Special Talk Project] Hiroyuki Deguchi and Ichirokuso Samejima have a big talk! This is the total summary of 2019, this is the BEST anime song of the year!

I just realized that today is the end of 2019. It's been a long year, hasn't it?

So, as is becoming a regular year-end event at Akiba Research Institute, Hiroyuki Deguchi and Irukuso Samejima will be talking about ani-songs again this year!

Deguchi, a bassist and anime song DJ, and Samejima, a comedian of the comedy duo BANBANBAN and organizer of the anime song DJ event "Anime Song Disco," will look back on the anime songs of 2019.

This time, just like last year, they chose the BEST 3 from the anime broadcasted in each season from the Winter Cool to Autumn Cool of 2019, as well as the BEST 3 from the songs used in anime movies, and talked about anime songs as much as they wanted.

Let's begin the 20,000-character long interview!

─ ─ First of all, what kind of year was this for you two?

Samejima: This year, I changed my name from Hiromi Samejima to Iriksan Samejima. We held a birthday party at an event, and if 163 people did not show up, we were to change our names. As a result, we happened to gather 136 people! I thought, "Oh, no, it's the other way around! I thought.

Deguchi: You've got it, don't you? You're lucky you didn't get 80 people or some other half-baked number (laughs).

─ ─ It seems that you were also very active in your musical activities, DJing and supporting various bands.

Deguchi Yes, I think I was also active as a DJ. I think it was this year that the DJ event we participated in, "Ani Mikoshi! which we used to participate in, was revived this year? So it was a year in which I consciously increased my listening to ani-songs. I realized how good the songs were when I heard them on the scene. I think I had many opportunities to do so.

─ Speaking of DJs, a new content called "D4DJ" has emerged. This content based on anikura (an event where animation music is enjoyed in a club), which I thought was underground, has started to make its mark on the major scene.

Samejima: At first I thought, "A black ship has come to the anikura world! I'm scared! But when I actually went to the venue, I found that the clientele was not at all the same. So I wondered if the existing anikura would be eaten away. I thought that "D4DJ" is not going to be eclipsed by the existing aniclubs. I have the impression that D4DJ is a place where people who go to ani-song concerts gather. On the other hand, aniclubs are places where people who want to listen to ani-song at a club gather. If we want to expand this circle, we need to bring in people who go to ani-song concerts, but if we are going to have a party for 100 to 200 people, I don't think we need to be so fearful of them. I don't know if this is the right way to put it, but I think it would be a good thing for anikura if such works spread the word about "anikura," so that people who didn't know about anikura would learn that there are other events like this.

Winter 2019 (January to March)

─ ─ This is a project to look back on ani-songs in 2019, but let's start by looking back on winter anime that started in January!

Deguchi: What anime was memorable for you during this period?

Samejima It's Masayuki Suzuki of "Kaguya-sama". It is one incident. I didn't expect such a big newcomer! I watched the anime without any prior knowledge of this one, but when I saw the OP, I thought his voice sounded familiar, and when I saw the credits, I thought, "Seriously? I thought. The song was also good, easy to dance to, easy to ride, and catchy, wasn't it?

Deguchi: Personally, I think that "Virtual-san ga Mitaiteiru" was an innovative animation, or a new attempt at animation in general. I thought that the interactive feel of the Internet was coming to TV and that it was going to be mixed with TV more and more, but in a good way, it made me realize that each field was different from the other.

To put it bluntly, the TV side may have felt that we were not compatible with each other. Maybe that's why, in the latter half of this year, I feel that Vtubers are not appearing much on TV anymore.

─ Indeed.

Deguchi: In television, various professionals are involved in various sections, and the end result is a TV program. But if you are going to do that, doesn't it have to be on TV? I thought, "But if you want to do that, you don't have to do it on TV.

Samejima YouTubers are just now starting to appear on TV, so maybe it is a bit premature to skip that step and have Vtubers suddenly appear in the middle of TV.

Deguchi The way YouTubers are editing now is just like the way they do it at a TV station, isn't it?

Samejima Yes, it would have been nice to have YouTubers talking on their own with a single camera at a size that can be viewed on a smartphone, but nowadays they are acting like dancers. But if you do that, then why not just use TV?

Deguchi: Paradoxically, I feel the strength of television. You say, "No one watches TV," but in the end everyone watches TV.

Samejima Television is very powerful, isn't it?

Deguchi You want to be on TV, don't you?

Samejima I want to be on TV!

(Everyone laughs)

─ ─ So let's take a look at the songs. This time, we will present the BEST ani-songs of the two of you for each cool.

Deguchi: You didn't bother me, I didn't bother you.

Samejima I wasn't that bothered by 2019 Winter either.

■2019 Winter Anime Samejima BEST3

Flame (" Dororo " OP)

Love Dramatic feat. Rokka Ihara (" Kaguya-sama ga Kesshirasai - Geniuses' Love Brain Battle " OP)

RISE（" Shield of the Brave Rise of the Brave " OP)

2019 Winter Anime Exit BEST3

Flame (" Dororo " OP)

Love Dramatic feat. Rokka Ihara (" Kaguya-sama ga Kesshirasai ~Tensai-tachi no Koi Toushi no Koi Toushin Senkou Sen " OP)

Break Faces (ED of " 3D Girlfriend: Real Girl (2nd Season) ")

Samejima Oh, wow! Two pairs!

Deguchi: What do you think? What do you think, Shark-san?

Samejima The first CD I bought this year was "Love Dramatic. After watching the anime and listening to the song, I went to a CD store and said I had to buy it. When I went to the anime section, I saw Masayuki Suzuki's face on the wall and laughed.

Deguchi: As you mentioned earlier, this was an incident. I was like, "Wow, there's a newcomer in the animation industry. And the composer is Yoshiki Mizuno of Ikimono-gakari. According to an interview with the producer, it was a deliberate set-up. After all, Martin (Masayuki Suzuki's nickname) is the king of love songs.

Samejima That's right. Since it was a romance anime, they thought it would be better to use a theme song rather than a theme song with a cute voice. I was completely caught up in the production team's strategy. Masayoshi Oishi said somewhere that he thought he was the only male artist who would perform at this year's Anisama, but he was surprised to hear that "another artist has been chosen! It's Masayuki Suzuki!" He was surprised to hear that (laughs). And the official teased you as "a big newcomer in the anisong world.

Deguchi: It's not easy to be teased by a big name in that class, so I guess they are happy. This song seems to be played a lot at the anime song disco you hold at your anime events.

Samejima: They play it all the time. Everyone dances to it with fake mustaches (laughs). Afterwards, they play "Megumi no Hitohito" and so on. It's a hit with young people.

Deguchi: "Megumi no Hitohito" is also popular on TikTok. Anime songs and Japanese music are actually good friends, and it is common to play J-pop along with anime songs at anime song events. This is a very effective way to make the audience happy and create an interesting atmosphere. In the middle of the music, when Masayuki Suzuki's "No, it's not like that" or Razz & Star were the big hits, I said, "Martin, you really sang ani-songs! And.

I think there is a possibility that we will see more and more cases like this in the future. For example, Sachiko Kobayashi has already been doing this for a long time. She is from the enka (traditional Japanese ballad) field, so her style is different from that of people in the pop music field.

Samejima: If we are talking about enka, I would say "Dragon Ball Super" by Kiyoji Hikawa. It's really cool and sexy!

Deguchi: Yes. It's so cool, you'd think he was a visual-kei.

─ ─ And "Dororo"'s "Flame" is also similar.

Deguchi: To be honest, I was very confused when I first heard it. I remember that the animation as a whole felt slightly strange to me. I really liked "Dororo" and was looking forward to it, but I thought, "Is it like this? Is it okay?" I was like, "Is it OK? And the singer was also a queen bee. I had the impression that they made more garage-rock-like, high-tension songs, but this song is not a very dark and exciting song, but it sticks to me. I had the impression of "what is this?" but then the impression was reversed, and finally I thought, "this is surprisingly good! I finally came to appreciate it.

Since "Dororo" itself is a work with no mistakes, the refinement of the anime is a good work, even if there are parts that divide people's tastes. Both the music and the animation were "Dororo" in total.

Samejima At the Anikura, there were people competing with each other to see who could play it best. It is true that it is difficult to play it in the right way. What kind of flow, what kind of connection, how to go to the "flame. I am not confident at all! (laugh).

Personally, I think it's great that you put it all together in this TV size. It's super cool when you listen to it in full. But it's also cool to hear it in TV size. I felt the effort of the production team!

─ ─ And what do you think of Fuji Fabric's "Faceless"?

Deguchi: It's a great song. It's a great song, so good it'll kill you. To be honest, I found out about it before the song. I wrote about BiSH's OP in my column, and it was great too. And the ED sung by Fuji Fabric is also a good Fuji Fabric.

The way the rhythm is put together is very Western-like. The bass guitar is playing in a very light and simple way, while the drums are creating the rhythmic development and giving the song a sense of energy and rhythm. （The arrangement is like "Western music" if you listen to it from the perspective of someone who plays an instrument. I can't really explain it in words, so I'd like you to listen to it and feel it for yourself.

It's a great song that serves as a receptacle for the grandiose world of the anime.

─ ─ And the last song by Samejima-san is "RISE" from "The Rise of the Hero of the Shield.

Samejima The song is sung by MADKID, a five-member dance vocal unit, who wrote the lyrics themselves. It seems that he wrote the song while looking at the script of the anime, and that "Rise of the Brave" and "RISE" are playing on it.

Deguchi I see!

Samejima When I first heard it, my first impression was that it was a "cool song" that started out with the guitar. I looked up MAD KID and found out that they are a dance unit, and that they sing live at their live performances.

The main character is bullied in the first two episodes, and then he becomes a hero with a strong heart. The worldview of the anime, the story, and the OP theme were a great match!

By the way, it seems that many of the members are quite otaku, and when I looked at their Twitter feed, all they talked about was anime (laughs).

Spring 2019 Cool (April to June)

Samejima: This cool is strong.

─ ─ "Fruits Basket", "One Pan Man" and "RobiHachi".

Deguchi: And "Miru Tights" (laughs).

Samejima Hahaha (laughs). Of all of them, "Demon Slayer" is the best. It became a big breakout hit when it was made into an anime. The number of "Kimetsu" cosplayers has increased dramatically at Anime Club. I think it's great that they can cosplay without making too much effort, like wearing bamboo in their mouths or wearing masks.

At the ani-song disco, there was a popular miscellaneous cosplay style, where people cosplayed with whatever was around. (Laughs.) Then, more and more people started saying, "Me too, me too. Then it became a cosplay contest, and the smallest one was a lip balm. The smallest one was a lip balm. It was great that people wanted to imitate me in that way.

─ ─ "Carol & Tuesday" was also good, wasn't it?

Deguchi: This was a good film.

Samejima The music was good in all of them. And "KING OF PRISM -Shiny Seven Stars-" was also good. Every time a TRF cover is played, I didn't realize that "EZ DO DANCE" was so well received by anime fans!

Deguchi: Personally, I thought "MIX" would get a little more buzz. I personally thought that "MIX" would be a little more popular, but I was surprised that people who have seen it say it's interesting, but I guess if you don't know the context of Mitsuru Adachi's works, it doesn't really hit home. The OP was sung by Sumika, and it was really good, with lyrics like "South Wind," "Touch," and "Mix" that were related to the works.

I'm sure you'll have a lot of fun with this one!

■2019 Spring Anime Shark Island BEST3

Kourenka (" Demon Slayer " OP)

Anytime. (" Cinderella Nine in August " ED)

survival dAnce ~no no cry more~ (" KING OF PRISM -Shiny Seven Stars- " Episode 9 Song)

2019 Spring Anime Exit BEST3

Let's! Gonjirou ("Kedama no Gonjirou " OP)

B Rappers Theme (" B Rappers Street " theme song)
Stand By Me (" Sarazanmai " ED)

I knew "Kimetsu" was coming.

Samejima: "Kourenka" is a good song, but I also appreciate the fact that they used it in a 2-cour anime. Nowadays, in a two-cour anime, the first half and the second half would be different, but for "Kimetsu," we went all the way with just this one song. I read an interview with the staff, and they said that they did not change the song because they wanted it to be the representative song of "Kimetsu," and I think they are proud of that.

In the Anikura scene, the reaction of people on the floor has gradually changed since the song has been played for two cool years. It has been well received, and people have become attached to it. I like that kind of spirit on the part of the creators.

It would have been fine with just one chorus, but the full size version is much better. The groove keeps getting better and better.

─ ─ I got the impression that the development of the animation was also very well done. They used several episodes just for the training. I felt that the slow development of the characters was in the tradition of the good old Jump anime.

Deguchi: In "Dragon Ball," Goku was running along the snake path for about a month (laughs). I think that kind of development was good, and maybe it is nostalgia, but it was a time when people did not expect to watch the series over and over again on DVD, so I think it was possible to pull the viewer in every week to see what would happen next and what would happen next. In the case of "Kimetsu," perhaps it was the fact that the 25-episode frame was set from the beginning that made it possible to keep a good balance in the overall structure. As a result, I think it was a good example of how to do a two-cour anime.

─ And "Hachinai (Cinderella Nine in August)"'s "No matter when. This is a great example of how to do a two-cour anime. This was sung by cast members Mochimi Nishida, Reina Kondo, Saki Minami, and Honoka Inoue.

Samejima: I simply love it when a woman covers a male vocal song or a man covers a female vocal song. I get a kick out of the message that transcends gender. I am currently doing a radio show with Mr. Nishida, and I heard a song called "Dokonimoimoimo" (No matter what...) on the radio. but I didn't think it would be so difficult to sing it.

Also, you have released a collection of cover songs on "Hachinai. It is a cover album including 80's and 90's pop songs such as "Romantic Flight" and "My Revolution". All of them were great. When I played them at an Anikura, old men would ask me, "Are these also ani-songs? and then some people start to get into anime.

Deguchi: There have been a lot of those recently. In the case of "Rin-Ru-Ru-Ping-Drum," they covered ARB.

Samejima: "Rolling☆Girls" was by the Blue Hearts. Bandolier" also covers various songs in the game. I think it is good for young people to be exposed to past songs, even from such a point of view.

Deguchi Just as our generation is becoming the decision makers. ......

Samejima: I'm going to pass a project through to get a voice actor to sing this song because it's a good song (laughs).

Deguchi There was a time when old Western music was played all the time in car commercials. It was strange at the time, but now I can see that the director wanted to make something with the music he was listening to at the time.

Samejima My partner is also a "Dragon Ball comedian," and the production team was able to use him because he is from the generation that was hooked on "Dragon Ball.

Samejima The OP "Etude" was also written by Eijun Suganami, guitarist for THE BACK HORN, who is also an otaku. He is also an otaku. When I looked at his Twitter page, he was tweeting about anime.

───A surprisingly large number of band members are otaku, aren't they?

Deguchi: People who make it big in bands are otaku to begin with. They like equipment, artists, etc. You can't create a piece of work unless you get into it and accumulate a lot of knowledge. That's how you end up becoming a nerd.

─ ─ And the song in question, "survival dAnce - no no cry more.

Samejima This is also a cover song, and was used in episode 9 of "KING OF PRISM -Shiny Seven Stars-. This work has a different ED song for each episode, and the main character in each episode sang a TRF cover. Just ......, it was an anime that didn't make sense anyway. In episode 9, a macho character named Alexander Yamato sings, and when he dances the "Windmill" dance, where he spins around on the ground, it creates a tornado. Then, a character named Taiga Kagami intervenes in response. And so the prismatic battle begins. Do you understand what ...... is saying?

Deguchi: Uh-huh.

Samejima Taiga then tries to kill Alexander with a sword called "Tenjo Tengenka Yudokonjon" (The Sword of Self-Discipline). And Alexander shoots him back with a hammer. This was during a concert, right? Taiga catches it with his sword and tries to attack Alexander from the back. Then an axe grows out of Alexander's back. Then Alexander splits into six and attacks Taiga from the air. Now, Taiga tried to blow away the six Alexanders attacking from the sky with his huge fan. Then, "Chudo! and the venue explodes. Are you following ......?

Deguchi Oh.

Samejima After that, he says, "This was Yamato Alexander's illusion.

Deguchi.......

But "Kimpuri" is all in this vein.

Samejima After that, Shunsuke Takeuchi, who plays Alexander, sings "survival dAnce" in a very low voice. The ED is "Silver and Gold dance". He sings it in a very coarse voice (laughs). I can't get enough of it.

Deguchi: Excuse me. I haven't been following the anime seriously, so I can only give you my impression, but to summarize what you just said, "Kimpuri" is an anime that makes you want to talk to someone like this, right?

Samejima It's like "Astro Boy".

Everyone laughed.

Deguchi: I think the fun of it may not be fully conveyed to the world. I remember one of my friends had a key chain of Taiga Kagami on his bag, and I thought, "Is this an anime about the characters? But now that I hear about it from Mr. Samejima, I thought, "Really? I thought, "Is it an anime that pushes the characters? I didn't know you were talking about that. It's more pointed than any gag anime, isn't it?

Samejima: But the story is a straight-up shounen manga. The characters are all serious.

─ That's right. The main character's office is in a lot of debt, and a rival office challenges them to a fight, and they try to fight through song and dance.

Deguchi: At that point, it's not right (laughs)! If the office is in trouble, they should be trying to improve themselves, so why are they fighting? I guess this is what Tatsunoko Imus is all about. Because this is only the 9th episode, right?

Samejima That's right. In other episodes, oil suddenly spurts out.

Deguchi: All I see are power words (laughs). I'll go home and watch it too.

───The video is just now being distributed, so if you are interested, I hope you will watch it all at once during this year-end and New Year holidays and enjoy the strange world (laughs). And your first song is "Gonjiro" OP sung by CHAI, isn't it?

Deguchi Yes, it's CHAI. I think this is also a work that readers of "Akiba Research Institute" don't often see. It is a kids' anime based on a manga serialized in "Korokoro Comic. It is a good old-fashioned Korokoro animation like "Obocchan-makun" or "Denjyarasu Jisan". Not the high-brow stuff like "Pokemon" or "Yokai Watch" (laughs).

Samejima Wahahaha (laughs).

Deguchi: Rather than that kind of proper work, I would say it is more like a candy store type of animation that elementary school boys would enjoy. We used to say "Tomodachi nanko" and laugh like a bunch of kids. The ED is by Demon Lord and the OP is by CHAI, a band of four girls who have been performing at Fuji Rock for the past two or three years, and they are singing ani-songs.

Samejima: They have "hair" in every single lyric (laughs).

──There is a bit of a new wave feel to the music, isn't there?

Deguchi That's exactly right. The way the sound is created has a Western taste, and the Japanese girls are naturally doing the sounds of foreign countries. It's quite intentional, but a normal Japanese band just saying "I like new wave" would never be able to produce this sound. But the girls are only 20 years old or so, and they have done it, so all the adults are astonished.

It is with this backbone that they sing "Kedama no Gonjiro. It's a mismatch if you think about it in a normal way, but I hope that when the boys in elementary school who watch it become adults, they will say, "What's that? I think they will realize that the music I used to listen to is amazing. In that respect, the same goes for the other "B Rappers.

Samejima I don't know this one either!

Deguchi This is another korokoro; April was korokoro month. It's "Ona-rap," which means to eat and wrap up an oimo (a sweet potato).

Samejima Ona-wrap! That's so stupid!

───By the way, the singer is Mr. Subaru Kimura, who plays the main character. He also sings in "Hypnosis Mike.

Samejima (looking at the video) Oh, wow! It is indeed "Hipmai. It's Hirafu-cho Division. Amazing~! ...... Deguchi-san, are these really the BEST 3? (LOL)

Deguchi If I were asked to name the three best songs of this spring, Gonjiro and B Rapper would definitely be in there!

As an adult, you don't watch this kind of anime. But when you watch them, you realize that "Gonjirou" is a mismatch of the Korokoro tradition that we used to watch and the music that plays in it is cool. B Rapper" is proof that rap music is making its way into the mainstream. We intentionally put in a lot of different things, and I think this is where some people start listening to rap music or realize they have a talent for rhymes.

It's not like educating gifted rap students, but if you want to make rap culture thrive, you have to make it cool, but you also have to make it silly and funny. B-rappers" are doing their best to broaden the scope of rap culture by taking care of these aspects. And since it is April, children have started to use rap terms like "my men" when they enter elementary school.

Samejima: "I wonder if I can make 100 my-men" (laughs).

Everyone laughed.

Samejima But when I grew up and listened to the songs from "Kiteretsu Encyclopedia," which I watched as a child, I realized how cool they all were. They were rock, they were songs, they were Motown, and I realized that I had been listening to great things since I was a child.

Deguchi: In the past two or three years, I have started to listen to anime songs properly as a result of working on the series, and I realized that there are many really good songs in kids' anime that are shown in the evening and morning.

─ ─ And then there is "Stand By Me," the ED of "Sarazanmai. It is sung by the peggies.

Deguchi: I think it's a good song in general, and I also think it's a song that marks the beginning of the next era of girl bands. It's a great song, and it's like an ani-song performed by a current band. The song is also very spring-like, and I think it's a great song.

Samejima This is not a song to be released after "Gonjiro" and "B Rapper" (laughs).

Deguchi I spoke in the wrong order (laughs). I wondered how to summarize. If I go on like this, it's going to sound like I put "Stand By Me" in at random (laughs).

─ ─ CHAI and the peggies have something in common in that they are both girl bands, don't they?

Deguchi: Yes, yes. That's what I wanted to say. I can see that there is a lot of variety in the range of songs and new senses in a young band.

I'm sorry to talk about myself, but after listening to this, I felt that I am now in my twenties, and if I don't update what is new and good for me, I will find that my sensibilities will become old. This was told to me by an older band when I was in my twenties, "Don't listen to the adults. He told me, "Rock music is for young people, so in the extreme, don't listen to me either," and "What you think is good is the newest and best.

It is only recently that I have come to understand what he said to me, and when I saw CHAI and the Peggies, I said to myself, "This feeling is amazing! It's so vivid!" I was impressed by them. I felt that I needed to listen to more things more carefully.

─ ─ Kids' anime is something that the youngest and most impressionable generation watches. Cover songs are not a new take on the past, but there is value in the reevaluation of classic songs sung by today's young voice actors. I wonder if there was a theme of how to update ani-songs for the younger generation in the spring.

Deguchi That's a good summary! Spring was that kind of season, wasn't it?