Black Night: The Anticlimax

/ Homicidol Maniac

You might think from the title of this post that I’m going to bag on Babymetal for not actually announcing anything of substance at Black Night after sort of hyping an announcement of some kind (this to say nothing of all of the “The End” and “DOOMSDAY” marketing). Hell, we had a fairly strong feeling on the matter:

Now, leaving aside the idea that I was somehow on to them and Kobametal was like “OH HELL NO, I’M NOT LETTING THAT GUY STEAL THE GLORY,” it’s easy to think that there is a whole lot of nothing in terms of future and announcements and change, but I don’t think that’s the case.

First: Let me say that I will forever be kicking myself for not going to Japan. I knew for months that the timing was terrible (personally), even turned down some really generous offers to get hooked up with tickets (thanks, guys, you’re great) … and still had to be talked out of making a last-ditch emergency run to Tokyo. Legend DOOMSDAY and Legend Metal Resistance look like they were incredible performances that will be very, very hard to top.

The reason that people are a little sore right now has nothing to do with that, but with the aforementioned hype train. We expected more, much more, to be an outcome of the two Tokyo Dome shows.

If you didn’t see or click, this is the sum total of announcements after the show:

What a letdown! It’s also probably not all they have to say.

The first reason is all of that hype. One (probably inaccurate) perspective is that the news to announce is so big that they didn’t want to do it in front of 50,000 people in an enclosed space; that would mean that it’s definitely bad news, and I’m not sold that any news to come is necessarily bad.

Another perspective is that, for one reason or another, the What wasn’t actually ready to share, or somebody involved got cold feet. That could be good news, or mildly bad news, or neutral news. The only real reason to think that, at least in a vacuum, is, again, all of that hype.

And yet another perspective is purely logistical: Black Night was neither the time nor the place, but we’ll be hearing something soon. And that is how I’m reading this:

Kind of ominous, don’t you think? Still in the Metal Resistance dark priestess garb, but now celestial, even interstellar. I can’t tell if that planet in the background is Earth (like in flames or something) or just a Planet stock photo, but either way, Babymetal is off-world. And, probably most notably, their backs are turned. They’re going away from us.

So in the comments and then after a solicitation on Twitter, it has been strongly groupthinked that they aren’t walking away, but are veiled and facing toward us. Cosmic, yes; otherwordly, yes; mourning or even dead, POSSIBLE; but departing, no. Let your mind work on that one for a while.

So read into that what you will. Emotions, up and down, are a little hot right now, what with the back-to-back massive concerts delivering on one flavor of hype while the other flavor of hype got almost nothing. People are now speculating that the actual announcement, whatever it is, will come at the end of the Zepp shows.

It’s also possible that Babymetal has now transcended all notions of idol and have become the bleakest, blackest metal thing possible:

Update: What a definitive message!

Because I closed up shop on the megathread and it’s handy for SEO and OH YEAH YOUR EDIFICATION TOO, here’s the Black Night set list:

9 thoughts on “Black Night: The Anticlimax”

      • I agree with Kurolivier, if you look closely, very closely i’m sure you can see their faces behind the veil.
        Ok i know i’m old and my sight isn’t what it used to be but i’m sure you can see facial features (especially on YUI), so here’s hopin’ they’re not walking away from us.
        It does seem odd that they would say there was going to be a huge announcement and then more or less nothing tho’.
        But hey…ONLY THE FOX GOD KNOWS

  2. Have you all not learned that their management company is very masterful at marketing.
    Question: Does the homepage image change after every finale to some other suggestive image? Answer: Yes.
    Question: Does providing such an image provide fodder for speculation as to what is going to happen next? Answer: Yes
    Question: Does naming the last show of a tour something foreboding, like say Doomsday or Apocalypse suggest something, perhaps an announcement? Answer: Yes
    Question: As long as they continue to do this will the fans endlessly speculate on the meaning of it all? Answer: Yes.

    All of the rumor milling and speculation only serves to drive more fans to shows and to buy merchandise. This is the very essence of what the management team is doing.

    I think the real question is: Where did they get the wizard that is so easily able to manipulate all of us feeble minded humans? Answer: Only the Fox God knows.

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