Expressing Stories through Music -- Wataru Hatano's Thoughts on the Anime "Dance with Devils" and New Single "Kakusei no Air

Hatano: Yes, she is very much like a sister (laughs). Ritsuka is surrounded by many handsome Akumas who try to seduce her in every way they can, so Rindo's mission is to protect her. Ritsuka is also an exorcist, so it's a big brother versus Akuma, with Ritsuka as the heroine in the middle. I hope that those who watch the show will enjoy it as if they were Ritsuka.

─ What do you think is the charm of "DAN DEVI"?

Hatano: The planning team of Rejet, director Yoshimura, music director Elements Garden, and other hit makers who are leading the animation industry have come together to take the time to carefully produce this work, which I think is both interesting and memorable. I am honored to be involved as a voice actor in this production, and the cast members are all very good at expressing music. ...... I have received a lot of good inspiration from them, and I feel that this will be a valuable source of energy for my future musical activities as well. Each character has a different genre of music, such as waltz, rock, and rap, so I hope you will pay attention to their musical charms as well.

─ ─ The opening theme of "Dandevi" is the new single "Kakusei no Air". It's a rock tune with a very fast-paced feel that draws you in at once.

Hatano: The moment I heard the demo, I said to my manager, "This is difficult" (laughs). As for my musical activities under the name Wataru Hatano, I started out with warm, life-sized music, and then I tried rock for the first time with "Hikari," my last album. I thought rock music was very deep, and then I decided to go further with "Kakusei no Air" (Awakening Air). This song is so fast that I couldn't even catch my breath, so I felt like I was running all the time. （Mr. Fujita of Elements Garden (who wrote and arranged the music) helped me for the first time with "Dandevi," and I think I was able to put it together in my own way because he was flexible enough to incorporate my opinions and ideas.

─ I heard that this was your first time working with Mr. Iwasaki of Rejet, who wrote the lyrics.

Hatano: There's a reason I said "difficult" at first. What is difficult is that there are so many words to one melody and the lyrics are condensed. This creates a sense of speed and passion, which I am sure will be conveyed to the listeners.

─ Which phrase in the lyrics particularly impressed you?

Hatano: "Come on, Rise to tomorrow! Time of awakening" in the B-melody. The rhythm was a bit heavy in this part, and the crowd behind me was shaking their fists and shouting "Rise! I imagined a crowd of people behind me, shaking their fists and shouting, "Time to awaken! During recording, Mr. Fujita and I discussed the idea of adding something like a crowd behind the main vocals. When I listened to the completed song, I was struck by the impression it left, and I hope that the audience will join me in shaking their fists and singing along with me at the live performance.

─ This is the first song under your name to include lip sounds.

Hatano: I use lip sounds about once a week in my voice-over work, so this may be a gimmick that suits me very well. However, I think there will be many opportunities to sing songs under my own name at live performances in the future, so I'm a little embarrassed about it and just hope that it won't get dull at ...... live performances. I think the sound will be clearer if you listen to the CD with earphones or headphones.

─ ─ Were you conscious of anything when you were singing?

Hatano: For recording materials, we receive "tentative songs" with vocals by a professional singer, and this time he sang in a V-type rock style. I am often told that my voice is mellow, so I thought that if I tried to copy his style, it would sound muddled, so I came up with my own way of singing. I have a solid singing style, but I hope my singing will make it somewhat dramatic. I wanted to bring out the luster and power of the song, so I was careful in that respect.

───How is the reaction of the fans?

Hatano: I have received comments such as "I became interested in anime because of the song" and "I am looking forward to the airing of the song," and I feel the real pleasure of singing the opening song.

──On the contrary, I think there are people who became interested in you after watching the anime.

Hatano: We are grateful for that as well. If you listen to the song while following the story, I think you will be able to interpret the lyrics from a different angle. I hope you will enjoy listening to the song for a long time, because I think you will be able to enjoy the lyrics from whose point of view they are written and what they mean, using your imagination.