NANA MIZUKI
With 20 years since her artist debut
she releases her commemorative 40th single
It’s been 20 years since she made her debut, and that’s why Nana Mizuki graces the cover and top feature of this edition. In this memorable year, she releases her monumental 40th single!
How did this song, written for smartphone game Senki Zesshō Symphogear XD UNLIMITED (XD for short) , come to be? We asked her for some insight in the production…
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“The ‘capacity’ that the Wearers (装者たち sōsha-tachi*) showed me became the key”
(*this is a term from the Symphogear series which I’m not familiar with since I haven’t watched it. So if anyone knows what this is called in English, hit me up!)
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[[For the main interview, please scroll down!]]
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=====================================Single Archive & Self-Review================================
Nana Mizuki talks passionately about the 39 singles she’s released until now:
from her debut single Omoi in 2000, until her most recent single from this year, Metanoia!
1. 想い Omoi (released on December 6, 2000)
“I cried tears of joy when they determined the release date! I was so happy to be able to fulfill my childhood dream of making a CD-debut, and also to bring out original songs under the name ‘Nana Mizuki’… But when I went to the stores on the first sales date, it wasn’t there, haha! So I called my producer Mr. Mishima, and I said ‘It’s not here!!’, and he said ‘Only stores that ordered it have it’, and that completely astounded me. I wanted to be on the pop music shelf so badly. Recording had been really hard. The enka-style singing that had permeated my body kept showing its face, and I can’t forget Mr. Mishima directing me with ‘I can see the Japanese Sea’, haha. I loved singing so much, but there was a lot of frustration that I wouldn’t be able to sing freely. It was a time where I was desperately searching for my own way of singing.”
2. Heaven Knows (released on April 25, 2001)
“For my 2nd single I suddenly took up the challenge of a song with a rap part in it! All the people from my generation were wearing cute clothes and bringing out bright and fun songs that seemed to call out to their fans, and I remember being all confused, like ‘Why am I rapping?!’, haha. I was tilting my head thinking “I had the feeling I debuted as an idol, but this is weird… Was I wrong?” (haha). But I worked really hard on this song, because I decided I really wanted to become able to sing a wide variety of songs. By the way, the picture on the CD jacket was taken on the same day we filmed the music clip. Normally the CD pictures and the music clip are shot separately, but in this time there was absolutely no budget… (laughs). It was a forced march: we shot the music clip, and then shot the jacket cover while they were switching the set, so it was definitely a cover shoot to remember.”
3. The Place of Happiness (released on August 29, 2001)
“The coupling song Suichū no Aozora was actually a demo tape I brought with me to King Records before my debut. The first original song I recorded as Nana Mizuki. I’m glad I was able to add it to my 3rd single. To today, I still remember the feelings I had then, when I carried the demo tape with me as I first set foot in King Records.
‘Please make my debut! I’m counting on you, King Records!!’
We shot the jacket for this single on the same day we did the jacket for my first album Supersonic Girl. Again, to save expenses. Now I can finally tell you about all these back stories, haha.”
4. Love and History (released on May 1st, 2002)
“Since I had short hair at this time, I wore a wig when we shot the jacket cover. With the simultaneous release of Power Gate, I remember going shopping for clothes with Mr. Mishima. Since I liked the graceful European image of the song, I decided to wear a blouse and a long skirt, but this red long skirt is actually mine, haha. It is important to save expenses, after all, haha! Actually, the recording was really difficult as well. The chorus melody was changed on the day itself, so I panicked big-time! Mr. Ataru Sumiyoshi, who wrote the song, suggested to change the image of the chorus a little bit, so the melody was altered in a hurry. It was really hard to immediately apply the new melody on the spot, but it does make me feel that for this song, the flash of inspiration from that moment is really important in the music.”
5. Power Gate (released on May 1st, 2002)
“We wanted to make a song that Nana Mizuki hadn’t had before… So I consulted with Mr. Mishima and decided to take on a new challenge, for which I asked the help of Mr. Toshiro Yabuki, who had written the song Transmigration for my first album. At the time of my demo tape, the lyrics had been inspired on winter, but he changed the lyrics to a song that was energetic and inspired by spring. Mr. Mishima came up with the title Power Gate, and we added the cheering element of ‘opening up together’. It was released in May, and I thought that there must be a lot of people who were stressed and wanted to kick down walls to greet a new life. I wanted to make it a song that could give those people a push in the back. And even though 18 years have passed, it’s still a routine song in my concerts. I often talk with Mr. Mishima about how glad I am that I asked for Mr. Yabuki’s help so decisively at that time.”
6. suddenly ~巡り合えて~ meguriaete / Brilliant Star (released on September 25, 2002)
“Among the many demo tapes I received from people, it was love at first hearing with suddenly ~meguriaete~! The catchy phrase grabbed my heart from the start and I made the prompt decision: ‘I want to go with this one!’ For the photoshoot, I went to Bali for the first time. It was the first time I ever went abroad, so I also had a passport made along with the photoshoot. Actually, we also shot the jacket cover for my 2nd album Magic Attraction there. We decided that, since we were going to Bali, we might as well shoot everything there, and this picture was taken in my hotel room. Furthermore, we also did the photoshoot for my photobook Iris there, haha. Shooting from morning to evening for six days and four nights – we had a very intense schedule, but since I was so happy to be abroad for the first time I have nothing but happy memories!”
7. New Sensation (released on April 23, 2003)
“Until the release of Power Gate, I always felt really strongly that ‘I am happy just to be able to sing’, and I couldn’t quite point out yet what kind of music I wanted to bring out. But with Power Gate as the inspiration, the feeling that I wanted to sing cheering song was planted within me very clearly, and New Sensation was a song through which I, even for a little, was able to express my own aspirations. Its lyrics are also kind of my life’s motto. By the way, we shot this jacket cover in Guam! Together with the jacket for my eighth single still in the groove. But here we also crammed everything in, haha. We also did a photoshoot for concert pamphlets and the music clip for Koishiteru…, the coupling song for still in the groove. The flow to make everything that included a ‘seven’ into something special since I am ‘Nana’, was also born with New Sensation.”
8. still in the groove (released on June 16, 2003)
“After passing the milestone of my seventh single I wanted to show yet another new Nana Mizuki, and I decided to take on the challenge of making the single title song into a dance tune for the first time. It was really hard to dance in the music clip, and I’m super embarrassed when I see it back now! I had been training a little, you know. I had gone to dance lessons for the first time for my first live tour in 2002. However, when I should have been doing the same poses as the dancers, I couldn’t decide at all. Because of that frustration, my training life started, haha. If I could develop more muscles, I might become able to dance more flexibly like the dancers. I embraced that aspiration and started reading books about training and we shot the music clip while I challenged sit-ups and push-ups. …As expected, for about 1 year I was still waddling, haha.”
9. パノラマ -Panorama- (released on April 7, 2004)
“I made my major debut with the previous coupling song Koishiteru… where I wrote the lyrics myself for the first time, but this was the first time I wrote lyrics for a single title song. For Koishiteru…, Mr. Mishima had recommended the lyrics, and I got a deadline of one month in which I consulted a lot of people. Mr. Yabuki provided me with the fairly aggressive theory that ‘You have emotions so you can write lyrics’ (laughs), but his advice did give me a push in the back.
However, since it was a title song, it gave me a different kind of pressure. I think I groaned for about 3 weeks. I received all the materials for the game Lost Aya Sophia, read the lines of all the characters, and then started writing the lyrics.
For the cover jacket, at the suggestion from a designer who had heard the song, we decided to shoot a panoramic landscape where I was buried under the surface of flowers, and we shot it in a rapeseed field in Chiba Prefecture.”
10. Innocent Starter (released on October 6, 2004)
“To be put in charge of the opening theme for the TV anime series Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha in which I voiced the character Fate (Testarossa)… I was beyond happy! Since it was an original work, I was filled with an incredible motivation because I had to make a song that would be the face of the series and remain in people’s hearts. Besides, Mr. Mishima had recommended it to me, saying ‘It would be best if you wrote the lyrics yourself’, so I remember how I trembled under the weighty mission, haha. I wrote the lyrics in about three weeks after receiving all the scenarios and being continuously deeply impressed as I read them. I wanted to cherish the final phrase ‘boku no namae wo yonde (you call my name)’. The creator, Mr. Masaki Tsuzuki, did come to me at some point with ‘Won’t it become a spoiler?’, but I conveyed my zeal, pleading that ‘it’s such an important phrase and I really want to put it in the lyrics!’ and I got his permission. Thank you so much, Mr. Tsuzuki!”
11. Wild Eyes (released on May 18, 2005)
“The anime Basilisk ~Kouga Ninpou-chou~ for which I provided this song and the coupling song Hime Murasaki as the ending theme, was wrapped up in 2005 with 24 episodes. Although it’s a work from 15 years ago, I’m happy that even now, maybe also partly thanks to adult game machines (laughs), the work and music are still loved by a wide variety of people. When we were recording the anime, during the dubbing of the first episode, the production team said ‘We want to create something that you will be able to put on your profiles as your life’s most important work, something that will be loved over time.’ After that, there even came a sequel anime, Basilisk ~Ouka Ninpou-chou~, we even got to record our voices temporarily for the game machines, and realizing how long the work has been loved I am really moved when I think back on those days. Since I think there are a lot of people who still well up when they hear Wild Eyes and Hime Murasaki (laughs), I really want to keep singing these as my ‘lucky’ songs for a long time to come!”
12. Eternal Blaze (released on October 19, 2005)
“I had decided I really wanted Mr. Noriyasu Agematsu to write it. I had to ask for a lot of retakes and the production took a really long time, but I was extremely motivated because it was for the first sequel of Nanoha and I made it with all my heart because I really wanted many people to know about this work. The finished song gave me goosebumps! Everyone from the team was super excited, saying ‘This is an anime song like never before. We can’t wait for everyone to hear it’. Eternal Blaze also became a turning point song for me personally. In this time I got more opportunities to appear of television shows, I achieved second place on the Oricon charts, and suddenly the name Nana Mizuki became known to a lot more people. As a song in itself it was also a turning point, I really struggled with recording it. After all this time, I now find it a very lovely song, haha.”
13. Super Generation (released on January 18, 2006)
“This song came to be when Mr. Mishima suddenly came with the unreasonable request, ‘Write a song already.’ I’d written only one song as a club activity when I was still in school, but he said to me, ‘You love music, and you’ve listened to a lot of songs so you can do it’, haha. Then I made two songs and let the staff take a survey to determine which one was better, but the votes were divided. So then I said, ‘Okay, then let’s divide the good parts!’ and I combined the A and B melodies from song #1 with the chorus of song #2. It was a challenge to compose a title song for the first time, but I’m super happy that this song is a regular at my concerts even now! By the way, the T-shirt and jeans I’m wearing on the cover jacket are my own, haha. We first shot the pictures with a black one-piece dress they’d prepared for me, but I thought ‘I want it to be more casual’. Since it was a song that Nana Mizuki wrote and composed, we decided to go for an undecorated look and we re-shot it.”
14. Justice to Believe / アオイイロ Aoi Iro (released on November 15, 2006)
“This is also a double A-side single. Justice to Believe is the opening theme for the game Wild Arms The Vth Vanguard. The song and the lyrics were diligently polished so they would match the wasteland theme and the guitar sounds of the game. We produced music clips for both songs, and for Aoi Iro we took the challenge of shooting the video in one take. Since it was a one-take movie, the arrangement is very precise, and it can’t succeed if the dancers and staff people aren’t completely synched. The tension to not make any mistakes was tremendous! For the content, the arrangement was that I would wear a school uniform and parade through the school building, singing while dancing. As I dance through the corridor I enter a classroom, and then I go up to the roof. After performing several skits in the classrooms, everyone ends up dancing together on the roof. I was really worried whether the sky would still be blue when we’d finish, haha. Although it was a difficult shoot, I have strong emotional attachment to it.”
15. Secret Ambition (released on April 18, 2007)
“This was the opening theme for the anime Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS, from the Nanoha series, in which the next generation was introduced. The story revolves around the now adult protagonists watching over their juniors, so I also wanted to give the song a new perspective and I tried to tackle it with a rock ballad line. The fact that every Nanoha song would be written by a different composer became the point, so this time I asked Mr. Chiyomaru Shikura, with whom I had a connection through the Memories Off game series. In the coupling song Heart-shaped chant, I fondly called out to Ms. Mika Agematsu, whom I was a big fan of, to play the harp, and this is how my first collaboration came to be. During the production of Eternal Blaze, I was talking to Mr. Agematsu about how I was a big fan of Mika Agematsu, and then she turned out to be his younger sister! I remember being so surprised, haha.”
16. Massive Wonders (released on August 22, 2007)
“This single has the opening theme of the second half of Nanoha StrikerS and also the song Pray that was featured as an insert song in the series! Since this single would be compiled of multiple songs for the Nanoha series, I worried until last-minute about what kind of songs I wanted to make. When I wrote Secret Ambition, I received the scenarios from Mr. Tsuzuki, but the latter half of the series was still in the state of plotting then. I wrote the lyrics while taking this into account, and by the time I received the finished scenario for the latter half to use for the production of Massive Wonders, the content had changed considerably, haha. Since I thought of the two songs as a pair, I remember worrying about how I could re-orientate the lyrics. It’s good that I can talk about it now, haha. The writer of the original work of the Senki Zesshō Symphogear series, Mr. Akifumi Kaneko, read the lyrics for both Secret Ambition and Massive Wonders, and apparently he was able to tell that the scenario changed halfway. Writers are amazing, indeed!”
17. Starcamp EP (released on February 6, 2008)
“With New Sensation, the idea was born to make something special of all the singles that had a ‘seven’ in it, and since that was also a time when I was asked for a lot of tie-up partnerships, I decided to make a single with four songs, all on the A side. Mr. Mishima then suggested, ‘It’s not an actual record, but if you’re going to put everything on the A side, why don’t you call it an ‘EP’?’, and that’s how the ‘EP’ series started. I remember getting all excited, thinking ‘It would be so much fun if I could do this for my 27th and 37th singles!’.
While I like all four of these songs, I have some personal emotional attachment to Astrogation, which always does really well at concerts. So whenever I have a special live concert, I make sure to include this song on the set list.”
18. Trickster (released on October 1, 2008)
“Trickster was the CM song for Animelo Mix, and Discotheque and Trinity Cross were the opening and ending themes for the anime series Rosario + Vampire Capu2. As a purchase privilege, it had entry tickets for Nana Mizuki Ooi ni Utau Special Live Show @ Shinjuku Koma Theatre. I had dreamed of singing at the Shinjuku Koma Theater, so I am really grateful that I was able to fulfill that dream before it closed down! It was also at Shinjuku Koma Theater that I presented all three songs from this single (Trickster, Discotheque and Trinity Cross) for the first time. To think I was able to dance Discotheque on that spinning festive stage… it’s the best! From here on these special live shows became a custom, so I really can’t forget about this single.”
19. 深愛 Shin’ai (released on January 21, 2009)
“During the production of this single, my father passed away. Mr. Mishima even suggested that we postpone the production schedule, but I knew my father wouldn’t have wanted that, and I wanted to be loyal to his filial piety to see things through to the end as a professional would, so we proceeded with the original schedule. Nevertheless, it was hard to switch my feelings to writing the lyrics, so I took a short trip to Wakayama, and I started writing at the hot spring inn I stayed at, while reading the script for the anime White Album (for which Shin’ai would become the opening theme). I chose to go to the Wakayama hot spring resort since it was close to the sea and it also resembled my hometown Ehime. My hometown holds so many memories, and I knew tears would come and that I wouldn’t be able to organize my thoughts, so I picked a place I had never been to, but where in some way I could still feel my hometown. During the recordings too, it felt like I was constantly on the verge of tears, but those emotions fit the expression of Shin’ai, of barely holding back the tears, and I also think I was able to capture a singing voice that could only be produced at that moment.”
20. 夢幻 Mugen (released on October 28, 2009)
“Just like Shin’ai, this was an opening song for the White Album series. I tried to make the lyrics a little more attacking, in contrast to the refinement that Shin’ai carried. If Shin’ai has a white image, Mugen has a red image. Picturing a young, pure and innocent girl slowly becoming an adult, I also wrote the lyrics with the approach of falling in love. I think that for me, the lyrics became quite spicy. I have the feeling that from this point on, my lyrics became increasingly spicier, haha. With my thirties right in front of me, it could be that I became more of an adult as well (?!), haha.”
21. Phantom Minds (released on January 13, 2010)
“Since it was the title song for the first movie release of the series, Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha The Movie 1ST, as a matter of fact I was super excited! For over half a year, we thought about how to approach it, and with the team we kept repeating that ‘we got worried when we listen to the demo tape’. And because it was a power-up remake of the first season, there were also the challenge of how I, the present me, would express the story from season one. I received an OK from Mr. Tsuzuki, and I was really glad when he said, ‘You wrote exactly what I wanted to say’. For the insert song Don’t be long, we also rewrote the lyrics many times until we got an OK. Exactly because it was a power-up remake, this single really made me go through some luxurious worrying.”
22. Silent Bible (released on February 10, 2010)
“The opening theme for the game Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha A’s Portable -The Battle of Aces-. Since it was for a game, which was a new kind of media, I wanted it to be a fresh song, so I ended up choosing this one shining gem among countless demos, written by Mr. Haruki Mori. At that time, Mr. Mori had just joined Elements Garden as a newcomer. Since he unfortunately moved away from composing when he inherited his family’s house, this one song has become somewhat of a miracle. For the jacket cover I lay down on the floor underneath an aquarium and the photographer took the picture from above. The jacket turned out pretty mystical, but it was actually quite a difficult shoot because I couldn’t move while lying down all the time, haha.”
23. Scarlet Knight (released on April 13, 2011)
“Released on the same day as my 24th single Pop Master, Scarlet Knight is the opening theme for the anime Dog Days in which I voiced two characters, Ricotta Elmar and Nanami Takatsuki. Dog Days was the new original anime from Mr. Tsuzuki after the Nanoha series. Mr. Tsuzuki put in an order to ‘please make a fantastical song with the bright world view of the story, but also some serious elements’. Compared to the songs I did for the Nanoha series, I wanted to change the color, so I asked a children’s choir for the chorus parts, and we created it with a more solemn image, like it was sung in a church.”
24. Pop Master (released on April 13, 2011)
“When I was asked to make an image song for the High School Quiz (National High School Quiz Championship) quiz show that I’d loved as a child, I was extremely hyped! Mr. Mishima came with another unreasonable request to ‘make a song like Super Generation’… While I rebuked this with ‘It’s really hard to make a song that will make people go wild at concerts, a song that’s cheerful but at the same time makes you want to cry!’ (laughs) and I started writing it while worrying myself sick.
I finished it on March 11, on the morning of the Great East Japan Earthquake. Maybe making songs to cheer people on is my calling, even if they only have a tiny bit of influence… To say that might be a little exaggerated, but it gave me the new determination that I wanted to put a power in my songs that would help people to face a positive future, even for a little bit.”
25. 純潔パラドックス Junketsu Paradox (released on August 3, 2011)
“For the ending theme of the anime series Blood-C, I received an order to ‘incorporate a Japanese taste’. I had occasionally applied a Japanese motif into several songs before, but as I was worrying about how to express the unsettling world view that was characteristic for Blood-C, I received a demo tape from composer Ms. Eriko Yoshiki which fit the image perfectly. But it was difficult to add lyrics to it, so I re-read a book about obsolete words that I’d bought when I was writing the lyrics for Wild Eyes and Hime Murasaki, haha. From that book I systematically wrote down all words that fitted the song and I searched for a way to arrange them so that they would be easy on the ears and comfortable to sing. That’s why it has so many words scattered in it that you wouldn’t normally use, and that’s what sets this song apart.”
26. Synchrogazer (released on January 11, 2012)
“Finally we’re at Synchrogazer! It’s the opening theme to the memorable first series of the Symphogear anime series, and it’s the song that paved the beginning of a thorny path for me, haha. When I was singing it in the recording booth, I was simultaneously wailing, ‘Mr. Agematsu, it’ll be really hard singing this live!’. However, the song is tightly condensed with the world view of Symphogear and I really like it. When I read the scenario of the first episode, the scene between Tsubasa (Kazanari) and Kanade (Amou) grabbed hold of my heart, and since I wrote the lyrics as soon as I became a fan, I have a strong emotional attachment to it. For the jacket, we kept the Symphogear image, shooting it in a cool cyber-style. The Symphogear theme songs singles that would follow this one were all composed in the colors of the Wearers.”
27. Time Space EP (released on June 6, 2012)
“Another single with the familiar ‘seven’ in it. I was really glad I could bring out another single with ‘EP’ in the title. With all songs on the A side as became the point of the ‘EP’ series, the first song Metro Baroque became the theme song for the movie Blood-C: The Last Dark. What impressed me was my encounter with composer Yashikin. When I was asking for songs from a lot of people, this song jumped out to me. At the time, Yashikin was still in his early twenties. I think he was still in college or he had just graduated. Around this time I had an increasing amount of encounters with young and talented song writers, and among them, this individual Yashikin brought out a new Nana Mizuki.”
28. Bright Stream (released on August 1, 2012)
“This is the theme song for the movie Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha The Movie 2nd A’s. While I was worrying, ‘How on earth do I make a song that can compare with Eternal Blaze?!’, we started on the production a year in advance and we held about three competitions, haha. After all, a song that matched the world view from Nanoha and which wouldn’t lose to Eternal Blaze wouldn’t be easy to find! But when we heard Ms. Yoshiki’s song, the whole team went, ‘This is it!’. Also, for the coupling track Sacred Force, I wanted a song that could match Brave Phoenix, the insert song for the television series Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha A’s. Ms. Shihori was all ‘I definitely want to write this!’ and she put in so much effort, she created an incredibly passionate and difficult song, haha. By the way, the wing traces on the jacket cover weren’t made with CG, but drawn with actual fireworks. Slowing down the shutter speed of the camera, I had to be in complete synch with an assistant staff member who was completely dressed in black as we aimed for a miraculous cover picture.”
29. Vitalization (released on July 31, 2013)
“When it was decided that Symphogear would get a sequel, I naturally did a guts pose! And I was super happy that I was put in charge of the opening theme again. However, since the first season’s song Synchrogazer had been such a wholesome work, with Vitalization I ended up on a trial and error journey with Mr. Agematsu. Even with some minor rewrites, I asked for the best retake as many as 27 times. Mr. Agematsu, I know you were incredibly busy, I’m so sorry! In Senki Zesshō Symphogear G, the organization called F.I.S. makes it entrance and the story becomes even more passionate and dramatic, and the song also became kind of a sadistic violent explosion (laughs), so recording was a huge struggle. But how do we say it, people are beings that get used to things, beings that grow… I eventually learned to sing it by my next live tour LIVE FLIGHT (in 2014), while doing the toughest flight of all: the 3D flight, haha.”
30. 禁断のレジスタンス Kindan no Resistance (released on October 15, 2014)
“This is the opening theme for the anime series Cross Ange – Tenshi to Ryuu no Rondo in which I played the role of Ange. It’s a controversial work, haha. The main character Ange, which I voiced, is quite rude, and the content is so radical and shocking that it made me go ‘Are we allowed to go this far on TV?!’ But I had a lot of fun reading the scenarios, so I couldn’t help it. The staff members of the anime also said ‘Let’s make an offensive anime now because we can!’, they were so passionate, and all the cast members were very motivated as well. When I was writing the lyrics, the words came out really smoothly as well. However, I was facing the pattern were so many things I wanted to write came to mind that I had a hard time putting them together. It was really fun to be able to take a different approach as a lyricist, to express the self-assured point of view Anju had, thwarting as she was. In terms of sound, we were able to overcome a new challenge by mixing rock with folk music, and this song is one of my favorites.”
31. エデン Eden (released on January 14, 2015)
“Actually, this single was supposed to consist of only three songs, No Limit, Shūmatsu no Love Song and Necessary. However, just before the release, around November, we received an additional demo tape, and both me and Mr. Mishima fell in love with it. “I definitely want to put this on the next single!” “Let’s shape it while it’s still fresh!” So it hurriedly became a four-song single. That song was Eden. I have another unforgettable memory of Eden. Actually, when we were in the middle of production, I caught the flu (sob). We were supposed to record the next day, but I hadn’t even written a single line of lyrics yet and I had a fever… I wrote the lyrics in one day, moaning through my high fever, but we ended up changing the schedule for the recording. I may have floated through my fever while writing the lyrics – in any case, the words suddenly came flooding out, so who knows, maybe I caught a glimpse of Eden… haha.”
32. Angel Blossom (released on April 22, 2015)
“This is the opening theme for the Nanoha series’ spin off anime Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha ViVid. I changed the vibe completely from the previous Nanoha series’ songs, and I decided on making it a cheerful song that I would be able to dance to with everyone. It was also super fun to shoot the music video in a flash-mob atmosphere! I’m also glad we could choreograph it so that we can all dance together to it at concerts. The coupling song Lazy Syndrome is also a memorable song that I worked on together with Mr. Takumi Yoshida. Same as with Eden, the demo tape came in just before the single’s release date. ‘It’s so cool!’; me and Mr. Mishima fell in love at first hearing again, and so we hurriedly recorded it. At this time, I was attracted to stripped-down simple songs. I took up the challenge of this song because I wanted to return to a solid band sound.”
33. Exterminate (released on July 22, 2015)
“This is the opening theme for anime series Senki Zesshō Symphogear GX. While still digesting the fact that I could stay for a third term, the degree of passion became even more heated and the content development became even more unpredictable, haha. With the explosive ‘Kaneko-way’, Mr. Agematsu and I worried about how to cook this up for about half a year. After brainstorming our heads off, we decided to apply a symphonic rock sound, because Synchrogazer and Vitalization had both approached a digital sound. Mr. Agematsu specializes in string instruments, and within the story there is the development of present and past being jumbled together. It wasn’t just digital and modern sounds, but the classical string instruments that went in really matched the story so it was unanimous.
As a baseball enthusiast, I was also really happy to be able to make It’s Only Brave as the theme song for Ehime Prefectural High School Baseball Tournament.”
34. Starting Now! (released on July 13, 2016)
“This song was yet another case of ‘love at first hearing’! I was attracted to the determined phrase in the chorus that was on the demo tape, and I asked Mr. Takuya Fujita if he would write the song with the chorus as it was. As for the title Starting Now!, it was actually decided before recording, which is rare. I usually always decide on the title at the end, after composing, writing and recording. The only three songs for which I wrote the lyrics after deciding on the title, when it comes to singles, are Power Gate, Pop Master, and this song. It’s a pattern that doesn’t occur often. The coupling song Rensou Hanabi is the commercial song for Nakau. I wore a yukata in the commercial for their unamabushi menu, and Mr. Takumi Yoshida’s summer-like song matched with it perfectly. It’s one of my favorite songs.”
35. Destiny’s Prelude (released on July 19, 2017)
“This is the theme song for the third Nanoha movie prequel Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha Reflection. I’d heard from Mr. Tsuzuki that it would be a new story, but I was super surprised because I didn’t know the character I played in the game Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha A’s Portable -The Gears of Destiny- would return! I’d always written the Nanoha title songs from Nanoha’s point of view, but this time I wanted to include the feelings of the new characters and the characters that our main cast double-played (Levi, Dearche and Stern). However, besides the fact that putting this all together was really tough, it was also really difficult because I had to hide all sorts of spoilers for the sequel. I think I worried about it for about a month. Once again, I felt that Nanoha has really helped to train me as a lyricist.”
36. Testament (released on July 19, 2017)
“This is the opening theme for the fourth season of the Symphogear series, Senki Zesshō Symphogear AXZ. The production of the fourth and fifth season were announced at the same time as the Symphogear Live 2016, and it was the fourth time I found out there would be a continuation. We had a lot of different approaches, but Team Mizuki wasn’t reluctant to give out, so I decided to throw in everything I was thinking at that moment. It was around this time that I was rehearsing for my first ever musical challenge, and I actually went to New York to see the original show there, for studying. I read the script for AXZ during the round-trip on the plane, and poured out all my ideas. It really felt like all these words came falling down because I myself had been given ‘wings’, haha. When I got back home I finished the lyrics in merely one week. By taking some distance from my usual environment and taking in new incentives, I may have broken through some limits just like the Wearers, haha.”
37. Wonder Quest EP (released on September 26, 2018)
“It’s the 37th single! As before, it had been decided that this would become another ‘EP’ with four songs on it, but I wanted to add something new. Just at that timing, the staff members from the Onmyouji Honkaku Gensou RPG app game told me they would like ‘Ms. Mizuki and Mr. Mamoru Miyano to collaborate on the theme song’. And so we realized a track featuring Mamoru Miyano. I was really happy that Miyano’s team also gladly agreed to it. What You Want, the ending theme for the anime Monster Strike, was, just like Eden; a song I fell in love with when I first heard it. Actually this song was the reason I decided on releasing this 37th ‘EP’. It’s a fateful song that surprised everyone from our team.”
38. Never Surrender (released on October 24, 2018)
“This is the theme song for the movie Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha Detonation, and I spent took a lot of time to work on this, from at least a year before the screening. It’s not that I was aiming for it, but it became almost mysteriously fateful that the songs for movies 1&2 were composed by Ms. Yoshiki, and the ones from movies 3&4 would be composed by Mr. Yusuke Kato. The competition for the Detonation theme song was during the time I was producing Destiny’s Prelude, and Mr. Kato’s song came in quite early. It felt like a sister-song to Destiny’s Prelude, and with its surging battle and drama vibes, I couldn’t think of any other song besides this one. In fact, including the insert song we collected 500~600 demo songs for just movies 3&4. These four songs were born through lending energy from a lot of composers, so I really want to continue singing them cherishingly.”
39. Metanoia (released on July 17, 2019)
“The Symphogear series has finally come to an end! It’s true that I worried my head for it every time, but for the opening theme of Senki Zesshō Symphogear XV I also really worried a lot, haha. I wanted to respond to everyone’s expectations as a Symphogear theme song. But I also wanted to aim at going into a different direction of those expectations. Metanoia is definitely a culmination of that. I had a lot of discussions with Mr. Agematsu and even had him completely rewrite it two times. Again, I’m so sorry for bothering you each time while you’re so busy!! But, honestly, to think the day would come when there would be rap in a Symphogear song!! (laughs). It became a big challenge, but I’m really glad I got to open a new door at the end of this series. I was able to explore the possibilities of music. I’m incredibly grateful for this happy encounter!”
===========================================Interview===========================================
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Profile
Born on January 21st.
Biggest appearance works include:
– the Senki Zesshō Symphogear series (as Tsubasa Kazanari)
– Boruto -ボルト- Naruto Next Generations (as Hinata Uzumaki)
and others
(Affilitated with Sigma Seven)
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“I raised my concentration skills to the limit and sang it like a zesshou*”
(*zesshō is a “superb song or poem” and also refers here to the anime Senki Zesshō Symphogear)
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“Congratulations on the 20th anniversary of your artist debut.”
“Thank you! I am deeply moved. It has been a very fulfilling 20 years. However, as I have experienced them, time went by really fast. It’s all thanks to everyone who has supported me that I was able to produce so many songs. I would like to convey my gratitude once again!”
“Were you aiming for your 40th single to be released on your 20th anniversary?”
“It’s a miracle I didn’t aim for. And on top of that, at the timing that I’m 40 years old! I might be getting drawn into something here, haha. There are times when events and numbers mysteriously match up. For example, being able to hold Nana Fest 7 years after Nana Winter Fest 2014, or my 11th album SMASHING ANTHEMS being released on November 11. The release day for my CDs is always set to be on a Wednesday, but with Shin’ai, the release date coincidentally fell on my birthday. I really love superstitions, so I feel like these chance happenings are signs of good luck!”
“So there are overlaps.”
“It never happens when you try to force it, so when the timing naturally overlaps, I always feel like I am guided by some good flow. I’m grateful for these chances.”
“Did you have a stronger emotional connection to your new song Fire Scream than usual?
“I always make them from the stance of condensing all the best things of that moment into 1 single, but somewhere I was definitely aware of the fact that this was ‘the 40th’ one. Besides, Fire Scream is the new theme song for the Senki Zesshō Symphogear series. Since they launched a new project for the 3rd anniversary of the game XD, I got even more excited.”
“Moreover, it’s a very passionate, Symphogear-like number.”
“I’m sorry for the heat every time! (laughs) But it may actually be quite fitting to release it in October, when our skins get a little colder!? Until now, the theme song for the game was Unlimited Beat, a very ‘hot’ song reminiscent of a legendary rock band. It had to be a song that was comparable to that, so I worried my head for about half a year on how to structure it. Until now, Symphogear songs had all been fusions of different kinds of music, from digital sounds to symphonic rock and rap. I talked a lot with Mr. (Noriyasu) Agematsu (original work / composer) and my producer Mr. (Akio) Mishima, about how I wanted to ‘show a new side while following the will of past theme songs’, and we arrived at the idea of a ‘divine goddess-like elegance’.”
“A goddess?”
“Unlimited Beat was a song through which you could feel masculine strength and stoutness, but Fire Scream contains a gracefulness, a divinity on top of that. For example, picture the image that when you try to attack a smiling goddess, you will be thrown back by incredibly heavy surges of light, haha. Not only will that power straightly strike you, but it will guide you with a smile and gently wrap you up. It’s a song with the simultaneous contradiction of strength and fierceness versus elegance and grace, so I really tried to cherish the expression of both the stillness and the motion during the songwriting and recording.”
“Did you grasp that from the new story in XD?”
“Yes. In the new project, the Wearers, who have overcome many trials and tribulations, face more new incidents. What I felt when I read the scenario was the tolerance of the Wearers. They sympathize with their opponents, work hard to understand their feelings and search for what they themselves can do… I felt like they had obtained both strength and tolerance by increasing their experiences. They are able to fight their enemies, and guide someone because they have an unwavering core. The Wearers didn’t just grow by being reckless, and in this song I connected their forms to a goddess-like elegance and passion.”
“How was the songwriting work?”
“I realized once again how difficult it is to write lyrics for a sequel! I wanted to phrases that would make it clear at one glance that this was a ‘sibling’ that firmly took over the will of the series, and I also wanted to take the challenge because I had always written the theme song lyrics. But, exactly because it was this song, I also wanted some originality… and so I got more greedy and arranging it became really hard, haha. For about two weeks of the working process, whether I was sleeping or wide awake, I kept thinking about this song.”
“Lyrics that really make you feel the Wearers and that Symphogear-ness are irresistable.”
“I wanted to make it so that you would know it was a Symphogear song even by just reading the lyrics. That has been the fun of the theme songs throughout the series, and I think that this time we were also able to create an extravagant layout for that.”
“How did it go with recording?”
“What was most difficult this time was controlling my energy! I usually want to sing in fortissimo for songs like this, but I felt like it wouldn’t convey if I did that, so I used my sensitivity to approach strength and add facial expressions. Even if I just use the one word ‘strength’, I believe that there are many kinds. There’s inner strength, there is a strength in provoking opponents, and there is also a strength in the frustration of not being able to let it all out while you want to. Within myself, I constructed strength in different shapes and organized those in the song. That control was really hard, but because that’s the essence of Symphogear, so I boosted my concentration power to the limit and sang it like an actual “zesshō“.”
“And the title is also very powerful again.”
“When I heard the beginning part, I first thought of all the Wearers standing in a line, performing a zesshō together. I interpret the zesshō as a ‘melody of love’ they sing exactly because they want to save the world and the opponent they are fighting. When I wrote the beginning phrase, I thought I wanted to give it a title that expressed the ‘unstoppable feelings boiling up inside of me’. Besides, I wanted it to be a straight pitch ball, haha. It took some time to finish recording, but with combining the outcry of the soul, the ‘Scream’, with the word ‘Fire’ I strangely never used before, a title was born that really connected with the zesshō, like honestly expressing an uncontrollable passion.”
“By the way, what kind of image did you go with for the jacket cover?”
“The image of the song is that of a fighting goddess landed in a devastated world’, so we pictured a goddess that brings light. At first we had the image of her standing dignified, but then we wanted a picture with some movement in the middle, so we brought in a blower (ventilator). As I was freely moving, this picture happened to be taken. The way the wind fluttered, the posing, the cameraman’s way of cutting… everything was balanced perfectly, and it really turned out as miraculous image, as if she flew down from the heavens.”
“The fact that you’re not looking directly at the camera also gives a strong impression.”
“There were some opinions that suggested that ‘it might be better to have a picture on which you can clearly see my gaze and facial expression’. However, we’d finally arrived at #40. I wanted people to feel a new Nana Mizuki and I also wanted to include the feeling of ‘continuing to run towards a new turning point’, so we decided to go for a challenging visual.”
“It’s been about one year since the Symphogear TV series ended, but with the start of this new project it seems like it’s still going to be very exciting.”
“We often likened the set of Symphogear to club activities, so when the fifth season ended it really felt like I was graduating along with friends that I spent many years and shared many joys and sorrows with, haha. Besides the sense of accomplishment there was also the sadness of separating with everyone, so I was really happy that we still had regular recordings for this app game and the game machines. How the Wearers will get involved in this new project… in any case there are a lot of highlights in this game, so I’d be really happy if a lot of people will play it!”
“Now then, since you have reached your 20th anniversary, may we ask what your vision for the future is?”
“First of all, I’m aiming for the next milestone: my 30th anniversary! I still want to challenge many more difficult songs in the next ten years and I still want to laugh and say things like, ‘I can’t sing this unless I master cutaneous respiration or branchial respiration!!~”
“That’s so powerful of you!”
“I’m sure that, as I get older, singing high-key and high-tempo songs will consume more energy than it does now. Even so, I think my 50s will be alright if I keep this up, haha. However, the problem will be when I turn 60 or 70! The future I’m thinking of is when I’ll turn 60 and 70, so even when I’ll be called a senior, my goal is to still be a person that can manage singing heavy songs. I see the next 10 years as a ‘ripening period’, and while focussing on the songs I’ve created I will keep thinking about whether I will be able to develop them or if I will start digging deeper.”
“We are very curious as to what kind of songs you will sing in the future, Ms. Mizuki.”
“I may come to like simpler songs, or I may attack with over-the-top songs, haha. As the times change, the music that is popular and the music that I’m drawn to also changes, so I don’t know what will become of my interests… I just want to cherish the sensation of that moment, I want to raise myself higher, and I have no intention of changing this style!”
“And your first online acoustic concert has been decided.”
“It’s online, but I’ll be able to sing a lot in front of everyone for the first time in a while! It’s a full-length acoustic compilation and I’m currently in the process of creating all the accoustic arrangements from scratch. Since it’s a broadcasted concert without an audience we can’t all wholeheartedly party together, but if you think about it the other way around, you can listen extra carefully since it’s a acoustic live through a screen. Of course, since I’m Mizuki who can’t sit still I’ve also prepared some exciting songs, haha. Please look forward to it!”
“All your fans must also have been dearly waiting for this concert.”
“Unfortunately, the tour commemorating my 20th anniversary, LIVE RUNNER, was cancelled. However, I am glad that I have the opportunity to reach out to you like this, and I will definitely take revenge when LIVE RUNNER comes along, so please keep your expectations and look forward to it!”
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“Whether it’s 10 or 20 years from now, I still want to be a person who’s able to sing heavy songs!”
NANA MIZUKI
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Release information:
“A ‘super hot’ song that heralds the beginning of a new story”
The memorable 40th single is a double A-side type.
Fire Scream is the theme song for the new project smartphone game Senki Zesshō Symphogear XD Unlimited.
With a world view that reflects the game, it heralds the beginning of a new story.
40th. Fire Scream / No Rain, No Rainbow (released on October 7, 2020)
900yen (tax included)
King Records
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