Lead Single “Guess Who Is Back” and EP Pre-Save Launch Today

Japanese rap-rock duo BACK-ON dive back into the anime world that helped define their career with ANIMANIA, a new 4-track cover EP set for release on 1 April. From today, 18 February, fans can pre-save the EP and stream the first single “Guess Who Is Back”, arriving alongside a brand new animated lyric video.

The announcement follows the success of BACK-ON’s sold-out ANIMANIA shows at the end of last year, where fans packed venues to hear the band’s biggest anime and game-related hits performed live.

For over two decades, BACK-ON have been a driving force in anime music, fusing rock, rap and pop with explosive live energy. Their songs have featured in some of anime and tokusatsu’s most recognised titles including FAIRY TAIL, Mobile Suit GUNDAM and KAMEN RIDER. Now, ANIMANIA sees guitarist and vocalist KENJI03 and rapper TEEDA reinterpreting four iconic anime songs, including tracks they originally helped create themselves.

The first taste of the EP, “Guess Who Is Back,” is a bold reimagining of the hit song originally performed by J-pop superstar Kumi Koda for the anime Black Clover.

“Out of all the songs we’ve provided for other artists, this one really felt the most ‘us’”, says KENJI03. “When the idea for this EP came up, this was the first track we picked, no question”.

TEEDA adds, “The loud riffs and rap already hit hard, so instead of leaning on shout-style vocals, we focused on bringing out BACK-ON’s signature style”.

The track holds special meaning for BACK-ON, who originally composed the music, with lyrics co-written alongside Kumi Koda. Since its original release, the song has surpassed 42 million Spotify streams and gained tens of millions of YouTube views worldwide.

To mark today’s release, BACK-ON teamed up with UK-based 12 Inch Media, known for work with global artists such as Bring Me The Horizon, Ed Sheeran and Oasis, to produce a high-impact animated lyric video that matches the track’s intensity and anime spirit.

ANIMANIA also features BACK-ON’s take on “PRIDE” from Mobile Suit Gundam SEED DESTINY (originally by HIGH and MIGHTY COLOR), the ONE PIECE theme “HANDS UP!” which BACK-ON originally wrote and was made famous by Kota Shinzato, and “GO!!!” by longtime peers FLOW, known worldwide as a defining opening theme for NARUTO.

With ANIMANIA, BACK-ON are not simply revisiting anime songs. They are reclaiming a musical world they helped shape, celebrating the global rise of anime culture, and reconnecting with fans who discovered their music through the screen as much as the stage.