At Anime Expo 2025, the talent and team behind TOUGEN ANKI showed up in a big way to celebrate the premiere of the anime series. This also included the manga creator, Yura Urubashira, making a virtual appearance through a live call to answer questions during a panel featuring voice actor Kazuki Ura, producer Takanori Matsuoka, and guitarist/singer Miku Kobato of BAND-MAID.
As music plays a critical role in expressing the core themes of an anime series, the production team decided to entrust BAND-MAID, a five-piece female rock band with over a decade of experience under their belts, to create the show’s ending theme song. Miku Kobato shared with Asia Blooming the band’s experience working on TOUGEN ANKI and future plans for the year.
Welcome to Anime Expo! What are your thoughts on visiting North America’s largest anime and Japanese pop culture convention?
MIKU: Thank you very much, po. I am so honored to be able to participate in Anime Expo, po. I am proud and very happy as a Japanese person, that anime and Japanese culture are loved by so many people, po.
You are attending Anime Expo for the anime series, TOUGEN ANKI. How did BAND-MAID get involved with performing the ending theme song, “What is justice?”?
MIKU: I’m grateful that people on the anime team were interested in BAND-MAID music, and that is how we got to write the end theme song this time, po.
Welcome to Anime Expo! What are your thoughts on visiting North America’s largest anime and Japanese pop culture convention?
MIKU: Thank you very much, po. I am so honored to be able to participate in Anime Expo, po. I am proud and very happy as a Japanese person, that anime and Japanese culture are loved by so many people, po.
You are attending Anime Expo for the anime series, TOUGEN ANKI. How did BAND-MAID get involved with performing the ending theme song, “What is justice?”?
MIKU: I’m grateful that people on the anime team were interested in BAND-MAID music, and that is how we got to write the end theme song this time, po.
Was the band familiar with TOUGEN ANKI before working on a song for the anime?
MIKU: I hadn’t read the original manga before, but TOUGEN ANKI was popular and the manga was a hot topic, so I knew about it, po.
I heard you wrote the lyrics for “What is justice?” How did you approach writing this theme song?
MIKU: I first read the original comic, po. It was so entertaining that I could not stop turning the pages, po. There is the Oni’s point of view and Momotaro’s point of view, but I received a request “to write from the Momotaro’s perspective,” so I focused on the Momotaro side’s emotion while writing, po.
Can you share the theme or core message of this song? What do you hope listeners pay particular attention to in the song?
MIKU: The theme for the lyric is the title itself, “What is justice?”, po. Oni is born evil, so Momotaro is justified to annihilate them, po. However, is that real justice, po? I wanted people to feel the strength and emotional cries of fighting through, even when there are worries and conflicts about what is evil and what is justice, po.
As for the song, the battle element left a very strong impression on KANAMI, the guitarist, so she was conscious about structuring the song where the riff would push the song through from the beginning, po! The chorus melody is the highest melody ever, based on KANAMI’s desire to see SAIKI, the vocalist, at her highest in every sense of the word, so please pay attention to that as well, po.
BAND-MAID is no stranger to writing music for anime. In the future, what are some other anime songs you’d like to create a theme song for?
MIKU: BAND-MAID has worked with many anime where the story line is about a battle or a fight, po. However, even with the battle type anime, we have not done many hero type ones, so we are interested in that, po!! Also, we’d like to try a suspenseful one too, po!
What future projects or activities does BAND-MAID have planned for 2025 that fans can look forward to?
MIKU: Right now, we are on our Japan tour, po. The FIRST ROUND just finished the other day, and we are preparing for the SECOND ROUND and FINAL ROUND, including the setlist and some special live-only sessions, so that everyone can enjoy the shows, po. Also, we announced our EP release for this year, po. We are working on that right now, po. This EP is going to be a “royal road” type of EP that brings together the songs of various genres that BAND-MAID has developed over the years, po. It will also include three anime tie-in songs, so I think it will be a gorgeous album that will truly symbolize the current BAND-MAID and the future of BAND-MAID, po. I hope you’re looking forward to it, po.
