Newtype Exclusive Interview with Composer Kaoru Wada: Crafting the Soundscape of Ranma ½

The director's order: “A song with a melody.”

—How did you feel when you were asked to work on “Ranma”?

Wada: I had worked on InuYasha for a long time and have a close relationship with the original author, Rumiko Takahashi, on both a personal and professional level, so I was both nervous and excited. Actually, Kenji Kawai, who did the music for the previous Ranma ½ anime, is also a friend of mine, so we were like, “I wonder how this will play out” (laughs). But the biggest thing for me was that Director (Konosuke) Uda chose me for this project, so first and foremost, I wanted to take part and meet his expectations.

—What sort of order did Director Uda give you?

Wada: I had worked with Uda before on certain episodes of titles like Gegege no Kitarō (Season 4) and The File of Young Kindaichi, but this was my first time working with him as series director. He told me, “I want you to make a song with a melody.” Most recent Hollywood productions have scores made to evoke a certain situation or atmosphere rather than focus on a specific melody, but that wasn't what he wanted. So, when composing each track and its variations, I continuously used the melody. .

—The world of Ranma incorporates a lot of Chinese style.

Wada: Yes, that's right. I often incorporate instruments from various cultures in my works, so naturally this time I used a variety of traditional Chinese instruments. The erhu (two-stringed bowed instrument) is my go-to, and then I also use the dizi (Chinese flute), the Chinese biwa, Chinese zithers such as the guqin and yangqin, and percussion instruments like the xiaoluo (small gong). My usual music is orchestral, but since Ranma is a more contemporary setting…or I suppose it's set in the '80s, but at any rate, I wanted to incorporate synth instruments together with traditional Chinese ones to establish a unique world.

—Since this series is a comedy, there are many bridges (short interludes that play after comedic scenes or to indicate a punchline, etc.)

Wada: Uda and I are close in age, so I think we have a pretty similar grasp on comedy. Specifically, I think we are both more familiar with the comedy of the Showa era (1926-1989) than that of today (laughs). It's been some time since I composed so many bridges, but they were really commonly used in anime up until the '90s. In recent times, a music director might cut out a part of the main theme to use for a bridge, but this time, I wanted to compose with the nostalgia of the old days. Jokes are meant to be short and snappy, so I wrote the bridges to also be short and fast-paced for easy insertion.

—It felt like many of the songs had a variety of percussion instruments in them to evoke a specific feeling.

Wada: Anime remakes can be difficult in a lot of ways. In that regard, since I actually know Kawai personally, I was able to consider, “if it were Kawai, he would probably have taken this approach…” and then from there, consider how I would do it. I think the increase of rhythmic music was a result of that. …Also, I actually composed the music for this project quite in advance.

—You did?

Wada: So at the time I was composing, I actually had very little material from the anime, and really only had the original manga to go off of. Of course, I discussed everything with Director Uda and got valuable input such as what direction he wanted to go with for Ranma, and such. But it was all still just in his head at that point (laughs). So, I composed the soundtrack mainly by simulating how I thought it should sound while rereading the original manga. It was definitely an interesting experience.

The appeal of Rumiko Takahashi's works is the unique characters

—Looking at the music list, there are orders such as, “a very Chinese feel” or “Chinese acrobatic troupe.”

Wada: Actually, those two were added by me. The one with a very Chinese feel, for example, could be used when the Chinese Amazon Village appears. The acrobatic troupe one is lively and upbeat, as you might expect. This time around, there are a lot of scenes with design-like, artistic backgrounds, so I wanted to make tracks that could correspond to those parts that weren't in the previous anime and, therefore, evoke a new and original impression of Ranma.

—How did the recording go?

Wada: I pretty much always use an orchestra as a base for my compositions, so the process is typically the same, but this time, we had many Chinese instruments and 60 songs, so it was quite a busy recording. But everyone knew each other already, so it all proceeded smoothly. For example, the erhu player, Chen Min, joined us. Erhu, when played by a Chinese musician, has a very unique style, so we asked her to play it a bit more robustly this time. There aren't a ton of anime that are set in China, however there are quite a few games, so there are a good deal of Chinese musicians working in Japan.

—Would you say that 60 is a lot for an OST?

Wada: Yes, I'd say so. However, I think Uda actually narrowed down his order. That is to say, the guest characters in each episode of Ranma all have their strong quirks–or rather, very fun and colorful personalities. So you can't help wanting to give each new character in every episode their own theme song (laughs). Realistically, however, that is very difficult to pull off, so we managed to narrow it down to 60 tracks in the end.

—What would you say was the most difficult piece of music that you composed for this project?

Wada: That would have to be Ranma's theme. I wrote and rewrote it many times. It has an intro, which then leads into the main melody, but I wanted the intro to be usable as a track on its own and also to be able to forgo the intro and start playing straight from the main melody. Not to mention the melody needed to be catchy as per Uda's request. So I would write a little, try listening back to it as an objective observer, and think, “Hmm, that's still not quite right,” rewriting it many times over.

Director Uda placed his trust in me and gave me a lot of creative freedom, which was a lot of pressure, so I was very critical of myself while composing it.

—How did it feel to see the anime with sound?

Wada: Director Uda comes from Toei Animation, so he does his own sound direction. He's developed his own style, and I think he has a really good sense for applying music. He's like, “Let's start the music here,” sandwiches in some action, and ends the scene with a bang. That's why I was immediately relieved when I first saw the dubbing. I had delivered the music to him already and gotten his approval, but there are some things you just can't know until you've synced it up to the animation, so when I saw the dubbing, I felt I could finally rest easy.

—What do you find appealing or characteristic when it comes to Rumiko Takahashi's works?

Wada: The main thing for me would have to be her unique characters. Whether it's the main characters or supporting cast, everyone has such strong characteristics to the point that they practically upstage one another. And not just on the surface, but also in the way each character is depicted in incredible detail. The way these characters all interact with one another as their stories unfold is what is so appealing in her works.

—The diversity of her characters is certainly appealing.

Wada: Also, the perfect “pauses” add so much fun to her stories and only make them that much more interesting. I'm sure the staff probably had some struggles in translating these pauses from the manga into the anime adaptation. For me, I think the music can actually help with that. That was my feeling going into this project.

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