The ending theme song Mirai (Future) The Black Horn A column written by Tomoko Nakagome:

“This project initially came from the film’s producer, Mr. Asai, who saw our performance on TV and intuitively thought that our music will fit the film very well. We had mixed feelings of curiosity as this project looks interesting and anxiety as we had never done this kind of work before (laugh). We were excited after all because it’s new experience for us. We read the script and talked with director Kurosawa and the producer. They told us that they would leave everything in our hands because if they request a certain type of music or suggest details, it must be hard for us to work on these. We were very happy to hear this and thus we worked very hard.” (Masahi Yamada: Vocal)

When I met the main actor, Joe Odagiri, at a preview screening of the bright future, after not seeing him for a long time, he first talked to me cheerfully, “The sounds of The Black Horn have changed!” That’s his impression on the film’s theme song, Mirai (Future). For Mr. Odagiri who has known the band from earlier years, its change must have been quite a big surprise.

The sound of The Black Horn used to have totally different two elements confronting each other: tenderness and intensity or pure white and pitch black. We hear innocent singing voice like an angel’s and it suddenly turns to strained screaming like a demon as if it is possessed by something terrible. On one hand there is a beautiful melody penetrating right through our heart, but on the other hand, there is a roaringly energetic and powerful sound explosion. However, the Mirai is totally different. The simple melody bears cold and warmness and covers roads in our heart with vivid white color like quietly falling snow. It’s slow, gentle and holding us in its arms.

“Following our natural emotions after seeing a rough cut of the film, the music became like this.” (Kousyu Okamine: Base)

“Yes, it’s like we got some inspirations and play intuitively and eventually that experience opened up new world also for us.” (Eijun Suganami: Guitar)

The Black Horn didn’t intend to change anything, but the film, bright future, eventually adds new aspects to them. In this sense, this music is beyond a simple tie-up project. It’s a genuine collaboration work.

“Since director Kurosawa trusted us totally, we didn’t want to write the music just in order to accompany the film. We developed the music from images we got from the film and our perceptions of the future. We believed that the best way to answer the director’s trust is to create the music faithful to ourselves. All these elements were integrated well in one song. As soon as we started writing the song, we immediately thought, “This is it!” After this, our music started evoking the scenes of the film in our mind. We thought if this song will be played in this scene, its effect would be awesome! (laugh). We were really excited about it. This excitement would not have been experienced if we would not have created the music together with the film. (Shinji Matsuda: Drums)

The bright future induced a dramatic chemical reaction inside the members of The Black Horn. In return, The Black Horn offered a wonderful song making the film, bright future, even more impressive. I hope you enjoy this beautiful fusion and its effects as much as you want.

The Black Horn:

Profile Masashi Yamada (vocal), Eijun Suganami (guitar), Kousyu Okamine (base), Shinji Matsuda (drums), started the band in 1998. While they were still playing as an independent band, they were invited by the Fuji Rock Festival and attracted audiences by its passionate live performance with their sounds of craziness and tenderness together. After they signed a contract with a major music producer, they have released four singles and two albums. In the summer of 2002, their performance swept over the audiences in Fuji Rock Festival, Rock in Japan Festival and more. Their latest album is Shinzo Okesutora (The Heart Orchestra).

Mirai (Future)/Blue Sky (Aozora) The Black Horn Lyric, written and arranged by The Black Horn.
 

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