An unconventional coming-of-age film is released. Director Takashi Koyama and Zhuangzi It of Dos Monos, who composed the soundtrack, talk behind the scenes.

The reason we asked Zhuangzi it to direct this film was simply because his work on Dos Monos was so cool. However, even though this film is about a protagonist who raps, we also wanted to make sure it didn't become too much of a "hip-hop film."

Zhuangzi is very knowledgeable about movies and has great taste, so I had an intuitive feeling that "he'll definitely be able to do it, and it will be interesting."

I think that when it comes to music for plays, it's easier to trust someone with an academic background in music to do the work. I don't have that kind of background, but I'm glad that people have felt through my work with Dos Monos and other projects that "this guy might be able to do something interesting."

At first, I participated in rehearsals and filming by teaching rap, but I thought that if I was going to be involved, I wanted to help make the entire production more interesting, so when I was later asked to compose the music for the film, I said, "Of course I'd like to."

It's actually quite rare for someone who composes soundtracks to be on set all the time. Thanks to that, we were able to have a common language and I was able to leave it to them with peace of mind. In fact, all of the ideas were clever, and I felt that they were well-organized yet had a unique artistic quality.

I wanted to be involved in making the work more interesting, not just by creating the music, but also by helping with how to fit sounds together and coming up with ideas. I was conscious of how to overwrite the vague correct answer that AI generates, such as "this sound goes with this scene."

For example, in the scene where the title appears, we were initially given an electronic-sounding reference, but the font of the logo displayed on the screen gave off an oriental vibe, so we deliberately proposed a different balance of sounds.

That was a surprise. When I asked, "Why this sound?", he said, "Because the logo sounded like kung fu" (laughs). It was clear that he was making the most of the information he could read from the screen and was having fun exploring sounds that fit the work itself, which made me really happy.

Director Koyama seems to be good at editing and directing with a certain amount of exaggeration, and I wanted to take the audience to an unexpected place with unexpected combinations of sound and images.

While maintaining the refreshing feeling of a coming-of-age film, I didn't want it to have the symbolic freshness of a soft drink commercial. I wanted to express through the texture of the music the raw presence and depth of the characters, rather than them simply being consumed, something that can only be depicted in a two-hour film.

I completely shared that mindset. I too felt uncomfortable with the way the term "youth film" has become a stylized imitation of the past.

That's why I tried to get away from the "something youthful" image that already exists and create something that surpasses it. When I listened to the finished music on big speakers, I got excited without any explanation.

The on-site rap instruction was also fun. Minami Sara and her friends are from a generation that is naturally exposed to rap. Rather than focusing on technique, I focused on conveying the joy of riding the beat and the mindset needed to enjoy rap.

Minami said, "The first cipher scene was the most nerve-wracking," but in the video it looked like he really had fun.

I thought that the correct way to give direction was to make it look like they were having fun rather than just making them do it well.

I want youth films to be for young people. To that end, it's really important that they convey a sense of fun. I think the power of sound played a big role in making this film.