Into ACEMETRiC's NEON GARDEN
In my indie pro wrestling zine, I mentioned how a big appeal of pro wrestling is that it's the closest you get to chika idol culture in New Zealand. What I didn't realize is that chika idol culture does exist here!
That being said, the local idol scene seems quite small; if you've ever watched the cosplay performance stages at Overload or Armageddon, you've pretty much seen every idol in Auckland. But, in true chika idol fashion, some groups do perform outside of conventions, so let's talk about the recent ACEMETRiC live.
What are chika idols?
Since I never actually clarified what chika idols were in that zine:
Idols (アイドル) are essentially all-round Japanese pop entertainers, usually part of a single-gender group. Compared to conventional singers or musicians, idols are much more focused on building relationships with fans (the K-pop equivalent is more famous).
Underground/chika (地下) idols represent the independent side of the idol industry. Because chika idols perform at smaller venues and have fewer fans, they're place an even greater emphasis on fan interaction, often holding handshake events or taking instant camera photos/cheki (チェキ) with fans.
In the west, Japanese idols are probably more well-known through idol games, which include titles like Love Live, THE iDOLM@STER, and Ensemble Stars!. Love Live, in particular, was extremely popular with cosplayers throughout the mid-2010s, and some cosplay groups went on to become overseas/kaigai idols. Most kaigai idols were just online-only or convention-only cover groups, but...
ACEMETRiC NEON GARDEN
In the case of ACEMETRiC, they perform their own songs at their own events.
This particular event, NEON GARDEN, was held to commemorate the birthday of Bex, ACEMETRiC's 'green member'. Everything about that sentence is already so idol-like!!!
The live was held at Geihinkan, a Japanese karaoke bar near Saint Patrick's Cathedral. Door tickets were $20.
While the venue was minuscule, it was a perfect fit for the audience of 15 or so attendees—mostly girls wearing J-fashion, a couple of nerdy boyfriends, and me (I was going to go with a friend but he got too cold to go outside).
When I went in around 7:40 pm, Sleepy J was already playing some idol music remixes. Behind the stage was a flowerstand dedicated to Bex. On the other side of the room, there was a merch table with acrylic stands and cheki tickets.
For some reason I kept thinking ACEMETRiC only had three members even though there are clearly four people there.
Around 8:00 pm, the pre-show started with a performance by Andi and Moonblossom Midori, who covered three songs each. Andi was sooo cool and I loved Midori's energy.
ACEMETRiC came out right after (not that there was an actual backstage area). Their outfits were so cute!!! 10/10!!!!!
I was instantly drawn to Saber, the group's silver member. They were dressed cute in a pink My Melody shirt, but had a craaazy powerful metal growl (I think their regular singing voice also sounded the most 'solid').
Leek, the pink member, had a very soft and distinguishable voice that also made her stand out. Since some of the pre-show performances involved vocal tracks, I wasn't sure if ACEMETRiC used vocal backing as well. But I was impressed upon realizing that Bex and Batz were singing live after all—their voices just fit in so well with the music. The group sang two original pop-metalcore-EDM songs (below), plus a couple of covers.
Of course, all of the performers were dancing at the same time which was sooo fun. The stage was tiny but they managed to make it work.
There were a couple of commentary breaks between songs, which seriously had the same cadence as the sort of banter you see between actual idols. I wonder how much that feels like playing a character haha.
The show had pretty fun lighting, aided by the fans' color-coded lightsticks. But the bar left their YouTube playlist running on the big screen, which kinda distracted from the atmosphere even without audio. I liked the venue otherwise, so I hope that changes next time.
After the main live performance, Bex held a para para (synchronised Eurobeat dance choreography) session that must have been at least 10 minutes long!
After the live
As I watched Bex's para para, I started to feel like she looked really familiar. So I hopped onto ACEMETRiC's Instagram and clicked on her profile. Scrolling down, I realized that she was a Chika Takami cosplayer with a Chika itabag who also liked THE iDOLM@STER. Wait a minute, I definitely knew this girl in the past. We were friends! In fact, I'm pretty sure she even came to my sister's house to celebrate my favorite iM@S character's birthday 7 years ago!!!
She did not.
I would sincerely like to apologize to Bex for insisting that she went to my party and shoving pictures of the event in her face while she said that she didn't.
Luckily, it turned out that Saber was actually the member who came to Genbu's birthday party and I had simply managed to confuse New Zealand's only two Chika Takami cosplayers with a Chika itabag who also like iM@S. Saber had somehow recognized me earlier in the night and told the rest of the group they knew me before, so thankfully I didn't seem like a massive freak I hope.
By the way, I've decided to hold another Genbu birthday party next year. I'll make it open-invitation so we're not using my sister's house again.
Anyway it was nice to talk to Saber though I felt bad for not recognizing them. Then I ended up spending some time rambling about iM@S to another wotaku. I'm sorry I become deathly annoying when the topic turns to iDOLM@STER.
About ACEMETRiC
Apparently ACEMETRiC started in 2022 with 5 members, then became a 3 member-band with Bex, Leek, and Batz. It went inactive for a while and returned in 2025, at which point Saber was added as the 4th member. In 2026, the group released their first original singles and a MV covering Zero by TENRIN.
Their next shows will be at the Overload pre-party (Ding Dong Lounge) and post-party (The Mothership). They'll also be performing at Overload itself, although that appears to be cosplay/dance-only.
Chika idols and indie wrestlers
I've never experienced an actual idol live before, but NEON GARDEN was pretty much in line with what I expected. Can you see why I consider indie pro wrestling and chika idols to be so similar now?
There's obviously the transformation of real, ordinary people into celebrity-lite characters, the banter between performances, the merchandising, and the close-knit fan interactions.
But I also find them comparable for the role they give to the audience. You follow the set routine of booing when the heel wins and cheering when the face prevails; you follow the set routine of waving your lightsticks to the beat of the song. You can be loud and rowdy in a setting where there's a 'right' thing to do and you don't have to think about your individual dance moves because everyone is following the same choreo.1 That's how pro wrestlers and idols give everyone a place!
They're so similar that many female Japanese wrestlers are practically idols (see Maki Itoh), or at least have a very idol-like aesthetic compared their American counterparts.2
But hey, male wrestlers can be idols too. Make sure to watch LADYBEARD and ACEMETRiC at Overload and the Overload post-party!!!3
TBH I think para para is kinda an insanely intense form of this like line-dancing to EUROBEAT is crazy. But it's something I associate more with gyaru than idols anyway.↩
Guys it kinds kills me that out of all of the wrestlers active in New Zealand Fale is statistically the only one who has had any experience with idols by virtue of working in Japan full-time for over a decade.↩
Ladybeard is a wrestler-idol in the sense that he performs and dressed up like a female idol, but based on my one experience of attending a pro wrestling event in Japan, average male wrestlers get treated like 'idols' too. It was certainly a culture shock to realize that 90% of the audience were women.↩