The last time I wrote about BABYMETAL was back in 2014 when they were on this rocket ship that was about to really take off.
Just a few months before that, I wrote a very longwinded and (re-reading it today), extremely rambling post about the group since I had prefaced it with my rather longterm involvement with Japanese popular culture and the Japanese music dating back to the pre-Internet days.
Both of those are pretty much prerequisite reading though for the following in regards to what has been the recent news+internet rumormachine speculating about what happened to Yui Mizuno (aka Yuimetal) now that the US leg of their 2018 World Tour has begun. Considering how integral she is to the group, you would have thought that her not being part of the US leg of the tour would’ve been announced well beforehand instead of having fans learning that she was not performing (now in the first two concerts). It also doesn’t help (and not surprising actually) that there is a disconnect communications wise between their Japanese and US management.
Back in December 2017, Mizuno did not perform at the bands two shows at Green Arena in Hiroshima where fellow member Suzuka Nakamoto (aka SU-METAL) celebrated her 20th birthday in her hometown. The bands Japanese management stated that she had to bow out due to “poor physical health” (it seems the last time she had actually performed in concert with the group was back in October). Back then, the alarm bells weren’t that great since the group was winding down towards a break for the year end/New Years holidays.
Then in early January, it was reported that guitarist Mikio Fujioka tragically fell from an observation deck on December 30th and passed away a few days later on January 5th. Fujioka was a staple of the actual live band (Kami Band) that backed BABYMETAL during their tours. This obviously meant there would be changes to the Kami Band’s lineup as they toured (the group has always had several guitarists and drummers to fill in when there were scheduling conflicts).
Fast forward to May 8th when BABYMETAL began their 2018 World Tour in Kansas City, Missouri without Mizuno (and with two back dancers, a new visual look, and a new story line that is referred to as “Metal Resistance Episode VII – Apocrypha – The Chosen Seven”). Just doing a Google search on BABYMETAL will bring up a host of articles speculating about the absence of YUIMETAL. The bands Japanese management has unsurprisingly remained tightlipped about her continued absence while inquiries by the western media (especially after the May 10th concert in Texas) to the bands US management was initially met with a “we’re unable to comment at this time” to finally mentioning (after having asking and waiting for a response from the Japanese management) with a simple “YUIMETAL remains a member of BABYMETAL“.
Technically, that is true because there has been no official announcement from the groups Japanese management about her status besides the last one they mentioned regarding her physical condition that kept her out of the Hiroshima concerts.
Given how often I’ve seen how stuff like this has been handled for over 15 years in the Japanese entertainment industry, I’m more inclined to believe that the constant touring (plus other obligations associated with how idols are managed in Japan plus the fact they have to complete their education via a lot of tutoring and correspondence) has indeed taken both a physical and mental toll (which I covered in the two posts I made before) on Mizuno.
If you search the Japanese blogsphere, there are similar thoughts; this one blogger even noted there were early signs that something was amiss. Several pages in, they mention that as 2017 progressed, her performances during the 2nd half of the year became less energetic and that her usual perky personality seemed to be missing (corroborated by other concert going fans). Safe to say that Japanese fans are not pleased with how the US tour has proceeded without her appearance nor earlier mention that she would not be performing (since they are questioning if she will return for the Japan leg of the tour which takes place at the end of October).
People need to remember that the girls started this gig back in 2010; Mizuno was only 11 at the time. When I first wrote about BABYMETAL, she was only 14 (and I also mentioned my biggest concern is that if they really took off which they ended up doing, that it would take a toll on them especially when taking into consideration how energetic their performances are). Any person can only keep up that pace for so long before the inevitable burnout occurs. Not everyone is affected in the same way including feeling homesick from not being home for extended periods of time.
Mizuno herself may feel this overwhelming desire to return as an obligation to the fans as well as her bandmates but I can really understand how it may be just both physically and mentally difficult to get back on that train. This is what I am reading into in terms of how the bands Japanese management is progressing forward with this “new narrative” which is probably meant to try and give Mizuno time to recuperate.
On the other side though, it is also true that this new narrative makes one wonder how much more legs are actually left in BABYMETAL especially when one of its core members is missing in action. All three girls have grown up in this world limelight and are now young teens that are about to enter actual early adulthood. Like every group that has an idol influence, there is a point where change is inevitable (Morning Musume and AKB48 being prime examples where the concept of graduating members was a core part of their designs).
The “bandol” groups I wrote about before like ZONE and SCANDAL changed as needed when it came to their visual appearance as well as type of songs they did; the latter is still going strong because the girls were an actual band (and not salaried idols put into a subgroup like how it was with ZONE or chee’s). BABYMETAL became this monster (idols from Sakura Gakuin who decided to give this new thing a try) where it is now hard to think of the group without these three girls.
There’s a point where the band either keeps the “kawaii” part of the metal (meaning there will need to be a time where younger/fresh faces take over those roles) or the group progresses with themes that fall more in line as they get older. Given the reactions to the lack of a YUIMETAL now for the past 5+ months, it seems clear that the former is not going to fly (i.e. BABYMETAL are Suzuka Nakamoto, Moa Kikuchi, and Yui Mizuno).
This dilemma plus Mizuno’s absence are the start of some challenging times for the originator and producer of the band (Key Kobayashi aka Kobametal). All I hope is that they do not try to force Mizuno back onto the stage before she is actually ready to. Also, management has to do the right thing and reduce their world touring and appearance load a bit from the frenetic pace that has gone on since 2014ish. Burning out all 3 girls is a surefire way to put the entire BABYMETAL concept to rest for good.
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