The Dolby Cinema and Dolby Atmos versions of the animated feature film "Look Back" (directed by Kiyotaka Oshiyama), based on the manga by Tatsuki Fujimoto, known for works such as "Chainsaw Man," have been showing since September 13th. The three-dimensional sound of Dolby Cinema and Dolby Atmos further immerses the viewer in the film. The beautiful and delicate music was composed by Haruka Nakamura. The original author, Fujimoto, was listening to Nakamura's music while drawing the film, which prompted him to ask her to compose the film's music. We asked Nakamura about his thoughts on the film and the behind-the-scenes story of the music production.
◇Improvised on the piano while watching the footage
--What was your impression after reading the original work? Did you relate to it as a creator?
Just like the protagonists who spend their time working at their desks, I think that creators, including director Kiyotaka Oshiyama, the original author Tatsuki Fujimoto, and myself, face many lonely times. In life, we go through separations and losses, and various tunnels of darkness, but we still search for a little light and move forward toward hope. Director Oshiyama, Fujimoto-sensei, and I are all originally from Tohoku and grew up in the north, so we all faced the lonely hours of long winters while creating our works, and I think we shared a lot of deep, common feelings. When the three of us talked after the release of the film, we also talked about "winter time in the north." For example, when snow falls, the sound disappears, and it's quiet. It's a scene where you wait for the distant spring, as if winter will continue forever.
--What did Director Oshiyama request?
Director Oshiyama requested that "Since there are many scenes in the film that are not explained through dialogue or words, I would like you to express the emotions and scenes through music." As one of the readers who was moved by the original work, I tried to create the music as pure as possible, based on the music that was ringing in my head when I first read the manga, and the inspiration I got when I saw the images created by Director Oshiyama. Among the director's requests, the scene that was particularly interesting was the four-panel manga drawn by Fujino. "Try making it using only instruments found in elementary school music rooms." Since it's a four-panel manga drawn by an elementary school student, I asked them to use familiar instruments that elementary school students would think of. I went back to my memories and made it using the sounds of melodica, recorder, accordion, xylophone, etc. I actually use a lot of those instruments in my regular music, so it was fun making it. Also, the introduction at the beginning is a scene unique to the movie that doesn't appear in the original work, so I asked Director Oshiyama to explain to me the flowing image he imagined of the sky descending to Fujino's back, and we shared that and created it.
--You previously said that you "can't even read music." How did you create the music this time?
Yes. I'm ashamed to say that I'm not very good at music. My mother taught me piano until I graduated from elementary school, so of course I can read it if I take the time... (laughs). It's quite enviable to be able to play it fluently at first sight. Apparently, even as a child, I was a troublesome student who would roughly grasp the music score and interpret it as I heard it with my ears and play it. And maybe it was also influenced by the fact that I was obsessed with the guitar from the age of 12 to my mid-20s and didn't touch the piano at all. I practiced the guitar on my own, so guitar chords and TABs are different. My style of playing improvised hasn't changed since I was a child. I like sounds that are pure and have particles of joy that well up. So for this work, I first improvised on the piano while watching the video. I value my initial inspiration. So I don't write music while writing it down, and I don't write down the music I create on the spot. I want to play everyday, honest things that even a child could play. I want people to feel familiar with it and think, "Maybe I can play it right away too?" I want them to want to play it.
ーーWhat do you think is the appeal of urara's song, who sings the theme song "Light song"?
Urara was originally a girl in a choir. When I met her, she was still in elementary school. Since then, she has been the main vocalist for my music. The songs she sang at that time were songs of hope that move from darkness to light, like hymns without lyrics, that see music as "prayer". Her representative works include "Hikari" and "Curtain Call". We have been working together for about 10 years to create songs that are in line with the concept of the theme song for this work. And this time, we wanted to make sure that the theme song is part of the movie's music, and that it is a unified worldview. Urara does not usually do musical activities. She has a beautiful, clear, and very pure singing voice that seems to fall from the sky, just like when she was a child in the choir.
There are no specific lyrics for this work. I agree with the director's intention to not add any lyrics, but the words urara sings are the words that came to me along with the melody that I recorded in the demo. She wrote down the pronunciation that she heard with her ears in a notebook and sang it. This time, urara herself was a big fan of "Look Back," so I was happy to have been able to understand her feelings deeply in the story even before recording.
◇Nujabes's big influence - I empathize with the story of the two people in "Look Back"
--What was your impression of the finished video?
As I mentioned earlier, the music production stage was still in progress at the same time, so I was overwhelmed by the finished animation by Director Oshiyama, which was far beyond my imagination. When I listened to the director's story, I could tell that he really dug deep into the details and drew it until the very end. The energy he had at his desk was incredible, and I think he had a positive energy and influence on everyone on the film team. Personally, I have always loved animation, and in this work I felt a strong affinity between the video and my music. I have always been looking forward to creating music for animation, and I am honored that my first work was with Director Oshiyama and Tatsuki Fujimoto, and I am very grateful to have been involved in this film.
ーーWhat were your impressions of listening to the sound in Dolby Cinema and Dolby Atmos?
When I first listened to it in the Atmos recording studio, I was surprised by the new sensation of the choir's chorus raining down from the sky. The chorus didn't just come from the left and right, front and back, but from the ceiling like a pleasant shower. I'd like to thank the engineers Toshihiko Kasai and Tomoya Katsuta for their ideas. Kasai is also from Aomori, and we've worked together on several projects as Team Aomori in the past, which may have deepened the northern country atmosphere of this work.
ーーYou collaborated on music with Nujabes. How have you been influenced by him?
Nujabes still has a large global audience and continues to be listened to by many people. He was my mentor, a friend who I worked with, and a benefactor when he emailed me the first time I released my music online. He passed away in a traffic accident while we were working on an album together. There are many parts that resonate with the story of the two people in "Look Back". The loss and light of the two people who walked the path of creativity also made me look back on my journey, and in that sense, I feel that the word "light" is once again the eternal theme of my music. More important than musical influences is the feeling that the time I spent with Nujabes will always remain in me as "another time".
"Look Back" was announced in July 2021 on Shueisha's manga app "Shonen Jump + (Plus)" and is a hot topic that recorded more than 2.5 million views on the first day. The story is about two girls who are connected by their single-minded passion for manga, but eventually their fates are divided by a major event. It is also a hot topic that young actors Yumi Kawai and Mizuki Yoshida, who are attracting attention as W (double), are trying their hand at voice acting for the first time. It was released in 119 theaters on June 28th and ranked first in the box office revenue rankings for the first week of release. Despite not being a large-scale screening, the film caught fire through word of mouth and became a huge hit, grossing over 1 billion yen in its third week of release.
