Interview: Yuki Kajiura talks about her works
No more need to introduce composer Yuki Kajiura. From Madoka to Fate/zero and Xenosaga, .Hack, Sword Art Online or even her band Kalafina, Yuki Kajiura now imposes herself as one of the undisputed reference in anime world, quality project after quality project.
Here is a recent (late January 2016) translated from Japanese by ourselves! You'll learn more about this discreet composer whose music will enchant you for years.
This talented composer, actual figure in her domain keeps rising up with always more ambitious projects, for example with the mythical series ”Sword Art Online” or Erased, which broadcast just begins in France in streaming, or even organising live events throughout Japan. Her schedule is this very busy!
This is through those tiresome days that she gave us time to answer a couple questions over her work about composing for anime, especially most recent series.
Relief watching the first episode
Q: Your compositions are often memorable because they perfectly fit the works' universe and get recognition from anime fans. How those tunes born?
YK: Usually, tunes come from reading the original manga or book, but also in the meetings about the anime. Listening to the director and sound director, the picture I imagined reading the scripts crystallizes into my mind. At earlier times, in those meetings, it happened to me that I draw five lines on a notepad and a wrote tune sketch, but it became embarrassing, because one thought I gave myself importance! Now I have notepads when lines are already printed, and I discretely write (laughs), knowing that those fast sketches that spontaneously rose up to my mind become the main theme later! It's from the passion that the work brings to me but also from the burning directives from the direction team, that music comes to my mind.
Q: Amongst all the works you collaborate with, is there one that struck you in particular?
YK: This question is always complex because all projects are striking me much. When I begin to get implied into a work, this means that I dive into it for full months and I direct all my forces into it, so I can't really say that one work is beyond another. Every project obviously owns something... I can't really tell (laughs)
Q: Amongst your recent works, is the release of “Sword Art Online Music Collection”, can you tell us more about it?
YK: Everything begun while composing the music for SAO announcement trailer. Reading the original works, I built up a picture, then I was shown the scripts and the video. All of this happened before a detailed meeting, and I first delivered the music. When image and music finally were gathered, I found the music to be a bit too solid.
When I composed for Sword Art Online, one of the problematic points was to know how much the music should weigh according to the light and cute graphical style, especially for the first episodes which are quite dramatical. That's why I gave a quite low and symphonical aspect, but seeing the assembly, I found that didn't fit the lighter graphical style. Afterwhile, when I asked the producer whether he didn't find the themes too heavy, he replied it was exactly what was needed to fit the dramatical scenario. I kept composing this way, and when I listened to the main character's theme while watching the first episode in a meeting, I found that the tempo and the dramatical atmosphere fitted perfectly. At this moment I felt incredibly relieved.
Q: Not only are you reflecting the story and the drawing, but also everything you are told about the works.
YK: When I'm composing a soundtrack, I give the most importance to the atmosphere and I invent for myself a container in which I visualize the picture I'm making to myself of the music that will appear. I determinate the acoustic pressure and propagation, the level of emotion and tension; but also colour, temperature, amplitude... wondering how those elements will fill this container in. This is how I compose from many inspiring sources. Beside the original work and the script, I get interested in the background drawings, the light or dark side of the universe where it lies, which greatly impacts on my way to compose. This said, it's really watching the first episode assembled with picture, music, sound effects and voices that I realize that it fits in (laughs). I always try to define the setting by myself and when I watch the first episode and see that everything is perfectly harmonious, and then I'm really relieved.
Q: Thus, does it sometimes happen to you not to have this feeling?
YK: For example, we've find into a work an important amount of fighting scenes, then I have to write consequently. I try to define the tempo of every of the fights, with some rather slow battles, other more harsh ones, or more lively. This is sometimes the point when music necessary for those scenes are different of what I imagined. Then I realize that actually this or this work needed less fast battle music, or a lower tonic... yes all of this happens (laughs). But this also happens to drawers, once everything assembled, there are a lot of unexpected problems.
Q: The whole team remains under pressure during the broadcast.
YK: Actually, it's possible to watch finished episodes in advance to confirm some points. Nevertheless, it's not as tasty as watching them on TV! I watch videos that I've got sent in advance but I always arrange to watch the first episodes when they are broadcast on TV. As it's not always easy, sometimes I record them to watch them later, but anyway I watch everything and when it's a movie theatre release, I go to the theater.
Q: We've heard the you went to the theater for “The Garden of Sinners”.
YK: That's right, I prefer to enjoy the show in the middle of the watchers. I like seeing people retaining their breath or being taken into the story. I buy my ticket and wait in line to experience this with everyone.
Q: About “Erased” which broadcast just begun, what are your feelings about this series?
YK: It was hard! To this extent that when I said “it's going to be hard...” in a meeting, the sound director replied “yes, it's gonna be hard!” Erased (Boku dake ga inai machi) is in some way a hero story, but totally immerged into an icy atmosphere with hints of nostalgia, there's no joyful elements. As weird as it can sound, I then told to myself that music could totally subvert things. In fact, the role of music is doubtless important to create a series' mood. For example, Fujinuma (the hero) is introduced to us as a loser at the beginning (laughs), but we soon discover his sense of justice and he risks his own life to solve the key problems of the scenario. For him I eventually created a rather heroically and ardent theme. This is because things have several aspects, that this work was complex.
Q: The musical axes that you choose then have a huge influence on a series' atmosphere.
YK: As a general way, I try to intercept and canalize the dark shade floating around the works to apply it on the whole atmosphere thereafter. In Erased, you see a lot of characters, but at the end, the whole story is a straight line over the hero's life, so I could keep his music as a basis on which to rely on.
Q: Being a series of a different type than the fantasy universe of Sword Art Online, everything happens in Japan, with time jumps, wasn't it too hard to keep a balance between visuals and music?
YK: Drawings have this particular charm of vintage, which fits very well the story; this is this nostalgical aspect I tried to improve. But I shouldn't fall into excessive sadness. Improving too much the rustical aspect, there was the risk of losing the modern aspect of the works. This series didn't need a so particular music. It had to be discrete, in the background, but I was really afraid to mistake because a badly distributed shade can change the whole series' mood. As I loved to read the mangas, I can't wait discovering the series on TV.
Lives, funnier than before
Q: You're producing many live events, can you tell more about it?
YK: When I was an amateur, I often produced live events, but unlike now, it was at that time the only way I had to make my music listened. Thus it was more an obligation than a pleasure, even if I didn't particularly liked or disliked it.
Now that I've been recognized as a composer, I then got further from the stage because people could listen to my music by other means. This is the moment when I've got suggested the idea for a live event of polyphonical songs, which pleased me a lot. I then really enjoyed the joys of the stage, in particular the luck to have an audience in front of you that reacts in real time. When I'm playing my music, seeing all those people in front, happy to listen to it, isn't that what you call heaven? That really strucked me, and I now make concerts more for fun than to merely work.
Q: You're preparing a new live event on March 21th, 2016, “Yuki Kajiura LIVE Vol.#13 ～featuring SWORD ART ONLINE”. Can you tell us more?
YK: This is actually the first time a live event is focused onto a single works. So far my concerts were called “Yuki Kajiura” or “FictionJunction”, with a selection of my tracks. With more than 3,000 tracks into my works, it's not easy to prepare and pick which tracks to play, I don't know what to choose! This time, its way easier as I'm limited to a 4CD-soundtrack (laughs). I can't wait for being there.
Thank you very much!
Understand the works, discuss with the teams... Here are some clues that allowed us understanding where from the incredible depth of Yuki Kajiura's music came.
