BELLE Lead Composer Taisei Iwasaki

It is perhaps an understatement to say that music is an important component to Mamoru Hosoda's latest film BELLE; after all, BELLE revolves around a grief-stricken girl named Suzu who finds shelter and salvation by creating and performing music as her other self, "BELLE," in the virtual world of "U." ANN's Richard Eisenbeis had the opportunity to talk with the film's Lead Composer and Arranger, the award-winning Taisei Iwasaki (Blood Blockade Battlefront, Dragon Pilot, and the live-action GHOST IN THE SHELL) about the process of creating the music that is so central to BELLE's narrative and themes.

©Studio Chizu

Taisei Iwasaki: I knew from the script and storyboard that the music would be a very important element, so I felt a great deal of pressure, but now that I feel that I have successfully created something that I am satisfied with, I feel very fulfilled now.

Can you tell us a bit about your process for writing the songs for this film?

IWASAKI: First, I read the script and storyboard, had a long meeting with the director Mamoru Hosoda to decide the overall concept, and then started writing the individual songs.

To give one example of my approach to the songwriting process, I went to Kochi Prefecture, the model for the town where Suzu, the main character, is living, and wrote the song on the sunken bridge that appears in the film.

How much freedom were you given in the use of instruments? Were you limited in any way so as to form a cohesive sound for the film or was it pretty much anything goes? And how did this effect the songs you created?

IWASAKI: In order to create the music for this project, I first came up with the concept of a "composition village," and then invited several composer friends to create various pieces based on this concept. We wanted to create music that we felt was really good, so we used all kinds of instruments, from small synthesized music to large orchestras, with no restrictions on instruments.

BELLE is a bit different from the standard animated musical. The vocal tracks in the film tend to be diegetic—Belle literally sings them and the people around her hear them as songs. What challenges came from making a heavily diegetic soundtrack? How does this affect the composing process—especially as Suzu is the one who is supposed to have written these songs within the fictional world portrayed in the film?

IWASAKI: The dialogue wasn't sung like normal musical animation in this film. So all the songs are rooted in the story. Suzu has been composing music since she was a child with her late mother who appears briefly in the film. Therefore, I had to be constantly aware of her identity when composing, which was a different challenge from normal musical animation.

©Studio Chizu

The songs Belle sings in the film provide deep insights into her character. Were the lyrics written in tandem with the music or did they come later? Did this present any unique challenges?

IWASAKI: For the lyrics, Hosoda-san first wrote the main idea and shared it with us. Kaho Nakamura, who plays the role of Suzu for the original Japanese version, rewrote the lyrics and I adjusted them to the music, which was a very unique process.

“Uta Yo” (“Gales of Song”) marks the pivotal moment in the film where Suzu is able to sing for the first time in years. What's interesting about it is that it's not a song of joy or relief, but of jealousy and pain—all the emotions still within her that she hasn't been able to let out. Even the characters listening to it in the film note that it's an odd song. In light of that, can you tell me how this song came to be and why it takes the emotional path that it does?

IWASAKI: This was all Hosoda-san's idea and was already drawn in the storyboard. This song is the explosion of the frustration that Suzu had while she was not able to sing, accompanied by her physical rejection. On the other hand, as is the case in our Internet world, when something suddenly appears, even if it is a good thing, there are sometimes differences of opinion. Hosoda-san has a keen sense of this, and I think that's why he was able to express it in this way.

What is your favorite song from the film and why?

IWASAKI: It's "A Million Miles Away". Because there are so many different stories, and they keep changing throughout the song. It involves all the emotions of Suzu, her friends, the dragon, and the people of the U. In the end part, the song becomes a celebration for everyone, including the audience. They can feel as if they are at Belle's live concert. To achieve this, I actually solicited voices for "La la la" from all over the world and used over 3,000 voices that we gathered. I wanted people who have felt divided by the COVID-19 crisis to feel "connected" at least in the film, so I chose this daringly difficult approach.

©Studio Chizu

When and how did plans for an English language version of the soundtrack come up? Was it planned from the start?

IWASAKI: We decided to make an English version of the soundtrack after the movie was released in Japan.

What are the difficulties that come from translating songs from one language to another?

IWASAKI: I always have a hard time conveying the fine nuances of the underlying Japanese when I write songs in English, but this time, thanks to my friend Ludvig Forssell, the process went very smoothly. Needless to say, he has a perfect understanding of the story and lyrics, and I believe we have created a perfect translation.

I feel Japanese is a rather convenient language for songwriting as most sentences end in a pure vowel sound—making it much easier for sentences to rhyme naturally. English songs, on the other hand, tend to have a strict poetic rhyme scheme that is much harder to put together. What do you think about this and how it relates to translating music from one language to another?

IWASAKI: Japanese is linguistically classified as Syllable-timed language, which means that the pure vowels are indeed pronounced clearly, but this can sometimes be flattened out as a musical rhythm. On the other hand, English is classified as Stress-timed language, which means that its rhythmic system is completely different from that of Japanese, and if we translate it directly, the rhythm of the music itself will collapse. In the case of animation, there is also the problem of lip-syncing, so translating a song is a real challenge. So, I think the most important thing is to understand the correct nuances hidden behind each other's language and adjust them as we go along with the music.

The song “U” is filled with a unique syncopation in its vocals. Did this make it difficult to translate into English?

IWASAKI: That's right. As I mentioned earlier, there is a huge difference in the rhythm system between Japanese and English, and it was very difficult to translate while controlling it. However, since Ludvig perfectly understands both languages, I think "U" was able to be translated while maintaining the unique syncopation.

Are there any songs that you think sound better or work better thematically in the English version? If so, which ones and why? If not, why do you feel the Japanese versions are superior?

IWASAKI: I am convinced that we were able to create two good versions independent of each other. When I was recording the English version in New York, I first told everyone that I didn't want to make a Japanese translation, but that I wanted to make two good individual versions. As for the mix of the songs, we did the English version as well, so it's not that one is better than the other, but I think we were able to create a good version of both the Japanese and English versions.

I think it is for this reason that BELLE exists.

Richard is an anime and video game journalist with over a decade of experience living and working in Japan. For more of his writings, check out his Twitter and blog.