"Heavy Metal L-Gaim" LD Box Set - Liner Notes from MIO

 

A continuation of liner notes that were included in a 90s LD box set that was released for Sunrise's Heavy Metal L-Gaim.

Whereas the last post focused on Kei Wakakusa, this focuses on MIO—the singer for the 1st OP & ED. LD scans were taken from Erik's site (of PPP) and English translation was provided by Windii (again).

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Xabungle, Dunbine, and L-Gaim. One unforgettable element of Tomino's works is MIO's vocals. How did she first encounter anime songs, which she continues to sing to this day with the support of her fans?

MIO: Born October 3, 1956 in Tottori Prefecture. She has sung theme songs and insert songs for a series of Tomino's anime such as Combat Mecha Xabungle, Aura Battler Dunbine, Heavy Metal L-Gaim, etc. The theme song for L-Gaim ("L-Gaim ~Time for L-GAIM~") reached the 16th highest position on the Oricon Chart. Recently, she sang the theme song for Mobile Suit Gundam 0083, and her singing can be heard on the 4th Super Robot Wars S CD. In July 1996, she is scheduled to perform a live concert focusing on anime songs.

A little coincidence led me to start singing anime songs.

My first song for animation was an insert song for Xabungle directed by Tomino. After that, I sang the theme song for Dunbine, which led to L-Gaim.

I started singing when I moved to Tokyo for college, and at first I sang part-time. At that time, I sang anything and everything, and through doing so, I realized that I liked 16-beat African-American music. Then I joined a soul band and started singing at US military camps and music venues, and at the time of Xabungle, the director wanted a singer who did not sing for anime all that much to sing, so I, who used to sing at discos, was given the opportunity out of many candidates. So, they gave me the chance to listen to the song, and it was a great song. I was very eager to give it a shot (laughs)! So I was able to enjoy singing it very much.

The lyrics that Director Tomino writes have very deep meanings, as does "Starlight Shower", which was the ending of L-Gaim. I am not very familiar with anime, but I think those lyrics are unique. It's simple, but I think it's something novel that transcends the boundaries of new and old. The lyrics make me sad, even though they don't say anything specific. So rather than trying to sing it well, I sang it with a simple mind. Of course, he has written a lot of lyrics, but I think he has a lot of words that you can't find in a professional lyricist. In fact, he wrote lyrics for two songs on my album, which are very much in Tomino's world (laughs).

For the opening song, L-Gaim, Mr. Kyouhei Tsutsumi came to the studio to record it. The recording went smoothly and without much difficulty, since the song was very groovy. I remember Mr. Tsutsumi praised the high pitched scream (laughs) of "L-Gaim!" at the end of the song (laughs).

I would like to continue singing anime songs.

When I decided to release my solo album, I recorded English versions of Dunbine and L-Gaim as well. I made them on the spur of the moment, but it was almost like I was in my element (laughs). I like the groove of English. The year before last and last year, I was invited to an event called "Anime East" on the East Coast of the United States, where I sang the English version of L-Gaim. Of course, the people who came to the event were all foreigners, but they knew the L-Gaim theme song and sang "heavy metal!" and the chorus (laughs).

I watched Dunbine and L-Gaim on TV, but not every time. I still have the impression that L-Gaim was just a cool series. L-Gaim was very fashionable and I liked it. It's nice to see it come back to life like this after so many years. Because of this, I think I have to sing each song with care (laughs). I would like to sing more and more anime songs in the future if I am asked to do so.

(March 1996, at Roppongi music venue SPATS)