#OLDCODEX Band to Disband in April 2022 After Final Free! Film Theme Song

Shortly after the announcement that Tatsuhisa Suzuki will not reprise his role as Ken “Draken” Ryuguji in the next arc of Tokyo Revengers this morning, the official website of OLDCODEX, of which Suzuki is a member, revealed that they will be disbanding on April 22, 2022. The date coincides with the release of the final Free!–the Final Stroke– anime film and the release of its theme song, which will be the last song from the band.

Tatsuhisa Suzuki is currently on a break from public activities due to “physical and mental fatigue” after Bunshun Online alleged that the voice actor and singer cheated on his wife, Japanese superstar LiSA, with a female fan in her 20s who worked at a recording studio, posting photos of Suzuki and the fan coming out of a hotel together. Suzuki responded to the claims later in the month saying that he would like to “sincerely apologize to everyone for the trouble caused by my irresponsible and inappropriate behavior.” Due to this, Suzuki will not be reprising his roles in many anime, including the aforementioned Draken in Tokyo Revengers, and  Anos Voldigoad in The Misfit of Demon King Academy.

Though one role that Suzuki is continuing is Makoto in the Free! franchise, with Kyoto Animation saying in August that Makoto Tachibana “has been an important character in the series since it began 9 years ago, and we believe that Suzuki’s fine performance, the relationships he has built with other cast members, and staff members are important for this work.”

OLDCODEX has also been closely tied with the franchise, performing the opening theme song to the first and second TV anime seasons, as well as the High Speed! -Free! Starting Days-, and Free!-Dive to the Future- anime films. The band’s final song will be the theme song to the second Free!–the Final Stroke– anime film, which is currently scheduled to be released on April 22.

Ahead of the release, the OLDCODEX MOBiLE MEMBER’S fan club will be closing in March 2022, with more information to be released closer to the closing date. The band thanked fans for their 12 years of support from “the bottom of our hearts,” and that they’ll keep working on music “with a sense of gratitude” until the end.

Source: OLDCODEX official website

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Daryl Harding is a Japan Correspondent for Crunchyroll News. He also runs a YouTube channel about Japan stuff called TheDoctorDazza, tweets at @DoctorDazza, and posts photos of his travels on Instagram.