Be Forever Yamato REBEL 3199: Akira Miyagawa x Shu Kanematsu interview
The music of Space Battleship Yamato is inherited
The first chapter of Be Forever Yamato REBEL 3199, the latest remake series of the popular anime Space Battleship Yamato, will premiere July 19th. The third movie Be Forever Yamato, released in 1980, will be reinterpreted and reconstructed into seven chapters (26 episodes). Akira Miyagawa, the son of the late Yamato composer Hiroshi Miyagawa, will be in charge of the music as in the previous remake series, but Shu Kanematsu is also credited.
Kanematsu is known for his work on many dramas, movies, and anime, including The White Tower, Ten Black Women, and Clockwork Planet, but this is his first time participating in the Yamato series. How did Miyagawa and Kanematsu end up working together on the music for Yamato 3199? We asked them about it.
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Akira Miyagawa (L) and Shu Kanematsu (R)
Shouldn’t we pass the baton about halfway through?
Interviewer: How did Mr. Kanematsu end up participating?
Miyagawa: The remake series started after I turned 50. I turned 63 this year. Ideas come out depending on how you stimulate yourself, so it’s not like I’ve run out of ideas. But I’ve been riding the same train for a long time, passing stations, and at the fourth station, I had a vague feeling that someone else should get on soon.
My father also started working with Kentaro Haneda in 1980 when Be Forever Yamato was made. I could have continued doing everything myself, but being overly obsessed with it is not good for my mind or body. Maybe someone will come along and make Yamato again in 30 years. The director of the anime has changed, and it’s not good for me to be the only one holding down the music. I think it’s time to hand over half of the baton.
Interviewer: Are you carrying on a tradition?
Miyagawa: It’s a natural succession. When I heard Mr. Kanematsu’s music on TV, I felt that it was close to my own sensibility, even if it seems presumptuous. It’s like a struggle. Musicians who play jazz and classical music struggle. My father also told me, “You like both pop and classical music, don’t you? Then you have to study twice as much as other people.” It’s inadequate to do both half-heartedly, so you have to struggle. There isn’t much music like that, but I felt like I was caught between the two and competing.
Kanematsu: I happen to be like that in some ways…
Miyagawa: There’s that same sense of struggle, and it clicked with me. It’s not smooth, it’s rough.
Kanematsu: I’d never met Mr. Miyagawa before, so I was surprised when he reached out to me. It was my first experience being approached by someone I’d never met before.
Interviewer: What kind of image did you have of Space Battleship Yamato?
Kanematsu: Of course I knew the song. We all sang it during music class without even knowing what Space Battleship Yamato was.
Miyagawa: “Sarabaaaa” starts in C minor. After that, it’s all in C minor. Some songs like that sell really well. Beautiful Sunday is one of them. It’s a song that’s very assertive, saying “It’s me! It’s me! It’s me!”
Interviewer: Did you watch anime?
Kanematsu: I didn’t start until I became an adult, after I moved to Tokyo in 2007, and I like SF, so I watched it.
Interviewer: What is the division of roles between the two of you?
Miyagawa: There’s no clear line between enemy music and that of the Yamato side. What is important is to create a proper melody. The melody is important in Yamato. I wanted him to grapple with that.
Kanematsu: I wasn’t given any specific instructions. I was conscious of previous Yamato songs, but instead of tracing, I tried to do it in my own style to a certain extent.
Miyagawa: He struggled. I thought, “This is it!” What’s great about him is that he sees this soundtrack as a work of art. He doesn’t just treat it as a scrap of music to be played with the video, but as a piece that can be properly performed in a concert. I was really knocked out.
Kanematsu: It’s incredible that I was allowed to participate in the music for Yamato. I wondered if I’d have to rearrange the old score, but he welcomed me as a partner, so I wrote it with a feeling of wanting to respond to his expectations.
Every time Hiroshi Miyagawa was at bat, he played melody
Interviewer: What have you felt from coming into contact with the music and score of Yamato so far?
Kanematsu: It’s all about melody, isn’t it? Everything has melody, and you can sing everything.
Miyagawa: My father called it “the spirit of the song.” It took me a while to understand that. He was born in 1931, so he experienced the war when he was in middle school and high school. After the war, Ringo no Uta became very popular. It was a minor key song, but it felt bright. The war ended and we became free. The minor melody sounded sweet and brilliant. I think there’s a hint there. When I was about 20 years old, my father said to me, “Why don’t you have a singing spirit?” I thought that was harsh. But maybe he thought I was a peace-loving person.
Interviewer: Are there a lot of soundtracks that lack a singing spirit?
Miyagawa: I think there may be a tendency to have less of that nowadays.
Kanematsu: Apart from my work, I’m only interested in melody. Of course there are cool pieces that don’t have melody, but it’s all about melody. It’s refreshing to see so much melody!
Miyagawa: Every time Hiroshi Miyagawa was at bat, he played melody.
Interviewer: Maybe that’s why his music endures.
Miyagawa: I don’t know what will endure, but something that was made in 1974 has endured for half a century. It was an epoch-making piece in many ways.
Interviewer: And that will be passed on to Mr. Kanematsu.
Kanematsu: Is it a heavy burden? (Laughs)
Miyagawa: Your position changes sometimes. I was a young man myself once. (Laughs)
Interviewer: Yamato 3199 has seven chapters.
Miyagawa: There’s still one more mountain to climb, right? Maybe two? It’s rare to see an anime recorded with such a lavish orchestra. There are 14 violinists alone. There are 30 string players.
Kanematsu: That’s a lot. They all play in the same studio.
The music for Space Battleship Yamato will be passed on from Mr. Miyagawa to Mr. Kanematsu. Each one is inspired by the other, and Yamato 3199 seems to be resonating with new music.
