Takuro Iga, composer, talks about the play accompaniment for "Slow Loop.

The TV anime "Slow Loop" is about two girls of the same age who become a new family after their parents' remarriage, and through fishing and cooking, they find their way to each other's hearts. The single CD of the ending theme "Shuwashuwa" was released on February 23.
Sung by "Three∞Loop," a unit consisting of three members of the main cast, "Shuwashuwa" is a refreshing and rewarding number, but what caught our attention this time was the soundtrack (accompaniment) included in the bonus CD of the limited first-run edition.
The highlights of the CD were "Watashi ni Tenshi ga Muketaeta!" and "Tsuki ga Kirei" and "Koisuru Asteroids," etc., and the music is composed by Takuro Iga, who has composed music for many daily life anime, allowing viewers to enjoy the heartwarming world of "Slow Loop" through music.
What came to light during our discussion was the unique characteristics of "Slow Loop's" musical accompaniment. We will introduce a number of interesting episodes to find out what process went into the completion of the accompaniment.

Hiyori and Koharu's daily life was more lively than I first imagined.

─ ─ When did you start working on the accompaniment for "Slow Loop"?

Iga: We started meeting in mid-May 2021 to discuss the music, and completed it in July. Since the music meeting was held remotely, I actually have not met Director Noriaki Akitani or Sound Director Masaki Tsuchiya in person until now. In this day and age, there will probably be no launch party after the on-air show, so I am sad to say that this will likely remain the case.

─ ─ It can't be helped at this time of the year, can it? Iga, "Slow Loop" was the first time you worked with both Director Akitani and Mr. Tsuchiya, wasn't it?

Iga: Yes, it was nice to meet both of them. And yet, it seems that they agreed to work with me from the very beginning, for which I am very grateful.

───What did you discuss at the first music meeting?

Iga: First, Director Akitani talked about the overall image of the music for "Slow Loop. He said, "Since this is a work that depicts the daily lives of three girls, I want the accompaniment to be cute in tone rather than thickly orchestrated," and "You can play around with the comical tunes in various ways. Based on this, Mr. Tsuchiya, the sound director, created a specific music menu.

─ What was your first impression of "Slow Loop"?

Iga Hiyori and Koharu are two first-year high school girls who start living together after their parents remarry. So, while the girls' happy daily lives are depicted, I felt that there is a shadowy side to the story. In terms of the characters, Koharu is a cheerful girl, but Hiyori is quite shy, and the other main character, Koi-chan, is also a calm girl, so I thought this work was more mature and relaxed than the "Nichijokei" works for which I had been in charge of music. That was my first impression.


─ ─ It is true that the setting is a bit heavy.

Iga: While the premise is there, I thought it would be a work that evokes the pleasures of fishing and the outdoors, so the first demo I made had a more mellow, calm tone to it. However, Director Akitani asked me to revise it, and I went to .......

─ What kind of suggestions did the director give you?

Iga: He said he wanted the song to be cute and playful, rather than emphasizing the heavy parts of the two main characters. I also thought that an Irish tune would be appropriate for the scene where they are eating outdoors in the open air, but there was a correction that it was too much ethnic music. I thought I got the idea, so I worked with the director and Mr. Tsuchiya to create a new song.

─ ─ At first, there was some discrepancy between you and the director on how to capture the overall atmosphere of this work, wasn't there?

Iga: When I read the script and the original manga, my initial image of Hiyori and Koharu's daily life was a gentle and calm passage of time, but I realized that the anime would depict a more lively and emotional life. This naturally led to a change in the way I viewed the script and the music. From there, the process was smooth, and I followed Tsuchiya-san's music menu, imagining specific scenes as I created the music.