In 2014, Mikito Tsurugi wrote his autobiographical comic essay, Ano Koro. Danshi Ka Shimashi Monogatari, and it has recently turned into a film by the hands of the zestful movie director, Rikiya Imaizumi. The story takes place in the early 2000s, in Abeno Osaka, and authentically portrays the youthful days of young Tsurugi and his peers devoting themselves to the Hello!Project idols, such as Morning Musume and Aya Matsurura. 

The movie, In Those Days, has garnered attention for Tori Matsuzaka playing the leading character, Tsurugi. Also, actors, who are active in various fields including Taiga Nakano, Takashi Wakaba, Tateto Serizawa, and Kokado Kentaro from the comedy-duo Lotti, who is landing his debut film role with this movie, are gathered in this film—Convincingly playing quirky characters. 

How did the story turn into a movie, and what is the message intended to be delivered through the film? I spoke with Director Imaizumi, and the original author, Tsurugi to find out. 

Tori Matsuzaka in the film looked exactly like Mikito Tsurugi

——First, please tell us your thoughts after you had watched the film.

Mikito Tsurugi: What I could say is that the director and scriptwriter—Masanori Tominaga—and the crew were showing reverence to the original story. There are cases where the original authors are unhappy with the film adaptations of their works—like Steven King—but that wasn’t the case for me. 

——The film is nothing like Shining, though. [laughs]

Tsurugi: I mean, I didn’t think of wanting to redo everything like Steven King did. [laughs] In fact, they brushed up my work, which was quite hard to portray. I’m so grateful for that. That’s all it matters.  

——I heard you were on the set quite often.

Tsurugi: I was. I went to the set casually. People kept asking me, “Are you coming tomorrow?” so, I was like “Sure, why not”—but afterwards I heard that the original authors don’t actually visit the set that often, and that’s when I started feeling embarrassed. [laughs] I was there merely because it was fun, but I guess it was a little odd. 

Rikiya Imaizumi: If a legendary novelist or manga artist came to the set every day, it would’ve been an extraordinary mood. [laughs] But as Tsurugi wrote some parts of the dialogues, such as in the event scene, we were able to ask him like, “do you think this part is weird?” and confirm with him when we were struggling during the shoot—so he was more like a director than just an author. 

Tsurugi: I was obviously the only person who knew about Hello!Pro at that time and my friends—so the actors and Director would ask me questions and I would be there to answer. 

——Also, Tori Matsuzaka, who played your role in the movie, was studying your mannerism when you were there. 

Tsurugi: Yeah, I heard Matsuzaka saying so.

——Most people who saw the movie say that Mazusaka in the film looks exactly like you. 

Tsurugi: It’s weird for me to admit but yes, he looks just like me. [laughs] I see reviews saying, “Tori Matsuzaka was creepy,” but that’s simply because I was a creep. The film isn’t representing the general fans of Hello!Pro, and it’s essentially portraying me. The more reviews I see about Matsuzaka’s acting, the more I feel prodded. [laughs]

Imaizumi: When people talk about Tsurugi and Matsuzaka’s resemblance, they often make fun of their looks, but I think their personalities are also alike. 

Tsurugi: Seriously!?

Imaizumi: Maybe, Tsurugi is a bit more mature? That’s what I think. 

Tsurugi: Yeah, I agree. Matsuzaka isn’t that handsome at his core, if you know what I mean. 

Imaizumi: In real life, Matsuzaka is a normal person. Like, he’s nonchalant. In a good way. 

Tsurugi: He seems to not care about how people see him. So, that’s why he could insouciantly play a character like me. I think Matsuzaka is identical to me in the film, but I see the friends as the characters of the movie. 

Difficulties of film adaptations 

——Director Imaizumi, you were saying that it took time to imagine and figure out which part to assign to each actor. 

Imaizumi: I didn’t have trouble for the conspicuous characters like Tsurugi and Kozumin, however, initially with the characters like Nishino, Ito, Nakauchi and Robi, the actors were all talented that I had a hard time assessing who would be suitable for the respective part—Like, I could imagine the actors playing two different characters. But looking at it being finished, I can’t think of these actors playing other parts anymore, so I guess that means the casting was done right. Since we couldn’t employ more actors, we had to have one person conveying multiple characters who ultimately existed in the original story. In the film, there is a poster that says, “NO MUSIC, NO IDOL!”—Tsurugi drew every single person on the poster, including those who couldn’t have its own character in the film, so I’m glad that we had the poster.  

Tsurugi: Tower Records requested me to draw all the original characters on the poster. 

Imaizumi: Generally speaking, although it would be nice to have all the original characters in the film, it’s imperative to organize the number of characters, so that it wouldn’t get congested. 

——When I read the original story, I’ve realized that in the film, it’s not only the characters, but there are multiple events conveyed into one sequence—I was once again impressed by the script. How did the communication go with Masanori Tominaga? 

Imaizumi: First, Tominaga wrote the overall structure and we began from there. Not only for this film, but I usually don’t write scripts for works that have their originals. I think the skills to sift the important parts and rebuild the story are different from creating stories from scratch. I personally cherish small details that if I were to write a story, it gets redundant as I’m not capable of taking out precise descriptions. Even when putting two stories into one, I dither with thoughts like, “if I take this part out, the transition between this scene to the next would be awkward,” or “if I combine these parts into one, the original author might get disappointed” —and I end up doing nothing to the stories. However, Tominaga would do that job for me, and we would brush up together afterwards. Initially, Tsurugi’s unsuccessfulness was conveyed more precisely—There were scenes with him at his workplace. Yet, we looked at the overall mood and balance, and decided to cut those moments.

Tsurugi: You take great care of the precise details in the story. 

Imaizumi: I mean, who wouldn’t be interested in the fact that Nishino has become a quiz king, after all. [laughs] I briefly thought about adding small bits of each member’s current life—just like, Stand by Me. [laughs] But if we did so, it would just be superfluously long. Also, realistically speaking, I wasn’t quite sure how to portray a quiz king scene. But it may have been funny if we did, you never know.

Tsurugi: It might have been possible if it were a Netflix drama series of 10 episodes. [laughs] 

Imaizumi: That’s true. But also, it was quite a challenge to determine how far we should portray Tsurugi’s life in Tokyo after moving away from Osaka—There’s his band, Arakajime Kimerareta Koibitotachi E, and him being the manager of Shinsei Kamattechan, and all other things…you know. If we wanted to convey him working at the entertainment office, we would probably have to make a scene of him being present at his artist’s interview or something like that—but it made me wonder, “Would that really show his attitude towards work?” Then, as I was pondering and location scouting, the ideas started coming together.

The director, Imaizumi’s meticulous details that cannot be missed

—— I think one of the highlights of the movie is the tiny details. In Tsurugi’s room, there is a handwritten paper that says “Kosho-dattesa (Says it’s broken)” stuck to the AC, which I assume is inspired from the scene in Aya Matsuura’s music video: “Yeah! Meccha Holiday.”

Tsurugi: That’s right, bravo. [laughs]

Imaizumi: I’m happy that you’ve noticed. I think not many people would find that the first time they see the film. It was also in the original story. 

Tsurugi: Yes, it was casually written. Back when I wrote the story, I included that detail hoping for someone to notice that it’s the same as in “Yeah! Meccha Holiday.” You also need to watch the video very carefully. 

Imaizumi: We could’ve taken that part out when editing the scene, if we wanted to, and in fact, it was not going to be used—but I remember suggesting that even though it’s not a crucial detail, it would be better to show a moment of the room turning into Ayaya’s room from the video. 

Tsurugi: The fonts were similar, too. [laughs] I think, you will discover more details if you watch the film multiple times. 

——I saw some moments imbued with Imaizumi’s style. Like in the scene where Tsurugi visits his friend’s house for the first time, it made me wonder which parts of the scene were in the script and what not, and I thought that’s very much your style—It didn’t move on to the next scene for a while, and there were moments in between where the actors seem to be their true selves.  

Imaizumi: Basically, there was a script, but the tiny bits in the scenes were improvised by the actors. Instead of giving them only one-shot, we did rehearsals, and during then, the actors would come up with ideas and we incorporated the ones that made us say, “That’s a fun idea.” Also, the stew moment was shot without deciding how to end the scene.  

——Are you seeking to capture unexpected moments?

Imaizumi: Yes, but also like what you said earlier, that you couldn’t tell “which parts were in the script and what not,” I try to make the scenes realistic as possible. That way, it becomes less fake. However, we need to keep in mind that if the actors step out too far and act too naturally, they would not be the characters anymore. The authentic scenes can be achieved by multiple takes, but sometimes, they could only be captured by one-shot. I sometimes randomly add a line in only one of the actors’ script. I didn’t do it this time, but I would do it when I want the actors, who are well prepared and getting into the character too much, to break out of their shells. I do it when they aren’t doing anything beyond what’s written in the script.  

Through In Those Days, I want more people to find out about the current Hello!Pro 

——I’d like to hear about the idols and fans, who are the main parts of the film. 

Imaizumi: Tsurugi, was there something you were into, before you were obsessed with Ayaya? 

Tsurugi: Music in general, of course, but I also loved gravure idols. 

Imaizumi: Ah, right. Gravure idols are my favorite too, but I’ve never said it out loud. I’m shy about it. There were couple gravure idols I liked—Sayuri Anzu, to name one. 

Tsurugi: I didn’t hide about it that much, and I’d say Yuuka and Kaori Manabe were my favorites. I used to check them out a lot. How nostalgic. 

——You see, people’s preferences change over time—And, there’s this inevitable sadness of acknowledging their level of passion dwindling.  

Tsurugi: I feel you. It’s sad from the perspective of people whose level of passion is consistent—They can’t bear to see others losing interests in what they used to pursue fervently together. But the truth is, people’s preferences are fluid. Even looking at people around me, there are some who suddenly became obsessed with Hello!Pro, and some who started getting into NiziU. 

Imaizumi: I think, the reason why they start parting from what they used to like, is because the level of their passion was to the extreme. Since they felt so attached to it, they probably can’t sustain the level of passion when it’s evolving too much. It’s not that they are taking the changes in a negative way, but for instance, they just can’t keep up when there are too many changes in the members of the group—If you were fond of the group, but your favorite member graduates, that could consequently make you lose interest in it. 

——I’m sure most people have experienced their hearts drifting further away from something they’d once loved, so in that sense, I think a lot of people would resonate with the story even if they were never into Hello!Pro. 

Imaizumi: If you read the original story, you can tell that it only depicts a piece of Hello!Pro’s history, and we were afraid that the viewers would think, that was the heyday of Hello!Pro—We wanted to avoid that from the very beginning. In the actual story, the characters part ways and Tsurugi moves to Tokyo. It’s the same in the film and we don’t play much Hello!Pro’s music in the second half—so, we were worried that people would misconstrue that Hello!Pro from 2008 to 2010 isn’t that good. Also, we show Kozumin listening to Perfume around that time, which could possibly lead to misunderstanding. 

Tsurugi: I agree. 

Imaizumi: Also, I was extremely concerned with the title, In Those Days—considering the risk of being misinterpreted as “the past was great,” especially by people like me, who were never a part of the culture or an Otaku. 

——But it is a film that highlights the greatest time of the characters’ lives. 

Tsurugi: I hope people take it that way. 

Imaizumi: Also, I simply hope that the film inspires people to check out the current Hello!Pro live shows. I wouldn’t say that they should see the real performance to understand the story more, but we purposely didn’t show their live performance in the film, because we wanted to induce the viewers to see it for themselves. By the way, I’ve been watching Hello!Pro’s contents on YouTube lately. If you look at the evolution of the group, the current members are completely different from before, and it’s quite hard to believe that it’s the same group. The more I watch, the more I’m awed by [Sayumi] Michishige, and discovering new things like, the average age of Morning Musume has dropped significantly at one point due to a new member joining. As you see, I’m becoming savvier. [laughs] I would watch Maki Goto collaborating with Yuki Kashiwagi on Youtube, and delve in further—eventually, I would find a video of Rino Sashihara, who is a Hello!Pro Otaku, collaborating with Minami Minegishi, and watch it ‘till the morning comes. [laughs] After I enjoy watching “=LOVE” video, I would go back to Hello!Pro videos and be reminded how great BEYOOOOONDS is.

——You’re finally getting into it. [laughs]

Imaizumi: I know it’s strange. Like, it’s odd the way I got into it. Recently, I was invited as a guest speaker for the promo event of Noboru Kodera-san.

——Is that the film starring Haruka Kudo, who is the former member of Morning Musume? 

Imaizumi: Yes. I was aware that she was already the ex-member of Morning Musume when she was casted for the morning superhero show, Kaitou Sentai Lupinranger VS Keisatsu Sentai Patoranger, but recently, when I was watching some past programs, I found out that she was still 13 years old back then—that astounded me like, “What!?” [laughs] I apologize in advance if I disappoint anyone, that a person with such poor knowledge of the idol culture was making the film—but in retrospect, I was diligently studying more about the time of the setting, and there are more things I’m discovering about the idol scene now.   

——Like you, Director, I’m sure there will be more people checking out the Hello!Pro archives. 

Tsurugi: I hope so. That’s everything I could ask for. 

——About 10 years ago, I remember Tsurugi declaring in the blog, “Right now, the person I should support is Ayaya.” One thing led to another, and eventually, director Imaizumi decided to make the film, which became the biggest support for her—I was genuinely amazed by that.  

Tsurugi: That’s true. [laughs] Back then, I was actively trying to encourage Aya Matsuura to make a comeback. For example, I visited her agency with a proposal. Unfortunately, it didn’t work out, but at least, I was able to support her in a different way.

Imaizumi: I was only contributing to what was already there, but what an incredible consequence. I’m not the one who wrote the original story, and the story was provided to me. I’m fascinated with the fact that Hello!Pro has established a long history. You hear people talking about the rumor of Maki Goto having beef with Ayaya—I think it’s interesting how they were the center of talks. …Regarding our earlier conversation, I might be the first person to be influenced by the film to check out and learn more about Hello!Pro. [laughs]

Rikiya Imaizumi
Born in 1981, in Fukushima. He debuted as a feature film director in 2010 with the film, Tamano Eiga. In 2013, he was awarded for Best Director for the film, I Catch a Terrible Cat, at the Transylvania International Film Festival. In the following year, his movie, Sad Tea, premiered and earned great reviews. His other works of feature films include, Our Blue Moment (2018), Just Only Love (2019), Little Nights, Little Love (2019), mellow (2020), and his (2020.) In 2021, other than In Those Days, a film which entirely takes place in Shimokitazawa, starring Ryuya Wakaba, Machino Uede, is scheduled to be premiered on April 9^th. 
Twitter：@_necoze_

Mikito Tsurugi
Born on May 7^th, 1979 in Niigata. He is a mangaka and the bassist of Arakajime Kimerareta Koibito Tachi E. He also worked at PERFECT MUSIC and done management for Shinsei Kamattechan and GEKITETSU. He is now a manga columnist whose works are published in various websites, and gaining attention from his wide activities, not limited to music, but in a variety of fields. In 2014, he married the essayist, Kamiko Inuyama and won the SHUFUNOTOMO award in 2018. In December 2020, he published his new comic book, Bokurano Kagayaki Hello-Ota Jinsei Sanka (from EASTPRESS.)
Twitter:@tsurugimikito

The movie, In Those Days
Director: Rikiya Imaizumi
Script: Masanori Tominaga
Starring: Tori Matsuzaka, Taiga Nakano, Takashi Yamanaka, Ryuya Wakaba, Tateto Serizawa, Kentaro Kokado, and others
Playing in TOHO Cinemas Hibiya and other theatres from February 19^th, 2021
https://phantom-film.com/anokoro/

Photography Kazuo Yoshida
Translation Ai Kaneda

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The post Rikiya Imaizumi and Mikito Tsurugi Talk About the Film, In Those Days, appeared first on TOKION - Cutting edge culture and fashion information.

Culture can be born out of a specific time and place, and yet, it possesses the ability to become timeless. In this series, “時音,” TOKION invites people who are shaping culture today to talk about the past, present, and future.

This year, BABYMETAL is celebrating the 10^th anniversary of their formation in 2010. With their originally scheduled tour in Asia canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic, this has been a year of reflection for the band, which usually focuses on live performances. In the midst of all this, they’re releasing “10 BABYMETAL YEARS,” a 10^th-anniversary album of their greatest hits. On December 31st, they’ll make their first-ever appearance on Kohaku Uta Gassen, NHK’s annual New Year’s Eve television special. Furthermore, they plan to hold 10 shows at the Nippon Budokan in 2021. With the band back in motion, what’s been on BABYMETAL’s mind these days?

――How were you feeling during the stay-at-home period this past spring? BABYMETAL is always going on tour and playing international festivals, so I’d think that neither of you had spent very much time at home up until then. 

SU-METAL (SU): Our Asia tour was canceled, and we weren’t able to do anything we’d planned. BABYMETAL has always revolved around live performances, so I was able to feed off everyone’s energy and let out the stresses of everyday life. So, not being able to play live shows hit me harder than I thought it would. It was such a profound feeling of emptiness that it made me think: “Wow, so this is what happens to me when I don’t play live shows.”

――So it had a pretty big effect.

SU: I was feeling pretty lost at first, but metal music saved me. Thanks to metal, I was able to return to feeling positive and optimistic, which reminded me of how powerful music is. It was the first time in my life that I felt that lost, unable to do something I’d taken for granted, so I learned a lot. On the other hand, I was able to think about different ways to take advantage of this time, and Bring Me The Horizon reached out to us to make a song together, so I was able to prepare for the future. 

――How about you, MOAMETAL?

MOAMETAL (MOA): When I came back from our European tour and saw the whole country talking about the coronavirus, I thought it was really a miracle that we were even able to make it through our world tour and fly home. 

――The last show of your METAL GALAXY WORLD TOUR was on March 1^st in Moscow. If it had been just a bit later, you may not have been able to finish your tour. You may have even been stranded in a different country, right?

MOA: Yeah. But our next plan was to tour Asia, and that was canceled. We were so excited to be able to go somewhere warm, and we’d always been talking about how we wanted to tour Asia, so thinking that we would finally get to do that and having it canceled was really sad.

I knew that other artists couldn’t do anything under these circumstances either, and it made me wonder what the role of music was. It’s in these kinds of situations that music should be able to make people happy, but with all these shows being canceled, I started to think that music was more likely to make people sad. I wanted to hurry up and do something, and was feeling restless.

――What made you snap out of it? 

MOA: At the height of the coronavirus, I was relieved to realize we still had things we could offer, like uploading videos on YouTube of our past live performances.

These past ten years, there was always an obstacle that I was frantically trying to overcome.

――I’d like to ask you about the past ten years. When you were starting out, did you think BABYMETAL would last this long?

SU: Not at all. (laughs)

MOA: When we formed the band, I thought I’d be doing something completely different by the time I was 20. There were a number of times when I didn’t know whether BABYMETAL would keep going or be done. Every time that happened, I wasn’t thinking that far ahead, but I definitely didn’t think that we’d be doing this for ten years. Ten years flew by. 

――Why do you think you’ve been able to keep going?

SU: To be honest, it was only two years ago that we even started realizing how long it’s been. (laughs)

――Until then, you didn’t even have time to reflect.

SU: Right. It was like there was always an obstacle that I was frantically trying to overcome. But I never really thought of that as difficult. Even when I’m away from home, I always feel like everything will be okay. I just remember that I was able to make things work last time, so I should be able to overcome anything this time, too. And that opens up new paths, which is really fun. It’s like clearing levels in a video game. We know that feeling of accomplishment that comes from overcoming obstacles, and it gives us confidence to know that we’re in uncharted territory. So, it’s not that we’ve been able to soldier on despite the difficulties; it’s more like we’ve been able to have fun the whole way. I guess that’s because we have everyone.

――When you say everyone, you mean fans and staff?

SU: Yeah. And members, too.

MOA: Recently, I’ve been reminded of how much I really love our team. We’re able to play live shows because of the staff who support us. I think the happiest moments for me are when I get to see the smiles on my fans’ faces, and those are the moments that keep me going. SU-METAL keeps me going too.

SU: (laughs)

Our metal attitude hasn’t changed over the last 10 years 

――Over these past 10 years, what’s changed and what hasn’t? 

MOA: I feel like more things haven’t changed. Even looking at SU-METAL objectively, I think she hasn’t changed, which makes me feel reassured. The structure of our band has changed, but I think it’s evolved in a good way. Our metal attitude is also really important to us, and that hasn’t changed at all.    

SU: BABYMETAL’s songs have spanned so many genres that people might wonder if we’re even the same band. Every time we get a new song, I think of it as a new challenge and figure out how to sing and perform it. I think it’s the same for MOAMETAL. So I feel like BABYMETAL itself is what continues changing. In particular, with our third album, I think we were able to destroy any preconceived notions of what kind of band BABYMETAL is and expand our music further.

――So from the beginning, you’ve been a band that always takes on new challenges. The fact that BABYMETAL is constantly evolving and tackling new challenges hasn’t changed. MOAMETAL talked about the change in the band’s structure, but the structure of your live performances has also changed. Until you adjusted to it, was it difficult to play with two members and a backing band?

SU: Our first live shows since the band changed were on our US tour. Many of the places we were going to were in rural parts of America, and there were a lot of fans we were meeting for the first time. Honestly, I sometimes thought that people supported BABYMETAL largely because we looked cute, rather than because of the music. But as we toured together, the audiences’ reactions became, “BABYMETAL’s live shows are fun!” So that made us really feel like our performances were moving people. After our first show on the tour was over, I was worried about whether we’d be able to make it through our tour, whether we’d be okay—but I think the fact that we challenged ourselves at that time allowed us to learn new things. 

――I want to ask you about your greatest hits album, “10 BABYMETAL YEARS.” Everything about this album is large in scale.

MOA: It’s an album with 10 variants and 10 songs for our 10^th anniversary. Plus, we have 10 shows at Budokan after this. So many 10s! I want to say this album is a “10,” too. (laughs)

――Which song from “10 BABYMETAL YEARS” is most special to you?

MOA: “Road of Resistance.” BABYMETAL is all about exploring a new frontier of music, and that idea is embedded in the lyrics. We are who we are because of this song, and I think the lyrics and choreography best represent BABYMETAL’s fighting spirit. The first time we performed it was in England, and I still remember that performance. Everyone was so excited, and the audience sang along with us during the call and response. At that moment, I felt like our music could bring people together, which made me really happy. Of the 10 songs on the album, “Road of Resistance” has a special place in my heart.

SU: For me, it’s “Megitsune” It’s my favorite BABYMETAL song, and it’s also the most difficult for me personally. We were still kids when we recorded it, so it was basically just some kids giving it their all. I think that’s cute because it feels just like BABYMETAL at that time, but as we played more live shows, I realized this song is a mix of many different elements: fast but smooth, fierce but beautiful. I think there are also people overseas who like this song because the melody and choreography are very Japanese. Also, this is a tuning song for me.

――Tuning?

SU: It has a nice balance of what I need to sing BABYMETAL songs, so it’s a good song to check how my voice is doing. Like if I’m off-rhythm, off-pitch, or able to hit the high and low notes that day. When I sing this song, I can tell how my voice is doing at that moment. So I always make sure to sing it before a show. In a sense, it’s a song that sets the standard.

On their first performance on Kohaku Uta Gassen: “It’s more nerve-wracking than an overseas festival.”

――This New Year’s Eve, BABYMETAL will appear on NHK’s Kohaku Uta Gassen. How did you feel when this was decided?

SU: I found out in the morning, then went straight to the press release. All of the people around me were people I see on TV.

MOA: It’s like, I was brought here, but I’m not sure if I belong. (laughs) I think since usually, we mainly play live shows and don’t appear on TV too often, it’d be nice to do something interesting. But we’ve always performed for audiences with our live shows, so we’re not used to performing for cameras. I’m more nervous about the cameras. 

SU: In a way, it’s more nerve-wracking than overseas festivals, isn’t it?

――This is the last thing I want to bring up. It’s been confirmed that you’re playing 10 shows at Nippon Budokan in 2021.

MOA: At our last Nippon Budokan show, we were experiencing a lot of firsts, so it was pretty difficult and we have some tough memories from the time. With this live show, we want to show how much we’ve grown and feel that sense of accomplishment that comes from playing a good show.

SU: We’ve played a lot of live shows and had all kinds of experiences, but at Budokan, we experienced a lot of things for the first time, and all at the same time. Everything was new to us, so I think the amount of experience we gained during those two days was amazing. But my brain was constantly in overdrive, so I didn’t really have the mental capacity to have fun.

MOA: We’re more experienced now, so I think we can have fun with Budokan.

SU: A lot of things are still up in the air, so we’re looking forward to seeing how it turns out.

MOA: Only the Fox God knows what will happen. (laughs) Under these circumstances, I just hope that we can safely hold the show. 

SU: Yeah. Basically, I just hope that everyone is healthy and can safely get together at Budokan.

BABYMETAL
In 2010, BABYMETAL was formed by SU-METAL, YUIMETAL, and MOAMETAL. In March 2014, they took the stage at Nippon Budokan for a 2-day gig, making them the youngest female act to ever perform there. In addition, their 1st studio album BABYMETAL made it to the US Billboard charts. In 2015, BABYMETAL received various awards from prominent UK music magazines Kerrang! and Metal Hammer, becoming the first Japanese artist to ever receive these awards. In 2016, their 2^nd album, “METAL RESISTANCE”  landed in the Top 40 of the US Billboard charts. In April of the same year, they performed at Wembley Arena in the UK, becoming the first Japanese artist to ever headline the venue. In 2019, BABYMETAL’s headline show at Yokohama Arena in Japan marked the beginning of their departure. Right after completing this show, BABYMETAL performed at one of the world’s largest music festivals, Glastonbury Festival, making headlines for their appearance. In October, BABYMETAL released their 3^rd album, “METAL GALAXY,” worldwide. This album ranked No.13 on the US Billboard Top 200, and No.1 on the Top Rock Albums chart, the first time ever for an Asian artist. From February 2020, BABYMETAL had their European tour, consisting of 17 shows in 11 countries. On December 23^rd, they plan to release their 10^th anniversary greatest hits album, “10 BABYMETAL YEARS.” In 2021, they will perform 10 shows at the Nippon Budokan.
https://www.babymetal.com

“10 BABYMETAL YEAR” Special Website 
https://www.toysfactory.co.jp/artist/babymetal/10babymetalyears/

Best of album “10 BABYMETAL YEARS.” Dropping 2020.12.23!
“10 BABYMETAL YEARS” is available for purchase below:
https://TF.lnk.to/10BABYMETALYEARSWE

【10 BABYMETAL BUDOKAN Special Website】
https://www.babymetal.com/10babymetalbudokan

“10 BABY METAL YEARS” （Available in 10 variants）
1.Doki Doki ☆ Morning
2.Headbangeeeeerrrrr!!!!!
3.Ijime, Dame, Zettai
4.Megitsune
5.Gimme Chocolate!!
6.Road of Resistance
7.KARATE
8.THE ONE
9.Distortion (feat. Alissa White-Gluz)
10.PA PA YA!! (feat F. HERO)

Translation Aya Apton

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