Every band has a member the camera finds first. In Hanabie., that’s Yukina: the vocalist who handles the shouting, writes lyrics, and stands at the front of a sound the band named itself — Harajuku-core.
A School Club That Kept Going
The origin is about as unglamorous as it gets, which is the charm. Hanabie. formed in June 2015 in Kichijoji, Tokyo, out of a high-school light music club. Yukina, guitarist Matsuri and bassist Hettsu had known each other since middle school. Drummer Chika joined officially in May 2023.
Most school-club bands dissolve at graduation. This one kept going, self-releasing the mini-album 開花宣言 in 2018 and 乙女改革 in 2021, and building the mix it calls Harajuku-core: metalcore and hardcore weight, with the colour and vocabulary of Japanese street and otaku culture.
The Division of Labour
Hanabie. runs on two voices. Matsuri sings the clean melodies. Yukina delivers the shout. The contrast is the band’s engine, and the reason a first-time listener stops scrolling: the sound doesn’t match the picture, and then within one chorus it does.
Yukina also writes lyrics, and that matters more than it first appears. The words are everyday Japanese — work, food, small frustrations — screamed at full force. “お先に失礼します。” is the phrase an office worker says when leaving before colleagues. Turning it into a metalcore hook is the joke, and the joke is the hook that carried the band’s video to millions of views.
From Kichijoji to Dynamo
The major-label debut came on 26 July 2023 with the album 来世は偉人！ on Epic Records Japan. The same summer, Hanabie. went to Europe: Dynamo Metalfest in the Netherlands, Motocultor in France, and club dates in Vienna, Milan, Warsaw, Berlin and London, followed by a US run that autumn. The album ぶっちぎり東京 arrived in 2024, and anime opening themes followed.
Other musicians have noticed the voice too. On Knosis’ album GENKNOSIS, the track “FUHAI” features Yukina as guest vocalist — a pairing we covered here.
Start with “お先に失礼します。”, then 来世は偉人！. Watch a live clip before you decide what you think.
