No, Lime doesn’t write music for them (at least, it has never been mentioned in any interview). He can only give some advice. Maybe he’s somewhat involved in producing.
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I can easily imagine one artist asking another “how would you resolve this phrase” or “how do i make this transition work melodically?”
There’s absolutely some parts in the sugar album where the vocal melodies line up note for note with one of Kizu’s, but resolve differently.
But this is why i love the vkei label model - i love that if i like xxx band i can see who else is on their label & expect a good chance of finding more of what i like but headed towards a different direction or focus
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What I can understand is that LIME had a plan.
First release their own label and then invest in a new band (Sugar) with a great start at a big festival (There were rumours that Nea was nervous) (BugLug主催Fes.『バグサミ2024』)!
I believe that kentaro and nea already had these compositions ready and the band’s project was just handed over to LIME to make it happen, we watched the good production of the videos and visuals. Not to mention the network that LIME / Kizu brought to the band.
About the first 3 singles, I said before:
The album isnt different, Its all the same, like a western mainstream pop album with certain nuances, it has its lively peak, but that’s about it. There’s nothing special or impressive. I think the band started out like this because of LIME!
Now that the band have their first album out, I hope to see something new in the next few singles. But without the rush and pressure that was the beginning. Then we will how far the band goes.
What I can say is that they have two fates. Prove they’re good (especially Nea) with good singles so they can walk on their own two feet without needing Lime’s help (Will be great to Lime label) or fall into the sea of bad and repetitive singles we see from other bands at the moment and lose relevance and then disband.
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I’ll share what I know from numerous interviews and Lime’s blog. When they started, Lime already had some songs and ideas, it might be a reason their releases were more frequent. For example, he wrote Yume back in school, you can listen to how it sounded on one of his previous band’s album. He didn’t sing as well back then, but already had his recognizable style. The last track has a melody from Utsukushiki Hibi.
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLAsygQf7nFaqcX-kSuomeaNcTGupSw5Ha&si=j9gyEwUgZrE9cumw
(А person with mic in photos in videos is not Lime.)
I can hear traces of Kizu in that, but not in Sugar, except for several musical phrases that really seem inspired by Kizu.
It’s likely that the same people work on their mixing, but I would say the compositions and overall sound are very different.
In Lezard Lime didn’t write music, only lyrics.
In his blog he showed how he composes music using a program. He can play all instruments, he’s been a drummer and a bassist in different bands, and he has a musical education in piano.
When arranging and producing Kizu’s tracks, he willingly incorporates ideas from other musicians.
Lime is a very talented songwriter, but the contributions of the other musicians shouldn’t be underestimated. He told it himself.
Also according to the musicians, Lime is always interested in something new and constantly comes up with fresh musical ideas.
This year he hopes to write more songs than last year. He worked on Oni and Red for a very long time.
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Autotranslation of a small part of the interview about their meeting:
―― First of all, could you tell us how you two met?
Raimu: It was at the live house Black Hole in Ikebukuro. After seeing the band’s first live, Nea was performing in a session. Since it was a session, he was singing other people’s songs. But I thought, “How can he sing someone else’s song so confidently?” I was really impressed. “Wow, he’s got guts.”
Nea: (Laughs)
Raimu: But even then, I didn’t think about producing him or anything like that. I was just genuinely interested as a person. He seemed like a bit of a strange guy. (Laughs)
―― When you first saw Nea’s performance, did you immediately start a conversation with him?
Raimu: After the live, I asked the manager of Black Hole, “Who was that?” and got introduced. We exchanged LINE contacts. After that, we went out to eat together. He ate his food so enthusiastically. It’s always nice to be around someone who eats so enjoyably. It wasn’t about producing him, it was just like, “Oh, there was this guy.”
Nea: Yeah, I guess that’s true. (Laughs)
―― Nea, were you surprised when he suddenly asked to exchange LINE contacts?
Nea: “It’s Raimu from Kizu!” I was shocked. And he came up to me with such humility, saying, “Nice to meet you… I’m Raimu from Kizu.” Honestly, I found it a bit intimidating.
Raimu: (Laughs)
―― Before you met him in person, what kind of impression did you have of Raimu?
Nea: I had this image that famous people might be arrogant, but actually, people like him have a strong sense of etiquette. Also, the impression I got from Raimu was that he was exactly how I imagined him — very intense.
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tl;dr didn’t read all the previous replies, but whether or not Lime had any input, Kizu’s influence is felt in vk across the board now. For example, you don’t have to look further than how Virge developed and how significant Kizu’s impact was on their last two or so singles
Compare this with their earliest material, and it’s clear that Kizu’s already had such an impact that the whole general sound of vk shifted a little. It’s Virge, still, but there’s def an awareness of what Kizu’s doing
I guess my point is that perceived Kizu-isms aren’t really any kind of proof either way at this point, and if their credited songwriter is some guy in the band, then that’s all we conclusively have to go with
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Hard to disagree. For me Verge was a mix of Kizu and Matenrou Opera (in terms of melodies and slightly the vocal style).
TIL his name is actually lime like 
and not lee-may (リメ)
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I’ve never listened to Virge at all but this definitely reminds of kizu lol
Re: sugar’s music, i definitely think they remind me of Kizu but idk if i would go as far as to say Lime wrote all their music… I feel like he does have a lot of input though.
I guess it’s not copying when the OG creator is your producer, lol.
I’ve only seen sugar twice and while they weren’t my thing, i think their on-stage energy is completely different from Kizu. It’s hard to explain but they feel younger and it’s like they’re trying their best.
Both times they ended the set with Nea lingering on stage to say a few more words while the curtains closed around him. He was out of breath and telling us he wanted to touch people with his music (pretty standard vkei lines) and hoped we would keep supporting their journey.
Sounds sincere enough, but the little speech felt really manufactured to me. So you have the curtains closing and the staff getting ready to change the set for the next band, so obviously the speech was planned and not spontaneous. But he also started the speech by saying something like, the higher ups told me not to say all this bc i’m not good at speaking…
Well, which is it? That sums up my opinion of them at the moment, that they feel very manufactured. It’s like they’re trying to replicate Kizu’s booming success by having these guys basically follow in their footsteps. Maybe they’ll eventually grow into their own thing, but right now they really feel like Kizu’s younger brother.
oh wow this is very kizu-ish lol
Yes, I was told that somewhere a long time ago, he mentioned that he chose kanji that sounded similar to this name. So, supposedly, he first came up with this name in English.
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This really does sound like a watered down version of Kizu. It’s definitely not bad but to me it doesn’t spark joy
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