[English Translation]
Eri Kitamura’s 掌 -Show-
Interviewed and written by Tetsuo Yamaguchi
“Having a ‘heel’ or two in the scene, just like myself, should be pretty interesting...” – The latest single is lined with both signature design for anime and deep affection for metal music, a combination capable only for an artist who is also a professional voice actress!
“Basically I like music with female vocals, but with UnSun, I especially like the tracks themselves, as well as the world the singer portrays. My favorites are Nordic metal bands, so Arch Enemy or Nightwish and the likes are needless to mention, but the band I most worship is Disarmonia Mundi...”
“Well, they’re still very much unknown”, humbly continues Eri Kitamura, the artist winning significant attention by resonating heavy grungy metal sounds in the voice acting industry. Her seventh single, 掌 -Show- is the ending song for the TV anime series Knights of Sidonia that she herself appears as the voice of the Honoka sisters (, the eleven sisters who are all clones). The spectacular SF epic that depicts the battle with the uncommunable alien creature Gauna and the sprinting hard sounds of the music proves to be a perfect match! The fine chemistry is born precisely because Kitamura is the voice actress who actually plays a crucial role in the story, at the same time being a great fan of the original. Her passion for this song also shows in the way she talks about her music.
“This is something I take pride in as ‘Eri Kitamura’s weapon’, but I get the privilege of getting the inspirations and hints prior to making the songs by being involved in the postrecordings, At first, I tried to make the song like an ending theme of a grand film from overseas, but then realized that many a time, anime works that are dynamic and full of bounding pulse tend to have ‘impactful opening themes and tender ending themes’. But the more I read into the original, I felt more inclined to create something that would close each episode, rather than with a quiet spirit-consoling theme, but with a more forward-looking tone, as if in a scenario where one battle may have ended but the world is still in despair and there is need for hope. Both the writer Tsutomu Nihei and Director of the anime gave me the thumbs-up, so with a great sense of mission, I took on this perplexed task of ‘creating a main chorus that gives off an ending-like tone, but isn’t a ballad, and also hints continuation to the future’.”
The lyrics were co-written with the composer Eiji Kawai, and are filled with names of the characters and signature terms from the anime.
“The draft that Kawai-san first came up with had a mixture of points I absolutely agreed to, and points I wasn’t quite sure about, but I guess that was partially due to my direct involvement in the anime as a voice actress. So I sent some lyrics I had in mind that reflected my image of the anime, which was then responded to with an invite to write together. I then starting rewriting the lyrics to a ‘Sidonian’ tone, ending up having more of mine then his in the whole lyrics... (laughs wryly). I really felt sorry about that, but he came back saying ‘it looks great’, which was very reassuring.”
The song is coupled with “Greedy; (Cry)”, a track with shocking growls screaming in a mix of sounds including symphonic, gothic, and progressive metal. The lyrics seething with pathos of love and hate were written by Kitamura herself.
“I've always wanted to do songs like this, but at the same time, didn’t think it right to squeeze my desires into the rightfully given opportunities (such as job-related tie-ups). However, for this one I knew it was a rare chance to make it possible, so I decided to take advantage of the kindness of the people around me who value this other side of me. Also, there aren't many other voice-actor-artists who are dark-sided as myself (lol), so having a 'heel' or two like me in the business should be pretty interesting. I look forward to keep pushing forward with this genre, and truly absorb it someday.”
▼Works by Eri Kitamura
From the left, Re;Story [2012], Sho x Mei -Shomei- [2014], Live DVD Starting Story Live Tour 2013 [2014] (all from Starchild)
▼Related works
From the left, UnSun’s Clinic For Dolls (Mystic / Avalon / Marquee) [2010], Arch Enemy’s Khaos Legions (Trooper) [2011], Nightwish’s Imaginaerum (Roadrunner) [2011], Disarmonia Mundi’s The Isolation Game (Coroner) [2009]
