BACK-ON usher in the tenth anniversary of the Gundam Build series by recording opening theme ‘Hikari to Kaze’ for latest outing Gundam Build Metaverse, which will be available to watch worldwide on YouTube from Friday 6 October. The upbeat, joyful track is also available to download and stream from today. It’s a song full of hope and passion for a new future and combines the Japanese words ‘Hikari’ which can mean ‘power’, ‘illumination’, ‘vision’, with the word ‘kaze’ meaning ‘wind’ – a concept with roots not only within Gundam, but to the very core of BACK-ON too.

KENJI03, the band’s guitarist and songwriter comments, “The Build series is celebrating its 10th anniversary, so I created this song with the image of new challenges and the future that lies ahead. We wanted to take a different approach from our past material, while keeping to a fundamental concept we’ve had since the formation of BACK-ON: ‘Hikari to Kaze’. So I hope people can feel the link between the series’ story, but also our own experience as a band, and I hope that whoever listens can feel us giving them a little nudge to take on what the future holds for them. I can’t wait to hear the lyrics and see the animation at the same time!! Please check it out!”

‘Hikari to Kaze’ follows BACK-ON’s massive hit ‘CHEMYxSTORY’, used as the high-octane opening theme for KAMEN RIDER GOTCHARD, and a track which saw BACK-ON trend across Japanese news and social media. The new track also furthers BACK-ON’s involvement with the Gundam Build series, having had their songs featured already in four different titles within the franchise, including their big hit ‘Nibun no Ichi’, the music video to which has been viewed over seven million times on Youtube.

TEEDA, the units MC and lyricist adds, “Congratulations to Gundam Build Metaverse for its release! As KENJI03 said, ‘Hikari to Kaze’ was the band concept at the time we formed. It’s a song created by a flashback to the joys and pains of working towards your dreams, which also relates to starting fresh in the metaverse. This is a song created with a lot of passion that I hope will fill fans with a sense of nostalgia, thinking back to when they first fell in love with the world of Gundam.”

Gundam Build Metaverse is available to watch from today worldwide via the official GUNDAM.INFO YouTube channel. It’s helmed by acclaimed director Masami Obari at Sunrise Beyond, who is no stranger to the Gundam world, having worked on numerous titles through the years, as well as involvement in other iconic anime, such as AD Police, Saint Seiya and Bubblegum Crisis. To celebrate the release of Gundam Build Metaverse, all previous entries to the series have been made available to stream now.

Gundam Build Metaverse Story:

A new Internet service has been born in the world of Gunpla. Within the Metaverse realm, the user can control their own avatar, interact with other users, play Gunpla Battle, and purchase actual Gunpla.

Rio Hojo is a boy who has dived into this new world. Studying Gunpla building techniques in the real world with Seria Urutuski, and absorbing Gunpla Battle know-how from Mask Lady in the Metaverse world, he has been honing his skills day by day.

After completing his own original Gunpla, the Lah Gundam, Rio happens to encounter some past champions of Gunpla Battle in the Metaverse realm.

https://en.gundam.info/about-gundam/series-pages/buildmetaverse/