※Only Soma’s interview has been translated in this post.
Q: Please tell us what you thought about the concept and story.
I think it’s rare these days to release a 4-volume drama CD series—let alone for an original work. It also doesn’t stop at just a realistic high school youth story; there’s suspense too. I thought it was a really interesting initiative. The story’s still only just begun, but I personally love this style of content, so I’m eager to read the next part!
Q: Please tell us what you found difficult or enjoyable about voicing your character.
In Vol.1, it’s revealed that Iriya is shouldering quite a heavy burden. Despite that, he has great grades, he’s handsome, and he’s a good person who doesn’t act like someone he isn’t. I hope I was able to sense and convey that dual nature of his and his delicate fluctuations. In particular, during the series of heartrending scenes from the middle to the end, I was in sync with his feelings and ended up crying during the check. I truly felt how much of a savior Nao was to him.
Q: What did you think of the relationships between the Class 3-C group: Nao, Iriya, Ren, and Ibuki?
There’s Nao with his boundless optimism and Ibuki with his practical realism. Of course, since it’s a fictional story, the characters are exaggerated to a degree, but since groups like this really did exist, I felt like I could relate. However, for better or worse, these boys are modernistic, or rather, it feels like everyone has boundaries that they won’t cross (Nao aside). I’m looking forward to seeing how that affects things in the future.
Q: Which character left the biggest impression on you?
It’d have to be Iriya, who I voiced. I haven’t been through the same experience as him, and yet I still felt like I could relate to him. I’m really interested in finding out his story in Vol.2 and beyond.
Also, Nao. When I look at him from Iriya’s point of view, I can clearly see why Iriya spoils him so much. I’m also looking forward to seeing what inner struggles Ren, Ibuki, and Ayato will show us (although Ayato already had a painful scene).
Q: This is a question relating to this work’s abbreviated name and the group’s name, Aoharu aka adolescence. Looking back at your life, when was the most “aoharu” time for you?
That would be university. I’m still inexperienced, but back then, I was even more young and immature. Despite that, I thought I was as competent as anyone else. That was the most sparkling time for me. I still talk to my friends from back then, and I hope we’ll continue to be friends. But if I could go back in time, I’d want to enjoy it with all my strength. I should’ve done more with my youth. *laughs*
Q: Please give us a message for the fans.
The curtain has lifted on a familiar yet grand story of high school friends and their ordinary—with a splash of extraordinary—lives. The cast members are all close in age too, so I hope our atmosphere was transferred to them. I hope you’ll listen to Vol.1 and then continue to follow the series. Thank you for your support!
Features: Saito Soma (William James Moriarty in Yuukoku no Moriarty) Sato Takuya (Albert James Moriarty in Yuukoku no Moriarty)
※Can be bought digitally on sites such as Bookwalker (I have included the first scan because it’s in the free preview). There is one more black-and-white photo of Soma on page 60.
—Have you two read the Sherlock Holmes series before?
Soma: It’s a common topic in anime, so I read the books whenever I have the chance to appear in a series that references them. They’re extremely high quality entertainment, easy to read, and it’s refreshing to watch Holmes easily solve cases with his brilliant mind.
Takuya: I read it in elementary school in the form of children’s literature at the library. Holmes is an eccentric with much better perception than the average person, so I’ve wondered, “If I were his friend, would I be able to conduct myself as well as Watson?” It’s as if the charming characters are living in another world, and I wonder if that’s why anime, dramas, and movies continue to be made from the series, generation after generation. The original illustration of Professor Moriarty also appears in this anime’s first episode…but it had quite the impact. *laughs*
Soma: He wasn’t actually young. *laughs*
—Did you know about the Yuukoku no Moriarty manga, then?
Soma: I like going to the bookstore and buying books based on their covers, so I bought Volume 1 because I was attracted to the cover illustration of William pointing a gun at his head. It’s interesting how it adds bold interpretations to Sherlock Holmes‘ framework, turning it into a stylish crime suspense story that appeals to a modern audience as well. When I heard about the audition, I thought, “I knew it was going to get an anime adaptation!”
Takuya: As for me, I first read Volume 1 because of the audition, and I was so interested in the rest of the story that I bought all of the volumes that’d been released at the time (around ten) *laughs*. I like the showiness when new characters like Moran are introduced to Moriarty’s circle. Also, it’s definitely not a story about a “hero of justice”—it’s about using evil to control evil. That’s one of the reasons why I really wanted to be part of it.
—What’s your favourite story from the manga?
Soma: I love all of them, but one of my favourites is the one where the young man from the printing business sneaks into William’s university to take the exam (“The Adventure of the One Student”). Mathematicians often say that “a beautiful formula resembles poetry.” I felt something similar from this story, and it gave us a better look at William’s nature. I also love the relationship between Irene and Sherlock, and I’m curious about how Hudson-san really feels about Sherlock *laughs*. William’s group does their work calmly, while Sherlock’s side is always noisy. It’s a nice contrast, like stillness and motion.
Takuya: The story about the Burtons, which was adapted in Episode 4 of the anime, left a deep impression on me. Rushing to your lord with your child who has a high fever, only to be turned away, is too cruel… It makes me wonder how it would feel to live in a world like that.
Soma: That story was heartbreaking. When we’re recording for the anime, we’re told that we’re allowed to ignore the “boards” (indicators showing how long the lines should take), and the two voice actors who portrayed the Burtons performed wonderfully, pouring their souls into it.
—Who are your favourite characters?
Soma: Mine is Von Herder, aka “Q”! I think he’s the only character who can truly be considered comedic relief. I also like that slight pitifulness!
Takuya: I totally understand! *laughs* I like Sherlock’s older brother, Mycroft. When I was reading the manga, he was first introduced as just “Mr. Holmes,” so I thought, “Huh…? It’s the same person?!”
Soma: “Did he change his hairstyle?”
Takuya: Yeah, it deceived me into thinking that Sherlock also had a hidden side. I like how they have completely different auras despite being brothers. As the voice of Albert, the politics between him and Mycroft are appealing to me as well.
Soma: They have mature conversations.
Takuya: Right. I like how he isn’t straightforward, how both of them want to follow through with the plan, and how they stick to their beliefs.
—Please tell us about William and Albert’s charms and personalities.
Soma: William is sharp-minded and there’s an aspect of him that even his brothers Louis and Albert can’t understand. That character profile makes him an appealing protagonist, and I’m curious about his future.
Takuya: William has an alluring charm that draws people to him. Whether that’s a beneficial medicine or a strong poison depends on which side you’re on, though… But I think that for Albert, meeting William was something like a divine revelation. The reassurance of having him as an ally, how convincing it is that he really could change the world, and the confidence behind his words… These are his charms, but they also tend to be frightening.
Soma: Albert has the broadmindedness you’d expect from the eldest brother. I’d say that generally, William formulates the plans and Albert handles the fine-tuning and necessary follow-ups. If you ask me which one of the brothers I’d marry, I’d definitely choose Albert.
Takuya: …Kyaa! *laughs*
Soma: *laughs* Just think about it! First of all, William would make an attractive boyfriend, but when it comes to marriage… *laughs* I like him, but he’s pretty much an oddball, right? And when he works his brain too much, he falls asleep. Louis is cute, so he’s the type I’d want to dote on. On that note, I want to be doted on by Albert. But on the other hand, sometimes I have no idea what he’s really thinking. When he’s talking to Mycroft, I find myself wanting to explore how many layers he has inside him. Albert also has that “reassuring yet mysterious” charm.
Takuya: As the eldest son of the Moriarty family, he surely would’ve received gifted education. It makes you speculate as to why he came to hate aristocrats to the point where he wanted to change the world. If it’s his form of kindness after once experiencing despair, then I think he’s a highly sinful person.
Soma: Albert is peculiar too, in a way. I think he’s the best business partner that William could’ve hoped for.
—The anime has currently aired up to Episode 4. What were your notable scenes?
Soma: Episode 1 ends with William’s signature phrase, “the perfect crime.” Internally I was thinking, “This is a tough line to pull off!”, so that was a memorable scene for me *laughs*. I also thought it was interesting that the anime began with an original story to broaden the scope. Please pay attention to when William compliments Louis’s omelette in Episode 1!
Takuya: Right after the recording for Episode 1, I suddenly had to audition for the role of “Child Albert.”
Soma: Ahahaha! *laughs* Yeah.
Takuya: William and Louis are younger, so their child forms were played by female voice actresses, but apparently they wanted to see if I could do a suitable voice for Albert first. Thanks to that, in Episode 2 and 3, I got to play a pubescent child for the first time in quite a long while, which was a challenge.
Soma: Everyone except for Sato-san was grinning. *laughs*
Takuya: I was like, “Oh no, Soma-kun… They said I’m going to do it…!”
Soma: *high-pitched voice* We wanted to do it too, you know?! I wanted to at least try…!
Takuya: *laughs*
—Lastly, please tell us what to look forward to in the rest of the series.
Takuya: The story’s pace quickly accelerates when Sherlock Holmes, the Moriarty side’s balance breaker, takes the stage. I hope you’ll enjoy the anime’s unique charms!
Soma: William’s team is working to reform the British Empire through theatrical crimes. The series’ appeal builds with each passing episode, so please stick with it until the end. There are still a lot of characters for whom the cast is unknown to us, so I’m looking forward to finding out who they are—and I hope you will too.
Q: What did you focus on while voice acting?
Soma: Since I’m turning 30 next year, I want to broaden the range of the characters I voice and try different things with my new roles, using the experience I’ve accumulated as a foundation. Among those, William seemed like he’d have a lower voice than my natural voice, but rather than overly constructing the voice, I wanted to try using my acting instinct for this character. I was happy that that got me the role.
Takuya: When I was voicing Albert’s child form, I had to study the physical development of a pubescent boy who was raised as a noble, whether his voice would have changed yet, and so on. I also had to consider why he formed a brotherly pact with William and Louis, and how it would have affected him to witness Louis sear his own face in the burning building. I feel that these will be very helpful when voicing Albert.
Features: Saito Soma (William James Moriarty in Yuukoku no Moriarty)
Mentioned: Ishigami Shizuka (Young William in Yuukoku no Moriarty) Nao Toyama (Young Louis in Yuukoku no Moriarty) Furukawa Makoto (Sherlock Holmes in Yuukoku no Moriarty)
Since you can’t get a grasp on him, it makes you want to learn more about him
—Saito-san, since you’re known as an avid reader, have you read Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes series?
Yes. However, I’ve only read two or three of the books. The first one I read was A Study in Scarlet.
—It’s a famous story that appears in Yuukoku no Moriarty too. What did you think of it?
I read it as an adult, and from an adult’s perspective, I thought it was an incredibly thrilling work of entertainment. The pacing felt good, and I liked that Holmes’s invincibility let me feel at ease while I read. It has the universal storytelling ability of a work that’s been loved for ages, and I consider the story to have entertainment value. I recommend that people who like Yuukoku no Moriarty try out Sherlock Holmes as well.
—What’s your impression of Professor Moriarty in Sherlock Holmes?
The illustration from the book would have to be the most prominent image. I think it highlights his warped nature. He has fairly eccentric sensibilities. His actions resemble William and his brothers in a way, but his feel stranger and more mysterious. Plus, he only comes up in six or so of the short stories, right?
—He’s famous as Holmes’s rival, but he actually doesn’t appear that often.
He’s depicted as being bottomless, and it was never made clear just how deep his evilness ran—but I think that’s exactly why works like Yuukoku no Moriarty came to exist. The character makes you want to know more about him—to expand on his story.
—What’s your impression of the setting, England after the Industrial Revolution?
It feels like the last era that had both scientific values and magical beliefs. This period is depicted often in fiction, and it’s an easy one to use for steampunk works. One time when I was filming a music video, I gathered pictures from around this time period and asked the staff to use them as a reference. It’s only a single era of human history, but as a genre, it has a great sense of adventure.
—I heard that you’d read the original manga even before you got this role.
I saw it in a bookstore and thought it had a really stylish and cool cover, so I bought it based off of that. The story focused on William the crime consultant, who was turning London into a city of crime to achieve a certain goal. It was a sort of antihero or picaresque story. I was interested to see what happened next, so I binged the rest of the series. That’s how powerful it was. Its greatest appeal was the many talented, brilliant characters deceiving and being deceived, outwitting each other, and making sophisticated plans.
—What do you think of William’s hidden side as a crime consultant?
He has his own vision, but I’m sure that he wouldn’t have done it if it weren’t for the time period. It was 19th century London that compelled him to do it. If he were born in a different era, I think he would’ve picked a job that would contribute to society in a different way.
—So he felt obligated to help the people around him.
That said, crimes are still wrong… Although as a reader, I thought the way he used his ingenuity to execute perfect crimes was really appealing as entertainment *strained laugh*. I think that William is prepared to face judgement himself one day.
—Please tell us about your approach to the audition and how you felt when you got the role.
I liked the original work to begin with and William appealed to me, so I wanted to pass the audition no matter what it took. However, I didn’t do anything special; I just strove to accurately portray the image I had of him from the original work. I felt that I was able to do so for the self-tape audition, but I actually couldn’t really get a feel for him during the studio audition later. Fortunately I was still able to get the role, so I was extremely happy.
—When you’re voicing him, what kinds of traits do you keep in mind?
He acts cold and calculating in some scenes but soft in others. He also takes his university teaching very seriously. He’s depicted as a character with many faces, so he isn’t completely committed to any one character type. I think his most alluring trait is that you can’t get a good grasp on him, which makes you want to learn more about him.
—It appears that the recording is done up to Episode 4. What was it like voicing him in the actual show?
It’s still only the opening act, and I think William is intentionally being depicted in a way that makes it hard to see his true feelings and thoughts. The brothers do have an objective, of course, and I hope that their inner thoughts will be revealed more as the show progresses. It still feels like you can’t see how deep they go, and that sense of intrigue is wonderful.
—What are your impressions of the older brother Albert and the younger brother Louis?
My first impression of Albert was that he was more than what meets the eye—his craftiness was what made him cool. He’s an adult who fully trusts William and works behind the scenes. I think those who read the childhood story from the first chapter of the manga will understand what I mean when I say that William and Albert are partners in crime. They’re comrades that can truly trust each other. Meanwhile, I think that William’s true younger brother, Louis, is someone he wants to keep clean. William’s feelings towards Albert and Louis are quite different. I got the sense that he considers himself Louis’s guardian.
—What was it like having dialogues with the brothers?
I knew in advance that Sato Takuya-san and Kobayashi Chiaki-san would be voicing the other brothers, so I was excited to find out how they’d be acting them out. When I heard their voices at the Episode 1 recording, they were exactly as I’d imagined, and our dialogues felt extremely cohesive. There was a sense of security—that if we keep recording together, we’ll surely form brotherly bonds of our own. I felt relieved and optimistic.
The clincher in Episode 1 is the last three words: “the perfect crime.”
—Episode 1 is an anime-original story. Can you tell us about that?
I naturally thought that Episode 1 would start from their childhood, so when I received the script, I honestly thought, “Maybe this anime adaptation is going to have quite a lot of original content.” It was an orthodox introductory episode that didn’t explain the brothers’ true motive.
—It didn’t show what exactly they were aiming for.
Right; that’s why I wondered if the anime would depict them as justice-minded people who were committing necessary evils. But when I read the scripts for Episode 2 and beyond, I realized, “Oh, so that’s how it is!” I think that Episode 1 made Episodes 2 and 3 more effective. In that sense, it might have a different hook for the fans of the manga.
—Which scenes in Episode 1 were memorable to you? Which did you struggle with?
This isn’t limited to Episode 1, but I spent a bit of time mulling over how to say William’s catchphrase, “I, crime consultant William James Moriarty […]”. In Episode 1, I could’ve declared it forcefully in a “I’m a professional” way, or coolly while maintaining my smile. Both types seemed fitting. But, the direction I received was to say it smoothly, without making the sounds stand out too clearly. So, I went with the latter type in the end.
Another one was his line that concluded the episode: “If one removes any trace of an incident happening, then it isn’t even recognized as being an incident. In other words… the perfect crime.” Those last three words were the clincher. I think I did a good job, so I want to look forward to the broadcast.
—How did you feel after reading the scripts for Episode 2 and 3?
These episodes are the starting point that cover Chapter 1 of the manga. I realized that it was an important story that needed to be shown thoroughly, to the point of splitting it into two episodes. The original story is rather cruel, so I wondered if the depictions of cruelty would be cut for the anime—but Episode 3 doesn’t pull any punches! There are restrictions to an extent, but I think that going as far as possible will make the story more compelling, so I was glad to see that. Also, young William is voiced by Ishigami Shizuka-san, and…she sounded really cool! I’m so jealous! *laughs*
—The young Albert was still voiced by Sato Takuya.
Yes! But William and Louis were still prepubescent at that age. The two who voiced their young forms (Ishigami Shizuka and Toyama Nao) both did a wonderful job. It really felt like the two characters would grow up into the way they are now.
—I heard that Episode 4 was recorded today.
It’s a story from the original manga, although minor details were changed. So far, Episode 4 had the most lines from William. From today’s recording, I think that I got a grasp on how he’ll be in the anime. Story-wise, the episode was the sad tale of a married couple, and the cast who played them did an amazing job! Even though I was only listening from outside the booth, their wonderful performances still tugged at my heartstrings. I’m eager to watch the completed episode.
—It appears that the original story was modified slightly to depict the wife’s frustration more clearly.
Yes, there was quite a spotlight on the couple. As a result, William was deliberately saying things that didn’t need to be put into words. I felt that the lines did a good job at portraying the contrast between the nobleman and the poor couple.
—He hasn’t appeared in the anime just yet, but could you tell us your impression of Sherlock?
He deliberately acts crude and worse than he really is, but he’s incredibly clever. It’s possible that William also senses something different in him. He’s a very unique person, so in the original manga, it feels like the tempo changes quite a bit when he appears.
—He does have quite a different aura from the three brothers.
William and his brothers are generally calm people without ups and downs *laughs*. I like the tempo of Sherlock’s conversations with John in the manga. The three brothers discuss things calmly, but Sherlock’s side is more lively. I think the anime’s rhythm will change accordingly, so I’m looking forward to that.
—I’m also looking forward to William and Sherlock’s dialogues!
It’ll be interesting to see how Furukawa Makoto-san plays Sherlock, and since I haven’t really had the chance to engage with him in this way, I’m really looking forward to it!
—Lastly, please give a message for the readers.
I’m extremely happy to able to take part in a work that I enjoyed reading. Sherlock and various other characters will be joining the fray in the episodes to come. I’m really looking forward to seeing what kind of dialogues and deception there’ll be. Whether you’re a fan of the original work or starting with the anime, I hope you’ll enjoy the weekly battles of wits. Please watch the anime and get excited with us!
Features: Saito Soma (William James Moriarty in Yuukoku no Moriarty)
Mentioned: Sato Takuya (Albert James Moriarty in Yuukoku no Moriarty) Kobayashi Chiaki (Louis James Moriarty in Yuukoku no Moriarty)
—I heard that you were originally a reader of the manga.
I saw it at the bookstore and thought the cover was really stylish and cool, so I bought it based on that. When I read it, I found out that it was a type of antihero story, with the crime consultant William and his allies turning London into a city of crime. I was pulled in by the battles of wits and deception between the talented characters.
—What’s your impression of the character you voice, William James Moriarty?
William is depicted as a character who shows a variety of expressions, in the manga as well. I consider his elusiveness his greatest appeal. He’s calm and collected, to the point of being coldhearted at times, but on the other hand, he has a unique sensitivity and he’s earnest. Since he’s so mysterious, it makes you want to learn more about him.
—What do you think about Albert and Louis, who work with him?
My first impression of Albert was that he was crafty and more than meets the eye. That might be exactly why he makes a good partner in crime for William. On the other hand, since Louis is the younger brother, I think William wants to keep him clean. At the recording, when I acted with Sato-san and Kobayashi-kun, it fit together better than I’d imagined, which was great. It’s really interesting how we gave the brothers three different styles of coolness and elegance.
—What appeals to you in 19th century London?
From a modern perspective, it feels like a very dreamlike era. While the Industrial Revolution was progressing, unscientific concepts like alchemy were still very much alive. That profundity appeals to me. I also thought that the dangerous contrast between the lifestyles of the upper class and everyone else was important. I think that William would’ve had a different way of life if he were born in any other era. It might be tragic, but I think it’s because of those gears of fate that the story is this way.
—How do you portray William’s “charm”?
His speech and expressions always feel steeped in charm, so I strive to not stray from that axis. In order to ascertain that axis, I thoroughly pore over the script before going to the recording.
—What are you looking forward to in this series?
As a reader of the manga, I’m very excited to hear how the voices are handled for the upcoming characters, like Sherlock. I’m definitely also looking forward to seeing how William’s group will change London. Please witness it with your own eyes too.
Features: Saito Soma (William James Moriarty in Yuukoku no Moriarty)
Mentioned: Sato Takuya (Albert James Moriarty in Yuukoku no Moriarty) Kobayashi Chiaki (Louis James Moriarty in Yuukoku no Moriarty)
—Tell us about your impressions when you read the original manga.
I thought the antihero premise of the protagonists turning London into a city of crime for their goals was cool, and it made me want to marathon the rest of the series. I also liked how the high-level battle of wits between brilliant minds trying to outwit one another was depicted in a stylish way.
—What do you find similar about you and William?
Recently, I was told that something I thought was normal actually wasn’t normal. William also has quite unique sensibilities and values, so we might be similar in that respect.
—What are your impressions of the older brother, Albert, and the younger brother, Louis?
I think that Albert is cunning. He trusts William and does a lot of things behind the scenes. William considers him a partner in crime, and a comrade that he can trust. On the other hand, I think that William wants to protect Louis’s clean hands.
During the actual recordings, Sato-san and Kobayashi-kun’s acting matched my expectations, so the brothers’ dialogues came together well. I feel at ease knowing that we’ll certainly form stronger brotherly bonds as the recordings progress.
—Are there any characters besides William that you like or are interested in?
Everyone is great, but I think Louis is the cutest by far. I also like Moran-san’s pitifulness *laughs*. I’m also curious as to how Von Herder creates weapons while blindfolded. Since the story is so serious, it’s comforting when Herder shows up and makes things more comedic.
—Please give a message to Animedia’s readers, including what we can look forward to in the rest of the series.
I’m happy that this wonderful manga is being adapted to an anime by an amazing team of staff. I think the anime will have its own unique advantages, so I hope you’ll enjoy the manga and anime’s different worlds of Yuukoku no Moriarty and get excited about them with us. Thank you for your support!
Questions About the Moriarty Brothers
Q: If you were going to dress up the brothers in a modern style, what would you choose?
They seem like they’re always dressed up, so I’d like to see them in casual clothes, like a rough sweater or a shirt with a loose neckline. Then there’s the typical Japanese-style clothes, since I think they’d look good in them. I’d also like to change their hairstyles. As for colours… Can I get all three of them to wear pink? *laughs* Different brightnesses of pink. Let’s make Moran-san wear it while we’re at it!
Q: What would you give the brothers as a taste of autumn?
It might be difficult this year, but what about sanma (Pacific saury)? I won’t hide it—I really love sanma! It’s my favourite of all grilled fish. I don’t think they’d know much about Japan back then, so I’d have them grill sanma on a shichirin grill and wear pink Japanese clothes. It’d be cute if Louis tasted the bitterness of the fish guts and said “No thank you.”
Q: If you were the fourth Moriarty brother, what position would you want?
In my family, I’m the oldest of three children, but if I was going to be one of the Moriarty brothers, I’d want to be the third son. I think it’d be the most desirable position because the two older brothers would help me with things, while Louis would be my younger brother listening to what I say. I think being the third brother is the position that has both the deliciousness of having a younger brother and the strengths of having older brothers. I want to reap all the benefits. *laughs*
※Only Soma’s section has been translated in this post, as well as relevant parts from the others.
Q: What were your impressions of the recording?
When I read the original work, I read it from Naoto’s point of view, and I cried many times. That’s how wonderful the story was. During the recording, I found myself tearing up at everyone else’s acting, and had to try to hold myself back somehow because I couldn’t cry yet. Since the original work and the recording atmosphere were so nice, I really enjoyed it. I realized again that when the story itself is fascinating, it’ll continue to be great no matter the medium. It was a very fun recording.
Q: What did you think about the character you played?
Naoto has been placed in a difficult environment, especially as an omega. When I was reading the original work, what stood out to me was that Naoto-kun’s focus is on Shizuku-chan rather than his own suffering. Of course, a person’s pain is something only they can know for themselves, but I think Naoto-kun is a wonderful person. An unfortunate experience led to him having Shizuku-chan at a young age, but he truly loves her and raises her with care, wanting to live with her. That said, since it’s an omegaverse setting, being an omega makes his life more difficult. When I read the original work, I really wanted him to obtain happiness. I thought he was a really strong person, not bending to his tough situation and still prioritizing his loved one.
Q: Tell us about your favourite scene.
I talked about it in the talk CD too, but the scene where Hazuki “lies” to Naoto really struck me. As Masuda-san said, Hazuki-kun is an ideal bachelor. That said, he’s only 17, so he’s not a perfect superhuman. He faces things head-on and has the kind of emotional swings that happen at that age, and maybe that’s what led to that lie… That’s what attracted me to him. Also, when Shizuku-chan goes to Hazuki-kun’s place and says “I can’t do anything for Mama, so you protect him,” that scene was really touching for me, even in the original work. I felt that Shizuku-chan was even cooler than Hazuki-kun and his age-appropriate sensitive feelings.
Q: As Shizuku-chan’s mother, Naoto does household chores. What chores are you good or bad at?
I’m best at cooking, and I’m worst at cleaning in general. Well, it’s not so much that I’m bad at it, but I don’t like doing it. I’ll do it since I have to, but it’s annoying. I like cooking, but I really hate washing the dishes… But during this period of self-isolating, I changed my mindset to “doing the cooking and cleaning in parallel and getting them done at the same time feels good,” and that motivated me a lot. I challenge myself to use less detergent and reduce my water bill, and that makes it more bearable. I think that mindset can be applied to housework in general, but when it comes to cleaning, I wish I could buy the most expensive Roomba out there and let it take care of everything by itself. *laughs*
(Massu explaining how he’s bad at everything but cleaning can be fun at first)
It can be fun to break it down into individual tasks. It’s hard to keep it up every day, though. It’s like, you only clean when it gets dirty, right?
Q: Lastly, please give a message for the fans looking forward to the drama CD.
When I read the original work, from the perspective of a normal reader, I thought it was truly fantastic. I was happy that I could be part of its audio adaptation. This drama CD ends on a sort of happy note, or rather, things have settled down for the moment. The original work still goes on, though, so I hope there’ll be more drama CDs too! Please enjoy this CD alongside the original work. Thank you for your support.
Other Mentions
Massu said that since it was his first time on an omegaverse work, Soma and Yoshiki explained the setting and alpha/beta/omega dynamics to him.
Yoshiki’s very first line in the interview was “The day has come for Saito-san to become a mother *laughs*”
“What made me happy was that a lot of people said it felt natural to listen to, and music fans said things like “You’re doing something novel” and “The sax riff in the intro is dissonant, right?” I think that’s one of the interesting things about music. When I write songs, I want them to be easy to listen to when you don’t focus on the details, but once you start to really think about them, it feels like you’ve fallen into the rabbit hole.”
The thoughts behind the themes of “in bloom”
—In June, it was the third anniversary of your singer debut. I assume 2020 has been a critical year for you as an artist, but is your current situation completely different from how you imagined 2020 at the start of the year, due to COVID-19?
It actually might not be that different. My activities were always centered around releasing music, rather than performing live. The three songs I’m releasing this time had to become digital releases due to various circumstances, but if it wasn’t for COVID-19, I was going to release them as a single for my third anniversary. Since I’ve been spending more time at home, I actually have a ton of demo songs in stock now. I don’t know what form I’ll be able to present them in, but while we’re making steady preparations to release interesting music, I was able to release these three singles, which I’m thankful for.
—Rather than being affected by external events, you’re progressing on the path you’ve decided for yourself.
As someone who’s been writing songs as a hobby for a long time now, I’m just grateful to be able to release my songs to the world. So as an artist, I don’t feel frustrated about this situation. Instead, my current focus is on how I can use the ideas I’ve come up with.
—During the interview for your last EP, you said, “If I were to make a Season 2, then this would be Season 1.5” and “With this, I finished my investigation of ‘what would happen if I followed my previous work to its conclusion?'” Is it safe to say that these three singles are your Season 2?
I gave this series the name “in bloom,” but the themes are “the changing of seasons” and “what comes after the end of the world.” Instead of singing about different perspectives of the end of the world, I wanted to depict what comes afterwards. Out of the three songs, “Petrichor” was finished first, and I absolutely wanted to release it in June. From there, if I was going to release singles as a series, I’d be able to time them for the rainy season, midsummer, and the transition from summer to fall. I’ve always liked ambiguous seasons, so this gave me a creative spark—I felt like I could do something with this. I was reading Dazai Osamu at that time too, and he has a short story called Roman Tourou. A group of siblings are writing a relay story, and one of them says something like, “Stories always say the princess and the prince got married and they all lived happily ever after, but what we really want to know is what happened after that, right?” and I thought, this is it.
In that sense, I think these three songs are very personal. Not in the sense that they’re about me, but that they feel like introspective songs within a narrow scope. In the past, I used the broad “end of the world” motif quite a lot, most noticeably in “memento.” This time, “Petrichor,” “Summerholic!” and “Palette” are all subjective songs that don’t relate to how the whole world is.
—So “Petrichor” was a big factor.
I wanted to do a song that you wouldn’t really see from other voice actors with singing careers, and tried adding jazz nuances to a hiphop-style track, paying a fair amount of attention to trends. There’s dissonance in it too, but when you listen to it as a song, it sounds kind of like Japanese pop. What made me happy was that a lot of people said it felt natural to listen to, and music fans said things like “You’re doing something novel” and “The sax riff in the intro is dissonant, right?” I think that’s one of the interesting things about music. When I write songs, including these three, I want them to be easy to listen to when you don’t focus on the details, but once you start to really think about them, it feels like you’ve fallen into the rabbit hole. “Petrichor” does this particularly well.
“Petrichor” paves the way for a new frontier
—I know what you mean by “falling into the rabbit hole.” These three songs are so elaborate that it made me think, there must be an incredible number of scrapped songs behind them. “Petrichor” uses quite a modern jazz approach, with CRCK/LCKS’ Ochi Shunsuke-san on bass and TRI4TH’s Fujita Junnosuke on saxophone, right?
Yes.
—I don’t think you had this kind of style before, but you definitely made it yours.
When I made the demo for this song, it felt like Elliott Smith with the lingering feeling of the harmony in the chorus, but a bit more withered. I’d say it was a bit dark. The “hai-iro no amemachi” (gray rainy street) lyric was originally “uso wo tsuite shimatta yo” (I told a lie). But Fujita-san’s sax gave it quite a bright impression. He played exquisite tones in the second half of the song that made me think, “Yeah, I really like this kind of alluringness” *laughs*. In “Petrichor,” you can hear each player’s sentiments. Ochi-san played bass at my first concert too; his bass-playing has a really good groove to it, so I was happy that we could work together again.
—The balance between the words and the sound at “kuruizaku you na rokugatsu no flavour / itsumademo kagerou no naka” is interesting.
“Petrichor’s” lyrics are such that you can’t understand what’s going on at first glance. The listener can only guess, so it’s hard to tell if the scenery is real or not. I think the development from the second verse onwards is interesting. The atmosphere of the song suddenly changes at “kuruizaku you na,” and image-wise it resembles Inoue Yosui-san, in how I use a thicker voice for just that part. It’s humour; there are people who suddenly sing in a different tone of voice when they’re in a good mood, right? In that sense, I think “Petrichor” is quite a scary song.
Since these three songs are subjective, the characters in the lyrics are happy and having fun, but how does it look to the people around them? Maybe I wanted to keep the “unreliable narrator” aspect. It’s similar to how Spitz’s songs are really refreshing to listen to, but they also have hidden interpretations. Even though it sounds like a pop song, the lyrics aren’t. Like Spitz’s themes of sex and death. I hope you can sense that appeal.
Madness in “Summerholic!”
—It’s the same with “Summerholic!”, right? When you first listen to it, you think “Summer!”, but once you read the lyrics, you realize that it’s not that simple.
This might be the one where I was the most careful with the “seasoning” on the lyrics. Having a strong message and delivering it directly can feel good, of course, and it can be moving too. But that’s not how my music is—I don’t make it too obvious or too deep; it’s just about halfway. Some people enjoy it for what it is on the surface, while others like to theorize. I want to make it clear that both sides are allowed, so I’m careful with the lyrics in order to not clash with either approach.
A single word can change a lot. It’s like, do I say “this water” or “this forest”? It’s a trial-and-error process for every song, and I often change lyrics all over the place on recording day. Since I assume they’re going to change, lately I haven’t been printing out the lyrics beforehand. I asked if we could do the final checks at the recording instead, and that’s when they get printed for the first time. But there are still times when I go, “Oh, actually, can I make a small change?” anyway *laughs*. I’m grateful to my team for letting me make small adjustments until the very last minute.
—Is it the same for the arrangement?
The instrumental performances can’t be changed if they were recorded in advance, but they let me do whatever I want with the vocals. It’s fun when when we all make the harmony together because it feels like we’re a band. Recently we’ve been bringing our guitars and playing them while communicating our ideas, or tapping keys on the keyboard like, “Doesn’t it sound more urban and stylish if this one note is in a minor key?” “I’ll try singing that, then.” It really feels like we’re creating the songs as a team. The “hohoemi” part of “Petrichor” was also the result of us experimenting with things on the recording day. Both the engineer, Hayashi-san, and I thought that would fit the best, and in the end that’s what we went with.
Season 2 is for the things he didn’t do before
—The lyrics and vocal direction adapt on the spot. That does seem like a band, in a way.
It does. It’s kind of an old-school band style. Even when we’re doing the mixdown, we experiment with the fine balancing of effects; like for “Petrichor,” how long the rain sounds should stick around for, whether they should only be audible in the intro and the outro. For “Palette,” I asked them to make the bass really loud. My requests are quite detailed, and I’m glad that the professionals turn them into something good. Also, starting from my previous release, I started using equipment on my own, so it’s easier to convey what I’m thinking from the demo stage. There’s no more discrepancies within the team when sharing ideas.
—In the end, it feels like a band and you can also pursue your personal tastes to the fullest. It sounds like the ideal environment for an artist.
I’m extremely thankful to be in a place that allows this.
—Do you ever change your song titles?
All the time. “Palette’s” working title was “US Emo” for the longest time *laughs*, and “Petrichor’s” working titles were “Amadare” (raindrops) and “Uso wo Tsuite Shimatta yo” (I Told a Lie). At first I was going to write “Petrichor’s” lyrics without any katakana words, but I got stuck partway through, and realized that the whole point of Season 2 was to stop putting restrictions on myself. That’s when I came up with the “rokugatsu no flavour” phrase. The working title for “Summerholic!” was… “Libertine,” but even though I called it that, everyone kept saying “Libertines,” which obviously isn’t okay. *laughs*
“Summerholic!” was inspired by the Libertines, the Cribs, and Ojamajo Doremi. Parts like “ashita no junbi to sessei rinri to” are a good mix of those ideas. As for the arrangement, it’s definitely Western-style rather than Japanese. We used a lot of detailed techniques to achieve this, like how all of the vocals are double-tracked. I often decide titles quickly on the spot—which was the case for the “in bloom” series name too. I also have demos named “UK” and “Marilyn Manson” which I didn’t use this time. So when I look at my files some time later, I have no idea what’s what. *laughs*
“To me, music isn’t about using specific phrases directly, but about converting ideas—borrowing the concept’s direction to create my own expression. This includes things I saw as a child, like Ojamajo Doremi which was an important part of my upbringing. A song that’s just cool and upbeat feels a bit lacking, so I reflected that notion in ‘Summerholic!'”
When it comes to working titles
—So your working titles have Saito-san-style homages. I can understand the Libertines and the Cribs, but I’m surprised that Ojamajo Doremi would be in there.
In the past I wouldn’t have chosen Ojamajo Doremi, but for Season 2, I decided I would choose that kind of thing too. To me, music isn’t about using specific phrases directly, but about converting ideas—borrowing the concept’s direction to create my own expression. A song that’s just cool and upbeat feels a bit lacking, so I wanted to play around with it. This rapid-talking style is surprisingly common in the anime songs I listened to as a kid, like Cyborg Kuro-chan and Jungle wa Itsumo Hare nochi Guu.
—Western music might be surprisingly compatible with the exciting, upbeat feeling of anime songs.
Punk bands often do that rapid-talking style of singing too, right? It was the case for the Libertines as well. Pete Doherty and Carl Barât’s fast-talking have a worn-out sort of feeling to them. I wanted to use that drunken style in “Summerholic!” too. I think that impatient feeling, where you can’t quite tell if there’s a melody there, is a very good fit for this song. If “Petrichor’s” vocal melody sounds like Showa era pop—that is, Japanese—then I wanted “Palette” and “Summerholic!” to take their nuances from US and UK rock respectively.
I have a personal fixation on sticking to Japanese, but the “Summerholic!” lyrics are hard to say quickly. There are a lot of words that’ll trip you up, like “madamada.” Honestly I thought, “I hate this lyricist.” Even though it was me *laughs*. And since it had to be double-tracked, I needed at least two good takes. Looking back, I’m impressed that I was able to sing it at all. The “daijoubu datteba madamada ohiru de shouki mo sokosoko tamotteiru kara” part is really hard. In that sense, I’d say those were my best takes!
—The song made me grin, thinking that you must like surf garage rock and bands like the Libertines, but when I read the lyrics, I thought, “This isn’t refreshing at all! It’s just a song about staying cooped up at home!” I thought that twistedness was very like you.
When you think of UK bands, that twistedness is definitely a thing. Like XTC, although I didn’t reference them at all this time. “Summerholic!” is a song that’s twisted in an honest way. There’s a “kanpai~!” lyric in the middle, which I think will be fun to do with everyone when concerts are back to normal.
—This song is led by the guitar.
I really didn’t expect tapping to be added. Ono Takemasa-san’s excellent technique is on fire. It has a big party atmosphere, which I love.
Still many creation techniques to try
—About “Palette” which had the working title “US Emo,” one of your roots is in US emo rock, and I thought this was a solid song with that genre’s dramatism and sense of scale. It must’ve been satisfying for the participating musicians.
For “Palette,” I asked them to play it with an explosive, roaring sound. I think this is a straightforward song, strange in that it’s not twisted. For this kind of song, rather than playing the phrases, it feels more like extending a mass of sound. When everyone played the intro for me like that, I thought, “Ah, this is good…” For a song like “Palette,” there’s a lot of meaning in playing it loudly as a band. The recorded audio was amazing, and the mixing emphasized the bass even more.
—All of the participating musicians were incredibly skilled. In addition to Takemasa-san, there was Takahashi Hirotaka-san (ELLEGARDEN, PAM) and Suda Yuki-san (ex.Suck a Stew Dry, ex.THURSDAY’S YOUTH).
I couldn’t be there for the instrument recording this time, so I could only listen to the recording afterwards. For every song, I let the musicians do what they want, with the exception of key phrases that shouldn’t be changed. I only give them things like the “Summerholic!” riff and the “Petrichor” sax line in advance. It’s fun this way, because what I get are interesting expressions that I wouldn’t have come up with myself. It’s also fun to have different people participating for each song.
—They tweeted about being at your recording too. Even though you couldn’t work together in person, it still feels like you’d make a good band.
Right now I’m making the prototypes by myself, but I’d like to try having a studio session sometime. Even if we aren’t a band, I want to try creating a so-called band song. My repertoire is actually missing a song that’s centered around rock-style riffs. For a song like that, I’d want to make it in a studio. It’s not possible in the current state of the world, but I’d like to do it someday. There are still many creation techniques I want to try, so I hope I’ll be able to release more new things after the “in bloom” series.
Features: Shirai Yusuke (Amemura Ramuda in Hypnosis Mic) Saito Soma (Yumeno Gentaro in Hypnosis Mic) Nozuyama Yukihiro (Arisugara Dice in Hypnosis Mic)
Mentioned: Kimura Subaru (Yamada Ichiro in Hypnosis Mic) Kijima Ryuichi (Izanami Hifumi in Hypnosis Mic) Hayami Show (Jinguuji Jakurai in Hypnosis Mic)
Taking a look at the animated rap battles
Q: At last, the anime Hypnosis Mic -Division Rap Battle- Rhyme Anima will begin airing in October. What were your impressions of the story?
Shirai: The original drama tracks focused on each division individually, but in the anime, the four divisions will all be appearing at the same time. I was curious about how the characters would interact with each other.
I can’t give any details, but everyone had their time to shine, in a well-balanced way. The starting point and the characters’ relationships are a bit different from the drama tracks, so I hope you’ll look forward to that.
Saito: Right. I think it’s made in a way that’s easy to watch for people who are starting with the anime. It has its own charms that will appeal to people who are already Hypmic fans, while also being a good jump-in point for people who think, “I hear about Hypmic a lot, but where should I start?”
Anyway, I think it’ll make an appropriate entry point because Episode 1 gives you the gist of the four divisions’ characteristics.
Nozuyama: I think the story will also feel fresh for people who have been listening to all of the drama tracks.
Shirai: Gentaro and Dice are really nice guys in the anime. It’s touching to see Shibuya Division like this in the anime after experiencing the drama tracks, so there’s an advantage there.
Saito: In one of the episodes, when I said Gentaro’s “Maro wa (…)” line at full blast the way I did in the drama tracks, I was told to say it more mildly. Gentaro might be more elegant in the anime than he is in the drama tracks.
Ramuda and Dice had very detailed movements, right?
Shirai: Those two move a lot.
Saito: Both of them are the cute type, but I think Dice is going to increase in popularity. *laughs*
Shirai: *laughs*
Saito: The animation emphasizes his puppy-like character. There was also quite a lot of playing around with ad libs.
Nozuyama: And as always, he’s hurting for money… so the acting wasn’t much different from the drama tracks.
Since the cast has been doing the drama tracks for three years now, the characters have been solidified in our minds. So, we often suggested phrasings that would be more fitting for the characters. The staff accepted our suggestions, and the recordings went smoothly.
Q: How were the rap battle scenes?
Saito: Since the rap battles were audio-centric up until now, we were excited to see how they would be depicted in animated form.
(At the time of this interview) We’ve only seen Ikebukuro Division’s rap battle so far, but it’s really flashy, and it made me want to turn up the volume and watch it on the biggest screen that I can. Each song has its own individuality, and I think that’s one of the Hypmic anime’s biggest highlights.
Seeing the rap battle in visual, animated form was very new and impressive for us.
Shirai: We also voiced the extras who were defeated in battle.
Saito: Yes, we voice a lot of extras here and there. As for the interesting enemies…
Nozuyama: The enemies have really strong personalities! And as usual, the names were hard to read. *laughs*
Saito: I think the exaggerated characters are really funny.
Q: Every episode is going to have a new song. What was it like recording Shibuya’s songs?
Nozuyama: They have the Shibuya aesthetic while also being new genres.
Shirai: There was also a hardcore song. It was a lot of fun.
Saito: It was similar in style to “BATTLE BATTLE BATTLE.”
Nozuyama: It’s been a while since we had a song that felt like a battle.
Shirai: I didn’t expect to be able to sing this much for the anime.
Nozuyama: There was a month when we had recordings every week, right?
Shirai: It’s because there’s a new song every episode. Our songs are all very “Shibuya,” so please look forward to them.
Q: It seems that you were able to record the first half of the series with the whole cast together. What were the recordings like?
Nozuyama: With all of the male cast gathered in the dubbing booth, it really felt like the world of Hypmic, where men are forced to live outside of Chuo-ku.
What I personally liked was that even though no one said anything, everyone naturally sat with their divisions. At concerts, our backstage locations are assigned by division, but that isn’t the case at anime recordings. And yet…
Saito: No, that wasn’t the case for Shibuya… *laughs*
Shirai: We were all over the place. *laughs*
Nozuyama: Wait, really? *laughs*
Saito: For Episode 1, Shirai-kun was sitting somewhere else, right?
Shirai: Yes, I was somewhere.
Nozuyama: Shirai-san’s never around.
Shirai: Wait, you know that’s not true! *laughs*
Nozuyama: Saito-san and I often sat near each other.
Shirai: Ikebukuro was always together.
Nozuyama: Yeah, you’re right.
Saito: Shibuya’s characters all do their own thing, and I guess that goes for us too…
Shirai: Pretty much.
Saito: It felt like we could sit next to anyone, wherever there was an empty space. It was actually comfortable that way. The overall atmosphere was really nice, since they’re all good people and we perform concerts together.
Shirai: It was really friendly.
The Fling Posse style is where everyone does their own thing
Q: How has the relationship between the Shibuya Division cast members changed over these past three years?
Shirai: It doesn’t feel like anyone’s the leader.
Saito: But I feel at ease when Shirai-kun’s around.
Nozuyama: His presence is really reassuring.
Shirai: I’m pretty free spirited, so I might be similar to Ramuda.
Saito: I think there was a time when we couldn’t start rehearsing because you were eating vegetable sticks…
Shirai: The concert rehearsal? That was… *laughs* They happened to say “Let’s begin” right when I finished eating them. Then I was like, “Wait, were you waiting for me to finish my vegetable sticks…? I’m so sorry.”
Saito: Thanks to that unique pacing of yours, the rest of us can go “Let’s do this!” without feeling nervous.
Nozuyama: You help us relax.
Shirai: It really feels like everyone, not just Shibuya, lets me do whatever I want. It means that I don’t have to worry either. I think that these two are acting freely too—no one is leading the way. I’ve always felt that the Fling Posse style is where everyone does their own thing.
Saito: The three of us also went drinking together, although we haven’t been able to recently due to the coronavirus situation.
Nozuyama: Yeah.
Saito: It feels like our meetups have gotten more fun over the years, but then again, I think we were just as close from the beginning?
Nozuyama: Yeah, I don’t think our closeness has changed much.
Saito: Rather than “Let’s do our best to become friends,” it was more like, “Oh, so you’re that kind of interesting person; got it.” I think there are various different kinds of teams out there, but in our case, it might feel a bit ephemeral.
Shirai: You’re right.
Nozuyama: It’s like, there doesn’t need to be a plan. For example, if someone says “Let’s meet at 6pm in Shibuya,” I’ll head there at around 6pm, even though we haven’t decided where in Shibuya we’re going.
Saito: We take things seriously when we have to, but we also have a nice, comforting sense of leniency. There’s no specific “Shibuya should be like this” in our minds.
Shirai: There’s no rules or standards.
Nozuyama: Shibuya is free.
The two-faced Ramuda, the sensible Gentaro, and the honest Dice
Q: Tell us again about what you like or sympathize with about your characters.
Shirai: Amemura Ramuda is very cute, but I think his movements and facial expressions in the anime make his cuteness even more apparent. Also—and I think this word can be interpreted in different ways—he’s very “humanlike.” I like how he expresses his emotions without hiding them in his heart, and it makes me want to support him.
Q: Since you always act calmly and naturally, it’s interesting to see you voice a two-faced character like Ramuda.
Shirai: Yes, I’m aware that I’m not two-faced.
Saito: Indeed.
Nozuyama: At most, there’s your “watching soccer” and “not watching soccer” modes.
Saito: I was thinking the exact same thing. “Liverpool” and “everything else.” (Shirai-san is an ardent Liverpool FC fan)
Shirai: I don’t go through any sudden changes, but acting as two-sided characters feels really satisfying and fun.
Q: What about Gentaro?
Saito: Yumeno Gentaro is an author and his MC name is “Phantom.” As you can tell from his catchphrase “That was a lie, though,” one of his character themes is “lying” or “fiction.” It’s difficult to figure out what he’s really thinking—he’s truly shrouded in fog.
However, that’s only at first glance. My personal opinion is that even though Gentaro talks and acts peculiarly, he’s actually relatively sensible. It’s like he’s acting strange on purpose.
I also think he exists to balance out Ramuda—who’s shouldering something extremely heavy—and Dice, who’s pure and honest with his feelings.
I like literature too, so I think that’s something we have in common. But I’ve never told any lies like his in my entire life, so we’re really not the same at all.
(Shirai-san and Nozuyama-san are staring at Saito-san)
Saito: (serious face) …Huh? But I really didn’t lie.
Nozuyama: *laughs*
Shirai: I was waiting for you to say “That was a lie, though” at the very end.
Saito: But it’s true?
Shirai: What? Is there anyone who’s never lied?
Nozuyama: He’s been like this his entire life.
Saito: It’s true.
Shirai: Ohh.
Nozuyama: He declared it with confidence.
Saito: *laughs* Joking aside, Gentaro talks in the form of several different characters. As an actor, it’s fun to be able to use various different voices to expand a single character’s range.
Q: What about Dice?
Nozuyama: The Shibuya characters’ histories are a mystery, and in Dice’s case, he seems like an idiot at first glance and he refuses to talk about his past. The one thing that’s easy to understand about him is that he really loves gambling. Although I don’t think that gives the best impression…
Saito: That’s the only way you can describe him, after all.
Nozuyama: He bets all of the money he has, and he borrows money from other people without returning it.
Shirai/Saito: *laughs*
Shirai: Are you okay with that being the most important thing for new viewers to know about Dice? *laughs*
Saito: Well, he’s also pure, like a puppy.
Nozuyama: He’s good at being spoiled, since he’s not afraid to say “Lend me money”…
Shirai:That? *laughs*
Nozuyama: He’s honest and cares about his friends.
Saito: He’s passionate, right?
Nozuyama: Yeah. Ramuda and Gentaro are his precious friends. When Ramuda’s in trouble, he says “Let’s save him.” I also like how he’s honest about what he likes.
The OP theme would be a real challenge to sing by yourself
Q: What were your impressions when you heard the OP theme “Hypnosis Mic -Rhyme Anima-”?
Shirai: The full group chorus felt different from the previous times. I think out of the 12 people, my recording was first.
Saito: The first take was hard, right?!
Shirai: Yeah. For the chorus, they wanted a different approach compared to previous songs. On top of that, I had to bring out Ramuda’s characteristics in the song. It was a difficult trial and error process.
Saito: There was the issue of how much we could maintain character while singing.
Shirai: Right. We were instructed to emphasize the chorus’ nuances while keeping the character in mind.
Saito: Rather than singing it however we wanted, we needed to bring the 12 characters’ nuances together.
Shirai: I’m interested in what people will think when they hear this song. It is a cool song though; fitting for the opening theme. I hope the fans will try to sing it too.
Q: It’s quite fast-paced.
Shirai: It is.
Saito: That’s what happens when you try to show everyone’s part within the length of a TV anime opening. Compared to the other full group songs, this one is shorter overall, so it switches between solo parts at a crazy speed.
I think it’d be a real challenge to sing all of the parts by yourself. Once you lose track for a second, it’s over. It’ll probably be difficult to sing live, too.
But, the song felt challenging in a good way. I wonder if it’s because they believe that we can handle it.
Q: What do you think, Nozuyama-san?
Nozuyama: As Saito-san said, it switches between characters in short phrases, but it’s amazing how each character stands out on their own and you can clearly tell who’s who. Part of it is because we’ve sung as these characters for three years, but I really felt again how amazing Hypmic is.
Shibuya Division’s songs are poppy and emotional
Q: Since there will be anime watchers who are new to the franchise, please tell us about Shibuya Division’s musical style.
Shirai: Shibuya is… pop music but emotional.
Saito: Right. They’re not only bright and happy.
Q: Are there any particularly emotional lyrics in your songs so far?
Saito: Shibuya has a lot of ephemeral lyrics. “Shibuya Marble Texture -PCCS-” has that melody to it and the lyrics are about fleeting moments.
Saito: Then there’s “Stella” of course, and its “Saisei no Verse” (verse of rebirth) lyric. That phrase became our mysterious slogan.
Saito/Nozuyama: (at the same time) “Saisei nooo~ Verse!”
Saito: *looks at Shirai-san* …Did you forget? *laughs*
Shirai: No no, I remember.
Saito: We suddenly did it at the ABEMA concert (in March 2020), right?
Shirai: Yeah, we did!
Saito: Right before the show, we were asked if we had a signature pose for the three of us, and Shirai-kun said “We do.” Nozuyama-kun and I were like, “Huh? What?!” Then Shirai-kun said, “It’s ‘Saisei nooo~ Verse!’ and we were like, we only decided on that just now! *laughs*
Nozuyama: We’d never done it before. Well, that’s how Shibuya is.
Saito: We roll with the flow.
When I received the demo for “Stella,” I really liked it, and I remember thinking that Shibuya needed a song like that. I wrote “Did you guys hear the demo?!” in our LINE group chat. They hadn’t listened to it yet, so I said “It’s really cool, so listen to it as soon as you can.”
Shirai: Yeah, he did send that. I was surprised, like “That Soma-kun sent us a LINE message…?!” *laughs*
Saito: I rarely start LINE conversations myself.
Nozuyama: In this group, no one really starts LINE conversations themselves. When Soma-san’s LINE message came, I was surprised and immediately went to listen to the demo.
Saito: It was an incredible song. All of our songs were impressive, but with “Stella,” it felt like Shibuya had moved on to the next stage.
Nozuyama: I like the line in “Shibuya Marble Texture -PCCS-” that goes “kaerimichi sukoshi toomawari” (taking a little detour on the way home).
Saito: It’s nice how it’s like, we have to go home, but…
Nozuyama: It’s emotional. It’s “chill” which is cool. (He says the English word “chill” which is not commonly used in JP.)
Saito: Suddenly bringing up “chill” *laughs*
Nozuyama: I thought it’d be a Shibuya-like word. *laughs*
Shirai: *laughs* “Shibuya Marble Texture -PCCS-” and “Stella” are emotional in different ways, and they’re both stylish and cool. Personally, I was touched by the line “tsumasaki wa mae ni muketeoku” (point our toes forward) in “Stella.”
I think the more that Shibuya’s relationships and story are developed in the drama tracks, the more meaning “Stella’s” lyrics hold. I’m sure that the listeners feel that way too.
The lyrics also give us a little push on the back in our everyday lives, and their meanings might continue to change in the future.
…Wait, what are you laughing at? *looks at Saito-san who started laughing beside him*
Saito: No, I was just remembering 4th Live, when we stood on a rising triangular stage. We came up with the name “Stella in the sky” for it, but will the “Stella _____” series continue?
Shirai: Like “Stella on the ground.”
Saito: Or “Stella in the water.” *laughs*
Shirai: How’re we going to do that?! Our voices are going to be gurgly the whole time.
Saito/Nozuyama: *laughs*
Words feel different after three years of Hypmic
Q: I think that this was your first experience with “rap x character” content. How did you become accustomed to rapping?
Saito: I mainly just listened and voiced it out over and over again.
…Nozuyama-kun has a history, right?
Shirai: He’s a former rapper, or something.
Saito: His first cry as a newborn baby was rap, or something.
Nozuyama: No! My first cry wasn’t “Aaai!” *laughs*
Saito: “Aaai!” could actually be possible. *laughs*
Nozuyama: Yes, but… *laughs* But really, I wasn’t that familiar with rap.
Shirai: Really?!
Nozuyama: I’d never rapped before either. Actually, I was the kind of person that would think rap was scary if a friend sung it at karaoke.
Shirai: How come?! *laughs*
Nozuyama: I had this “underground” impression of it. So at first, I listened to rap that was sung by an idol.
Shirai: Huh, that’s surprising.
Nozuyama: After I’d gotten a bit used to it, I asked a friend who was a rap fan to tell me their recommended artists and programs. When I listened to them, I thought they were really interesting. Even though I was averse to it for so long, I got completely addicted to it. Hypmic allowed me to meet rap for myself.
Shirai: As for me, before I became a voice actor, I often sung rap songs at karaoke. I liked the sense of achievement and refreshing feeling that came from cramming in all of those words without fumbling, but Hypmic made me realize that it’s completely different when you have to do it in character. It’s refreshing and satisfying to think about how Amemura Ramuda would express himself when rapping. I kept practicing while thinking, “I want to sound more like this,” and at some point, I started coming up with my own ideas too, which made it even more fun.
Saito: I’ve always loved listening to music, but my formative years didn’t include rap. I liked guitar rock songs. As the years passed, I started listening to electronica and hip hop—“chill” songs. *looks at Nozuyama-san* …I’m being laughed at!
Nozuyama: “Chill” songs, right? *laughs*
Saito: *laughs* In the past, I had opportunities to do rap parts in character songs, but I never imagined there would be such a rap-focused series. But as a voice actor, I had a sense of how to rap as a character, so I didn’t worry too much about how to rap as Yumeno Gentaro.
Gentaro’s rapping isn’t what most people think of rap as—it’s “poetry reading.” He often raps to a calm beat without a set rhythm. So, Gentaro and Hypmic created a new style of rap music for my knowledgebase.
Shibuya’s raps have become very diverse. I was glad that I got to do high-speed rap with Dice in the drama tracks.
Nozuyama: We did!
Saito: My intuition towards words has changed after three years of Hypmic. The rhythm and flow of words are important for my job as a voice actor too. I want to keep working hard and enjoying this change.
Q: What do you think about concert direction and performances?
Shirai: I don’t know what the other divisions are doing, but I’d say we discuss it a lot. We think it’s important to know what we want to show and how we can reach the audience. The three of us have gone out to eat before and had discussions like, “Would it be better to move like this at this part?”
Saito: When a voice actor stands on stage, the question “How in-character should I be?” has no correct answer, so it’s difficult… For example, Ramuda’s “selfies” have become a recurring act for us, but I’m curious as to what people actually think about our acting there.
Shirai: At first it was on impulse.
Saito: At some point it became a recurring act. In order to show that carefree fun, we discuss to some degree and then act freely on top of it.
Q: “Stella” was also impressive at 4th Live.
Saito: Since “Stella’s” lyrics are like a play within a play, I thought it’d be nice for the trio to show different facial expressions than usual.
As I said before, there’s no correct way to depict our characters, but when I was performing “Stella” and saw that Ramuda’s face was down the whole time and Dice had a pained expression on his face, I realized that we all had a similar idea.
Shirai: Right. We did say in advance that for the division songs, we’d snap into place for the hooks of the songs. But as he said just now, it feels like we naturally had the same mindset on stage.
Deepening bonds and future potential
Q: Lastly, please tell us what Shibuya Division does better than any of the other divisions.
Saito: The characters and songs are really upbeat, but they aren’t purely bright and happy. There’s a tinge of sadness and darkness as they walk with light steps. I think their ephemerality is why you can’t take your eyes off of them.
We talked about “Stella” earlier, and I feel that the original Fling Posse wouldn’t have come up with this song. Ramuda originally put together the team for the sake of winning, but their bonds grew deeper, which is how these songs and stories came to be. I think you can really feel their potential future growth.
Shirai: The name Fling Posse also directly translates to “comrades for a short time.” That may have been what Ramuda had in mind when he formed the group, but their songs and stories are clearly changing in nature… I’m excited to see what happens.
Saito: In the recent drama track “The Loneliness, Tears, and Hope of a Puppet,” they got really heated up, even though they seemed like the most unemotional team until then.
Shirai: You wouldn’t have expected them to scream with each other like that.
Nozuyama: Yeah, you can see their bonds becoming tighter. In the original work, we finally learned about Ramuda, but the other characters are still full of mysteries. Please look forward to Shibuya Division’s development and their secrets being revealed.
Shibuya Division reveals the cast’s charms
Shirai Yusuke → Saito Soma His stoic professionalism. Once a character is his, he understands how he’s going to present it and what the listeners want, and he uses 100% of his power to make it happen. I think I should learn from his example.
Shirai Yusuke → Nozuyama Yukihiro Nozu has courage.Hypmic is close to his debut work, but he’s so brave that I thought he’d rapped on stage before. Plus, I can tell that he’s enjoying himself from the bottom of his heart, and I think that’s great.
Saito Soma → Shirai Yusuke Shirai-kun has a unique world view. He can play both the straight man and the funny man, as well as perform “unique movements.” He has an incredible sense of humour. At my first Hypmic concert, I wanted to confirm a detail and asked Shirai-kun, and he said “Well, it’ll be fine!” For some strange reason, when he says “It’ll be fine,” I really do feel like it’s going to be fine. Since he’s always level-headed, he’s a great influence on the people around him, and I think he’s suited to be a leader. But… I also think he’s very strange *laughs*. But I love strange people, so that’s a plus.
Saito Soma → Nozuyama Yukihiro Ever since I first met him, I thought he had a lot of kouhai energy. Of course, it’s not because he tries to flatter people—it’s because he’s the type that makes you like him. He’s Shibuya’s mood maker and he brightens up the place. When the “Shirai Universe” is in full effect, he’ll politely interrupt it *laughs*. His pureness comes through in Dice, even though their roles are different. If I had to describe him in one word, I’d say he’s cute. He was good at rapping from the very beginning, but as the dialogues went on, his acting skill got better and better too. That’s what’s amazing about him, and I think that Hayami-shachou is truly amazing for discovering him. (*Hayami Show (Jinguuji Jakurai) is the president of Nozuyama-san’s agency.)
Nozuyama Yukihiro → Shirai Yusuke He’s level-headed and neutral. I think a lot of people are watching his program, and he really is the same way in his normal life. He’s not two-faced and he has the courage to always be natural, which I think is amazing. You can tell that he’s truly enjoying himself, and I respect how he shifts into character when he’s acting.
Nozuyama Yukihiro → Saito Soma Soma-san steals the camera *laughs*. He has an amazing ability to produce himself. I don’t think many people can analyze themselves to the extent that he does. Also, he doesn’t cut any corners, no matter how small. He confirms and comprehends every detail, and keeps probing until he’s satisfied. Even during our concert prep, he had a bird’s-eye view, suggesting things like “They said ____ during that drama track, so wouldn’t it be better to move like this?” I learn so many things from the other Shibuya members, and I’m truly thankful to be on their team.
Out of the 18 members, who do you think is the type that can’t tell a lie?
Shirai: Maybe Jiro. He’s the type that wears his heart on his sleeve, so he doesn’t seem like he’d be good at lying. And in that case, Dice is probably bad at lying too. I’m surprised he’s lasted so long as a gambler. *laughs* Cast-wise, maybe Subaru-kun (Yamada Ichiro). He doesn’t seem like he’d lie. And it feels like if he did, he’d immediately get awkward and you’d find out right away.
Saito: It’d have to be Dice. As far as I can recall, I don’t think he’s ever tried to lie *laughs*. We often say among ourselves that Shibuya’s story began from Dice losing a gamble, so for better or worse, he can’t be dishonest with his desires either. The cast is full of good people, so I don’t think any of them would lie… but personality-wise, I think Kijima-san (Izanami Hifumi) would be unlikely to lie. I can tell that his words are honest and sincere, and I can trust him. I’m the type who’s suspicious of praise towards myself *laughs* but I think I can believe what Kijima-san says. But really, they’re all nice people.
Nozuyama: I know he’s my own character, but wouldn’t it be Dice? Even if he tried to lie, he’d probably be exposed right away *laughs*. I really like how he’s wholeheartedly devoted to gambling, but he seems like he’d be bad at lying. Cast-wise, maybe Subaru-san? Part of it is my hope that everything he says is true *laughs*. I get to work with him at a variety of places, and I can tell that he’s enjoying himself while entertaining the audience, and that makes me think he wouldn’t be a liar.
Bonus: Kijima Ryuichi’s reaction to reading Soma’s answer to the last question
Features: Saito Soma (Yumeno Gentaro in Hypnosis Mic -Division Rap Battle- Rhyme Anima)
Their unbalance is a delicate balance
Q: Their story is finally beginning in animated form. What were your impressions after seeing the anime footage?
First of all, I was happy to see the characters moving around, since they’ve been audio-based until now.
I was also curious about how the rap battle scenes would be depicted, and they were really cool. I could feel all of the creators’ love for the series.
There were serious scenes with a sprinkling of comedy, so it was really fun to record.
Q: What did you rediscover about your character’s charms after seeing the anime?
I thought, “Gentaro really does have extremely aesthetic and seductive features.”
In the anime, his eccentricities are somewhat milder compared to the original drama CDs, so he felt more like Posse’s balancer. He also showed quite a few different expressions when reacting to things, which was unexpected and refreshing.
Also, what happens in the latter half…! I can’t say anything specific, but please watch it with your own eyes!
Q: What are Shibuya Division’s fortes, and what do you think your character’s role is?
Compared to the other divisions, Shibuya has more freedom and it seems like there’s something going on behind the scenes. Of course, all of the divisions and characters have mysterious elements that haven’t been revealed, but Shibuya’s bright and cheerful exterior is hiding each member’s own secrets.
However, their bonds have deepened quite a lot from the individualistic atmosphere they had when the team formed. Anyway, Shibuya feels like they do a lot of unique things.
Gentaro pretends to be the comedian of the group, but he actually guides their conversations well. I think their unbalance is a delicate balance.
Q: Various different characters appeared, such as the Chuo-ku members. Which characters or divisions are you interested in story-wise?
It feels like I can’t say anything without spoiling it, but one of Rio’s scenes was very striking to me. Some of the characters are always expressive, but even the cool and collected characters have cute momentary reactions, so please keep an eye out for those little details.
Q: How was the recording atmosphere? Do you have any interesting stories relating to the recording or conversations with the other cast members?
It became individual recordings partway through, but since we’re often together at concerts and other programs, the recording atmosphere was extremely friendly. The recordings themselves also went quite smoothly every time. It was fun to record the crowd noises together too.
Q: When you think of Hypmic, you think of the awesome raps. What were your impressions when you heard the OP and sung it?
Hypmic’s songs always feel like they’re opening new doors, and it was the same this time. The previous songs also had parts that could be called traditional choruses, but this OP felt like it had a stronger emphasis on melody than the past songs.
Also, I assume it was extremely difficult to fit everyone’s parts in because of length restrictions, but the result was an impressively fast-paced, cool song. There’ll also be lots of new songs in the anime, so please look forward to them!
Q: Please give us a message for the fans looking forward to the anime.
Hypmic’s anime is finally beginning! Whether you’ve been supporting us before or you’re just starting now, I think anyone will be able to enjoy it, so please give it a watch!
The Shibuya crew is having their usual carefree fun! Please look forward to their battles and dialogues! Thank you!
Q: Lastly, a message of support from yourself to the Fling Posse members!
Freedom, pop, ephemerality. I adore how you are.
Ramuda-chan, the two of us are with you. Gentaro-san, I want to see you let loose more. Dice-kun, it’s great how straightforward you are, but gamble in moderation, okay? *laughs*
May your days continue to be blessed with happiness! Posse’s the best!
“My songs merely depict a certain ‘state.’ I like expressing feelings, scenes—things that don’t have names—in other forms.”
—What was the concept of the new music you wanted to produce in “Chapter 2”?
Since I consider voice acting the central axis of my work, my music up until now has been pop style, focusing on entertainment value. There were quite a lot of choices I passed over because they wouldn’t suit the image of “the voice actor Saito Soma’s” music. But after releasing an album, performing live, and reading the listeners’ feedback, I grew confident that people would still listen to my music even if I went a more hardcore route based on what I wanted. If people were willing to accept that, then I could release songs from the “unchosen” genres and lyric themes. That feeling is what led to the designation of a new chapter, Chapter 2. My songs up until now have had a consistent apocalyptic, decadent motif, and I think it’d be nice to sing about what people’s lives are like after the end of the world. Many of my previous songs had majestic arrangements, but I think there’ll be more songs that are on the introspective side from now on.
—In the past, you wrote music and lyrics in an elaborate manner, right?
Yes. I intentionally packed multiple song ideas into a single track, because it seemed like it’d be a better deal for the listener that way *laughs*. Writing songs like that was fun in its own way, but if it’s like that every time, it gets tiring for the listener, right? It’s like how eating a full course for every meal doesn’t necessarily taste good. So for these three songs, instead of that extravagant, jam-packed approach, I stuck with one idea for each song. For example, “Petrichor” builds up a groove with the repetition of that striking saxophone riff. I narrowed down my ideas a bit and tried to make it into something you won’t get tired of even if you listen to it on repeat. I think it became a simple (in a good way), relaxed song.
—The vocabulary in the lyrics also felt much more everyday than your previous songs.
I liked writing lyrics with symbolic phrases and words, but saying complicated things in a complicated way is actually a rather simple task. So this time, I chose not to rely on the words’ own impressions—which actually increased the abstractness of the lyrics. Something I really focused on with “Petrichor” was writing lyrics in the “new music” style (pop genre that trended in the 70s and 80s in Japan). You can understand them to an extent from looking at the written words, but the atmosphere changes completely depending on what angle you look at them from. I think they’re considerably more technical than the lyrics I wrote in the past. Since I’m still not singing about my own messages or assertions, I want the listeners to be able to enjoy my music in various different ways. They can still have fun speculating about the meaning…but I hope they’ll sense that the flavouring has changed a bit.
—Even though you aren’t using obscure vocabulary, your fixation with words hasn’t changed.
Right. Since the theme is “the changing of seasons,” I’m singing about something ambiguous and uncertain, so I’m trying not to use firm words. I also used to use a lot of katakana words, but this time I toned them down. In the case of “Petrichor,” I specifically chose words that felt round like raindrops.
—The upbeatness of “Summerholic!” felt very new. Did this song also come about because of the “seasons” theme?
This song was created to coincide with the release timing. The MV is rather cheery too, in a way that seems like something’s wrong with my head *laughs*. During the spring I was spending more time at home, so I decided to make a ton of demos. As I was playing my guitar, I came up with the first riff in “Summerholic!” and thought, “This is a really happy riff. Oh, this must be a summer song.” The same thing happened with “Palette”—I thought the first riff was autumn-like. It was like, once the theme was set, the missing pieces were filled in. I think the lyrics also came along cleanly because of the central “season” theme.
—Did you suggest your own ideas for the arrangements too?
I definitely don’t do any actual arrangement, but for example, for “Petrichor” I said, “Please use this riff, and add noise guitar at the halfway mark.” But I can’t play the detailed phrases by myself *laughs* so I leave those to the musicians. It’s fun to have things added to my songs that are outside of the scope of my imagination.
—When you’re composing a song, where do you start? The melody, lyrics, the underlying setting, or something else?
I think the melody comes ahead of the lyrics more often, but ideally I’d be able to do both at the same time. They’d match up better that way, and I think it’d result in broader appeal to listeners. When you take the time to put thought into writing lyrics, it takes a bit longer for them to reach the listeners’ subconscious. In my songs, when the melody is going up on the scale, I’ll intentionally create a discrepancy by putting words that go “down” in how they sound, which is a sort of technique. But in reality, I think it’s nice to be able to come up with both melody and lyrics at the same time.
For this series, it’s as I said earlier—the riffs came first. “Palette” came about when I was stuck on “Petrichor.” I had a general idea of what “Petrichor” was going to look like, so I decided to take a break and play some really loud, distorted sounds on my guitar. As I blasted my guitar through my headphones, I came up with the first phrase in a “I like this kind of thing!” way. I recorded a prototype up to the first chorus, using some random language that wasn’t even English. I think a lot of the nuances from that random language remain in the lyrics now.
—Are you insistent on changing the lyrics to Japanese while keeping the nuance?
Yes, when I first began writing songs, I’d use arbitrary English for the lyrics, but that always made the melody turn into something Western-style, so I started resolving myself to Japanese. Lately I’ve been thinking that English might be fine too, but I feel like I’ve gone back to Japanese anyway *laughs*. Since “Summerholic!” has a Western feel to it, the prototype had an English line that went ♪I have to say you good-bye~♪ which fit really well. I struggled a lot because there wasn’t any Japanese that could surpass it. It would’ve been fine to leave it in English, but when I’m writing lyrics, I don’t really like to combine Japanese and English. I want to challenge Japanese pop music…out of respect for Kusano Masamune-san. *laughs*
—I see! That makes sense.
I also care a lot about the appearance of the kanji themselves. In the case of “rain” (雨), I like how “ame” sounds, and I like the kanji itself too. So looking at the lyrics card is fun, and reading the lyrics is fun—I hope it became a song that’s enjoyable in a variety of ways. This series is being released digitally, but I do want my next release to be on a physical CD.
—I hear that you don’t just do the composition and lyrics; you also think about the work as a whole. Do you feel like you’re acting the part of the protagonist?
Yes, I do. Rather than creating songs as a representation of myself, it’s more like writing a novel or a film. But that doesn’t mean my songs are purely stories either. They merely depict a certain “state”—in the case of “Petrichor,” I turned “the state of a person in the rain, walking with a strangely happy swing in his step” into a song. So when I think of a theme, it feels like, “Even though it’s really sunny, I want to write about a rainy afternoon garden.” In the case of “Palette,” I wanted to write a song using the element of “walking along a path with lots of fallen leaves and suddenly feeling lonely”… But like I say every time, the lyrics I write aren’t about myself, so it’s not that I’m lonely or anything. I generally don’t refer to what the character is thinking, instead portraying them from an objective view, like a camera. Things like happiness and sadness are for the listener to feel. It might be that I like expressing feelings, scenes—things that don’t have names—in other forms. So even when I listen to “Petrichor,” sometimes I think it’s really fun, but sometimes I think it’s scary. That’s how I’m distanced from the song. There are also times when I read everyone’s interpretations and think, “Oh! That could be true.”
“The way I write songs changed after I became a voice actor. I think these two jobs interact well with each other.”
—It’s been about two years since you began being a composer and lyricist with “Date.” Has your approach changed?
It’s not so much that it’s changed in these last two years, but more that the way I write songs changed after I became a voice actor. I don’t think I would’ve been able to write the lyrics for “Date” if it weren’t for the experience I received through character song work. The way I compose songs is also heavily influenced by my voice acting work, and I think these two jobs interact well with each other.
—You said that with Chapter 2, you want to release the genres and settings that weren’t chosen before. What do you think your future direction will look like, specifically?
The songs that I wrote as a hobby when I was a teenager were mostly dark. I often wrote songs that faced inward, rather than outward. Some of my released songs like “C” and “Rutsubo” also have a dark, dangerous flavour, but those are still quite mild in comparison. From here on, I want to go in deeper and make something darker and more introspective. My musical roots lie with the Japanese bands around the 2000s, with their introspective and literary lyrics—like ART-SCHOOL and GRAPEVINE. Those songs really saved me, and I resonated with them. I want to keep those roots while making music that’s more incomprehensible, like using an irregular metre, or never repeating any phrases and getting to an F-melody *laughs*. I want to expand my definition of “pop music.”
—So you want to reopen the metaphorical drawer of music that you wrote before becoming a voice actor.
Indeed. I want to try making something based on my roots, or rather, based on what I like, and if everyone thinks “This doesn’t feel right,” then so be it *laughs*. I’m still going to be optimistic about trying it once. I think the advantage of being a voice actor artist is that you don’t have to restrict yourself to a single style of music. Regardless of whether my next song is Showa-era pop or EDM, it’ll still be accepted as Saito Soma’s creation. I want to make use of that advantage. Of course, it’s not out of complacency, but rather that I want to see how far I can go.
—I’m looking forward to seeing what kind of music you’ll create now that you’ve unleashed yourself.
Hahaha. Something I’m working on right now is fairly post-punk, and the new lyrics I’m writing for it are pretty crazy *laughs*. I hope I’ll be able to release something with a bit of a “not right in the head” feeling that I haven’t done before.
