The curtain of night... fall unto it with us.

Announced by Movic in 2019, TOBARI is a two-man unit under the fictional talent company Sun Promotion Entertainment. The unit is managed by Hikawa Ukyou, and made up of SunPro's junior ace idol Amagi Shiou and former band member Hashiba Kuroi. Since 2020, they have been working with Tsukino Talent Productions' recently re-debuted unit infinit0 for the X-Lied Project, forming the cross-company collaboration unit pioniX.

Their character designer is Sainosuke (known for Boss to Yasu, various FE Heroes unit designs), and their scenario writer is Hanai Kaori. Kuroi is credited as the in-universe composer, but in reality, they are handled by various different composers and musicians hired by Movic.

天城

士欧

Amagi Shiou is a 25 year old man from Hyogo prefecture, Japan. He is 184cm tall, his blood type is B, and his image colour is red. His hobbies/likes include dancing, film appreciation and Western-style music. He is voiced by Nakajima Yoshiki.

Lauded as SunPro's junior ace idol, Shiou is an incredibly skilled man with a sense of flair. Due to his talents, he was expected to lead a larger unit, but defied all expectations by forming a duo with Kuroi— who he yearned to work with after witnessing his performance. Described as cool and confident by nature, this side of him tends to slip when it comes to his partner's bad habits. A bit of a dreamer, and a very caring individual.

Image Songs: Glare Down, GOKUSAISHIKI

Hashiba Kuroi is a 29 year old man from Kyoto prefecture, Japan. He is 174cm tall, his blood type is A, and his image colour is blue-purple. He has not stated what his hobbies or likes are. He is voiced by Sumiya Tetsuei.

Previously the guitarist and composer for a now-defunct band signed to SunPro, Kuroi returned to performing at Shiou's insistence after vanishing from the stage for around one year. Gives off an aura of class and refinement, but is terrible at living— being on the verge of starvation when Shiou made his proposal, and struggling to keep up a consistent diet. Aloof and rather black cat-like.

Image Songs: No Winter Lasts Forever., Setsuna-teki blast

羽柴

玄尉

陽川右京

Hikawa Ukyou, commonly referred to as just "Hikawa", is a 39 year old man who works for SunPro as a talent manager. Up until recently, his appearances were limited to him running TOBARI's official twitter account and mentions, but he recently debuted in the pioniX XX Series drama Pride. He is voiced by Okitsu Kazuyuki, and his image colour is navy blue.

He's known for being strict but caring towards the talents he manages, usually speaking respectfully with those he works with until he reaches his limit... usually towards the likes of Shiou. An artist with... an interesting style, known for his "unique" rendition of the zoo mascot Kubby-kun from pioniX's recent drama, Pleasure. Can be a bit of a tsundere at times.

この先もずっと二人で 夜の帷を駆け抜けよう

I came across pioniX as a whole in 2022 thanks to my Spotify discover weekly putting Henshin on my rotation. Despite this, I'd actually been a fan of the overarching series (TsukiPro) since around 2020, and hadn't dabbled in much beyond parts of Tsukiuta. and SQALIVE until then. TOBARI, however, is the reason why I find myself so invested by the X Lied Project series— that, and my love for infini's Rei and Roa also! I officially became a fan around the time of the 2022 CD release Black With High Purity, which is Kuroi's half of the In-Yo series releases— right before Shiou's CD, Lively and Dazzling Light released the month after. The duet song from Black With High Purity, Moonlight, quickly became one of my favourite songs of all time thanks to the beautiful, soothing melody and the lyrics— which I managed to translate for Kuroi's birthday in 2023! It clocked in as my second-most listened to song on Spotify in 2022, and my most-listened song in 2023 with over 400 listens. I am very normal about it, I promise.

Their dynamic, a symbiotic relationship of sorts, has brought me great joy and comfort over the past couple years. Shiou's support has allowed for Kuroi to come out of his shell after the stress the scandal of his band had caused him, and Kuroi's presence has allowed for Shiou to grow and mature, becoming even more confident and sure of himself in the face of questioning.