Interview] Kotringo once again depicts the musical world of "Kono Seka. The soundtrack of "Kono Sekai no Katasumi ni" Kosoku no Kata no Sundetrack was released!

The movie "In (several more) corners of this world" will open in theaters nationwide on December 20, 2019. A soundtrack album by Kotringo has been released in advance of this. The album contains a total of 37 songs plus one bonus track. It is the complete soundtrack of the previous film, plus new songs for "How Many More". We spoke with director Katabuchi about how he and the film's director worked together to create the new songs.

No matter what kind of corrections came from the director, I would follow them! I thought.

─ How was it performing in front of the audience at the special screening on December 9?

Kotringo: It was fun; I had the opportunity to perform at various venues when the film was released in 2016, and compared to that time, I thought I was able to perform more naturally within myself.

─ ─ From 3 years ago to now, a lot has happened with "In This Corner of the World", hasn't it?

Kotringo Yes, that's right. There have been live performances of the soundtrack in various parts of Japan, and I have spent three years with the music of the work "In this corner of the world". The age range of the audience was wider than usual, from the elderly to children. But because the work was at the core of the show, I was always able to perform with ease.

─ ─ A soundtrack album of "In (many more) corners of this world" will be released a little earlier than the movie release. Including bonus tracks, there are five more songs from the previous soundtrack, and a new version of the ending theme "Dandelion. When did you start working on the additional tracks?

Kotringo: We started working on it very early, and by September 2018, we had a demo for the additions. I submitted it to the director (Sunao Katabuchi), but he didn't get back to me, and the release of the movie was delayed, so I was waiting for the director to send me an order for revisions at any time.

─ ─ Since the soundtrack is tailored to each scene, you cannot proceed with the music production until the length of the scene and the timing of the movements are determined, right?

Kotringo: Yes. At the first meeting, we were told what cut numbers in the storyboard we wanted to include in the music, from what number to what number. At that stage, the director did not have many specific orders except for a small composition, and it was only through the exchange of submitting demos and receiving corrections from the director that the orders became more specific. I thought, "This is a very important work for me, too, so I will follow the director's orders no matter what kind of changes he sends me! (laughs).

(Laughs) ─ You went back and forth with the director as you worked toward the completion of the film.

Kotringo: That's right. The video was completed, the length of the music was finalized, and there were times when we would say, "We need more music in this part, so please extend it.

───During the talk at the advance preview, you mentioned that this time you had Non-san's voice as Suzu-san's voice, so it was easy to create the music.

Kotringo: Last time, we made the film without any voice information, so it was much easier this time. I realized once again how important it is to have a clear image of not only NON's voice, but also the voices of the other actors and sound effects such as the sounds of daily life when creating a soundtrack.