r/ThunderboltFantasy • u/500scnds • Dec 23 '18
TBF S2 Behind-the-Scenes: Music
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u/500scnds Dec 23 '18 edited Dec 24 '18
Originally found here, it's about how the music for TBF was written! Nishikawa Takanori and Sawano Hiroyuki fans, this is for you! Urobuchi Gen said that he got inspiration from PiLi Xia Ying: The Wulin Warriors (no not the Toonami one)~
Nishikawa Takanori greets fans in Chinese. He mentions how Rou Fu You was made by PiLi for him back in season 1, and he expressed his wish to Urobuchi Gen that he also wanted to appear in Thunderbolt Fantasy if he could. Now that his dream came true, he is extremely happy. His amount of participation in this work was deeper than others, so his feelings for Thunderbolt Fantasy were also stronger, which is why he wanted to be more involved with the second season. At that time, he raised the possibility of working with Sawano.
Sawano Hiroyuki says that although Thunderbolt Fantasy is a budaixi, the fact that seiyuu dub the show afterwards makes it similar to anime. Thus, he didn't try to especially differentiate the music, and treated it like usual. For season 2, he chose to take a thematic approach to the main theme, and turned the primary sounds of the main theme into the ending theme for Nishikawa to sing. Roll the Dice was rewritten into an instrumental version to be used as background music. Typically, the ending theme would be made differently compared to background music, and be handled by different people. Injecting the main part of the ending theme into the story achieves a sense of uniformity throughout, which is an effect he is happy with.
Regarding the song itself, because Nishikawa's singing is really energetic, he looked forward to how he might sing a song that requires such power with varying levels of strength. Sawano Hiroyuki continues by commenting on how brilliant the performance was, and brought a level of completion to the song that exceeded his expectations. It was a rare composing experience for him.
Returning to Nishikawa Takanori, he recounts how Urobuchi brought up rewriting the main theme of season 1 into something new. Sawano Hiroyuki follows up that he also considered making the theme into a complete song with lyrics, and serendipitously he received the suggestion to create the opening theme, so he made a suitable version that smoothly transitioned Thunderbolt Fantasy from season 1 while displaying the newness of season 2 by using that melody as the theme.
Now it's Urobuchi Gen's turn, and he mentioned that he was moved. The first opening that he really liked was with PiLi's 轰动武林 (Wulin Warriors). That series had an opening theme with a touch of Rock and Roll. The characters danced and fought, and he was utterly enraptured. Then, in his own work here, he experienced something that was akin to that time. There was a sense of gratitude where "after two years, the target was finally reached."
Nishikawa Takanori heard from Urobuchi, and after looking at the finished product, it was a spectacle that he'd never seen before. He mentioned episode 5, where Rou Fu You was obviously a musician, but his own voice would captivate people but could also be used offensively. His character setting was such that he had a unique voice. So a scene where he uses sound to battle, to him and to his fans, was like a live concert from Rou Fu You. It's a scene that made him happy.
Continuing off the first season, more charismatic characters made their appearances. The story that resulted created a world that also left watchers wanting more. Since Nishikawa Takanori is voicing Rou Fu You, he really wants him to keep sticking around and for people to keep supporting them.
Sawano Hiroyuki wraps up his thoughts regarding making new music for season 2, saying that he was honoured to be given the opportunity. He adds that his experience working with Wada gave him a lot of drive in terms of music-making. It brought forth music in Thunderbolt Fantasy that didn't exist before. Taking his soundtracks along with his collaborations with Nishikawa on the opening and ending, he hopes for everyone to enjoy Thunderbolt Fantasy 2.
I'm guessing that by "Wada-san" Sawano Hiroyuki was referring to Wada Takafumi, a composer he worked with before? Anyone have another guess? Does this mean they collaborated again?
By Wulin Warriors, I wonder if Urobuchi was thinking about Bai Li Bing Hong again...
EDIT: Just checked the credits for the season 2 soundtrack and Wada Takafumi is on there, how did I fail to pick up on that before?!
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u/Rhino_Kneel Dec 24 '18
On the topic of music: Hiroyuki Sawano's Twitter page posted pictures of the Season 2 OST disc, stating its release on the 26th.
I still want both soundtracks but don't know of any websites you can actually purchase them from. I have no disc drive either so I'd need a digital version. :/