Babymetal and Bloodied Knuckles: Making Yui Kikuchi
Babymetal is one of the most entertaining and unique acts on the metal scene, and Yui Kikuchi got her name from two of its members.
Gyubin and Minami’s cover of Happy is my 2025-26 pump-up song. But when the world ended in 2020 and I needed an upbeat track when I walked maskless through grocery stores, Kagerou by Babymetal was my jam.
May not be their most popular song, but it sure as hell did the trick. I’d go for a run, play it, then write for hours on end.
Musical fuel behind the fiction
I’ve told friends that Road of Resistance is the perfect theme song for my very first book, Wind Wielder, especially during that kick-ass climax when Sion Zona uses his Wind Mastery to dismantle an atom bomb.
When I genre-hopped and dove head-first into a survival thriller trilogy, I knew Babymetal would inspire the work’s “K-pop metal idol.” Enter Yui Kikuchi, named after Yuimetal, part of the group until 2018, and Moametal, who’s the real reason I celebrate the Fourth of July.
Sure, the name and genre scream Babymetal, but Yui’s no cosplay.
K-pop infused with punk and metal elements
Why K-pop metal, and not something more mainstream? Hey, I thought about making Yui and her band, T-Ice, this bubblegum group with concert venues packed with fifteen-year-old girls and their stepdads, but it wasn’t working.
Not the work of a libertarian masking his hardliner stances in survival thriller lore.
That’d be an injustice. So, Yui and T-Ice needed more edge. With idols like Yena also inspiring Yui’s character, I rolled with punk and metal as subgenres, comparing the group to Dreamcatcher.
It made me quit picturing Yui like some happy-go-lucky girl wearing bright colors. No, she transformed into a girl with shoulder-length black hair, and blonde dip-dyes.
An elegant emo/goth look fused with modern streetwear, like a Marilyn Manson fangirl who raids Seoul boutiques.
Sharp-tongued, no-nonsense, straightforward
Yui may smile for the cameras, but after years of boot camp-style training for SKEA Entertainment, she developed a self-righteous persona.
One that I’ll bet doesn’t reflect Babymetal or Dreamcatcher, but one that’ll clash with Quinn Cozens early.
It also shows us Yui’s more than a damsel in distress. Something she comes off as early in the 37,000-word Beyond the Lost Horizon.
She’s used to control—or being controlled—until some random dude she thinks is just another normie, like Quinn, tries to ‘rescue’ her.
Then she’ll snap, lash out, and fight some. So ignore the pretty face and damsel vibes you might get early when you meet Yui.
And know that everything, from her subgenres of K-pop to her darker style (even if someone else picked it for her) screams a strong, rebellious soul waiting to be unleashed.
If you’re ready to meet the sharp-tongued idol who spits truth like fire, Yui awaits in Beyond the Lost Horizon. Meet her, and witness the ticking time bomb bubbling beneath the surface. Get Beyond the Lost Horizon.
