A six-member idol group formed in June 2022. Their name “Mercuro” is derived from “Mercurochrome liquid” (merbromin) which is used as a disinfectant. Their concept is characterized by visual creatives which are affected by Tokyo Grand Guignol , a theater company in Japan, and Manga “Lychee☆Club”, and also is influenced by sounds from Visual-kei rock.

Biography

Mercuro debuted as a six-member idol group in June 2022. Utashiro Kamite joined the group in August. They held a 1st-anniversary one-man live concert at Shibuya O-EAST (Tokyo). They’ve started to perform with the backing band since their additional 1st anniversary concert at Ebisu LIQUIDROOM (Tokyo).

In October 2023, Mercuro established their own idol label “Circle Lychee” as the leading group. Three sister groups formed as the 2nd generation following Mercuro. In November, Mercuro held the final concert of Kanto*1 tour titled “Shitsurakuen” (Paradise Lost) at O-EAST (Tokyo). They invited “Kaiten Hyakume”, a theater company, as the guest act, and performed a drama with them in between songs.

*1 Kanto is the region of Japan including the Greater Tokyo Area.

In June 2024, Mercuro held the 2nd anniversary concert at Zepp DiverCity (Tokyo). In August 28th, their first hall concert titled “The cruel drama ‘The Red Mantle’” at LINE CUBE SHIBUYA. On September 11th, Akuta Tamaki left the group and the group started to perform as six members. In spring 2025, they held Japan concert tour with backing band titled “See you again tomorrow, at our ☆(Hikari) Club”, whose title was derived from “Lychee☆CLub”. In that tour, the members performed band plays as a special content.

Short Review

Since the breakthrough of Higeki no Heroine Syndrome (Herosyn), there were some former idol groups which sang songs with dark lyrics reflecting negative emotions from difficult lives, wearing the Jirai-kei makeups and clothes.

However, there is no group other than Mercuro that has actively constructed the scene of the groups having akin concepts, consequently holding regular events and hosting joint gigs to strengthen the connection with similar groups.

In their first half year, Mercuro often performed in the live event isolatedly surrounded by groups with traditional Kawaii style. Although, they invited many groups having strong affinity to their hosting live event titled “Grand Guignol” and “Tokyo Zettai Teito”, allowing some newcomers with similar styles to follow, which led to a significant movement surrounding Mercuro.

In addition, the most remarkable point of this movement is the existence of sister groups in Circle Lychee, the label hosted by Mercuro. Mercuro have constructed their position in the scene by themselves. Members mentioned in an interview*1 that sometimes people call other groups of the same kind as “Mercuro-kei”.*2

While Mercuro’s songs are united by a consistent artistic vision, they also showcase diverse musical styles and tell different stories through their lyrics. For example, the motives of dramatic songs “BaraBara*3” and “Mukei no Teikyu*4” are some underground topics, reminding us of famous cruel criminal cases in Japan. “Zetsubou Sekai*5” and “suicidose” are the killer tunes with heavy rock sound, while “Sonzai Shoumei*6” and “Tsugihagi*7” are gentle songs telling the precious bond between idols and fans in traditional idol song style. （Marumoto Minoru）

*1 https://www.visunavi.com/2025-02-02/23593/

*2 “ ****-Kei” in Japanese means things that have styles, features, or origins same as ****, or specialized to ****.

*3 罰愛罰愛 (Bara Bara) … “罰 (Batsu)” means the punishment, “愛” means Love, and “Bara Bara”means the separated or scatterd state of things. So, the title is the word play tricking “Batsu Love Batsu Love” and “Bara Bara”.

*4 無稽の啼泣 (Mukei no Teikyu) … A nonsensical crying.

*5 絶望セカイ (Zetsubou Sekai) … The hopeless world.

*6 存在証明 (Sonzai Shoumei) … The proof of one’s existence or identity.

*7 ツギハギ (Tsugihagi) … A state of things that patchworked, having apparent seams (sometimes implies one’s lack of humanity and difficulty and anxiety in living, using an analogy to stuffed dolls.)

Members