・Paya Paya Chorus
“Kare Kano" had two major music recordings.
The first was a recording of the orchestra and rhythm section, etc., done at Avaco Studio in Waseda.
Then, after some time, the second session was an additional session at a studio called Sound Valley, located between Yotsuya and Ichigaya.
In total, we recorded about 200 pieces of music in those two sessions.
The first recording was one of the most memorable recordings I have ever made in my 40 years of working in incidental music.
What can I say, it was a very gorgeous recording.
Of course, the recording of "The End of Evangelion" was one of the largest recordings I had ever done at Avaco Studio's spacious Studio 1, but more than anything else, the rhythm section of "Kare Kano" was absolutely gorgeous.
The members are Yuichi Togashiki on drums, Akira Okazawa on bass, Junko Miyagi on piano, and Fujimaru Yoshino on guitar.
Then we have Tsuyoshi Kon on steel guitar, and Novu Saito on percussion.
Strings by Tetsuya Ochiai (Gen Itetsu) section, harp by Tomoyuki Asakawa.
The top players on trumpet and trombone were Eric Miyashiro and Yoichi Murata, and Osamu Koike on saxophone.
The members are so gorgeous that you could say, "How could such a group of musicians be assembled?"
Moreover, we were able to record for 5 to 6 hours!
At that time, most of the main music was recorded A, B, C, D (A: thematic <Yukino and Arima>, B: emotional/psychological description, C: scene description, D: bridge, E: action, F: others), and the missing parts were done at a later date at Sound Valley.
In the first session, the important Paya Paya chorus in "Kare Kano" was sung by Kayoko Ishu (now Kayo Ishu), a leading expert in this field, and the important process of adding it at the end was done very well and completed to a high degree of perfection.
This voice is the pretty big essence of "Kare Kano".
When I was working on "Nadia, The Secret of Blue Water," I created a lot of character songs.
Among them, there were various parodies, such as a parody of the theme song of "Apache Yakugun (1970-1972)".
This time, too, we felt that a parody was absolutely necessary, and Anno suggested that we do a parody of “Sazae-san”.
I did a parody of "Sazae-san" with the song "Let's Go Elektra-san," which begins with the line "I am Elektra".
Kikuko Inoue sang it mimicking Midori Kato's voice.
The chorus at that time was by Ishu and Kohmi Hirose, and it was gorgeous, too.
Because of that successful experience, both Anno and I wanted to pursue it further.
So, with the inclusion of Ishu's group in mind, I created a heart-warming and relaxing music for Yukino to use when she was in her gym clothes.
Another piece is a parody of Takeo Yamashita's "Play Girl" theme, which I also used in "EVANGELION:2.0 YOU CAN (NOT) ADVANCE."
In this song, Ishu lets out a wheezing "haa" or " fuu" behind lounge-style jazz music.
Anno and I had decided that we would definitely do both "Sazae-san" and "Playgirl," so I was very happy that I could make it happen.
I have talked with Anno when we had an interview for "Nadia," but that kind of music is inspired by the music of the home drama series created by TV producer Fukuko Ishii and screenwriter Sugako Hashida, known for "Kimotama Kaasan (1968-1972 TV drama)," "Arigato (1970-1975 TV drama)," and "Wataru Seken wa Oni Bakari (1990 TV drama produced and broadcast as a series intermittently from October 1990 to September 2011)”.
The music for "Kimottama Kaasan" and "Arigato" was composed by Tetsusaburo Hirai.
“Wataru Seken wa Oni Bakari" was composed by Kentaro Haneda.
The music is a little different in tone, but it is basically the peaceful music of the origin of home dramas.
This also blends very well with Japanese animation.
This is probably the reason why the music of "Kare Kano" is still used frequently in food shows, such as when people eat ramen noodles.
"Kimotama Kaasan" is a story centered on a soba noodle shop, and I expressed my respect for the music that plays during the scene where everyone is making soba noodles, or when Nobuto Okamoto goes out to deliver a delivery of food.
So, through "Kare Kano," I am deeply impressed that the taste of music from the past is being re-evaluated and used frequently in such food programs.
In the music of "Kare Kano," the spirit of Tetsusaburo Hirai's "Kimotama Kaasan," the spirit of Kyohei Tsutumi's "Sazae-san," and the spirit of Takeo Yamashita's "Play Girl" are alive.
Those three are important information that you should keep in mind this time as I "took it out of the warehouse*" (laughs).
・・
*To take an object that has been stored for a long time and rarely shown to the public and put it out of storage where it can be touched by many people.