7 episodes · 3rd April 2019
Wednesday Campanella is a leading Japanese music group with a distinctive music style, known for their constant innovation in their performances. After having a successful concert at Nippon Budokan in 2017, establishing themselves as top tier artists like no other. However, KOM_I, the singer and performer of the group, had a sense of peril as her performances were based solely on the reception of the audience rather than her free expression. Through trial and error, she has been looking for a way to present her true creativity during the past year. We follow KOM_I as she faces her current struggles and takes a step in a new direction while also reflecting on her background and path which lead to her debut.
KOM_I visits Yakushima, a World Heritage Site, to take back her creative freedom. She has decided to make a new song and its music video based on the inspiration she finds there. Yakushima is one of the few places where Japanese nature has remained untouched, such as the Yakusugi, a 1000-year-old Japanese cedar. KOM_I’s journey through the island’s wilderness with various expressions, such as the mountains and ocean, has just begun. As a local guide shows her around, she learns the history of Yakushima’s wilderness and experiences its magnificence. How will it inspire her?
The composer Oorutaichi and Azuma Takeshi, a recording engineer, join KOM_I in Yakushima, and music production begins. They set out to capture the sound of Yakushima nature. There are the sounds of the sea, rivers, that of raindrops, trees trembling in the breeze, and the calls of animals such as birds and monkeys, as well as other sounds that aren’t heard in daily life. They get to know more about Yakushima through various sounds and it reveals the expression that can’t be seen.
After recording various sounds of nature, KOM_I visits local folk singers and old ladies living on the island to find out more about the music and songs inherited in Yakushima. She gets to know the meaning of the lyrics and the unique melody which has been sung by the local people. What will she find through interacting with the local people of the island and the encounter with their inherited folk songs?
By the end of the music composition, KOM_I visits composer Oorutaichi’s studio in Nara for recording the song. They reminisce on the trip to Yakushima while listening to the track before recording vocals. The various kinds of sounds that were captured in the island get mixed into the music in an unexpected way. The lyrics also reflect what KOM_I felt and discovered in Yakushima. What will the song sound like?
The director for the music video of the new song is Sojiro Kamatani, whom KOM_I has complete trust in and believes to be one of the most interesting film creators. KOM_I has appointed him director because she believes in his creativity which depicts a sense of humor. The mixture of CG and film shots show the scenes of the rich nature of Yakushima and what they felt there, and offer a unique worldview of the music video.
How will KOM_I’s experience in Yakushima and its residents, far from prying eyes of the public, be expressed in the new song? KOM_I, Oorutaich, the composer, and Sojiro Kamatani, the film director, have concentrated their creativity, and the music video of the new song “Yaku No Jitsugetsubushi,” with their inspiration from Yakushima, has been completed.
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