Who Runs BELONG A-indie? Staff’s First Honest Talk

Last Updated on 2025-11-15 by a-indie

Hello! This is the BELONG Media / A-indie editorial team.

To all our readers who always read our articles. “Who are the people who make this media?” Maybe you’ve been a little curious about that?

When you think of music media, you probably have an image of cool, stoic people gathering together. (We used to think so too, lol.) But the reality is… not quite.

So this time, yabori, Takita-kun, and maririn-san, the three staff members of BELONG Media / A-indie, decided to have a long, in-depth conversation with a “nice to meet you” feeling.

The goal is truly just one thing: to let our readers know, “This is who we are!”

The only thing the three gathered members have in common is that they like The Novembers and ART-SCHOOL… is that it? It might really be just that, three surprisingly different people.

To start, they bring their recent purchases and their respective passions to talk about.

Participants: yabori (MC), Takita, maririn | Original illustration: Furidashi Taro

Who runs BELONG Media / A-indie?

yabori

Thank you for gathering today, all three of you. We haven’t really talked, the three of us, have we? First, I wanted to talk about what you’ve bought recently. Actually, I bought a kick scooter. Not an electric one.

A kick scooter!

Takita

yabori

It was about 18,000 yen, I think. It’s about 2 kilometers from the station to the office, so I always rode my bike, but it often gets flat tires. So I bought one with a brake.

It’s fun when you have more ways to get around. It changes the structure of your life.

Takita

yabori

Yeah, it is. It’s faster than I thought when I rode it. It looks good too, so I think I can use it for commuting! Well, I’ll really stand out in the countryside where I live now (lol). Do either of you ride a kick scooter?

I had a kick scooter when I was a kid.

maririn

yabori

Oh, do you still have it?

It was at my parents’ house, but I gave it to Natsuki from Tempalay. And it appears in Tempalay’s music video.

maririn

yabori

What! Seriously?

It’s an early video, but Yoshida-san from TENDOUJI was dressed as an alien and riding my kick scooter (lol).

maririn

yabori

That’s a good reuse (lol). To think something I bought in elementary school would turn into this!

I know, right? (lol).

maririn

Takita-kun is obsessed with crane games?

yabori

So, Takita-kun or maririn-san, do you have anything you’ve bought recently?

I’ll go first. I’ve been completely obsessed with crane games lately.

Takita

yabori

What, crane games!?

Figure crane games. Like Jujutsu Kaisen, SAKAMOTO DAYS, Chainsaw Man, and so on.

Takita

yabori

You watch a lot of anime!

For the past few years, I’ve been mostly buying and reading manga volumes. I also think anime is interesting, so I watch one or two every season. But I had absolutely no interest in crane games. I had the image that you’d spend money and never win anything.

Takita

I have that image too.

maririn

That changed when I went drinking with a friend in Shimokita for the first time in a while, and we went to an arcade while drunk. Then I saw a Chainsaw Man character figure there, and I thought it was really cool.

Takita

Takita-san, you like Chainsaw Man!

maririn

I started playing, thinking I might be able to win it in the type of crane game where you drop the figure box between two bars, but I kept getting close and not winning… When I had sunk about 3,000 yen, I thought, “This is getting bad.”

Takita

yabori

Did you finally win it for 3,000 yen?

No, that’s where it started! As I kept playing, people started watching. It would get into a good position, but it just wouldn’t drop. I thought, “If I stop now, the 3,000 yen will be wasted, and I’d hate it if someone else easily won it right after I quit.”

Takita

yabori

It’s a crane game quicksand (lol).

When I went to exchange for 4,000 yen, the staff member said, “You’ve spent quite a bit. Let me help you a little,” and moved it slightly. But I still couldn’t win it. When I hit 5,000 yen, I thought, “This is really bad,” and then the staff member helped me a second time.

Takita

(lol). You spent quite a bit!

maririn

And the moment I finally won it for about 5,000 yen, my brain was flooded with dopamine, and it was an incredible rush!!!

Takita

yabori

No way!

From there, my friend also realized, “You can win figures with crane games.” With the joy of winning, we went to another bar afterward, and before we knew it, we were looking up “big crane game arcades” and went all the way to Kabukicho in Shinjuku (lol).

Takita

yabori

That’s amazing (lol).

And two weeks ago, Ikebukuro is the holy land of crane games. There are about 5 or 6 arcades around Sunshine City. My friend and I sank 25,000 yen there and won 11 figures (lol).

Takita

11 figures for 25,000 yen is a lot of improvement from 1 figure for 5,000 yen at the start (lol).

maririn

yabori

You’re totally hooked (lol).

But I’ve realized that at any crane game arcade, after you’ve spent about 2,000 or 3,000 yen, the good places will call out to you and fix the setup. If you ask for advice, they’ll say, “Okay, I’ll adjust the angle.”

Takita

yabori

The staff are kind!

When I tried it, I found out that figure crane game arcades are kind, and if you ask for help, you can win.

Takita

That’s right, it’s a game that includes the staff. It’s a win for whoever gets along with them.

maririn

yabori

That’s a famous quote from maririn-san! A game that includes the staff (lol).

The key is to go with a few friends and make a big fuss in front of the crane game, shouting “I can’t get it, I can’t get it!” to show your appreciation.

Maririn

It’s a win for whoever gets along with them, but when I spent 25,000 yen, I had watched videos on YouTube with my friend before going, so I also developed a desire to “win it myself.”

Takita

yabori

I see (lol).

The standard game is where two bars are set up, and you drop the figure between them, but after winning about five, I tried the ring-in type and the string-cutting type. I’m good at those. I was able to win a figure for 500 yen sometimes.

Takita

yabori

So there’s a knack for different types of crane games.

That’s right. But I’ve convinced myself that it’s better than getting hooked on pachinko or horse racing. Even if I spend money, I have a figure when I go home.

Takita

yabori

Ah, it remains as a physical object. I see!

I’m kind of trying to convince myself, but I understood the feeling of people who get hooked on pachinko.

Takita

yabori

What do you mean?

When you hit the jackpot in pachinko, it makes a “kyun” sound. I heard that it releases adrenaline in the brain and makes you easily addicted. In my case, the moment the figure dropped, it was like that, and I thought, “I want to do it again!” (lol).

Takita

maririn’s DVD she hasn’t watched yet

yabori

maririn-san, do you have anything you’ve bought recently?

I bought the DVD of The Nightmare Before Christmas about four days ago.

maririn

Oh, you bought it.

Takita

That’s right. It was its first TV broadcast on October 31st, but I wasn’t sure if I could watch it, so I decided to buy it beforehand. I’ve always wanted it.

maririn

yabori

Is that so.

In the end, I watched it on TV, so I haven’t watched the DVD yet (lol).

maririn

yabori

Ah, I see (lol).

But the DVD also includes two short films by director Tim Burton.

maririn

yabori

Oh, it has bonus features.

I want to watch those.

maririn

yabori

I see. So you preferred the DVD over Netflix.

Yes, since it’s Disney, it’s only available on Disney Plus.

maririn

yabori

I see, it’s not on Netflix.

That’s right.

maririn

yabori

It’s like buying a used CD for something that’s not even on Spotify.

But you know, I don’t have a machine at home anymore that can play CDs or DVDs, even if I buy them.

Takita

In my case, I use my PlayStation as a DVD player.

maririn

Is that so? When I think about buying a DVD recently, I realize I don’t have a player at home. There are a lot of things I can’t watch on subscription services.

Takita

It’s the same with CDs. There are quite a few people who don’t have a CD player at home.

maririn

The problem of everyone listening to music differently

yabori

Do either of you have a CD player at home?

I do. It’s been sleeping in the back of the closet for a while, though.

maririn

I have a Kenwood stereo system at my parents’ house, but not at my place now.

Takita

yabori

That’s right. Even if you have a CD, you can’t play it.

So, I received a sample CD from an artist I interviewed the other day, and I wanted to listen to it, so I’m thinking of buying a used CD player.

Takita

yabori

I bought a portable CD player about two or three years ago. But portable CD players break easily.

That’s right, they’re not durable.

maririn

yabori

They’re very vulnerable to shock, and the parts tend to fail.

Also, nowadays, headphones and earphones are all Bluetooth, so you can’t listen without a wired one.

Takita

yabori

Exactly. Everyone’s way of listening to music might be quite different. How do you listen to music? For me, I sometimes listen to Spotify on my smartphone, sometimes on my computer, and sometimes I connect my tablet to my stereo system.

I mostly use Apple Music, but I think the sound quality is best when listening to songs with music videos uploaded on YouTube.

Takita

yabori

I see, you listen on YouTube.

Yes. The sound source on YouTube somehow feels really good. Maybe it’s the compatibility with my headphones or earphones, but it sounds dynamic.

Takita

yabori

Hmm, I wonder if there’s a difference. How do you listen, maririn-san?

I also use Spotify. Mostly on my smartphone or iPad lately. Before, I used to listen from my computer while working.

maririn

yabori

You could listen to Spotify while working? Oh, when you were at your previous label.

That’s right. At the label, I would listen to music I liked while searching for new music. Music was playing from everyone’s desk.

maririn

The problem of surprisingly few common interests

Yabori

So, on to the next topic, what do the three of you have in common? It could be music or movies, but it feels like you went to the same places, but not in the same way. The first thing that comes to mind is that you all probably like ART-SCHOOL and The Novembers, but is there anything else?

I’m listening to ROTH BART BARON now.

Takita

I listen to them too.

maririn

yabori

So ROTH BART BARON is another one. I was wondering if there was anything else in common, whether it’s foreign bands, movies, or books.

There are things like, “Of course everyone likes that.” I want to find something a little more niche than that.

maririn

yabori

Speaking of old bands, for foreign bands, maririn-san went to the Smashing Pumpkins reunion concert. Well, everyone probably likes Smashing Pumpkins. Okay, let’s change the topic. What band did you see at Summer Sonic?

Bring Me the Horizon last year.

maririn

I saw beabadoobee at Summer Sonic this year, but I really wanted to see aespa.

Takita

yabori

Is that so! Did you get to see them at Summer Sonic?

On the day, my friend said they wanted to see HANA, an idol produced by Chanmina, and were going on the first day. I wasn’t interested, but I watched them and got completely hooked.

Takita

yabori

Takita-kun, you have a lot of those moments (lol).

I was also hooked on NewJeans. There’s an online fan meeting, a two-shot event.

Takita

yabori

What do you mean by an online two-shot?

You meet face-to-face on Zoom, and when they say 3, 2, 1, you take a screenshot, and that’s sent from the label to become a two-shot.

Takita

yabori

Ah, I see, I see.

I won that too.

Takita

Amazing! The odds must be high.

maririn

yabori

That’s probably true. So that happened to you. That’s a pretty rare experience.

I’m starting a new life, getting hooked on anime and idols in my 30s, even though I used to like Nirvana and Smashing Pumpkins (lol).

Takita

How was this project?

yabori

So, this was the first time today, how was it for both of you?

It was interesting. Time flew by.

Takita

yabori

I didn’t know Takita-kun had such rare experiences (lol).

That’s right (lol).

Takita

yabori

We couldn’t find a common interest this time, but there were some unexpected discoveries.

That’s right. I want to know more about yabori-san and maririn-san, so I want to decide on the next theme. Something like a session where we bring and present our favorite things: music we’re listening to recently, favorite novels, favorite movies, favorite manga, and anime.

Takita

yabori

Okay. Since all three of us seem to watch movies regularly, next time will be “Our Recommended Movies”!

Postscript

Well, how was it?

Despite being staff members of a music media, the topics that came up were kick scooters, crane games, and K-Pop idols… Our first meeting was surprisingly lively with unexpected topics.

The phrase “The only common interests are ART-SCHOOL and The Novembers” turned out to be not entirely a joke 😉

What kind of chemical reaction will occur from the three of us, each with our own unique “likes”? Please keep an eye on the future of BELONG Media / A-indie!

Next time: At Takita-kun’s suggestion, a session to bring and present “Our Recommended Movies.” Will the three of them finally find a common interest this time…?

BELONG Media Editorial Team

A music specialized media that covers Japanese, Western, and Asian music, mainly focusing on indie rock. Has published 26 issues of the music magazine “BELONG Magazine” with the theme of “roots rock.”

Appeared as a guest on J-WAVE’s SONAR MUSIC in 2021. Launched the English sister site A-indie in 2022.

The editorial team members mainly get their nourishment from shoegaze and dream pop.