Brandy Senki:
Osaka’s Grunge Dreamers, Rewriting Modern Japanese Rock

The Genesis: From Classical Roots to Indie Stages

Brandy Senki—ブランデー戦記—was born out of a shared love for boundary-defying music and a restless creative urge. The members: Hazuki (vocals, guitar), Minori (bass, backing vocals), and Bori (drums), found each other in the vibrant Osaka underground circuit. While the world first encountered fuzzy, grunge-tinged power chords and catchy hooks, the members brought diverse backgrounds: Hazuki’s early years were spent with the violin, Minori on the piano, and Bori drawn to the propulsive energy of bands like Dragon Ash

They weren’t industry plants, nor were they internet flash-in-the-pans. Their debut gig wasn’t livestreamed to millions but played to a small room of college kids and working-class dreamers in the city’s scrappy venues.

Brandy Senki - Musica (Official Music Video)

A Quick Rise: Charting the First Major Waves

Their first single “Musica,” which dropped at the very end of 2022, did what few debut tracks manage: it exploded. The accompanying music video quickly stacked up a million views in under a month—a rare feat for a new, unsigned rock act operating outside Tokyo.
This introduced the world to Brandy Senki’s signature combination: a mix of jagged guitar riffs reminiscent of ’90s alternative and modern J-pop’s melodic sensibility.

Their self-released debut EP, “Jinrui Metsubou Wonderland” (“Humanity Destruction Wonderland”), arrived in August 2023. It found critical acclaim, winning the Blue Prize at the 16th CD Shop Grand Prize in 2024—a significant nod from Japanese record retailers and indie tastemakers alike. The momentum didn’t slow; by late 2024, their second EP “A Nightmare Week” was out, leaning harder into city pop textures while keeping their core grunge DNA intact

Brandy Senki 1st EP "Humanity Extinction Wonderland" trailer

Brandy Senki - Nightmarish (Official Music Video)

Brandy Senki ブランデー戦記 - The End of the F***ing World (Official Music Video)

Brandy Senki ブランデー戦記 - Coming-of-age Story (MV)

Meet the Band:
Dynamic Individualities

- Hazuki: The creative fulcrum, Hazuki writes most of the band’s lyrics and crafts the melodic outline for their songs. Her soft, sometimes wistful vocals contrast sharply with the abrasive guitars she wields. Influences?

- Nirvana and The Strokes loom large, but she also nods to Japan’s mainstream with Arashi as a personal favorite.

- Minori: Known for expressive, fingerstyle bass lines and harmonies, Minori’s role is as much rhythmic as it is melodic. She admits to nerves before going on stage but lets them dissipate as soon as the first note rings out—a testament to the shift from classical piano recitals to the tumult of indie rock stages.

- Bori: The youngest and, perhaps, the band’s wildest card. His drumming is energetic and complex, offering a heavier counterweight to the band’s pop influences. He draws inspiration from Dragon Ash’s rock backbone and enjoys experimenting with genre on the kit

Brandy Senki ブランデー戦記 - Last Live (Official Music Video)

The Brandy Senki ブランデー戦記 Sound: Grunge, City Pop, and the Spirit of Restlessness

One of the most striking things about Brandy Senki is how they don’t confine themselves to a single style or era. Their debut echoes with grunge and alternative rock, but more recent tracks (“Nightmarish,” “27:00”) flirt with dreamy city pop and lo-fi elements. They’re unafraid of Y2K aesthetics and wear their love for ‘90s and early 2000s fashion as proudly as their gritty chord progressions.

The band has a habit of walking on stage to The Pixies’ “Where Is My Mind?”—a deliberately unsubtle wink to the lineage they’re carrying forward in Japanese rock

A Catalogue Worth Exploring

|------|------------|---------|-------------------------------------|

| 2023 | Jinrui Metsubou Wonderland | EP | Won CD Shop Award, augments grunge-pop |

| 2024 | 27:00 | Single | Late-night aesthetic |

| 2025 | The End of the F***ing World, Last Live, Fix | Singles | Showcases matured songwriting

Visual Identity: Y2K Nostalgia Refined

Beyond sound, Brandy Senki’s visuals are a deliberate throwback. Their music videos blend thrift shop chic, experimental punk, and touches of formalwear (neckties, dress shirts) with stylized hair and makeup courtesy of creative collaborators. This isn’t just nostalgia for its own sake—they blend styles from different decades, making the old new again on their own terms

Lyrics, Themes, and the Power of Vulnerability

Hazuki is often seen in long boots and skirt combos, while Minori prefers formal wear. Bori, ever the wildcard, admits to loving the more outlandish pieces, especially for videos like “The End of the F***ing World”

In Conversation: The Philosophy Behind the Noise

Brandy Senki’s live shows have quickly become known for explosive energy and emotional candor. Their first headlining tour in early 2025 sold out venues nationwide, from Shibuya to Osaka’s Janus Hall. By summer 2025, they had graduated to festival stages, with fans flocking to see their blend of heavy drums, intricate bass, and honest showmanship.

One fan-favorite flourish: the band’s willingness to improvise with setlists and try out new arrangements, making each show feel unique. There’s also a humility about the trio; Hazuki routinely thanks longtime fans before launching into “Musica,” the song that started it all.

Live: Euphoria Meets Earnestness

In interviews, the members often downplay any grand plan. “The most important thing is to follow the melody of the song, and see how we can all add to that individually,” Hazuki explains. For them, fun and authenticity trump fitting into any genre or scene. They acknowledge the rarity of young Japanese bands playing with grungy textures, but for Brandy Senki, it’s less about being pioneers and more about staying true to what excites them.

Their influences are broad: Andymori for Minori, Arashi for Hazuki, Dragon Ash for Bori. None of their favorites are strictly grunge, indie, or pop—a fact that explains their music’s refusal to settle into one niche.

Major Label Debut and What’s Next

May 14, 2025, marked a new era for Brandy Senki: the release of their self-titled major-label debut under Universal Sigma. Containing 13 tracks, the album is a mission statement—a snapshot of who they are now and where they want to be, with songwriting that feels raw but polished and arrangements that stretch well beyond their scrappy beginnings.

Why They Matter: Brandy Senki’s Place in Modern Japanese Rock

Discography (Highlights)

With sold-out tours, a growing international following, and buzzy music videos, the future looks bright—and busy. Their “1st Album Release Tour” in the summer of 2025 saw them selling out Zepp venues and making inroads into major festivals.

For all the nostalgic touchpoints and Western influences, Brandy Senki are uniquely Japanese. They’re part of a generational wave fighting to make alternative music matter in a pop-saturated industry, but they do it by embracing both vulnerability and spectacle. Their blend of jagged riffs, singalong hooks, and emotionally honest lyrics have struck a chord not just with critics, but with a new generation of fans who see themselves in Brandy Senki’s story

There’s an infectious energy to their journey; whether you caught them at a tiny bar show in 2022 or at a festival crowd in 2025, chances are you left feeling that the band you just heard might be writing the next chapter of Japanese rock.

- Musica (2022)

- Jinrui Metsubou Wonderland EP (2023)

- A Nightmare Week EP (2024)

- Brandy Senki (Album) (2025)

- Singles: Kids, A Box of Stockholm, Nightmarish, 27:00, Last Live, The End of the F**ing World*, Fix

Final Thoughts

Brandy Senki’s appeal is simple but rare: they’re an indie band that dares to wear its heart on its sleeve, thriving on the tension between raw, classic rock intensity and the hyper-melodic world of Japanese pop. If you’re seeking a group who remind you of why, sometimes, three chords played with conviction are worth more than a million yen production budget, then Brandy Senki is a band to watch—now and for many years to come.

Brandy Senki: Osaka’s Grunge Dreamers, Rewriting Modern Japanese Rock