Sweet ARMS resumes their activities after 3 and a half years! Interview with sweet ARMS, who sings "I swear", the OP theme of "Date A Live III"!

The TV anime "Date A Live III" is currently airing. Sweet ARMS", who sing the opening theme song "I swear", appeared on Akiba Research Institute!

sweet ARMS" is a voice actress unit consisting of Iori Nomizu, Misuzu Togashi, Kaori Sadohara, and Ajiri. They have sung the theme song for the first and second seasons of "Date A Live," the movie version, and the game version, and also sang the theme song "I swear" for the third season of the TV anime. We asked the four members about the song.

I was thinking that sweet ARMS with 3 or 2 members would be different from sweet ARMS with 3 or 2 members.

Q: It's been a while since you last performed together, but have you gotten back to a sense of breathing between the four of you?

Nomizu: Not at all, it was the same as usual from the beginning (laughs).

(laughs). - Do you have any episodes when you got together after a long time?

Nomizu: The last time the four of us got together was when we were choreographing, but we had been in contact with each other before that.

Togashi After we heard that sweet ARMS was going to sing the theme song for the third season, we talked on LINE, right?

Nomizu: Yes. We were like, "Hey, good luck! I was like, "Nice to meet you!

Togashi It was a little awkward at first.

Ajiri It was the first time in three and a half years that the four of us were on line (laughs).

Nomizu The last time we talked was quite a while ago!

Ajiri Even though many years had passed, it started as if things had continued as usual.

Nomizu In that sense, too, not much had changed.

ーWhat did you talk about on the line?

Sadohara: "Nice to meet you! and then we started talking about something totally unrelated. ......

Nomizu: "When are you recording?" but it was the same as usual.

Sadohara As a result, nothing has changed!

Please change something (laughs)!

Nomizu Hahaha (laughs). Whenever the four of us get together, we post a picture on Twitter, and we promise to strike a chuunibyou pose. We always do the usual pose. There were times when we did something like that.

Togashi: That was up there.

I saw the chuunibyou pose, and I thought, "You're still doing that, aren't you? I thought so (laughs).

Nomizu: "These guys haven't changed" (laughs). But Sadohara had a back injury or something, so I said, "Sadohara, sit down! We'll move! We'll move!

Sadohara: I used to sit down a lot (laughs).

But the result was the same for the four of us.

Togashi We were excited. It's been a long time since I've been here.

Ajiri: There is a sense of security, as if it were my parents' home. When I come back here, I feel that even if I expose everything, everyone accepts me.

So your first activities have made your bond with each other that much deeper. Then, how did you feel when you heard about the theme song?

Sadohara: I had heard that "Date A Live III" was in the works for some time, but I thought, "Well, it's getting close to airing, but isn't it possible that we haven't heard from you?" I was surprised when I actually heard about it, and I was happy that the production staff thought, "We want to do it with sweet ARMS! I was happy that the production staff thought, "I want to sing in Sweet ARMS!

Ajiri: I didn't think I would be asked to sing again either. I think the production side had their own intentions, and more than anything, the members' situations had all changed, so I wondered if they would all do it again. I also wondered if everyone would do it again. ...... But I was happy when I heard that we could get together again and perform with sweet ARMS.

Togashi: I wanted to sing, but I wondered if I would be allowed to sing the theme song. So I said to myself, "Sweet ARMS, right? but until I got the official call, I had mixed feelings of anticipation and anxiety. So I was happy and honored.

Nomizu: I had heard about the third season long before we started working on it, and I had heard briefly that we were going to do it again with sweet ARMS, but I was more worried about whether the members would do it. I was more worried about whether the members would do it. I was also worried about whether the three of us would be able to do sweet ARMS or the two of us would be able to do sweet ARMS if even one of us said, "I can't do it," since everyone at the office had changed and Sadohara had become a mother. So, I was worried until I heard back from the members.

Q: So it was decided that you could all do it together without incident, and then it became the LINE conversation as an example. How did you feel when you received the song?　What was your impression of the usual duo of Shio Watanabe for the lyrics and Tsuyoshi Sakabe for the music? Personally, I thought, "Looks like a lot of work, but here comes a cool song! I thought.

Togashi Correct!

Ajiri Correct interpretation!

Nomizu: The first thing I felt was that it was brighter and more grandiose than the previous songs!　It's sweet ARMS! I felt relieved.

Togashi: I can't explain it well, but when I listen to what I and everyone else sang, I wonder what it will be like. I wonder what will happen when I hear myself and everyone else singing. But when we put them together, I think it's sweet ARMS, so it's strange how well they fit together. But that makes me happy.

Ajiri I thought it was cool! I thought so. But we had a very hard time recording it, and we had to re-record it many times. It's a really good song, so I wanted to sing something I was satisfied with.

Sadohara When I received the song, I knew that "Date A Live" was a song by Mr. Sakabe! And when I saw Mr. Watanabe's lyrics, I felt that my feelings were strengthened and that it was very typical of the third season. There were many things that made sense to me, and I was able to easily get into the recording process.

Q: I heard that you were the first one to record the songs in order.

Nomizu: This time, I sang gently. It has a fast pace, and it ends with "Let our war <date> begin," which makes me feel like I'm getting excited! But I was instructed to suppress that feeling and "wrap it up softly. I was the first singer, so I couldn't listen to anyone else's songs, so I sang by hand.

Sadohara I was next, but I was told in the first direction to be "gentle and soft," so I thought I had the right image (with what I had brought).

Ajiri: I recorded the song right after Sadohara, so I listened to Sadohara's song and used it as a reference. But it had been a long time since I had sung a song like that, so I was too enthusiastic and sang with a lot of energy. But this song was not like that. I was directed to "sing with what you have inside," so that's how I sang it.

Togashi: The song has sad and painful parts, but I had the image that the brighter-than-usual tone of the song helped to lift it up, so it was very easy to sing. Of course, from a technical point of view, it is a very difficult song, but I was directed to "sing it as myself," so I was able to sing it freely. On a personal note, it has been three and a half years since I joined sweet ARMS, so I felt that I have matured, and I realized that I could sing with great ease, so I was very happy about that as well.

ーYou also dance in the music video. Ms. Sadohara gave birth last year, so I wondered if you would be okay with it.

Sadohara: I wondered if I would be able to dance, too (laughs).

Nomizu This is a bit of a backstory, but since Sadohara had a back injury, the choreography was designed so as not to put any strain on her body.

Sadohara: That's why each of us moves differently.

Ajiri: Everyone does different movements, and when they are combined, the dance is complete.

Nosui: The four of us move side by side in the chorus, but we move quite differently in the introduction and the interlude.

Ajiri: Iorin is flying so much, isn't she?

NOMIZU You said, "I'll do anything! She said she would do anything!

Q: What were some episodes during the recording of the music video and what were some of the highlights?

Ajiri: The costumes were white!　The music is also bright, so I thought it fit the song very well.

Togashi: The image of the song was white. Of course, black is used as a color, but it's a very nice, fluttery costume.

Nomizu: The stylist prepared the outfit based on advice from the choreographer, who said that if the sleeves were long or the fabric was organdie, it would make the movements look bigger when you move your hands. But the time for shooting the music video was rather tight, so it was like we had to make each shot count.

Ajiri: It was a very tense shoot!　We couldn't make any mistakes in dancing, and we couldn't make any mistakes in lip-syncing.

Q: The single has already been released.

NOMIZU When the song was released, everyone said, "It's Date A Live! Sweet ARMS! This is what I've been waiting for! They were secretly searching for "sweet ARMS" and looking at it (laughs). (laughs) I'm glad to hear that there were so many voices like that in the replies.

Sadohara "I'm playing it heavy!" (laughs).

Nomizu Nice words!

Togashi: "It made me cry.

NOMIZU Oh, that's a good one!

Ajiri And "welcome back".

NOMIZU Oh, that's a good one! I was really happy to hear "I've been waiting for you".

Togashi It was funny that they wrote "the last revival in the Heisei era" (laughs).

It's been a long time since I've seen "Date A Live III", so there was a sense of nostalgia, but it was as interesting as ever. How is the recording studio?

Nomizu: It hasn't changed either, it's been a long time! But when the recording starts, it's as if we met yesterday.

Togashi: There is a good sense of tension, but we also have fun in a friendly atmosphere.

We recorded all of the chasing and the hamoris, so I think we sang the most in the history of the project.

You wrote the lyrics for the coupling song "Amagoto Seduction Receptor.

Nomizu: "Do you want to write lyrics? and I said, "Yes! (laughs).

A. That's a light-hearted way of putting it (laughs).

Nomizu: I hadn't seen the director in a while, and we talked about what was going on. I told him that the only thing that had changed since then was that I had started writing a column on movies and that I was getting more opportunities to write lyrics, and he said, "Well, why don't you try writing couplings? And he said, "Well, why don't you try to write a coupling?

Q: What theme did you decide to write the lyrics for "Amagoto Seduction Receptor"?

Nomizu: As in the past, we were told that it would be a song for a game, and we received the material. Each game has had its own heroine in the past, so we were told that this is the kind of character that would appear in the game! I wrote the lyrics based on that.

Q: What are some of the parts of the song that reflect this?

NOMIZU Actually, the title of the game is the same. The "sweet talk" and "seduction" are the same, and the word "Receptor" (receptor) is actually about the heroine. I guess the point is the second A-melody. It would be a spoiler to say too much, but the title of the song is "Ren Dystopia," and Ren is the heroine, but the dark or negative tone of the song also relies on her character.

Q: The lyrics "sweet-talking seduction" and "emotional revolution" are words that really catch your attention, aren't they?

Nomizu: I wanted words with impact. I wanted to include power words that sounded like four-character idioms! I wanted to put something like a four-letter idiom as a power word.

Q: How did you feel when you sang it?

NOMIZU I thought the tone of the song was very modern.

Ajiri: The way we recorded the song was different from the past; we recorded every other line.

NOMIZU It's quite a cross. The lyrics of this song overlap with the lyrics of the other songs.

Ajiri: On the contrary, that made it easier to sing. I sang the whole song, and since I recorded all of the chasing and the chiming, I think I sang it the most in the past.

Q: One song must have been about three songs' worth of material.

Nomizu: Yes, there was!　Yes, there was!

Ajiri: I thought we would never finish singing this one. (laughs).

NOMIZU I thought so!　I was licking my throat lozenges during the song (laughs).

Ajiri But it was fun!

Togashi I had fun too. I was able to do whatever I wanted, whatever I wanted to do. We had to use a lot of energy. It felt good when we were singing, but it was like running a long distance race all the time.

Sadohara I was wondering if we were going to split up into two people each. I was thinking that there might be a pattern of splitting the song between one person and three people, but when I listened to the finished product, I realized that there might be a pattern of splitting the song between one person and three people. But when I listened to the finished product, it was divided into two members each, and I thought, "Oh, it's sweet ARMS" (laughs). I thought, "Oh, it's sweet ARMS" (laughs). I thought, "This is the harmony of sweet ARMS. But there was also something new.

Togashi: That's right. We didn't have a chorus with two main melodies and two chasing melodies. It was fresh in terms of the song.

Nosui: In the past, I've sung rocking, heavy songs for couplings, but this time it was a new one with a digital sound.

Ajiri It is digital rock, isn't it?

Nosui The chorus of the song was something that had never been done before. It's not like, "I'm going fast and I'm going to sing the whole song! It's a little bit cool, isn't it?

Ajiri But there was nothing this fast either.

Nomizu And I like to cram words into fast parts (laughs). (laughs) I thought that would be better for this song. I'm really sorry about that.

Ajiri I think Iori-chan apologized to me before recording.

Nomizu: It would be a better song if we kept this sense of speed! That's why I packed it in this time.

Togashi I wonder how live performances will go. I'll have to do my best.

Nomizu I have to remember to sing my part.

Ajiri: If one of us gets stuck, everyone will mock it.

A: But I would like to hear this song at a live performance. Finally, what do you expect from sweet ARMS in the future?

Togashi: There are still a lot of things we haven't done yet, so I'd like to work on those...

Nomizu: Both songs were recorded in full, one by one, so if they are well received, I think we will be able to hear solo versions as well. We'll have to ask for your support for that. ......

Togashi: I'm also interested in how everyone was directed!

Ajiri: I was told "by Fujiko".

Sadohara "Mine"?

Ajiri Yes. As the sexy one.

Nomizu That makes sense!　The part before the last chorus, "Let me ruin you," is very erotic!　I see.

Togashi: After I sang it, I was told "It sounds like the theme song of an RPG," so I'd love to hear everyone's solo versions!

(Interview and text by Junichi Tsukagoshi)