Interview with i☆Ris, the singers of "Ultimate☆MAGIC", the OP theme song for the TV anime "The Sage's Son"!

The setting of "otherworldly reincarnation" stories is sometimes difficult to understand, but this work is not difficult and is easy to get into. I think the point of this work is that anyone can watch it easily and stress-free! says Yuki Wakai, who plays the role of Maria von Messina, one of the main characters in the TV anime "The Sage's Son.

The OP theme song "Ultimate Magic," sung by her voice actress unit "i☆Ris," is a very pleasant, refreshing, and powerful song. We asked the members to talk about this new song, which perfectly matches the taste of the work and the i☆Ris unit.

I hope this song will make you fall in love with i☆Ris (Serizawa).

Ultimate☆Magic", the 18th single, has become a very energetic song, hasn't it? On the other hand, there are a lot of interactions with each other, which I felt was new.

Saki Yamakita (Yamakita): I thought the tune was energetic and typical of i☆Ris, but I especially liked the lyrics. Up until now, when I sang energetic songs, I often sang with a lot of enthusiasm, saying, "I want to be the object of admiration! But in this song, the lyrics "Sorry if you mess up" and "It's okay if you mess up. This applies to us as well, and I think it is the most suitable song for the real i☆Ris.

Saki Yamakita: "Sorry" sounds like something you would actually say (laughs).

Yamakita: That's part of it (laughs), but as a group that also does their best as idols and voice actors, I felt that the first line, "Blow away common sense, let's go to the unknown world," is exactly what describes i☆Ris.

Yuki Wakai (hereafter, Wakai): I also had a good impression when I first heard the song, and I thought, "Oh, that's i☆Ris! I was also very impressed when I first heard the song and thought, "Oh! I think it will be like a new self-introduction song for i☆Ris, no matter who hears it.

Q: But this is the first time you have worked with Hirose Yuki, who provided the music for the song, isn't it?

WakaiThat 's right!　（I was very happy that Yuki Hirose came up with such a great song.

When I heard this song, I thought "Yay! I love this kind of song, so I wanted to sing it. I love this kind of song, so I wanted to sing it! I wanted to sing it! It is very close to the way i☆Ris is when they are performing live, so I can put my true i☆Ris on the song. That's why I think it will be a weapon when we sing at one-man shows of i☆Ris, festivals, or in front of people who don't know i☆Ris. There are still many people who don't know us, so if they think, "This song is good! They think, "This song is good!" and they look up the music video, and they think, "There are 6 cute girls! and then they will come to our live show.

This song is also the OP theme for the TV anime "The Wise Son," so it is reaching a new fan base.

Himika Akaneya (Akaneya): We sang cheerful songs for "Pripara" as well, and they are important songs that show the goodness of i☆Ris, but this time it was a song that had the feel of "the anime song! But this time, it was an "anime song" song, so I was happy about that. The lyrics are beyond our longing, and the lyrics are something that tells us that it is okay even if we fail. I like the melody line of the song, too.

Yu Serizawa (Serizawa): I guess it's good that it has such a carefree feeling. I like it a lot, too. It's like, "It doesn't matter what you do! That's the kind of group i☆Ris is, and I want us to be unique among voice actors. I want to be unique even among voice actors. Even if you make a mistake, it's okay to say "I'm sorry! I hope this song will make you really like i☆Ris.

Azuki Shibuya (Shibuya) Also, it's the slow tempo from the previous song "Endless Notes" (laughs). (laugh) I felt that a song with a fast tempo came! When I'm a DJ, I can just keep up with the rhythm, but when I put words on the song, I often can't keep up with my emotions, so I was sweating while recording. Also, I think that each unit tends to show their own characteristics in their songs, but i☆Ris is a group that can show different i☆Ris in their own way, so I thought, "This song is different from the past songs, but it has a nice pop and catchy feel! I thought, "This song is different from the previous ones, but it has a pop and catchy feel.

Q: How did you approach the vocals?

Yamakita: I sang the song as if I was just me. But I might have sang the part "boldly and novelty~" like a little kid. When I'm in i☆Ris, I sound like a brat (laughs), so I think I was able to bring that out.

Wakai: I'm the type of person who puts a lot of work into recording, but I agreed with the director that I didn't want it to sound cute, but more like me! I wanted to show that it was me, rather than cute. So I was able to sing without embellishment.

Kubota: I sang the song with the same intensity as at a live performance. I sang with the tension of a live performance. But I sang in parentheses and other parts in a character-like way, and I sang in a habitual way. ......　I couldn't speak English smoothly, so I wrote it in hiragana and sang it exactly as it was written (laughs).

Akaneya: I think I got a lot of praise for my English pronunciation. Also, the director said to me, "I like this part of the song," and that was the part where she said, "The number of times you fall down is the number of algorithms that will be born. I was praised so much that I'm thinking of singing it live as well (laughs).

Serizawa: Toward the end of the recording, the person who recorded the song told me, "I want your cuteness. I guess everyone else was singing in their own voices, and I guess I sounded too "good-looking" (laughs). (laugh) So I sang as much as I could, but with more quirkiness and cuteness than usual.

Shibuya: As for the hammory, I have become a craftsman (laugh), and I can no longer listen to the line of hammory. I can no longer listen to the line of hammory. Even in the tentative song, there is a little bit of hammory, but now that is the main part of the song, and I can't tell which part is being sung. For this song, I can proudly say that I am a hamoriser.

I don't want people to say "i☆Ris has settled down" (Yamakita)

Q: From the lyrics, do you have any adventures or things you have done recently?

Serizawa Yes!　I cooked a fish. I was able to do it!　I was inspired by a recent video that I liked. I bought two horse mackerels, and the first one's meat was too small, so I made it into a lickable fish, but the second one was good, so I made it into fried horse mackerel!　Someday, I want to fish big fish and have sushi zammai (posing with his hands outstretched).

WakaiI made a mistake. When I went to Osaka on tour, I left my house key in the door and went out. ...... When I came back, I couldn't enter the house, so I sat on the floor waiting for someone to come back. I was told by someone in the other room that the key had been inserted, and I said, "I'm really sorry, I'm sorry! I was like, "I'm really sorry, but I'm sorry!

Q: Please be really careful about that!

Yamakita: I have been addicted to humidifiers since last winter and bought about 13 humidifiers including small ones. I bought about 13 humidifiers, including small ones. But as expected, there were so many humidifiers that I left only 4 and sent them to my parents' house. I am sorry for buying too many humidifiers.

Shibuya: I started to learn English conversation in earnest in the spring, and I can do it online up to two slots a day. However, my fear of English speakers prevails and even one slot is enough to reduce my mentality (laughs). So now I am in the process of retraining my communication skills for overseas. I feel like I am challenging myself with cross-cultural communication rather than English conversation. i☆Ris is going abroad more and more often, so I want to be able to convey my feelings in my own language.

Kubota: I forgot that I had thrown away two or three of the six or so bath towels I had, and I thought they would still be fine even if I didn't wash them, but when I came out of the bath, there was not a single bath towel! I was in despair. I was saved because there was a towel in the closet that I hadn't opened. ......

Wakai But that's better than running out of toilet paper.

Yamakita Someone is on a different level!

Wakai No, no, I'm not really talking about running out, I'm talking about that would be more despairing!

I'm relieved (laughs). Lastly, Akaneya-san.

Akaneya: About what I did, I went to a yakiniku restaurant with a large group of people, and we sat at separate tables of 4 and 6 people, and paid the bill at each table. I was at a table for four, but there were younger children there, so I ordered whatever I wanted without looking at the price, and the price was higher than that of the table for six. I ordered a lot of good meat (laughs). But I couldn't let the younger one pay for it, so I paid for it, but it was scary to order without looking at the price (laughs).

(laughs). (laughs) So how was the shooting of the music video that you mentioned earlier as cute?

Kubota: It was shot at a hospital, surrounded by rice paddies, and local grandmothers came to watch, which was really cute!

Wakai That was cute. She was there with her Shiba dog, which made me feel warm and fuzzy.

Q: In the video, I thought Yamakita-san had a lot of material.

Wakai: I'm in charge of stories!

Yamakita: This time I was told I could move around as I liked, but there was a skeleton figurine that was quite sharp, so I thought, "It looks like Himichan (laughs)," and while looking at the skeleton I said, "Himichan! I looked at the skeleton and said something like, "Himi-chan! I was looking at the skeleton and said something like "Himi-chan!

(Everyone laughed).

Serizawa I thought you were just surprised, but then you added the words "Himi! (laughs).

Wakai But they didn't use the word I said at the part where I cast the spell!　Too bad. ......

Serizawa But when I look at the finished music video for this song, everyone seems to fit in well. I was trying to be cute rather than playful, but we were all joking around a lot, and I thought it was great that it was realistic in a way and showed each of our personalities. I wish I could have fooled around a little more too.

Kubota But it makes you want to watch it over and over again, doesn't it?

You are good at this kind of flirtation, aren't you?

Serizawa I wanted to be in this kind of groove forever. Of course, as you get older, you'll probably feel more age-appropriate. ......

Yamakita I understand!　I don't want people to say, "i☆Ris is getting more relaxed.

Serizawa It's okay sometimes, but basically I want to be an idiot (laughs).

Yamakita I want to be an asshole!

Q: Lastly, please tell us about the highlights of the tour.

Shibuya: This live concert is like a show time, which is interesting even if I go to various live concerts objectively. I have been saying that I want to make this tour different every year, and this time is also totally different, so please look forward to it!

Serizawa The set for each show is different, and the live show has a strong one-day-only feel, so if you go to all the shows, it will be worth it, and if you can only come to one show, I think you will enjoy the whole live show. We do things outside of the songs that betray the imagination, but I think we are also able to betray expectations in the songs as well. So I am sure that the set list of the songs will also betray everyone's expectations in a good way.

Akaneya: We have always said that the songs are new, but this time it goes beyond that! I think we are able to deliver what we enjoy. The title of the concert is "FEVER," which unifies our worldview, and I think you will enjoy the concert from beginning to end.

Kubota: I think this live show is more enjoyable if you come to the concert venue and see it with big sound and lighting, rather than watching the DVD or BD at home. Once you come once, you want to see it again! I hope you will come and see the show at least once.

Wakai: When you see this live show, you will think, "Wow! and you will experience the thrill and excitement of wondering what will come next. The set list will be enjoyable for those who are coming for the first time, and those who have loved the band for a long time will also be pleased with the set list, so please look forward to it.

Yamakita: The existing fans may get "nosebleed FEVER" with the new charm of i☆Ris!　I always tell you to come to the live, but this time you will regret if you don't come! I want to say. It's going to be that kind of tour, so please come with tissues (in case you get nosebleeds) everyone!

(Reporting and writing by Junichi Tsukagoshi)