True Idol Cards of the Week

Idols in Japan can be classified essentially two ways. There are mainstream performers who appear in music groups, on TV, or in movies, and appear on card sets associated with their talent. Idol groups are pop groups like AKB48, Arashi or Momoiro Clover Z, similar to NSync, the Spice Girls, and One Direction in western culture. The other type of idol is just an attractive young woman (or man, I suppose). These have card sets based on a series of photos; this is similar to the gravure models (AKA glamour modeling) who make DVDs and photo books; many gravure models have or appear in idol card sets. Some former pop idols have gone on to appear in their own photo books, DVDs, and of course idol trading card sets.

Fonchi (Phongchi) is a Japanese idol of Vietnamese descent who belonged to the idol group Idoling. According to Wikipedia, she has two photo books and five DVDs. This set and many of her other modeling works were released while she was still a member of Idoling.

I bought this card because I saw the bungee jumping photo on the back when the card was sitting in the box. This is the first idol card I bought at Quad Sports, actually.

Suzuka Morita got her start as a gravure model, moving into actual acting (as a yellow Power Ranger for several series, among other things!) and also being a member of Idoling.