REVIEW: HANBIE's. "The Future is Great!" via Sony

Takyo, Japan’s HANABIE. are here with their second record. I didn’t know about HANABIE. until this year and to be totally honest I feel like I’ve been missing out. The promise of metal and hardcore mixed with idol music all wrapped in an intentionally cute, high femme package speaks to so much of my taste that it almost sounds too good to be true. For a moment I thought it was, outside of the lead single, “Pardon Me, I Have to Go Now,” nothing was really connecting for me in a big way to HANABIE. Fortunately, now that I’ve heard the entire record, I’m having difficulty finding a track or even moment to dislike.

I’d like to begin right there actually, with “Pardon Me.” This is a mix of all the promised genres as well as elements of Visual Kei as well as some traditional Japanese instrumentation, all of which are poured in a blender and come out as a killer track that’s a lot of fun. That’s sort of always what I come up with when I try to describe HANABIE. out loud, this record sort of transcends genres. When you hit play on “Blast Off,” the album’s intro, you get a piece of something similar to EDM and the track that follows is a blaring piece of post-hardcore, back to dance to a huge soulful verse. And yes, a lot of this does follow the pop idol route, “This year is a gal” for example has an incredible hook with some illuminating synths. But when this band is heavy they’re crushing. On “NEET GAME” there is an electronicore breakdown that is so refreshing to finally hear once again from a band in the current year. Also “Tales of Villain” honestly has some heavier sections that put a lot of the metal records I’ve heard this year to shame. What I’m trying to say is; it’s incredible how a band can mix so many genres, styles and performance types into a half hour record or a four and a half minute song!


HANABIE. is one of those bands that just genuinely puts a huge smile on my face and it sort of caught me off guard. I didn’t expect to throw this on and hear one of my favorite records of the year. While I feel that I, personally, am maybe missing some context to some of the beats, jokes and messaging due to the language barrier I’m struggling to find anything wrong with any of the ten tracks sonically on this record.


Our rating - 9/10
  1. Blast Off
  2. Hyperdimensional Galaxy
  3. NEET GAME
  4. This Year is a Gal ~Early Summer Ver.~
  5. Tales of Villain
  6. Warning!!
  7. I Am the Strongest Invader in the Universe
  8. TOUSOU
  9. Pardon me, I have to go now.
  10. Today's Good Day & So Epic

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