Digging into the Music of "Geki-Patrol! Report on the "Mobile Police Patlabor the Movie" extreme sound screening and Kenji Kawai's talk stage, full of secret behind-the-scenes stories!

Screenings of the theatrical anime "Mobile Police Patlabor the Movie," which has not faded even 30 years after its theatrical release, were held at Tachikawa Cinema City for six days from November 23 (Sat.) to 28 (Thu.), 2019, with superb sound equipment.

A talk stage with special guests was held in conjunction with the opening of the screenings: on Saturday, November 23, Toshio Furukawa, who played the role of Yuuma Shinohara, and Chiaaki Kyanabu of the Patlabor Public Relations Division. On November 24 (Sun), music director Kenji Kawai, music writer Ryozo Fuwa, who is also very active at Akiba Research Institute, and Chiaaki Kiyatake took the stage to discuss the appeal of "Mobile Police Patlabor the Movie".

Akiba Research Institute covered the talk stage on the 24th. Here is our report.

Everyone was overwhelmed by the amazing sound of the extreme sound screening!

First, the main movie was screened. The main selling point of the "extreme sound" screening was the quality of the sound. The results could be felt right away.

Needless to say, the scene of the capture of the runaway reaver and the background music "Heavy Armor" that played during the capture scene were the first clinchers of the film, and I was surprised that the music and sound effects sounded grainy but did not overpower each other. By the time the title appeared on the screen, we were transported back in time to "Tokyo in 1999 (Showa 74)" (in the world of PATLABOR, the Showa period has not ended yet)!

I knew the theater version of "PATLABOR" was good!

There are many benefits to be gained from the excellent sound system, the most impressive of which is the deep soundscape. The sound of work in the "Ark," where countless reavers are in operation. The detailed sound effects make us imagine the daily life of the Special Vehicle Section 2 in a richer way. The hard, dry SE...... when the mastermind of the film, Ryoichi Hoba, steps on a birdcage lying in his abandoned parents' house.

The fusion of the realistically rendered visuals of this film and the "extreme sound" further enhances the realism of the work.

The most impressive feature of the film was the expression of "low frequencies caused by architectural resonance. It was as if even the theater itself was vibrating, with the low frequency sound crawling on the ground and the wind tunnel sound created by the resonance of the "ark". This is an "experience" that can only be had at a polar sound screening. Since sound is the key to this film, the effect of the "extreme sound" was tremendous.

Needless to say, when the ending theme song "Into the Morning Sun" ended, the theater was filled with thunderous applause.

The last battle had BGM! Unexpected truths were told on the talk stage.

While the excitement of the extreme sound screening had not yet cooled down, the talk stage continued.

On stage was composer Kenji Kawai, who has composed music for the "PATLABOR" series, including this film. His counterpart was music writer Ryozo Fuwa, who is also well known for his "Anime Nooto" column in Akiba Research Institute. In addition, Chiaaki Kyanabu, a TV personality who works for the Patlabor Public Relations Division, appeared dressed in the uniform of the Special Vehicle Division 2. The stage was taken over by these three.

As soon as he took the stage, he said, "It's been a while since I've seen this movie, and I'm so embarrassed. I can't wait to go home (laughs). He said that since it had been only a few years since he made his debut as a theatrical accompanist writer, he felt a need to reflect on what he should have done.

The talk began with how Mr. Kawai came to be involved with "PATLABOR.

He said that he first met sound director Shigeharu Shinba when Naoko Asanashi (sound director) introduced him to Mr. Kawai after seeing a musical by Yuji Mitsuya, which Mr. Kawai was originally involved in.

She said that her first encounter with director Mamoru Oshii was in the live-action film "Red Spectacles". The budget for "Red Spectacles," which was a very low-budget project, left little room for music production, so Mr. Kawai, who was a home-recorded musician, which was still rare at the time, was given the opportunity to work on the film.

After these encounters, Mr. Kawai participated in the initial OVA series ("Early Days") of "PATLABOR," in which Mr. Shiba and Mr. Oshii were involved. This led to his participation in the film version as well.

From here, the topic of discussion turned to the music for "Mobile Police PATLABOR the Movie.

The behind-the-scenes story of the production told by Mr. Kawai himself was very interesting, but the amount of knowledge that Mr. Fuwa was able to draw out from him was also amazing. Mr. Fuwa's talk was very easy to understand as he projected on the screen a chronology of Kenji Kawai's works and a list of background music, which he had compiled himself.

The music of "Mobile Police Patlabor the Movie" is all impressive, but the title song "Natsu no Kakusyo" (Summer's Ridicule), in which Ryoichi Hoba throws himself into the air, and the background music "Kikagage no Machi (City of False Shadows)" played in the scene where Detective Matsui searches downtown in pursuit of Hoba's footprints, are the most iconic songs of the film.

The steel drum is the instrument used in these songs, which evoke the dry midsummer air, the dusty downtown, and the sensation of wandering in a daydream.

The inspiration for the music that creates the atmosphere of "Mobile Police Patlabor the Movie" came from "Twilight Q: Labyrinth Property FILE538," which was produced with Director Oshii prior to this film. During the production of this film, Director Oshii heard Mr. Kawai playing the sound of steel drums in his synthesizer, which he liked, and Mr. Kawai wanted to use this sound somewhere.

However, when he thought that it would be ...... to use the synthesizer sound in a theatrical production, he happened to find a steel drum that had been left unattended in the studio. He used this to make the recording.

The topic of discussion extends to the reckless ...... order from director Oshii.

Director Oshii has never used brass in his works because he does not like brass instruments very much. The only time he dared to use brass was in "Avalon,"" said Kawai.

As for the music for the battle scenes, Kawai said, "Mr. Oshii does not like to put in a typical battle music," so he tried not to be too direct in the music for the battle scenes.

In the final part of the film, the music continues to play as the scenes change one after another: "Ark," which runs over 3 minutes from the start of the purge of the Ark to the startup of the Type Zero, and "The Fall of Babel," which runs over 5 minutes from the runaway of the main computer to the collapse of the main shaft.

It is nowadays easy to synchronize the music with the images using software, but it was revealed that at that time, the music was recorded using a very analog method: the images were given on VHS (video tape), and the music was composed next to the VHS tape playing on the screen (......). Because of this, the timing often shifted slightly, and if a mistake was made during recording, the recording had to be done all over again from the beginning.

In addition, Mr. Fuwa's unique suggestions led to the discovery of new information.

First of all, when Mr. Fuwa asked about the missing song "M-21," Ms. Kawai revealed that the song was written for the scene where Zero and Alphonse confront each other with the morning sun in the background, but it was not used in the movie because of a directorial decision that it was not necessary.

However, a low synth sound is heard in the actual video, and Mr. Kawai speculated that this sound was probably cut from a part of the missing track. However, since the music itself was abandoned without being completed, no sound source remains, and he does not even remember what kind of music it was.

In addition, he says that for the BGM inside the pizza parlor, "GEGE," and the "Government Public Relations" song used in the commercials, he dared to use a slightly old-fashioned, dowdy, beat-up song in order to differentiate it from other BGM. According to Mr. Kawai, "That's the kind of thing that burns me up (deliberately creating cheesy music). Sometimes I get scolded for overdoing it. The two songs are full of playfulness.

Toward the end of the talk, Ms. Kyanabu asked, "What is the image of Patlabor for you? She replied, "I always think of the scenery of the bay area. I always think of the scenery of the bay, which is not properly maintained, with weeds growing and clay pipes randomly placed on the beach," Kawai said. Q" was the film in which I found this image with Mr. Oshii. Q. "I wanted to somehow follow that worldview," he said, "so I created the music for Patlabor.

In addition to the "Patlabor" topics, the talk also included episodes from other works. The talk event satisfied not only "Patlabor" fans and Kenji Kawai fans, but also movie fans and soundtrack fans.

Kawai said, "I have never been so happy to be able to enjoy a 30-year-old work with everyone." Fuwa added, "The sequel, 'Mobile Police Patlabor 2 the Movie,' will be released in 1993. Mr. Fuwa commented, "The sequel, 'Mobile Police Patlabor 2 the Movie,' was released in 1993. If this happens, I am sure they will do a pole-sound screening of '2' in 2023. The event came to a close with high hopes for the next anniversary.