In a sudden announcement made on June 22, An Cafe, an iconic band in the visual kei industry, has decided to enter an indefinite hiatus for the second time in its career. The announcement was made through Twitter, with heartfelt messages left on the official website as well.

The last live for the band will take place on January 9, 2019 at EX THEATER ROPPONGI. Following this live, members Kanon, Teruki, Yuuki, and Takuya will depart from the band, leaving vocalist Miku as the sole member. Various reasons were given by each individual member, but the general consensus was that they all felt they had accomplished all they wanted with An Cafe, and wanted to walk down different roads.

In their individual messages, vocalist Miku expressed his sorrow for having let down the people who had supported him with the announcement, and reassured that while An Cafe would be his last band, he wants to continue singing An Cafe songs for now.

Guitarist Takuya admitted that he had been wanting to go different paths for a while now, and has since played for An Cafe halfheartedly, making him feel guilty for doing so. With this in mind, he felt this was the right time to depart and chase after the things he could not chase while in An Cafe, and live without regrets.

Bassist Kanon stated that he had always wanted to create something on his own and at his own pace, but could not do so while in An Cafe. He mentions he was scared about leaving An Cafe and not creating something that lived up to the level of An Cafe and thus clinged on to the band. However, he finally found the courage to step down.

Keyboardist Yuuki similarly expressed his desires to do something different and thanked the people who welcomed him warmly when he first joined the band.

Drummer Teruki, with the shortest message of the five, simply thanked everyone for the 15 years with the band and asked for everyone’s support for the remaining six months, without giving a clear reason for his departure.

Both Japanese and Western fans have been quick to express their own thoughts on the announcement, leaving many comments on the band’s twitter.

More info:

Official Website

YouTube

Facebook

Twitter

Twitter (Miku (みく))

Twitter (takuya)

Twitter (Kanon (カノン))

Twitter (Yuuki (ゆうき))

Twitter (Teruki (輝喜))

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