Musical Duo GARNiDELiA Goes on Indefinite Hiatus (Updated)
- Jean-Carlos Matellan
- 3 hours ago
- 3 min read
Duo's vocalist Maria expresses surprise at announcement
Composer Yoshinori "toku" Abe announced on the official website for the music duo GARNiDELiA on Tuesday that the duo is going on an indefinite hiatus. According to the announcement, all concerts planned for this year's "GARNiDELiA stellacage tour 2025 [PROGRESS]" are now canceled.
Mai "MARiA" Mizuhashi, the vocalist half of the duo, responded to the announcement an hour later with a post that simply read, "E—!?" (Eh!?) About two hours later, she elaborated that she did not know about the announcement in advance, so it surprised even her. She apologized for the confusion and promised to explain to fans when the situation is sorted out and the time is right. She added that she would say for now that she loves GARNiDELiA and that she is walking a path that preserves music, dignity, and love.
Update: Later on Tuesday afternoon, MARiA explained in a new post that a third party reported that she had not been properly compensated for her activities by her agency over the past few years, and in some cases, she believes that she was not even paid at all. She added that the past few years have been very hectic, that her consciousness would sometimes turn into a blur, and she would find herself crying uncontrollably in her hotel room. MARiA said that she had come to a point that she has reached her physical and mental limits, and first asked to reduce her schedule. However, this August, she finally sent a notice of termination to the agency through a lawyer.
MARiA added that she had wanted to discuss the matter directly with toku without any involvement from the agency, and discuss their future together. However, this did not happen before the hiatus announcement suddenly came out. She also clarified that her actions are not meant to fight with her fellow member, and asks people to refrain from using harsh words towards toku. Sources: Mai "MARiA" Mizuhashi's X/Twitter account, Oricon
MARiA added that she had wanted to discuss the matter directly with toku without any involvement from the agency, and discuss their future together. However, this did not happen before the hiatus announcement suddenly came out. She also clarified that her actions are not meant to fight with her fellow member, and asks people to refrain from using harsh words towards toku. Sources: Mai "MARiA" Mizuhashi's X/Twitter account, Oricon
The duo's most recent digital single release "Zainin" debuted on January 11. The single was the opening theme song for the Übel Blatt anime. The duo's most recent studio album TEN debuted in January 2024, but the duo released the best-of album GRND THE BEST PROGRESS on February 26 earlier this year.
GARNiDELiA consists of composer Yoshinori Abe (toku) and vocalist Mai Mizuhashi (MARiA). The duo first worked together on "Color," the opening theme song of the Freezing anime, although they had not yet made the GARNiDELiA unit name at that point. The duo formally debuted in 2014 with their single "Ambiguous," which became the opening theme for the Kill la Kill anime. The group has since performed theme songs for anime such as The irregular at magic high school, Gundam: Reconguista in G, Gunslinger Stratos: The Animation, Qualidea Code, The irregular at magic high school The Movie: The Girl Who Summons the Stars, Fate/Apocrypha, Anime-Gataris, Beatless, Magical Girl Spec-Ops Asuka, Taisho Otome Fairy Tale, My Master Has No Tail, Sacrificial Princess & the King of Beasts, and most recently, Übel Blatt.