Name: Ladybeard (born Richard Magarey), a.k.a. Beard-chan, Energy-Bringer, the King of Kawaiicore
Scale of Notoriety:
5/5 – If, for some reason, you still haven’t heard of this incredible cross-dressing, wrestling, kawaii-metal idol singer, chances are you’ll hear about him soon. While he retired from his most well-known projects, LADYBABY (in 2016) and Deadlift Lolita (in 2017) a few years back, he’s finally come back to the kawaii-metal scene with a brand new group: BABYBEARD! In fact, upon release, one of their debut songs – “Nippon Kara Konnichiwa” – reached TOP 2 of TOP J-POP songs on iTunes Australia and TOP 4 for iTunes America.
Scale of Influence:
4/5 – While Ladybeard might not be the first person to have popularised Kawaiicore (that credit largely goes to Babymetal), his passion for and unique spin on the genre (which led to his popularity in the first place) is the main reason why he still has such a huge audience, especially in Japan.
Birthdate: August 3, 1983
Target Status: Head banging in cosplay in downtown Tokyo, Japan
Background: Richard Magarey’s metamorphosis into Ladybeard began when he was 14, cross-dressing in his older sister’s school uniform for a friend’s party, and his penchant for cute, girly outfits stuck ever since.
After graduating from Flinders University of South Australia Drama Centre in 2004, Ladybeard moved Melbourne to work on his acting and martial arts career, before he was told by his old instructor to move to Hong Kong for a better chance at finding experience (as it goes for foreign Westerners in Asia). Upon arriving in Hong Kong in 2006, Ladybeard soon found his niche, making a living as a cross-dressing pro-wrestler, doing metal covers of Cantonese pop songs and voice-acting for English anime dubs.
When employment in Hong Kong stagnated, Ladybeard, with the encouragement of his fans and managers alike, moved to Japan in 2013 to start a new life. His popularity eventually skyrocketed in 2015 with LADYBABY (a kawaii-metal group composed of him and two Japanese girls named Rei and Rie) with their hit song “Nippon Manju'', which reached over 10 million views in the space of four months. While (due to contract issues with the company) he retired only a year after their debut, the event fully cemented Ladybeard as the LEGENDARY pro cross-dressing heavy-metal idol wrestler in Japan we all know and love him as today.
Genetic Make-up: Hailing from Radelaide, his oozing confidence and larger-than-life personality makes Ladybeard one the most outspoken Aussies to ever exist. Add on top of that his signature cute outfits, and this bombastic combination of traits too eclectic for the West is what makes him fit in with the best of the weird, wacky and wonderful Japan has to offer.
Strengths
● HYPE/Party-starter - You feel his presence the moment he steps into the room. You might even feel his presence from just looking at a photo of him! Regardless, Ladybeard (and his unabashed Ladybeard-ness) brings the life of the party anywhere he goes.
● Chad Energy - His beard. The muscles. The attitude. The DRESS. Ladybeard is a paragon of manliness that baffles and dazzles the world over. He even won an award for it!
● Performer of Many Talents - Not only is Ladybeard a cross-dressing pro-wrestler and heavy-metal idol singer (which is already an impressive list of titles to have), but he’s also a voice actor and a stuntman!
Weaknesses
● Volume Control: Ladybeard makes a very good hype guy. When it comes to quiet spaces though, it can be a little hard to get him to calm down. In fact, Ladybeard himself has his own stories to tell about getting in trouble for being a very loud man!
● Cramped Spaces: Ladybeard is not a small guy. At 183cm and 88kg of muscle and pure adrenaline, trying to contain this man’s mass and energy is no small feat.
Special Talents: Along with being a natural performer and martial artist, Ladybeard is also a polyglot! Having lived in as many different places as he has, on top of his native English, Ladybeard also knows how to speak Japanese, Cantonese, Mandarin Chinese and a bit of German.
Nadya Labiba is an Indonesian-Australian currently in her fourth year of Journalism and Languages and Cultures at University of Technology Sydney. Aside from interning at Captain Bagrat, Nadya is an avid community volunteer and a published contributor at Central News.
Instagram @nadrlabiba