When a Hanabie. clip goes around, the comments are about the screaming. The songs underneath come from the other side of the stage. Matsuri plays guitar, sings the clean vocals, and is credited as the band’s composer and a lyricist.
Two Voices, One Writer
Hanabie.’s sound depends on a split: Yukina shouts, Matsuri sings. In a lot of bands that arrangement is a formula — harsh verse, clean chorus, repeat. Here it works as a conversation, because the same person who writes the riffs also sings the melodic lines and knows exactly where one should hand over to the other.
That’s the practical meaning of Harajuku-core, the genre name the band gave itself. The heavy parts are real metalcore and hardcore. The melodic parts are sung clean and written to be remembered. The join between them is a writing decision, and it’s Matsuri’s.
Ten Years in the Same Band
Matsuri has been in Hanabie. since the beginning. The band formed in June 2015 in Kichijoji, Tokyo, in a high-school light music club, with Yukina and bassist Hettsu — friends since middle school. They self-released 開花宣言 in 2018 and 乙女改革 in 2021 before signing to Epic Records Japan, which released the major debut album 来世は偉人！ on 26 July 2023. ぶっちぎり東京 followed in 2024.
A band that has kept the same core since school has an advantage that’s hard to buy: its writer has had a decade to learn what these particular players do well. It shows in the way the roles are split: every song is built around the two voices.
The Songs Travel
The proof is the itinerary. In 2023 the band played Dynamo Metalfest in the Netherlands and Motocultor in France, toured European clubs, and then the United States. Later came anime opening themes: “おいしいサバイバー” for Momentary Lily in 2025 and “命短し対する乙女よ” for Tai-Ari deshita in 2026.
Foreign audiences can’t follow the Japanese lyrics. They respond anyway, which tells you the hooks are doing the work. Listen to 来世は偉人！ for the guitar and the clean vocal lines, and the band’s success stops looking like an accident of the algorithm.
