Gundam LIVE EXPO - Century of Zeon" and "Thunderbolt" talk show report!　Music Director Naruyoshi Kikuchi and Director Hira Matsuo

A report on the "Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt" talk show has arrived.



Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt" is an anime work based on Yasuo Otagaki's manga serialized in Big Comics Superior. The director's cut version of "Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt DECEMBER SKY," which includes all four episodes that have been distributed since December 2015, plus new cuts, will be released on June 25.SKY"will be screened in theaters for two weeks from June 25 to July 8.

On June 12, "Gundam LIVE EXPO ~The Century of Zeon~," an event focusing on " THE ORIGIN," "Thunderbolt," "Gundam UC" and other latest works, will be held, featuring readings by Shuichi Ikeda and Megumi Ban, a talk show by Naruyoshi Kikuchi and director Kira Matsuo, as well as Hiroko Moriguchi, Chihiro Yonekura, and MIQ. Chihiro Yonekura, MIQ, Takumi Ishida, ICI a.k.a. Ai Ichikawa, and Aimer performed live. The event was organized by Harutoshi Fukui ("Mobile Suit Gundam UC" story) and Katsuyuki Sumisawa ("Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin" script), and each artist performed Gundam theme songs as if tracing the history of Gundam. The event enlivened the approximately 6,000 Gundam fans who gathered for the day/evening sessions.

Below is a report on the talk show by Naruyoshi Kikuchi, who composed the music for "Thunderbolt," and director Koh Matsuo.

How did you come to accept the project?
Kikuchi: I was offered the job, and at first I thought that they must have needed jazz for some reason (laughs). But when I read the original manga, one of the main characters likes jazz and the other likes pop music, and it was very well written. In fact, soldiers in the Iraq War and other wars listen to music with earphones in their ears and shoot many people with guns while aggravating themselves, and I thought the Thunderbolts are the same in space, I thought it was great that the Thunderbolts were depicted so realistically.
Oh, and I also made the soundtrack for the movie, so there are 6 tracks! I made a soundtrack for the film, and it will be released on June 15! (Pulls out a CD hidden under his arm.) The Principality of Zeon has told me not to advertise it (laughs). (He pulls out a CD hidden under his arm.) The Principality of Zeon has told me not to advertise!

What is the reason why you have appointed Mr. Kikuchi?
Matsuo: Because he is someone who the jazz world has no complaints about (laughs).

What do you think of the Thunderbolts?
Kikuchi: I'm really sorry. I don't watch any anime, not just Gundam, I don't read manga, I don't play games, and I don't do internet. I don't read manga, I don't play games, and I don't play the Internet, so I don't know how well it turned out, but the director and the rest of the staff were wonderful and treated me very well. I knew it would be different because it is a global content. Just like a movie, I was very moved when the images and music were combined.

What kind of order did you give Mr. Kikuchi?
Matsuo: At first, we wanted to ask Mr. Kikuchi to provide the accompaniment for the movie, but he suggested that it would be sufficient to use only the music that the two main characters (Io and Daryl) were listening to. After listening to some jazz references, I thought that this could be played in both battle scenes and everyday scenes, and I was in favor of using only the songs that they were listening to. I thought it turned out to be a great idea.

About the direction of the sound effects after the second episode
Kikuchi: Ordinary musicians usually finish the music and deliver it to the client, and the rest of the work is just sound arrangement. After the first episode, I received a call from Director Matsuo asking me how I liked the music, and I sent him my opinion that it could be better. I sent him a message saying that I thought the sound could be a little better. He then asked me to put up the sound for the second and subsequent episodes to reflect his opinion (laughs). (Laughs) In the first place, there was no one to adjust the sound, so Mr. Matsuo did it himself (laughs).
Matsuo：Well, Thunderbolt had a producer named Ogata, who was a bit off-kilter, and I am not familiar with jazz, but he asked me to put up the sound. I didn't want to get angry later (laughs).
Kikuchi: I wouldn't get mad (laughs). So from the second episode onward, I put it up together with Mr. Matsuo.

About the music members
Kikuchi: I had just produced an album for Junko Onishi, who is a legendary figure in the jazz world. Jazz musicians don't often watch anime, but they all know the name Gundam. We were lucky to get some legendary players to play on the track.
Matsuo：Onishi-san said during the recording that he thought it was a surprise (laughs).

About "Your Partner" by ICI a.k.a. Ai Ichikawa, which was performed on that day
Kikuchi: Thunderbolt doesn't have so-called "anime song" theme songs. For example, the main character, Daryl, listens to 7 or 8 oldies American songs from the 50s. So we have six vocalists and a lot of songs. The song "Your Mate" by ICI, who is usually a female rapper but joined Thunderbolt specially this time, is the most appropriate song for a festival like this.

Last but not least
Kikuchi: It's a bit presumptuous for someone who doesn't even know if this is Cool Japan or Japan Cool to give you a message, but I think this is a good piece of work. I hope you will also give my best regards to the event screening of "DECEMBER SKY"!
Matsuo: Sunrise Studio 1 is located in Kamigusa, and I have no idea how cool it is (laugh), but I hope that as many people as possible will see the work that everyone worked to death on there, and think that it would be okay to join the universe century. Please tell them that it was a great experience for me. Thank you very much for your continued support.