mami gives Rina a "What the...?" look - Caps Lock: Their band name is styilized with capital letters as SCANDAL.
- Cherry Blossoms:
- In the song "Sakura Goodbye". Before signing for a label this song was simply titled Sakura and had slightly different lyrics.
- "Sakura no kisetsu ga kita ne." (The season of cherry blossoms has come) The first line of their song "Departure".
- Color-Coded for Your Convenience - Their ENCORE SHOW outfits
- Cover Album: R Girls' Rock. A 7 track EP consisting of covers of songs by all-female and female-fronted bands.
- Darker and Edgier:
- "Scandal Nanka Buttobase" had surprisingly edgy lyrics compared to some of their earlier songs and a very hard guitar opening.
- "Roppongi Suicide" and "Rock & Roll Widow" from the R Girls' Rock EP are heavier and edgier than much of their usual music.
- "Metronome" from their 5th album STANDARD is also relatively heavy.
- Also from STANDARD, "Namida yo Hikare", a straight up pop punk track.
- Rainy is also quite heavy. It was also used for the Japanese release of the film Mortal Instruments: City of Bones. The film is entitled Shadowhunter in Japan. Rainy is also significant because it is completely written and arranged by the band itself.
- Heaven na Kibun, described as a grunge rock type song by HARUNA.
- "A.M.D.K.J.", described by Rina as Scandal's first angry song.
- A Day in the Limelight: Rina had such treatment in their Budokan and Osaka concerts, possibly because she's always positioned behind the other members and because she had such little singing time. The Budokan concert gave her a 10 minute drum solo, while for their first Osaka concert she danced and sang along to her subunit's song "Koi no Hajimari wa Diet", all by herself (Haruna's part was played from a backing track)
- "Days of the Week" Song: "Mata chiisai koto de hekonde, From Monday to Tuesday to Wednesday to Thursday, Umaku ikanai no wa naze?" Translation:- The small things makes you give in again, From Monday to Tuesday to Wednesday to Thursday, Why can't things go smoothly?" - from "Right Here".
- The Ditz: The band successfully tricked TOMOMI into thinking she was made to pay for the pyrotechnics at their first Budokan concert, complete with fake cheque. Even after the prank was revealed she still looked in a state of complete shock and confusion for another 3 minutes
- Double Entendre: Tomomi Ogawa's lyrics in "Houkagou 1H" is ostensibly about playing or writing music after school. However, Teacher/Student Romance is quite heavily implied.
- Fanservice: Midway in "Taiyou to Kimi ga Egaku STORY" video clip. And to a lesser extent, the final few seconds of "Taiyou Scandalous" PV
- Food Songs Are Funny:
- A recurring theme for almost all their album releases. Barring their first 2 albums, they had "Koi no Kajitsu" (Love Fruit) from their indies mini album, "Appletachi no Dengon" (Message of the Apples) from BABY ACTION, "Bitter Chocolate" from Queens are Trumps, "Orange Juice" from STANDARD, "Canned Beer" from HELLO WORLD and "Konya wa Pizza Party" from YELLOW.
- Dobondobondo's "Sekapero", where they list off food around the world for more or less the entire song.
- Genki Girl: Tomomi Ogawa. Enthusiastic, has boundless energy and a very offbeat sense of humor. Often provides comic relief, sometimes unintentionally.
- A Good Name for a Rock Band: They picked their band name from a shop name on the biggest signboard near their dance school, which of all things happens to be an adult shop.
- Gratuitous English:
- Wide usage. Being Japanese and playing J-Pop/Rock, the girls are not immune to this cultural phenomenon. Unlike many of their compatriots however apart from the usual problems with pronounciation, SCANDAL's English usage is usually done correctly. One song, "SCANDAL no Theme" is done entirely in grammatically correct English.
- They've also covered their own song "Your Song" completely in English, complete with slightly gratuitous (and pointless) use of acronyms
- Greatest Hits Album:
- SCANDAL Show. However unlike a regular greatest hits album, it is not a single collection. Instead it is a collection of songs the girls themselves like hence the inclusion of non-single live standards and B-sides such as SCANDAL Baby, Switch, SCANDAL no Theme, Everybody Say Yeah etc.
- ENCORE Show. A collection of B-Sides, plus one rerecorded track and one new song. Hit No.1 on the ORICON daily charts on release day and 3rd overall on the weekly album chart. Their most successful release as of February 2013.
- SCANDAL - a double album collection consisting of songs that fans voted for as their favorites. Also includes two new songs, "Freedom Fighters" and "Hello".
- Hero Does Public Service: When they're not stopping trucks in the PV for "Image", they're magically teaching a kid how to ride a bike and in similar fashion giving a boy the guts to confess to his crush.
- Hidden Depths:
- The girls dance! The girls met at a renowned vocal and dance school in Osaka and thus are trained singers and dancers. Haruna and Tomomi are the best two dancers amongst the girls, Haruna even appearing as a backup dancer in a movie before SCANDAL got famous. Many of their PVs feature dancing in various quantities, most heavily in "Pin Heel Surfer".
- RINA. More than just being the drummer, she can play the guitar, she can play the keyboard, and she can sing and dance as well.
- Mami actually was a drummer and came from a musical family. She picked being lead guitar as she wanted to do something different.
- Hidden Track: "You Go Girl!", unlisted bonus track on CD versions of Kiss from the Darkness.
- I Am the Band: Averted. They give each other equal time to shine and stand out such that it has become We Are The Band.
- Idol Singer: Averted. They may occasional look, act and even sound like idols but it is in fact a "proper" band. Guitarist Mami once said, "We are a serious band."
- Instrumentals: "Room No. 7", the first track on Yellow. Various singles also feature instrumental version of the main song.
- Kaleidoscope Hair: Mami after the group ditched their school uniforms. Occasionally enters multicolored hair territory with her turquoise hair ends.
- Last Note Hilarity:
- "Maboroshi Nights" - At the end of the song, Haruna makes a kissing sound and says "THANK YOU!". Can be heard when turned up high enough.
- "Kagerou" - Someone pulls out the cord from the bass amp while it's still on, causing it to buzz.
- "Cherry Jam" - Tomomi and Mami break out into giggles at the very end.
- Lead Bassist: No Body Loves The Bassist? Definitely not the case for Tomomi Ogawa. Being the second vocalist, having a unique sounding voice, her bubbly Genki Girl personality, her sense of humor, Scandal's top instrumentalist (the other ladies call her their prodigy, as she picks up songs the quickest and makes fewest mistakes) and her attractiveness as well as talent as a lyricist makes her a favourite of many fans.
- Lighter and Softer:
- "CUTE!", the B-side to "Pride" - The song was used as a promo for Sanrio's adorable wittle plushy named ''Cinnamoroll''◊ therefore is suitably cute sounding.
- "Namida no Regret", "one piece" and "Chiisana Honoo" - The only 3 ballads released as of 2015
- "Pin Heel Surfer" - Disco infused soft rock. Has caused some dissent among fans for being "too pop". The PV caused even worse backlash due to what some fans consider as "too much dancing" and "being too idol".
- "Nai Nai Night 2014" - A completely experimental song featuring Haruna on guiro, Tomomi on tambourine, Mami on recorder and Rina on cajon. Add to that Tomomi's naturally high voice and it sounds nothing like a song that a rock band will produce.
- "Love Me Do" - 1980's American pop feel as described by HARUNA. Comes complete with a PV featuring the girls interacting with guys that will make male fans green with jealousy from the way the girls look at them.
- "LOVE" - A song that wouldn't sound out of place playing on a beach.
- "CUTE!", the B-side to "Pride" - The song was used as a promo for Sanrio's adorable wittle plushy named ''Cinnamoroll''
- Longest Song Goes Last: "One Piece" (5:54) from Baby Action and "Place of Life" (5:14) from Hello World.
- Long Runner Lineup: As of 2016, they qualify for Type 1. They even got a world record out of this achievement. Which is really something as Japanese bands are notorious for ending shortly after 7 years.
- Love at First Sight: The girls in the PV for "Love Me Do". Appears to be strongest for TOMOMI
- Lyrical Cold Open:
- "Haruka" and "Chiisana Honoo". Haruna's singing begins the song.
- "Midnight City" starts with Rina's vocals.
- Non-Appearing Title: "SL Magic". The title does not appear in the song's lyrics. Other songs with non-appearing titles include "Shunkan Sentimental", "Houkago 1H" and a few others.
- Repurposed Pop Song: "Satisfaction", released in 2011, was used as the promo song for Windows 8 in 2013.
- Rockers Smash Guitars: In the BEST SCANDAL photobook.
- School Uniforms are the New Black: Used to be their signature look. In the beginning, the girls almost always wore uniforms in concerts and music videos, invoking some fetish appeal for the fans. With the release of their 3rd album and the coming of age of their youngest member, the uniforms/costumes then changed towards something more mature. Recently, the band has stopped wearing matching uniforms/costumes.
- Sequel Song:
- "Playboy Pt II" is obviously the sequel to the original "Playboy".
- "Onegai Navigation" is the sequel song to their own "Awanai Tsumori Genki de ne".
- Self-Titled Album: BEST SCANDAL, SCANDAL SHOW and SCANDAL (the latter two are compilation albums).
- Singer Name Drop:
- "SCANDAL Baby", "SCANDAL no Theme", "Taiyou SCANDALOUS".
- Brought up a notch for "SCANDAL IN THE HOUSE", where they namedrop all the members' names AND the band name at various points in the song.
- Pretty much a feature for Dobondobondo's songs.
- Singer-Songwriter: All of them are capable of writing and composing songs.
- Song Style Shift: The ska-like break in the second verse of "BEAUTEEN".
- Spelling Song:
- "S-C-A-N-D-A-L!" - SCANDAL no Theme. Also, "P-L-A-Y-B-O-Y say! Playboy!" - Playboy
- "M-A-M-I-T-O-M-O-M-I" and "D-O-B-O-N-D-O-B-O-N-D-O" in Cherry Jam, courtesy of the rap duo Dobondobondo (Mami and Tomomi).
- Spoken Word in Music: Phone conversation in "SWITCH". Also a two short conversations about dieting between Haruna and Rina in "Koi no Hajimari no Diet".
- Stage Names: Kind of. Their official names on media are their romanised first names in caps, without the family names (HARUNA, TOMOMI, MAMI, RINA)
- Step Up to the Microphone: Tomomi and Mami got their own solo songs in their 2nd, 4th and 6th album. Now joined by Rina as well, who sang her first solo song "Oyasumi" from their 6th album.
- Stop and Go: "SL Magic". During live performances, the band adds a long pause in the middle of the song.
- Street Musician: Used to be this when they first started performing. They'd go out on the street in front of Osaka park and play.
- Swapped Roles: During SCANDAL Mania Tour in 2016, the members would switch instruments for "Scandal Baby" - Rina was on vocals and rhythm guitar, Haruna on bass, Tomomi on lead guitar and Mami on drums.
- Team Power Walk: In the Music Video for "Shoujo S", the beginning of "SCANDAL Nanka Buttobase" and "Pin Heel Surfer"
- This Is Your Song: "Your Song" (Yes that is the title) was written based on ideas submitted by fans.
- Title Track: "Queens are Trumps" is the title track of their 4th album, Queens are Trumps - Kirifuda wa kuin. Likewise, "STANDARD" is the title track to their 5th album, STANDARD.
- Train Song: "SL Magic" is about a magical train ride.
- Trainstopping: Or rather Lorry Stopping, in the PV for "Image"
- Up, Up and Away!: "IMAGE" PV during their superhero sequence
- Visual Development: Compare pictures of their indie days to their most recent photos, the development over the years is outstanding.
- Vocal Tag Team:
- Haruna Ono is the band's lead vocalist but bassist Tomomi and guitarist Mami sing lead vocals in large portions of many songs. In most (if not all) of their albums, there is at least one song for each guitarist to take lead in.
- Although Rina's bio description mentions vocals, most people tend to forget Rina is part of the tag team as well, having previously taken lead vocals for one verse in Sunny Day Sunday (not helped by the fact that she doesn't really sing, so most people don't recognise her voice even if they heard her).
- This is further driven in by the special B-Sides of the "Taiyou Scandalous" single, when the girls break up into two subgroups, and sing as duos - Almond Crush (Rina and Haruna) have the bubbly pop song "Koi no Hajimari wa Diet", and Dobondobondo (Mami and Tomomi) rap in "Cherry Jam".
- In the band's 6th studio album Hello World, Rina sings lead on the song "Oyasumi" (Goodnight)
