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Since making her major-label debut in April 2024, eill has enthralled countless people with her unparalleled voice and her overwhelming musical sensibilities. On Nov. 5, she will release her second EP, Action. This will be her first CD release in three and a half years, and the title track, “ACTION,” is the ending theme of the second arc (the Nerima Arc) of the TV anime TOUGEN ANKI: Legend of the Cursed Blood (airing on Nippon Television and affiliated stations). The EP contains a total of six songs, through which she expresses different aspects of her artistry.

She recently spoke with Billboard Japan at length about what went into the making of the album and about her upcoming [ACTION TOUR 2025-2026], which will begin in November.

On November 5, you’ll be releasing your second EP, ACTION, and the title track will be the ending theme to the TV anime TOUGEN ANKI: Legend of the Cursed Blood. I’m sure you watched the anime before writing the song. What was your mindset going into creating this song?

I’ve written several tie-up songs for animes before, and I’ve always made sure that I didn’t just make typical J-pop songs, but instead gave them some more musical depth. This time, I used some elements of new jack swing. I wanted to create a song born from the battle between dance and anime. I also listened to music from the new jack swing era and talked with other musicians to figure out what kind of synthesizer tone to go with.

Was that at the request of the anime producers?

There weren’t any requests, I just thought about what would fit the anime. There are battle scenes, so I didn’t want to make the song flat. Instead, I wanted there to be soft parts and powerful parts, to match the battle scenes. It was also important that listeners could get into the music and dance to it.

How did the name “ACTION” come to you?

I’d like to be able to say “I read the manga and the name just came to me,” but unfortunately, it was nothing like that (laughs). When I was working on the melody, recording a temporary vocal, my producer had left their mic on, and they let out a sneeze, which sounded kind of like “hakushon.” The completed song starts out with record scratching, and then someone saying “ACTION,” and the point where they say that is right where my producer sneezed. We were like “This is fire!” So that’s where “ACTION” came from.

I’ve got to say, I wasn’t expecting an origin story like that (laughs).

Right? (laughs) But it really does perfectly express this transition into the next era, so I think it’s a great title.

I bet you’re looking forward to seeing the reaction when the show starts airing. Now, about “last scene.” This is the theme song of season three of Love Transit (on Prime Video), and it’s the third theme song you’ve written. What was the writing process like?

Well, originally, I’d written a demo version of the song a long time ago, so I changed the arrangement a bit for Love Transit. I wanted to make it cinematic, so I added strings. Love Transit is the kind of show that viewers can get emotionally invested in, because they can see their own past or present romantic experiences reflected in it. So with “last scene.” My hope is that listeners will remember past loves as they listen to the song, and that they’ll listen to it after future heartbreaks, too. I wanted to make a song for people who were at a crossroads, or for a movie about people at a crossroads in their lives.

One thing I keep wondering is why you put the period at the end of the title.

I wanted to add my own personal touch (laughs). “last scene” by itself would just be so commonplace, so I decided to add a period at the end (laughs).

Another song on the EP is “what am i made for?” That’s a deep title. What led to the making of this song?

I just finished this song recently. Because of that, it might just be the song that best reflects where I am now. After having had different experiences, like solo shows, I wanted to sing a song about life. I’m not the kind of person that has lofty goals, so when I’m really busy, and I’m really working hard, I often think “What am I working so hard for?” The reason I work so hard has got to be something that’s in me, but I sometimes lose sight of it. I often find myself struggling to answer the question of why I’m making music. It’s not like I’m agonizing about it or anything. When I write a good song, or I put on a good live show, those worries all vanish. But if someone asks me “what kinds of things have you been worried about lately?” sometimes the answer is “Why am I making music?” So I expressed that through the lyrics to this song.

Moving on to “NEEMIA,” this is a bit of strange song. What does “NEEMIA” mean?

“NEEMIA” doesn’t mean anything. I wanted to repeat some word with no particular meaning, and I was like “neemia’s got a nice ring it, don’t you think?” I don’t even remember why I said “neemia.” In the temporary vocal track, I just sang “nya” for the lyrics, and that stuck. The world’s getting too complicated, so I was thinking that not everything has to have a meaning. That’s how I came up with the song.

That’s a very artistic sense of playfulness. It really clicks for me.

But the lyrics are packed with meaning, and the song has the same vibe as my music from my indie days. I think for people who know my music from back, it might feel a bit nostalgic.

Looking at the song selection, there’s a lot of variety on the EP. In November, you’re going to be starting a tour, [ACTION TOUR 2025-2026]. You’ll be playing in five cities in Asia, right?

Earlier, I talked about not being the kind of person with goals and dreams, but that said, one goal I have had, ever since I started performing as eill, has been to put on an Asian tour, so I’m really looking forward to it!

You’ll be visiting different countries, so there’ll lots of fun things to do, in addition to the shows.

So many. In Taipei, I want to do java sparrow fortunetelling. The birds tell your fortune by instinctively picking cards. I hear it’s really accurate. So I definitely want to do that, and then in Thailand I want to go to the night market. There’s also this artist I love named LUSS. They made a guest appearance on my last album, and I’d love it if they could come to a show and we could collaborate (laughs). I love Korea and I’ve been there several times. There are these places set up outside convenience stores where you can drink alcohol. They have paper cups and ramen machines, so I like to kick back with some Chamisul (a Korean liquor) and some Shin Ramyun. So I’ll definitely be doing that. In Shanghai, I want to get false eyelashes. In Chinese, false eyelashes are called “jiajiemao,” and I want to just go to a shop and buy jiajiemao to my heart’s content. I hear Hong Kong is really humid—so humid that the locks on people’s houses break. I always keep the humidity level in my house at 80%, for the sake of my voice, so I think Hong Kong will be perfect for me. I want to feel that humidity, so I’m looking forward to it!

They all sound fun. And, of course, you’re going to be touring Japan as well. How are you feeling, going into your first tour in a year?

My songs often express what I feel inside, but before reaching the level of the emotional content of my music, I want the audience to want to move their bodies and throw their hands up in the air. I want people to be more honest with themselves about their urges and desires. I hope that’s the kind of tour this will turn out to be.

I’m looking forward to it! In closing, what are your next goals, after finishing the Asian tour?

Right now, nothing specific. But throughout my life, I’ve kept pushing forward even though I didn’t have any specific goals. Recently, looking back on it, I’ve realized that I’ve led a really wonderful life. So I can’t just put a lid on my own weaknesses and worries. I mean, after all, these are emotions that only I can experience, right? If I take them head-on, I can change my own future. So I plan to cherish each and every day.

—This interview by Azusa Takahashi first appeared on Billboard Japan

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LiSA and Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba: the record-breaking collaboration that established a milestone in the history of Japanese entertainment is back. LiSA’s “Zankoku na yoru ni kagayake” (English title: “Shine in the Cruel Night”) graces the blockbuster animated movie Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Infinity Castle — Part 1: Akaza Returns as one of its two theme songs alongside Aimer’s “A World Where the Sun Never Rises.”

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Yuki Kajiura, who composed the soundtrack for the movie with Go Shiina, wrote “Shine in the Cruel Night.” Kajiura is the songwriter responsible for some of LiSA’s biggest Kimetsu collabs that perfectly capture the work’s universe, including “from the edge,” “Homura,” “Akeboshi,” and “Shirogane.” This comeback marks a significant chapter in LiSA’s hits-laden music career.

The songstress saw her singing overlap on screen with the actual movie footage for the first time shortly before this conversation with Daisuke Koyanagi (Interview inc.). Brimming with excitement, she spoke enthusiastically and deeply about the journey that led to her return to the world of the Kimetsu anime.

The movie was amazing, wasn’t it? We just saw it.

LiSA: I thought the animation’s production team was incredible. The way ufotable illuminates the scenes in the movie is just so beautiful. Throughout the entire film, the light in the characters’ eyes, too… the Infinity Castle movie is a work of art that makes abundant use of torchlights and illumination. The skillful craftsmanship of the artists is amazing, and the story is also great.

It really felt like the final battle in Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba has begun at last.

Yeah. The story makes it clear that no one can be missing from it.

And this is also your first Kimetsu theme song since the Mugen Train story arc.

While we were working on it, Ms. Kajiura and the team at ufotable talked about making a song that would grace the story. Ms. Kajiura and I wanted to make a song with a quiet chorus that would let everyone reflect on the tale so far and feel emotional, a tug at their heartstrings.

It was amazing. Perfectly intertwined with the story. It makes you wonder what kind of roadmap they created and how much they calculated to achieve that level of precision.

Ms. Kajiura puts thought into how a song will become part of the story, and also writes them with a lot of love for the singer. I think she considered how I could sing it as my own song for a long time to come. We discussed it together, exchanging ideas like, “How about something like this?” or “What about this kind of feeling?”

I’m guessing that until now, the situation was more like “LiSA sings songs written by Yuki Kajiura,” but this one was created differently, with you involved in closer proximity.

I was happy about that, too. Ms. Kajiura believed in me and welcomed me into her circle as someone she could talk to about music. At first, my mind was to just entrust her with (writing the song). In the sense that I have complete faith in her. I can tell that she cares deeply about (Kimetsu) and about me, too, so I thought my job was to interpret that and sing the songs. But after seeing the movie just now, it struck me again that everyone involved poured their hearts into every single scene. I felt that no one wanted to compromise on anything. So they probably also wanted to focus on the music and work closely with Ms. Kajiura to pursue it to the utmost.

Right.

The fact that they took my views into consideration helped me interpret the song with greater clarity when I sang it, and I felt like we were fighting together, which strengthened my commitment towards (the movie).

I get what you mean. How did you feel when you first heard that you’d be working with Ms. Kajiura again on a theme song for Kimetsu?

We last “fought” together on the Mugen Train story arc TV series [televised in 2021, a year after the Mugen Train movie opened in theaters], so being able to work with her again for this felt like we were taking it on together, just like in the story.

It’s been about five years since “Homura” (Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba the Movie: Mugen Train theme song) and you’ve gone through various phases in your career. Ms. Kajiura is someone who helped you seize a huge opportunity. Working on Kimetsu again with someone who knows you so well must have been both exciting and stressful, stirring up all kinds of emotions.

To be honest, I didn’t feel much stress about it. After all, anything that comes from working with her on a project like Kimetsu is bound to be good. I was just excited to see what kind of song she would give me to sing and what new perspectives the work itself would open up for me.

What was your impression when you first received the demo from her?

When I first heard it, it was a bit darker. It felt like it was a little more in tune with a darker mood. 

And that changed with each take?

Right. When I received the song, I wanted to talk to her directly, so I visited her studio. I spoke to her of my resolve to fight alongside her as comrades in the same battle, and how I interpreted the song as “a story about us meeting again and going to defeat Muzan, our final enemy” and that I hoped my resolve would be reflected in it. I think that’s why it became more emotional and dramatic during the process. It was the same way with “Homura,” I was the one who wanted to include bright, hopeful phrases, while Ms. Kajiura wrote about sadness as it is. My impression of her first version of that song was also sadness being depicted as sadness.

That’s interesting.

(For “Cruel Night,”) I didn’t convey any wishes to her or anything, just talked about how I felt as we were about to fight alongside each other, like I mentioned. But I did tell her that rather than singing about sadness in a tragic way, I wanted to convey a bit more hope. From Tanjiro (the protagonist of Kimetsu) and the others’ perspectives, they’re having a rough time, but that’s why they don’t want to give up on victory. Then she arranged it into the chorus we have now.

That means you felt it was perfectly natural to talk directly to Ms. Kajiura about such things, and that you felt a sense of responsibility in being involved with the work.

Yes, and also that she lets me do it. She’s left that door open for me, and after working together on four songs, I feel like we’ve built up a relationship of trust, so I figured she’d be OK with it.

And your vocals on this are incredible too. Starting off with a nuance like it’s blended into (the movie), it gradually becomes the theme song, and then ends up as a LiSA number. I imagine the process of making that happen must have been carried out with great precision and attention to detail. How did you approach it?

When I recorded the demo, I was thinking how the chorus shouldn’t sound too bright, but I have a bright voice to begin with, so no matter how hard I try, it ends up sounding like that. I spoke to Ms. Kajiura about it and she told me, “The brightness of your voice is wonderful and that’s what I love about it.” So I decided to trust her to handle that bright quality of my voice. She also said that I didn’t have to lower it on purpose. Since I was going to sing the chorus like that, I figured I’d sing the other parts as someone other than myself… with various personalities, and then just be me in the chorus. I think I was able to sing with various personalities because she said she loved my voice.

You can hear completely different vocalizations in each part.

It was so much fun. For my performance of “Homura” at Nippon Budokan (May 15), too, I was like, “It’ll be ‘LiSA’ no matter how I do it, so I might as well go all out!” [Laughs] I don’t have to try to be LiSA to make her manifest, so I can focus on the emotions. The joy of singing like that is what I’ve gained from Ms. Kajiura’s music.

That’s true, your performance of “Homura” at the Budokan was different from before. Or rather, it felt like your interpretation of the song has become more multi-layered. Does that have something to do with you having recorded this song (“Cruel Night”)?

Yeah, it has a lot to do with it. If “LiSA” is going to manifest without my being like, “This is LiSA!” then I can enjoy using myself more freely and sing songs that fit the music.

Right. If you let “LiSA” out at full blast even for a second, you can make her manifest throughout. At this point in your career, you just have to let that full blast out once, then the rest will become a proper LiSA number even if you create the story that fits the song. Your methodology is changing and becoming more precise. I’m guessing you’ve felt that way for a while. How has it deepened? 

I hope I’m not misunderstood, but one thing is that I’ve gained confidence in expressing “LiSA.” Songs like “Rising Hope,” “Catch the Moment,” and “Gurenge” are examples of this, but the LiSA that manifests through identifying techniques is unbreakable now, no matter what I do. I now have a lot of songs that give me confidence that she’ll never disappear. That’s why I can enjoy other ways of expression and feel the potential. I just finished watching the movie, so I’m really identifying with Tanjiro right now. I think I’ve become really fast with a sword because I’ve trained so much. [Laughs] I’ve grown stronger through training. 

You’ve become stronger through training, and faster, and it’s like you have a clear view of your surroundings even while fighting at incredible speeds. Like a heightened awareness… the way you manifest “LiSA” and her world is unclouded now.

Yeah. Today, while watching the movie, there were many phrases that made me go, “I get it!” I’ve read the original manga so many times, but there were still lots of phrases that I wanted to remember as words to live by. I think they resonated with me because I’m in this phase of my life right now.

What I found particularly impressive about “Shine in the Cruel Night” was how bare and raw the vocal mix sounded. The last chorus in particular sounds so raw like nothing was done to it after recording. It feels so realistic that it’s like you sang it and just left it as is.

Ms. Kajiura said, “That’s great!” on the first take, so I think that’s what they used.

She did? That’s amazing. When someone tells you, “That’s great!” when you sing once is the ultimate sign of trust.

I always practice really hard for recordings, but this time I approached it with the mindset of creating something together with Ms. Kajiura. As we went through multiple takes, there were a few instances where she said, “This is it!” And whenever she said that, I was thinking the same thing while singing it. But I’m greedy, so I think, “If I could do it now, I could sing it even better if I try a bit harder,” and record it again, but usually the first take is better. [Laughs]

So you were like, “Oh, this will be the one,” when you’re singing it.

Yeah, exactly. It’s like you’re in the zone at times like that. It’s more of a sensory experience so it’s not like you’re thinking with your brain, and you’re not controlled by your emotions, either. When you sing from your senses, that’s what comes across, I think. It was the same with “Homura.” That’s why I trust Ms. Kajiura so much.

“Shine in the Cruel Night” is one of the biggest and greatest achievements of what Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, Yuki Kajiura, and LiSA have built up over time. The universe that you’ve all created is proof of the wonderful time you’ve spent together.

It really is an all-out battle. Maybe that’s what Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba is all about. Everyone strives for that state and pours their love into it. It’s like no one feels anything else.

—This interview by Daisuke Koyanagi first appeared on Billboard Japan

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Rising South Korean R&B singer dori is set to release a live recording of his collaborative track “Sketch” with Furui Riho, captured during his first-ever solo show in Japan earlier this year. The EP, entitled dori feat. Furui Riho at Billboard Live, is due Oct. 29.

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With a silky, captivating vocal tone and a refined melodic sensibility, dori first made his debut in February 2022 with the single “2 O’CLOCK.” The track has since racked up nearly 20 million streams on Spotify and sparked buzz in Japan as well, after being used on TikTok by acts including JO1 and Local Campione. The 26-year-old has continued to release music at a steady pace, dropping his second EP in 2024 and successfully holding his first headlining concert that year. His work as a songwriter has also earned high recognition, including contributions to the soundtracks of hit Korean drama series Welcome to Samdal-ri and Queen of Tears.

For his first headlining show in Japan, held in May at Billboard Live Yokohama, dori invited singer-songwriter Furui Riho as a special guest. Furui has long been drawn to dori’s music — so much so that she regularly plays his songs as the pre-show BGM at her own concerts. That connection led to a one-night-only collaboration, where their distinct voices intertwined on “Sketch.” The newly released live audio captures the emotion of that moment, bringing the audience right back to the stage.

“A special moment like this release is something I believe will continue to have a big impact on my life in music,” dori shares. “And when things get difficult or tiring in my work, I want to be able to come back to this album and let the memories of this release give me strength.” He also speaks with admiration and respect for Furui as a fellow musician, saying she’s “exactly the kind of artist I used to dream about, like someone I’d see in a movie.” He also goes on to confess to her: “I even feel a little envy knowing you grew up with gospel influences from such a young age. Meeting you, talking with you, and creating music alongside you made me feel your presence and appeal even more strongly.”

This project came to life through the collaboration of Billboard Live — known for hosting leading artists from Japan and abroad — and Billboard Japan Records, working together with ONGRAY. This marks the first time Billboard Japan Records is releasing a project from an international artist. See below for dori and Furui Riho’s comments in full.

dori’s Comment

To be honest, it still doesn’t feel real. It makes me so happy to feel that I’ve been able to follow in the footsteps of artists I’ve long looked up to, even in a small way. Live albums were always something I listened to on CD or streaming, so to release one under my own name — and to do so together with Billboard Japan, a place I’ve often visited — is truly emotional for me.

I know I wouldn’t have made it here without my fans and my team. I’m deeply grateful. A special moment like this release is something I believe will continue to have a big impact on my life in music. And when things get difficult or tiring in my work, I want to be able to come back to this album and let the memories of this release give me strength. Thank you again, from the bottom of my heart.

And to Riho — I truly respect you as a fellow musician. You’re exactly the kind of artist I used to dream about, like someone I’d see in a movie. I even feel a little envy knowing you grew up with gospel influences from such a young age. Meeting you, talking with you, and creating music alongside you made me feel your presence and appeal even more strongly. Your vocal approach — your ad-libs, your melodic lines — are so beautiful that I genuinely want to learn from them. On stage, and even in rehearsal, I was able to be at ease and have so much fun.

Everyone — Riho is truly a captivating artist. Please go listen to her song “LOA” right now. I’m sure you’ll immediately understand what I mean. Thank you, Riho. Let’s keep making wonderful music together — even after I come back from military service.

Furui Riho’s Comment

It was such an honor to be invited as a guest for this special occasion — dori’s first live show in Japan. And the fact that it took place at Billboard Live, the same stage I had the privilege of performing on last year, made it feel even more meaningful. I’m truly happy we were able to share such a wonderful moment there.

I’ve actually been drawn to dori’s music and listened to it a lot since before he came to Japan. So to be able to stand on the same stage and make music together with an artist I’ve admired felt like a dream. He’s so sincere, and his love for music runs so deep. Every piece he creates is both delicate and powerful, and his voice, his sound, and his sense of creativity all hit me right in the heart.

This time, we performed one of my favorite songs of his, “Sketch,” together. I joined by adding original Japanese lyrics. Because I love the song so much, I also felt a bit of pressure — but the experience was incredibly fun and so special to me. I’m now dreaming of the day we get to create new music together and share it with everyone. Thank you, dori, for finding me and for making music with me. I’d be so happy if many people could feel how special this day was for us.

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Kenshi Yonezu recently sat down with Billboard Japan to discuss his new single “IRIS OUT / JANE DOE.” “IRIS OUT” was written as the theme song for CHAINSAW MAN – THE MOVIE: REZE ARC, while “JANE DOE” serves as its ending theme. “IRIS OUT” sets impulsive vocals and comical lyrics against a swinging groove, while “JANE DOE,” a duet with Hikaru Utada, depicts a world that is both beautiful and dark. Together, they form a striking contrast.

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On the Billboard Japan charts, “IRIS OUT” hit the 100 million–stream milestone four weeks after its debut — the fastest ever in the chart’s history. Meanwhile, on the U.S. Billboard Global 200 that covers more than 200 countries and regions worldwide, the track achieved the highest ranking ever for a Japanese-language song, hitting No. 5 on the chart dated Oct. 4. In step with the movie, the single is currently making waves both at home and abroad.

In this latest interview, Yonezu shared the thoughts that shaped this release, as well as the changes in his day-to-day life after completing his world tour.

First off, tell us about how you’ve been doing. Since wrapping up the Kenshi Yonezu 2025 TOUR / JUNK in April, you’ve likely spent much of the past few months focused on creating. After completing such a large-scale tour, including overseas performances, has there been any changes in your mindset?

Experiencing concerts in countries I’d never been to before on the world tour, in Korea, the U.S., and various cities in Europe, was huge for me. I don’t want to sound disrespectful to those who’d already been listening to my music outside Japan, but since I hadn’t really thought about it much before, I was surprised by the realization that, “So many people have been waiting for me.” I was welcomed so warmly, and even heard voices calling out “Hachi,” a name I haven’t been addressed by in years, which made me genuinely happy. It left me with a very strong feeling of refreshing clarity.

After going through that, I feel like I’ve started aiming for a more productive way of living this year — something I’d always struggled with before. Looking back on my life, if I hadn’t been accepted through music, I think it would have been terrifying. I wasn’t someone who could function socially, just spending all my time making music or drawing at home, neglecting everything else. But now I feel like I’m gradually moving away from that kind of life. It’s very ordinary stuff, but I’ve started doing simple things like keeping a daily routine and paying attention to my health. For most people it might sound like, “Really? Only now?” But for me, it feels like my way of living has shifted a lot. I can’t say for sure whether the concerts were the direct reason, but I do feel they’ve had a big influence.

I saw your shows in Seoul and Los Angeles, and remember you saying, “I’ll come again” while addressing the crowd. Local fans probably took that as a promise of a reunion rather than a one-time visit, and I imagine that feeling developed for you somewhere along the tour.

Yes, that was almost something that just slipped out. Even when I said I’d come again, there wasn’t a concrete plan in place, so I wondered if it might have been an irresponsible thing to say. But the scenes I saw during the tour were radiant. For the first time in my life, it felt like I was truly making eye contact with the audience.

Now, tell us about “IRIS OUT” and “JANE DOE.” After you were asked to work on CHAINSAW MAN – THE MOVIE: REZE ARC, where did the production of the songs begin?

It started with the request to create two songs. One was already decided to be the ending theme, and for the other, the production team was exploring where it would fit within the film. From the beginning, I had a strong, specific idea of what I wanted “JANE DOE,” the ending theme, to sound like. But with “IRIS OUT,” I remember figuring things out as I went along while creating it.

Having written “KICK BACK” for CHAINSAW MAN before, were you mindful of any links between that song and the new ones?

From the start, I felt strongly that I didn’t want it to turn into something like “KICK BACK Part 2.” I never really felt that risk with “JANE DOE,” but with “IRIS OUT,” I sensed that if I let my guard down, it could easily end up becoming “KICK BACK Part 2.” So I placed a lot of importance on how to differentiate it from “KICK BACK.” It’s a song with a complex and eccentric structure, full of dynamism, so if that’s like a rollercoaster, then I wanted “IRIS OUT” to be more like a free-fall ride — starting with a jolt, racing straight ahead, and ending abruptly. I was very conscious of giving it that kind of decisiveness. 

“IRIS OUT” feels like a song with a deliberately narrow focus, in the best way. It seems to reflect how Denji is led around as a character. How do you see it?

Since CHAINSAW MAN – THE MOVIE: REZE ARC features Reze as such an important character, I thought it’d be better to keep the focus on the relationship between Denji and Reze. In CHAINSAW MAN and in Tatsuki Fujimoto’s manga in general, there are often women who throw men off balance. I think that’s one of Fujimoto’s hallmarks as a writer, and the “Reze Arc” is very much a story where that nuance stands out. So it felt necessary to keep everything centered on Denji being enthralled by a woman named Reze, who is such an alluring and beguiling woman. By honing in on that single axis and driving straight into it, I felt I could differentiate it from “KICK BACK.”

What do you think makes Reze so appealing?

It’s that she playfully unsettles and misleads him in a way that’s somehow enjoyable. She blushes, casts an upturned gaze at Denji, and teases him a little while making her affection for him unmistakably clear. Of course someone like Denji would fall for it, and in a way, the desire to be deceived is actually an important aspect of romantic feelings. She’s charming and mischievous, but at the same time has a certain mysterious quality — you never really know what she’s thinking. If someone asked, “Who is that girl?” the truth is, no one really knows. She’s the kind of presence that unsettles your senses in the most pleasurable way possible.

Tell us about “JANE DOE” as well. Since it was intended to play during the ending of the Reze Arc movie, what was your initial concept for the song?

At first, I thought it probably shouldn’t be me singing. My male voice didn’t feel at all appropriate for the ending of the Reze Arc movie. I had a strong sense from the start that the song needed to be led by a female voice to work properly. I really like the duet “I’ve Seen It All” by Björk and Thom Yorke from Dancer in the Dark. I felt that kind of nuance would fit perfectly, and started creating the song with that in mind. From there, there were various twists and turns — I even tried a version that was nostalgic and evoked youthful feelings — but it felt overly circuitous. In the end, I felt that a duet with a slightly melancholic, dark vibe would be the most fitting. That’s how it came together.

You mentioned in your comments that you didn’t have a specific singer in mind when you began writing it. At what point in the songwriting process did you imagine Hikaru Utada for the track?

I started from the piano riff, and when the melody and lyrics for the first verse began to take shape, I was thinking it had to be Hikaru Utada. My personal impression of their voice is that it can be melancholic, wistful, and lonely, while at the same time — including their smoky tones — it has a freshness that sweeps through like a breeze. They have both qualities. Also, when listening to their music, there’s a sense of being overpowered by their immense talent and the brilliance of their songs and voice. There’s both a tremendous presence and a certain ethereality in their inner world. I even felt that without that duality, the song wouldn’t work.

Hikaru Utada is an extremely multi-faceted artist, and throughout their career they’ve given form to many different expressions. With “JANE DOE,” it feels like the sense of loss that often appears in their work is being drawn out. What are your thoughts on that?

Two of my personal Hikaru Utada favorites are “FINAL DISTANCE” and “Dareka no Negai ga Kanau Koro.” I first heard those songs in junior high, and they were the starting points for Utada-san’s presence becoming a big part of my life. I went to one of their concerts recently, where they performed the original “DISTANCE” in a remixed version. It was presented with a happiness and overflowing sense of euphoria that stood in contrast to “FINAL DISTANCE.” They were singing “hitotsu niwa narenai” (though we can’t be one) while dancing joyfully, and I thought it was wonderful. This is just my personal impression, but I feel that kind of duality, ambiguity, and kind of helplessness is something that lives strongly in their music. I felt there was something in common with what Reze embodies. Of course, I’m not saying Utada-san is like Reze.

You sing from Denji’s perspective in “IRIS OUT.” Listening to “JANE DOE,” it almost feels as if Utada is taking on the role of Reze. Was that intentional?

I explained to Utada-san that I wanted to create a duet between a girl carrying something incredibly complex and a boy who essentially doesn’t understand that at all, and asked them to sing it in that way. They approached that with their own take and that’s how it took shape.

What did you communicate with Utada in terms of recording and production?

Since they live in London, the recording process was carried out by exchanging data, almost like corresponding back and forth in letters. We did have one phone call, and during that conversation they told me something along the lines of, “I think if you sing it this way, your voice will stand out more.” I really felt they were right. That’s because Utada-san and I have very different sensibilities when it comes to singing. They’re a musician rooted in R&B and other styles that move with a laid-back, rich sense of rhythm. On the other hand, I come from a background in Vocaloid and computer-generated music, where I tend to place more importance on the vertical grid lines. I can also lean into an alternative rock-like urgency. Since we’re so different in nature, when Utada’s voice is layered onto something I’ve written, it makes the song feel much more full-bodied. That difference between us was really wonderful. As I mentioned earlier, the song ended up embodying the contrast between a girl carrying something deeply complicated and a boy who, at heart, doesn’t understand any of it. That wasn’t something we set out to do at all — it just happened as a result. But it feels like we arrived at the one and only way it could be.

The lines ”Let’s fill this world with mistakes“ in “JANE DOE” and “In this world right now, you’re my one-and-only perfect answer” in “IRIS OUT” feel deeply connected. Were you aware of contrasting or linking the two when you were writing them?

Not at all. When I’m writing a song, I’m completely absorbed in it, so I often only notice connections later on. Even with the title of “JANE DOE,” I realized later that it ties to a song in the Reze Arc movie — a Russian song that Reze sings alone in the story, which includes the line, “Jane slept in a church.” I only noticed that after finishing the song. I find it interesting when these kinds of unconscious links emerge naturally.

—This interview by Tomonori Shiba first appeared on Billboard Japan