While boy bands such as Arashi and Exile continued transmogrifying midtempo pap into Oricon gold, the interesting twists and turns in J-pop over the past year came from idol pop. The scene, often associated with schoolgirl costumes and no-dating policies, produced some great music and exciting storylines. Big names such as Momoiro Clover Z, Berryz Koubou and Morning Musume (which from next year will be called Morning Musume. ¡®14) charted with tunes that took cues from contemporary electronic music, while fledgling outfits such as Lyrical School and Especia released some of the catchiest cuts in Japan.

Techno-pop trio Perfume made some strides internationally. Even AKB48, who started the year on a low note thanks to the Minami Minegishi head-shaving scandal, released some solid songs and revealed a self-aware side.

Dempagumi.inc, my pick for the best J-pop act for the first half of 2013, had already released two of the year¡¯s best singles (the frantic-and-dramatic ¡°W.W.D¡± and ¡°Den Den Passion¡°) before finishing off the hat trick with ¡°W.W.D II.¡± It upped the theatrics of ¡°W.W.D¡± (while revealing their Queen crush) and gave J-pop its most emotionally powerful climax of the year. And it came with the year¡¯s best video, a clever clip showing what idol pop would look like in 2020.

It was another visually striking performer, though, who released 2013¡¯s best J-pop album. Kyary Pamyu Pamyu¡¯s ¡°Nanda Collection¡± saw the Harajuku-blogger-turned-model-turned-pop star improve everything first introduced on 2012¡¯s ¡°Pamyu Pamyu Revolution¡± ¡ª the melodies were more colorful and the hooks catchier. Producer Yasutaka Nakata used a wide-array of influences ¡ª Shibuya-kei, house music, brostep, arcade games ¡ª to craft his finest sounds of the year. And the accompanying videos were great, too. What pushes ¡°Nanda Collection¡± to the top, though, are the lyrics. The usually giddy Kyary spends the bulk of the album navigating between childhood and adulthood, trying to find a compromise between the two. Plenty of J-pop groups released great sounds in 2013, but Kyary Pamyu Pamyu found emotional complexity.

The best Japanese albums of 2013: Melt-Banana, ¡®Fetch¡¯

The best Japanese albums of 2013: Yosi Horikawa, ¡®Vapor¡¯

The best Japanese albums of 2013: Sapphire Slows, ¡®Allegoria¡¯

The best Japanese albums of 2013: Church of Misery, ¡®Thy Kingdom Scum¡¯