Interview] A hot topic on SNS!　Taku Iwasaki composed the soundtrack for "The Lesser Students of Magical High School: The Visitor Arc"!

The TV anime "The Lesser Students of Magical High School: The Visitor Arc" is in its second season after a six-year absence. The soundtrack album will be released on December 16, 2020. The music is composed by Taku Iwasaki, who has composed music for the first season, the movie version, and the "Magical Family" series. The soundtrack is filled with cool songs for suspense and action, combined with the development of many serious scenes. Following the first season, a vocal song in collaboration with singer Lotus Juice is also included. We hope you enjoy the soundtrack along with the climax of the broadcast!

I was able to get to know the work "Magical Science" better by composing the music for "The Visitor Arc"!

─ ─ I've been following your Twitter feed, and after watching each episode of "The Inferior Students of Magical High School: The Visitor Arc," you've made several references to the soundtrack.

Iwasaki: Not all the time, but only when I think it would be interesting to comment on something. When the first episode aired, I searched for "#The Lesser Student of Magical High School" and found many references to "mysterious BGM. People have always been quick to tamper with RAP and ethnic music-like songs, and I wondered if it would be like that this time, too, so I got mischievous and started posting my thoughts about the soundtrack. I started to write down my thoughts about the soundtrack. I thought it would be nice if the fans were happy with the results, since I was doing it as a form of exchange. Actually, I think about it a lot and balance my tweets in various ways (laughs).

─ ─ It is a valuable source of information for us fans when the play-by-play artists actually watch the broadcast and tweet about the soundtrack, and it deepens our understanding of the work. The song called "mysterious BGM" or "mikamik amore," which is the second track on the soundtrack CD, is used quite frequently, isn't it?

Iwasaki: Whenever there is a comical scene, it is played quite often. When I read the original novel of the first season of "The Lesser Student of Magical High School," I found many scenes of high school students having fun and enjoying themselves, so I thought, "Oh no, I'm going to have to make a lot of everyday songs for this.

─ ─ So that was your impression at first.

Iwasaki The reason for the "aha" moment is that everyday music for a school production requires bland music, and having to make a lot of it is a pain for me. My main focus in composing music has been to leave a strong impression through music, so it becomes difficult to maintain my attitude toward music when there are so many daily songs. Of course, the quality of the finished music doesn't show it. In fact, the first season of "Magical Family" was not a good encounter, as I was scratching my head when I looked at the music menu (laugh).

(laugh) ─ ─ But after that, there was the movie version, and now this "The Visitor's Arc," so we have had a long relationship with you.

Iwasaki Yes, thankfully. My perception of the work "Magical Family" has changed as a result of my long involvement with it. At first, I was looking at the main character, Tatsuya (Shiba) and Miyayuki's destiny as the main frame of the story, but gradually I realized that I didn't need to be so concerned about that. Instead, I realized that I should just enjoy the portrayal of the characters in each episode, such as the relationship between Tatsuya and Miyayuki, the lively interaction between the high school students, and the cool battle scenes, while being reassured by Tatsuya's overwhelming strength. Once I thought that way, the work "Magical Science" became more and more interesting to me.


───This is a work with a grand setting, but I suppose these are actually tricks to make the characters more appealing. However, "The Visitor's Arc" has a hard-edged development, with less lovey-dovey scenes between Tatsuya and Miyuki, and less lively scenes in the school.

Iwasaki That's right. I am good at music that gives an unusual impression of suspense and action, so it was easier to work on "The Visitor's Arc" than ever before, and I think I became more familiar with the work by increasing the framework of what makes "Magical Science" interesting.