万感の思いを込めて送る、結成3年目の初アルバム!
声優とアイドルの両方を軸に2012年から活動し、〈アニサマ〉〈TIF〉といった大舞台も経験してきた6人組、i☆Ris。メンバー全員が主要キャストを務めるアニメ「プリパラ」でブレイクするなか、この初フル・アルバム『We are i☆Ris!!!』は、その輝きを凝縮した名刺代わりの一枚に。
「今回は制作の段階からメンバーの意見を採り入れてくださったので、収録曲や曲順までこだわりました。タイトルも自分たちで考えたんですけど、最初からこの一択しかなくて（笑）」（芹澤優）。
初々しくも懸命な歌声が心を昂ぶらせるデビュー曲“Color”や、永井ルイによるブリティッシュ・ロック趣味全開な“§Rainbow”、「プリパラ」の主題歌“Make it!”といった代表曲を含め、彩り豊かな11色のピースが並ぶ本作。なかでも、3組に分かれて各自の個性を発揮したデュエット・ソングは聴きどころです。まず、リーダーの山北早紀と澁谷梓希が歌う“Believe in”は、R・O・N提供のスピーディーなロック・チューン。
「いままでのi☆Risになかったようなゴリゴリのロックで、これまでと違うカッコイイ部分を見せられるのがすごく嬉しいですね」（山北）。
共にバラードが得意だという茜屋日海夏と若井友希のコンビは、優しく手を差し伸べるような“流星”で友情を再確認。
「歌詞もお互いが語りかけるような内容になっていて、友希ちゃんを感じながら、受け答えするように歌いました」（茜屋）。
さらに芹澤 × 久保田未夢ペアは“Love Magic”でラヴリーな魅力を徹底追求。
「他のペアは背伸びしてる感があるので、私たちだけあえて子供らしく（笑）。ふたりの可愛さを詰め込んだ曲にしたかったので、なるべくアニメのキャラっぽく歌うことを心掛けましたね」（久保田）。
そうやって六者六様のカラーが重ねられた本作を締め括るのは、夢に向かって共に歩む仲間との絆を描いたスロウ“ayatsunagi”。抜群の歌唱力に支えられたコーラスも息を呑むほど美しい、泣きの一曲に。
「この曲のデモをいただいて、歌詞を見ながら聴いたときにホント涙が止まらなくて。私たちのこの2年間の思い出がバーッと出てきて。レコーディングも泣きながら、感情を込めて歌った曲です」（若井）。
本作を携えてのツアー最終日には、自身最大規模のZepp Tokyo公演を控える6人。“Color”で歌った〈きっと飛べば空まで届く〉という思いは、この先どこまで飛翔するのでしょうか?
「ようやく『プリパラ』で一歩踏み出せた段階ですけど、自分たちもi☆Risの未来がすごく楽しみだし、想像より遥かに良い未来が待ってるって思うようになりましたね。後ろを振り向かないで前を見ていきたいと思います」（澁谷）。
i☆Ris’s We are i☆Ris!!!
Interview & text by Hajime Kitano
With a thousand emotions, i☆Ris delivers you this first album after three years from forming the group!
This sextet started their activities in 2012 with two pivots, as voice-actors and an idol group, and has experienced big stages such as Animelo Summer Live and Tokyo Idol Festival. While they gradually gathered their fame with all the members playing primary roles as voice actors in the animation PriPara, they are now introducing themselves with this first full album We are i☆Ris!!! in which their charm is condensed.
“This time, members’ suggestions were adopted from the early stage of production, so we were able to discuss which tunes we’d include in which order. We named the album by ourselves, but this title was the only choice we had since the beginning (laughs.)” (Yu Serizawa)
11 rich and colorful pieces are listed in this work: Innocent and earnest vocals in “Color,” their debut track, excite our hearts, while a British rock-ish taste is fully expressed in “§Rainbow” by Rui Nagai, the composer and arranger who is known for many famous idol/anime songs he made, and of course i☆Ris’ masterpiece “Make it!” which is known as the theme song of [PriPara], also shows its name on the album. Highlights, in particular, are the duet songs in which the members split into three duos, displaying each member’s character in each song. Firstly, “Believe in” sang by Saki Yamakita, the leader, and Azuki Shibuya is a speedy rock tune composed and arranged by R・O・N, who has made many songs including those for anime and video-game.
“It’s a hard-core rock tune which we’d never tried before, so I’m so happy that we can show our different and cool side.” (Yamakita)
Both Himika Akaneya and Yuki Wakai are good at singing ballads. They confirmed their friendship in “Ryusei (meaning Shooting-Star)”, which is expressed as if they are holding out their hands gently.
“The lyrics are as if we are talking to each other, so I sang as if I was answering to Yuki-chan, feeling the presence of her.” (Akaneya)
Meanwhile, Serizawa and Miyu Kubota show their adorable charm from top to bottom in “Love Magic.”
“The other duos kinda push themselves to the limit and tried to act like adults, so we dared to act like kids (laughs). We wanted to maximize our cuteness in the song, so we tried to sing like anime characters.” (Kubota)
Concluding this piece, in which each of the six members show their own different color, is“ayatsunagi,” a slow tune that portrays the bonds between fellows who walk hand in hand toward their dream. The chorus, supported by outstanding vocal strength, is breathtakingly beautiful which even might make you cry.
“When I listened to the demo while reading the lyrics for the first time, I literally couldn’t help crying. Memories of our two years welled up one after another. I even cried when I recorded this song too. I put so much emotion in it.” (Wakai)
The members are scheduled to perform at Zepp Tokyo, the largest venue for them ever, to finish their tour for this album. The lyrics in “Color” say, ‘If we could fly, we would reach the sky.’ Let’s see how high they’ll fly.
“We have only taken the first step yet, thanks to [PriPara], but now we’re looking so much forward to i☆Ris’ future. We feel that the future will be way better than we’ve expected. We will never look back, - just keep looking forward.” (Shibuya)
