The What’s A Geek Guide to Rippi

Cosmania 2016 is a few days away and one of the most-awaited acts coming is Iida Riho (飯田里穂)!

Iida Riho, also known as Rippi in the voice-acting industry, has led a storied career in the entertainment industry. At the age of 11, she appeared on Tensai Terebi Kun Max and many other TV shows. Rippi also has been featured in many photobooks, DVDs and magazines during her time as a gravure idol; Pool, one of her earlier photobooks even became the top-selling photobook in Japan in 2003.

On top of all those modeling and TV gigs, Rippi is also the voice actress of different anime grils and the voice of  the best girl in Love Live!: Rin Hoshizora! :3

Being the voice of Rin from the Love Live! School Idol franchise brought her more into the spotlight and got her to meet other idols in the music industry. Teaming up with Pile as the duo group 4to6, they released cutesy bubblegum pop music like “Watashi no Tokei wa Gyakukaiten!” Watch the next video and hope you don’t get diabetes from the kawaii~

Now, since Rippi is coming here on the 1st of October, everyone should know that she’ll be coming here as a solo artist and not as a Love Live! seiyuu or as a member of 4to6.  Rippi has released many singles and four albums: stay, Rippi’s Rock N Roll リッピーズロックンロール, rippi-rippi and rippi-holic. Her songs feature harmonic stylings reminiscent of early 00’s J-pop and K-pop music and funky jazz-style keyboards and guitar hooks. The MV’s are a fun feast for the viewers and show Rippi being the cutie that she is.

「KISS! KISS! KISS!」has fast become one of my favorites, probably due to the catchy melody and the overall cuteness of the whole thing. Stargazer, an up-tempo song which has some (probable) callbacks to Hoshizora Rin, tugs on the heartstrings a bit especially now that #AprilFeels hasn’t ended. These and many other of her music with MVs or live performances can  be found on YouTube. But you’d have to go buy the albums from Japan or respectable websites like YesAsia.

Iida Riho will most definitely be singing 「HEARTACHE＝恋と予感」which is the a release from her newest album 「rippi-holic」! I’ll also definitely be fanboying over her during this one, haven’t heard it enough to be a favorite but it’s quite catchy. The concert will most likely feature songs from her newer albums like BIN-WAN SPY and Serious. Let’s hope she sings all our favorites!

Speaking of being a fanboy, Zeroblade has created a callbook for us to read and put to heart. Calls are the chanting, shouting and waving you see during Japanese lives and it is a great way to make the artist feel the love from the crowd. Our good friend, Kimi Lim, tells us more about calls here:

The calls and the synchronised waving are part and parcel of Japanese otaku culture, known as Wotagei. They are ways of fans showing their appreciation to the artist in question  and often play a large part of artist-fan interaction during the live itself. While the practise, like parts of otaku culture, often gets some flak and scrutiny depending on who you ask, I find that the dedication that these fans have to work out where the best place to respond is a testament to how much they love a certain artist.

Check out the PDF here and start practicing those waves! (ノ^_^)ノ

Let me use this space to help promote a flower stand project that the Love Live Philippine Community is doing; basically we want Rippi to feel our love through a gift of flowers and maybe more depending on the funds generated. Any amount would be great and the most important thing is to have fun and show our love for Rippi!

Check out Rippi’s social media here if you want more of her: Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. While you’re there, follow our accounts too! Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

See you guys on the con floor this Cosmania 2016!