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Hanabie.: “We had many paths we could choose, and we bet everything on this band”
As they gear up for the release of their new EP, Bucchigiri Tokyo, Japanese metal superstars Hanabie. look back on the near-decade of heavy touring and big swings that have catapulted them across the globe, and why they’ll always remain their colourful, authentic selves…
- Words:
- Aliya Chaudhry
- Photography:
- Genki Ito
When Hanabie. took the stage at Download Festival this summer, the Donington weekender’s trademark downpour fortuitously ceased. “The moment we came out, the sky cleared and we saw blue sky and everything,” vocalist Yukina remembers of their debut UK festival outing. “The overall atmosphere was a very memorable experience for us.”
Hanabie., rounded out by guitarist Matsuri, bassist Hettsu and drummer Chika, join Kerrang! today in the not-so-metal surroundings of a conference room, sat around a table and speaking through an interpreter, now months removed from that inaugural festival appearance.
“Download Festival is quite famous in Japan, and many people are aware of that, so it was a very big thing for us, and we were really prepared for it, but it was far beyond our expectations,” Matsuri adds. “Everybody was so welcoming, and the floor was full of people knowing our songs, so we were very happy.”
But their ambitions don’t stop there. “Next time, when we go to Download, we hope to hit the bigger stages,” Matsuri smiles.
Hanabie. are based in Tokyo, but often find themselves traversing the globe, sharing their bold and brash alternative metal with their ever-growing international fanbase. Download might have only been the band’s second time in the UK (the first being a sold-out show at Camden’s Underworld last year), but they’ve spent years opening for the likes of Limp Bizkit and Sum 41, and hitting up huge festivals across the U.S. like Lollapalooza and Mayhem Festival. They also just wrapped up a North American jaunt with Jinjer and are about to head out on another Japanese run.
“In any country we go, I notice how the fans raise their voices, or their facial expressions,” Yukina says. “They really welcome the band. That's when I really feel rewarded. I think that when we see all these audiences, I feel happy that I chose this path. And also it motivates me even more to do more interesting things, and make more fans happy.”
Between their maximalist outfits and their kaleidoscopic music, they’ve built a reputation as a formidable live act. Chika points out that there is a disconnect between Hanabie. – who are all women in their mid-20s – and the stereotypical idea of young Japanese women.
“On stage, we're really wild, wearing flashy costumes and doing intense music, intense performance, and one of the great things about Hanabie. is the gap,” she explains.
Their popularity also comes at a time where acts like Poppy, Bad Omens, Spiritbox and Sleep Token are taking a looser approach to metalcore, melding it with pop and other genres.
“Maybe Hanabie. can open the doors for those people who don't usually listen to this kind of music,” ponders Hettsu. “But through Hanabie., they might like this kind of music even more, so we hope to be the channel for that as well.”
Hanabie.’s music often hits like a series of juxtaposing curveballs, with glittering keys embellishing brutal screams and cheerful chants accompanying sludgy guitars. It oscillates between extremes, harnessing the power of guitars and growls, yet weaving them amongst the pure pop sensibilities of dancefloor synths and soaring clean vocals. This joyous amalgamation of metal, hip-hop and EDM creates a more explosive and expansive take on heavy music, which feels like a metal show taking place among the neon lights of an all-night arcade. It’s a sugar rush and a mosh-pit at the same time.
Lyrically, their music depicts the realities of life for young people in Tokyo, from corporate culture お先に失礼します(Pardon Me, I Have To Go Now) to trying to find love online in 令和マッチング世代 (Reiwa Dating Apps Generation) to the alternative gyaru subculture in Be The Gal.
“Hanabie. has really, really put importance on being lifesize and not larger than life,” Matsuri asserts.
Their music videos perfectly capture these life-sized realities, too. Pardon Me, I Have To Go Now sees them perform in the middle of an office, drenched in pink light, in-between scenes depicting uncomfortable interactions with a boss. The high-energy clips also shine a spotlight on the band’s detailed aesthetic, illustrating their environment in glorious Technicolor – whether it’s the decadent piles of desserts in 我甘党- (We Love Sweets), the lavish limousine in Girl’s Talk or the arcade of Otaku Lovely Densetsu.
“When we make music, we have a very clear visual idea, even before making the song itself,” Yukina says. It’s no surprise then, that several of their music videos have over a million views – Pardon Me, I Have To Go Now has hit more than eight million.
“Hanabie. has really put importance on being lifesize and not larger than life”
Dropping their debut album, Girl’s Reform Manifest in 2021, and following it up last year with Reborn Superstar!, their upcoming EP, Bucchigiri Tokyo, is a six-tracker that precisely shows the world who Hanabie. are – loud and clear.
“It reflects our tour experience, going [to] all these places, and all the [experiences] we had [from] touring outside the country, and also realising how we feel good back home when we can come back to Japan,” Matsuri says.
The inclusion of the word ‘Tokyo’ in the EP title comes as a tribute to the band’s roots, following a beyond-hectic international touring schedule.
“This year, it was a whirlwind. We've toured around the world and we came back to the starting point of Tokyo right now. Content-wise, it’s a starting point as well. It also depicts how it's good to be back in the birthplace of Hanabie.,” Yukina says.
While it’s inspired by a monster 2024, the EP looks back on the entirety of the band’s decade-long journey so far.
“It has everything from the original impulse that triggered us to make music, and also our struggling days, to how we developed to now,” Matsuri says. “And it's a mixture of everything we had experienced over the past year, and also what we have experienced and how we developed over the past 10 years.”
It’s about taking stock of where they’re at, and acknowledging what led them there.
“We want to reflect what we are now, like a snapshot…” Matsuri explains. “Through our songs, we want the fans to enjoy the background as well.”
The band’s elaborate aesthetic and viral success make it seem as though there might be greater forces at work, but the truth is that Hanabie. are as DIY as they come. A decade ago, the members were just teenagers. Yukina, Matsuri and Hettsu attended the same school, where they were all part of the music club, where started performing together, covering songs by Japanese metal experimentalists Maximum The Hormone.
When asked about their first show off school grounds, the young women burst into laughter, before Yukina reveals that they had to call the club to book the show, and that bassist Hettsu wasn’t able to come, so they just played as a trio.
They also performed in battle-of-the-band-style competitions, eventually scoring second place, which cemented the idea of sticking with Hanabie. long-term. That pivotal decision informs Gambler. It’s a dramatic song, the sense of tension in the verses unrelenting, reflecting on the early days of the band, when they were playing club shows and building Hanabie. from the ground up. Matsuri’s vocals in the chorus convey her desperation, while Yukina’s screams demonstrate her determination and her spoken-word parts exude confidence.
“It's about how we felt about continuing as a band in the first place,” Yukina explains. “Doing a band is like a gamble, especially right out of high school or college… We had many, many paths we could choose, like having a job, or continuing with the band, and we bet everything on this band.
“It's really a gamble whether we play abroad, or whether we play in Japan, or whether we make songs, and we don't know if that would resonate with people,” she continues. “We don't know that, but we bet everything, we gave our all to this band. So I wanted to depict that in a very unique manner, life is like a roulette.”
Back in those early days when they were trying to find their musical identity, the four members hadn’t yet embraced their unique tastes or started showcasing their authentic selves. Instead, they were attempting to emulate the bands around them, fitting into the idea of what heavy music was, rather than what it could be.
“At first, we were doing gigs with metalcore bands within the metalcore community, and we were trying to blend in,” Matsuri sighs. “We were trying to conform to that kind of style.”
But it was their song LCG, which blends heavy guitars with psychedelic synths, before exploding into brutal screams and a prog chorus, that helped them change direction.
“That was the time when we thought, ‘Hey, maybe it's better to do it [in] our own style in terms of fashion, or hairstyle, or hair colour even, and incorporate those more colourful elements into our music,’” Matsuri says.
Their hyper-colourful fashion style is over-the-top in the best way, layering a mix of textures and patterns – tulle, denim, plaid and metallic – in a collage as vibrant and bold as their musical style.
“Starting from LCG, the songs became more pop and more chaotic and gradually developed into the style we have now,” Matsuri says.
Now, instead of blending into backgrounnd, they’re constantly impressing the bands they tour with by standing out and sharing their individual personalities.
“They told us how surprised they were like, ‘Oh, this is your stage. This is your concert,’” Matsuri says. “And they were very amazed by us.”
While they’re not in their colourful stage outfits today, their personalities still come out in their choice of clothes. Yukina is wearing a red sweater and knitted hat with plaid bows, and Hettsu is in a white top and cap. Matsuri sports a black hoodie and grey bucket hat, and Chika’s teal sweatshirt is adorned with two black cats.
Hettsu had originally planned on working in the fashion industry before the band took off, and has been involved in the band’s visual and fashion choices since the beginning, citing a wide range of influences including, “games, anime, manga, and also Sanrio characters like Hello Kitty, because each member has her own favorite character.” (Hers are Kuromi and My Melody, while Yukina likes Cinnamoroll, Matsuri names Hangyodon and Chika chooses Gudetama.)
But Hanabie.’s distinctive visual style also comes from Harajuku, an area in Tokyo known for its vibrant street art and cosplay stores. “It's an epicenter of Japanese culture, birthplace of kawaii culture,” Yukina says. “People in the Harajuku area, they're wearing outrageous fashion, very radical fashion.”
By way of response, Hanabie.’s fans have dubbed them Harajuku-core.
“It's a place where everybody can behave and act and wear whatever they like. People in Harajuku, they pursue their own [paths], which relates to Hanabie. – ourselves, our music, the chaotic part, and also our lifestyle. We're doing the music and fashion and worldview. We’re creating our own paths. We're thankful to the fans for making that term,” Yukina says.
"We're creating our own paths"
Pop culture plays a huge role in Hanabie.’s sound too. Yukina finds inspiration from anime she watched when she was younger, including Sailor Moon. The lightning-fast メタ盛るフォーゼ! (Metamorphose!), from the EP, is based on the idea of superheroes and was influenced by the anime Purikyua – specifically “the cuteness and powerfulness” of the show – which she watched as a child. Their track Oishii Survivor also serves as the theme song for upcoming anime Momentary Lily.
Matsuri takes her inspirational cues from video games and anime, playing close attention to the soundtracks – influences that take centre stage on their track Otaku Lovely Densetsu, with ‘otaku’ being similar to fandom.
“I wanted to make a very chaotic song, with otaku and video game elements and also showing the geekier side of me,” Matsuri says. “I wanted to recreate the morphing scene, like the normal person turning into a superhero. The sound effects used in those scenes, I wanted to recreate that in the music as well.”
With Japanese pop culture attracting international attention in recent years, Hanabie. found that they shared a love of anime with their fans, and could speak to them about it when on tour. In fact, Otaku Lovely Densetsu “was inspired by our experience abroad, because, maybe we don't speak fluent English, we have a fluent musical language, and also we were able to connect with our fans through Japanese culture,” Yukina says.
Maintaining their connection to their Japanese roots with the use of ‘Tokyo’ in the EP title, the other word ‘Bucchigiri’ has a literal definition of being the best and surpassing others, but it’s become a popular slang term among young people in Tokyo. “It also has a meaning of full-throttle, very full speed and actually, we wanted to lean on that meaning,” Yukina says.
Taken together, Bucchigiri Tokyo is a mission statement. “It represents our mindset for the future,” Yukina explains. “We want to make full-throttle Bucchigiri from Tokyo to the world!”
2025 holds more summer festivals for the band, including a slot on Wacken Open Air in Germany. “It's going to be a fun year next year,” Chika says. Which feels like an understatement.
Next year also marks the 10-year anniversary of Hanabie.’s beginning as a band, and they’re busy brainstorming how to celebrate.
“We have an annual event happening around that time every year,” Chika says. “And so our near future goal is to make that a successful event.”
Despite having a decade under their wheels, it feels like Hanabie. are still just revving up. And what they have in store will be just as wild and unpredictable as their music. Strap in.
Bucchigiri Tokyo is released December 4 via Sony Music.
Matsuri wears minidress and skirt by KOBINNA, shoes by MIKIOSAKABE. Yukina wears knit by emary, dress by KIDILL, skirt by KOBINAI, pants by HEIHEI, bracelet by LEO GON'DO. Hettsu wears jumpsuit by emary, denim vest and hi-socks by KIDILL, shoes by MIKIOSAKABE, hat by KOBINAI, necklace by LEO GON'DO. Chika wears necklace by LEO GON'DO.
