Discussion: Examining HYDE’s heavy music and thinking about the movie “Moon Child 2”.

Despite the rising cost of touring, HYDE remained committed to completing his two-year world tour “HYDE [INSIDE] LIVE 2025 WORLD tour”, which culminated in the finale in Stockholm, Sweden, on November 23, 2025. For this show, his presence on stage was fierce, powerful and commanding, so that even the cold—which we learned yesterday that he had—did nothing to slow down his performance.

On HYDE’s heavy album “HYDE [INSIDE]”Being in the middle of the band’s lineup, fans were treated to the raw, powerful energy that defines “HYDE” (as opposed to his softer side “JEKYLL”).

Kindly, we had the opportunity to speak with HYDE before the intense finale, delving into his highlights as we delve into the questions long-time fans may have been curious about: “Who would win in a fight between HYDE and GACKT?”, and “Will there ever be a sequel to Baby Moon?”, the movie that starred both of them.

We really appreciate HYDE taking the time and energy to play with our silly jokes, especially while dealing with a cold, and we hope you enjoy this fun interview!

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Traveling to multiple cities can be very difficult, but how has it been for you this time?

I have been traveling the world for almost two years. Before this, we were dealing with the COVID epidemic, so we could not travel freely. We haven’t been able to stop in many places for a while. I was happy that many fans were still waiting for us.

On this trip, what were some of the things you made sure to pack when you were away from Japan? For example, your favorite pillow, snack, or maybe a red panda?

[Laughs] Red panda… I don’t have a red panda, but I always bring moisture everywhere I go. You know, it’s cold in Europe! Every hotel cannot raise the temperature above 25 °C!

Is it still cold in your house?

It’s really cold [laughs].

[Laughs] It would feel even colder without my cold. But I still had a cold. It must be because I don’t have my red panda!

Just give us a second [walks away and comes back with a red panda plushie].

Oh, will you give me another one? Oh my god! [Laughs] [hugs the plushie] You will help me!

We’re glad to hear that! As you said, your world tour is very extensive. Some of the places are visiting for the first time again. What was the reason for reaching these places at this time?

I wanted to visit places I had never been before, and in the end the staff chose the Netherlands and Sweden. At first I also wanted to come to these countries, so I was happy with their options.

You mentioned in our last conversation that the cost of traveling has gone up. Hasn’t this stopped you from traveling the world? Or rather, what prompted you to do so?

I had traveled the world before, and I wanted to go back to traveling once the epidemic was over. Since the yen is so weak these days, there are many things that can be risky. But we’ve come a long way, it would have been a shame to let things go.

Even if we had to work harder than we could, if we ended up losing, I wanted to start watching. At first we thought that maybe there will be no time in the future where we can go to so many places. But when we stopped, we saw that many fans were still waiting for us. As we continued, we realized that we really wanted to see everyone.

We are very happy to hear that. Before starting this journey, what were your expectations?

I didn’t expect much from the start. It’s been a long time since we last saw our fans.

We were more worried that they would not come or forget about us. But in each of our shows, we have seen love as burning as before, or more. Maybe it has to do with how much heavier our music has become? The crowd can see that and help turn the concerts into a crazy event. I felt that there was a lot of growth.

Tomorrow is the end of the world tour here in Sweden. I look forward to showing our progress over the past two years of touring.

You mentioned how your sound has gotten heavier over time. When your next album is JEKYLL-themed, it will be simpler in sound and more orchestral-oriented. How do you think fans will feel about it?

The band’s next tour will begin in Japan. It will be “part 2” of my first album, which was called ROENTGEN.

You might hear me singing in a whisper. Because it will be completely different from current rock music, we can turn it into a powerful experience with the help of an orchestra. Concerts should be very interesting.

ROENTGEN it was inspired by some of my favorite artists. One of the artists who inspired me to whisper is a singer from here in Sweden, Stina Nordenstam. I loved his work at the time. I am very happy to finally come to Sweden.

If we take a step back to your current album [in 2025]“HYDE [INSIDE]”. The album features a heavy sound, and you’ve also collaborated with YD from Crystal Lake, and SHOW-HATE from SiM. Since they’ve been well received overseas, has working with them given you insight into connecting with international audiences?

Hmm, their sounds are heavy, so it helps when you’re trying to gather an audience. The song featuring Crystal Lake hits the wall of death when played live—it’s great to see the crazy spirit. [laughs].

With VAMPS, you have collaborated with many Western groups to help reach overseas audiences. When you’re working alone, we didn’t notice you went this route.

You might be surprised to know that I am a shy person [laughs]. I’m not the best when it comes to seeing new faces. That makes things difficult for me to approach people for cooperation. And it’s hard to stay connected [with overseas artists] if you live in Japan. However, I hope that Stina herself can join me on my next album [laughs].

Maybe I should stay in Europe for a while. Wait, but I don’t like the cold.

[Laughs] You mentioned in our last interview that you would like to collaborate with Billie Eilish. If it does, what kind of sound would it be?

The next table JEKYLL it can set the right tone for that.

During this tour, you have performed several songs from artists such as Linkin Park, My Chemical Romance, as well as your own covers of VAMPS and L’arc-en-ciel. What was the thought process behind this?

It helps to choose a song that everyone knows. I try to choose a familiar song so people can have an easy time singing along. There is a lot of power in a very popular song. And I try to choose the ones that are crowd-pleasing and popular with the Japanese audience.

Regarding the L’arc-en-ciel self covers, did you choose them for a reason?

No, no. I chose the ones I wrote, like SMALL. I’m sure there are more popular songs from the repertoire, but I stuck to mine [laughs].

Talking about something completely different. How do you feel about the potential impact of AI on the future of music creation?

I think AI will be able to understand song structure as we know it in the next few years. It will only be good in terms of writing things like what we have written. So, people who make a living as a designer can suffer.

For us, live performances are part of our job. It may take another few hundred years for AI to perfect the concert experience. Now that I think about it, maybe live music will just become our perception.

Don’t you think artists will soon challenge the live entertainment scene?

Yes, it is, but everything is pre-planned. Fully converting them into a real-time experience would take at least another 10 years. But it’s scary to think about! Change is coming. You can create a superstar in just a few programs!

It really makes sense! Instead, you jump on the bandwagon. Your latest WaRLOCK fashion line included haori inspired pieces that looked great. As someone who is color blind, how has that affected your approach to design?

Well, it’s all black. Being colorblind doesn’t matter if I’m wearing all black. Color blindness would hold me back a lot if I were an artist. Just like music, I feel freer with things like deciding on fabrics, than, say, if I had to add color to the painting.

That makes sense! Last year, we featured you in our April Fools as a Tekken player fighting GACKT.

Ah! I know!

Wait, did you see that?

Yeah yeah.

What did you think? We made a good mess for you.

Wow, that’s great! If I had to fight GACKT in a video game, I would have nothing to lose [laughs].

[Laughs] What about in real life?

In real life, I would lose.

Moving on to something more profound. When will we see a “Moon Child 2” movie with you and GACKT…and maybe YOSHIKI?

[Laughs] At the end of the Baby of the MonthGACKT and HYDE are both dead, so there won’t be a part 2. They’re sunburned [laughs]. The next one will have to be a different vampire movie.

But YOSHIKI is a real life vampire.

We think you are right about that… Finally, please share the message of this two-year world tour.

“HYDE [INSIDE]” it was a really fun ride. The album itself was the most aggressive, heaviest I’ve ever done, so the audience was going crazy like never before.

I think I’m close to creating my own concert experience, and we’re about to mark the end of it right here. It’s my first time greeting Swedish fans, so I’m not sure what the response will be. At least on our side, we will put in everything we have learned and give everything we have.

It would make me happy if everyone enjoyed our program. We look forward to tomorrow!

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Also, a big thank you to HYDE for continuing our crazy comedy. Despite being a high-profile artist, he is refreshingly low-key, both on and off stage. Moments like this interview, where he laughed along with our questions, show why fans connect with him so strongly.