If you’re looking for inspiration on how to showcase your love of anime, look no further than Rise of the North Star. The French metal band brings a slice of Japan to the stage with incredible pageantry, riffs, and references to some of the most iconic anime of all time. I mean, just look at their name! With their new album, CHAPTER 04: RED FALCON SUPER BATTLE! NEO PARIS WAR!! , the band refines their concept and their sound, taking both to new heights and becoming mainstays on any playlist. I spoke with vocalist Vitia about the new album, ‘80s mecha anime, and how much France loves anime. Your new album, CHAPTER 04: RED FALCON SUPER BATTLE! NEO PARIS WAR!! is finally out! Can you tell me a bit about the writing and recording process for it? Vitia : We wrote this album over time, during the tour for our previous record "Showdown" and throughout 2024. We didn't take a break. Eva-B (lead guitar) kept sending me new songs, and we swapped ideas back and forth with my lyrics. Then we brought it to the rest of the band members, who each added their own flavor here and there. Yoru contributed a lot too, with his scratches and beats whenever we needed them. In the end, we’ve got a fresh, smooth, and more urban album that really represents ROTNS in 2025. RELATED: Perturbator and Victorien Aubineau on "Lady Moon," Age of Aquarius, and Akira & Ghost in the Shell What has been the most fun part about building an anime/manga inspired world and aesthetic for the band? Also, who designed the stage clothing? It looks amazing! Vitia : I’m the one handling the entire visual side of the band, from designing stage outfits and scenography, to creating merch and all the different artworks. I had never challenged myself to draw a Mecha before, which for us the band, symbolizes a kind of modernity. And I loved diving into it, researching through series like Mobile Fighter G Gundam , Mobile Suit Gundam Wing , Macross , Patlabor … I’m really into that Japanese “real mecha” concept that makes these massive machines feel almost tangible. For the stage visuals, I deliberately went back to something more urban, more stripped-down, more streetwear, a vibe that fits perfectly with one of the album’s most important themes: the city I come from, (Neo)Paris. Which anime were on or around while you were working on the album? Vitia : There are so many anime and manga available nowadays… I watched the first season of DAN DA DAN and really enjoyed it, the animation quality is top-notch. I obviously got back into Akira , both the manga and the 1988 film, which was a big inspiration for this album. I also rewatched the first two Patlabor films by Mamoru Oshii. I started reading Spriggan by Hiroshi Takashige & Ryouji Minagawa, and Crows by Hiroshi Takahashi, finally translated into French! And there's also the first volume of Sakamoto Days that had me laughing a lot. Let’s take it back to the beginning. Can you tell me a little about your anime journey? Vitia : Like all the kids of our generation in France, we were raised on a pretty controversial TV show from the '80s that aired a ton of Japanese anime, considered way too violent for the children we were. Saint Seiya , Fist of the North Star , Dragon Ball Z … Every kid from my generation watched that. It wasn’t underground at all in France, it was mainstream, because the show was insanely popular, pulling in 5 to 10 million viewers a day in a country of 55 million at the time. The show ended in 1997, and suddenly we all started looking for our fix of Japanimation “at the source.” That’s when French publishers, realizing the economic potential of the manga market, started translating original works like Akira , Dragon Ball , or City Hunter into French. Our artistic ideas, and the deep connection my generation has with Japanimation, come from that era. It’s a uniquely French phenomenon. As usual, France does things its own way, haha. RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: CHASE ATLANTIC Share "FACEDOWN" Video and Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Obsession Did you get into music around the same time as you got into anime? Were they separate interests for you or did one inform the other? Vitia : These are two passions that were born at the same time. I had an older brother who really shaped my musical taste early on. He quickly got me into AC/DC, Guns N' Roses, and Metallica. From there, I naturally moved toward fusion bands like Rage Against The Machine, Biohazard or Downset, and then got hit by the whole Nu Metal wave. That was an amazing time. What do you think it is about your style of music, and heavy music in general, that draws anime fans to it? Vitia : I honestly have no idea… A lot of anime openings from the '80s and '90s in Japan were performed by hard rock bands, and some of those soundtracks were really intense. Then there’s the literary side of it too: nowadays, metalheads are often deep diggers, always searching for new music. It’s a scene that can sometimes feel elitist, maybe even home to a kind of intelligentsia… So in the end, it comes back to something pretty social, there’s a certain pride in listening to what no one else knows. I just hope we’re seen as a singular, independent band offering a unique artistic equation. There are so many ways to mix the same ingredients, to tell the same story, and I’ve always tried not to slip into parody. I want to mix the two worlds that matter deeply to me: heavy music and Japanese pop culture. Did any anime openings, endings or OSTs have a lasting impact on you or change your approach to songwriting? Do you have any favorite openings or endings? Vitia : I wouldn’t say it’s influenced the way I write or the way we compose as a band, but it definitely inspired us. For example, on our latest album, there’s a track called “Solitary Homeboy” where we used a shamisen, a traditional Japanese three-stringed instrument, and that was directly inspired by the Naruto soundtracks. It creates a perfect blend of heavy riffs and traditional Asian instruments, and we’re really into that kind of mix. My all-time favorite anime openings are still the two from Saint Seiya by the Japanese hard rock band MakeUp: “Pegasus Fantasy” and Hironobu Kageyama & Broadway: “Soldier Dream.” The first opening from One-Punch Man is pretty epic too. RELATED: Fish Narc's Ben Funkhouser: I Can't Conceive of My Art Without Anime What is on your watchlist that you haven’t seen yet but are excited to watch? Does being on the road give you time to catch up? Vitia : There are lots of classics I still haven’t seen, like the movie VAMPIRE HUNTER D : BLOODLUST or VENUS WARS , but you can’t easily find those films on on-demand platforms. But to be honest, I really struggle with the passivity of watching the screen, I prefer that ancient thing called "reading," haha. Your collab track with Flo from LANDMVRKS is absolutely sick! Can you compare his guest spot to an anime team up? Vitia : Haha, Flo did an amazing job on this feature, he came through with a stratospheric vocal line. Just like Roronoa Zoro when he joins the Straw Hat Pirates: a quick and clean strike. Is there anything you’d like to plug or say to the Crunchyroll audience out there who may not be familiar with your music? Vitia : Hey guys, we’re Rise Of The Northstar from Neo Paris. I had a childhood much like yours, growing up in the suburbs of a big city, soaking up anime to learn how to draw and metal bands to learn how to sing. We try to take the whole world to Tokyo for the price of a subway ticket through our shows, borrowing the values of shonen manga and the codes of Japanese subculture here and there. Be peaceful, but not too much!
