Our anime-loving musician reporter sits down for a talk with an anime music legend.
Two of our Japanese-language reporter Seiji Nakazawa’s favorite things in life are music and anime. So when he checked his email inbox and saw that he’d gotten an invitation to Back to Neon Genesis, an Evangelion musical retrospective held in Osaka held at the end of March, there was no way he was going to say no…even though he felt a little nervous about the trip.
See, Seiji wasn’t just going to be attending the event and its concert, he was also going to be interviewing Shiro Sagisu, the Evangelion franchise’s composer. Even without his Eva works Sagasu has legend-level credentials, having contributed to the Bleach, Berserk, Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water, Kimagure Orange Road, and Attack on Titan anime, as well as the Shin Godzilla and Shin Ultraman movies, plus numerous non-anime/film-related pop music projects over a nearly 50-year-long career so far.
So yeah, Seiji was nervous about meeting one of his idols. But just like how Eva protagonist Shinji keeps telling himself that he mustn’t run away, so too did Seiji repeatedly remind himself of that mantra. As a matter of fact, he went in the opposite direction, transforming himself from mild-mannered reporter…
…to Yngwie Malmsteen.
As longtime readers will remember, Seiji occasionally channels the spirit of the famous Swedish rock guitarist when he needs a boost of confidence, and Seiji could feel his tension transitioning to steely determination as he rode the Shinkansen from Tokyo to Osaka.
After all, even if he’s not really Yngwie Malmsteen, Seiji is the guitarist for Japanese indies band si,irene, and with he and Sagisu both being musicians, he was sure their hearts would somehow synchronize during the interview.
And besides, it’s not like Sagisu is the sort of person to be put off by flashy fashion or hairstyling.
As a matter of fact, Sagisu had requested that Seiji specifically interview him. It turns out that he’s a fan of Seiji’s, regularly reading his articles about music and food, and with Seiji being a native of Osaka, where Back to Neon Genesis was being held, it all seemed even more appropriate.
Having exchanged warm greetings, it was time for the interview to get underway, and Seiji decided to jump right into some deep questions about the music of Evangelion.
Seiji: The arrangement for the [Evangelion] song “Komm, Susser Tod” in today’s concert had a very Baroque feel, but was that first time for you to perform that arrangement?
Sagisu: Yes, this was the first time for it to be performed in public. Usually, insert songs that appear in the middle of a movie don’t become very famous, so there’s no point to changing up their arrangements. Thankfully, though, “Komm, Susser Tod” has become well known all over the world, so I was able to put a lot of little playful touches into this new arrangement.
Seiji: It’s my favorite piece from Evangelion, and I liked the joyous U.K. rock feel of the original version, but the Baroque arrangement is so dramatically different that if feels like an entirely different song.
Sagisu: The most rewarding part of tweaking the arrangement for a song is when it gets people talking about it, so seeing that I was able to pull you in like that makes me feel really happy (laughs). Back to Evangelion is a film concert covering the Neon Genesis Evangelion TV series that premiered in 1995. But “Komm, Susser Tod” is from the theatrical feature from 1997, so finding a way to work it into this concert was a way to surprise the audience.
Seiji: In 1997’s The End of Evangelion movie, I always remember the scene where Asuka is fighting against the Mass Production Evangelions. It’s such a desperate, intense scene, but set to the gentle, beautiful melody of Johann Sebastian Bach’s Air, and that contrast made the feeling of despair even sharper. Was it your decision to do that?
Sagisu: No. Using Bach in The End of Evangelion, and Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony in the Evangelion TV series too, were the decisions of [Evangelion creator and director] Hideaki Anno. Like you said, though, those were very bold directorial choices.
Seiji: I have one more question, from a musician’s perspective, about Evangelion. The melodies for the pieces “Thanatos” and “Asuka Strikes” are so catchy that I find myself unconsciously humming them on practically a daily basis. So when you’re composing, are you thinking about the melody as the first part?
Sagisu: Ah, that’s an excellent question! I can really tell that you’re a fellow musician. When making music that’s going to accompany another work, Evangelion, the melody and arrangement tend to well up inside of me together, at the same time. Then I take that and write it down as sheet music. For me, the melody, accompaniment, and rhythm all form together, so I transfer them to the sheet in that way.
By the way, as we mentioned above, while Seiji is a fan of Sagisu, Sagisu is also a fan of Seiji. In particular, he enjoys reading about Seiji’s band activities, and so Seiji brought along one of si,irene’s new demo tapes, and a boombox to play it on.
“This is my first time to hear your music, Seiji,” Sagisu told our reporter, “but your guitar sounds really good. You play with skill, and the sound is well-crafted. It reminds me of the sound of the band of Mike Wyzgowski, my English friend who wrote the English lyrics that appear in Evangelion. Your guitar-playing has a very U.K. feel to it…it really does sound great.”
So in the end, Seiji was reminded once again of the importance of not running away, and also the importance of continuing to make music.
Photos © SoraNews24
Evangelion ©︎khara/Project Eva. ©︎1997 khara/Project EVA
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