Welcome to ミドリ!
ミドリ or Midori was a band that formed in 2003 with lead singer and guitarist Mariko Gotō, Hajime on keyboards, Yoshitaka Kozeni on drums, and Keigo Iwami on bass. Midori had many lineup changes which included Io Ryota on guitar, Tsurugi Jujin on bass, Yano Masatoshi on vocals, Kuwano Yoshifumi on bass and Hirochi on samples. Midori released two demos, "First" in 2003 and "Second" in 2005, three extended plays, ファースト♥ (First♥) in 2005, 清水 (Shimizu) in 2007, ライブ!! (Live!!) in 2008, and three albums, セカンド♥ (Second♥) in 2007, あらためまして、はじめまして、ミドリです (Aratamemashite, Hajimemashite, Midori Desu) in 2008, and Shinsekai in 2010. Midori orginally started playing kayokyoku covers but decided that they weren't talented enough and so they started writing their own songs. They had a very outstanding career in their 7 year run as a band as they faced sucess with their most popular album あらためまして、はじめまして、ミドリです (Aratamemashite, Hajimemashite, Midori Desu) landing #25 on the Orican charts for six weeks. Their live shows were a different story as they were energetic and putting an amazing peformance like their life depended on it. Mariko was very into to it as she would bash her head in with a microphone and there is pictures of her bloody face. My fav live show of theirs is Midori Live 2009 they all did an amazing job espcially especially Kozeni Yoshitaka. Sadly on December 25, 2010, Mariko publicly announced their disbandment and held their last outstanding show "Sayonara, Gotō-san" being played on December 28.
Prior to Midori, Mariko and Yoshifumu was in a band together called Usagi. Usagi was formed in Osaka, Japan in 2001 with the members Mariko Gotō on Vocals and Guitar, Matsumoto Yuko on Vocals and Guitar, Nancy (Yoshifumu Kuwano) on Bass, and Fukuhara Taichi on Drums. During their short time together, Usagi appeared on the compilation It's Something Beautiful with the songs "Wakare Uta" and "Natsu no Yohaku". After performing around Osaka for a couple of years, they released their only mini-album Akemi-San to Midori-san which was released July 16, 2003 when Goto founded the group Midori. Just a few months later the band broke up.
Where is Midori now?
Mariko has done some group projects since, but she has mainly released solo works: 299792458, m@u and Kowareta Hako ni Rinakkusu, alternative rock albums. She rebranded as "DJ510まりこ" (DJ510Mariko) and released the violent Gaoinsbourg ni Aisarete, a hardcore electronic/dance album. With this new sound, she released a single, Punk ga Suki and a snippet for her next album, F*ckin' Kill You. She also created a modern, acoustic japanese folk group, "Acoustic Violence POP", which she released POP and I Love You wa Tomaranai. She's active on her social medias and still frequently performs. My fav songs where her guitar really stands out for me is, I Became A Guitar!!!!!, Mecha, Love Song, Six-String D and 5 Times.
Hajime/Hajimetal, Midori's keyboardist, is in a band called Mezcolanza which is a fusion of j-pop and alternative rock with jazz and a hint of japanese folk. In Midori his keyboard skills are phenomenal as his keyboarding skills adapt to all of the songs. My fav songs with his amazing keyboard skills has to be Swing, Yukiko-San, Speed Beat, Exotic Dance, Samba In Prison Clothes, Six-String D, 2 People's Secret, and Dopping Noise Noise Kiss.
Keigo Iwami, Midori's double bassist, runs a blog with a list of associated acts in the left sidebar. Oncenth Trio appears to be his main project, and they're a heavy drums+piano+bass jazz-fusion band. My fav songs where his bass stands out, Speed Beat, Swing, Chiharu's Love, 2 People's Secret, and Endless Decay.
Kozeni Yoshitaka, Midori's drummer, has no social media that I could find. He's in a band called "Nigami 17th Birthday!!", a jazz-infused j-pop-rock band. Kozeni being the drummer in Midori was destined for him at the time as he stood alot in their songs his skills are out of this world i always get excited when i hear Mecha cause of his and Mariko's duo part and when Akan plays despite him playing the same part for majority of the song it still never fails to make get excited for the build up of the other instruments. My fav songs where his drums stand out, Yukiko-San, Love song, Mecha, Swing, Akan, Six-String D, and Sweet Suicide Summer Story. (i swear he had a insta but maybe im remembering wrong and looked up a past members insta)
Ranking all Midori songs
50: あばずれ (Abazure)
49: Pop
48: 根性無しあたし、あほぼけかす (The Fool Grows Senile, It Isn't Her Spirit)
47: Suki (Love)
46: 春メロ(Spring Melody)
45: リズム (Rhythm)
44: 無欲の無力 (Powerlessness of Disinterestedness)
42: グッバイ(Goodbye)
41: わっしょい
40: お父さん (Father)
39: 無欲の無力 (Helpless Helplessness)
38: わっしょい。(Heave-ho.)
37: ああ嫌 (Oh Horrible)
36: A.N.A
35: 深夜高速 (Midnight High Speed)
34: 都会のにおい。(Smell of the City.)
33: あたしのお歌 (My Song)
32: メロン記念日 × ミドリ (Sweet Suicide Summer Story)
31: うわさのあの子 (That Girl I Heard About)
30: 声を聞きたいのですが、聞こえないのです(I Want to Hear Your Voice, But I Can't)
29: お猿 (Monkey)
28: かなしい日々。(Sad Days)
27: あんたは誰や (Who Are You)
26: ひみつの2人 (2 People's Secret)
25: ハウリング地獄 (Howling Hell)
24: メカ (Mecha)
23: ちはるの恋 (Chiharu's Love)
22: Swing
21: どんぞこ (Rock Bottom)
20: 朽ちては果てぬ (Endless Decay)
19: 犬、走る。(Dog, Run)
18: 愛って悲しいね (Love is So Sad)
17: エゾジカ・ダンス！(Exotic dance!)
16: Death or Die
15: ロマンチック・夏モード (Rommantic Summer Mode)
14: Sasu
13: あかん!! (No Way!!)
12:ロマンティック夏モート゛(ハシ゛メタルDTミックス)
11: ゆきこさん (Yukiko-San)
10: 六弦D (Six-String D)
9: あたし、ギターになっちゃった!!!!! (I Became A Guitar!!!!!)
8: ひみつの2人 (Two Peoples' Secret)
7: さよなら、パーフェクトワールド。(Sayonara, Perfect World)
6: 拍子 (5 Time)
5: 凡庸VS茫洋 (Mediocrity VS The Limitless)
4: 獄衣deサンバ (Samba In Prison Clothes)
3: 愛のうた (Love Song)
2: ドーピング☆ノイズノイズキッス (Doping Noise Noise Kiss)
1: スピードビート; Speed Beat (this is literally their best song ever i think i listened to this 1000 times not even kidding)