While not being the first release, “灰色の海を泳ぐ蛍” (Haiiro no Umi wo Oyogu Hotaru) is the first single released by Azavana, a group that you could categorize as ‘the other band that formed out of the ashes of Ashmaze.’. (I apologize for that pun, I admit it looks a little silly when you see it rather than just think of it in your head.)
The group exists out of vocalist 遼 (Ryo), guitarists 諒平 (Ryohei) and 詩結 (Shiyu), bassist Яyu and drummer S1TK. Where the vocalist was in VIRGE before, the rest of the members were all part of Ashmaze., where guitarist 諒平 (Ryohei) went by 諒 (Ryo) instead, but I can imagine that having ‘two Ryo’s’ in one band is a little confusing, so I can imagine why this change was made.
Since we already took a deep dive into “アゲハ” (Ageha), the first single of 蛾と蝶 (Ga to Chou), I think it’s only natural that we also have a look at the first single of Azavana. I emphasize the fact that this is their first single so much because it’s actually not their first release. The band was officially formed in September of 2024, and they released two mini-albums (“0=” and “回想録” (Kaisouroku)) in November of that same year. While these two mini-albums count as the first releases of the group, the second contains songs originally from VIRGE and Ashmaze. as well (with the title meaning ‘memoirs’ or ‘reminiscence’ in English this is quite fitting), which makes “灰色の海を泳ぐ蛍” (Haiiro no Umi wo Oyogu Hotaru), released on the 12th of February 2025, the first single for the group.
The single exists out of the title track “灰色の海を泳ぐ蛍” (Haiiro no Umi wo Oyogu Hotaru) and “ホオズキ” (Hoozuki), as well as the instrumental versions for both songs. The single also includes a DVD with the music video for the title song, as well as behind the scenes footage of the shooting of the music video.
For the sake of this review I’m only going to cover the two tracks (so not the instrumental versions) and the music video, since to me these are the things I can give you the most information with. I personally consider instrumental tracks to be a fun bonus that allows me to hear notes from the instruments that normally go hidden behind the vocals, but I have nothing constructive to say about them that I can’t say about the full versions. Something similar can be said about the behind the scenes footage: I don’t think it adds anything to what the release itself is telling us, so I will not include it in this review for that reason.
With all of that being said, are you ready for Azavana? Then let’s go!
Floating on the swaying water, dancing towards tomorrow
Starting with “灰色の海を泳ぐ蛍” (Haiiro no Umi wo Oyogu Hotaru), the title song immediately shows us a combination of VIRGE and Ashmaze., which is not exactly surprising given that is what the band is in terms of lineup. 遼 (Ryo) has a very strong vocal presence despite being a vocalist with a higher type of sound and range, but 諒平 (Ryohei) and 詩結 (Shiyu) aren’t overshadowed by his vocals, and Яyu has always had a stronger bass presence, which combines very well with the drums provided by S1TK. The song immediately starts with a higher tempo, which is quickly followed by a short guitar solo and a longer bass segment before introducing 遼 (Ryo)’s vocals into the mix. While starting off with his more neutral style, he quickly picks up his default, higher style. Despite the tempo from both the instrumentals as the vocals, the lyrics are actually more on the sad side, yet in a very poetic style. They put an emphasis on the (emotional) scars and bruises of the narrator, both mentioning them directly as “The scars weighing down on my body aren’t so bad” and “With the helpless bruises” and more subtly like ““I want to live” I scream in this town where I drifted” and “Deep in the night where I was ashamed of the pain”.
In English “灰色の海を泳ぐ蛍” (Haiiro no Umi wo Oyogu Hotaru) roughly translates to ‘firefly swimming in the grey sea’, and even though the firefly is only mentioned once directly in the lyrics themselves (in the second to last verse the title of the song is repeated), there are some subtle references like “Light me up gently, let life bloom in this sky” and the lyric I highlighted as the title for this section, “Floating on the swaying water, dancing towards tomorrow”, both of which can refer to the fireflies in question. Have you ever seen them ‘dance’ above the surface of the water, almost like they’re moving along on the water themselves?
The music video opens with a shot of dry, burning sand and a barren tree that has caught fire before switching to the members playing their instruments for the opening segment in a what seems to be a grey boxed off area with a damaged back wall where other materials are poking through. Once the vocals join in the color scheme switches from cold and grey-ish to a warmer orange color due to the fire playing around the members while they are in a more open area, possibly a dock based on the containers behind them. The video switches between group shots and individual shots of each member, in both color schemes the video shows, here and there an extra edit in the form of multiple camera angles on the same screen or a digital fire-like effect.
While visually impressive and fun to look at if you like to see the group that’s playing the music (and of course their wonderful costumes), the music video doesn’t translate the lyrics into a visual format. Something that is a bit of a shame in my opinion, because with such poetic lyrics there was a lot of room to make this a more theatrical type of music video – if the budget allows for such a thing of course. This unfortunately means that you don’t ‘need’ the music video to get a (better) impression of the story being told in the lyrics.
The other track on the single is “ホオズキ” (Hoozuki), which takes on a different style than the title track. Where the emotion in the first song was more of a sad type of negative, the second song changes it to a more aggressive type of negative. A change the instruments also echo with the guitars and bass having a deeper sound than the title track, and the drums are actually slower and make less use of the cymbals. Another addition is the electronic sound that you hear playing throughout the entire track, and 遼 (Ryo) making more use of his higher vocal sound, even for the slower vocal parts.
In English “ホオズキ” (Hoozuki) refers to the Physalis alkekengi, which has many more common names but let’s limit ourselves to ‘ground cherry’ or ‘Chinese lantern’. (If you look at its fruits, you have to admit it looks a little like a Chinese lantern, right?) This plant is very common, hardy plant native to the regions covering Southern Europe to South Asia and Northeast Asia. To make it even crazier, this plant can survive in temperatures going as low as -20 °C! This amazing skill causes it to be somewhat of an invasive species, since it also has a wide-spreading root system that can send up new shoots some distance from where it was actually planted. The reason why I went so deep into the explanation of this plant is because there are hints to these characteristics in the lyrics, aside from the “Physalis sways on my torn forehead” which returns in the chorus and is quite direct, but the tone of the lyrics is also a little toxic, with lines like “I deceived a woman drenched in lies” and “A hungry kitten is crying, waiting for me to return”, but there’s also “When the bruises heal, let’s meet again”.
So despite being two different stories, the theme of hurt, mostly the emotional variety, really returns in both songs.
Conclusion
As you’ve probably noticed by now, this single has a very poetic style of lyrics, and even though I haven’t mentioned it in the review itself, there’s no English being used in these songs. Which is a little unique, since I do see it being used more often lately! Both songs are written by 遼 (Ryo) and thus have a style similar to what we heard with VIRGE, combined with an instrumental style that’s quite reminiscent of Ashmaze., despite 遼 (Ryo) being the composer as well. Regardless, the combination of both the music and the lyrics made for a very interesting single that I personally really enjoyed. The combination of 遼 (Ryo) with 諒平 (Ryohei), 詩結 (Shiyu), Яyu and S1TK is a lot better than what I initially expected it would be, and I’m definitely looking forward to what the next release will be!
The single is available for streaming on Spotify (the instrumental tracks aren’t, though), but it’s also available as a proxy service item via CDJapan. And of course, you can get it from the band’s own webshop as well. (Mind you, they don’t ship internationally.)
 (Haiiro no Umi wo Oyogu Hotaru) AZCD-003 // ¥2,200 |
02. ホオズキ (Hoozuki) |
2025.02.12 Shop: Webshop | CDJapan |
More about Azavana
      |  (Ryo)   |  (Ryohei) |  (Shiyu) |
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雪 (Yuki) is the owner and driving force behind Arlequin.
She originally started the project in 2009 as a photographer under the name of Arlequin Photography, but developed an interest in journalism and translation ever since. Because of these interests interviews and reviews were added to the project, until it eventually hit the limits as a "photographer" in 2021, and Arlequin Magazine was added to the mix.
雪 (Yuki) is a native Dutch speaker with a graphic design degree, which means she is also the main person behind Arlequin Creations.
After all these years, she's still the one responsible for the interviews and most of the live photography you see here at Arlequin, but the majority of reviews and behind-the-scenes work is also done by her.
The reviews she writes are from the viewing point of an overseas fan, and thus written in English before being translated to Dutch, Spanish and Japanese. In the English versions she also tries to explain the meaning behind certain kanji or song titles to the readers, but what you don't see here is that these explanations are omitted in the Japanese versions in order to appeal to these readers more.
She speaks Dutch and English on a native level, but also understands Japanese and German.