Morfonica is a Japanese all-female rock band that is part of Bushiroad's media franchiseBanG Dream!. Formed in 2020, the group's members portray fictional characters in the project's anime series and mobile gameBanG Dream! Girls Band Party! in addition to performing their characters' respective instruments in live concerts. The band consists of Amane Shindō, Hina Sugata, Yūka Nishio, Mika, and Ayasa. In the game, Morfonica is represented by five first-year students at the prestigious Tsukinomori Girls' Academy: Mashiro Kurata, Tōko Kirigaya, Nanami Hiromachi, Tsukushi Futaba, and Rui Yashio. Of the seven bands in BanG Dream!, Morfonica is one of four whose members perform their own music.
History
Morfonica's formation was announced on 1 March 2020 during the franchise's live stream BanG Dream! Girls Band Party! @HHW CiRCLE Live Broadcasting Pre-3rd Anniversary Special. The band is the seventh in the franchise and the fourth that performs in live concerts after Poppin'Party, Roselia, and Raise A Suilen. During the stream, a music video for their song "Daylight" was broadcast; the video was animated by the BanG Dream! anime's studio Sanzigen. A live-action music video and an introduction clip starring the voice actresses were released four days later. The Morfonica-centric weekly YouTube show Morfonical, hosted by the band's members, began airing on 24 March. On 13 May, Morfonica was named Tower Records' recommended artist of May 2020. "Daylight" was released as their debut single two weeks later on 27 May. The single sold over 15,000 copies in its first week, and peaked at second on the Oricon Weekly Singles Chart. In June, the BanG Dream! Girls Band Party! Cover Collection Vol. 4, a series of cover songs by Morfonica and other bands in the franchise, topped Oricon's Weekly Albums Chart with 2,231 sales in the opening week. Morfonica's first concert, Special Live ~Summerly Tone♪~ at the BanG Dream! 8th☆Live, is scheduled for 23 August at Fuji-Q Highland Conifer Forest; they will be joined by Poppin'Party, Raise A Suilen, and Pastel＊Palettes' Ami Maeshima.
Members
Amane Shindō – The youngest voice actress in BanG Dream!, Shindō was 15 when she joined the franchise. Prior to Morfonica, she appeared in the anime'. In a 2020 interview with Famitsu, she noted that since she has a low voice in contrast to Mashiro's intended pitch, she performs Morfonica songs in a higher tone.
Hina Suguta – Before joining BanG Dream!, Sugata was a voice actress in Afterlost. She is a host of the Morfonica-based YouTube series Monica Radio.
Yūka Nishio – Nishio's previous voice acting experience included portraying Yuu Higashiyama in ReBirth for You. Along with Sugata, Nishio co-hosts Monica Radio.
Mika – Mika was the instructor for Poppin'Party and Roselia's drummers Ayaka Ōhashi and Megu Sakuragawa prior to Morfonica. Tsukushi is her debut role as a voice actress.
Ayasa''' – Rui is Ayasa's first voice acting role. Outside of the franchise, she is a YouTube personality who performs violin covers of popular anime songs. She has also worked as a session musician for various artists.
In-universe band
In the anime and game, Morfonica is a band of first-year high school students at the prestigious Tsukinomori Girls' Academy. They were added to BanG Dream! Girls Band Party! during the game's third-year anniversary on 15 March 2020. The band makes its anime debut in the 2020 spin-off series BanG Dream! Girls Band Party! ☆ Pico ~Ohmori~.
