When I first heard that Hitsujibungaku was doing their first West Coast tour, there was no way I was going to miss it. As any dedicated superfan would do, I immediately flew across the country to see them live and ask firsthand what their experience in the US was like. The soul-stirring trio has been unstoppable lately, from releasing anime hits like “Burning” ( OSHI NO KO ) and “more than words” ( JUJUTSU KAISEN ) to one of the most emotionally compelling alt-rock albums in the past few years, 12 hugs (like butterflies) . I caught up with Shiotsuka Moeka (vocal and guitar) and Kasai Yurika (bass) as they wrapped up their first US tour to chat about a few of their stops, growing in the global music scene, and what’s next for the band. You just finished up your first US West Coast tour! How was it? Do you have a favorite moment from any of the cities you visited that you’d like to share? Shiotsuka Moeka : Everything was all new to us. Kasai Yurika : They were all our firsts. Shiotsuka : We didn’t have a show there but stayed in Carlsbad on our first day. There was a lot of fog there, pretty reminiscent of Twin Peaks. It was a very America-like day to start off. Also Portland was cute. Kasai : It was a great city. Shiotsuka : Portland is pretty popular in Japan, as lots of magazines feature Portland in their articles. We were really looking forward to going there and it really lived up to the expectations. Check out Hitsujibungaku's tour video on Instagram! Do you have any plans or want to visit other US cities? Shiotsuka : We don’t have any plans yet, and Seattle will be our last stop in the US for now. But I went to New York last year for vacation and I really enjoyed it, so I hope to go there sometime to perform. In a Billboard interview last year, you mentioned that the band is “balancing mainstream and underground.” Do you feel that touring globally is changing this at all for you or are you still able to maintain the balance? Kasai : We don’t really change our musical style. But the experience of going overseas has been really good for us as we were able to reinforce the value that we feel in producing music. Congratulations on “Burning” from OSHI NO KO being nominated for the Crunchyroll Anime Awards “Best Anime Ending Sequence” category! What does it mean to have this song reach so many fans worldwide? Shiotsuka : Thank you and we are very pleased to have the award. When writing this anime song, we tried to go outside of our comfort zone, so we are glad that the song is popular in Japan but also popular globally. RELATED: Anime Awards 2025 Nominee List: Every Anime Nominated for this Year’s Awards “Burning” instantly hooks the listener in the first few seconds with the contagious drum and grungy guitar riff (my personal favorite part of the song). Where did the idea for this hook come from? Did you take any inspiration from OSHI NO KO ? Shiotsuka : When creating songs for anime, we read the original manga, so we normally get inspiration from the manga. For this track, our sound engineer in Japan, Sasaki-san, sent us a music video from the band Curve while we were in the process of producing it. Although the song wasn’t our normal style, the band had an intense guitar riff in it and we wanted to try something like that. The last time we spoke with the band, you said “more than words” was one of the most challenging songs to write. Is this still true? Do you think the challenge paid off in the end? Shiotsuka : It was very difficult. We were doing the second season of the anime JUJUTSU KAISEN , which means the music for the first season was already out and the series has been very popular and we really felt the pressure. But fortunately, we made it through with a song that we really liked, and being able to perform that on tour, especially globally, and seeing everyone enjoying it gives us pure joy. RELATED: JUJUTSU KAISEN Season 2 Ending Theme Artist Hitsujibungaku is Ready to Play Music Around the World Since we talked last, you also released your latest album 12 hugs (like butterflies) which includes instant hits like “GO!!!” and “more than words.” It also has some deep cuts that are so raw and personal. I’m very fond of “Flower” and “Ningyo.” How are you able to pour so much emotion into these songs? Shiotsuka : Difficult question… I’m in touch with a lot of emotions and I guess I feel a lot more than an average person. A lot of the feelings I take from movies, books, and daily life have been put into the songs. I can see that. The record is very emotionally driven. Even as a non-Japanese speaker, I can pick up on the complexity of emotions present in the songs without needing to look up the translated lyrics. That is a powerful thing to be able to bring to a global audience. You have worked on many anime songs in the past year. Do you think we are seeing a shift in the formula of anime songs and that it doesn’t always need to be a mainstream pop or rock song? Kasai : I don’t think it always has to be a mainstream pop or rock song. I think what’s important is that the song fits the show. I believe the song should fit the feeling, the visual, the theme of the show, much more so than a specific genre. RELATED: Alt Rock Trio Hitsujibungaku Share Their Top Anime of All Time Are there any anime that you dream of creating a song for? Shiotsuka : I’ve been reading Frieren for the past three to four years, and I like how it’s a shonen manga but has a strong female as the protagonist, and not that focused on battles and violence. I love the story and would love to do a theme song if we have a chance. We would love to know your plans moving forward! Anything exciting that you can share or goals you have for the near future? Shiotsuka : We have a show in London this summer, going on Asia Tour in the fall, and have more plans for a tour. We will try to get all the stamina out for all the touring. Particularly, we would love to tour the whole States, including the East Coast as well. Watch Hitsujibungaku music videos on Crunchyroll here ! Listen to Hitsujibungaku and find their upcoming shows here !
