Even in the company of popular series like Sakamoto Days and Kaiju no. 8Science Saru’s Slug anime continues to dominate the Summer 2025 season. In light of its massively successful debut last Fall, Season 2 of Slug has not only continued to live up to fans’ expectations but has also managed to up the ante, keeping things just as exciting and bizarre as ever. Having said that, a huge part of The appeal is its pop culture references, which continue to be a highlight of the anime even in the newest season.
Unfortunately, however, one of these very pop culture references has proven to be a double-edged sword, coming back to haunt The anime in the form of copyright infringement claims, and it involves one of the best scenes in Season 2 so far. What started as an innocent homage to one of Japan’s most legendary rock bands, X JAPAN, has sadly spiralled into a massive copyright infringement controversy as The Hayashi band from Season 2 prompted backlash from X JAPAN’s lead vocalist, Yoshiki. This has not only led to the anime’s producers issuing a formal apology but also taking the iconic headbanger track off streaming platforms across the nation.
In Season 2, Episode 6 of SlugGranny Seiko hires a hayashi group to help draw Evil Eye’s spirit out of Jiji’s body using music. Much like in the manga, the hayashi unexpectedly turn out to be a heavy metal band, thus giving birth to the ridiculously entertaining scene of Seiko and the main cast performing a traditional exorcism while headbanging alongside the crowd of dead spirits awakened by the song. From the names of the band members to their strong visual kei designs, the band is a clear homage to X JAPAN, a legendary Japanese 80s rock band.
While the band is named Brave Force in the manga, the anime takes the reference a step further, changing the name to Hayashu instead. Together with the smiley face at the beginning, the band’s name in the anime is clearly meant to be a pun on “ohayashi” the term used to refer to the musical accompaniment in Japanese kabuki theatre. That said, this tiny change may just be what sparked the entire controversy.
Initially, Yoshiki, a member of X Japan, reacted quite positively, with an initial post on X reading, “Eh… doesn’t this look like X JAPAN? What do you think, fans?” However, later, in a now-deleted comment under an X post by Marty Friedman, the lead guitarist for the song featured in the anime, Yoshiki speculated whether the band was named after his last name, which is also the name of his deceased father. The comment read, “After thinking about it, is this my last name? Or the name of my father who committed suicide?” with Yoshiki going on to add that he generally left copyright issues and managing the rights to his likeness to his agency, but proposed discussing the matter directly.
Yoshiki also went on to bring up the fact that he had only gone by his first name for the longest time, stating, “Until the book about me was published, I only called myself ‘Yoshiki’ because up until now I had never been able to face the fact that my father took his own life. I have very complicated feelings. I know that no one meant any harm…it hurts my heart, and for some reason it brought tears to my eyes.”
Furthermore, in response to a post mentioning how this wasn’t the first time X JAPAN was referenced in anime, Yoshiki brought up the fact that in these previous instances, the anime’s producers had approached him and his management agency in advance and gotten the green light. All that said, it’s safe to say the issue has spiralled quite out of control, leaving The creators with no choice but to respond.
Slug Issues Formal Apology Following Copyright Infringement Incident
In a recent post on X by The official anime handle, the series’ production committee formally apologized for the recent controversy surrounding the Hayashi band from Season 2, Episode 6, and the song they perform to draw out Evil Eye from Jiji, which is titled “Hunting Soul.” In the apology, the anime’s producers apologize for not consulting Yoshiki and X JAPAN in advance and state that they are currently in talks with the band to sort out the copyright issues.
The apology reads:
“We deeply apologize for causing concern regarding the song “Hunting Soul” from the TV anime Slug. This song was created with the hope of expressing the same passion as YOSHIKI and X JAPAN, whom the entire production team greatly respects, and of creating a musical direction that would match the story and scenes of the Slug anime and further enhance the quality of the work. However, we did not think to explain this to YOSHIKI and X JAPAN in advance, which was unintentional and caused concern, and we sincerely apologize. We are also proceeding with constructive discussions with all parties involved regarding rights. We have already spoken with YOSHIKI about this matter, and we are using this opportunity to consider creative endeavors together for the future. We would like to once again offer our deepest apologies to YOSHIKI, X JAPAN, all fans, Slug fans, and everyone involved for the concern we have caused. We hope you will continue to support this series with kindness.”
While the anime’s producers and X JAPAN sort out the misunderstanding behind the scenes, the original Japanese version of the song has been taken off music streaming platforms across Japan. That said, both the English dubbed version performed by Dragon Force’s Marc Hudson and the original performed by Kishou Taniyama are still available to stream in other parts of the world, which means international fans of Slug can still treat themselves to a heavy metal exorcism of their own.
Source: @anime_dandadan and @YoshikiOfficial on X.
Do you think this could affect The approach to pop culture references and homages in the future? Tell us in the comments below!
