"Heavy Metal L-Gaim" LD Box Set - Liner Notes from Kei Wakakusa
A LD box set that was released for Sunrise's Heavy Metal L-Gaim in the 90s contains lots of liner notes with interviews of various people that were involved with the show's production—on the music side of things, MIO (1st OP/ED singer) and Kei Wakakusa (BGM composer) have their own spotlights on here!
This post will focus on Kei Wakakusa. LD scans were taken from Erik's site (of PPP) and English translation was provided by Windii.
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Many fans of Heavy Metal L-Gaim would probably cite the charm of the music created by Kei Wakakusa as one of the most appealing aspects of the series. The two-side L-Gaim Odyssey album released at the time of the broadcast also showcases the talent and passion of Mr. Wakakusa. We let him recount his thoughts and feelings at the time.
Kei Wakakusa: Born February 10, 1949 in Yamagata Prefecture. Belongs to Imagine Inc. He is active in a wide range of fields including musical arrangements, TV dramas, animation, and films. His major works include anime and tokusatsu like "Six God Combination God Mars", "My Daddy-Long-Legs", "Moldiver", and "Blue SWAT", TV dramas like "The Hangman" series and "The Art of Loving", arrangements for songs like "Kamome Wa Kamome" (Singer: Naoko Ken, winner of Japan Record Award Gold Prize), "Aisarete Serenade" (Singer: Yang Soo Kyung, winner of Japan Record Award for Best Arranger), etc.
This is my second work of music for an animation, following God Mars, which I was very absorbed in, and I think that with L-Gaim I was able to sublimate that in a way. Of course I have my regrets, but I put a lot of effort into it, and I think the fusion of music and animation worked out rather well in this series. Director Tomino had already had success with Gundam, and this is a follow-up to that. When I met him, I felt his enthusiasm for L-Gaim. I was impressed by what Director Tomino said: "Animation is performed by pictures, not people, so it lives or dies depending on the music."
I heard that many young artists were used for this work, and I was also inspired by Mr. Tomino's willingness and attempt to create something new. At the time, John Williams's soundtracks were already highly acclaimed, and the era was one in which a full orchestra was the norm for background music. I tried to create something different, so I devised a lot of different ideas. L-Gaim had the impression of "heavy metal" in its title, and I tried to create pieces that made extensive use of step recording. At the time, we only had a 24-channel multi-recorder, and that wasn't enough at all (laughs). So we linked two recorders together to make 48 channels, and we did a lot of other things to make it work. It was a very rewarding job. I made an album called L-Gaim Odyssey as well as a soundtrack album of the series, and it was an album that reflected my inner self. It is the lore of L-Gaim that was created by feeding back the world created by Mr. Tomino deeply into my mind. It is an album in which I put out what I felt in my heart. I used melodies from the soundtrack, but I took that as my theme and developed it freely according to the story I had in mind. At the time, albums like that sold quite well (laughs). I was also able to make various interesting attempts, such as featuring the sounds of insects and drums. Odyssey is still the job I feel most attached to.
In the days of L-Gaim, music was valued and rewarding.
Originally, I wanted to do film music, and that's how I got into this field. I think that film music can express the feelings behind the story, or in other words, what is written between the lines of a text. I like grandiose music, but I am interested in expressing the inner life of human beings through music. Film music allows me to pursue this. However, there are so many jobs that are X years in conception, X years in production, and X weeks in music. There is no way that something created in a few weeks can compete with something that took years of work by the filmmakers. In that sense, the status of music in animation is higher than in Japanese live-action films, and it is more rewarding because budgets are available. Budget is very important for music. It determines what kind of musicians you can use and how many musicians you can use in a group. At the time of L-Gaim, music was valued even more than it is now, and it was a particularly rewarding job. The luxury of those days made for a favorable environment, and it was a great learning experience for me as well.
(At Mr. Wakakusa's home in March 1996)
Originally, I wanted to do film music, and that's how I got into this field. I think that film music can express the feelings behind the story, or in other words, what is written between the lines of a text. I like grandiose music, but I am interested in expressing the inner life of human beings through music. Film music allows me to pursue this. However, there are so many jobs that are X years in conception, X years in production, and X weeks in music. There is no way that something created in a few weeks can compete with something that took years of work by the filmmakers. In that sense, the status of music in animation is higher than in Japanese live-action films, and it is more rewarding because budgets are available. Budget is very important for music. It determines what kind of musicians you can use and how many musicians you can use in a group. At the time of L-Gaim, music was valued even more than it is now, and it was a particularly rewarding job. The luxury of those days made for a favorable environment, and it was a great learning experience for me as well.
(At Mr. Wakakusa's home in March 1996)
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A note: L-Gaim Odyssey refers to two albums by Kei Wakakusa based off Heavy Metal L-Gaim, containing image music centered around the world of L-Gaim, as well as alternate arrangements of BGM used in the show.
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