Mina Replaces Wakazaemon as East of Eden's New Bassist!
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- Опубліковано 7 лют 2025
- Last week, we talked about the unexpected departure of Wakazaemon from east of eden. In that video, we speculated on what her next steps might be.
And many of you in the comments were trying to guess who could replace her. Well, today, we finally have the answer, and it was a big surprise for me!
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That is a win-win-win for everybody involved. I am excited about what they do next. It's going to be great.
This is more proof that the talent pool of Japanese musicians is bottomless. When you look at recent replacements (Fami at Lovebites, several changes at Bridear, Junna and Nagi at Hagane, and now Mina) it is just mind-blowing. In none of these cases did the band take a step backward.
間違いない
日本人でも驚いている
Excellent bass guitarist and stage personality. She is quite a talent. 😎
Mina was Ayasa’s recruit. They played together in Sept. in a band that was part of an event produced by the developers of the Monster Strike game franchise. Ayasa asked Mina to check out EoE, and Mina liked what she saw and heard.
I think Mina is a great fit for EoE. Waka is plenty busy with Marty and KOIAI. The Marty gig in South America will be a good one.
Thanks for the extra information😁👊
Ayasa formed the group.. basically everyone was ayasa's recruit 😅😅
@ Maybe. Or maybe Victor-E formed the group.
Yes, Victor, with an assist from Pia, an outfit that’s involved in the music industry in various ways from ticketing to production.
I have watched with eager anticipation, Mina's forays into her solo and collab projects since the (to me, the very saddd) wrapping up of the band Girlfriend. As I commented before, I have been a huge fan of Mina since then and wanted so much to see her achieve great things..and she has never ever disappointed!❤ this new opportunity for Mina has me overjoyed!!😊 I just can't wait to enjoy seeing Mina strut her stuff with the super talented East of Eden...soo soo cool!!! 🌟
I'm happy for her!😁🤟🔥🔥
☺ 🤘 💯
@@kevinrampersad9202 Mina has already gotten collab with Mike Shinoda and Davie504, also she is famous in Japan as well, she might be more famous than EoE itself xD
Mina is an outstanding bassist! I really enjoyed her in Girlfriend, and it's great to hear her getting into another group. Especially with the talent level in East of Eden. Good luck to Wakazaemon too.
I have followed MINA's career from the earliest days, she is a top tier talent, and anyone who has ever corresponded with her will tell you that she is a genuinely sweet soul.
Mina is awesome! She'll fit in this band beautifully.
i wish both of them success and happiness. it's good to have new experiences and influences. to widen your networks and families
Awesome finding this channel. I'm a huge fan of MINA since the GIRLFRIEND days. I don't follow a ton of Japanese bands or musicians, but she is one of my favorites above all.
Yep, I agree the tour with Marty is likely the main reason.
i imagine that waka-san was spreading herself thin between EOE , KOIAI and MARTY FRIEDMAN. there are just so many hours in a day ! i just love her style and don't want to see her overwhelmed to the point of burning out. too bad that her tour next year does not include the states - i would crawl a couple hundred miles to see that !
Touring with Marty is like… WoW!
Marty Friedman is the co-host of a rock music show on Japanese TV, and he once brought Wakazaemon on the show and introduced her as his most trusted musician.
I feel really late to this game. I know Marty only from a you-tube video with Lisa-X. So I'm checking out his stuff too. I have to find Mina's stuff now too. There's just so much talent out there.
@@bgroesser ua-cam.com/video/jQ05P95F0Xg/v-deo.htmlsi=zQWI6afj24rgxEA2
Well, all of this sounds great to me 🎉❤😮
Mina is incredible so she’ll do great. Waka will be busy, but I still hope she joins KOIAI.
Thanks for your great channel and best wishes for you in 2025.
I’ve adored Mina’s skills for years and if Mina wants to do this, then it couldn’t be anything but EXCELLENT !!
Can't wait.
No matter how you slice it, this is good news for everyone. Happy to see Wakazeamon do more with Marty and hopefully become a full member with Koiai, It is also a great opportunity for Mina to jump in a still new band but well-developed East of Eden, she will fit in EOE just fine. 🔥🎸🎵
I have much love and respect for MINA. I think that she will be a great addition to EAST OF EDEN. MINA is a multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and singer. I believe that they will do phenomenal things together and she will bring in new fans that may not have been familiar with them before. I can't wait to see and hear the new music and videos in the near future. 👍🙏✍🎸🎤🎶❤
😁🤞🔥
Excellent bassist and stage personality. Quite a talent. 😎
Whatever happens, there are plenty of bands and talents in Japan to handle it. That’s very encouraging.😅
Shes so amazing vocalist vocks really great band and song! parfect scampering!!🎶⚡💖🌠🌟☝🏻🤘🏻👌🏻👍🏻
The talent pool in Japan is so deep. They made a great choice.
Mina was a great choice!
you got it right great choice mina
Really shock and sad that Waka had to leave,but Mina is as good as Waka so it's not a huge loss for EoE. Congrats Mina for joining and hoping for a bright future for EoE.
Both waka and mina are expanding their careers and I'm happy with them choices
Great choice
How exciting! Fami has been such a great fit for LOVEBITES and in the same way I'm sure we'll see great things from Mina in East of Eden. Woo hoooooo!
I love her English speaking!
😌😌
When I heard the news that they needed a new bassist my first thought was hey there is Mina out there that would be perfect, but nah, that would be too good to be true... but now here we go! Congratulations Mina, you are now where you should be! 🎸🔥
This girls don't seem to be that scared to go to bands that look smaller than them. Who would have imagined JUNNA joining HAGANE, it was totally impossible, but it is a match made in heaven. Or Fami. going to a band that in that moment didn't even have 100k subscribers like LOVEBITES.
To be fair, everytime a female band loses a bassist, Mina's name has come up as a replacement.
We knew they all have other gigs on going so this is not a surprise. I will miss her left hand playing. Now I have to see where she ends up and follow her there too.
To fill the gap that a great bassist like Wakazaemon left in the group, it was necessary to bring in a great bassist of the same weight, and I think Mina was a surprising and great decision.
MI❤NA
Very good news. Very good!
3:27 O.M.G.
It will be interesting to see how she fits in the band. Her and Wakazeamon have two distinctive styles of playing. I wonder how much of a change it will have on EOE.
East of Eden official has announced that their new single “Shooting Star” will be released on January 15th from Warner music Japan. They changed their label from Victor to Warner, which is probably related to the fact that MINA has the contract with Universal music as a solo artist and will keep it. They also changed the composer for the new song, MEGMETAL and Hayato Yamamoto joined this time. MINA definitely can reproduce the Wakazaemon’s playing for the existing songs, but might add her funky taste to the new song. EOE would probably plan to have a big change for their new period.
@deep_blue_sky5555 Thank you for the information 🤩🤩🤟
Looks like they planned for Mina to be a part of East of Eden long before they announced that Waka left.
Mina is the reason that I got into the J rock scene. Ended up following the legendary bassists which lead me to another band. This band has 2 members (which is the greatest band in the world) who used to play in a band with Akane and here we all are and Mina joins EoE. Feels like going in a circle
man what a shift, Waka has things going on for her, and for Mina, happy for her too! been a fan sing her band "Girlfriend" days and when i bought their records back in like 2019 directly in Japan... they disbanded shortly after T_T
mina is the better choice because she has more social media reach like fami.
Ah, now I know where Wakazaemon is going. Seen videos of her with Marty in Germany and the US, she looked like she was enjoying the touring. South America is going to be a blast for her. Seen the crowds for Babymetal, Marty and company should do great.
Wakazaemon has been a hired gun for years and also has been playing/touring with Marty Friedman for a bunch of years as well. She basically was a studio musician/guest musician and honestly her being in a band (East Of Eden) was somewhat of an anomaly. Maybe she just didn't enjoy it as much. It's like Sae leaving Hanabie when they were on the cusp of touring outside of Japan and siging with Sony. Not sure if that's what happened, but she might not have liked the idea of playing around the world (which obviously is not the case for Wakazaemon). Curious if Wakazaemon is going to be a fulltime member of Koiai or not though, if she is, my theory is probably off and there are other reasons for her splitting. I would love to see her play more with Kanade Sato though.
I still think that the majority of stuff VIctor (the label) and Mao touches is bound to have issues with how much they seemingly like to control projects (see Lonesome_Blue where Narumi left). Ayasa seemingly has most creative decision in East Of Eden, together with Mao, I am curious if Yuki is going to stay or not since her other band D_Drive seemingly took the backseat the last couple of years and she honestly doesn't get a lot of guitar lines from what I remember.
Marty Friedman is the co-host of a rock music show on Japanese TV, and he once brought Wakazaemon on the show and introduced her as his most trusted musician.
@@Olkam-w5u And likely the most beautiful!!
@Olkam-w5u Rock Fujiyama. He has great guests on with whom he jams e.g. Midori Miyako, Yuki etc.
@@michaelthain4488 Yes, for people interested you can find those episodes on yt on the official Rock Fujiyama channel. They are not translated from what I remember, but it's still worth checking out the ones with artists you like just because they tend to play some guitar (I guess bass in Wakazaemons case, I haven't seen that one yet). I remember watching one with Hal-ca from Asterism and Tomo-zo from Gacharic Spin where they asked her to do her guitarspin (and that didn't look prepared beforehand), but I know I have seen more of them.
Oh Wow! Mina is great, and hasn't been in a band for a while. However I really have no idea how she'll fit into EoE, it'll be really interesting to see how she and they change (or not), I'd confess I don't know EoE very well at all, I'll certainly pay more attention now! Mina's comments are typically modest, she was fantastic in Girlfriend.
Mina was my pick to replace Miho in Lovebites before I discovered Fami, so she's a good fit for EOE.
Lovebites got Fami and East of Eden gets Mina?😲
WOW! Are there any big female talents left in Japan who AREN'T signed with a band?
At least this is an EVEN exchange; they got someone who can fill the role and live up to the monster talent of Wakazaemon.
In my opinion, Waka is an irreplaceable mutant on bass, but if the band thinks that Mina (who I don't consider very versatile or musical) can replace her, there's no one better than them to decide. For my part, i hope that the style and musical approach remain intact... EOE is a great band.
How MINA joined East of Eden.
This is a video of Ayasa speaking as a guest on the radio show that MINA DJs.
Since it's a radio show, it's just audio, but you can hear both of their voices, including chatting (^^)
ua-cam.com/video/kTYwB8VOSKc/v-deo.html
Mina from Ex Girlfriend is a great bassist too...🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
A perfect choice. I love EoE and hope they will exist very long.
“Marty Friedman”
That doesn’t seem like the whole story. Based on her social media, it seems like Wakazaemon leaving was planned for a long time now (she seemed distant to EOE on social media, while very close to others), and EOE probably had lots of time getting another bassist (getting Mina). Also this kind of distance from EOE, while at the same time promoting another band, doesn’t suggest leaving on good terms IMO.
I think people are deluding themselves if they think schedule conflict with Marty's tour was the reason for leaving. Ayasa herself is in Morfonica, another big act, and Ayasa's solo career is arguably bigger than Morfonica and EOE. In addition, Ayasa plays a large number of gigs each for other artists. So it's hard to see how Waka could not make it work.
When Waka left, I looked at the Japanese comments on Twitter. A surprisingly large number of posters were not surprised. Many had attended the 1st Anniversary concert and many said they felt something was up. One poster attended the signing session and noticed that afterwards Waka went one way and the others went a different way. He took a picture on the streets after the show of Ayasa, Yuki, Mizkui, and Akane walking on the streets without Waka. That picture said it all.
@rickychau7687
There were also some interesting Japanese comments when they first heard the news here as well: ua-cam.com/video/9r4bUxbJ1gI/v-deo.html
@ Those comments are similar to what I read. It’s always fascinating watching western fan reactions versus Japanese fans. Sometime the Japanese know ‘how the sausage is made.’
Not her style but I think she will bond as they go
Japan is full of some of the best bases in the world. I don't know what's going on over there but Mina rocks. So many like fami .. as good if not better
Waka seemed unhappy in East of Eden for the last several months. IDK if it was scheduling issues (she's very busy), a personality clash, musical direction, or something else, but she was clearly ready to leave when they were doing promos for the second EP. Mina is a great replacement and hopefully well see Waka officially join Koiai.
Mina is amazing. I love her former band Girlfriend she will do great in East of Eden!
As I predicted it
I can't understand why some people are so excited about. It sucks when a member leaves a band. But some people see artists as disposable. "Ah, she left? Doesn't matter. Find a substitute".
Despite that, i wish success to both of them.
There's nothing anybody can do about a member leaving a band. Why dwell on it? People are happy that a talented musician is joining the band.
Mina! bass & back up vocals!
I knew Mina was feeling like creating in a band again, I could tell over the last year that she was acting differently.
She is a fantastic bass player, and probably a good fit for this J-pop band.
Waka should definitely sign on with Lisa X because that band has potential on the world stage where East doesn't have any.
Mina is a bad motorscooter and was my first choice for Koiai. But I think it will work out just fine for Mina with EoE. But Waka should join Koiai full time.
It worked for LOVEBITES picking up Fami....
When I heard about Waka's departure, I did a fast brainstorm and one of the first that appeared was Mina. I believe I first saw her in a Davie504 video. After Linkin Parks comeback I also remembered her performance in Mike Shinoda - Tokyo sessions, where she with some other highly talented musicians made an impact... and probably turned it into one of the best sessions he had. In the first EOE promo photos I saw her with a 5 string, so quite obvious she is trying to replicate Waka, but also add her flair. Though I'm pretty curious about how much impact she will have on the sound. Especially with Wakazaemon's reputation.
So why did she leave EOE? I would guess she looked at the planner and saw there was too little time for covering 3 bands. She already got the Friedman Tour... and seen her do some studio work for KOIAI. Not sure if she really wanted to... but found it necessary so she didn't stall EOE's schedules?
“Why did Waka leave EOE?”
Don’t know, but when I went to check out East of Eden (after I heard Mina joined), I noticed the band generally has a stronger focus than some other bands on making the members appear as attractive as possible (for pictures, UA-cam shorts, etc), while their music videos seem more about appearance as well (in the way they are being edited), which comes across as members being micromanaged by a company. If this is correct, maybe there was an issue with management?
@@SomethingToDo360I think it was just your impression. If you look at the members' social profiles, especially Wakazaemon's Instagram, you will see that she always dressed like that.
@@venusgaijin You misunderstood, I’m not talking about how she dresses at all. I’m talking about indications that a company is behind things (by directing everyone), which can explain how conflicts can start.
@@SomethingToDo360 Aah, sorry.
Yes, this problem with the agencies behind Japanese artists is something very complex. Sometimes they ruin their musicians themselves!
@@venusgaijin Right, but I suppose the positive side is that a wealthy company can easily offer someone good (like Mina) a lot of money to join them. They may have also been paying for EOE UA-cam advertising as well, given the strong discrepancy between higher UA-cam views, and the much lower than expected views from music streaming services.
I would be happy if Wakazaemon joined KOIAI.
I had tickets to see Mina with girlfriend and COVID happened. My favorite Bass player. Been waiting for someone to pick her up.
I mostly became interested in East of Eden after Mina joined, and from what I tell so far, it seems like Mina should be a good fit there (that they will make space for her to shine a bit). I remember the ‘Offset Era’ channel said the bassist for NEK! (Kanade, who auditioned for Lovebites) was better off not making it into Lovebites, as they believe she wouldn’t have had the same kind of space to shine (Lovebites reserving it instead for Miyako and Midori), thereby limiting Kanade’s potential/skill. Implying of course, that Fami is not maximizing her potential in Lovebites. So maybe Mina will work out more like Kanade did.
Fami in LB is constantly in the background and gets nothing
@@Olkam-w5u Unfortunately that's life as a bassist in a Metal band, especially one that has two monster guitarists and as intense as Lovebites. There's only so much sonic space for Fami's bass to fit in. I knew right from the beginning how this was going to play out and I think it's ridiculous to think that the band would write special sections in their songs for her to "Shine". When the band is playing live, without the post production enhancements, you don't (For the most part) hear everything she's playing anyway.
@@guitarzen5999 "Band Maid" includes a bass solo, the bassist shines in Trident. But they didn't need Fami back then, they could have taken any college graduate. Fami is too good to stand in the corner.
@Olkam-w5u Band Maid and Trident are not Metal bands and don't play anything even remotely similar to what Lovebites does. Both those bands are basically three piece (One guitar, bassist and drummer) so there's sonic space for a bassist to stand out and be heard. In the case of Band Maid, it's a major part of their sound. Fami is a great bassist but playing the type of music that Lovebites plays, it's extremely difficult for her playing to cut through their wall of sound.
@@guitarzen5999 I think Fami will leave too. Maybe, of course, she really needs the money, then she will stay a little longer. LB's music is boring for me.
Mina will be perfect fit
Yeah, look at the Girlfriend band, with they song Full House and all their cover song, and you will definitely accept Mina as EOE new Bassist
OMG Wakazaemon left 😢
Mina is a great choice, she is skilled and have media presence, EoE won't lose out by taking her.
As for Kawaiiaemon, i think she is fitting more into heavier stuff. KOIAI is a promising band, consisting of super skilled members and Marty is kinda a metal superstar, so i can understand her wish to tour with him.
Also i've heard that EoE were restricting her by not allowing to join any other bands officially, it was mentioned that it's the reason why she didn't join KOIAI officially, not sure if it's true or not.
Anyway, good luck to both of them!
Don't they mean north American tour?
Even with 2 million tiktok followers... I wish her good luck replacing wakazaemon 😂
I think that Mina is an exceptional bass player.
Waka too is amazing but she is a lot like Junna (drummer). They can't seem to stay in one place too long.
@@steve8775 agreed
Marty Friedman must be living in the land of milk and honey. 😍
He is very much loved in Japan. He knows almost all the musicians there. After all, he has been living there for 25 years.
A possible reason for Wakazaemon leaving (I thought of this in one of the threads, but I wanted to share it here): When I went to check out East of Eden (after I heard Mina joined), I noticed the band generally has a stronger focus than some other bands on making the members appear as attractive as possible (for pictures, UA-cam shorts, etc), while their music videos seem more about appearance as well (in the way they are being edited), which comes across as members being micromanaged by a company. If this is correct, maybe there was an issue with management? An indication that a company is behind things (by directing everyone), could explain how conflicts can start, while Wakazaemon seems like a free spirit (understatement), one who wouldn’t want a company controlling her to this high extent. But I suppose the positive side is that a wealthy company could also offer someone good (like Mina) a lot of money to join them. The company may have also been paying for UA-cam advertising for EOE as well, given the strong discrepancy between higher UA-cam views, and the much lower than expected views from music streaming services.
Just some thoughts I had. 🤷♂️
いい子はすぐ消える
でボーカルやるのかな？
いまいち英語聞こえんなｗ
haruchinbass25 She got married and almost retired, but I think she's the best female bassist in Japan.
ua-cam.com/video/nQJskjG6lps/v-deo.html
Mina is amazing, I love her work with Girlfriend.💙🎸💙
In fact, Mina was the very first name I mentioned as a possible replacement in my comment to your video.... Any prize? 😀😁😃