K SEVEN STORIES" OP theme "SURVIVE! Interview with angela, who will appear on the July 19 broadcast of "Ani☆Ste!
Ani☆Ste," a ranking music program specializing in ani-songs, airs on J-TV (J:COM TV) and other stations every Thursday from 10:00 pm. Atsuko and KATSU of angela will appear on the July 19, 2018 episode.
angela released their 27th single "SURVIVE!" on July 18, which is the opening theme song for the critically acclaimed animated film "K SEVEN STORIES.
In this broadcast, the two singers, who just released their latest single, appeared on stage for a light-hearted talk. We asked the two, who had just finished recording, about the highlights of the broadcast and their passionate messages about ani-songs.
--Thank you for recording "Ani-STE"! You and MCs Kosaka Daimaou and Ryoga had a light-hearted talk, how did you feel after the recording?
atsuko: It was very interesting! As Mr. Furusaka said, I think "standing talk" is the best way to talk. When I sit down, I get all stiff and tense, and I feel like I have to say something better. But when I was standing, I was able to talk in a relaxed state. I wasn't too nervous.
--During the recording, there were many light-hearted exchanges between atsuko-san and KATSU-san. Do the two of you usually talk well with each other, either by making fun of each other or by being made fun of by each other?
KATSU: We talk about MC at live performances as if we were recording today.
--The talk was so lively that it was recorded for much longer than the broadcast length. ......
atsuko That's true (laughs). But I hope you don't cut out "the part".
--(laughs). What would you like people to pay attention to in this program?
atsuko I think it was the part where I blurted out a little too much. ...... (laughs).
(laugh) But no matter how much I blurted out, Mr. Furusaka would always notice and give me a sharp point of view. That's why it is sublimated into something interesting. I was impressed by his quick thinking.
--I was impressed by how quick-witted Mr. Furusaka was.
atsuko Of course, we take the songs seriously (without being silly)! But since we are going to be on TV, we would like to convey more of our personal side during these talk sessions. I think it was the power of the two MCs that allowed us to make the most of it.
--If you go to an angela live concert, you can enjoy the same kind of talk that you saw on the show, right?
atsuko: Recently, I asked the audience at a live concert, "Which did you come to see, our singing or our talk? They answered, "The talk." ...... No, we are musicians! I think to myself, "What are we doing live?
(Laughs.) -- In July, angela released a new song, "Survive! What kind of music is this song?
KATSU Originally, the TV anime "K" started 6 years ago, followed by the movie version "K MISSING KINGS," and "K" was completed with "K RETURN OF KINGS" in 2015. angela has sung the theme songs for "K" for many years, so we have a strong connection with "K" in our mind. Since angela has sung the theme songs for "K" for 6 years, 1/3 of angela (which will celebrate 15 years of activity this year) has been involved with "K." We have been working with "K" for 2018, and we have been working with it for the past 6 years.
We were able to revive such a work called "K" in 2018 as the new "K SEVEN STORIES. I was so happy about its revival that I made "SURVIVE!
--How is your joy at the revival reflected in "SURVIVE!
KATSU: I have written nearly 20 songs related to "K," and I wanted "Survive!" to be a song that sums up all the "K" theme songs up to now. I wanted to make a song that summed up all the elements of the "K" theme songs up to this point.
atsuko: I have been involved with this work for a long time, so when it was announced that the theme song would be sung by angela, the audience was very happy. However, the more pleased they were, the more they worried and felt pressured about what kind of song they should sing.
However, since I have been working with "K" for many years, I have come to have a sense, without being told directly by anyone, that "the audience would be happy with this kind of song," or "the animation production staff would like this kind of song. I think this is a feeling that I have gained because I have continued to accumulate such knowledge.
When I first heard the demo of "Survive!", they told me, "There's nothing more to say, just keep going with it. He could have said, "Please do it this way.
I thought that this might be similar to the feeling that can be shared by a married couple who have been married for many years.
--It is because angela has walked together with the work "K", isn't it? angela, celebrating its 15th anniversary, will release its best album this fall. Can you tell us about this best album?
atsuko: I think that after 15 years in the business, it is difficult to become a new fan. (You may be lucky to hear some of their best songs at an ani-song event (where angela performs), but it takes a bit of courage to go to a solo live performance.
That is why, since we are able to release the best album at the 15-year milestone, we would like to make it accessible to those who "know the name of angela but have only heard a few of their songs.
KATSU We are in the process of discussing the song selection for the album (at the time of the interview).
angela used to sing theme songs for serious anime, but after 15 years of working on it, we have accumulated a variety of songs, such as "Zenryoku☆Summer!", the theme song for the anime "Aho Girl", and stylish songs like "Calling you", the theme song for "BLAME! There are also stylish songs like "Calling you," the theme song of "BLAME! Among them, we have selected songs that we believe are "the angla" songs. I really want this CD to be an "introduction to angela.
atsuko: "I am most happy when people say, 'I watched an anime whose theme song is based on an angela song because I heard it and thought it was good. So I hope that people will feel that way when they listen to angela's past songs.
--Lastly, how do you think the ani-song industry has changed in the 15 years that angela has been active?
atsuko: I think that, from the public's point of view, ani-song has made its way onto the major scene. But we don't feel that at all. It's not like we are launching on the top floor of a tower apartment building with a pool Jacuzzi, or that we have reached stardom, like going to the Budokan in a Rolls Royce (laughs).
(Laughs.) But when we were students, I think the atmosphere was that anime was something that only a few people really liked. But the other day, I asked some young people and they told me that 1/3 of their class likes anime, which shows that anime has spread to such an extent that it now accounts for such a large percentage of the class.
I also heard that my friend's children who live in a rural area said that "Aho Girl" is interesting. I am not really aware of it when I am in this world, but I am surprised to know that it has reached my friends' children's generation.
KATSU Fifteen years ago, there was no one who said, "I want to be an anime song singer. Around 5 years after our debut, people like LiSA, fripSide, May'n, etc., who brought a new wind to anime songs, appeared at once, and people who expressed anime theme songs in a different way from J-POP started to appear. I think they changed the world.
At the root of this change was Ichiro Mizuki's idea that "ani-songs are support songs for anime," and he has kept this idea alive for a long time. On the other hand, I think it is true that the number of people who do not hold this view has been increasing. Looking at the history of anime songs, there was a time in the 1990s when anime songs were used as a tool for artists to promote themselves.
But the customers and anison artists rejected anison as a promotional tool and said, "Anison should be for anime." As for angela, I think it is absolutely true that anison is "a song for anime," and I agree with that idea.
I think that now is the time for us to adhere to that idea and how we can express ourselves as artists. I think that in the future, there will be new artists who will be able to say, "I am going to write such and such a theme song for this anime! I also look forward to the emergence of new artists who will be able to say, "This is the kind of theme song I would write for this anime!
--As the philosophy of ani-song is being established, do you want to take on new challenges in the future as well?
KATSU That's right.
That's why I was happy to hear the reaction of "Oh, this is angela? I was happy to hear the reaction of "Oh, this is angela? Actually, from angela's point of view, we had no intention of making something interesting that would surprise the audience. We just wrote songs based on what the anime had to offer, and this is what we ended up with.
So, I would like to continue to write music that I can say, "I wrote this song for the anime, so this is what I came up with.
--Thank you very much for your time today!
(Reporting, writing, and photography by Michi Sugahara)
Program Information
Ani☆STE
Broadcast time: Sapporo TV every Saturday from 26:30, J:COM TV every Thursday from 22:00 and every Sunday from 23:30
MC: Daimao Kosaka, Ryoga
CD information
SURVIVE!(limited time only) / angela
Price: 1,300 yen (excluding tax)
<Contents (5 songs in total)
M1. "SURVIVE!" (Opening theme song of "K SEVEN STORIES")
M2. "KINGS" Live version (TV animation "K" opening theme song)
M3. "To be with U!" Live version (TV animation "K" ending theme song)
KIZUNA" Live version (TV animation "K RETURN OF KINGS" ending theme song)
(*M2, M3, M4: from the EX THEATER ROPPONGI performance held on February 24, 2018)
M5. "SURVIVE!" off vocal version
<Specifications
Jacket with artist photo
Clear case included
Includes a card with scenes from the "K SEVEN STORIES" OP video (6 kinds, 1 at random) for the first pressing only.
SURVIVE!(Normal disc)/angela
Price: 800 yen (excluding tax)
<Included contents (2 songs in total)
SURVIVE!" (opening theme song for "K SEVEN STORIES")
off vocal version of "SURVIVE!
<Specifications
Jacket with newly-drawn anime illustration
Event information
Event information] "SURVIVE!" release commemorative event will be held!
Date: Saturday, July 21, 2018
Time: from 14:00
Location: Tokyo Dome City LaQua Garden Stage (1-1-1 Kasuga, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo)
5-minute walk from JR Suidobashi Station / 3-minute walk from Tokyo Metro Korakuen Station / 3-minute walk from Toei Line Kasuga Station
Contents: Mini-Live (free admission) & Handover Party
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