Duh? You may be thinking. But please humor my need to get these observations out of my system, because my thoughts won’t leave me alone.
For context: Last month, an English-speaking LUNÉ on Twitter claimed that &TEAM was the biggest musical group in Japan. They were quickly corrected, but not before the claim spread a bit, garnering the attention of Japanese fans. I saw JP LUNÉ point out &TEAM’s desire to reach the top of Japan, and lament that it wasn’t possible with the kind of music they continue to release.
So what are the biggest groups in Japan? I want to focus on male idol groups specifically (because the idea of &TEAM being the “biggest musical group” period, is patently silly), and talk about the two songs released in 2025 that broke fandom containment. These songs are from the two groups with the #1 and #3 most viewed Japanese Youtube channels during the first half of 2026.
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Charismax by Snow Man, the group that’s currently at the top by most metrics. It’s a “let’s do a silly one” song paired with the main feature: a 90s Para-Para dance. The song did do well from the very start (although Korea HATED it), but it only truly cemented itself in the public conscious after their viral FNS Kayousai performance. (It left such a strong impression on &TEAM’s Harua that he sees them as a group of cosplayers, lmao.) Now it’s a regular part of morning calisthenics routines for children and elderly alike.
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Sukisugite Metsu! by M!LK, the group that’s currently trending into the stratosphere. (Their views are currently up while Suno’s views are actually down.) A campy, catchy, and retro-sounding number about how they’re so crazy in love with you that they’re absolutely done for. If you check the timeline of their releases, the group has been active for over a decade singing mostly classic, sparkly idol songs, until their shitpost Ii Jan went viral last year, and then hard pivoting to their current quirky branding after Sukisugite Metsu! became an undisputed hit. Their fanclub went from 50k members last year, to 320k members as of now. They celebrated 1 million Youtube subscribers half a year ago, and they’re already almost at 2 million, the people are craving those colorful, sparkly costumes!
It’s easy to see why these two songs in particular blew up: they’re fun, they’re nostalgic in different, unashamedly Japanese ways, and they both feature choreography that is both instantly recognizable and easy enough for the regular person can dance to. This isn’t to say that only silly Tiktok viral songs (different from how kpop chases Tiktok virality; see: the Kawaii Labo formula) are capable of reaching the Japanese general public, nor is it to say that cooler songs don’t have mass appeal. But, what are people going to want to sing and dance to when they socialize at karaoke? Probably the sparkly and ballad-y songs. (Korea is similar in this regard.) That is to say of course, traditional theme song tie-ins like BE:FIRST’s Muchuu also did very well last year. (The only headscratcher for me from last year’s charts is the popularity of Number_i’s music, which I can only assume is hard carried by Hirano Shou’s existing popularity.)
But I think M!LK’s meteoric rise shows us which idol skills the Japanese audience tend to value more. Their vocals are just fine. Their choreography for the most part isn’t particularly difficult and their dancing doesn’t stand out, even as Japanese groups as a whole have been trending towards harder choreo and improved dance skills. They lack the level of polish that the kpop training system provides. But they’re damn entertaining to watch, both on and off stage. They have strong variety skills (conversational and improv) that newer kpop groups tend to lack. (While &TEAM seems funny enough as a group, for K at least, I found him too reserved on the episode of SakuSakuHimuHimu that he co-hosted.) Japan also loves a good underdog story and strong chemistry and bonds, but that’s pretty universal.
With Starto groups still dominating and the rise of Stardust’s EBiDAN collective, one might wonder if the pendulum is swinging back towards that old school direction in general? (After Stardust built on the foundation that Momoiro Clover Z laid for them?) Part of SunoSuto’s appeal back when they debuted in 2020 was their deviation from their agency’s sparkly image. Snow Man gained popularity in part because they danced better and harder than what their agency’s groups were stereotypically known for (though in hindsight, the idea that they were anything like kpop is quite laughable). I can’t make any definitive claims, I can only say that these two popular groups are now known for these two popular songs. Perhaps we could all partake in a little cheese in our lives to brighten up our day.
Additional reading: I recommend taking a look at this neat visualizer made from the data compiled of what Spotify listeners of popular domestic groups listen to outside of each group’s agency. There’s a strong correlation between listeners of the Ebidan and Starto groups. For the three kpop/adjacent groups, INI’s listeners listen to the more traditional sparkly idols/jpop sounds and vice versa, JO1 listeners listen to the cooler ones, while &TEAM listeners…only overlap with JO1 and kpop groups. Here’s the kpop-only visualizer. (Also have an article on the most streamed BTS songs in Japan for those curious about one of the exceptions.)
(Full disclosure: I am a casual kpop fan at best, as I mostly listen to Japanese music tied to 2D media. Unfortunately for the limited space in my two braincells, I’ve been consuming nothing but 3D idol lore after I started hyperfixating on the group with a certain pink man in it. I know very little about idols outside of them, but I have been looking at a lot of data from charts, surveys, etc. over this past year.)
TL;DR: I woke up too early one day and tried going back to sleep but my mind wouldn’t stop thinking about this shit for some reason and I knew I would never know peace until I sent it somewhere. I’m sorry for yapping about jpop on a kpop sub.
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