Raise A Suilen
Raise A Suilen, sometimes referred to as RAS, is a Japanese all-female electronic rock band that is part of Bushiroad's media franchise BanG Dream!. Formed in 2018, the group's members portray fictional characters in the project's anime series and mobile game BanG Dream! Girls Band Party! in addition to performing their characters' respective instruments in live concerts.
Raise A Suilen consists of Raychell, Riko Kohara, Risa Tsumugi, Natsume, and Reo Kurachi. In-universe, the band is represented by Rei Wakana, Rokka Asahi, Chiyu Tamade, Masuki Satō, and Reona Nyūbara.
Of the seven bands in BanG Dream!, Raise A Suilen is one of four whose members perform their own music. The group has produced four singles and their first album is slated for a July 2020 release.
History
Raise A Suilen started as a backup band that performed music for the in-universe bands whose members are unable to play their own instruments. In a 2018 interview with Real Sound, franchise creator and Bushiroad head Takaaki Kidani explained he was reluctant to hire a male backup band for an all-female franchise, prompting the group's formation. Kidani also envisioned the band as a female version of One Ok Rock and provided them with more freedom in playing music for non-Bushiroad properties than fellow BanG Dream! groups Poppin'Party and Roselia.The group debuted with Raychell, Natsume, Kurachi, and Poppin'Party guitarist Sae Ōtsuka in the Garupa Live and Garupa Party! at Tokyo Big Sight on January 13–14, 2018, where they filled the instrumentals for Afterglow, Hello, Happy World!, and Pastel＊Palettes. The band was formally announced as a standalone unit during the event's second day; they were initially named The Third as the third live-action music group in the franchise after Poppin'Party and Roselia.
Their first live concert, known as The Third 1st Live, took place on March 25 at Shimokitazawa Garden with Raychell, Natsume, and Kurachi; Ōtsuka was a guest performer and played with the group for the first nine songs, which were pre-existing pieces from the BanG Dream! franchise. Ohara was introduced as the band's permanent guitarist for their original track "R・I・O・T". It would be released as the band's debut single on December 12 as part of a triple-release day for the franchise along with Poppin'Party and Roselia's respective singles; "R・I・O・T" peaked at sixth on the Oricon Weekly Singles Chart. The music from the live was compiled into an album and released on September 26.
On May 12, 2018, The Third served as the opening act for the BanG Dream! 5th☆Live at Makuhari Messe. Tsumugi joined the band at their second live at Akasaka Blitz on July 17, where they were formally renamed Raise A Suilen. A "suilen" is a bamboo screen, and the name alludes to "raising the screen" for performances. In November, the band participated in its first overseas performance at CharaExpo USA in Anaheim, California, with Poppin'Party and Roselia. Raise A Suilen's first official concert with the new name and full lineup, titled Brave New World, took place on December 7 in the BanG Dream! 6th☆Live at Ryōgoku Kokugikan.
The band's second single "A Declaration of ×××" came out on February 20, 2019, as part of a six-single release by the franchise. Every single appeared on the Oricon Daily Chart for February 19, with Raise A Suilen's ranking eighth. Two days later, the band played in the BanG Dream! 7th☆Live at the Nippon Budokan, where their Genesis show was supported by Hello, Happy World!'s Miku Itō, Pastel＊Palettes' Ami Maeshima, Afterglow's Sachika Misawa, Glitter*Green's Suzuko Mimori, and the franchise's male-centric group Argonavis. On June 19, RAS released their third single "Invincible Fighter"; the single's self-titled track and B-side "Takin' My Heart" were used as theme music for the anime .
RAS held their first standalone show, called Heaven and Earth, on July 13–14, 2019 at World Memorial Hall. Itō, Maeshima, and Ōtsuka made guest appearances at the live. The band would also have guest performances of their own during the year, appearing at the debut live for fellow Bushiroad franchise D4DJ on July 21, Animelo Summer Live on August 31, Aso Rock Festival on September 29, and Mag Rock Festival and Animax Musix 2019 Kobe on October 5 and 26. On November 30–December 1, Raise A Suilen partnered with Roselia for the joint concert Rausch und/and Craziness at Makuhari Messe; a second Craziness live by RAS took place at Ecopa Arena on February 9, 2020. A second solo live, The Creation ~We are Raise A Suilen~, was conducted at Line Cube Shibuya on December 29, 2019.
"Drive Us Crazy", their fourth single, was released on January 22, 2020; it reached fifth on the Oricon Weekly Chart. In April, Tsumugi and Kurachi began hosting the franchise-centric variety show Radio R･I･O･T. A stage play by the band's members called We are Raise A Suilen -BanG Dream! The Stage- took place from July 15 to 19 at the Tennozu Galaxy Theater; due to the COVID-19 pandemic, unused tickets were refunded and performances were streamed online. Raise A Suilen's first album Era is scheduled for release on August 19. Their fifth single "Sacred world", set to come out October 21, was used as the opening theme song for the show Assault Lily Bouquet; the single's coupling tracks "Reigning" and "R・I・O・T" are renditions from The Stage.
Members
- Raychell – Prior to Raise A Suilen, Raychell had no voice acting experience. From 2010 to 2013, she was a solo singer under the moniker "Lay". In 2017, she performed the ending theme song to Bushiroad's ' and was approached by Kidani about joining the backup band for BanG Dream! groups. She had been acquainted with Natsume and Ōtsuka before BanG Dream! as colleagues at the Ace Crew Entertainment talent agency.
- Riko Kohara – Kohara joined the band at The Third 1st Live. She started playing guitar when she was 18 years old and attended a music school. She was a member of The Sketchbook, a band based on the fictional group from the anime Sket Dance, from 2011 until its disbandment in 2015.
- Natsume – Masuki was Natsume's debut role as a voice actress. She began drumming in high school after being invited to perform with the school band, and later attended the vocational school ESP Gakuen where she formed a band with her classmates. After playing in the backup band for the festival A-Nation, she performed at Bushiroad's tenth anniversary concert and was recruited by Kidani to join BanG Dream!.
- Reo Kurachi – Kurachi learned to play the piano during her youth, while her interest in voice acting began in junior high school after watching the anime K-On! and Fullmetal Alchemist. She entered the voice acting industry in 2016 with S Inc.
- Risa Tsumugi' – Tsumugi joined Raise A Suilen at their second live. She began voice acting after hearing Aya Hirano's performance in the Haruhi Suzumiya series. As Tsumugi is fluent in English due to her overseas education, Kidani noted she would be a major asset in helping BanG Dream!'' grow internationally; her character CHU2 is also bilingual and regularly includes English words in her speech.
In-universe band
The group first appears in the anime's second season. After her offer to become Roselia's producer is rejected, Chiyu Tamade forms Raise A Suilen to get her revenge, which includes trying to recruit Tae Hanazono from the lead group Poppin'Party. RAS becomes a main band in the third season as they enter the BanG Dream! Girls Band Challenge. The group was added to the BanG Dream! Girls Band Party! mobile game on June 10, 2020.
A manga series focusing on RAS titled RAiSe! The story of my music began serialization in Monthly Bushiroad in January 2019. Kō Nakamura and Ryū Shihara wrote and illustrated the manga, respectively.