Why have a cake, presents, and a party for your sixteenth birthday when you can be crucified by friends and colleagues in front of 9,000 fans screaming "DEATH DEATH DEATH!!!"? NOT A CULT!!! Keep rockin' BABYMETAL!!! KITSUNE UP!!! 🤘🦊🤘

The Fox God has sacrificed a Jpop idol and reborn into a metal goddess queen. We've been blessed by the Fox God.🙌 -NotACult- 🦊🤘💀

No matter what you see, just remember that we are #notacult or are we?????

This performance of Babymetal Death always blows people's minds. Babymetal fans like to show this to people who say that Babymetal aren't metal. There isn't much that is more metal than crucifying your lead singer. There is also another version of Babymetal Death called the "Shin version" that goes even harder. They performed it at Black Night in April 2023. Babymetal Death is the opener for the first album, and also serves as the opener for most of their live performances, since it serves as an introduction for the group. However, on this particular occasion it was the show closer because the narrative of the concert was about Su-metal's transformation from J-pop idol into metal goddess, and this finale was the moment of her apotheosis. The use of "desu" and "death" is an intentional play on words. What is more metal than introducing yourself and saying "death"? This performance is actually full of references and homages to Babymetal's influences. The statue in the background isn't actually the virgin Mary, it's actually Su-metal, although it is posed in a way reminiscent of the Shinto sun goddess Amaterasu Omikami, and when it is struck by lightning and falls apart, that is a reference to the statue of justice from Metallica's "Damaged Justice" tour. The neckbrace that they put on Su-metal is a reference to Yoshiki, the drummer, pianist, and song writer of the legendary Japanese metal band "X Japan", who are Babymetal's single biggest creative influence. Yoshiki famously headbanged so much that he damaged his neck and had to wear a neckbrace while playing for a number of years. There is also a reference in the recurring guitar riff being played that is like the riff in "One" by Metallica.

So obviously the song title is BABYMETAL DEATH because when pronounced with a Japanese accent it means We are BABYMETAL. The first song on their first album is We are BABYMETAL. 💀

#notacult lol

Oh, I forgot, Su, Yui, and Moa are trained actors!!

Imagine the balls it takes to actually pull this off like they do. Pure respect.

this song was to represent su metals death and her being reborn as a metal goddess

i saw them live in september in chi and they opened with this song

If anyone ever says to you Babymetal isn't Metal......Just smile, cause you know!! Put your Kitsune UP!! Po!

⚡ 💀 💕 / 💀 💀 💀 Here's a translation of the introduction: "The Second Impact. It was in the winter of 1997. It was the birth of a new warrioress who transcends the law of nature, "SU-METAL". Charged with the mission of the Metal Resistance, in exchange for her own life, she waged a battle in the legendary "special night of fifteen". Executing the Metal Resistance in many music festivals in 2013, SU-METAL made the legends one after another. Before the birth of a new goddess, she returned beside the holy mother. The holy mother said, "A soul is repeated. Return to me, tracing your memory…" - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Only about 1% of the population in Japan are Christian. For many Japanese, the only exposure to Christianity is through popular culture like movies, anime or manga comics. Or in BABYMETAL's case, through the imagery used in Metal concerts. Fortunately most folks understand this is metaphor and spectacle. The theme of this concert was "rebirth" and incorporated themes from 'Neon Genesis Evangelion', including the cross. I'm sure they weren't intending to offend any anime fans. : )

Great reaction! I personally recommend you, right after this show, to react to "Ave Maria+Headbanger 15 Mix" so you will get better understanding to "The reborn of Babymetal". To me, it's kind of continuation of the story line, even though the two performances were not in the same concert. In this performance, it's funny that when girls introduced themselves, the crowds screamed at them "DEATH". The fans did want them DIE and REBORN.😂😂😂

good reaction. Also, please listen to BABYMETAL and Japanese music. thanks so much. From a Japanese high school girl.🤘🦊

Yui team here ❤❤ One of my top favorite Original Babymetal songs..!!

I was not ready for this 🤣🤣🤣

It's only possibly controversial if you only narrowingly view this from a western lens. Besides, many people often miss the fact the cross doesn't mean so much Jesus's death but more his resurrection. This is a story about resurrection, not death. And yes, BABYMETAL DEATH is a play on word of "desu" which means I am or this is. BABYMETAL have been amazing from the very beginning at finding great puns by playing with English & Japanese in their writing and even in their lore. The crowd is chanting the initials for BABYMETAL by the way, if you didn't catch that. This is an epic one for sure. And what a way to present yourself to a crowd.

LOL, good one! Kawaii - 0 Metal - 100 Babymetal strikes again. This, right here, is how a metal queen properly closes the show to her sweet 16th concert! 🤣🤘🦊 Also. why haven’t yall done Rondo of Nightmare (Budokan 2014) yet?! Get on it!! 😆

Suzuka Nakamoto, Jpop Idol is crucified to be resurrected as Su-Metal the Metal Queen. There have been 6 crucifixes performed by Babymetal, all in Japan I believe. Her 16th birthday was the day before this concert in 2013. No matter how "bada$$" you think your favorite Western metal is. They are not as bada$$ as Babymetal.

🤘🦊♪

The song is about something that happened to all of us in a past life. The chant is: B A B Y O E P I O. Su did it -- it's one of her riddles. She loves creating BABYMETAL cyphers 4 us. Thanks for the reaction! Right behind Yui! ~Yui Mizuno aka Yui Metal and BABYMETAL

Good reaction. This was one of BabyMetal's most important and controversial performances for several reasons. 1.- The day before SuMetal had turned 16. So let's imagine her with her friends in a hamburger restaurant remembering their birthdays: Friend 1: I ate with my family and then we all went to karaoke, remember? Friend 2: My family and I went to the amusement park and we spent the whole day there. It was hilarious. SuMetal: well, let's see how I say it... Moa and Yui crucified me on stage while 9000 metalheads shouted Death, Death, Death... Let's face it... we would all have wanted a birthday like that at some point hahahahahahahaha 2.- His, upon turning 16 and finishing high school, the subject of Sakura Gakuin (idol group of which BabyMetal was only a part) had to abandon him. KobaMetal (BabyMetal's producer) requested, due to the success it was having, Amuse (the parent company) for permission to create BabyMetal as an independent group. Permission that was granted and staged in this concert. Su's crucifixion represents her renunciation of her humanity to be reborn as a metal goddess (not that it's a big deal, because in Japan they even have gods for buttered toast...). 3.- This concert caused a great impact on public opinion (in Japan idols are a very serious thing, and BabyMetal are metal idols, but idols) and there was a debate about whether girls could be allowed to do something like that in the concert. scenery. The debate reached television.

If you want to see the opener for that concert, look for Ave Maria legend 1997. It is a nice 9-minute performance

Nothing to see here. Just Su-metal celebrating her 16th birthday with her friends and some of their fans (like 9.000 of them) all chanting DEATH! DEATH! DEATH! DEATH!... I believe that's pretty normal, haha... 😁 Now seriously (that was true, tho), great reaction, thanks. And no, you were not ready for this. Nobody is. This is from the concert Legend 1997 - SU-METAL seitan sai (Su-metal 16th birthday party) and took place on December 21st, 2013 at the Makuhari Messe event hall in Chiba (Greater Tokyo Area). It was their biggest concert at the time and the whole performance theme was about their transition from a J-pop idol group sub-unit to a legit metal band. This was the necessary final number representing Su giving up her life as an idol and human to reborn as a metal goddess. Keep in mind that Christianism represents a minority in Japan and they never intended this performance to be controversial. But I understand that some believers are bothered by this video. Good job with the lyrics, by the way. They are indeed introducing themselves in a cute and metal way with a pun on the word "desu" (I am / we are) which can sound almost like "death". The beat on the intro and the final statue crumbling are homages to Metallica. The neckbrace thing is one of their many homages to X-Japan's Yoshiki Hayashi. 🤘🦊

...and this is what to show people that say BABYMETAL is not Metal.

Great reaction. There can't be many bands who would crucify their lead singer on stage to celebrate her 16th birthday (as I think you know Legend 1997 was the title of the show celebrating her 16th birthday in December 2013). 🤘🎂 I will try to explain what was actually happening. If you read the description under the video you will find the English translation of the intro video which I think may have helped a bit (perhaps) with understanding what was happening: "Legend 1997. It is told that receiving the legendary corset (neck brace) from the god of Metal, she shall abandon her human life and be reborn as a goddess. The bloodline which has been passed down from ancient times is destined to be the guide, boarding the ark of time. The apocalypse is prophesied DOOMSDAY comes There remains ... little time ..." This was the finale for this particular concert, but 'BABYMETAL Death' was the first track on the first album and was most often used as the show opener (without the crucifixion) - it is the perfect introduction - that is what the lyrics are:- "B-A-B-Y-M-E-T-A-L Death Death Death Death Death Death. Su-metal death. Yuimetal death. Moametal death. BABYMETAL death. Death Death Death Death Death Death." It is a play on words. There is no 'TH' sound in Japanese, so to a Japanese speaker the English word death sounds like desu (the U is silent) spoken with a slight lisp. Desu, as you already knew, means "To be - I am - you are - we are - it is" etc. All they were doing throughout the song was introducing themselves by name and introducing BABYMETAL by name - and 'death' is just the sort of thing you'd expect to be chanted by any self respecting metal band and their audience while the lead singer is crucified. On special occasions 'BABYMETAL Death' was used later in the show - as I said before, it was the finale here at Legend 1997, the show celebrating Su-metal's 16th birthday, but this concert was all about transition. It was the last step of their separation from their parent group Sakura Gakuin to becoming an independent band - and more specifically it was about Suzuka Nakamoto giving up her life as a JPop Idol and her human existence to be reborn as the metal goddess Su-metal, chosen to lead the metal resistance. Rick Wagner has provided a translation for the intro they played before the concert opening in the comments below. After that intro the concert started with a theatrical piece to Schubert's 'Ave Maria' with Yui and Moa making offerings to the statue of neck braces and then a very obviously lip-synced dance remix version of 'Headbanger' ('Headbanger Night of 15 Remix') to indicate their origins as a sub-unit of an Idol group. It continued with the girls singing while the instrumentals were mimed by the Babybones (guys in skeleton suits) and to complete the transformation the Kami Band came on to play the last 5 songs (including this one) live. They only crucify Su on special occasions. The last time that happened with these sort of theatrics was at Legend S, Baptism XX in December 2017 to help her celebrate her 20th birthday - and that one had extra flames.🔥🔥🔥 There were a couple of homages in this performance too. The opening drum riff is an homage to Metallica's 'One' and the statue crumbling at the end pays homage to Metallica's Justice For All tour of 1989 where they also had a statue (Lady Justice) crumble at the end of their shows. The neck brace is a tribute to X Japan drummer/pianist/songwriter/composer Yoshiki who damaged his neck so badly headbanging that he had to wear a neck brace a lot of the time, especially when performing.

🤘🦊🤘

Babymetal knows how to put on a show ! 🙂

Please react to Babymetal guide 🦊🤘

After that intense performance... you need to relax with a dose of Doki doki morning MV of babymetal. 😁🦊🌈👹

Great reaction (#NotACult), LOL! This is usually the opener back in the day, to introduce the girls...as you mentioned. In this case, it was the show closer and represents Su Metals assentation from an Idol to a Metal Queen. This was a special version for Su Metal's 16th Birthday concert in 2013 my 16th birthday was LAME, in comparison!).

Make more reactions to BABYMETAL please every song is a LOT DIFFERENT and UNIQUE

Good one👊🏽⚡️A Metal birthday party for Su-metal. I don’t see it as blasphemous but rather another cultures view of the Crucifixion. Not everybody has the same upbringing as us westerners..🦊🤘🏾

👍👍An awesome metal performance!! 🦊 🖖❤

Babymetal desu!

Hi guys back again, see you done monochrome, so how about "Amore live at Wembley" it's a Sumetal solo, and road of resistance live in Japan another epic like monochrome, so for mixing this with g idle i am fan of both 😊

As I've come to understand the symbolism better I've come to like this song more. My biggest issue was one you brought up being very little singing. That said I think that now I'm viewing it as the performance it is. So glad you folks have jumped into the Foxhole. Your reactions are very enjoyable. Thanks.

Often wonder how they pitched this performance to the girls. Either way, they nailed it as always.

🍅💀🍅 🤘🏼🦊🤘🏼 Totally not a Cult .... not at all a Cult ..... CULT

The statue was not mother Mary the Statue is of Su-Metal this was for Su's 16th birthday and her being transformed into a Metal Goddess also remember this is Japan not the west Christianity makes up about less than 1% of the population of Japan this is part of their lore Su-Metal has been crucified other times but mostly because it looks cool and is void of any religious ideology The statue falling apart is a nod to Metallica and their song and justice for All were the lady Justice statue falls apart

Just passing by to remind you all that this Is #NotaCult 😂😂

Check trilogy of light babymetal -starlight/shine & arkadia live legend metal galaxy

Blasphemy is such a ridiculous concept 😂

They're Japanese - they'd probably barely understand the concept of blasphemy (and certainly wouldn't mean it - they seem to grab "props" from wherever they need) - its WAY different over there :D Took me a while to get to like this - but it's great - I can't think of a better way to introduce this sort of metal that would maybe be digestable to the "average" person

Blasphemous? Get your little head out of the middle ages, friend.