「王立宇宙軍」は坂本龍一にとってゴールデンラズベリー賞だった？
Ryuichi Sakamoto effectively erased the soundtrack he created for the anime film "Royal Space Force" from his musical history. However, before its release, he left some remarks about it. One notable example is a feature in the March 1987 issue of the music magazine "Keyboard Special." This feature, in addition to Ryuichi's own comments, includes testimonies from engineers and musicians involved in the soundtrack, making it quite a compelling read. Here, I will introduce an English translation of Ryuichi's remarks.
As an aside, around this time, his beloved daughter Miu was about six years old, likely in first grade. It seems they often enjoyed watching TV anime together at home. Additionally, the Prince movie mentioned in his remarks is the one he directed, starred in, and composed the music for in 1986. It swept the Golden Raspberry Awards, winning five categories: Worst Picture, Worst Actor, Worst Supporting Actor, Worst Original Song, and Worst Director.
- This is your third movie soundtrack. Do you feel there's anything different compared to the previous ones?
When you aim for a complex piece that stands alone musically, the crucial visuals don’t come to life. On the other hand, the mismatch between the visuals and music in Prince's "Under the Cherry Moon" was refreshing to me. Inspired by that, for "Royal Space Force: The Wings of Honnêamise," I aimed for a soundtrack that could stand independently, making the audience think, "Isn't the soundtrack a bit too assertive?"
- When working on a soundtrack, the visuals are the main focus, so composing music is naturally different from when it's standalone, right?
When it comes to action scenes, for example, it’s alright to get away with doing something relatively mundane, like preparing music that matches the scene.
- Nowadays, a lot of anime soundtracks heavily use synthesizers.
Anime soundtracks have a lot in common with the way we musicians compose music in the studio rather than traditional film scores. Since anime production is completed down to the millisecond, synchronizing sound to it is easier than with live-action films. I wouldn’t say anime soundtracks are particularly suited for synthesizers. However, compared to the last movie I worked on, "The Adventures of Chatran," our music production style was more effective. "Royal Space Force" being a sci-fi story allowed me and my fellow musicians, who work with high-tech equipment, to fully utilize our capabilities.
- Do you like sci-fi anime?
I haven't really been that interested in anime in general. "Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind" was the best I've seen. I do watch some TV anime, though. For example, I watch the children's literature anime slot on Sunday evenings, like "Pollyanna." I love the comedy anime "Gu-Gu Ganmo," too. (Laughs) "Ganmo" is incredibly funny, a brilliant home comedy anime. (Laughs) I know the arranger of its theme song well. Inspired by that, I worked on this anime movie project. (Laughs)
- Do you intend to work on another sci-fi anime soundtrack in the future?
I like the worldviews of "Blade Runner" and "Dune," so I want to provide music for sci-fi visuals without being confined to anime or live-action. Near-future themes are something I want to continue pursuing.
