Production Materials - Sokihei M.D. Geist: Complete Collection Record - Interviews

 

Hayato Ikeda

Director

Born in Hakodate, Hokkaido. He entered the world of animation at the age of 21. After working as a production assistant at Toei Animation, he became an assistant director. In Showa Year 60 (1985) he became a freelancer and was in charge of directing the TV series “Touch” and storyboarding for the movie version of “Touch”. His best works include “Stop!! Hibari-kun!”, “GU-GU Ganmo” and many more. 31 years old.

“This was my first time working with Mr. Ohata, who was responsible for the original draft. As for how we met, I worked with Unit Director Mr. Negishi previously, Ohata was also an acquaintance as well, the first thing he asked was “I have this type of project outline, but would you like to work together on it?”. Before the scenario came to be, we had preparatory meetings at the synopsis stage, but as the action elements were so thorough, I was also pleased with it from the beginning. When the Japanese do action, it tends to be done with the entanglements of humanity and the complexities of human emotion, there’s just not quite a lot of sharpness and the excitement can be missing. That was an aspect of Ohata’s draft, such unnecessary elements were cut out, action really was at the core. Since this has been my first time working on an OVA, I think I was lucky to come across a good project. My duties on “Geist” cover the entirety of it, or rather, I mediated until it became a full production. If you try to include everything and anything into a restrictive 45-minutes, I think it can end up entirely low-voltage on the whole. Therefore, as it was so action-orientated, violence was brought to the fore of the production, and expository sections were deliberately cut from the story too. The aim was for a work that focused on its characters and had appealing action, depending on the viewer the story’s development might be hard to grasp, but that element was a deliberate decision. Work like this, might not be understood as something I should primarily do, but I wanted to make it clear that this was produced to be a different take on video content up to now, so I took the plunge and did it. Therefore, if the people who see “Geist” think “huh?! This is a bit different”, then that means our staff’s goals were achieved to an extent. Aside from that novelty, Ohata and the other animators worked hard, I think it has been sufficiently completed as an entertaining piece of media. I would love to hear the thoughts of those who see it.” 

“It’s strange to say it myself, but I was a movie man at heart. Old action films for example, westerns like “Bullitt” I still love, I was really into them at the time. However, maybe it’s because I’m getting older, but I’m not so into action films these days. I watch them now and then, but afterwards I often think “was I wasting my time?” (laughs). Recently, that’s why works which remain gentle, that are focused on the emotional expression which is particularly similar to “Touch”, are interesting. It might be surprising to hear that I was responsible for both “M.D. Geist” and “Touch”, for me personally, that’s not contradictory. From previous times I had thought how I wanted to do a complete action piece at least once. I have loved pictures for a long time, in truth I aimed to be an illustrator or a designer. Manga I like too, and I was also influenced by Osamu Tezuka. As a matter of fact, my parents work as projection technicians at Toei, similarly my aunt is a script supervisor at Toei Movie Studios.  

We’re a film family, so to speak. Anyway, while I was in high school, I worked part-time as an assistant at Toei on anime-related work, and since then it has continued for more than 10 years (laughs). There are many masterpieces and highly excellent works in animation, but it was from live-action films that I got interested in moving pictures, even now I have a yearning for live-action film. That’s why I’ve always wanted to write a live-action scenario myself, but I just haven’t had the time to go ahead and do that. As for my favourite film directors, there’s so many that I couldn’t name them all. If I had to say, there’s Don Siegel, Spielberg, Tomu Uchida, the works of Yasujiro Ozu… Films like “Shane”, “Dirty Harry”, “Duel”, “Zen and Sword” I like. With Spielberg’s works in particular, I like “Duel” and “The Sugarland Express” from when he was still unknown, more so than what he has done recently since becoming famous. The film that is my favourite of all, it really has to be “Shane”. That film is a timeless masterpiece for me. From here on the No. 1 Best will absolutely be “Shane” (laughs). I was very influenced by that film, in fact “Touch” also that has influence.”

From this point, I think that I want to create works with romance, works that leave a refreshing aftertaste, works that convey the kindness of people. I don’t want to betray the expectations of the person who pays 1500 yen to go to the cinema or the people who pay whatever-thousand-yen for a video. For that reason, I think that I would like to continue making fun things that make you laugh, make you cry, feel joy, all in one piece. We derive our greatest pleasure from when many people say “it’s good!”. And if one day I am able to make an emotionally-moving film, that I can watch and enjoy myself, this would certainly be the best feeling ever. I think that I would like to make this dream come true.” 

Koichi Ohata

Original concept, assistant director, mechanical design

Mecha designer involved in many productions. Highly well-received for precise and polished designs. The original creator of “M.D. Geist”, which has carved out a new genre of action anime. Notable works include “Chou Kousoku Galvion”, “Super Robo Galatt”, “Nina Senshi Tobikage” and more.

“At the time when the project outline for “M.D. Geist” was conceived, I really didn’t think it was going to be on video. Previously, I had thought about how I wanted to do something in mecha that hadn’t been done before, but I regarded the outline of “Geist” with a faint feeling of “I don’t know if I’ll get the O.K. to do this, but I’m going to try anyway”. That’s why when the planning was approved, the moment that it was decided to become a real video anime, I went “yes!”. In the beginning, the title was “Death Force”, and the name of the protagonist was “Patrick”. At this stage, the name of Geist hadn’t yet been chosen. “M.D. Geist” also hadn’t been chosen. Originally, “M.D.” stood for “Mad Dog”, but because this was a common thing, it was changed to “Most Dangerous” when the final name was settled upon. At the planning stage, the original draft I wrote for “Death Force” was about 5-6 pages done on report paper, the story details were a little different. The outline of the synopsis goes like this: “Inside the prison of a spaceship floating through space, a lunatic soldier is incarcerated. The man has been imprisoned by allied forces for having strength above anyone else’s and for his intense aggression, that is our protagonist, Patrick. No one approaches the prison, before long even the jailers stop coming to patrol him, and Patrick comes to be left at the brink of starvation and isolation. On the day in which he is on the verge of certain death, the prison walls are suddenly broken through. Standing there are friendly soldiers in Powered Suits. While Patrick was imprisoned, almost every soldier had begun to go berserk, perhaps due to the tension of the long floating through space or the sickness of space nausea. Patrick, who was viewed as insane, is in turn welcomed as one of the last “normal people”. The computer which governs this spaceship, enacted a system which kills the entirety of the onboard crew, when it deems it to be in an inoperable state (or so the computer concludes)…”. After that, the outline to “Geist” is similar. Together with a human character in an equivalent position to Colonel Crutes in “Geist”, he heads to the control centre to stop the system which kills the crew. Not to mention even, he also aims to kill Patrick at the same time. There is also a female soldier who is an equivalent to Paia, but this one doesn’t fall in love with Patrick (laughs). Within this, the first draft ended onboard the spaceship, but the production concepts expanded to include a planet. The content of the story had more of a hint of a dark “world of madness”, the storyline was hard you see. 

“In “M.D. Geist”, I put in a considerable amount of my personal tastes. I had always liked cool action movies like “Mad Max” and “The Terminator, I thought about how I definitely wanted to do that in anime. Because I had been withholding my impulses, now the time had come for me to get all of my desires out. While there are pros and cons regarding action scenes, I think it’s better if one’s characteristics as a writer come out (whether I’m a writer or not), and whether it’s Hayao Miyazaki or Mamoru Oshii, I think a big appealing part is the writer’s individuality. That’s why, in “M.D. Geist”, it’s pretty significant that the personality of Koichi Ohata be brought out, even in action scenes, I am happy that I was able to do what I wanted. 

Even though the depiction in the first half is comparatively heroic, I would like there to have been a little more insanity to be shown. The theme of this work was the human instinct to fight. Everyone has the instinct to fight, regardless of sex or age. Even still, not everyone has the need to live by fighting instinct. We manage society through the suppression of such instincts for a reason. One of the things that was aimed to be portrayed in “Geist”, is a human being living only by instinct, I wanted to depict a human that hadn’t been established as a singular personality. I thought that it would be interesting if the true nature of humanity could be displayed, or I should say, the part that is foundational in humanity. 

“My name is down for the mecha design, but I did the essential designs of Geist and the Regular Army soldiers in their FITEX uniforms. I did the rough image design of the Noah Guards, Final Striker and other mecha, but other personnel finished these. I’d say that my design aims were taken into account, and that it looks like as if we finished with some very good designs. I was very satisfied with the character designs. I met with Mr. Ninomiya many times for briefing sessions, I asked him about ideas, “could you do this please?”, “how about we do it like this?”, now that I think about it, I feel that I was pretty rude to Mr. Ninomiya (laughs). I think that I wanted the whole atmosphere of this production to have the style of a horror video import, and that an emotionless and cold character (‘dry to the touch’) was perfect for the film’s worldview. As I had to put it all together in a short runtime of 45 minutes, some things I had to leave unfinished, but it was completed as an entertaining work that can be viewed with pride. The animators really worked their hardest, and I think the enthusiasm of the staff is fully on show on screen. I want as many people as possible to see it.” 

Norio Wakamoto (Geist)

Born in October of Showa Year 20 (1945). Notable works include “The Professionals”, “Stop!! Hibari-kun!”, “Video Senshi Lazerion”, “Sasuga no Sarutobi”, “Choujukishin Dancouga” and others. No one else can play Geist like him.

“Hey, sorry I made you wait”.

Mister Geist, Norio Wakamoto, said as he met us at the meeting place.  

“So, please ask me anything”. 

Even saying as such, when I heard that voice of Geist, I felt like I was shrinking. However, the real Geist, no, Mr. Wakamoto, is a sincere and kind actor. 

“I’m the type of person who doesn’t think about this or that too much before I act. I’m of the sensibility that I decide “I’ll perform this role like this!” at that time. Geist is also like that. My inspiration was when I saw the character, even if he is expressionless, I wanted to play a man who was flowing with passion in his heart.” 

How did Mr. Wakamoto clear the obstacle of putting emotion into his plain dialogue?

“To understand his (Geist’s) heart, it’s crucial to have the same thing inside of yourself. So even with his placid way of speaking, I think that it can bring out a suitable level of reality”. 

Mr. Wakamoto became Geist in his performance. He said he felt a portion of sympathy for the man named Geist. 

“For the modern person, they want to be mutually dependent on one another, and the tendency to do that is strong. Therefore, once a fissure occurs in a human relationship, there is a weakness in which they are unable to stand on their own. Geist however, doesn’t depend on anyone and is a man who carries on living his own way of life. I think I can understand the place in which he becomes a fighting machine that is totally ‘alone’”. 

Just like Geist, who never loses his composure in any kind of situation, Mr. Wakamoto’s personal nature is cool too. 

“Hmmm, it’s equal. Everyone has various faces, don’t they. There’s a cool face, an everyday face, there’s also anger and kindness both at the same time. We often use the term “type of person” really simply, but humans are a mixture of different components. So, perhaps I have a coolness like Geist. Well, I certainly would like to feel cool (laughs)”.

You practiced Shorinji Kempo during school, which became very useful in “Geist”. 

“When you are struck in the face or struck in the body, the sound you make is different. If you simply finish with a “gyaa”, you will lose your sense of believability. Likewise if you take an attack to the stomach, and don’t say “ugh” then it won’t be realistic”.

After the interview ends, Mr. Wakamoto stands up from his seat. That figure, was just as nihilistic.   

Fumi Hirano (Paia)

Born on April 23rd, Showa Year unknown. Notable works include “Urusei Yatsura”, “Stop!! Hibari-kun!”, “Pro Golfer Saru”, “SPT Layzner”, “Sangokushi”, “Panzer World Galient”, and more. Additionally also very active in TV and radio. She opens up about her new role as Paia.

When talking about Ms. Hirano, her role as Lum in “Urusei Yatsura” is what instantly comes to mind, but this time Paia is a totally different type of character. 

“When I auditioned for the role of Paia, I used about three different voices. Even though I passed the audition, there was something I was slightly unsure of, so I asked Mr. Matsuura, the sound engineer, to do just one more take after I had passed. That last voice I gave finally came to be the voice of Paia. “Geist” is the debut of this voice (laughs)”. 

Ms. Hirano’s vocal enthusiasm could be felt in this work, so much so that her fervour was popular among the staff.  However, she herself still has a point of reflection to make.   

“While I was in school, it was a real bummer that I had no ties with the delinquent kids (laughs), so I couldn’t get a real grasp on the sense of how Paia gives off and exudes intimidation with her body. I wonder if I could have made her voice a little more outwardly threatening, and thought part of it could do with that. However, it seems I had that kind of personality in me, and since the after-recording process ended, I’ve woken up to my big sister nature (laughs). She’s also my favourite character design. 

“What I love about Paia is her lips (laughs). They’re whitish like if you used chalk. It makes her into a very adult character. If she had bright red lips that would make her into a rude delinquent girl. Really, I think that lip colour was the right choice”. 

Paia is a character that could be said to be quite special to Ms. Hirano. By playing Paia, she also got out her cravings as an actress. 

“Until now, I couldn’t really express such feelings as “I want this role” or “I want to perform like this”, but Paia was by all means getting to try things out as I wanted, I had many thoughts about the performance and developed it. After characters like Paia, I want to keep playing ones that are important to me. I thank the casting of this occasion from the bottom of my heart”.

Ms. Hirano is also active as a voice actress in TV and radio. In particular on Tokai TV, broadcasting every late Friday night at 12:20 is “Zettai! Yoru shimashou”, which has an astounding audience approval rating of 60%. 

“It’s funny, isn’t it? The most popular segment is “Troyathalon”, which is a play on “Triathalon”, and it has the type of subject matter to keep up with “All Night Fuji” and “Sports Taishou”. I also use the Nagoya dialect with the staff by saying “yeaaaahhh, you did great, man!” (laughs). I get pointed out a lot more walking in Nagoya than I do in Tokyo (laughs)”.

“Urusei Yatsura” is over so she can breathe a sigh of relief. From here on Ms. Hirano wants to play an adult woman. We have high hopes for this and more from here on out!

Akio Nojima (Colonel Crutes)

Born April 6th, Showa Year 20 (1945). Notable works include “Star of the Giants”, “Tomorrow’s Joe”, “Attack No. 1”, “Kick no Oni”, “Boku Patalliro!”, “Pro Golfer Saru”, “Ashita Tenki ni Naare” and more.

“It’s because Colonel Crutes is a professional soldier by nature. I straightened my back and spine to really get the “soldierly” feeling in my performance”. 

Mr. Nojima spoke slowly. 

“After I finish with one role, I clear my head out once. Then when the time comes to perform the next role, I’m immediately able to enter into that world”.  

He says as he closes his eyes. Looking at the after-recording of “M.D. Geist” four months after its completion, we asked him to pick out his memories.  

“…Yeah, I can recall. Both Mr. Wakamoto and Ms. Hirano put in considerable performances. Mr. Wakamoto, he was a man of few words from the start, he was exactly well-suited for that protagonist. Ms. Hirano was similar in her role from the beginning, she put in a lot of effort, she worked very hard to become the character perfectly”.  

What type of acting plan did Mr. Nojima establish personally?  

“Because I can see in Crutes he is a steadfast person, I thought about his personality and kept in mind the pride he stresses”.  

Above all, an important factor in acting is understanding the character’s personality, not just their appearance.  

“What I’m sure about, is that he is of a masculine nature who thinks of his subordinates. At the end of the film he tries to entomb Geist for good, but I think that’s in him to act out based on justice. After all, it’s because Geist is ‘the most dangerous man’”. 

Like Mr. Wakamoto and Ms. Hirano, Mr. Nojima spoke of the fascination he felt with the character of Crutes.  

“The scene in which he names his fallen subordinates and says ‘your deaths were not in vain’, I think the human nature of Crutes is brought out in it. Further, he doesn’t use his subordinates, he personally puts himself in the way of danger, I feel this makes him the soldier’s soldier. I’m very pleased with his craftsman-like robustness. I also strongly admire how he resigns himself to carrying out his mission dutifully”.  

Mr. Nojima also has a stern craftsman-like regard to his profession. 

“If you are performing with only your voice, the honing of your technique must be done in conjunction with refining your senses. If your sense aren’t sharp, it will come across in how you are unable to convey the human elements that are in your dialogue”.  

Aside from voice acting, he continues to be active in his band. 

“It feels really good to perform live in front of an audience. We will have a concert at Theatre Apple on the 8th of August, definitely please come and see it”.  

“M.D. Geist” is a tour-de-force, hard violence action anime. In the same way an incredible staff were put together for the visual side, we’ve assembled a solid scrum of the best members of the music side. To further ratchet up the film’s power, we have a message to share from the staff behind the music. 

Theme Song - Hironobu Kageyama

Born February 18th, Showa Year 36 (1961), from Osaka. His amateur band “LAZY” was formed during high school and debuted professionally after their talent was recognised by Kamayatsu Hiroshi. Responsible for many hits such as “Akazuki-chan goyoujin”. After LAZY break up in May 1981, he becomes a solo vocalist. Spreads his love of rock music far and wide in live venues across the country. 

“I first got interested in music in elementary school. I began playing folk guitar, under the influence of my older brother, with a classmate I was good friends with, so me and him got to learn guitar together. At that time, I listening to things like Tulip, Takuro Yoshida and Yousui Inoue”.  

It’s hard to imagine that Hironobu Kageyama once sang folk songs.  

“After all, you need money to do rock music (laughs). Guitars are expensive, and you have to buy an amp too. Not only that, everyone wants to play guitar, and I needed people who could play drums and bass”. Already being in middle school, the members of LAZY gather and form their band.  

“In middle school, I awoke from folk to rock straightaway. Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, Grand Funk Railroad… though I might have been the same as everyone else of my generation, I went nuts for hard rock bands like these”.

You became in charge of vocals in middle school.  

“Basically, though there was another vocalist, he wasn’t very good (laughs). Well, this is a funny story, at the time there was a group called Badfinger who were beginning to sell well, and I loved that band’s vocalist, Paul Rodgers. Even though I was on guitar in the beginning, before long I got into vocals”.

You were 16 when LAZY debuted professionally. However, the road wasn’t an easy one.  

“After leaving Tokyo, I began vocal training properly. I began to learn the basics of vocalising and the direction of my voice through my teacher. They were a very strict teacher, the Idol girl who went with me would cry when scolded. I’m a man, I’d say “I won’t be beaten!” with feeling as I did my best, but there would be times when the teacher would yell at me “go home!”.  

You also had many rivals.  

“There is a big difference in what’s good and bad in Japanese bands. After turning professional, when I first heard Godiego, Southern All Stars, and Char, I was blown away by their technique. We had the feeling of being called “hey, useless!”, we were embarrassed to call ourselves professionals. When I think about it, a really popular band can do it really badly (laughs). Because we thought we were bad, we really practiced. When our work day began, we were rehearsing in the studio over and over from morning to night”.  

After LAZY, you debut as a solo artist, and this time on “Geist”. 

“My first time hearing it was on the demo tape before the full arrangement. The melody was beautiful, I thought it would become a good piece of music through a hard arrangement. The completed song had a very straight sound, I really got into it when it came to the recording stage”.  

Hironobu Kageyama, who does more than a hundred live performances in a year, aims to become a real rock singer, and is doing it with all his energy today. 

Music - Yōichi Takahashi

Born November 1st, Showa Year 28 (1953). During his time Nihon University Tsurugaoka Senior High School, he formed the band “High Society”. They released two LPs and a single. Enrolled at Berklee College of Music (Boston) in Showa Year 50 (1975). In 1979, he was the third Japanese person to enter Herb Pomeroy’s class after Sadao Watanabe and Masahiko Satou. His work in anime includes “Geba Geba Show Time!”, “Running Boy” and “Game King”.

Mr. Takahashi, who was in charge of the music, spoke of how “Geist” was a type of action anime not seen until now. 

“When I first saw the storyboards, I thought “this is a work that’s unlike anything else”. When it comes to Japanese action, there is always an element of ‘naniwabushi’, obligation and compassion, in which the strong are righteous and rescue the weak, but “Geist” completely broke that pattern. It might be strange to say, but with the task of creating music, it’s easier with naniwabushi-like parts. It really is (laughs)”. 

With a work like this, there was some confusion at the commission stage.  

“Personally, because I’m not that hard of a person, I wondered, could I do a work that could knock you down over and over and over again with a story like this? That’s what I thought. The thing I was careful about when making the music, was that the story was something that hadn’t been done before, so I tried to do something new with the music. That’s why more than half of the tracks recorded on the LP can’t be played by just anyone with the chords. I had always liked modern music so I also used an irregular metre and a unique harmony. For instance, the drums are in 2/4, the bass is in 3/4, which can match with the 15-beat rhythm”. 

As expected, the fruits of higher education are well-demonstrated.  

“However, when listening normally, I don’t think it feels unnatural. On the surface, there’s no change from general music. If you aren’t learned in music to some extent, you won’t notice this trick”.  

So in other words, while the music is made by the experts, at the same time it doesn’t lose its appeal with the wider audience.  

“There is also a technique called non-diatonic bass [TL note: the full term in romaji is “non daiatonikku towaimondo raiatonikku bēsu”, in which “towaimondo raiatonikku” has seemingly no equivalent in English - this may be a spelling error in the original kana]. This is when three unrelated chords are played on one bass, but this technique I think is only known by four Japanese people, Sadao Watanabe, Masahiko Satou, Tiger Okoshi, and myself. With these technicalities, there’s really no end to them, but in short, it’s about how we use those techniques and in what situations they should be exhibited”.  

As with music, there is a certain way to view images. 

“In any case, the imagery in “M.D. Geist” is wonderful. The music is connected in no small part through the well-composed imagery. Not to flatter myself, but if the imagery is 100 points, then the music is about 70-80 points. Moreover, Mr. Matsuura, the Audio Director, is a person who really understands how to utilise music, my music was therefore able to be skilfully integrated into the visuals. If you’re unskilled, you can make a mess out of the sound effects, voiceover and music, and it can be very hard to listen to, however with Mr. Matsuura, he was gracious enough to polish things off by neatly pulling together each respective sound so that they're easy to listen to”.  

Having been involved with the world of film since he was 7-years old, Mr. Takahashi has stamped “M.D. Geist” with the seal of approval that is earned as a high-quality work.  

Theme Song Composition - Masayuki Kishi

Born January 14th, Showa Year 33 (1958). In 1981, he won the Grand Prix at the Victor Original Song Contest. Since then, he has been foremost figure in the field of young composers. He has provided compositions for Yōko Minamino, Mao Daichi, RAJIE, Noriko Matsumoto, Sawako Kitahara and more. Highly-regarded, this occasion will be his second time composing an anime theme, nevertheless, straight rock perfectly captures the setting of “Geist”.

“I thought “kindness isn’t what this man needs” when I saw the character called Geist. That’s why the two theme songs (“Violence of the Flame” and “Merciless Soldier”), stylistically, were intended to convey super-strength”.  

You have one credit for anime music from several years ago, but this is your first time on anything Sci-Fi.

“Previously, I wrote a composition for the “Heidi, Girl of the Alps” TV Special, but for hard Sci-Fi Action, this is a first. The story feels close to “Blade Runner”. In theme songs for action anime, there’s a lot of kayōkyoku-like material. So, in this instance, I put it together in a dry, western rock-style. This was also what I discussed with Mr. Maeyama, the Music Producer, and we thought that the emotion of Mr. Kageyama’s voice was perfect for it”.  

When composing, the form is preceded by the lyrics first. With the lyricist, Ms. Ryu Machiko, her lyrics are put against the melody, and are revised by the end. 

“This method of construction is the most universal one of all. As it was simple for me too, my job of creating a song went smoothly”.  

You also fell in love with Hironobu Kageyama’s voice.  

“Of the Japanese people who can produce that type of voice, there aren’t many. While he can’t hold a key that high, his voice is powerful, and since he has a long career as a vocalist, I left the style of singing to Mr. Kageyama. So, after the song was completed, I had freedom to look over it”. 

Like the music, the visuals can also said to be western.   

“It’s a work that doesn’t evoke the typical Japanese characteristics. As a result, the action is not only hard, but crisp. I think that it’s a production that can be taken in the same way as a western picture. I think you’ll easily be able to enjoy it”. 

Mr. Kishi writes five to six songs weekly. This is the workload of a young composer. 

Music Producer - Hirokuni Maeyama

Born November 8th, Showa Year unknown. In 1978 he joined Nippon Columbia. “Ganbare Gonbei” was the first of many anime soundtracks he would work on. To date, he himself has said that the number of works he has produced are “almost too much trouble to count” as there are so many. His recent works include “Dr. Slump: Arale-chan” and “Kinniku Man”. 

“As “M.D. Geist” is a work which is about the hard violence of flesh-and-blood humans fighting, I had thought to produce music that the cries of people could be heard in, and an aural atmosphere close to the natural voice”.  What exactly do you mean by ‘creating a sound close to the natural voice’? 

What exactly do you mean by ‘creating a sound close to the natural voice’? 

“Through the use of a brass section, for example. Because the brass produces a tone which is close to the natural voice, that can give you a sense of a “scream”.  As the body of the theme song is extremely orthodox in its composition, realising that “scream” wasn’t too difficult”.  

On this occasion, you were especially lucky with the staff involved. 

“Mr. Matsuura, the Sound Engineer, is someone who earnestly has an understanding of music, and he is so talented in how he utilises it. When I saw the menu Mr. Matsuura had produced, on the spot I thought “this is going to be some excellent music”. Yōichi Takahashi too, he is someone with outstanding knowledge of music, and at the same time, he has an extremely sharp sensibility. As we had many meetings together, he came up with peculiar chords and odd time signatures, uniques methods were born in “Geist”. Finally, there are the talents of vocalist Hironobu Kageyama. What he also did was look over the character and storyboards many times, so that he could really get a grasp of the man called Geist. For myself though, I thought that it would be interesting to see what the real colour of “Hironobu Kageyama” would be like to come out, so I advised him not to get too caught up in the character. If he could grasp Geist’s heart, then I was certain he would absolutely be able to create something good from it”. 

Finally, I asked to hear his thoughts on completing it.  

“Rather than breathe a sigh of relief, the feeling was one of “I wonder what’s next”, everyone was asking this even after the ride was over. I really admired the enthusiasm of the staff. Things were completed to a very high level, while at the same time I think I was filled with the feeling of having done a great job. I think that in addition to the visuals, something new was able to be created on the music side that never been done before”.