Interview with Mikansei Alice

With their upcoming single Gyakushuu Cinderella coming on December 19th, young visual kei band Mikansei Alice talk about their new release, their recent experience abroad and the idea behind band's concept of "the mental condition of an incomplete girl."

While our readers may already recognize some of you from your previous bands, since this is our first interview with you as Mikansei Alice, can you please introduce yourselves?

Rui Alicegawa: I am the vocalist Rui Alicegawa, who sings with all his heart.
Yuiha: I am Yuiha. Thank you very much for the opportunity of being interviewed this time. It’s a pleasure to meet you all.
An: I am An, the guitarist on the right side of the stage (left side from the audience’s viewpoint). Nice to meet you!
Kazuki: I’m Kazuki on drums. Hopefully, I will be able to convey the charm of Mikansei Alice through all my senses.

Mikansei Alice’s sound seems rather eclectic. What is your songwriting process like? Is one person responsible for most of the composing, or do you all work on the songs together?

Rui Alicegawa: The composer changes from song to song. However, all the members make songs.
An: Our drummer Kazuki makes our songs most of the time, but there are times when vocalist Rui is in charge of certain songs and also there are times when I am the composer. We make the arrangements together.
Kazuki: I am the main composer.

You have described your concept as “the mental condition of an incomplete girl”, and a lot of your lyrics seem to be from a female perspective. As an all-male band, what draws you to these particular themes?

Rui Alicegawa: The heart of a young girl is unstable, delicate and selfish. I think that this condition is part of true human nature.
An: We are a visual kei band, and most of our fans are young ladies. Regardless of age, I believe that there are people who have a female heart and they are the ones who I want to reach out to. Although our vision has changed a bit since we announced the beginning of Mikansei Alice, “the mental condition of an incomplete girl” is a theme that we will keep forever. Certainly I’m still really interested in it.
Kazuki: I try to be empathetic with the feelings of opposite sex while I’m having fun. However, our regular themes are kind of gloomy (laughs).

The covers of your releases are very easy to recognize. Who draws them?

An: We get the artworks from an acquaintance of mine. A sketch is done while we express our idea. We always entrust this task to this person because we really like the originality of the developed work.

Your next single, Gyakushuu Cinderella, will be released on December 19th. What can we expect from this release?

Rui Alicegawa: I would like you to think over the deep part of the story and the feelings of the characters while bringing to light the hidden side of Cinderella’s tale from a parallel world.
An: Apart from our singular guitar sound, we also added new elements such as a delay effect, piano notes and a peculiar melody. It is a song that shows the evolution of Mikansei Alice until now.
Kazuki: As a composer, and facing the second anniversary of Mikansei Alice, I can say that this is a step forward to grow. We are showing a new side of the band, that’s why I would like you to listen to this single.



Speaking of singles, you just released two, titled NaNa ~Watashi no naka no 7nin no shoujo~ and NaNa ~Kurikaesu 7nin no watashi~, recently, which seem to be linked somehow. Can you explain the story or concept behind these releases?

Rui Alicegawa: It’s a connection between past and future. It’s a series about how the mental condition of a girl with multiple personalities changes and what kind of things she has to accept. You can put yourself in her shoes and know how she thinks.
An: The lyrics tell one story. But the sounds are opposites; one has a mid-tempo and the other one is a catchy song.

Your latest releases are available on streaming platforms. What do you think of that way to make music available?

Rui Alicegawa: It is precisely because this is an era when getting music is really easy that I want you to experience live whatever you felt while listening to us remotely.
Yuiha: It is a good thing that we can get music from all over the world, whenever and wherever, thanks to streaming platforms. However, I would like people to get the physical CD whenever possible.
An: My hometown is located in a very rural area so I wasn’t able to find CDs from indie bands anywhere and I had to rely on streaming platforms to get music. I think that it’s a blessing to have this kind of distribution. It would be wonderful if the music of Mikansei Alice can reach people in a similar condition.
Kazuki: As a producer, it makes me happy that many people can listen to us easily. It’s for this reason that I want to make songs with even more love, so people will love them for a long time.

A little while ago you also uploaded a cover of Mika Nakashima’s KISS OF DEATH, which was the opening theme for the anime series “Darling in the FranXX”. Are you fans of anime? If so, if Mikansei Alice could record a theme for any anime series, which one would you choose?

Rui Alicegawa: I like “Darling in the FranXX”, that’s why we made the cover. I am a fan of many anime so it’s hard to choose, but I would like it to be one from Shonen Jump.
An: I like anime! I just watched “Hataraku Saibou (Cells at Work!)” recently. If I would be able to record the opening of one of my favorite anime, I would choose “Kuroshitsuji (Black Butler)”.
Kazuki: I’m a big fan of anime. I would choose “Golden Kamuy”.

You just made your overseas debut on September 29th at Aki no Matsuri in Switzerland. What was the show like?

Rui Alicegawa: People enjoyed our show more than I could have ever imagined, I was very happy. It’s wonderful how music can create bonds even in such distant places.
Yuiha: Personally, this was the third time I played in Switzerland. There were a lot of people at the convention who like Japanese culture, anime and visual kei. They were very friendly. You often hear that some troubles arise at overseas concerts; however, I’m glad that we were able to play in Switzerland because the audience got really excited during our performance. I’m happy because the people who watched us at Aki no Matsuri think that visual kei is cool.
An: Local people welcomed us better than I was ever expecting. It made me very happy! Definitely, I want to go there again.
Kazuki: It was a lot of fun! There were people who knew our songs, so it left me with the impression that we are reaching these kinds of places through streaming services. I was very glad.

Aside from your performance, was there anything else you experienced during the trip that left a strong impression?

Rui Alicegawa: I was able to see the church of the city, which is something I will always treasure. I could see the sunset reflected on a lake too, it was very beautiful.
An: It was my first time abroad, so everything was new to me: the language barrier, the food was different, the interpersonal space was different from Japan. I have tons of memories, but the one that shocked me the most was when I got bitten by a horse when we visited a farm that looked like something out of an anime.
Kazuki: We had a cheese feast in our lodging place. It was good that we could enjoy it in the real way. I was able to see some swans closely too.

Are there any other specific countries or cities overseas that you would like to perform in?

Rui Alicegawa: Rather than choosing a country, I hope I can perform in places where there are many people wishing with all their hearts to meet us in person.
Yuiha: I want to do a tour all over Europe. I’ve never been to Italy, Spain, Poland, Sweden or Norway, so I would like to go there.
An: I would like to visit many countries, but USA, France and Taiwan are at the top of the list. The countries I’d like to go to have nothing in common, but I want to go to many places. I also want to travel to Switzerland again!
Kazuki: I’d like to go to the United States.

You recently announced that you will be touring all 47 prefectures of Japan twice in a row starting in 2019, which seems like a very ambitious plan for such a young band. Where did this idea come from, and are you doing anything special to prepare for the tour?

Rui Alicegawa: We are going to places where only a few bands go to perform to create opportunities for the fans to be in touch with the artist directly. First of all, we have to spread the word that we are going to meet them all on this upcoming tour.
An: We came up with the idea of this "47 prefectures x 2 rounds” tour mainly because we want to reach a lot of people. We are collecting songs, creating a new direction for the band, and increasing our weapons.
Kazuki: It is like a greeting to all over Japan from Mikansei Alice. Of course, we cannot come undone, so we are preparing firmly our musical repertoire for the tour.

Finally, can you please leave a message for JaME’s readers?

Rui Alicegawa: I hope that the voice, sound and words are the salvation of your life.
Yuiha: I am waiting for the day that we can meet all the readers of JaME! See you at the music venue!
An: Surely, the people who are reading this interview with JaME are from various countries, so I’d like to show you Japanese culture through visual kei music. Mikansei Alice has many works with a very unique sound, so please listen to our music through the platforms that you have available! Thank you.
Kazuki: Thank you very much to all of you who have read this interview! Thank you to all the people who I was able to meet in Switzerland! I will keep doing music that resonates in the hearts of people in such a way that our songs reach everywhere. Please, support us! We will definitely meet somewhere!

JaME would like to thank Mikansei Alice and Royal Stage for this interview opportunity.

Below you can watch the music video for Mikansei Alice's upcoming single Gyakushuu Cinderella: