FCZN (Pronounced "Fukujin")

Rmmmmm…

Butz-n-katz-n-butz-n-katz-n—

“I-Er-San-Shih!”

“So basically, for this track, they sampled an existin’ instrumental from a house producer and wrote their own lyrics over it. But the instrumental also samples a few different disco records from the 70s and 80s, some of which are sampled in other famous house tracks. And that’s not mentionin’ the drum breaks that get thrown in there—there’s, like, ten different layers of sampling goin’ on and most, if not all of them, go right over most people’s heads.”

Driving along the Kagoshima coast between Seikyo and Kumamoto, Justo and Noe were on their third go-round of the song “Love Kiong-si” in the cab of the former’s pickup truck.

It was quite surprising, a high-schooler owning a pickup that he even commuted to school with, and all the more so that it was in decent shape despite probably being about as old as he was. Does Justo’s family own a farm? Wondered Noe. Then again, why would he be going to school in Seikyo if that was the case? Whatever his circumstances, she was also a bit thankful, as Justo had been able to safely stash ‘her’ sword in the truck’s bed until today.

“Ooh! Right there! That little break’s actually from ‘Tomorrow Never Knows’ by the Beatles. 1966, that was released—prob’ly the oldest track sampled on this record. Also, ah, a month before Paul died? Yeah, pretty sure. Revolver, last album they recorded. Anyways, great cut from FCZN, you n’ah mean?”

“…Yeah.”

Noe did not know what he meant. She didn’t even know what "Paul" he was talking about, nor why the name of this idol group was spelled FCZN but pronounced “Fukujin”.

“So…who’s the one doing the rapping, again?” Noe asked.

“That’s Nene-chan,” said Justo. “The twin on the right, in the cheong-sam. The other one’s Juju-chan.” He pointed to the promotional image on Noe’s ticket as he said this.

Really getting into the spirit, thought Noe, what, with all the “chans” being thrown around. But Nene-chan and Juju-chan did indeed look fairly identical, with matching black-and-white cheong-sams (one’s color scheme an inversion of the other) and jet-black hair styled in almost gravity-defying loops. They bore the “gimmicks” of the group, with Nene-chan being a rapper (not that the other girls couldn’t rap) and Juju-chan being the lead dancer.

“And then, Cocoro-chan…and Fuku-chan.”

“A-yup.”

The two leads of FCZN. Cocoro-chan was the cuteness factor, with big crimson eyes, long golden locks adorned by a tiara of actual gold, and a most elegant red silken dress. Some might say she had the air of a high-class damsel, a lady of the Forbidden City, or even a goddess. Then there was Fuku-chan, the cool beauty—she looked divine too, but in a way that might be described as a little more rugged and wild. If Cocoro-chan was a being of heaven, then Fuku-chan was a sage still walking the earth; a hsien, as the Chinese said, or an “immortal” as they are sometimes rendered. Her white straight hair and icy-blue eyes complemented her simple light blue robe, evoking detachment from the things of the world.

But for Noe, it was still difficult to match the voices to the faces. She was not one for this idol stuff in general; she knew the popular Satsuman and Japanese artists, a few American and Chinese songs, and whatever rock records her father would throw on, and that was about it. To her, pop idols seemed like a different culture entirely. Though, to be fair, they sort of were, for they had gradually crawled their way eastward during the twentieth century, resting in China for a few decades before spreading to the surrounding nations. Japan and Satsuma had been too busy warring during this time to concern themselves with catering to the teenie-boppers (and not-so-teenie otaku), but in the aftermath of the Chugoku War they were promoted by both countries to promote peace and restoration.

Such, as Justo explained, was the concept of FCZN—to highlight the cultural heritage Japan and Satsuma had in common with themselves, Korea, and China. Emphasis on China, as it was also a simultaneous appeal to the much larger and more culturally pervasive Chinese idol fanbase.

But only time would tell what impact it would have down in Kumamoto, as Noe and Justo made the long trek there together. Noe would honestly have been more worried (and embarrassed) about this looking like a date with the boy, had he not just spent the last thirty minutes giving her all the exposition she needed and more on this group they were going to see. Indeed, her main concern now was that Justo was not taking the actual exorcism part of this whole outing seriously enough; he had not made a single mention of this “Sachi” person they were supposed to see. Her only hope now was that “Sachi” would swoop in and save her from having to sit through the whole concert, by which point she would actually likely feel embarrassed.

* * *

Kumamoto A-LiVE was one of the largest, if not the largest music venue in the city of Kumamoto, but in the grander scheme of things was still medium-sized at best. Thus, it was no wonder that tonight—yes, even on a Monday night—it was nearly packed to the gills. Noe slowly began to realize that these girls had way more cred than she had given them credit for. Still, she found it a little strange that Justo was young compared to most of the men in the audience. Hell, nearly everyone here seemed like they were adults.

The set design, though, was certainly impressive. The focal point of the whole thing was a massive yin-yang, or a thai-chi-thu as the Chinese called it, which had an iridescent edge and shifted through the whole color spectrum. There were paper lanterns suspended from the rigging, and the stage itself was in the shape of an octagon, divided into eight sections by an LED floor, each of which bore a symbol of three parallel lines. They probably meant something, but Noe knew not what.

The crowd was energized, and in the close quarters of the venue it was almost contagious. Noe was just waiting for the show to start, hoping it would take her mind off the throng all behind her—yes, for whatever reason Justo had taken them straight to the front row. Finally, after what felt like a whole half an hour, four silhouettes walking out from stage right came into view, moving from shadowy to starkly backlit as they took center stage. Forget forgetting the crowd; they roared all around Noe. Justo nearly blew out her left eardrum. Noe did not know how much longer she could take this, until four voices broke through the venue loud and clear.

I!
Er!
San!
Shih!

Spotlights flashed on. Kick and hi-hat intertwined, blasting through the speakers and reverberating through the whole crowd. Yes, Noe knew this beat—it was “Love Kiong-si”, the song which Justo had picked apart so meticulously on the ride here. But she could not recall it immediately, for her mind had been taken captive by all the sights and sounds—most of all the dancing. Fuku-chan, Cocoro-chan, Juju-chan, and Nene-chan moved in perfect sync, perfect reflections of the image Noe had seen of them, but with so much life.

It was almost hypnotic to watch, until Noe saw what was going on around her—hundreds of little lights had gone up in the crowd, shaking in time to the beat. She turned to Justo, who suddenly thrust one of the glow sticks on her. She tried her best to keep up. Meanwhile, the girls had begun singing; here one could clearly distinguish between Fuku-chan’s strong alto, Cocoro-chan’s bright and bubbly soprano, and the tag-teaming between Juju-chan and Nene-chan. As they hit the chorus, Noe was fully engrossed.

Love kiong-si!
Want you to be with me!
Want to make you mine!
‘Til the end of time!

Love kiong-si!
Want you to be with me!
Jump forever on!
Rocking to my song!

Yes, a good portion of the lyrics were in English, or at least some English-Japanese-Satsuman-Chinese creole. But struggle as Noe did to understand them, the meaning could not match the energy with which they sang. They rotated around the stage, each member showing off their individual appeal.

As they moved from song to song, it began to feel less like a show and more like an interaction; there were even skits sprinkled throughout the set, featuring antics from the twins. Each member seemed to hold their own attention on the audience, but Noe felt none of them more than Fuku-chan. Maybe it was simply because Fuku-chan was often in front and Noe was in the front row, but the latter could have sworn she met eyes with the former several times throughout the set, even when she was not trying to make a strong appeal.

Noe could see why Fuku-chan was the lead. She had an androgynous sort of beauty which could easily charm men and women alike, and her voice cut clean through the airy, breathy, nasally tones of her groupmates. She had power behind her. And just when Noe thought the show was finished, it was Fuku-chan who called the rest of the group out for an encore of “Love Kiong-si”.

Sweating, heaving, overstimulated, her arms overworked, Noe turned to look back at Justo when the house lights came on.

“...?”

“Whaaat?”

“I SAID, WHAT’D YA THINK OF THE SHOW?!”

“I THOUGHT IT WAS AWESOME! SORRY FOR BEING KINDA HESITANT ON THE RIDE HERE, BUT…WOW! I—I MIGHT HAVE TO SEE MORE OF THESE!”

“GOOD, GLAD YA LIKED IT! AHHH, THAT FELT GOO-OOD! FEELS LIKE MY LIFE IS FINALLY COMPLETE! …SAY, Y’WANNA MEET THE GIRLS?”

“HUH?!”

Before Noe could form a better response, Justo had taken her by the wrist and, while everyone else was funneling in through the back exits, vaulted the two of them up on stage and through a heavy door. Noe was nearly struck blind by the fluorescent lighting of the backstage, but there in the corridor she could still make out those four figures whose images had begun to linger in her mind.

“Fuku-cha~n!” called Justo in an unusual falsetto.

“Ye~s!” came the response from a warm voice, matched with a simple but beaming smile. But once she beheld who was calling out to her, this smile dropped in an instant, and her face lost all its shine.

“Oh. It’s just you, Ijyuin.”