" GeGeGe no Kitaro GeGeGe no Kitaro: My Beloved GeGeGe" is a TV anime series based on the manga by the late Shigeru Mizuki Mizuki that airs every Sunday at 9am on Fuji TV and other stations from April 6th. The series' ending theme song, "Party of Monsters," was produced by Tetsuya Komuro and sung by Kiyoshi Hikawa (KIINA.), making for a spectacular collaboration. Komuro says he "looks up to" Hikawa, and Komuro says he "felt potential" in Hikawa, and we spoke to him about his thoughts on the song and what went on behind the scenes during the recording.
◇ "A perfect tie-up" As intense as Michael Jackson's "Thriller"
--Hikawa-san was in charge of the opening theme song " GeGeGe no Kitaro GeGeGe no Kitaro," and he has teamed up with Komuro-san for the ending theme song of this selection.
Hikawa: I'm very moved and happy to be able to sing the song of Tetsuya Komuro, who I admire. Komuro's work gave me the strength to live in my youth. I've always listened to Komuro's work and wanted to do my best, so I hope that by singing Komuro's songs as a singer, I can give strength to people in the future. Also, since I was chosen as the third theme song for the admired "GeGeGe no Kitaro," I hope this song will reach many people.
Mr. Komuro: TM NETWORK member Naoto Kine and KIINA. have been in contact for a long time, so I've heard him say that he likes Western music and he's always been recommending us to do something together. I saw his concert last year, and he did a lot of things, like TM's "SEVEN DAYS WAR" and "Bohemian Rhapsody" in Japanese, and I thought, "He's so versatile," and "He can sing anything," and I thought he had a lot of possibilities. I was into anime last year, and I was doing a lot of anime, like "Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Freedom" and "City Hunter." I heard that KIINA. had been doing theme songs for anime for a while, so I was saying that if we were to team up, it would be good to have an anime tie-up, and we got a tie-up that I thought was perfect.
How was the song produced?
Komuro-san: It wasn't something that came to me in an instant. I heard about it around November last year, and I spent about a month thinking about what to do. I thought it would suit KIINA. very well if I could aim for something that was like me but also modern. I also thought it would be nice to mix the parts that KIINA. can sing with modern rap-like elements, so I made it. I had an image of something like Michael Jackson's "Thriller" in my head, so I hope KIINA. will work hard on it in that way.
In Hikawa's music video, I did some really intense choreography. It was a bit intense, so when I did the full chorus, my heart started beating. But I think it's good to have palpitations.
Not only is Komuro-san's choreography fun, but it's also a fun subject. I think it would be easy to create the stage and set for the MV. If anything, I hope he continues to work hard and that this year's Halloween will be the peak (laughs).
◇New song about betrayal and challenge: what is good and evil?
-- "Party of Monsters" is the first new song for Hikawa, who resumed his singing career after a year and eight months last summer. How do you feel about it being the ending theme song for "GeGeGe no Kitaro"?
Hikawa: I've been watching GeGeGe no Kitaro since I was a child, so it's a great honor for me to start with my third theme song, and it feels like Kitaro is pushing me forward. With the help of Komuro, I hope this song will help me expand my world of songs. I think the public is stuck on the image of "Hakuun no Shiro" from last year's Kohaku Uta Gassen, and expects my new song to be enka, but I've completely betrayed that with this song. Betrayal is important, and I want to continue singing various songs, so I'm excited to be off to a good start.
--It's a dance music song with rap in it. What did you think when you first heard it?
Hikawa-san's singing style is something I've never done before, and it's a rap-like work, so I feel like I'm taking on a big challenge. During the recording, Komuro-san kindly told me to "sing little by little," and he worked with me for a long time, so I wanted to respond to his request. That kind of back-and-forth became my energy, and when I heard the finished product, I thought, "Oh, this is so much fun." I guess you never know until you try it. When I was doing "Limit Break x Survivor" (the opening theme for "Dragon Ball Super"), I said, "I can't sing it, I can't do it," but I think that was actually a good thing. It's like a jinx for me. So I think it's important to challenge yourself no matter how old you are. I'm 47 years old, so I thought, "I can't do it anymore," but I gained confidence and thought, "It's okay."
--Mr. Komuro, what did you think when you heard Mr. Hikawa's singing voice?
Komuro-san is used to the long notes in enka, so in this song, which has short notes, specifically a string of 16th notes, there were many parts where KIINA. couldn't use the professional techniques she has acquired over decades. Sometimes she suddenly sounds like a child.
It looked like Hikawa-san .
Komuro: However, I was wondering what to do about that gap. At first, I was searching for a new way of singing without losing the KIINA. style. I tried various patterns and versions and saw which one would fit. I tried making something that wasn't rap-style, something that KIINA. could sing, but I decided to go with this one because I felt that it had more impact (rap-style). Also, the lyrics and what I wanted to convey to everyone were better suited to this melody.
-What did you keep in mind when singing, Hikawa-san?
As Hikawa-san and Komuro-san said, because the notes are short, sometimes I sound a bit like a child, so I thought I had to sing like a professional. Anyway, I listened to the demo tape all the time and tried to sing it. I chanted it like a spell, like a sutra. I thought that was the only way. The demo tape I received from Komuro-san was already perfect, so I thought about how I could make it better so that I wouldn't make it worse, and whether there was a reason for Hikawa Kiyoshi and KIINA. to be here. I was allowed to give my opinions, even though I was cheeky, and I felt very passionate about it. So I felt a tremendous love for this work, and it's an important work to me.
Komuro-san is originally a performer and singer, so I thought it was a good thing for him to pursue that, and I thought it would be good if he pursued it to the end, so I got involved. I have things I want to convey, and I think that KIINA. will continue to convey them as a performer in the future.
--What part of "GeGeGe no Kitaro" did you focus on when creating this song?
I watched the Komuro-san anime, and it was like the monsters, including Kitaro, and Kitaro was an anti-hero. I also thought that there was a self-deprecating element in the fact that he was a monster who defeated monsters. I also looked into Shigeru Mizuki Mizuki, and found out that he had experienced the war, and that he returned safely and was able to draw the manga he loves. His war experience made his standards of good and evil different from other people's. That's a very good thing for an artist, but I think he was projecting that onto his manga, asking himself, "What should I consider good?" I thought he wanted to convey that whether monsters or humans are good, which is good and evil, depends on the time and the situation. In "Party of Monsters," he conveys all about the global environment, global warming, politics, and war. He replaces that with monsters, and I'm trying to convey that people who aren't monsters are the ones at fault.
Continued in interview (2).
