Rokushin Gattai God Mars - Liner Notes from BGM Collection Vol. 1, by Sei Toujoubeppu & Kei Wakakusa (Part 2)

 

This is a continuation of an English-translated version of liner notes that were included in God Mars' first BGM collection. Whereas the first part discussed comments left by Mr. Toujoubeppu—the music selector for the show—this part will cover the comments left by composer Kei Wakakusa.

Translated by "Yume".

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"This was the first anime I worked on: Rokushin Gattai God Mars"

Composer: Kei Wakakusa

"Rokushin Gattai God Mars" was the first anime I worked on. That's why I approached it with a great deal of enthusiasm. However, looking back at this project I realize I was driven by the desire to get it done properly, and so ended up rushing things. Because of the constrained schedule, I was really worried if I had enough time to finish everything I wanted. To compose so many tunes, I needed a whole month at the very minimum—but asking for this would have been outright selfish of me...
Having said that, I am really grateful to Mr. Toujoubeppu for the guidance he provided to all the staff members. I believe there were many things I couldn't have done without his assistance.

Either way, this was the first time I wrote a score for an anime. I had to write the tunes while imagining the corresponding scenes. This job was really fun, but also really complicated. "What if I am not skilled enough to, so to say, turn the visuals into music properly?" Such a thought kept weighing on me. For example, my tunes had to evoke the images of Emperor Zel and Planet Gishin, as well as the different types of evil and justice...
I held long conversations with Mr. Toujoubeppu, and then had to find the correct approach by trial and error. Now I'd like to describe some of the troubles I faced.

I have used two drums while arranging the show's theme song, and its tempo was unusually fast. Even the best studio musicians struggled to play it. Also, when I was writing the intro, I struggled to convey the sense of awe which God Mars, a 50-meter high robot, would strike into the onlookers. I believe I did my best to write the soundtrack for this show. Mr. Mizushima's singing was really good. Also, I am really thankful to Mr. Toujoubeppu for using my songs this effectively.

Speaking in general, this job had both extremely fun and extremely difficult moments. I felt considerable time pressure working on it. If I had a chance to redo this, I'd need some more time to further improve and refine my work. 

I would like to express my utmost gratitude to Mr. Toujoubeppu in particular, but also to all the people whom I worked with, and all those who supported me. I am thankful to all the staff members.

Rokushin Gattai God Mars - Liner Notes from BGM Collection Vol. 1, by Sei Toujoubeppu & Kei Wakakusa (Part 1)

 

The liner notes inside the gatefold pages of God Mars' first BGM collection release (K22G-7068) contain some comments left behind by Sei Toujoubeppu, the show's music selector, and Kei Wakakusa, the show's music composer. I decided to scan said comments back when I used to own a copy of this release and passed it off to someone else for translating.

An English translation of these comments (courtesy of "Yume") can be found below :)
This post will cover the comments written by Mr. Toujoubeppu.

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"The challenges we faced while producing BGM for "Rokushin Gattai God Mars"

Music Editor: Sei Toujoubeppu

Kei Wakakusa was in charge of the music production for "Rokushin Gattai God Mars", and this is how we got to know each other. This was the first time Mr. Wakakusa had to work on an anime, which forced us to hold staff meetings over and over again.

For example, we wanted a soundtrack piece titled "Planet Gishin" to convey the idea of evil spreading through the universe, and it was really difficult for us to get such a vague idea across. We'd like you listen to the results of our hard work, and to compare the images evoked by both parts of this song. Another point of concern was the need to properly convey the image of Zel, the villain who lives on said planet. In a sense, Mr. Wakakusa could have been opposed to the very idea of such a villain residing somewhere in space. The melody he composed to be used as the villain's theme was so beautiful, it wasn't easy to properly incorporate it into the series. I believe each and every of the songs composed by Mr. Wakakusa reflects his own personality, the kindness and warmth of his heart.

The show's theme song is called "The King of Space! God Mars". When we listened to its demo tape for the first time, we thought it was impressive far beyond our wildest expectations. We also thought it has been arranged in a wonderfully professional manner. Before I met Mr. Wakakusa, somebody told me he is a real workaholic. I didn't realize the sheer extent of that until we started to work together.

Now, let me shed some light on the way we picked specific tunes to use. First, the dialogue was recorded and synchronized with the footage in a process called "timing". That's how a rush print was made. Then we watched said rush print and decided where to insert the music, aiming to achieve the most dramatic effect. Afterwards we took the footage with the voices we have previously recorded, and selected one from over a hundred BGM pieces to be added to each given scene. Naturally, we kept each of the BGM pieces in mind while doing so. The hardest part here was matching the BGM to the timing of each scene, so we felt truly indescribable joy when we got the timing just right.

Our field of work may seem really fun from a layman's point of view, but in fact it is really complicated. I believe only those who call editing their passion would be able to get things done. I could go as far as to say even the most ardent music appreciators may find this line of work too hard for them. So to say, on many occasions outstanding music painstakingly created by the composers becomes nothing more than background music after it passes through my hands…

Kojika Monogatari (THE YEARLING) Music Collection - Liner Notes from Koichi Sugiyama

 

So, as far as I know, Pony Canyon's vinyl releases of anime soundtracks never typically contained liner notes of any sort. Usually just a tracklist, lyrics, and a text description of the anime's story...

This is where Kojika Monogatari breaks the mold, though! Shockingly enough, the first page of the album's gatefold contents contain some notes left behind by show composer Koichi Sugiyama. Below is an English translation of said notes—it's a bit of a long read but I promise you it's worth it :)

Translated by sotoo.

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The Music of Kojika Monogatari
by Koichi Sugiyama

Kojika Monogatari is not only a story that has touched many boys and girls, but also a story that stirs us adults to thought. It has a certain depth to it. It cannot be said that it is only a sweet story of the friendship between Jody, a boy, and Flag, a deer, since it also tackles the issue of the boy's psychological maturation, the conflict that emerges between rationalism and human emotions while trying to survive in the unforgiving great outdoors, and many other issues that will make today's parents think.

What I mean to say is, children who watch this animation will be able to enjoy it for what it is within their own understanding, while at the same time, young people and adults who see it will, through their own point of view, experience many different ways of appreciation and feeling.

My wish in my composition was to somehow follow the animation and its depths musically. Even though it was difficult, it was truly a job worth doing.

This album contains three songs, including the theme song, and a number of other music tracks used in Kojika Monogatari. In my composing of this music, rather than what might be called typical anime-esque music that precisely follows the action on-screen, I intended to emphasize the main character's thoughts and emotions and the depictions of nature and the environment.

Even though I like the electronic sound produced by the synthesizers so common in today's pop music, which has a unique appeal of its own, I intended to use the expressiveness of raw instruments as much as I could in my composition for this story. For example, to me the sound of a violin somehow evokes the sound of the wood itself. Violin melodies and harmonies include a human touch in the form of the player's breaths, as well.
The outstanding electronic technology of today can identically reproduce the sound of a violin through a synthesizer, but I can feel that that sound is not the sound of the wood, the one with the breath of a living human being in it.

In a way, I could say that representing Kojika Monogatari primarily via orchestral music played on raw instruments was an inevitable outcome for me.

As a composer, I feel fortunate that I was able to complete this challenging task, and I wish to, from the heart, thank everybody who will listen to this record.

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Some random thoughts:

-Koichi Sugiyama mentions that he specifically wanted to avoid synthesizers for this anime—I find this to be a particularly interesting comment, considering he never used synthesizers in, well...practically every other anime he's done at the time LOL. Perhaps he meant that he was just reluctant to use synthesizers as replacements for real instruments? 

-Sugiyama mentions that the show would definitely make parents think...I recall checking some JP reviews for the show that said it was a REALLY good anime. And yet it still has no proper JP home media release 💀
Lame!!

Sono Go no Sengoku Majin GoShogun (Image Album) - Liner Notes from Takeshi Shudo

 

Here's something interesting you guys might like!
Several years ago, I posted onto YT an English-subbed version of the drama dialogue featured in the image album "Sono Go no Sengoku Majin GoShogun"—the album itself was an adaptation of a novel of the same name, taking place after the TV show.

The vinyl record for the image album comes included with an insert booklet, of which there are liner notes from a certain somebody on the back page...show creator Takeshi Shudo! (I've only just recently found out it was Shudo this entire time lol)

For the longest time I've always wondered what comments Shudo left behind. Previously I wasn't able to get anyone to translate much stuff for me but that has now changed—I introduce to you all an English-translated version of the notes Shudo wrote for this album. Thanks to Windii for translating!

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"I'm not gonna die..."
-Takeshi Shudo

It has already been two years since "Warring States Devil GoShogun" ended its television run in an extremely low-key manner. Its existence should be forgotten by restless anime fans. The ratings weren't that great, and the toys and plastic models didn't sell that well.

Even for me, I was too busy protecting my pink-haired magical girl from a group of terrifying lolicon-obsessed boys to think about the boy who had flown to the ends of the universe. The production staff and cast are now all scattered and active in their own fields. Many things have happened, many encounters and partings have occurred. The only things that have not changed are their lack of sleep and the fact that their favorite foods are cup noodles, hot bento boxes, and health drinks... Even Big Soul, who is no God, hasn't the slightest idea how we could "SEE YOU AGAIN."

If I recall, "GoShogun" was a robot animation in which none of the main cast members died. If the main cast dies in a good-looking way, the popularity will increase temporarily. In fact, when "GoShogun" started, it was the heyday of such anime. At first, "GoShogun" had such a sacrifice prepared for one of the main cast members.

However, when the voices were decided by the exquisite casting of Mr. Matsuura, the sound director, and they started to come alive with the character designs, they appeared in my head night after night and started to scream.

"I'm not gonna die!"

Not only the main cast members, but also OVA, Keluna, and all the other mecha that appeared in the series began to shout. 

"We can't die!"

Their cries brightened up the originally gloomy storyline and turned it into a quirky robot anime like the one I gave you. Soon, the work itself began to rant and rave.

"We can't die... oh, hey! Original creator guy, if you put a 'Fin' on that, you'll never get away with it!"

Thus, the TV version ended with a final indicator of SEE YOU AGAIN, a rarity for a TV program. And their cries certainly lived on. What a bunch of stubborn runts...

(After Warring States Devil GoShogun)
Even if the stage of their lives changed from anime to novels, and even if the record company changed...? They are still alive! The frivolous original creator is now relieved...

I'm so glad that they didn't give it a title like "GoShogun Complete" or "Farewell GoShogun" or "GoShogun Perfect Edition"... Phew!

So, once again, SEE YOU AGAIN!

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Some notes:
1. "Keluna" refers to the character "Kernagul", from the Dokuga Crime Syndicate
2. I honestly don't remember anymore if the show makes any mention of this—I certainly couldn't find any English page that mentions it either, so: "Big Soul" is from GoShogun, a "discarnate entity of the universe" (according to Wikipedia JP). This is where the Beamler energy from the show drives its powers from.

Ulysses 31 - Liner Notes from the Japanese BGM Collection OST (Part 2)

A continuation of the liner notes included in the insert booklet of the vinyl release for the Japanese Ulysses 31 BGM Collection OST. This post will focus on the comments of Tatsuo Ikeuchi, a producer on Ulysses 31.

Thanks to Windii for translating.

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Memories of Ulysses 31
(Producer: Tatsuo Ikeuchi)

I remember that my first encounter with the Ulysses 31 project was in the early summer of 1979, in Paris, where the white flowers of the horse chestnuts were in bloom. When I heard about this project from the staff in France, I honestly remember that I could not help but feel a certain excitement. It is a science fiction version of Homer's epic poem, The Odyssey, the story of the wandering adventures of the hero Ulysses set in the Aegean Sea after the Trojan War, transposed to the 31st century. The story of Ulysses' return to Earth from planet Troy, where he is caught up in the Olympian sphere of influence controlled by Zeus, and is forced to fight against the gods, but overcomes them and returns home—the plan to create an animated TV series as a French-Japanese co-production seemed to me to be a groundbreaking and fresh idea among the Japanese TV animation projects at that time.

About a year later, after many twists and turns along the way, the 26-episode series was completed and became a big hit on the French national broadcaster Antenne 2. I believe that the fact that the story was relatively faithful to Greek mythology and the space adventure drama was based on the love between father and son, Ulysses and his son Telemachus, made it a hit in Europe. But unfortunately, Greek mythology itself is not so common in Japan. The passion for Ulysses that the French and Japanese staff have had for the past six or seven years has been the driving force behind the creation of the Japanese language version. We hope that as many people as possible will be able to see it.

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Random thought: I wonder if the lack of popularity of Greek mythology in Japan is the reason why it took so long for the anime to hit Japan...

Ulysses 31 - Liner Notes from the Japanese BGM Collection OST (Part 1)

 

Per the usual...a while back on Twitter I posted scans of the insert booklet that came included with the vinyl record release of the Japanese Ulysses 31 BGM Collection OST. What makes this release special is the inclusion of several comments from various staff members that were completely omitted in the album's CD release.

The comments in question are from Tatsuo Ohba of King Records and Tatsuo Ikeuchi, a producer on Ulysses 31—included alongside the comments is a summary of the anime's story, which I think is the only thing on here that was salvaged and brought on over to the CD release's liner notes.

This post will focus on the comments of Tatsuo Ohba, translated by Windii. Translation can be found below the line.

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To Ulysses 31
(King Records Co., Ltd.: Tatsuo Ohba)

Looking back, my relationship with Ulysses 31 began on November 6, 1980, when I attended the funeral of the late director Tadao Nagahama, who passed away just before the completion of Ulysses 31, and was told that the first film print was placed in his coffin. After that, there were many twists and turns, and in the end the series was not broadcasted in Japan, but I heard rumors of its great success in France and wondered if something could be done.

However, the situation surrounding animation has changed, and I am delighted to be able to present the series in the form of an original video animation and a vinyl record. I was also able to create all new background music and theme songs for the Japanese version.
I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Mr. Tatsuo Ikeuchi, producer of Tokyo Movie Shinsha, Mr. Mitsuo Koshikizawa, music publisher of Tokyo Movie Shinsha, Mr. Tokuya Shimada of Production Eureka, Mr. Seiji Suzuki, sound director of Tokyo Movie Shinsha, and many others for their efforts in making this project a reality.

The background music is original and specifically written by Kei Wakakusa, a composer and arranger whom I respect, and was completed with the extraordinary cooperation of Yuuji Saitou of Imagine Inc. and the tireless efforts of Jun Araki of Appo Sound Project, who literally forgot to eat or sleep. Incidentally, all of the background music, except for the electric & folk guitars played by Masayuki Chiyo, was created using computers & synthesizers researched and developed by Mr. Araki and the rest of the Appo staff. Due to time constraints, we were not able to collect all of the 50 or so BGM tracks.

Finally, we hope that those who listen to this LP will also enjoy the original video series.

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Just some thoughts about the info above that I felt like writing out...I'm really glad to have gotten this translated! Nowhere on the net (at least, from what I could find) was it ever mentioned that Nagahama had a film print of the show placed inside his coffin. Bit sad, yeah, won't lie...but still fascinating nevertheless.

The music mention was also of huge interest to me too. Before I had managed to get this OST on vinyl, Appo Sound Project was only ever credited on the actual credits in the JP episodes themselves. It's relieving to confirm even further (thanks to the liner notes) that Appo Sound Project had a hand in making the BGM for the JP dub!

That is all for these notes. I'll post Part 2's notes in a bit.

Star Musketeer Bismark — Making Of BGM (from Osamu Totsuka)

 

The liner notes inside the 2nd BGM Collection soundtrack release for the Star Musketeer Bismark anime contain some comments from composer Osamu Totsuka that go a bit into detail in regards to how the show's BGM was made. This was translated by @GANGO_Subs (Twitter) and posted onto Twitter on November 2021 but I am re-posting here for easier accessibility.

Scan taken from my vinyl copy of the album. Translation can be found below.

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Let me tell you a bit about the production of music for "Star Musketeer Bismarck".

First that we did was the "arrangement of music". This is where about 15 people such as the anime production staff, the music editing manager, the TV side-staff, the record company staff, the musician inspector etc, including myself (production, arrangement) gather.
At this stage of meeting no actual editing for the anime can actually be done, so the arrangement is only based on images as we are checking the storyboards.
 
Then the music director comes up with what will become the "Star Musketeer Bismarck music menu", and a rough appraisal starts being considered, starting from M1 (numbers of compositions are used instead of song titles). To cite an example from the record: "Infiltration - The Giant Enemy Mecha Factory" is the combination of M25 and M22. The M25 one holds sharp tension giving the feeling of suspense. Whereas M22 is the Deathcula robot factory. The tune sounded mechanical, evoking inorganic factory work - we got an idea to try to use the MC-4 (Music Micro Computer) for the composed tunes.
And so as we listen to opinions of all sides of the staff, observe the storyboards, once we finish the last M[number], we finish the day with scheduling the days for the recording, the studio time and the scheduling of musicians.
 
Then starting the following day...I spend days and nights filling the notes on the music paper. On the evening before the recording, I rewrite every part all over again from the score given to me by the music copier. In this case we organized the days into 24 channel multi recording - rhythm section, strings, brass, woodwind, synth, with every workday being 5-6 hours each.
Let me give you a glimpse of the actual work of music recording using the aforementioned "Infiltration - The Giant Enemy Mecha Factory".
 
In order for M25 to continue the tension, the heightened mood was supported by the monosyllable tone of the strings and synth and accentuated by finely honed hi-hat. Also to make suspenseful tone really stand out I used the minor third and then switched to minor major seventh chord with piano and electric guitar.
 
M22 was supposed to convey an inhuman sound, so I fed the data to MC-4 and I let the computer perform the music, with the exception of the string melody by the development section. I think we did at least 5 or 6 dubbings for this tune. Also I put the finishing touches on the tune by adding stuff like brass and included some strings and flute.
Then the mixdown is done.
 
In this case we did one for TV and one for the soundtrack in one day each.
 
While this music is used for the scenes it was originally designated to, of course, it is also used for other scenes where it seems to synergize well with the art. The fact that there were surprisingly times when the scenes worked out unexpectedly well, makes this another fun part of combining music and visuals.