Staff interviews, January 2021

Prior to the announcement that Age of Yamato: Selections from 2202 would be delayed by the dirty rotten Coronavirus, the promotional engine was rolling toward the January 15 theatrical premiere. Within that brief window, Mantan Web published three interviews in a row and the Yamato 2202 Symphonic Suite CD delivered a new conversation with Composer Akira Miyagawa. All four of those interviews are collected here.

A Space Battleship Yamato compilation as a mirror image of our times ~ What will happen in 2205!

Interview with Harutoshi Fukui and Koichi Yamadera

Published by Mantan Web on January 1. See the original post here.

Age of Yamato, a compilation of the popular anime series Yamato 2199 and Yamato 2202, will premiere on January 15. Harutoshi Fukui, who wrote 2202, has configured this compilation with a new perspective. It summarizes the history of Yamato and humanity’s voyage from the 1969 moon landing to the arrival at Mars in 2042 to the Battle of Gatlantis in 2202. The appeal of Age of Yamato is that it’s not just a compilation.

We spoke about it with Mr. Fukui and Koichi Yamadera, who played Dessler in 2199 and 2202. We also talked about the upcoming Yamato 2205, The New Voyage.

Everything became clear to me with 2202

Interviewer: How did you meet Space Battleship Yamato?

Yamadera: The TV anime started when I was in the first year of junior high school. At that time, the image was “anime is for kids,” but this was amazing! I was hooked and watched it every week. Even before my voice changed, I was imitating Kodai. I also imitated Dessler’s voice, but I couldn’t get the words out. (Laughs) I learned that Kei Toyama, who played Kodai, also played Naoto Date in Tiger Mask! It was one of the works that made me aware of voice acting.

Fukui: I was still a little kid when it was popular, but in time the boom made its way down to children, and I watched the reruns. When I was in the fourth grade, I shed tears during the last episode in front of a black and white TV.

Interviewer: Mr. Yamadera, you play the role of Dessler. What did you feel while playing Dessler in 2202, which was written by Mr. Fukui?

Yamadera: In 2202, Mr. Fukui delved into Dessler, and everything became clear to me. His older brother is brilliant and has a complex mind. I was happy to see the past depicted. It was difficult, but the more difficult it was, the more rewarding it was and the more joyful it was to play.

Fukui: Dessler is a character that can be perceived in different ways depending on the work. In the first movie, he was a superhuman emperor, but in Farewell to Yamato he saw Kodai and the others in their human form, and then he realized that he was a human being before he died. He went from being an emperor to an exiled prince. 2202 follows the original story, but in a way that is easy to understand.

Yamadera: Keyman came out of 2202 and he’s on board Yamato, which is cool. At first, Dessler didn’t appear, so I thought, “What’s the deal?” (Laughs) But after I realized the connection, I started to love him.

As a result, it became closer to modern history

Interviewer: Mr. Yamadera, what did you feel when you watched Age of Yamato?

Yamadera: I thought it would be a compilation, but I was surprised from the beginning. I was impressed to see it from a new angle. Miyuki Sawashiro is also very active in the narration! It was like a news program.

Fukui: That was my goal.

Interviewer: Why did you choose the documentary style?

Fukui: What kind of age is “Age of Yamato“? It’s a bit of a stretch, but isn’t it the case that new aliens attack us every year? Is that too Manga-like? But in this day and age, disasters happen every year. I wouldn’t be surprised if aliens came next year, and anything could happen. We live in an age where Yamato can be portrayed as a mirror image of today. I made it a documentary so that people can feel that.

Interviewer: What was the core of the compilation? The story is told from Shiro Sanada’s point of view, which is also innovative.

Fukui: I think Yamato is the story of Susumu Kodai, so I wanted to keep that intact. However, if Kodai tells the story, it will be biased. I chose Sanada because I wanted to look at it from a different angle. Who did what? This is the basis of the human drama. I think that even people who have never seen the Yamato series before can easily get into it.

Interviewer: What was the appeal of Yamato that you felt again through the compilation?

Yamadera: It’s made in a documentary style, and it’s a very real story, not imaginary. There is a lot of anxiety in the world right now, so I felt it was very real. I was even more moved by the story told from Sanada’s perspective.

Fukui: Basically, I think it’s a copy of the modern world. I worked hard on it together with Yuka Minagawa (scriptwriter) and Junichiro Tamamori (concept advisor). In the story, there hadn’t been a war for 200 years, so I never thought of Yamato as a memorial monument. 200 years after overcoming various disasters and plagues, it would be like us living in a bubble. Then in the 2190’s, the clouds darkened because of the Martian rebellion, and as a result it became more like modern history. It’s an interesting point.

Depicting 2205 in a time of unrest

Interviewer: This year, Yamato 2205, The New Voyage will be released. What kind of film will it be?

Yamadera: I’m participating in the voice recording, but I don’t know what’s going to happen. There’s no explanation for the cast. You find out by looking at the script. Surprisingly, there are no explanations in other works, either.

Fukui: I’m sure it will meet most of the expectations of people who have seen the original New Voyage. What we’re doing is the same, but what we’re saying is different.

Yamadera: We’re in a lot of trouble right from the start. I’m suddenly tired. (Laughs) Yes! And then there’s a glimmer of hope…

Fukui: If 2202 was the mood ten years after the earthquake, then 2205 is depicted in a time of continuing unrest. I’m rethinking the current situation. The word “hope” tends to spin out of control, but in 2205 you can confirm its weight and importance.

Houchu Otsuka: the “special delight” of narrating Age of Yamato

Thoughts on Shiro Sanada, inherited from the “master”

Published by Mantan Web on January 2. See the original post here.

Age of Yamato, a compilation of the popular series Yamato 2199 and Yamato 2202, will premiere on January 15. What makes the compilation special is that it is told from Shiro Sanada’s point of view in the form a documentary.

The narration by Houchu Otsuka, the voice actor who plays Sanada, is impressive. We interviewed Mr. Otsuka after he had just finished the two-and-a-half-hour recording. We asked him about his passion for Space Battleship Yamato.

The responsibility and pressure of a big role

The first Yamato TV anime was broadcast in 1974, followed by Farewell to Yamato, Yamato 2, and later Yamato Resurrection. Yamato 2199, a remake of the first series, was shown in theaters and broadcast on TV from 2012-2014. The sequel Yamato 2202 was screened in theaters from 2017-2019. In this compilation, Harutoshi Fukui, who wrote 2202, has reconstructed the series from a new perspective. With new shots and new narration, it will be a record of battles etched in the history of mankind and the universe.

Age of Yamato is not just a compilation. The history of Yamato is told from Sanada’s point of view. Mr. Otsuka, who has been playing the role of Sanada since 2199, said, “When I read the script, I felt a sense of responsibility and pressure, thinking, ‘This is a serious job. This compilation will proceed through narration. I have to do what I can!’ I wanted to convey my feelings while doing it!”

Mr. Otsuka is very active as a narrator, but this was different from a typical narration. It is a two-hour film with a huge amount of dialogue. I was surprised to hear that Mr. Otsuka finished the recording in about two and a half hours.

He said, “The appeal of Yamato is concentrated in this high-quality documentary. It’s rare that there are so many lines. I didn’t want to overshoot the scenes, but I also didn’t want to rush it. If you rush, you will lose the character of Sanada. I was hooked and focused. When the timing was just right, it was a great feeling. I like narration in general, but this gave me a different kind of delight. It was hard work, but I didn’t get tired.”

Thoughts on the late Takeshi Aono

Mr. Otsuka started playing the role of Sanada in 2199. Previously, the role was played by the late Takeshi Aono. The TV anime Space Battleship Yamato was first broadcast in 1974, but Mr. Otsuka said he didn’t see it at the time.

“I was about 20 years old and had just moved to Tokyo from the countryside, so I was at a loss for work. I knew Yamato existed, but I was living in a tiny apartment and didn’t have a TV, so I didn’t see it. It was also the time when I was trying to become a voice actor. The people who appeared in the show were all extravagant and seemed to float above the clouds. It felt like a distant world. Looking back now, I wish I had seen it.”

For Mr. Otsuka, Takeshi Aono was his “favorite master.” He had a special feeling about taking over the role of Sanada.

“I saw Mr. Aono every day, and he took me out and bought me drinks. I had a lot of respect and affection for him, so when I was given the role of Sanada, I felt his greatness once again. Sanada is a strong but kind man with determination. I thought of him as the ideal of a man who has everything. At first, he seems cool and cold-hearted. Gradually, he begins to show a sense of humor, and I enjoyed watching him change. I tried to give him more than just a strong appearance.”

A passionate speech scene

Mr. Otsuka was particularly impressed by the scene of Sanada’s speech in Yamato 2202 Episode 26. It is also an important scene in Age of Yamato.

” ‘He [Kodai] is you,’ he says. It’s a good line, isn’t it? Sanada wanted to say this. I think he always had that in mind. They are all great phrases. It starts quietly and builds up. I got excited and was able to express my feelings naturally. It’s a long scene, and it was challenging for me as an actor.”

Yamato is about to celebrate its half-century of broadcasting [in 2024]. After being on the air for so long, it has been loved by various generations with the number of young fans increasing through 2199 and 2202. It has been announced that Yamato 2205, The New Voyage will premiere this year. Finally, we asked Mr. Otsuka about the appeal of Space Battleship Yamato.

“It has amazing ideas, dreams, and romance. First of all, there is the excitement of seeing Yamato flying in the sky. Then you can enjoy the big theme of human worries, feelings for others, feelings for the earth, and peace in the universe. It’s about the future. In reality, we may be facing the same difficulties as in the world of Yamato. We also want Yamato to help us now. Maybe Yamato is not just an imaginary world. What will happen in 2205? How will we face the difficulties? I’m looking forward to it.”

“Emo”: Why the music of Space Battleship Yamato and Lupin III continue to be loved

We asked Akira Miyagawa what they have in common

Published by Mantan Web on January 3. See the original post here.

The Space Battleship Yamato series has various charms, such as Yamato‘s modeling, the characters, the story, etc. and the music continues to be loved. Whenever there is a project like “Best Anison [Anime Songs],” Yamato‘s opening theme is always mentioned. Why is the music of Yamato so well-loved? We asked Akira Miyagawa, the son of the late Hiroshi Miyagawa (Yamato‘s composer), who wrote the music for Yamato 2199 and 2202.

Yu Aku’s lyrics, Nishizaki’s magic

Akira Miyagawa participated in performing music for Farewell to Yamato, which was released in 1978 and he worked on the music for 2199 and 2202. He is also a popular composer known for his work on the NHK TV series Hiyoko.

The TV anime Space Battleship Yamato was first broadcast in 1974, 47 years ago. Once you hear the opening theme, you will never forget it. The grand prelude and the song that starts with the phrase “Goodbye, Earth” have a strong impact. There may be people who have never seen the anime but know the music. Mr. Miyagawa said that one of the reasons the song is so beloved is because of the lyrics written by Yu Aku.

“You might ask, did they need to ask [such a famed songwriter as] Yu Aku for the lyrics? But I think it is largely due to Yoshinobu Nishizaki’s leadership as a producer that he asked him to do it. Wave-Motion Gun! Warp! If not for all those things, it might not have been loved as much.”

It was also producer Nishizaki who asked Hiroshi Miyagawa’s, Akira’s father, to write the music. Mr. Miyagawa believes that the “Nishizaki magic” was behind the birth of this masterpiece.

“From the very beginning, Mr. Nishizaki and the others thought that this would be a revolutionary anime! Before Yamato, Hiroshi Miyagawa also worked with Mr. Nishizaki on an anime called Wansa-kun, about a dog. Something completely different. But I think from that, Mr. Nishizaki saw that Hiroshi Miyagawa could compose for Yamato. It wasn’t a marketing theory, but a creator’s theory. I think that’s where the magic of Nishizaki came from. This first move was a big one. It was that first move that decided the game.”

The pleasure of melody

Why does such a famous melody attract so many people?

“I hadn’t done much research on the melody of Yamato,” Miyagawa said, before revealing some of the stories his father told him about the composition. “I heard that his orders [from Nishizaki] were quite detailed. For the phrase “Ya-ma-to!” Nishizaki wanted to lowered the octave. I think my father would have wanted to raise it. He loves flashy things. My father was impressed with Mr. Nishizaki’s order. He said, ‘It gets better, doesn’t it?'”

I asked him to analyze it in more detail as a musician.

“It’s a little technical, but the first melody is the A part, and the chord for “Sarabaaaaa ~ ” is C minor. The beginning of “uchu no kanata ~ ” is also C minor. The beginning of “ginga o hanare ~ ” is also C minor. Then, it returns to the C minor of the A part. A song that becomes very popular has many twists and turns. But sometimes, even if you open the door, the verse has the same chord. Usually, it’s at this point that you want to change the mood with another chord.”

There is also the theme of Lupin III, anime music which continues to be loved. Miyagawa says that Yamato and Lupin III have the same “emo” quality in their theme.

“Most songs are simply made up of the parts A, B, and A. Both Yamato and Lupin have a pause before returning to part A. The first few seconds of this pause are called ‘the dominant.’ To explain it simply, it means that you want to go back to the first chord. It creates an atmosphere that forces you to go back. You have to be patient and persevere, and then – finally! It’s a great feeling when you come back.”

“This is the most emotive part of Showa era songs. At that point, it would be cool if you deliberately didn’t go back and instead transposed the song to a completely different key. But that would take away from the emo feeling. I think that would be more Heisei-style [turn of the century] than Showa [20th century].”

Thoughts on the Symphonic Suite

The new Yamato 2202 Symphonic Suite CD, to be released on January 15, is the culmination of two generations of Yamato music created by the Miyagawas.

“I reconstructed the BGM heard in the story and made a new album as a Symphonic Suite. Symphonic Suite Yamato was created by my father Hiroshi and released in 1977. I aimed for a Yamato Sound for the Reiwa era.”

Mr. Miyagawa has a special attachment to the Symphonic Suite.

“I had the option of using some of the previous recordings, but I re-recorded the entire thing. Only about 7 or 8% of the score was unchanged. A mere collection of background music can be easily called a symphonic suite or a symphonic poem, but I couldn’t tolerate that. I thought we should go back to the basics and make it a story, like a full course of music, and have it be a real thrill to listen to throughout. I wanted to create the real drama of what a symphonic suite should be. You can’t make something half-baked. It was a 100-day project. I wrote sketches, lined up about twenty score books, and took my time.”

In addition to Age of Yamato, which will premiere on January 15, Yamato 2205, The New Voyage will also premiere this year. Space Battleship Yamato is approaching its half-century anniversary and it continues to be loved by people of all generations. The music that Mr. Miyagawa and his family have created together will continue to be loved for the next 50 to 100 years.

Akira Miyagawa Interview

From the Yamato 2202 Symphonic Suite CD booklet

The impetus for Symphonic Suite is three-dimensional

Interviewer: First of all, please tell us the reason why you decided to make this Symphonic Suite.

Miyagawa: The first reason is that I said I would at the Yamato 2202 concert in October 2019, so I had to. I’ve always thought it would be a challenge, and that’s why I declared it. It’s like there are two of me, the one who made me say it and the one who was made to say it.

It was the same thought I had the first time I heard my father’s Symphonic Suite Yamato (released in 1977). To put it simply, I thought, “This is it.” It was right around the time when I started studying classical music, which was different from the world of 3-minute songs, and in the world of film scores, a piece was often 4 or 4.5 minutes at the longest. The basis of such music is classical, and it takes about 40 minutes to listen to a symphony, right? I started listened to it when I learned that kind of music was the base. That’s what put the pin in it. “This is it.”

Symphonic Suite Yamato was about 45 minutes long, but I didn’t think such a work could be made up of modern, cool anime music, somehow familiar to me. The fact that something new had been born was good for me, and it was exactly the kind of thing I wanted to look for.

Progressive rock was very popular at the time, and it fit in with the way those musicians thought. Whether it was Pink Floyd or ELP (Emerson Lake and Palmer), their record had one song per side. One on the A-side and another on the B-side, right? In some cases, it was divided into several pieces, but I could really feel that they wanted me to listen to them as a whole. It wasn’t like pop where the songs could be sold separately (even if there were several on the record). What they were doing had the same concept as classical.

I thought, “That’s right. I have to make something like this.” I wasn’t told to make it, I had already started to think that I would have to make something like this someday.

Then, as an adult, I met Hitoshi Hitoki of Nippon Columbia. Every time I saw him, he would say, “Akira, I’d like to hear your version of Symphonic Suite. That was also one of the triggers. I think it’s been about 20 years now. Every time I’d meet him at a different job, he’d say it. (Laughs) I had a feeling that it was not something I could do easily. So at that time, I’d say, “What are you talking about? (Laughs) In fact, there was a three-dimensional overlap of such triggers.

Interviewer: How did you feel when you decided to join 2199 after that?

Miyagawa: It changed. (Laughs) At the time of 2199, I hit it off with Supervising Director Yutaka Izubuchi. We had the same ideas and thoughts about what we wanted to do. That’s why we got on the boat together. But where that boat ended up… “This will probably lead to Farewell.” (Laughs) I can’t stop myself from succeeding, and if I succeed, there’s always a next step.

The image became a little clearer to me that eventually I would say, “There’s going to be a Symphonic Suite.” But then it was like, “Don’t say that again. It’s too early. It’s not the right time!” (Laughs) Then, another switch turned on when I wrote a Garmillas song. “This is good,” I thought. “Well, that’s going to be in the symphonic suite, isn’t it?” In the end, it didn’t make it in, but that’s how I felt.

After that, I think when we were working on the second CD of 2202, Yoshie Terunari of Bandai Namco Arts (Lantis) asked me, “There’s a little Symphonic Suite in there, huh?” I thought that was true.

“How about this kind of structure?”

“This is going in, isn’t it?”

“No, that’s not what I meant.” I asked him to come to my house several times to have these conversations. It was still just for fun at that time.

100 Days to the Symphonic Suite

Interviewer: And then you made that “declaration.”

Miyagawa: The next question was when to release it, right? When I heard about Yamato 2205, I asked if we could make the symphonic suite first, and then start working on 2205. So we were planning to record Symphonic Suite in June 2020, but then there was the spread of the new Coronavirus infection, so all my plans for the rest of the year were cancelled. I couldn’t work, and of course I couldn’t record.

It just so happened that I had just finished all the work for the musical Tenpo 12 Years of Shakespeare that I was supposed to perform in February. The performance was cancelled and there was nothing in front of me, so I decided, “I guess this means I should write.” My mind was made up.

I started by watching the seven volumes of 2202. Then I did a sketch and wrote a score. It took me 100 days to reach the final line. If I hadn’t been in this situation, I wouldn’t have been able to do this. I think it would have been something completely different.

Interviewer: You were able to take your time and concentrate.

Miyagawa: I also studied how the first Symphonic Suite by my father was made. There was a lot going on there. Yoshio Kimura played the crying guitar. He is the partner of Hibari Misora. He only played melody. The song Scarlet Scarf became a samba. There were songs that were not in the anime. It seems to me that it was created quite freely.

And yet, when I got to the B-side, I started to cry with Iscandar. I was like, “We’re finally here.” Which is funny, isn’t it? Because it’s not in the order of the story. From there it starts to ramble again. It’s not like the 26 episodes of anime, it’s a kind of revival of the music in your mind. It moves forward in musical time. It was only 45 minutes, but I felt like I had watched all 26 episodes.

Interviewer: And again this time as well.

Miyagawa: Exactly. My challenge was that there must be something that can only be expressed in a symphonic suite. It was out of respect for my father and Yoshinobu Nishizaki. I felt like, “This is a culture that they created.”

Interviewer: The title of this Symphonic Suite has 2202 in it. Couldn’t you have made it at the time of 2199?

Miyagawa: If I had done it at that point, it would just be something like what my father made, dipped in batter and fried (Laughs) For example, a little bit of the Garmillas National Anthem would have been added.

Also, the ideas didn’t come freely. There weren’t enough elements, and it had to consist of elements that came out of me because you want to do the same thing Hiroshi Miyagawa did. To put it simply, I wanted to use the same system and experience the same process. Otherwise, it would be a lie, wouldn’t it?

In other words, I wanted to compose using the same process as Beethoven. That’s why I study classical music. I study everything from harmony to counterpoint because I want to compose like Mozart and Beethoven. I want to write my own music using the same process as them. It’s exactly the same with the symphonic suite for Yamato.

Interviewer: At the time of 2199, that element was still missing.

Miyagawa: Completely. Or it was just thin or short. In the end, it would have been the same as before. Just a re-arrangement with a slightly different editing of the musical accompaniment. Like making a playlist. Ark of the Stars was good for me, too. That’s when I was finally freed up. When the White Comet was played on drums, that’s when I thought, “Maybe I can go a little further.” So I moved on to 2202.

Interviewer: I heard that the way you ordered the music was different in 2202.

Miyagawa: That’s right. The sound director, Tomohiro Yoshida, seemed to be looking in at it from the outside. He tries to get the best out of me. But rather than saying, “Please make it like this,” it’s me saying, “I have something like this.” I’ll throw in a different pitch, or bring in some motifs from my old bookshelf. That’s what I do.

Interviewer: That’s how it accumulates.

Miyagawa: In terms of composing my own Space Battleship Yamato, I felt that I had taken a walk around. After 2202, the music has become richer. Once you have something to hold onto, you can fill in the rest. It’s a mixture of my father’s elements and my grandmother’s. If you get this far, you can do it.

So I thought, “If I’m going to write a symphonic suite, now is the time.” That’s what I thought during 2202, right? I had a vague idea of the answer to that question, so the next step was to declare it. (Laughs)

The new Symphonic Suite is a milestone for me

Interviewer: Is there any part of Symphonic Suite Yamato that you were conscious of?

Miyagawa: If I had made it at the time of 2199, I would have included a lot of motifs like Infinite Space and Iscandar. But I don’t dare to rely on them, because I don’t want to sum up my work that way. I’m still following it in mind and spirit, but because I wanted to make it as a new work, I didn’t feel like pulling in all those things.

The reason for this is that Kentaro Haneda already wrote the Yamato Grand Symphony [1984]. In April [2020], there was going to be a concert called Yamato Meets the Classics: Hiroshi Miyagawa and Kentaro Haneda’s Space Battleship Yamato. I was working on the score every day for about two weeks from the end of February, so I was also reading what ‘Haneken’ had written.

The second movement starts with the motif of Iscandar, and then his original scherzo comes in, and the last movement ends with Great Love. As I studied it, I thought, “I see, that’s how Mr. Haneda made it.”

If I hadn’t done it like him, it would have been just a summary, a compilation. It wouldn’t be the music that my father made, which is full of originality, a mass of ideas that pop out at you. It wouldn’t be music as a living thing, just a replica of my father’s music. Instead, I wanted to play in a completely original way.

Interviewer: This album is composed of seven chapters.

Miyagawa: I thought it might be difficult to understand, but it’s not in accordance with the screening version of 2202. These are the seven chapters in my mind. It’s not a compilation or a replica of the anime, and it’s not a replica of the Symphonic Suite. It’s not the same as any of them.

Interviewer: As with Symphonic Suite Yamato, the order is not the same as the anime story.

Miyagawa: Images have a life of their own. In the same way, music has a life of its own. They’re both the same, but the position of the heart is a little different. (Laughs) I want people to feel that. That’s what music is all about. There is a door to music on this CD.

Interviewer: It’s a door not only for the original fans, but also for the fans who came in with 2199.

Miyagawa: That’s right. It’s the same musical door, so everyone has to go through it. There’s a saying about how a story, when stripped of its branches and leaves, can be summed up in a few patterns created by Shakespeare and others. In today’s world, we are bombarded by them, aren’t we? A flood of remakes (Laughs). Of course, there is also respect, and the idea of being reborn.

Interviewer: When you made Symphonic Suite Yamato 2202, did you feel that rebirth yourself?

Miyagawa: I don’t know if it went well or not, but I think I expressed everything I had in mind, including my views on music and life and death.

Interviewer: Have you ever released any other music in the form of a symphonic suite?

Miyagawa: I have created many long pieces for theater, opera, musical, ballet, etc. As far as recording art goes, I did the image album of Extra Ring Fairy Kingdom, which was serialized in the manga magazine Asuka Monthly. The author, Harumi Ichino, told me that he was a fan of mine, and I have very fond memories of it. However, this is the first time I’m satisfied with a work as a symphonic suite.

Interviewer: Do you feel like this is a milestone in your career?

Miyagawa: Yes, it is. I’ll be 60 years old a month after the release date (Jan 15, 2021). I guess you could say it’s the culmination of everything I’ve done. And I’ll be peddling it at 60 (Laughs).

Interviewer: Finally, please give a message to everyone who’s been waiting for Symphonic Suite.

Miyagawa: First of all, please listen to all seven parts. It’s fine if you listen to your favorite parts over and over again. But please listen to it from beginning to end at least once. This is a single symphonic suite.

Also, this is not a dramatic accompaniment to anime, but a separate piece of music. When you have listened to this, please come to my other concerts as well. You have the right to come and listen to Brahms’ symphonies with impunity. Don’t be ashamed to go. Back when I did, I’d only heard Yamato Symphonic Suite, but there were a lot of other people who listened to it and they said they were classical fans. (Laughs)

At any rate, after you’ve listened to the Symphonic Suite that I put so much effort into, I’d love for you to hear more. This is my wish, not your duty, but I hope you will seek something else out there. Let’s get together under the banner of music.

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