Mayu Maeshima Dazzled Fans at Japan Weekend Barcelona

Mayu Maeshima, the voice behind opening and ending songs for anime such as Re:Zero and Overlord, engaged with Spanish fans for the first time at Japan Weekend Barcelona on April 11. During the one-day convention, the singer took the spotlight for a concert in the afternoon followed by a signing session.

She started her anisong career as the first vocalist of the band MYTH & ROID in 2015. After her departure in 2017, she began her solo career and continued to perform anisong for different franchises. For her show in Barcelona, Mayu Maeshima delivered the best of her extensive anisong catalog.

The opener of the afternoon gig was “STORY,” the opening theme of Isekai Ojisan, which highlights Mayu Maeshima’s frequent collaborations in the isekai genre (as we saw in the rest of the setlist too).

The second song in the setlist was “Long shot,” a track used both as an opening and an ending theme of Re:Zero Season 2 Part 2 and her first anisong after her departure from MYTH & ROID. Her Re:Zero performances didn’t stop there, however. Mayu Maeshima filled the crowd with nostalgia with “Paradisus-Paradoxum” and “STYX HELIX,” used in Re:Zero during her MYTH & ROID era.

Throughout the show, the singer jumped from J-pop ballads, like “MELTING DAYS” (ending theme of Isekai Quartet 3‘s Episode 7), to J-rock dark-infused songs, such as “THE BAN” (theme song for the 1.5 anniversary of the video game The Eminence in Shadow: Master of Garden), “True Peak” (opening theme for Ishura), and “LOVE OR HATE?” (opening theme of Villainess Level 99: I May Be the Hidden Boss but I’m Not the Demon Lord).

The setlist also included one of her latest anisongs at the time, the empowering track “RULER,” which serves as the opening theme of Clevatess (released in 2025). Coincidentally, she returned to perform “Foreshadow,” the opening for the second season of the anime. The anime is currently airing.

Near the end, Mayu Maeshima performed “NO MAN’S DAWN,” ending theme of Overlord Season 4 (and a personal favorite of mine). Charged with emotion, the singer gave her all in the sky-high chorus of the song. To round out the pair, the singer sang “L.L.L.,” the first ending theme of Overlord and also another one of her MYTH & ROID songs.

As a final gift to her fans, Mayu Maeshima closed the afternoon with “BEAUTIFUL,” opening theme song of The Barbarian’s Bride, which had just premiered two days before the concert. Filled with emotion, both the singer and the crowd said their goodbyes in hopes of a new show in Spain in the near future.

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If you are a fan of anime music, don’t miss future Japan Weekend editions. The Spanish convention will hold its next edition this September 26 and 27 at Riyadh Air Metropolitano (Madrid), and has confirmed singers Machico, May’n, Sayuri Date, Nako Misaki and Nagisa Aoyama (the last three from the idol unit Liella!). Tickets are already available on the official site.