Welcome to the wonderful world of BABYMETAL!
This guide should help answer a few questions and teach you a summary of the groups history.
Table of Contents
FAQ
BABYMETAL
Q. What is BABYMETAL?
A. Babymetal (stylized as BABYMETAL) is a Japanese metal idol band.
Q.Why are they called BABYMETAL ?
A. For an explanation of the name, see this video.
Members
Q. Who are the members?
A. Their line-up currently consists of Suzuka Nakamoto as “SU-METAL”and Moa Kikuchi as “MOAMETAL”.
Yui Mizuno/”YUIMETAL” is the third founding member, however she left the group in October of 2018.
Q. Why did Yui leave the group?
A. You can find a translation of Yui’s statement here.
Q. Do they have personal social media?
A. No, any you find are fake. See here for official BABYMETAL social media accounts and websites.
Q. Why is SU-METAL’s name written differently?
A. Duane sensei explains it in this video.
Q. How old are they?
A. See table below.
Q. When are their birthdays?
| Name | YYYY/MM/DD |
|---|---|
| SU-METAL | 1997/12/20 |
| YUIMETAL | 1999/06/20 |
| MOAMETAL | 1999/07/04 |
Q. If they get too old will they be replaced by new members?
A. Only The Fox God Knows!
FOX GOD
Q. Who is the FOX GOD?
A. The FOX GOD is a deity that chose 3 young girls to be the saviours of Heavy Metal.
Q. No really, who is he/she/it?
A. Only Koba Metal Knows!
Q. Who is KOBAMETAL?
A. He is their Manager, Producer, and creative mastermind.
Kami Band/Backing Band
Q. Who are those skeleton guys in some of their videos?
A. They are called BABYBONES. In early BABYMETAL shows they mimed playing instruments to playback.
From mid-2012, a live band called Kami Band progressively took over accompaniment duties and now perform all music live at every concert.
Q. What is the Kami Band?
A. The Kami band are gods of Metal sent to help BABYMETAL unite all the peoples of the world as ONE.
For more information on the BABYBONES and the Kami Band (like who they are), see this guide
Avengers/Backup Dancers
Q. Who is the person/people dancing with Su and Moa in 2018 (after Yui left)?
A. In 2018 there were multiple dancers that rotated in different numbers, sometimes they were only 2, sometimes 5. In 2019, they made the change more “permanent” and went with 3 “avengers”.
Q. Who are these Avengers? What is the difference with 2018?
A. The difference with 2018 is that we know Su and Moa will only be accompanied by 1 additional dancer, or “Avenger”. The 3 Avengers are Riho Sayashi, Kano Fujihira, and Momoko Okazaki.
Q. I have read people commenting about Saya, who is she?
A. She was one of the dancers in 2018, that year she was the only one to perform with Su and Moa alone (without additional dancers). Many fans liked the chemistry and wanted her to stay permanently.
You can read more about the Avengers, the 2018 dancers, and previous backup dancers here.
Shows & Albums
Q. When are they next on tour?
A. Check tour dates on the sidebar of this website (bottom on mobile, use this link, or on BABYMETAL’s official website.
Q. Will there be a support band at the shows?
A. Maybe.
They had none until mid-2017. Then in 2018 they had a support band at every solo show, and at most of them in 2019 and 2020.
Q. What can I expect to see at one of their shows?
A. Singing, dancing, and loud music.
But in seriousness, look up videos on YouTube, that will give you a fair idea.
Q. How many albums have BABYMETAL released?
A. Three so far. Their debut album which was self titled “BABYMETAL”, their second album “Metal Resistance”, and the third album “Metal Galaxy”.
Q. Where can I buy these albums?
A. You can find a list of stores to purchase BABYMETAL goods here. But you can also find them pretty much anywhere albums can be bought (Amazon, for example).
THE ONE
Q. What or who is THE ONE?
A. There are many references to THE ONE in BABYMETAL’s world.
– Su has described BABYMETAL and their fans as being “THE ONE”.
– THE ONE is also the name of the official fan membership
– It’s also the title of the final song on their second album, METAL RESISTANCE.
Q. How do I join THE ONE membership? What does it include?
A. For all questions related to THE ONE, see this guide.
Other
Q. What region are the live DVDs and Blu-rays?
A. All BABYMETAL live DVDs and Blu-rays are region free.
Q. Do they have meet and greets for V.I.P.’s, or handshake events ?
A. No. Haven’t since 2013.
Q. What is FOX DAY?
A. FOX DAY is a special day for BABYMETAL where they make big announcements or hold special events. It happens every year on April 1st. Here is a history of what has happened on previous FOX DAY’s.
Sakura Gakuin
Q. What is Sakura Gakuin (SG)?
A. Sakura Gakuin is a Japanese idol girl group formed in 2010 by Amuse. The group typically contains between 10 and 12 members at a time who fall between the ages of 10 and 15.
Q. Ok, but what has that got to do with BABYMETAL?
A. BABYMETAL was originally a subunit (or sub group) within Sakura Gakuin.
Q. Is BABYMETAL still a part of Sakura Gakuin?
A. No. It is now a separate group.
Q. Are any of BABYMETAL still in Sakura Gakuin?
A. No, Suzuka graduated in March 2013, meanwhile Yui and Moa graduated in March 2015.
Q. Will any of them have to graduate from BABYMETAL?
A. No.
History
- 2010–2012: Beginnings
- 2013–2015: Major label debut
- 2016–2017: Touring and Metal Resistance
- 2018–present: The Chosen Seven era, departure of Yuimetal and third album
Awards
They have also won several awards, including:
- The Breakthrough Act award at the 2015 Metal Hammer Golden Gods
- The Spirit of Independence award at the 2015 Kerrang! Awards
- MTV Europe’s Wildcard Best Japanese Act
- The Discovery Prize at GQ Japan’s Men of the Year 2015 Awards
- Women of the Year prize at Vogue Japan’s Women of the Year 2015 Awards
- Best Live Act award at the 2016 Kerrang! Awards
- Best Live Act award at the 2016 AIM Independent Music Awards
- MTV VMAJ 2016 Best Album of the Year -Japan- METAL RESISTANCE
- MTV VMAJ 2016 Best Metal Video KARATE
Glossary
Alternate names for SU-METAL:
Queen Su
The Queen
Alternate names for YUIMETAL:
The Angel of Dance
Princess Yui
YMY (short for “Yui Maji Yui”. It means “Yui acts a lot like Yui”)
Alternate names for MOAMETAL:
The Angel of Love
Super Moa
Super Moa-chan
Black Babymetal
A sub unit within BABYMETAL that consists of Yui and Moa.
MoiMoi
A name used when referring to both Moa and Yui together.
Delorean
A word commonly used to refer to discs of all types. Originates from Su’s confusion about what the D in DVD, BD, and CD stands for.
Favourite foods
Su – Cheese, Cheese Cake.
Yui – Tomatoes.
Moa – Everything.
Only The Fox God Knows (OTFGK)
A phrase commonly used by BABYMETAL when they want to appear mysterious or don’t know the answer to a question in interviews
Ainote
The “scream” parts from Yui or Moa.
Seitansai
The shows performed for a members birthday.
Kamishibai
The lore/videos shown during the live shows.
“Business Reasons”
Used commonly when answering a question about “why the girls don’t have social media accounts”, “why don’t we get pictures of them”, or things like that. The origin is a tweet Hana (ex-Sakura Gakuin member) made in early 2016, saying she couldn’t upload a picture of her with Moa because of “#BusinessReasons”.
This guide was updated last on May 2020
If you find any broken links, or think something should be added/amended on this guide, please message me via email or social media.