satanic, satanic, our majesty;

Ave Mujica is noble, beautiful and bewitching. They put on shows that resemble musicals, both mysterious and gothic. On January 27th, 2024, they held their 1st LIVE Perdere Omnia, which was a roaring success.

Ave Mujica is a new band under the BanG Dream! project, debuting on April 10th, 2023.  Through a series of images and social media posts, they had their users solve riddles, and drew attention with the way they bend one’s sense of reality and delusion. They debuted as a band in the finale of the anime BanG Dream! It’s MyGO!!!!!. Next January, they’ll be getting a sequel anime focused on them in the spotlight, BanG Dream! Ave Mujica.

We interviewed Rico Sasaki (guitar/vocals, as Doloris/Uika Misumi) and Kanon Takao (keyboard, as Oblivionis/Sakiko Togawa). Over the span of three parts, we had them discuss their path with the band.

…Welcome to the world of Ave Mujica.

Translated by Seine (@hanamukes)

To think she’d call him a trash father

――Takao-san, your character Oblivionis/Sakiko Togawa is a key character in Ave Mujica, as well as in the anime BanG Dream! It’s MyGO!!!!!.

 Takao:  Sakiko is the girl who put all the stories into motion. Even CRYCHIC was a band Sakiko started, but something happened and she dropped it. Then she brought about the formation of Ave Mujica. She’s always the one who gets all the gears turning, so she truly is the type of character who puts the story into action.

――She both puts things into motion as well as drives all those around her mad, wouldn’t you say?

 Takao:  Bring about the destruction of the beginning, bring about the destruction of the beginning… Her heart is under a lot of distress, and the sequel anime will shed light on this. It goes over how she felt during various moments, so I hope everyone’s looking forward to it. I really want everyone to see it!

 Sasaki:  Same here. I want to talk about it so badly!

――I’m dying to know myself, but I’ll just look forward to the day it gets revealed (laughs). Do you mind if I inquire about how you two approach tackling your characters?

 Takao:  For me, I’d never voiced a character like this before in an anime. At the start, Sakiko is a pure, kind, warm, proper girl, but midway through something happens and a shadow is cast over her. She starts saying harsh things to those around her and even I was taken back by it.

I did my acting as the “light” Sakiko pretty straightforwardly, but “dark” Sakiko is strong-forced, fragile, angry and sorrowful. I tried to capture her with the nuance of her wearing a mask, which conceals the truth of her heart, and all the little nuances that come with the gap between her outward appearance and how she feels deep down.

――Did you know about Sakiko’s change when you auditioned for her?

 Takao:  No. Rather, I didn’t know she was supposed to be a bright girl at the start. What I saw when I was first shown her character was the Sakiko we know today. When I started recording, I thought, “She really used to be so pure, huh?”

――You didn’t know about the “I’m home… you trash father.” scene either?

Takao:  Sure didn’t (laughs). I really knew nothing at the start. I was as shocked as everyone else about that line. When I first received the script, I looked at that line and wondered “Whose line is this?” and when I saw “Sakiko” written beside it, I went “She says this?!”

――Sasaki-san, could you talk a bit about Uika Misumi?

 Sasaki:  Uika Misumi is a girl still shrouded in mystery. I find her complex, but I also share a lot in common with her, such as my love of the stars and music. In BanG Dream! It’s MyGO!!!!!, she tells Tomori “You can convey a lot in singing. You can even convey the things you can’t put into words,” and it resonated with me a lot too. She holds memories of her friend Saki-chan close to her heart, and being able to interact with her saves her in a way. She’s also busy with her idol work and being a student, so she’s a hard worker. However, she has a lot of dark sides to her too, and I just want the sequel anime to air already.

I think Uika and Tomori can connect their hearts a lot as two vocalists. Though Tomori-chan approaches it with the idea that “I can’t become human unless I sing”. With Uika, she portrays this sense of “when she sings, the monster known as Doloris emerges”. There’s still a lot we don’t know about her, so I hope everyone will wrap their heads around the mystery that is Uika until the anime airs. When rewatching the anime, you can look at her expressions and make your own assumptions about her and such. The sequel hasn’t aired yet, but their story is being told in our concerts, so make sure to watch those and let your imagination go wild.

――So you’ve been coming up with your own theories about her too?

 Sasaki:  Correct. I wonder just when we’ll get more about her backstory…

 All:  (laughs)

 Sasaki:  You just can’t help but want to know more about things you’re kept in the dark about. Whenever I go in to record, I’d ask the director about that regarding her, and every time I’d get told “I can’t tell you yet, sorry!” (laughs)

 Takao:  Right! They won’t tell me anything either!

 Sasaki:  We’re always shocked whenever we read the new scripts.

 Takao:  They just don’t know how to tell us.

 Sasaki:  I’ve never seen an anime quite play out like this before. Please look forward to it.

Sasaki-san’s notebook, which she updates daily

――You held your 0th Live, Primo die in scaena on June 4th, 2023. You performed on stage with masks and robes on, shrouded in mystery. How did you feel during that time?

 Sasaki:  We couldn’t talk about anything so it was a weird feeling. But we could feel the enthusiasm from the audience, so I was happy about that. Our “voltage” gradually rose, and we talked amongst ourselves about what we wanted to convey on stage, and what kind of band we wanted to make this. We talked about all sorts of things about our future, and that got our spirits up a lot.

 Takao:  Ave Mujica started out hidden behind masks and riddled with mystery, which was unseen before in the Bandori project. I was worried about whether the fans would accept us. But Ave Mujica is a band where we put trust in each other’s skills and efforts, and from the get-go we’ve felt confident that with the five of us together, everything would turn out alright.

 Sasaki:  Our bond has grown so strong, it’s out the roof! (laughs)

 Takao:  I’m almost scared to know the full depths of how much we could love each other!

 Sasaki:  We have so much trust in each other, this band fills me with the feelings of “I love having people who uplift me around,” and “being in a band is so much fun!”

――When did you start feeling such a closeness?

 Takao:  (looks at Sasaki) When did we?

 Sasaki:  I almost want to say from the very start (laughs).

 Takao:  It really did just happen without us realizing it. Though Ricochi joined us a little later.

 Sasaki:  I was nervous at first if I’d be welcomed in, since the four of them were already really close by then. It was the first time I’d ever properly been in a band, so I did some looking into everyone before I joined.

 Takao:  She has all of our profiles jotted down in a notebook.

――That’s amazing!

 Sasaki:  I do. I was just so excited to meet everyone.

 Takao:  It didn’t take long for us to think “Ricochi fits in absolutely perfectly!” Whenever she sings Kamisama, Baka (T/N: God’s a Fool), I just think “Oh God is anything BUT a fool for the blessing that is Ricochi being our vocalist!”

 Sasaki:  I’m so glad to hear that!

――What kinds of things do you have written down about everyone?

 Sasaki:  Let me start with Kanon Takao (laughs).

 Takao:  That’s embarrassing! (laughs)

 Sasaki:  I have her likes, dislikes, personal history…

――You’ve got a whole analysis on her!

 Sasaki:  All five of us are good friends even in private and we hang out together a lot. I always write down the new things I learn about them from those interactions.

――So you update it in real time?

 Sasaki:  I do. For instance, Akanen (Akane Yonezawa, who voices Amoris/Nyamu Yuutenji) told us she grew a little bit, so I jotted that down. I’ve already filled half the pages in the book. Whenever we do stuff as Ave Mujica, whether for recordings or concerts, I have the book glued to my person.

 Takao:  Whenever we go out to eat together, we’ll talk about things we want to do together and songs we want to sing, and she’ll always immediately jot it down in her book.

 Sasaki:  I even have our song lyrics all written down in it. I use it for everything.

――You’re like Ave Mujica’s secretary.

 Sasaki:  While staring at our song lyrics in it, I’ll jot down notes of how I want to move around during the instrumental breaks, and we’ll try them out in our rehearsals.

 Takao:  We all gather around her notebook.

――Your notebook is like a compass for the band. Is that correct?

 Takao:  It really is. We all hold a lot of love.

 Sasaki:  Nontan bought all five of us matching sweaters, and I bought us all matching rings.

――Is it the ring you’re wearing today?

 Sasaki:  Yes! It’s in the shape of a treble clef, and I thought they felt very Ave Mujica-like.

 Takao:  I should have worn mine, too!

 Sasaki:  I’m just happy knowing everyone else owns one too.

 Takao:  She gave us the matching rings when she joined the band. That got me thinking “it’s fun to have us all wear the same things!” so I’m always looking for things with moons on them to buy for us all.

 Sasaki:  I get you (laughs). I made my phone case Ave Mujica-like too. I just end up gravitating towards these things. Actually, with the rings I wasn’t sure if I should actually hand them out to everyone, but my manager talked me into it.

 Takao:  Is that so? (laughs)

 Sasaki:  I thought “but isn’t that kinda pushy of me?” (laughs) But everyone seemed to love them and they all put them on, so that made me happy.

 Takao:  When I got it, I thought “she’s such a nice person,” and it made me fall in love with you on the spot.

 Sasaki:  I’m so glad you all liked them!

The band itself is dark, but the members themselves are bright as can be

――You all hold a lot of love for each other, don’t you?

 Sasaki:  We really do. Nontan’s always making videos of us together.

 Takao:  I pull up pictures we all took together and compile them and make edits. Then I send them to everyone on our birthdays, or before our concerts in order to cheer them on.

 Sasaki:  The quality is so high, I almost wish she’d share them in public. They’re our Mujica Movies, full of love for everyone.

 Takao:  Also, the other day I visited a Shinto shrine and wrote a prayer on one of the wooden tablets. I wrote, “I hope that Ave Mujica will forever be friendly, full of life, and maturity.”

 Sasaki:  The worldview we portray is dark, but us cast members are very warm.

 Takao:  Everyone is so very kind.

――You seem blessed with such kind members.

 Takao:  It really feels like a miracle!

 Sasaki:  I couldn’t imagine us with even one of us not here. I’m so proud of us.

The movements are as important as the music itself

――In what ways did you prepare for your 0th live, Primo die in Scaena?

 Takao:  I remember us gathering around Ricochi’s notebook together.

――The same notebook you discussed in the previous part, yes?

 Sasaki:  We put a lot of thought into the concert while we all went out to lunch together. Though at the time, we were still wearing robes, and we really needed to convey the worldview of the band in quite an intense way. We took our rehearsals as seriously as the actual concert, and I remember us borrowing all sorts of advice from the staff.

I’m still quite nervous and anxious even now, but during 0th, it took everything for me to be able to act. When I looked back at our footage, I thought “I wish I’d done more to engage with the other bandmates, and been a bit more confusing”. When we performed as the opening act for Roselia’s concert and of course during our 1st live, I put in a lot more movements to convey the world we’re creating better.

 Takao:  It’s true that during 0th, we were all quite focused on our own instruments. I think that also portrays our worldview in its own way, but still, we talked after about how we wanted to focus less on just the music and more on the movements as well. Whenever our concerts end, we think “let’s become even better performers”. We’re always growing more after each concert.

 Sasaki:  We really want to make Ave Mujica an even bigger band.

【公式ライブ映像】Ave Mujica「Mas?uerade Rhapsody Re?uest」（Ave Mujica 0th LIVE「Primo die in scaena」より）

――So you band members enjoy Ave Mujica as much as the fans do.

 Takao:  I think even in a world where I wasn’t in Ave Mujica, I would still become a massive fan. I like to enjoy Ave Mujica both in the perspective as a band member as well as a fan myself.

――It’s hard to picture Ave Mujica without you.

 Sasaki:  Exactly! I’d want you here no matter what.

 Takao:  I’m not going anywhere now that I’m here! I promise! (laughs)

――I see though. That really goes to show how appealing Ave Mujica and its world are.

 Takao:  Yes. I love it so much!

A world that is one of a kind. A band with no limitations to it

――In regards to Ave Mujica’s world, it really is quite unique within the setting of Bandori.

 Sasaki:  It truly is unique. It’s one of a kind, really. It’s almost like rather than showing everyone how it develops, it’s showing an already completed world to the audience.

 Takao:  There’s always this pressure of “we need to keep the audience’s expectations high”.

 Sasaki:  That’s true. Whenever we perform live, it’s like the world is being completed.

――In the previous part of the interview, you claimed you weren’t sure if Bandori’s fans would accept Ave Mujica because of how different it is. We interviewed MyGO!!!!!’s Rin Tateishi and Coco Hayashi and they expressed the same sentiments of feeling nervous.

 Sasaki:  We really all were worried sick about this.

 Takao:  MyGO!!!!! also started holding concerts without showing their faces on stage, as we did.

――In a sense, MyGO!!!!! and Ave Mujica really do contrast each other. What are your thoughts regarding this?

 Sasaki:  While watching the anime, you can really see how MyGO!!!!! also goes through a lot of struggles of their own. But even within that, you can see some sort of sparkling image from them. It’s almost like how after it rains, puddles on the asphalt will sparkle and shine.

To contrast that, Ave Mujica is like a black hole. It’s as if there’s some sort of shining light within a black void. Musically, we have the impact of being uniquely theatrical and suspenseful.

――You’re very gothic and metallic.

 Sasaki:  This band was the first time I tried playing heavy metal. I never realized how much fun it was! You pour your soul into it, and there’s a lot of specific technique involved but it’s not necessarily “uniform”. It’s quite unconventional, and there’s some pretty absurd techniques involved in each and every person’s part. We’re all trying our absolute hardest with it, and now that we’ve actually made this world, we want to continue to polish and refine it.

 Takao:  MyGO!!!!!’s story is one of youthful experiences. When you think about everyone’s skill levels in it, in a good way I think it accurately represents humans and their weaknesses. Sakiko has bonds with CRYCHIC of course, with Tomori’s songs as well as her bonds with Taki and Soyo, and she looks at MyGO!!!!! fervently.

On the other hand, Ave Mujica is unrealistic, and it tells the story of an experience that you’re not intended to have ever experienced before. It’s like looking at a work of art, and also in a good way I think it’s a band that does not accurately represent humans and their weaknesses. The overwhelming world Ave Mujica presents is its strength. Ave Mujica doesn’t hold your typical concerts, they incorporate stage plays into it. The setting is reliant on it being like a drama, and I think it’s a band you can enjoy both visually and audibly.

 Sasaki:  The setlist for our 1st live was based around the story parts, so during rehearsals we would all discuss in depth where to put what songs in the order and tried all sorts of ideas out. Ave Mujica’s songs all have their unique quirks to them, so it makes it hard to come up with the perfect setlist. We talked with the producer and came up with ideas on how to play the songs while coming up with the right facial expressions and movements to match.

For instance, even if I smiled during a specific song in previous performances, if the setlist for this concert had me follow that song up with a darker one, I tried to be more on the cooler side in anticipation of that. While it’s not easy by any means, I love how much depth there is to the musical expression for this band.

 Takao:  The sky is really the limit for us.

 Sasaki:  It’s really fun making our own world completely unrestricted. There’s times where we come up with crazy requests for the staff and it causes all sorts of mayhem and trialing, but I find even that to be such a joy.

 Takao:  I love how it feels like we’re coming up with this ourselves. Afterwards, I’ll see all sorts of theories in our Twitter tags being made about us, like “Oh, so did this mean that I wonder?” and I’ll always go “Yes!” (laughs)

Like with the drama parts for our 1st live, our lines were pre-recorded and we just moved our bodies without opening our mouths to lip sync or anything. That was something we came up with while discussing with our producer; that because we’re supposed to be dolls, we wouldn’t move our mouths to express ourselves. There were fans who caught onto that, and I was so excited I sent stuff about it in Ave Mujica’s LINE group chat (laughs).

 Sasaki:  She’s always sharing stuff she finds like that.

 Takao:  I send things like, “Look! Everyone caught on to how we meant to portray this!”

 Sasaki:  When people first experience our concerts, they wonder “what is this band trying to portray?” but then they pick up on what’s going on and they enjoy both the play parts and the song parts. In a way, it feels like our audience is helping make the world with us.

――It’s like the audience is another part of Ave Mujica.

 Sasaki:  Yes. They’re our witnesses and accomplices after all.

From the 0th live to the 1st one

――What kinds of things do you consider when performing as Ave Mujica?

 Takao:  With Sakiko, I think hard about what motions she would make and such. She grew up as a proper lady, so I try to make her still feel elegant when performing. I also try to really portray that she is the founder of Ave Mujica in my performances of her, so I’ve been rehearsing that plenty.

 Sasaki:  When I perform, I try to convey that I’m Doloris, and no longer “Uika Misumi”. I try to keep in mind that Uika is being possessed.

 Takao:  In the anime Sakiko makes a lot of fierce expressions, but when she’s on stage, she smiles a lot. I was surprised at first when I realized that. So I try to have Oblivionis have a bewitching aura to her. I really try to make it seem like she’s enjoying herself on stage, and I keep that in mind with my movements and gestures for her.

――Is it like you’re also being possessed by your role, Takao-san?

 Takao:  I like to look back on the anime before performing, because if I can’t get into portraying Sakiko or Oblivionis properly, I won’t enjoy it myself. So I guess I would say I’m possessed by my role. Ricochi, what about you?

 Sasaki:  (Doing an Oblivionis impression) Down to my fingertips.

 All:  (laughs)

 Takao:  She’s always doing impressions of her (laughs).

 Sasaki:  I think Nontan’s really impressive for how much subtle nuance she puts into portraying her character. During 0th live, all I had in mind was “I just need to move”.  When looking back at the footage, I thought “I really didn’t represent our world well enough,” and seeing how Nontan acted, it was like she’s elevated out of the concert hall to her own world. I swear I saw a halo above her head (laughs).

 Takao:  (laughs).  Take Choir ‘S’ Choir for instance. I play it as if I’m in a grassy field. In my head, I imagine myself in different places as I play, and it’s almost weird to put into words.

 Sasaki:  I can always tell!

 Takao:  I’m so glad!

 Sasaki:  I can also tell “ah, that note she played felt so solemn,” and “she sounds like she’s having fun over there”.

 Takao:  I always try to convey my feelings into my sound and movements, so I’m glad it gets across. Though whenever I see Doloris, it really makes me feel like I’ve entered Ave Mujica’s world for real.

 Sasaki:  Aw, I’m so glad!

 Takao:  It’s neither Ricochi nor Uika Misumi. It’s Doloris. When I see you turn into her, I also feel something click within me.

 Sasaki:  It’s like we flick on a switch in each other.

 Takao:  I feel that when I look at the other members as well. I think something else fun about the band is by watching our movements and interactions, it makes you ask all sorts of questions about the characters and their relationships with each other.

 Sasaki:  We touch hands with each other and look at each other while singing and stuff. We come up with those things after a lot of discussion amongst ourselves. I think 1st live really opened the breadth of Ave Mujica’s musical expression.

“We always sing by going with the flow”

――What kinds of discussions did you band members have in preparation for your first live, Perdere Omnia?

 Sasaki:  Around New Years as the concert drew closer, we started doing video calls with each other to share our ideas for how we wanted to move during it.

 Takao:  The camera of course reverses the shot, so it was quite difficult to explain things to each other using it (laughs).

 Sasaki:  We were fine-tuning things right until the last minute. For our 0th live we wore robes and I used a standing microphone, but for this one I switched to using a headset mic. That really changed a lot. I was able to get closer to the other members while singing, and in general I was able to move around much more.

There’s hand mics too, so there’s all sorts of ideas to try out. I think singing while holding a mic in my hands would be fitting for the stage play aspect, while there’s other songs that work well with a standing mic. With a headset mic I get to go closer to everyone else, or who knows where else… (laughs).

 All:  (laughs)

 Takao:  The headset setup is really good, because whenever I see her having fun singing with it on, it makes my tricky parts in songs turn into really fun ones. Her enjoyment is contagious. I always think “Ricochi is so powerful!”

 Sasaki:  I could say the same about you! Hearing you all playing alongside me makes me able to put more power into my voice. There’s moments where I’m so absorbed in our world that my head starts to go fuzzy. When that happens, I’ll listen carefully to Nontan’s piano and Doloris comes back in full swing. I’ll also purposely turn up Yuzumoon’s guitar playing so it’s louder in my better ear monitor, and I’ll listen closely to when we match up perfectly. I do this with the bass and drums as well; I use all five of my senses to feel everyone else’s playing as I sing.

――What’s a song you feel that most strongly with?

 Takao:  It’s Angles for me. Not to go back to this, but during our 0th live, expectations were high for us, and then the anime aired and we performed as an opening act for Roselia, so the fans were going wild.

That pressure was definitely felt during our 1st live. I thought “we really need to put on a show that proves we’ve leveled up,” and I felt much more nervous than usual. Ricochi and Yuzumoon’s guitar teacher would always watch in on our rehearsals, and they pointed out “whenever you get nervous, you tend to not look at the other member’s eyes. If you get nervous during the concert, why don’t you look the other’s in the eyes as a sort of amulet for yourself?”

――That’s some good advice! Those words alone can be an amulet of its own, too.

 Takao:  I remembered it right before the concert started. Personally speaking, among the setlist I was most anxious about Angles, which starts with singing and my piano. I asked Ricochi “during Angles, please look me in the eyes”. During the concert she really did make eye contact with me, and I was able to enter Ave Mujica’s world safely. 1st live made me realize that making eye contact really is an amulet for me.

 Sasaki:  Actually during rehearsals, I was looking at her a little too much. I was scared I was overdoing it, so I tried looking for a good balance of how much to stare at her. If I was in her shoes, I feel like I’d be unable to focus on my playing, being stared at so much. But when the day of the concert came around, she told me “please look at me,” and that made me happy. I looked at her very comfortably during it.

 Takao:  Comfortably? (laughs)

 Sasaki:  Seeing Nontan play her instrument so full of passion made me able to match up my singing to that same extent. With passion in my singing and the two of our hearts matched up… that’s how Angles is born.

Ave Mujica - Angles (Official Music Video)

――You could really feel the tension at the start of Angles.

 Takao:  All I could think is “I’ve never had the spotlight on me this much before”. When I saw the footage of the livestream after, the camerawork on the two of us was incredible.

――Sasaki-san, how did you feel during that part?

 Sasaki:  The biggest thing was acknowledging the song takes place in Doloris and Oblivionis’ world, just the two of them. Of course I thought about how we were in concert, but all I thought of as I was singing was “this world only has the two of them”. I don’t recall being very nervous during it. Oblivionis’ playing was so reassuring and bright, so I really felt confident, and that everything would be okay.

 Takao:  Amazing!

The insane riff master, and the stressful arpeggio

――Sasaki-san, so there’s songs that you find hard, but having the other members by your side makes you feel confident?

 Sasaki:  I have to sing while also playing the leading guitar part, so there’s times where I feel like I’m going to snap. Though Yuzumoon also plays along with me. She’s an “insane riff master”.

 Takao:  (laughs)

 Sasaki:  Rhythm guitar is not easy. I’m sure Yuzumoon was so nervous during her ending arpeggio during Angles.

 Takao:  She really did it perfectly during the concert!

 Sasaki:  Yuzumoon would never admit in conversation how much she’s grown. She just demonstrates it in her playing. I always feel that potently whenever we do rehearsals or concerts together. During 1st live, while hearing her arpeggio that’s filled with blood, sweat and tears, I came in and did my own solo at the end. Our producer who came up with this was a genius.

We both had hard parts, but we can both feel that if we play together, no matter how hard it is, we’ll do our best. Without needing to actually say anything to each other, we speak through our playing.

It’s a magnificent world, however, it’s nowhere to be found

――You also performed Subarashiki Sekai, Demo, Dokonimo Nai Basho for the first time.

 Sasaki:  Our 1st live had the story of “the discarded dolls destroyed the world and created a new one,” and Subarashiki Sekai, Demo, Dokonimo Nai Basho was the first step in that plan. The D-melo was like a wielded guitar, in a way.

 Takao:  Like a sword.

 Sasaki:  Exactly. I sang and played the song with the image of destroying the world.

 Takao:  For me, I played thinking of Oblivionis as “the world’s envoy,” so I tried not to move too much during the song. In my head Oblivionis plays the song while standing frigidly, playing with both hands, staring forward without looking at her keyboard.

 Sasaki:  You say it like it’s nothing, but that really is crazy. It’s like she’s no longer human (laughs).

――(laughs) Could you talk a little about the song itself?

 Sasaki:  1st live really came together beautifully. “Perdere Omnia” actually means “destroy everything”. Subarashiki Sekai, Demo, Dokonimo Nai Basho has the lines “destroy it, destroy it” within it, so the song is about creating a new world from its ruins.

It’s really the essence of Perdere Omnia. The song is about destroying everything and starting from scratch, and I sang and played my guitar while keeping Doloris’ determination and preparation in mind. Listening to it really gets me in the mindset, and I hope the audience feels the same way. As our accomplices, they destroyed the world together with us and we brought them to a new one. I kept that in mind during my recording for it.

――It’s an easy song to listen to.

 Takao:  Even though it’s about destroying the world, Ricochi’s voice is so smooth during the chorus. I love that part…!

 Sasaki:  Thanks!

Saved by BanG Dream! Ave Mujica

――Could you tell us as much as you can about some highlights regarding the upcoming anime, BanG Dream! Ave Mujica?

 Takao:  I put everything into Sakiko’s acting right from episode 1. After I finished recording episode 1, the director, Koudai Kakimoto told me “your acting made me cry”.

 Sasaki:  I want to watch it already!

 Takao:  That’s how passionately I recorded it, and the staff all had a high level of empathy while working on the sequel. I think it’ll really live up to expectations. Even episode 1 alone will make you cry (laughs).

 Sasaki:  It showcases each and every character, and we’ll see new sides to girls that we haven’t yet. I’ve finished my recording for it by now, and all I can say is it’s saved me, in a way.

 Takao:  Same here! I feel saved by it.

 Sasaki:  Everyone will have their own views on it, so I can’t wait to see everyone’s reactions. I can’t say much about it, but it has the same kinds of twists and turns that the MyGO!!!!! girls went through. I think the warped emotions, and the relationships being twisted are all beautiful. I don’t think that beauty only exists in “pretty” things, and that there’s a shine and beauty in the ugly.

 Takao:  After I finished recording the last episode, I thought “Ave Mujica really is a ray of light”.

 Sasaki:  It’s hard to talk about it without spoiling stuff, but we got to record together and it was a lot of fun.

 Takao:  In BanG Dream! It’s MyGO!!!!!, it revealed that Uika and Sakiko were childhood friends, but the sequel shows us even more of their relationship.

 Sasaki:  We threw in a lot of ad libs in our acting.

 Takao:  We really did!

 Sasaki:  There’s fun scenes as well as tense ones.

 Takao:  I hope everyone will watch it to the end.

――Now that you’ve finished recording for the sequel, is there anything you’d like to reflect on regarding the finale of BanG Dream! It’s MyGO!!!!!?

 Takao:  My feelings have changed in all sorts of ways. After watching the finale for the sequel, rewatching BanG Dream! It’s MyGO!!!!! again has me feeling like “oh, so that’s what was happening here”.

 Sasaki:  BanG Dream! It’s MyGO!!!!! was full of mystery still, so it definitely deserves a revisit, and make sure you pay close attention to everything in it, because there’s a lot of moments where you’ll start to connect the dots.

TVアニメ「BanG Dream! Ave Mujica」解禁PV

(Subbed version)

Looking towards a magnificent future

――You’re currently putting out one song per month for five months.

 Sasaki:  The anime hasn’t even aired yet, so it’s such an honor.

 Takao:  We don’t actually know what the songs will be like yet.

 Sasaki:  Yes. I’m so excited to have and be able to sing five new songs that showcase Ave Mujica’s world in their own ways!

 Takao:  It’s like, “Ave Mujica, you made too much of your world!” (laughs). I wonder in what ways they’ll form the world? The possibilities are endless.

 Sasaki:  I’m sure they’ll each have their own story to them. We’ve been dolls up until now, but I hope in the future we get to try other ideas.

――I can’t help but wonder how high the bar for your new songs might end up being…

 Sasaki:  I’m ready to take on anything! I’ll be playing with everyone else after all, and I’ll be sure to absolutely cherish each and every line in the songs.

――Your Blu-ray feature for your 1st single contains footage of your 1st live. I hope people will watch it and go to your concerts. I look forward to what your concerts will be like after the sequel anime airs.

 Takao:  Me too!

 Sasaki:  What will they even be like?! (laughs)

 Takao:  I imagine there will be some sort of change by then. I’m sure the direction for them will shift.

 Sasaki:  The staff has so much fun coming up with ideas, it makes me happy.

 Takao:  I trust them all wholeheartedly!

 Sasaki:  The members and staff are both just wonderful.

――Your 2nd live will take place in June and July. Is there anything you can say about it yet?

 Takao:  We don’t know what the setlist or direction, or what new songs will be performed at it are yet. I just know the concert will show everyone a new world to Ave Mujica, so I hope everyone comes to watch us in all of our newness.