Interview with Mai Fuchigami New single "Unpredictable DAYS" & "Valentine Hunter" - a very satisfying album!

Voice actress and artist Mai Fuchigami will release her fourth and first double A-side single "Predictable Days" / "Valentine Hunter" on February 5, 2020. Predictably DAYS" is the ending theme song for the TV anime "Mage Orphen: Hagure Tabi," in which Fuchigami herself appears as Doutin. She wrote the lyrics for both songs, and we spoke with her as she continues to deepen the density of her artist activities through her roles and her conception of the work.

The meaning behind "Valentine Hunter" - "I like the girly part of a girl

───Your new single is the first double A-side, and both "Unpredictable Days" and "Valentine Hunter" have "lyrics by Mai Fuchigami," and you have written a lot of lyrics in the past as well.

Mai Fuchigami (Fuchigami) Please don't think that this is the norm! (laughs) However, I am grateful to be entrusted with a part of something that is paid for as a product, and I am proud of it. Just like other fun things for me, I am always complaining that I don't have time until I start writing, but once I start writing, I end up enjoying it. When I am finished, I am so happy that I am able to make up for the pain of the birth, and I can say with a smug look on my face, "I have created a perfect product! I feel so happy about it that I think it's just right that I complain about it (laughs).

─ ─ Is there a reason why you made both sides of the album?

Fuchigami: "Valentine Hunter" was conceived more than a year ago, including the video. Unpredictable Days" was the ending theme song for the TV anime "Magician Orphen: The Hagure Tabi" that started airing in January, and the timing was right for its release in February, so I had the opportunity to release this song as a Valentine's Day song as well.

─ What was the conception of the song?

Fuchigami: At first, in a chat with the producer, I mentioned that I wanted to make a Valentine's Day song, and I said, "A special place for Valentine's Day chocolates is like a battlefield for women," and he said, "I can see you getting in there. Then let's make a music video (music video) out of it! That's how the music video was born. Basically, I like the girly parts of girls, both the good and the bad. I like the cute parts as well as the slightly muddled parts that are peculiar to women. This is what I also depicted in "BLACK CAT" (included in " Journey & My music "). Valentine's Day is a glamorous event, and the town is decorated with hearts, which is a cute sight, but it is a festival of love, so there are things that can happen there, and things that can be taken away. Besides, the special venue is quite a battlefield. It is a place where "hunters" gather, both in terms of flocking to the limited edition chocolates and in terms of catching him. I think women can relate to that kind of feeling.

─ ─ You also said during " Love Summer!" that you like the atmosphere of summer festivals and festivals that brighten up the people around you. Is that the same at events like this?

Fuchigami Yes. Christmas, for example. I like to see people having fun. It's hard when I'm mixed in with the others, but I can be at peace when I'm just watching from the distance (laughs).

─ ─ What are your memories of Valentine's Day, Mr. Fuchigami?

Fuchigami: Well, I remember ....... When I was in junior high school, I really liked my cram school teacher. I remember thinking that I wanted to give her chocolates for Valentine's Day, so I worked very hard to make them. Thinking back now, I feel like a child, but I remember making chocolates at home and being nervous about when the timing would be right. I have told this story in various places, but when I became an adult, I worked part-time at a ramen shop and I really liked the manager there. I confessed my love to the manager three times and was rejected three times (laughs).

───Did you include any of your own episodes in these lyrics?

Fuchigami: This lyric is completely from a third-person point of view, and there is probably a strong element of looking at it in an amused way. Like the story about the store manager earlier, girls in love are single-minded, and by the time Valentine's Day rolls around, all they can think about is that. I'm sure we've all gone through such moments, and I wanted to depict them in a funny way, so the work has a bit of a playful feel.

─ What were your wishes for the music?

Fuchigami: Although it is a Valentine's Day song, I did not want it to be a romantic song. I wanted it to be an old-fashioned heroic song, but since the main character is a girl, I wanted it to be a song that portrays a fighting woman in a cute way. I am not an expert on musical instruments, but this time I was able to specify the instruments after a long time. At first, there was a chorus in the intro part, but I decided to leave it out and asked for horns to be used to express the song with sound.

─ What was your impression of the music?

Fuchigami: I like it very much. It has a nostalgic feel to it, and I really liked the melody, which makes your mouth water and your head spin, so it was very smooth and fun to match the lyrics to it.

─ ─ The expression of the song was very lively.

Fuchigami: Although the melody of the song is fun and easy to sing, the theme of the song was "to be silly but serious," so I took it seriously as if I myself were a hunter or a victor. There is a line in the lyrics, "Celebrate the night of February 14! is one of my favorite passages here. This means that we should make sure to catch our partner on Valentine's Day and celebrate on the night. But it ends with "To be continued...maybe!" so I'm sure this Valentine's Day has ended in failure, but let's say it with a big smile on our face. I sang something ridiculous in a very serious manner.

I am also impressed by the whispers in the chorus (shooting♡chocolate).

Fuchigami: When people think of hunters, they think of coolness and masculinity, but since it's Valentine's Day, I wanted to keep the cute part, so I added it as the essence of the song. I would be happy if listeners find it cute or sexy. I hope listeners will find the song cute and sexy. While I tried to bring out these elements, I sang the melody in a slightly seductive way. I sang this song hoping to make it sound like the main character and the voice of heaven in this story. The girl is risking her life to be in love with her boyfriend on the night of February 14, but she can't see the world around her. She is trying her best to make love with her boyfriend on the night of February 14, but she can't see what is going on around her. (half-hearted love) and "Are you sure that's the right person for you? Or, "In the end, don't you just want the boyfriend, not the person?" It's funny, isn't it?" These are the voices of our hearts.

───Can you tell us about the highlights of the music video?

Fuchigami I think the highlight is me wearing a frilly pink Lolita outfit. This was a decision that was made in the initial conception that I mentioned, along with the songwriting (laughs). (Laughs) What's more, this outfit is actually being sold by an actual Lolita clothing brand during this year's Valentine's Day season. The accessories are also very cute, like rings that resemble chocolates, wearing sweets. The stylist brought in a magical girl-like walking stick for reference, and it was so cute that we had to use it in the video. The second half of the music video has some pretty crazy footage, so please be sure to watch it all the way through.