Reaction to BAND-MAID Documentary / AKANE (Johnny Reacts)

The combination of her and MISA, I think is one of the best in the business right now.

The more we learn about this band, the more we love this band.

Akane is not only on a high level, I think she is one of the most impressive musicians I have ever heard. She is a complete drummer, she is fast, she hits hard, she is never boring to listen to, she is brilliant at composing and on top of that she is cool when she plays! Trying to cover some of her songs is literally impossible if you are not an experienced drummer, it requires a lot of skill and a lot of memory.

If you watch an older version of the Kanami documentary, you can hear four people commenting on Kanami's guitar playing.

In a September 2022 fan newsletter where Akane was paying tribute to her long time friend Kanami, she described the band as a community of destiny, they are a tighter group than most families. On the Band-Maid official fan site there are a bunch of behind the scenes videos that make it clear that this relationship is absolutely authentic and real, and it does make these ladies adorable as people as well as musicians, and foster so much respect for them. They had two long documentaries that were sold with live albums, one of the US tour behind the scenes and one leading up to the Yokohama Arena show, that show all these individual personalities that come together to create this amazing ego-free music. They take their music seriously, but they don't take themselves too seriously.

Band-Maid has definitely overcome struggles, as you say. They may have been signed to a label from the start, but from traveling overnight across Europe in the back of a van to perform in tiny venues like Polish basements, to selling their own tickets, to inviting family to show up so someone would be at their shows...it was not glamourous. One thing I like to point out in this video is that we have footage of pre-Band-Maid Akane in a bar band. This is so unlikely!

Akane...Awesome isn't she! Great reaction and we can see you're really liking the information being provided. And being in Japan, your little additions of your experiences make these reactions more enjoyable. Akane, like all the members, brings something to make Band-Maid special. I loved the band before these documentaries. I knew some of the information before them, but seeing it in this format, you just have to love each of them more... Will be looking forward to your next reaction...MISA! MISA!! MISA!!! And on your own time, I think it's worth while to go and watch the first versions of Saiki and Kanami. They both are excellent too... PO!🕊 🤘😆🤘

There will be an update to this one and Misa as well. O feels his Miku is perfect, and that's why he's been updating the earlier ones, bringing them up to the Miku quality.

The singer from Predia and Mochi to Cheese is also named Akane! (Minato Akane) She is now lead vocalist of Japanese rock band East of Eden.

Misa then the Hato to close out the docu series would be a fantastic ending, Po! 🦍🍌 PS, You need to be a guest on Maid News Network, Sir!

Thanks Johnny, these docs are really worth the watch.

I guess that when parents encourage their children play music at 4 years, they hope that they are going to become classical musicians. But now they use their early music education to form rock band's etc. Great insights into Japanese culture- Thanks.

Thank you for doing these reactions! I have a humble request that I think is going to rock your socks off. It involves quite a few of the East Kami band members like Boh, Takayoshi Ohmura, Hideki, Isao, Yuya, and the late and great Mikio Fujioka. As well as some others who haven’t played with babymetal but perform with the east kamis on other projects frequently. The song is called The Hill of Wisteria full version ft MLG Avengers. It’s got 2 lead singers, 3 Guitarists, 2 Bass players, and 2 drummers. It is a final tribute to Mikio Fujioka after his passing and features his guitar playing from a previous version of the song that was just an instrumental. The original instrumental version has been played at a Babymetal concert but was never released officially because it is a Takayoshi Ohmura original. I hope you will consider checking this one out and thanks again! 🦊🤘

We love Band-Maid's music, and at the same time, we love their personalities as well. Miku - She is an icon of this band. We are watching and enjoying her improvement of guitar skill. Kanami - She has 2 faces like On/Off. When she grabs her guitar... as you know. Misa - She is always calm and stable. She plays another beautiful melody in background. Saiki - Her voicehas been improving during this decade. Check her strongest voice in Unleash!!!!! (Yokohama live). Akane - Smile on hard play. She can't walk around on the stage so the other band mates like to gather on her. Above is what we fans know well. We love it, we fell in love with them. I guess most of fans have imagined "How do I welcome them if they come to my home?" when we close our eyes in the bed.

Akane, aka "The Gorilla" is so happy in her drumming! Never tire of these documentaries!

Great reaction Johnny. Love your sidenotes.

I think that, as bad-ass as a drummer Akane is, she's even a better person. You can clearly see that in the way the other band members look at her and the way she interacts with them. I was touched by what Saiki said about Akane when they first met.

Thank you for adding your own insights to this. Band Maid are more than just musicians. They have become cultural ambassadors. I enjoy discovering more and more about Japan because of the Maids.

🦍 in the house Completely agree. Sometimes, just sometimes, it's nice to see how the sausage is made.

In 2016 Jimmi Page of Led Zeppelin saw them play live and asked to meet the drummer. She thought someone was playing a joke on her. You can google search the image.