History Music / BIGMAMA

* MohsScaleOfLyricalHardness: All over the place. From 1's such as the incredibly sweet "Life is Mille-Feuille" and "Jeffrey Campbell no Skate Shoes de" to the borderline 9's "Koukyoukyoku 'Shinsekai'"[[labelnote:en:]]"'New World' Symphony"[[/labelnote]] (a kid [[CruelAndUnusualDeath gets his throat slit and has a mocking message carved into his chest]] when he was trying to save himself from drowning) and "Swan Song" (romanticizes a lovers' suicide pact), poetic though they are in execution.

BIGMAMA are a Japanese AlternativeRock band from Tokyo formed in the early 2000's, consisting of Masato Kanai (vocals, guitar), Hiroya Kakinuma (guitar, vocals), Mao Higashide (strings, keyboard), Hideto Yasui (bass), and Ib Riad (drums). Their defining characteristic is the inclusion of a violin and [[BaroquePop increasingly ambitious]] string arrangements throughout their career.

* MohsScaleOfLyricalHardness: All over the place. From 1's such as the incredibly sweet "Life is Mille-Feuille" and "Jeffrey Campbell no Skate Shoes de" to the borderline 9's "Koukyoukyoku 'Shinsekai'"[[labelnote:en:]]"'New World' Symphony"[[/labelnote]] (a kid gets [[CruelAndUnusualDeath stabbed and has a mocking message carved into his chest]] when he was trying to save himself from drowning) and "Swan Song" (romanticizes a lovers' suicide pact), poetic though they are in execution.

** Many of their early songs are written entirely in questionable English; to wit, their first compilation album features no Japanese lyrics at all until 1/4 of the way in. We'd be here all day if we listed every instance.

BIGMAMA are a Japanese AlternativeRock band from Tokyo formed in the early 2000's, consisting of Masato Kanai (vocals, guitar), Hiroya Kakinuma (guitar, vocals), Mao Higashide (strings, keyboard), Hideto Yasui (bass), and Ib Riad (drums). Their defining characteristic is the inclusion of a violin and increasingly ambitious string arrangements throughout their career.

* MurderBallad: "Koukyoukyoku 'Shinsekai'"[[labelnote:en:]]"'New World' Symphony"[[/labelnote]] ends with the narrative character getting slaughtered for trespassing.

* GratuitousEnglish: With emphasis on "gratuitous." Their lyrics often nonchalantly flip back and forth between Japanese and borderline-intelligible English, going well beyond the occasional word and including whole English phrases and choruses.

--> ''"Naraba watashi to torihiki o akuma ga sotto sasayaita"''[[labelnote:en:]]''"If you make a deal with me, the devil whispered softly,"''[[/labelnote]]

* LeadBassist: Kanai was one in the beginning, until Yasui joined the band in 2007 and took over the bass, allowing him to take up secondary guitar.
* LongRunnerLineUp: Yasui and Higashide were the last to join the lineup in 2007, and they've remained the same since.

* RockMeAmadeus: The entire point of the ''Roclassick'' EP's; they've done this ''fourteen times''.
* ReReleaseTheSong: They've re-worked and re-released several songs:

* TruckDriversGearChange: "Niji o Tabeta Iris,"[[labelnote:en:]]"The Iris that Ate the Rainbow[[/labelnote]] "#DIV/0!"

* MilestoneCelebration: ''BESTMAMA'' commemorates the band's tenth anniversary. They also played a special show at the Nippon Budokan, one of Japan's most historic venues for rock music, for the occasion.

Originally formed to play cover songs at school festivals, BIGMAMA signed to RX-Records (under the independent record company UK.Project) in 2006 and released their debut EP ''short films''. From then, they steadily achieved more and more notoriety and, by 2012, had become one of UK.Project's most well-known artists. They culminated their independent music career with a sold-out show at the Nippon Budokan, where they announced they would continue their career with Universal Music.

* "Secret to Lucy" (2011)

* "Jeffrey Campbell no Skate Shoes de" (2012)

** In "alongside, the chorus consists of an echo between Kanai/Higashide and Kakinuma -- the crowd takes Kakinuma's part at shows:

* [[AnimeThemeSong Drama Theme Song]]: "Strawberry Feels," while not the opening song, is a theme song for the live-action drama adaptation of Manga/{{Kakegurui}}.

* MurderBallad: "Koukyoukyoku 'Shinsekai'" ends with the narrative character getting slaughtered for tresspassing.

* TruckDriversGearChange: "Niji o Tabeta Iris," "#DIV/0!"

* VocalTagTeam: To a degree. While Kanai is the main singer, Kakinuma is billed as a secondary vocalist rather than just as a chorus/backing vocalist; he regularly gets lines and phrases where he sings lead, though he never sings more than 50% of a full song.

* CallAndResponseSong: Several of them:
** "MUTOPIA":
---> '''''Sunny day is sunny day'''''
---> ''Aru ga mama yukou[[labelnote:en:]]Let's go just as we are[[/labelnote]]''
---> '''''Rainy day is rainy day'''''
---> ''Nasu ga mama yukou[[labelnote:en:]]Let's go at its mercy[[/labelnote]]''
** "Kamisama mo Iu Toori ni": During the bridge, which is recorded as half of a phrase from the chorus repeated four times, the crowd finishes the line:
---> ''"Tatta sanbyou areba bokutachi wa/'''Mirai o kaete yukeru'''"''[[labelnote:en:]]''If for just three seconds/'''Our future is changed'''''[[/labelnote]]

---> ''Stay the best forever and ever''
---> '''''We are the specials, bokura wa specials'''''
---> ''Stay the worst forever and ever''
---> '''''We are the specials, bokura wa specials'''''
** "alongside": The chorus consists of a call-and-responses between Kanai/Higashide and Kakinuma -- the crowd takes Kakinuma's part at shows:
---> ''Ushinatte ('''ushinatte''') hajimete ('''hajimete''')''
---> ''Kizuita ('''kizuita''') koto bakari sa...''[[labelnote:en:]]''"I just now realized I've started to lose it..."''[[/labelnote]]

[[IThoughtItMeant Not to be confused with]] [[Film/BigMommasHouse the movie character]] of a similar name.

* FracturedFairyTale: "Keisandakai Cinderella"[[labelnote:en:]]Calculating Cinderella[[/labelnote]] is about an ambitious Cinderella who pushes everything to end up in her favor, wearing the glass slipper even though it makes her foot bleed and cooking and eating her own pumpkin carriage. The prince rewards her efforts in the end.

* GrowingUpSucks: In "bambino bambina":

* FanNickname: Fans refer to Masato Kanai as "the prince." [[AscendedMeme It crops up in official material from time to time as well.]]

* "Himitsu to Lucy" (2011)

* AnimatedMusicVideo: The video for "Crystal Clear" is a short animated film about [[ABoyAndHisX a girl and her cat]].

---> ''Kizuita ('''kizuita''') koto bakari sa...''[[labelnote:en:]]''"I've just now realized I started to lose it..."''[[/labelnote]]

* DeadToBeginWith: In the "Crystal Clear" video, [[spoiler:the cat was dead from the start; the moments where it's with its owner are all flashbacks]].

---> ''"Naraba watashi to torihiki o akuma ga sotto sasayaita"''[[labelnote:en:]]''"If you make a deal with me, the devil whispered softly,"''[[/labelnote]]
---> ''"Ichiban taisetsu ni shiteiru mono to hikikae ni kisama no negai o kanaeyou"''[[labelnote:en:]]''"Your wish will be granted in exchange for what you cherish most"''[[/labelnote]]

* GratuitousEnglish: Frequently, even still, but especially in their early work; to wit, their first compilation album had NO Japanese lyrics until 1/4 of the way in.

* LostWeddingRing: The obvious subject of "Where's The Ring?"; the narrator hid it in his dog's house, and the dog ate it. It was never worn after that.

[[IThoughtItMeant Not to be confused with]] [[BigMommasHouse the movie character]] of a similar name.

** Apart from moments where the crowd actually sings, it's a tradition at their shows to bring official towels and hold them in the air during "Until the Blouse is Buttoned up."

* DealWithTheDevil: In "Fabula Fibula."
* EpicInstrumentalOpener: "The Vanishing Bride," for the album of its name. "Beautiful Lie, Beautiful Smile" is almost one for ''Kimi ga Mata Burausu no Botan o Todomeru Made'', with vocals taking up just a few measures of the 2:18 track.

* IntercourseWithYou: "MISSION 481" and "Royalize" are two on opposite ends of the subtlety spectrum.

* LyricalDissonance: "Merry-Go-Round," a cheerful, driving tune, tells the story of a carousel horse who chooses to die for the price of a brief moment of freedom.

* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: Their music and characters based on their likenesses are featured in the ''VideoGame/ShowByRock'' mobile game as Spectrenotes.

* AlbumTitleDrop: In "Roll It Over" (a song with a NonAppearingTitle for ''And Yet, It Moves'', sixteen times.

* CallAndResponseSong: Several of them -

---> ''Aru ga mama yukou''

---> ''Nasu ga mama yukou''

---> ''"Tatta sanbyou areba bokutachi wa/'''Mirai o kaete yukeru'''"''

---> ''Kizuita ('''kizuita''') koto bakari sa...''

* PromotedFanboy: The band's earliest incarnation formed to play Music/{{Yellowcard}} covers at their high school festival; in 2011, some seven or eight years later, they served as Yellowcard's opening act on some of their Japanese tour dates.

---> "we have no doubt"