Intense feelings in her gentle voice. Kiyono Anno has released her long-awaited first single "Rocket Beat!

Kiyono Anno plays Kaname Buccaneer in "Macross Delta" and led the tactical music unit Valkyrie to a successful 2-day live performance at Yokohama Arena as the leader. Last year, she also made her debut as a solo artist and is releasing her long-awaited first single "Rocket Beat". The song has a big tie-up with the TV anime "Card Captor Sakura: Clear Card Arc" as its new opening theme. The light sound with plenty of strings is the theme song of "Card Captor Sakura. Having been a fan of "Sakura" since childhood, how did she sing "Rocket Beat"?

After Valkyrie's live performance, I concentrated on the production of the 1st single.

─ ─ The theme of this interview is the 1st single "Rocket Beat," but before that, let's talk about "Valkyrie 3rd LIVE 2018 "Valkyrie will never betray you"" held in Yokohama Arena in February. It was almost two months ago, but it was still fresh in my mind's eye. It was another amazing live performance.

Thank you Yasuno, the 2017 Yoko-Ali was like a dream, both when we were singing and afterwards, I was like, "Was that real?" It was like a daydream. But this year, I think the stage was set up so that the audience could dream by giving a good performance, rather than us, the members, dreaming. On the contrary, we worked so hard that we didn't have time to dream (laughs).

─ ─ You mean you were able to make the live performance evolve from 2017?

Yasuno: I think that is definitely true. 24 songs were performed over the two days, but the setlist was different on the first day and the second day, and the movements, standing positions, and MC were also different in places. The main flow of the show was the same, but there were many small changes, so I was very tense throughout the show.
The level of the dance tasks given by the teachers had also increased, and the producer told us, "I want you to surpass last year's Yoko-Ali in both singing and dancing. However, we had twice as much preparation time as last year, so it was a big help.

──So, since the beginning of 2018, you have been focusing on the preparation for Valkyrie?

Yasuno Yes, I started at the end of December and concentrated on January and February.

───What were the challenges for you this year, Mr. Yasuno?

Yasuno: On the first day, I was on stage all the time. The only time I was able to get off the stage was for the part where the guest May'n appeared, so it was extremely hard.

─ ─ As the leader of the group, you gave a steady performance, and I think the members were reassured by your performance.

Yasuno: I hope so (laughs).

───I was amazed at the big trick of having the main stage rise up and pass over the arena seats.

Yasuno: That was an amazing feature. The stage floor was transparent, so we could see the audience right below us, and all the members were waving to them (laughs). (Laughs) I think it looked as if we were flying through the air to the people in the arena. This year's production was even more elaborate than last year's, and I think we were able to give an extravagant live performance.

───Did you work on "Rocket Beat" in parallel with the Valkyrie concert?

Yasuno: No, as expected, it was impossible to do both at the same time. After the Yoko-Ali concert, I concentrated on my solo work and proceeded with the recording.