Cool singing and fun dancing! Hiroyuki Deguchi interviews Tomohiro HATANO & Sister MAYO, who sing the theme song of "Knight Dragon Sentai Ryuso Jar", the 43rd Royal Road Super Sentai movie that has been very popular!

Knight Dragon Sentai Ryuso Jar", the 43rd Super Sentai series, combines two cool elements: dinosaurs and knights. Tomohiro HATANO and Sister MAYO, who sing its theme song, appeared at Akiba Research Institute!

Knight Dragon Sentai Ryuso Jar" is the 43rd title of the Super Sentai series, which began broadcasting in March 2019. This work, which depicts the battle between the "Ryusoujer," knights of justice who protect the earth, and the "Druidon," an evil fighting race, has been called a royal special effects hero program and is currently airing to great acclaim.

The theme song of this work is also very royal!

The opening theme song "Knight Ryu Sentai Ryuso Jar" sung by Tomohiro HANNO is a straightforward hero song that combines the speed of Super Sentai with a fresh singing voice, while the ending theme song "Ke Bone! Ryuso Jar" is a fun song with fun choreography that everyone can dance to.

In this interview, we asked the two singers about the song's production episode and how they sang it at an event.

The interviewer is a well-known member of Akiba Research Institute! The interviewer is Hiroyuki Deguchi, a bassist and musician who is also active as a tokusatsu and ani-song DJ. Mr. Deguchi, who has a lot to say about tokusatsu, talked a lot about his experiences.

Memories with Super Sentai!

--Before we talk about the song, ......, we first talked to him at the event venue, where he danced with the children to "Ke Bone! I saw the video of you dancing "Ryuso Jar" with the children.

MAYO Thank you very much! As for me, it's been a while since I sang the ending theme of a tokusatsu work, so I was wondering if the little kids could dance properly, but they danced amazingly! I taught them on the spot and then they danced, but almost everyone was able to dance. They are so cute because they learn so quickly after I teach them. And if you look closely, you can see that the adults in the back are really dancing. It was fun (laughs).

--(laughs) - Mr. Hatano, you also danced with them, didn't you?

Hatano: When I was in "Space Sentai Kyuranger," I danced with Takeshi Matsubara to "Kyutama Dancing! so I was not afraid to dance with him this time as well. Besides, it was not fair for Mayo to have that view all to himself, was it? (Laughs.) The sparkling feeling of children dancing is different from when listening to the opening theme. It gives off an aura of "We're the stars, too! I thought dancing was great.

--Speaking of dancing, you also choreographed the first "Super Sentai" song you were in charge of, "Magical Force," the ED of "Magical Sentai Majiranger," didn't you?

MAYO Yes. Of course I danced to that song as well. We sang it at the event, but it was a long time ago, so the kids didn't seem to understand it. But the adults who were watching us at the time said, "Wow! That was a good thing.

HATANO: There were people of your parents' generation who saw the show, right?

MAY Yes, so they have inherited the gene. I was surprised that some people brought merge phones! (Laughs)

-- "Super Sentai" is unique, isn't it? Fans grow up and become parents, and then the next generation comes along, which I don't think is quite the case with other works.

MAYO I think "Masked Rider" is a similar series, but in "Super Sentai" the singers also come to the events to sing. I think that makes people feel a sense of familiarity with the series, and that the songs are also absorbed by the audience.

Hatano: I hope so. I also went to see the "Dairanger" show when Tokyo Dome City was still Korakuen. My parents said I cried a lot (laughs). (Laughs.) I guess when you see a hero on TV in front of you, even if he is a friend of justice, you get scared, don't you? But in the picture, they were smiling. I don't remember if they sang a song at the show or not, but I do remember that I went to the show.

MAYO Maybe I would be so happy and surprised together that I would lose my mind and cry. Even today's kids are crying when they take pictures, but they are still firmly posing for the picture. That's cute, too.

--Do you also have memories of watching Super Sentai or other hero shows when you were little?

MAYO I used to watch them. I'm afraid I'll reveal my age if I say this (laugh), but I have an older brother, so I remember watching reruns of "Goranger" with him during prime-time or in the evening. I guess I was just a girl, so I liked the color pink. I wanted to be a Momoranger. So I was kicking all kinds of people (laughs). (laughs) Because I was so pure at the time, I thought that I would be able to transform by some mistake.

I thought that I would be able to transform by mistake because I was so pure at the time. I hope that the children who are watching it now will grow up to be adults with pure hearts. I have become such an adult because of many things that have happened to me (laughs), but I am here now because I kept a pure sense of justice.

--I am here now because I kept a pure sense of righteousness (laughs). I am sure that children who see the two of you singing and dancing at an event now will say, "That changed my life" when they grow up, and I am sure that there will be people who aspire to become musicians from there.

MAYO That's right. It would be great if some of those kids go on to become professionals.

OP theme with royal coolness

--How did you feel when you sang your first tokusatsu song for "Kyuranger"?

Hatano: I love the world of tokusatsu songs and it was my dream, but there was a lot of pressure to sing in a big series that has continued for more than 40 productions. I felt responsible.

--How was the reaction of the people around you?

Hatano: I was happy that my parents and the people around me were happy. I don't mean to speak ill of it, but with late-night anime, you have to start by telling your elderly relatives what late-night anime is, and it's hard to get them interested in it. I was happy to be able to sing in a work that my grandparents would watch and immediately understand how great it is.

I was also invited to sing at a friend's wedding. The lyrics, "GOOD LUCK!" matched the occasion, so they were very happy. When the song was played, the children in the audience responded, "What's that? When the song came on, the children in the audience reacted with something like, "What is that? I'm singing!

--What was your impression when you first heard "Knight Dragon Squadron Ryuso Jar"?

Hatano: I thought it was very royal. I thought it was very heroic and cool, partly because of the "knight" theme. When I first received the song for the audition, I didn't think they would let me sing it, but at the same time I thought it was a good chance. （I thought that I would never be asked to sing in another film so soon after singing "Kyuranger," and that this song would definitely suit my voice.

It is a fast, fresh, and powerful song, so I went into the audition thinking that I definitely wanted to sing this. In the end, I was happy to find out that the judges did not care about whether the singer was famous or not, but rather how close the song was to the image of the work and whether my voice suited "Ryuso Jar" or not.

--What was the audition process like?

Hatano: There were about double-digit numbers of people participating. Everyone sang the same song, so I was always curious about how this person would sing. While I was waiting for my turn, I heard the sound leaking from the booth and thought, "Oh, I see! I see. The first thing that came to my mind was, "The musical arrangement is different from what I have practiced. When I entered the booth, the first thing they would do was to correct me, saying, "This is what we gave you, but could you please use this kind of music layout? I am sure that they would first look at my ability to respond immediately there. They give me direction on the spot.

--Was it easy for you to sing?

Hatano: This song is not in a high key in my opinion. In this song, if the key was a semitone higher than it is now, I think my voice would have been lost, but I think it is important for everyone to be able to sing Super Sentai songs. The key of "Lucky Star" was high, so I think it would have been difficult for fathers in particular to sing it to their children. But with "Ryuso Jar," the key is a little higher, but basically everyone can sing along. And when the children grow up, they can sing it easily when they want to try singing it at karaoke. I think that is very important, so I think this key is just right.

I am aware that my voice is changing after performing on various stages, so I have a feeling that I will grow as a singer by singing songs in a key that is firmly rooted in the ground.

The ED theme sung in a natural way, without making it up as I dared.

--Keborn! Did you have an audition to sing "Ryuso Jar" as well?

MAYO I think there was, but it was ....... At first, I was asked to "come for a microphone test," and I thought it might mean "please put in a tentative song," so I said, "Okay!" I replied, "Sure! I went to the studio on a whim, and when they told me that "the music arrangement had changed like this," I thought, "That's right, it's a tentative song, so I have to sing it exactly as it's written. I sang the song exactly as it was written. Then I sang the whole song, and they said, "Please fix it up so it looks good," and "Okay," and I went home. I went home. "Okay, I did my job again today! I sang the song as it was sung. As for myself, I had no idea that I would be singing the theme song for a new Sentai TV series, so I had no idea what I was getting myself into. So I went home thinking, "I wonder what girl will sing the next song. Then, two days later, I was told, "Well, Mayo, please sing. I'm going to sing this? (laughs).

Hatano: It 's a little different from my "Are you going to sing this song? (laughs).

MAYO Yes. I even thought, "You're going to redo it?" (laughs). That's why the weight of the song is completely different from that of Mr. Hatano's (laugh).

--I wonder if you decided on Mayo after recording the song.

MAYO I had no idea about that either. But I knew that the groove of the song was definitely mine. That's why I thought I would be the one to sing the tentative song. I was like, "I can sing it like "Hare Goo" (a song from the anime "Jungle is Always Hare Chi-Goo")? That's how I felt. I thought I would be singing like that in the performance, but on the day of recording, Toei told me not to be too cute because boys would also listen to the song. But Columbia wanted me to sing in a cute way, and I was in between the two, so what should I do? I was at a loss at first (laughs).

(Laughs.) Then, when we were about to start recording, there were many people involved! Just as we were about to start recording, a lot of important people from ...... came to see us.

Hatano: You were visibly nervous, Mayo. I had already finished recording at that time.

MAYO Why are you coming at my time? I thought. It was a fun song, but I sang it with my face scrunched up.

--It is unique in that it is not too girly, isn't it?

MAYO That's right. Besides, the key of this song is low for me. So I thought about whether it would be better if I didn't make it so much, and sang it in a normal way.

--I thought it would be better if I didn't make it that low, so I tried to sing it in a normal way.

MAYO When there is dancing in a song, the groove is important, and the lyrics don't have much meaning, so it's better to sing them clearly so that the audience can hear them. Especially with this song, there is more dancing. So, I paid attention to that aspect of the song.

When I sing at events, the children are so desperate to dance that they don't really listen to the song. So I thought it would be better if I could just go with the flow.

--I remember the same thing when you sang "Haregoo," but you have a way of singing that seems to lose the end of words, don't you?

MAYO Yes (laughs). You listen to it a lot.

--I like it (laughs). (laughs). I thought it matched the samba-like percussion rhythm because it gave the song a sloppy feel in a good way.

MAYO That's right. People say that my sloppiness comes out in my singing. I guess it comes out on the inside (laughs). In contrast, Mr. Hatano sang "I'm Hatano! I sang in a fresh way! He sings in a fresh way.

I 'm not that assertive (laughs).

The lyrics pushed me!

--I'm cool here. What do you want people to listen to here?

Hatano: Everything in "Knight Dragon Squadron Ryuso Jar" is cool.

--I personally think the beginning of the first chorus is cool.

Hatano Yes, it is. But this is the point where we had a lot of trouble during the recording. It took a long time for my voice to come through. I was shocked when the engineer said, "It doesn't feel like a chorus. The chorus we had been waiting for was not cool because the voices didn't come out. I thought it wasn't cool because my voice didn't come out as well as I wanted it to. I was told to sing the rests in a way that would give the song a "come on! So we recorded the entire song up to the end, and when I sang the last chorus, he finally said, "I like the way it sounds! I sang the last chorus, and then I sang it again from the beginning. So I suffered, or rather, I had a battle with myself that I couldn't get it right! I had to fight with myself to make it work.

What I thought was great about Super Sentai songs at that time was that the lyrics kept pushing me forward. The lyrics were "Go beyond your limits" and "Challenge boldly," so I thought to myself, "Yes, that's right! I can't falter here and now! I feel like I got a push from the lyrics too. Because there is such a link to the main story, I think that the theme song of Super Sentai is a song that continues to grow throughout the year.

--The fact that the singers themselves feel cheered up just like the children who are listening to the song makes it all the more compelling. Do you have any other favorite parts of the song?

Hatano: I really like the emo arrangement of the interlude with the brass. The lyrics "Such a lovely star, shine forever" in the C melody of the chorus are really wonderful. I get emotional when I sing this lyric in front of my children at release events, and it also makes my eyes burn when I am practicing. I would never be able to say such a stinky word if I were living a normal life. But I sing this song to the children, who are the future of our country, and I feel that I have a wonderful job singing this kind of song. I love the way the chorus runs from the chorus to the last chorus, or rather, the way the drums break into the chorus and then bang! I really like the way it goes from the falling chorus to the last chorus. If it was played during the final battle or something, I'm sure it would be very moving. ...... I think it's really positive and cool.

-Let's keep appealing to have it played in the final episode! (Laughs) Besides that, do you have any other pointers for singing?

Hatano: I think it's better to keep the rhythm tight, to sing with an emphasis on the rhythm of the second and fourth beats, and also to sing with an awareness of the power of the words. In this song, I think it's not good to sing in a lazy, casual way. It would be cool if you sing in a rhythmical way with a lot of energy. Also, since the key suddenly becomes an octave higher, you should sing with a strong determination, "I'm not going to screw this up! I think it will be fine as long as you sing with a strong determination to not screw up! Personally, I think it's also important to finally sing a theme song that screams out the title.

--I'm sure that in "Lucky Star," it was the chorus that said "Kyuranger," wasn't it?

Hatano: That's right. The title of the song is "LUCKYSTAR," and when I sang "Kyuranger," I couldn't say the title of the show at all. But this time I finally got to say it, so please shout the title as hard as you can!

The point is to sing and dance happily!

--MAYO-san, in singing "Kevone! Do you have any pointers for singing "Ryuso Jar"?

MAYO Basically, it's not a difficult song, right? That's why you could say it's difficult. But it is not a song that you should think too much about singing. I think everyone can dance to it as long as you just have fun singing along. Because there is dancing, and that is what this song is for. So I might have been thinking about how to get everyone to dance with me while I was singing. The lyrics don't seem to be so thoughtful. I was just thinking about singing, dancing, and having fun. That's why, when I hear about the opening song, I keep thinking about which lyrics would stick in the ending song (laughs).

Hatano It's the B melody. It suddenly becomes dramatic, doesn't it?

MAYO Yes. That's where the message is being conveyed, and you are getting ready to move on to the chorus! I don't think the kids are really ready to sing the song. But I think that's fine. I think that's the right ending. If the song was very thought-provoking, the program would not end well. I think it would be good if the audience could honestly think, "I'm looking forward to next week. The same goes for events. If you can think, "That was fun," then it will be ingrained in your mind as a pleasant memory. That's all right.

But I was allowed to sing and dance as I wanted, and I am grateful for that.

--If you had to give advice to those who want to sing and dance, would it be, "Don't think about anything?

MAYO If you enjoy yourself, you will be fine. If you can have fun, that is the right answer! There is no one telling you how to do it, and there is no such thing as being good or bad at it. It's all about how much you can get into the groove.

--I think you have already sung the song several times at events.

Hatano: They are good. What makes me happy is that they have already learned the theme song and are singing along. The other day, I was happy to hear that one of the children had already copied the moves I do when I sing the opening theme song. I was also happy when I told the children that I had sung "Kyuranger" as well, and they were so excited and happy. And they got really excited and danced to the ending as well.

MAYO Everyone has already memorized the song. It was amazing. I was really surprised. And then the music came on. When the song starts to play, the little kids start to get excited. It was so cute to see them start screaming (laughs).

Hatano: Even so, they are surprisingly observant of how we dance. When we make eye contact with them and show them "this is how we dance," they imitate us.

MAYO That scene is very heartwarming.

--I am looking forward to the warmer weather and more events to come.

HATANO: When I was working on "Kyuranger," I went to see Mr. Matsubara perform at the "Teresa Summer Festival," and on the way home I came down with heatstroke. It was right around the time when I had a few days off, so I must have gotten distracted. So please be careful at summer events!　So, MAYO! Let's both do our best this year!

MAYO Yeah, okay (laughs). I'll do my best!

(Interviewer: Hiroyuki Deguchi, Composition and text: Editor A)