Shueisha and avex Launch Mixed Media Project Arcanamusica

Arcanamusica, a new joint mixed media project by Shueisha and avex, was recently unveiled. It has been stated that the project will include music videos, animated manga with audio, social media content and more, all with a mysterious theme, as well as "memorable music, settings and stories with an air of secrecy".

The setting is a fictional music streaming app called Arcanamusica that suddenly appears on smartphones out of nowhere. Each of the five characters has his own “Arcana name” (AN) used in the app. The characters and their Arcana names include: Shizuka Kawawa (RiZ), Gakunoshin Maimiya (DarkPalace), Riku Shibuyoshi (Shibukichi), Itsuku Igashima (Ikkun) and Kazuki Jujo (Rejje), and the story is said to follow each of them as they pursue their ambitions as singers to fulfill their wishes. All of the characters were designed by illustrator Oguchi, and each one has a specific Vocaloid producer in charge of creating his songs.

RiZ's music is produced Yuri Kuriyama, DarkPalace's by SLAVE.V-V-R, Ikkun's by Somari, Shibukichi's by Kinoshita and Rejje's is created by Natsuyama Yotsugi.

Each character is said to be "two-sided", like the front and back of a tarot card, and they will release songs in pairs that "mysteriously connect to one another".

The first song from the Arcanamusica project, My role, was released on digital stores and streaming services on March 2nd, and a music video by MONO-Devoid has also been revealed on YouTube. The song is performed by RiZ, who is a 26 year-old programmer by day in the story. RiZ represents the Hanged Man tarot card.

Fans can get to know the other characters gradually over the coming weeks via Arcanamusica's YouTube channel, which is currently in the middle of a 10-week consecutive upload campaign. New songs will be released every Wednesday until May 4th.

The music video for My role can be viewed below, followed by the latest MV from the series, DarkPalace's Sono maoudono wa abunagena hodo ni setsunateki. DarkPalace represents the Devil card.