Well-liked Japanese voice actor and singer Sumire Uesaka is ready to drop a brand new CD single known as “LOVE CRAZY” on Feb. 8, which will be heard right here. The title monitor is the opener for the TV anime collection Don’t Toy With Me, Miss Nagatoro 2nd Assault, during which she voices the heroine, Hayase Nagatoro.
The one additionally contains “REBELLION,” a music depicting themes of fight, and “Michi ga Wakaranai no Uta” (“The can’t-find-my-way music”) that comically depicts the singer’s mentality as she finds herself in a sure state of affairs that many will discover acquainted.
The brand new single is a group of strong numbers that kick off the 31-year-old multi-hyphenate’s tenth anniversary celebrations this 12 months as she continues to make additional strides in numerous fields. Uesaka chatted with Billboard Japan concerning the satisfaction she feels after finishing this thrilling mission and shared particulars about every monitor on the set.
February 2023 marks ten years in music for you. Might you share what’s necessary to you as an artist?
My motto is to by no means maintain again from the issues I like, and I encourage my followers to try this as properly. By way of music, I do as I like and check out my hand at a variety of genres, from anime songs that I beloved rising as much as rock and metropolis pop. With the ability to strive such all kinds of music is one thing I can do as a result of I’m an artist with roots in voice appearing. I wish to unleash my love for the issues I get pleasure from along with my followers and stay a contented life. In my very own approach, that’s the idea of my musical actions.
Within the anime collection Don’t Toy With Me, Miss Nagatoro 2nd Assault, you play the heroine, Hayase Nagatoro. Did you discover any adjustments in your efficiency in comparison with once you had been voicing the primary season?
As we labored by the Season 2, I might really feel that Senpai (voiced by Daiki Yamashita) and Nagatoro had been attending to know one another higher than earlier than. For the reason that new present begins off the place Season 1 ended, there’s already a sort of bond between the 2 characters. This makes Nagatoro’s ordinary teasing of Senpai and their efforts to get to know one another appear much more loving than earlier than, and above all, the rom-com aspect is stronger. You’ll undoubtedly wish to root for them!
Your new music “LOVE CRAZY” can be a continuation of “EASY LOVE,” the opener you recorded for Season 1.
Proper. The love being depicted within the new single is rather more passionate than the earlier one. “EASY LOVE” had equal quantities of aloof and affectionate (“tsundere” in Japanese), however the protagonist of “LOVE CRAZY” is head-over-heels and might’t assist however method her crush in a simple approach. It’s actually lovely and in addition very vibrant.
Once you hearken to it with Nagatoro’s character in thoughts, you’ll be able to see that it’s a transparent depiction of how a woman’s thoughts works. The message of the lyrics is admittedly easy, and it’s sort of like a romantic “person’s guide.”
Sure, precisely. It’s just like the music is depicting the method of writing and erasing the “person’s guide” associated to Nagatoro to steadily convey it to completion. It’s very cute in that approach too.
This cuteness was particularly evident within the half the place the largely fast-paced quantity slows down briefly mid-song. I interpreted that half as an expression of Nagatoro’s affectionate facet.
You bought it proper. Nagatoro normally seems to be robust, however she’s actually an harmless lady at coronary heart. I interpreted that half as a cute soliloquy, so I sang it with a whispery voice to provide a calmer impression than the opposite elements.
How did the recording go?
It didn’t take that lengthy. We completed recording in about two hours.
In simply two hours!
I’m the sort who normally data intensively with out taking a lot time. And “LOVE CRAZY” is a music with brilliantly easy lyrics, so even when I had been to sing it in a drained state, I wouldn’t be capable to draw out the momentum and bounce that characterizes the music. So I used to be capable of categorical myself in a approach that matched the monitor by not taking lengthy with the recording and having fun with the method.
So your concise recording type labored properly with the momentum of the quantity.
My first impression of the music was that the quick tempo could be laborious to sing. However the rhymes within the lyrics felt actually pleasing, in all probability as a result of the songwriter who wrote them, Takumi Yoshida, additionally performs in his personal band known as saji. For instance, the ends of a few of the phrases are unified, like “Nigenaide, Yuuki dashite” (“Don’t run away, Have faith”) within the refrain, so I didn’t must assume too laborious concerning the execution.
The setting depicted within the quirky music video for “LOVE CRAZY” seems to be linked to the one introduced within the video accompanying “EASY LOVE.”
I wore a summer-style college uniform in “EASY LOVE,” however this time I went with a winter model to match the garments of the characters in 2nd Assault. I additionally seem in a date-friendly white outfit within the new video, so whereas it’s not precisely the identical as in “EASY LOVE,” I’m certain individuals can get a way of the similarities between each worlds.
The second music on the CD, “REBELLION,” is the theme for MAGICAL DESTROYERS KAI, the smartphone sport mission linked to the unique anime collection Magical Destroyers set to air from April in Japan. What’s this music like?
Magical Destroyers is a narrative about characters residing in a dystopia who defy destiny to reform the world. I have already got a number of songs in my catalog that may be described as being about “revolution,” and I can actually relate to “REBELLION” as a result of defending the issues I like is one thing I wish to cherish all through my music profession. I used to be shocked by how shut the music was to the anime and to me personally.
Shifting on to the following monitor, “Michi ga Wakaranai no Uta” (“The can’t-find-my-way music”)… Is all of it proper to imagine this one’s one thing of a comic book reduction?
[Laughs] I’m not the sort to make singles which might be tightly structured from the primary monitor the final, and at all times need some wiggle room. “Michi ga Wakaranai no Uta” depicts a state of affairs the place I’m late for an appointment, however really feel relieved as a result of that particular person assures me that it’s no large deal. I’m feeling disenchanted in myself whereas heading to the assembly place, however the different particular person’s generosity saves my day. So it’s a comical, self-deprecatory quantity about that kind of factor, however comes with a extremely cool monitor for some cause.
I see, so you bought off the hook for being late. It’s fascinating although, in that there’s a major leap within the language getting used, from the depiction of particular conditions within the first two verses — “quarter-hour searching for the owl (statue) in Ikebukuro” for instance — to the refrain that’s made up of summary phrases like “mendacity angels” and such.
I wished to make a music like these typical anime songs from a technology in the past, the sort that focuses on sounding cool even should you can’t actually perceive what it’s making an attempt to say. So for the refrain half, I tried to gather numerous phrases being utilized in cool anime songs whereas being cautious to not retread any acquainted numbers. I do know I shouldn’t say such issues however I figured if the phrases match the music, it will work. [Laughs] I whipped up the lyrics in a day, then spent a couple of week adjusting the main points.
Whereas every monitor is extraordinarily distinctive, there’s undoubtedly a way of unity to the one as a complete. Might you sum up the brand new single for us?
All of the songs have a powerful taste, however they don’t style dangerous collectively. We had been capable of produce a single with intriguing appeal. All of the songs have constructive power, so I hope you’ll hearken to them day by day to get your self within the temper for my upcoming concert events in March.
—This interview by Kota Ichijo first appeared on Billboard Japan
