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entracteofevil · 3 years

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Round Table Discussion with the Cover Illustrators

Entr’acte of Evil, page 142-145

--First, everyone please introduce yourselves.

Ichika: I’ve been responsible for the first cover and the illustrations for the series. My name is Ichika.

Suzunosuke: I am Suzunosuke. I normally just draw what I want to. I was able to make the cover for the second book.

You: I am You, and I was charged with the cover for this book. I’m really nervous, but I look forward to being able to do this interview with you.

--When did you all first start making illustrations?

Ichika: Since I could first remember. I don’t recall it all that clearly, but by the time I was in first year I was already drawing.

Suzunosuke: I think it was about middleschool. Apparently when I was a kid my parents were consulted by my teachers on the fact that I couldn’t actually draw pictures.

--You couldn’t draw pictures?

Suzunosuke: Even when I was made to stay behind by myself in kindergarten, the only things I drew were like little pictures of flowers on my drawing paper. It wasn’t that I was sick or anything like that, I was just a normal kid who couldn’t draw.

--I see, that’s very unexpected. What about you, You-san?

You: I don’t clearly remember when I first started drawing as a hobby, but my first picture was when I was three years old, and was a portrait of my caregiver in nursery. Back then I always wanted to use every color of crayon I had, and I guess the fact that I’m still always using rainbow colors even now just goes to show that what you learn in the cradle you carry to the grave.

Suzunosuke: I think that’s cool.

--Incidentally, when did you start making pictures related to VOCALOID?

Ichika: I think around 2007…maybe? I remember the first time I drew Miku was after listening to Yuuyu-P’s “White Season”.

Suzunosuke: I don’t remember how many years ago it was, but I feel like the first thing I drew was Kurousa-P’s “Cantarella”.

You: I listened to VOCALOID the first time in the winter of 2007, so I think it was probably around that time.

--So then, when was the first time you encountered AkunoP’s work?

Ichika: It was right after “Daughter of Evil” was posted on Piapro. I had just finished up making a PV, and when I was looking for new content on Piapro I got drawn in by the title and started listening to it.

Suzunosuke: The “Servant of Evil” was on NicoNico Douga’s rankings, and when I opened up the PV it had a tag saying to watch it after “Daughter of Evil”, so I watched them in order of “Daughter of Evil” and “Servant of Evil” for the first time.

You: Like Suzunosuke-san, probably in the autumn of 2008. The “Daughter of Evil” had a lot of buzz when it was first uploaded! I saw it in so many places with Ichika-san’s illustrations~ It feels so strange to see it having taken this form so many years later.

--Suzunosuke-san and You-san, this was the first time you’d seen a song that used Ichika-san’s illustrations, wasn’t it?

Ichika: I’m sorry for being alive…

Suzunosuke: Sorry, haha

You: Hey, hahaha

Ichika: I’m honestly really shaking here, haha

Suzunosuke: Maybe we should reply with “You’re a very wonderful person” ha ha.

-(Laughs) So what was everyone’s thoughts on the work when they saw “Daughter of Evil” and “Servant of Evil”?

Ichika: I think the imagery in it was really easy to get emotional about. I also thought it was a really interesting concept that although “Daughter of Evil” and “Servant of Evil” had a really different feel to them, they still felt like part of the same story.

Suzunosuke: All else aside I thought it was really sad, and I kept getting stuck on the fact that Allen couldn’t be saved. Still, it was because it was such a sad story that I was captivated by it. It also really made me feel the potential of the VOCALOID genre. It’s a derivative work, but also original content.

You: At the time I had thought it was really interesting and unusual to make a work with such dark fantasy elements using VOCALOID. I also really liked how catchy the tune was. It was also really impressive with all the derivative songs and fanart that got uploaded as things went on. I think it’s a work that shouldered a main pillar of the VOCALOID community in its heyday. And it’s really cool that it’s continuing to spread around the world even now.

--What image do you get of its creator, AkunoP?

Suzunosuke: Given he’s got “Akuno” (of evil) in his name, I thought he might be a scary person.

Ichika: Generally the people who do DTM have a kind of science-y image, so there’s that. And when we actually met, I remember he was a lot like that image. Though he was a bit thinner than I had imagined. Maybe if Akuno-san had shown up to our first meeting with his sunglasses look I’d answer that his image was different, haha.

You: Before I met him offline…He made a lot of romantic-type works, so I actually wondered if maybe he was a woman. When we actually met, it was apparently right after he’d changed his look, so I was a little amused to see him wearing a leather jacket and sunglasses.

--Have you all met AkunoP-san wearing sunglasses?

Suzunosuke: I actually just brushed him off because I didn’t know who he was for a second. As a fan the way he is now is probably close to his image as AkunoP, I would think.

Ichika: I also brushed him off.

You: Everybody brushed him off!

--Well that was an unexpected outcome, haha. Next, do you have a favorite AkunoP work?

Ichika: I actually really like “Clockwork Lullaby”. I prefer the quietly compelling melody and lyrics. Aside from that, I remember when I listened to “Daughter of Evil” I was really drawn to it, wondering what other kind of work he’d done, so that left a significant impression.

Suzunosuke: I think that might be “Re_Birthday”. The flow of sin and rebirth is so painfully beautiful, and I always get misty-eyed no matter how many times I listen to it.

You: Like Suzunosuke-san, I like “Re_Birthday”. I really love the music, and as for the story of it I think it’s really great it has that theme of salvation.

--I see. I had thought that Suzunosuke-san might say “Lunacy of Duke Venomania”, so that was surprising.

Suzunosuke: I could also say “Lunacy of Duke Venomania”, but I don’t want people to think I’m someone who likes erotic content, haha. But that’s also another song that I really like.

About the Novel Illustrations

--How did you feel when you heard about the “Daughter of Evil” becoming a novel?

Ichika: I was simply surprised.

Suzunosuke: I thought it was awesome.

You: I thought it was awesome for Akuno-san. I thought there must have been so many fan’s voices there, and that kind of invisible strength was deeply moving.

--Ichika-san, in the first book you did the cover illustration as well as the ones in the book itself—What was something that was hard about that?

Ichika: I’d have to say highlights.

--Highlights…! Certainly you had to do quite the interaction there… Honestly, was there any point where you were like, “I hope these editors step in dog crap”? haha

Ichika: Nah, ‘cause ever since I’ve become able to put in highlights more seriously, so I’d say it was good practice, haha.

--Suzunosuke-san, you were asked to do the cover for the second book; how was it when they approached you for that?

Suzunosuke: I had thought for sure that they were going to have me just do a pinup on the inside of the book, so then I was kind of like, “Now what?” The others who’ve been involved in it are such amazing illustrators, so I wondered if I’d be good enough for it.

--Was there anything you had trouble with?

Suzunosuke: Drawing the two of them to be just adorable was a little hard.

--I understand you had a bit of revision going on…?

Suzunosuke: Oh no, I saw that as being good training in a lot of ways, so even now it’s a good memory for me.

--You-san, you’ve been asked to do a lot of color illustrations each time, and in this guidebook you were entrusted with the cover illustration. How did you feel after finishing your work?

You: I really like doing the pinups, and I’ll generally paint them as I like, but I dealt with the cover with some different feelings in mind. As a fan I thought that Ichika-san would be given preference for sure. And I’ve refined on my composition a bit looking over past work. I wanted to emulate the flow of things up to now, so like Suzunosuke-san’s work I made it very horizontal.

--Who are some characters that were fun for you to draw in this novel series?

Ichika: All the characters are fun to draw, but if you’re gonna make me choose I’d say Elluka…I had this sense of security while drawing her, like it wasn’t an issue if I made her look a little bit like a villain.

Suzunosuke: I’ve only drawn two characters, so that would be the harmonius Clarith and Michaela. That pair so really cute, so I like them a lot.

--Suzunosuke-san, are there any characters that you would like to draw?

Suzunosuke: I love old man figures, so I’m a bit intrigued by Leonhart. Though I know that’s probably not what you were looking for, haha.

Ichika: (after half a second) It is!

Suzunosuke: Yay, haha

--You-san, you’ve probably drawn all of the main characters at this point; are there any that you’re fond of?

You: Everyone’s fun with how cute they are. I think Riliane-chan is really precious with how her hair is done up. And then there’s the princely Kyle-san—for some reason I’m always grinning when I draw him.

--Please tell us the impressions you were left with as the story has developed.

Ichika: I wasn’t expecting the romantic love between Michaela and Clarith, so that surprised me a bit.

Suzunosuke: I was actually really surprised that the base for Michaela and Gumillia’s appearances were those characters in those other songs.

You: I was also surprised at Michaela and Clarith. I felt the books complemented the content that wasn’t expanded on in the songs, which made them have a lot of interesting points. I think it’s also pretty great that I can now listen to the songs with a fresh perspective.

--Conclusively, how do you think the story will develop in the third book?

Ichika: I think Kyle’s mom is gonna be the final boss.

Suzunosuke: Hmm, I think all of the countries might get wrapped up in the fires of war. All the preliminary announcements have a pretty foreboding feeling to them.

You: All will go according to the will of god (AkunoP).

--Please let us know any final thoughts you have.

Ichika: Thanks for having me here. I don’t know yet how the third book is going to go, but I look forward to being able to go through the novels again with you.

Suzunosuke: I’d be really happy if I could be with you on the sidelines. This interview has been great!

You: I’m really happy to be linked to this series and involved in the work in this way. Thank you very much!

--Thank you very much for joining us everyone!

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x0401x · 5 years

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Music Voice Interview with Jin

Who Jin is and what his real motives were for not yielding his continuous self-questioning during these five and a half years.

The merch creator Jin, who is a musician and a novelist, released the latest album of Kagerou Project, “Mekakucity Reload”, after about five and a half years. Kagerou Project is a complex series which, in addition to the lyrics and tunes that Jin produces, is also a combined work that has multilaterally portrayed its world-building, with the stories pictured in the musical compositions that Jin himself wrote being used as material. In this scene, it gathered great repercussion, and was also turned into animation.

Ever since the second album “Mekakucity Records”, in order for Jin to look into himself, there had been no releases of CDs with his name. The reason was that he could not bring himself to lie to the fans while being at a loss. During this period, Jin had been asking himself questions such as, “What am I?” and, “What’s the music I want to be making?”. It is said that the grasping of their answers was his trigger to write actively.

Amidst this, he uploaded the video of Shissou Word on YouTube at the end of 2017. Jin felt the response to that song. It can also be said that this work is an ambitious one, which loudly proclaims the resumption of his musical activities. However, why did he decide to turn back towards composing at such a timing?

This work is overflowing with Jin’s confidence, to the point he can say, “I want to think of it as the beginning of the five and a half years that it took to make this series”. What kind of feelings have been put into it? And what was this period for him? We have asked him about the true meaning of it all.

Translations Index >>

He can’t tell lies.

――It’s been over five years and six months until this work; what was the reason for you not to release any works in this meantime?

I was 19 back when I first submitted a musical composition using VOCALOID to NicoNico Douga. That was Kagerou Project. From then on it felt like I rushed my way through the next two or three years, publishing several pieces until the point where I was able to make the second album (Mekakucity Records, which went on sale in May 2013). For this, the fact I was blessed with a workplace that makes music together with me was also a big deal.

Still, human beings change in the process of leading their lives while making their own stuff, so I started thinking like, “I wanna try creating things more like this”. That also meant I was no longer musically compatible with the people that had been making stuff together with me. I think a certain something is right, and they, my partners and the people around them, think that something else is right.

This doesn’t mean that either side is wrong, just that what we deem as “correct” differed. Even in the middle of this, they would ask me, “Isn’t it better for you to be making (compositions)?” and, of course, I did feel like making them. But if I were to go along with that in order to produce them, I thought they would end up turning into lies.

The listeners are sensitive to this kind of thing, like, they’re not tricked that easily, so to say; I even now think that their hears won’t be so moved and they won’t be so touched by something I make in hesitation. I strongly felt back then that there isn’t much meaning in creating things like these.

So I thought that, firstly, I had to take time in order to find my own lifestyle and a means to get to know the way that many people think while producing stuff, until I could create something that would give me a good feeling and that I could puff out my chest and say, “This is the best of best” to those who would take it in their hands. Still, I didn’t think that I wouldn’t release it until five and a half years later (laughs).

In the end, this kind of sentiment in particular is strong in Kagerou Project after these five years and six months. The people who listen to it are younger than me, and children listen to it too. That’s why I really can’t lie as long as these kids are listening to it with pure intentions. I couldn’t bring myself to write songs that go like, “I’m having fun!” when I actually think, “I’m having a hard time”. I want to create honest works from these occasional feelings and my thoughts of “I wanna make this thing”.

But, although I didn’t release albums during this period, I did write the tracks of the anime and the like. In the middle of this, a few years ago, there was actually a time when a change happened within me in a certain sense, in which my desire that “this is the only thing I won’t yield about” solidified; furthermore, there were people that had me like, “I wanna make music with them”, so I’d found myself in situations where I started thinking that I wanted to try creating works with my name together with them.

I’ve been treading these five years and six months with care, so to say, rather than taking shortcuts. I came to think that I could create something good, and so I made this album.

――About your wish to make a work in which you could be honest with yourself, you also mentioned something that you “wouldn’t yield”. What exactly would it be?

In these five and a half years, my feelings changed. For example, while I used to think that I wanted to be famous, I also wanted to be praised by experts. Like, I wanted to get compliments from prominent music critics, and I wanted a load of views; there was a time when I was thinking about that stuff. But looking back, I wonder what use this period had to me. Anyhow, I even then believed that something remained the same, so to speak; that I should have in me at least one thing which I wouldn’t lose no matter what.

When I realized this, something changed. Also, in the past, I too often had the thought that losing to anyone was frustrating, but all of it vanished as well. What was left were things like, “I wanna keep making stuff that I won’t regret”. Like, “I don’t wanna tell lies”. There are people who say they enjoy the two albums I’d made before, but there’s also a side of me borne from half-heartedness that’s like, “But is it really okay the way it is?”. I believe this is positive, and when people say my stuff is good, I do think that it’s a precious world, but...

Whenever I was told that “it’s because this is the standard” or that “it’s because this is how music pieces are”, no matter what... I found myself thinking that if it went on, I couldn’t keep up.

As of late, it’s not like I don’t want to lose to anyone, or that I want to become famous, and I have no desire to be praised whatsoever; I just feel like the fact that I’m emotional, that only something similar to thinking, “I must definitely convey this to you right now”, is richly visible within me. This is why I thought I could make the album.

The theme “I want to say this to you” is precisely what’s prominent in the songs we’ve recorded this time. It’s the third one, and although that’s obvious, it’s my first time making three albums. Of course, I don’t know whether or not that was the right thing to do. But we had a lot of feedback, and it made my thoughts regarding the albums sparkle a little more.

Currently, there’s two of these songs uploaded, and when I see the reactions and all, it has me going, “I sure am being supported”; just like this, I was able to make clear the distance between other people and myself, as well as something akin to my goal in striking people with my stuff, and I was able to think of wanting to create an album through that, so this is my motivation now, and that’s the kind of album I deem the third one to be.

――It is also said that you were able to look back at it through the series being turned into anime in 2014. What you just talked about has a connection with this, right?

I think that’s precisely it.

The light novels acted as a trigger for him to take a new step.

――Meaning that you decided to leave the music aside for once and headed to the direction of pouring your strength into the novels. Through this, the song compositions also changed.

I made lots of attempts at experimenting during that time, so to say. Regarding the novel, back when the anime ended, the people around me commented, “You seem to be bad at this” about the way I wrote the story, and even I myself thought so too. About whether I can write stories... I’m doing my best at writing, but that wasn’t being conveyed to others. That’s why I began to wonder what exactly being told “you’re great at this” by people was.

But it wasn’t like I wanted to become great in the first place, either. For starters, the matters concerning my writing caught my attention before the music did. That’s why, after the anime was over, it felt like I was somewhat reeling about while trusting my senses. But it also felt like I was actually worrying. So I was like, “Then, let’s try to write the novels first”. I thought this was unmistakably going to turn into some sort of discovery, which would definitely be a big deal for the way I express myself through text, because, since this world only exists inside me, if I could convey something to someone with it, it would certainly become a thing of value for myself. Guess I had the feeling that the novel was always the axis during these three years...

I read many books, saw many people’s way of expressing themselves, and while writing the novels, many people told me that it “made them cry” and the like. On the other hand, I was also told stuff like, “the writing isn’t interesting” and, “the story is fun, though”, so it was chaos. I didn’t have a definite answer, so I began to think of all sorts of things.

From this, there was the song “Shissou Word”, which we uploaded at the end of 2017, and when I thought of writing the lyrics to it, unlike the way I had come up with themes until that moment, the theme came to me in a raw ore-like condition in that it had a proper focus. An incredible motivational power like, “I want to convey this” through the lyrics was already properly present before I made them. From that point, I managed to create the melody and composition, and I became capable of using strong words when writing the lyrics. It felt like I’d become able to write lyrics that I could say loud and clearly. If you ask me why I wrote the novels, I’d say it wasn’t exactly something calculated.

――So a change in your perception of creation happened through the novels. You also said that, from writing these novels, you also became able to reduce the number of words in the lyrics.

I sure was. In light novels, the word count is huge. You have to write down the directions too. I’m also in charge of the manga’s original story and the like, but I don’t give directions in those. I just write the dialogues. When it comes to lyrics, it already becomes even more abstract whether it’s dialogues or scene depictions, and the lines get blurry.

I wonder if it’s all about the vividness of the focus. I think lyrics are meant to go from vivid to faint. Still, the lyrics are in Japanese, so by the moment that something incredibly vivid comes to light, I isolate the blurry parts and, with few words, I have people enjoy the sentences and also enjoy them myself in a sensorial way, rather than in a rational or emotional one. I believe I became capable of doing that.

I think this is actually because I had the novels. I kneaded it as much as I could and, through pondering over how I should convey the story or what I should do about its mechanisms, the circumstance where I was able to use words and sing freely turned into a coil spring for me. I could certainly see from various different points of view. Either just around the time when I had finished this song or right before I started it, the answer to those questions appeared.

――About the novels you’ve published up to now, do you write the stories already envisioning the ending from the get-go?

That’s right. There was a scene that had me like, “I wanna end it here”. But there are many patterns. When I tried writing the novel as it is, things turned out the way they did far beyond my imagination. When you first attempt writing, doesn’t the story move forward from that one viewpoint? Back at the stage of planning the plot, I thought of doing it a certain way, but I’d be like, “Humans don’t think these things”. For example, in scenes where people aren’t getting along, I’m like, “The mood will darken if they say this kind of stuff, so won’t they be on bad terms?” and since that’s the type of friendship I’m writing about, I change the story here and there.

If I were to say it, the theme is more important than the beginning and the end. Like “how I want the reader to view this character” and “what I want them to reflect on”. I hold autograph sessions and the like, and whenever a small child comes towards me, I think along the lines of, “I wanna talk to this kid more”, but I’m not in that position, so I believe what I can do is to convey the things I must – in other words, the themes. I think they’re the most vivid ones.

This is an era in which music is at people’s reach.

――I feel that music is becoming a combined form of art. There are lyrics, sound and images. Promotion videos have existed since the past, but I believe the things that spawned from NicoNico Douga – as in “covers” (utatte mita) and “Vocalo” (VOCALOID) played a large role in tying it together even more. What do you think about this?

Indeed, I do think that music is present in many moments. For example, when I’m watching an animation, I deem the songs and OSTs, even the music just playing normally in the background while the acting is going on, as extremely complex, and I think this is unmistakenly the instant in which the music manifests an effect. Of course, songs paired to videos and MV culture have existed since long ago in NicoNico Douga, but when young children started wanting to watch MVs instead of listening to CDs, that field was specially strong in it, myself included. It was a time when they were like, “I wanna go to live concerts” and, “I wanna see this in an MV”. If you say music is becoming composite, I also think so.

――I think videos take shape because they are displayed, but music can’t take a shape. I have the feeling you are somewhat challenging that.

The new song I previously uploaded also doesn’t get into your head if there’s only words, like, “Are there really people like this?”. When something is inserted in a song, you have the feeling that it’s being drilled into you, so to say; songs have this sort of efficacy, but it’s not like this is elucidated by them. They merely turn out like that because I planned and made them that way. It’s no short amount of fun for me as well when people have some kind of reaction to them.

Indeed, it doesn’t last; music is ephemeral, so to speak... For example, I think paintings and the like are awesome. If you show someone a painting, it takes only an instant. Not even a second later and people are already like, “I’m moved” and, “This is wonderful!”. Music has to be performed when you have an opportunity to play any sort of sound, with equipment and within a time limit, so it takes a bit of work. It’s not something that exists concretely, so you have to reproduce it. I think that, on the other hand, there’s an amusing aspect to music because of this, but there’s also a difficult one.

Aren’t we able to listen to songs just fine with earphones and the like thanks to the viralization of smartphones? I believe this is an era in which it’s become incredibly easy to listen to music. That now is a time in which music is close to people. From now onward, since there are people who present many different types of music and ways of associating with each other, several other types will be generated on their own accord. I also want to keep on doing that and having fun with it.

The keyword is “friends”. || His obsession with sound.

――What kind of work is the latest one that you made in this meantime?

It’s a work that has “friends” as its keyword. I think it’s an album that includes something like my thoughts regarding my own friends. Even though I say “friends”, it’s not “friends who are my age”, but “vs. adults”, “vs. my past self”, “vs. the person I like” and such. It’s an album in which I’ve inserted my thoughts about people who are the opposite of me. Of course, there are also songs that are easy to grasp, like, “Is the friend who I used to play with doing fine right now?” and there are also lyrics in which I fret over being unable to comprehend my sense of distance regarding others.

These five and a half years were really hard ones in my life, and I believe they were a period in which I’ve changed. Like, I was completely betrayed by someone I had a lot of faith on back when I was making the first album. In contrast, I thought I had been the one who ended up betraying them instead. I thought human beings were extremely complicated. What scaried me the most was that there was no malice to it. It’s a moment in which the other person probably isn’t the bad guy and neither am I; something like that. There’s a moment in which one human being and another can’t become happy with the sense of distance between them no matter what, and I think that’s exactly why I had a painful time and was troubled over it, so I believe this is a fitting theme for the current album.

Kagerou Project itself is a series that endorses friends and not being alone. Even now, I think this is right, but since no one can live on their own, they’re always worrying about someone else, and I believe that continuously coming up with answers through always taking action is most likely what life is about, so I also want to say this to the kids listening to my stuff.

This time, and also during that five-and-a-half-year period, I fretted a lot. Like, “Can I really live on with others?” and such. There was a point in which I thought this would be difficult, so I felt that this was also a theme and wrote about it.

――About the fact that the songs included in it are have a relation with your past works, is it because you feel like each story is linked through something that fits their thematic nature?

That’s right. It feels particularly like they took a two-stage stance. Probably, even people who didn’t know about Kagerou Project will also be emotional to an extent when listening to them. Of course, there’s the fact that one will be able to take something from them just by reading the lyrics too. On the other hand, people who have known the previous works are taking it as good things coming to those who wait. It’s picturesque whether you glance at it or see it with a general view, and I think there are many songs like that.

――The sound does a power-up, doesn’t it? It’s really good.

Thank you very much. I get super happy when I’m complimented on my sound.

――Does your experience with forming bands also have to do with the shape your music has taken now?

I quite have sounds in my head that I deem as the right answers for myself, but I indeed became able to express myself better due to the many experiences I had. Like writing the songs of the anime, or having times to listen to music more carefully. I wanted this sort of time when making the second album too, to tell the truth. This is also my anger venting at the fact that I didn’t even have time to worry about things like, “This one type of method is necessary for me to express a certain sound in my head; all right, let’s do it”. Like, hey, try to take a look at it; the current album has a better sound. I had this kind of ambition, and I’m happy to have been able to deliver it in a way that compelled people to tell me, “It’s really good”.

Rather than calculations or experience, I think my rage was what did it. Back in the day, I think that I had to dispel something I was worrying endlessly about, that I had to prove myself. Otherwise, those five and a half years would have been for naught (laughs). I wouldn’t like it if people ended up thinking, “This isn’t much different from back then”.

When I wondered about why these five and a half years had even begun, I concluded I had to make it into something that would have people thinking, “They began so that he could create this”. That’s the reason for something akin to rage from thinking “why” at the initial moments to be probably residing in my sound.

――The accoustic version is pretty emo, so this “rage” really comes through.

I’m angry (laughs). I’ve been creating stuff with absolute wrath lately.

――There are cases in art where rage can also be a driving force, after all.

Indeed. But even though I’m raging all over the place, it’s not like I’m thinking that I want to defeat anyone. Just as I said earlier, it’s not like anyone is bad, just that our senses of righteousness are different, and I can’t comprehend the distance between other people and myself because of this, so we’re unable to reach a mutual understanding. I really do have a lot of rage directed at this.

No matter how many words I come up with or make up my mind to be careful and do well in my relationships with people, none of that has much meaning. I do think that I’m extremely small before the absolute mechanisms of this world, but I believe music reverberates far more loudly than myself, so I think expectations were created from this and that these songs turned out as being entrusted with all sorts of wishes. In “Shissou Word” and the like, I’m also quite angry. I was really angry when I wrote, “Oddly enough, ‘normal things’ are difficult to achieve in this world”. That’s what I’d wanted to say when I was asked, “Why can’t you do normal things?”. It’s mysterious. People would talk about “normal” as if it were completely natural and be like, “How come it’s hard for you?”. For starters, what is “normal” even? Anyhow, a part of me exploded with rage, but in the end, it was impulsive.

――From the point of view of young ones, it might seem like you are speaking as their representative.

If so, that’d be good. I like THE BACKHORN because I spent a moment in truancy when I was in middle school and listened to them at that time, and turns out they’re a band that says everything I’d wanted to say. There was a song that went like, “This planet will burn down in an explosion”, and it had me thinking, “They’re the best!”. But I neither am THE BACKHORN nor am I trying to become them; as of late, I just thought it’d be great if I could do something like that within my own sense of justice, so I developed this sense.

――Thinking of it that way, the musical nature of this work might be very different.

That’s right. It’s indeed different. But it’s an extension of the musical nature of up to this point. I feel it’s moved forward. It’s not like I’ve built the rails because it changed, but it feels as if we’ve arrived to this station through properly piling the rails up. It actually hasn’t changed to me, but I think I might’ve made it into something that’s becoming a different thing.

――Meaning you were able to find out that you’re “a mystery”.

I think I’ve managed to! This really may be what I was most successful at doing in making this album.

――If so, you’re strong. I’m looking forward to now on too.

So am I. My rage is still all over (laughs). There are still things within me that I believe I must say, so I might be able to create good things. In the first place, this album is unmistakenly one that I want everybody to listen to, so I’d be happy if people listen and feel something from it.

――I think the way people understand music depends on each individual, but in the novels, many things are intertwined, so I feel that they showcase a different form of entretainment than what was being presented until now. Regarding the people listening for the first time, is there any way that you would like them to enjoy it?

To the people who are listening to this album, if there’s anyone to whom this album is your entrance to Kagerou Project, and if there was any point that had you moved, or if you thought that you empathize with the lyrics, please do read the novels. If so, you might be able to find a different type of enjoyment in it. The people who didn’t get particularly moved are fine, though. I want those who wish to enjoy music as music to listen to it the way they please. The novels and manga have the same kind of heat, so to say; they’re both things I’ve created while burning up with feelings and reasonings that don’t change from the ones I had when making this album, so the people who have become interested in them might have fun by taking a peek.

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