We Love DiGiMONMUSiC Memorial Booklet comments (K-M)

A translation of the “100 Comments” left by voice actors and staff members for animation and music production from Digimon Adventure, Adventure 02, Tamers, and Frontier, which were included in a booklet from the DiGiMONMUSiC 100 Title Commemoration Release: We Love DiGiMONMUSiC (デジモンミュージック100タイトル記念作品 We Love DiGiMONMUSIC) album collection, originally released December 25, 2002. This also includes both versions of the addendum comment left by music producer Shintarou Matsui in both the original version and the December 25, 2013 rerelease.

With the exception of Producer Matsui’s comments, the original booklets organized all of the commenters by name in gojuuon order. For the sake of easier reading for English speakers, I’ve reorganized the comments in English alphabetical order by surname (or, in the case of pseudonyms without surnames, by pseudonym), and have split the list into portions.

Note that some names have never had official readings provided, so in such cases I made my best guess at how their names are read.

(A-I | K-M | N-S | T-W | Shintarou Matsui’s comments)

Table of Contents

Yukio Kaizawa (series director; Toei Animation)

As the series director since Tamers, I owe a lot to this series.
It’s me, Kaizawa.
It’s really surprising to see how many music releases and songs there have been so far.
For episode 30 of Frontier (directed by myself), since we’d just released Digimon Frontier Character Song Collection: Salamander, and the episode itself had to do with Kouichi, we crammed his song in as BGM in the last minute during dubbing (music and effects application).
Be sure to listen to it!

Hiroyuki Kakudou (series director; Toei Animation)

My very first “Digimon song”.
Thinking back on it, we were actually having quite the luxury, but it was back when we were deciding on the theme song for Digimon Adventure.
The fact we even had to “decide” was a luxury in itself.
Usually, for TV shows, we wouldn’t be given much leeway to have input on the artist or theme song.
We had more than 10 demo candidates for the theme song, and I and the producers from Toei Animation, the TV station, and the agency were all listening to them.
Including all of the music production people,we had around ten people in all.
All of them were wonderful songs, and we couldn’t all unanimously agree with one on the spot.
After a lot of heated debate for some very long hours, out of the remaining songs, my own personal deciding factor was that I wanted to exclude all the ones that “any other TV show could easily use”.
I decided on one that was a little different from the norm, one you wouldn’t see just anywhere.
As you all know, that was “Butter-Fly”, and Shintarou “Man of Many Nicknames” Matsui and the others were worried that we should go for something more fashionable instead of something a little old-timey like that, but in the end, it turned out as you all remember it.
Because it wasn’t about just simply picking a theme song, but a discussion about an important element that would determine the overall direction for Digimon Adventure as as TV series.
This meeting also involved another song that I was very interested in. It wasn’t quite appropriate for a theme song, but it was something we could make good use of.
In particular, the intro worked perfectly for my image of the evolution sequences, and the proposal to use it as an insert song was met with immediate approval and a quick decision.
That song went on to become “brave heart”.
This was also when we came up with the plan to have the song flow directly from the evolution sequence into the battle sequence.
If it hadn’t been for that song, we probably wouldn’t have ever done something like that.
It feels like a series of lucky coincidences in succession, but that’s just what happens when things are going well.
They also had me name the song “Evolve with Guts!” for whatever reason, but I don’t think I can ever forget showing up to the recording site to observe and being asked to come up with the lines for the intercutting narration.
Afterwards, all of the theme songs, insert songs, and character songs all had staff members who understood the main TV series deeply and demonstrated that beautifully.
I still listen to almost all of the music as I work now, but there’s one song I can’t really bring myself to listen to much anymore.
“Dark Wing ~Devimon’s Theme~”…the song that was probably Kaneto Shiozawa-san’s last singing job.
Once a few more years pass, I’ll listen to it again.

Hiroshi Kamiya (voice of Kouji Minamoto; Aoni Production)

Digimon songs really cheer you up.
I still can’t ever forget that day.
The day when I first saw the opening footage for Digimon Frontier at the initial screening.
It was really exciting, like something amazing was about to begin.
So whenever I feel down or sad, I listen to this CD and start yelling!
“Spirit Evolution!!”
And then I forget about all of the unnecessary things.
Yaaaaay!

Tomoko Kaneda (voice of Culumon; Aoni Production)

I have particularly strong memories of “White Christmas” (Digimon Christmas Medley), which was entirely in English.
Since I was in-character as Culumon, they told me “you don’t have to be super dignified about it,” and because the song had so much English, everyone else was told “the song isn’t recognizable anymore!”, but I was told “that’s fine, keep doing it that way~!!”, and I was a little relieved (laughs).
All of the Digimon sang together at the recording, and we were all excited and having lots of fun.
If there’s anyone out there who hasn’t heard it yet, please do take a listen, culu~ ♡
Have a good culu-culu ♡

Isao Kaneki/”Kaneki Tanukikouji” (Carddass; Bandai)

Congratulations on reaching 100 releases!
I’ve had the honor of serving as representative for Digimon card game players.
The card game involves making Digimon cards evolve and battle, but whenever I evolve a Digimon card, “brave heart” plays in my head, and when it fires off a special attack, “SLASH!!” plays, and when it looks like I’m about to lose, I start singing that line “there’s no way we can lose ♪” from “Target ~Red Shock~” and flip over a card to turn the game around in one sweep.
Music follows the world, and the cards follow the music¹…
Incidentally, as a member of the Bandai Card Division, my most emotional moment was when I first heard Michihiko Ohta-san’s “SLASH!!”
At the time, I was just so deeply moved by the fact he’d made such an incredibly cool song to be the theme song for the card game.
As for a certain bad memory I have, or perhaps I should say scary memory, there was a time when they had me appear on AiM-san’s TV program.
I’d basically be exposing myself as a total office worker, so I was nervous to the point it was like being in a nightmare.
Matsui-san from NEC Interchannel was laughing at me like none of this was his problem, like some kind of little demon.
After that, while it’s something I’m personally very ashamed to admit, but whenever I hear AiM-san’s song “Days -Affection and the Ordinary-“, it brings me back to 2001, when it restored the nearly broken spirits of a grown adult (old man) office worker like me.
It was really like that, every morning on Sundays…
When I was 30 years old, having gone through so many moments of heartbreak…
No, no, this is embarrassing.
But thanks to that song, I was able to cheer up.
Thank you so much, AiM-san.
AiM-san drew a lot of illustrations for our Digimon cards, so we owe a lot to her in terms of work.
Truly, thank you so much.
I hope all of the fans out there can get some of the cards that AiM-san illustrated for themselves.

Junichi Kanemaru (voice of Ryou Akiyama; 81 Produce)

Congratulations on 100 releases!
I’m Junichi Kanemaru, who sang “Digital Survivor” for the “Best Tamers” series’ fifth single in the role of Ryou Akiyama.
Looking back on my memories of recording for it, it was right after the world had to deal with the weight of the American 9/11 incident, and there was an atmosphere of uncertainty throughout the entire world.
The song has the phrase “Survive the world!” appearing multiple times, and I could hear the message “let’s overcome disasters and crises and survive through this world!”, so even now I remember singing with all of my heart and strength into it.
It’s an honor to have gotten to play such a wonderful character like the legendary Tamer, Ryou Akiyama, and, even if it was by coincidence, that I also got to sing a song with such deep meaning.
If I ever get a chance to sing this song at a live event on stage someday, I’m definitely gonna yell out “King Device!” in front of everyone and sing.
Let’s meet again sometime.
Thank you very much.
See ya!

Daisuke Kawakami (producer; Fuji TV)

Congratulations on reaching production of 100 Digimon CDs!
You’d all be better be careful around this music team!
You can’t say a single careless thing in front of them…they’ll stare directly into your eyes and straight into the depths of your soul.
If you think you can just get by them comfortably, forget about it.
If you beg “please forgive me!”, they won’t forgive you.
I’m careless, so I was always at the mercy of their sharp glares and reduced to tears.
Actually, when we were doing recording, sound producer Chiba-san was being so harsh on Palmon that she was crying.
They booked a whole five hours just to fix Palmon’s pitch, you know!? No, that’s a joke, but that’s how dedicated and passionate these people are about their work.
They’ve thought through how the world of the TV show works five hundred times more than even I have, and they’ve taken great care of it.
That’s all probably tied to “Butter-Fly”, the very first hit from the very start of production.
Through things like character songs, they dug out sides of the characters that didn’t come out in the TV show and breathed new life into them, and they made the characters form into something even more real.
This team manages to make something that absolutely transcends your imagination, and if there’s another opportunity, I’d like to work with them again.
Anyway, congratulations on producing 100 CDs.
That being said, that’s a lot of material making up all of this content.
And with creators like these, we naturally ended up with an audience like this.
To all of the production staff, and to all of the fans, I conclude this essay to you with all of my respect.
In closing, once again, I would like to remind everyone to be very careful with everyone involved here, especially the production staff.
You’re going to get burned.
P.S.:
To everyone involved in production, especially the great Ikeda and Yoshimura², Matsu-nii, Chiba-san, all of the involved musicians, and TV producer Seki-san, truly, thank you for all of your hard work.
I’m looking forward to when you finish the 200th CD, so I’ll be cheering you on from beyond the grave.

Yuuto Kazama (voice of Yamato Ishida; Aksent)

I’m incredibly happy that I could contribute even the tiniest amount to this milestone of 100 releases.
My songs “Walk on the Edge ~Yamato Ishida’s Theme~” and “The Key to Granting Wishes” weren’t just songs released on CDs, but they even used them in the actual show for Digimon Adventure, and I’m truly grateful.
When I saw the broadcast for that, I was feeling a mixture of happiness and embarrassment, and I probably had a really weird expression on my face (laughs).
I also got to sing “DOOR” with my own acoustic guitar at a live event, and it was yet another amazing experience.
At the time that song was made, the lyrics were exactly how I felt back then, so I could sense it was some kind of destiny.
It’s a song I have a very deep attachment to.
But the part I get most emotional at has to be at the ending of Digimon Adventure‘s final episode, when “Butter-Fly” plays…
Even thinking back on it now fills me with so many passionate emotions.

Masami Kikuchi (voice of Jou Kido, Neemon, Digimon Frontier narration; Troubador Music Office)

Hooray for reaching 100 releases!
My character, Jou Kido, was supposed to be canonically tone deaf in the anime, but I ended up singing normally for the CD.
Junko Takeuchi-chan was also singing as Gomamon, so I kind of regret not singing in a more Jou-like way.
In that regard, Bokomon and Neemon’s song “The Great Spirit Operation ~Bokomon & Neemon’s Theme~” came out perfectly.
Neemon didn’t have much of a melody to follow, after all…
Also, the song “Our Digital World”, which everyone sang together for 02, had such a lovely atmosphere, and I still remember having so much fun during the recording for that.

Kyoutarou Kimura (Producer; Yomiko Advertising)

Congratulations on 100 Digimon CD releases!! and thank you!!!
DiGiMONMUSiC owes everything to NEC Interchannel’s Matsui-niisan and Chiba-chan.
They laid out fifteen to twenty demos for the opening and ending songs every time, and they satisfied all of our selfish needs.
That energy and passion carried Digimon for these last four years.
So congratulations on 100 Digimon CD releases!! and thank you!!! and let’s look forward to more!!!

Naoto Kine (TM NETWORK)

Truly, congratulations for reaching 100 releases.
This is all thanks to the support Digimon has gotten, not only from the kids, but from everyone from every background.
And it’s also thanks to the hard work of the production team and staff, who made everything high-quality, every time.
I got to participate in a handful of them, and it has truly been the happiest honor.
Please be sure to do your best to reach the 1000th release.

Reiko Kiuchi (voice of Daisuke Motomiya; Ken Production)

Whenever we were doing post-recording and we got to an evolution sequence, “Break up!” or “Beat Hit!” would just naturally play in my head.
Those songs were so full of feelings, and they’d even charge my own lines full of energy too.
I think my strongest memories come from recording “Our Digital World”, which played during the final episode of 02.
After our post-recording, we went right to recording the song while standing in the same place with the rest of the staff, and I was there while everyone was playing around, yelling and singing as much as they wanted, and we were all so excited that I couldn’t even hear myself singing in the end anymore (laughs).
It was a really big reminder to myself about the kind of amazing power a chorus with everyone could have.
So when that song played in the final episode, I had all sorts of feelings, and they felt like they might burst out of my chest.
Also, when I heard AiM’s song for the 02 summer movie Digimon Adventure 02: Diablomon Strikes Back, “Friend ~I’ll Never Forget~”, the weight of both the story’s “graduation” and my memories of graduation from my school days overlapped on each other, and I felt these indescribable, painful feelings.
The character songs, the high-energy opening songs and insert songs, the calmer ending songs, and on top of that, the BGM with classical and jazz styles, really make you feel how flexible and wide in range Digimon songs are.

Chiaki Konaka (lead writer)

I really love the Tamers opening and ending songs.
I loved the second half’s ending song, “Days -Affection and the Ordinary-“, even as early as when it was still a demo song with placeholder vocals, and I remember telling them how wonderful it was that they’d predicted how the story would go in the second half, with the lyrics being a very serious kind of love song.
AiM-san sang “Days -Affection and the Ordinary-” to perfection, and it appealed strongly to the human heart not only in a simple way with Takato and Juri but as a full-fledged “love song”, and you could feel the strength of how it conveyed “what Tamers wanted to convey”.

Souji Machida (Monthy V-Jump editor; Shueisha)

Congratulations on 100 DiGiMONMUSiC releases!
Digimon has brought forth a ton of different kinds of songs, but as you’d expect, I’m most attached to the first series’ opening theme, “Butter-Fly”.
These days, anime theme songs don’t really bring up that many kewords related to the story in their lyrics anymore, and as a result I wouldn’t feel much of a link between the series and the song…or that’s how I usually felt, but with “Butter-Fly”, although it went out of its way to not use any Digimon-related words, it still felt to me like a song that embodied the series’ world and story more than well enough.
Even the staff members end up singing it a lot at karaoke…it’s the best song that brings excitement and liveliness to the production site itself!
After that…well, I’d say all of the songs that play during the evolution sequences, I can’t pick just one.
Going through 02, Tamers…through all of the series history, they’re nothing but hits.
The pace and tempo are superb, and they really put the finishing touches on those scenes as they charge into battle.
And some of them were candidates to be opening theme songs, weren’t they…?
Well, weren’t they, Producer Matsui? (laughs)
Also, AiM-san’s ballads were amazing!
They were so elegant and graceful as I listened to them.
There are so many excellent ending themes.
Anyway, since we’re at 100 releases, keep putting out more and more and make even cooler releases!
We at the V-Jump “Digimon latest information reveal base” will also be putting out more and more of the hottest Digimon news in store!

Ai Maeda (voice of Mimi Tachikawa; Aoni Production)

It didn’t feel like I’d met Mimi Tachikawa-san all that long ago, but it’s already been four years.
She showed me all kinds of emotions, and I was surprised, and laughed, and was touched, and looked up to her.
She was so straightforward and strong…sure, she was a little self-centered every so often, but I loved everything about her, that included.
In a sense, she was like my ideal (laughs).
The most important presences in her life were probably her friends and parents who supported her.
What a wonderful thing.
And it was the character songs that really dug into Mimi-chan’s depth.
Maybe one of those songs contradicts everyone’s personal image of Mimi.
But all of those songs have those stronger aspects of Mimi, and those more vulnerable aspects she won’t normally show people, and I really enjoyed how they showed me a little glimpse into what she had deep within her.
And this time, I got my dearest wish of getting to sing “I wish” as Mimi-chan! What an emotional occasion!
The anime had a scene where Mimi-chan sang “I wish”, but at the time they reused the song that “Ai Maeda” sang, and to be honest, I thought…I kind of wanted to sing it as Mimi-chan (laughs).
*My apologies to all the staff （＾＾；）
And not only that, I got to sing with Sora-san and Palmon and Piyomon this time, so it was like a mini-class reunion.
I remember thinking this when I sang the duet with Palmon, but I really had fun singing and playing around with everyone.
It was like I’d returned to that adventure back then in just a moment, and no matter how much time passed in reality, some things just wouldn’t change, and I was so happy to have that sensation…
Most importantly, I just really love Digimon, that’s all!
And now we’ve reached 100 releases, and that’s absolutely thanks to everyone who’s been supporting Digimon so far.
Truly, thank you so much.
I’m going to keep living my life with everything I’ve gotten with Mimi-chan, so I hope everyone will also keep Digimon shining within themselves.

Miwa Matsumoto (voice of Patamon, Makoto; Aksent)

Congratulations on 100 releases!
I’ve got tons of memories from everything involved, but in particular, I love “brave heart” and “Don’t Stop Pata-Pata”.
“brave heart” was the insert song they used for insert sequences, so whenever we were recording for them, the song would play in my head.
“Don’t Stop Pata-Pata” is, as you can imagine, Patamon’s song.
That song has some pretty amazing lyrics.
It was funny how it had phrases like “pansy flowers aren’t spicy, but pepper grains tingle with spice” or “pearls before swine” that probably wouldn’t make sense to you unless you’d watched Digimon, and I got emotional over it.
I’m going to use this space to thank Chiyoko Mori-san, who filled those lyrics with so much love. And to Hiro Takahashi-san, for making such a cute song. Anyway, it’s really fun how Digimon songs really express each and every character’s individual personalities to the point you can get them just by listening, and it reall yis a lot of fun. Please be sure to keep putting out more and more great things into this world.

Shotaro Matsuno/”Kaiser Matsuno” (Character toy development; Bandai)

Congratulations on the 100th release!!
And in particular, my greatest thanks to Kouji Wada-san for so enthusiastically singing and giving speeches (haha) onstage at live events.
I’ll still never be able to forget getting to shake your hand at the Asia Cup.
Digimon songs really do change the entire atmosphere of the event hall in a flash.
I’m the host, and even I can’t help but suddenly get hyped up!
I look forward to hearing many more wonderful songs that can excite kids all around the world!!

Atsushi Minowa (PlayStation game developer; Bandai)

100 DiGiMONMUSiC releases!! Congratulations.
No, really, that’s amazing.
Thank you for all of your hard work! But also, best of luck in aiming for 200 releases (well, I hope…)!
If you ask me which song leaves the biggest impression on me, it’d be Digimon Adventure‘s opening song “Butter-Fly”, as well as “Miracle Maker”, the opening song made specifically for the game Digimon World 3: Door to a New Adventure.
In regards to “Butter-Fly”, I believe it was before the TV broadcast had started, but I had the opportunity to hear it on a MiniDisc player or something, and I remember how incredibly excited I was to hear it finished with such a lovely high-tempo pace.
I think it’s the one song I will truly never be able to forget.
Even now, I can’t stop thinking about the chorus lines (although I don’t know how to express this well…).
Regarding “Miracle Maker”, it was going to be our first game with a specially created original song, so I have an incredibly deep attachment to it.
We had such a tight schedule with sales and development, and there were times I was so nervous thinking “are we even going to make it…?”, but it’s still a good memory for me.
I also got to be present for recording.
I headed to the studio with Matsui-san, but I managed to have such an incredible conversation with Matsui-san and Kouji Wada-san upon meeting them that I’ll never be able to forget (although I can’t reveal what we talked about…).
And when they sang, Kouji Wada-san, AiM-san, and Takayoshi Tanimoto-san were such a stunning trio, to the point that I remember sitting there by myself with a feeling of nervous tension during the recording.
In the course of working on the game, I feel like I must have heard it more than 200 times or so.
So now the song won’t leave my head (hahahaha…).
No, but really, congratulations on reaching 100 releases.
Of course, words are cheap, and you must have gone through quite a ton of work to actually get those 100 releases out.
I look forward to hearing what kind of music you’ll be continuing to expand the world of Digimon with.
And if there’s anything I can do to help you, even a little, please allow me to do what I can.

Kotono Mitsuishi (voice of Minami Uehara; Arts Vision)

I played the guest character for the Digimon movie Digimon Tamers: The Adventurers’ Battle.
I played Minami, a young girl who was tormented over the feeling that she was responsible for the death of her pet dog.
Actually, when I was in elementary school, I had a pet parrot that died due to my own mistake, and even thinking back on it makes me want to cry.
So I understood her anguish and self-blame to painful degrees.
As for the music, I particularly love the insert song, with its Okinawa-style arrangement and the way its active pace matches the strength of the sunlight and sea
I’m sure it’ll heal Minami-chan’s wounded heart.

Nami Miyahara (voice of Wallace; Ocean View Project)

I got to be involved with Digimon Adventure 02 as part of its summer 2000 Toei Anime Fair theatrical movie.
This was the first time in my life I’d ever gotten to sit in a theater watching a movie with myself in it.
I played Wallace, an American boy, but Digimon had such depth that I remember having difficulty parsing all of it.
I was playing a guest character, and on top of that I had a ton of scenes, so I was stuck in the studio for something like 17 hours.
By the time we finished, it was already late in the night, something around 2:00 or 3:00 AM.
The atmosphere in the studio had gotten so thin that I was staring into space at the end of it.
Since it was so late at night, Producer Seki-san bought sushi for me, and we were all crowded around the table, but it was really good ☺
I also sang a song, “Streets to the summer”, for Digimon Adventure 02‘s drama CD “The Door into Summer”.
I always have a hard time singing for anime characters, but they told me not to think too hard about Wallace’s character and sing as naturally as I wanted, so I was able to record comfortably.
It was only one day, but I still remember that day really well. It’s been an honor to get to participate in the Digimon series like this.
To Wallace, and to all of you…thank you.

Ayumi Miyazaki (musician; SCOOP Music)

Congratulations on the 100th DiGiMONMUSiC release.
Also, thank you very much for giving me this opportunity to write a comment.
In honor of this celebratory release, I’d like to talk about my memories of how I, Ayumi Miyazaki, came into contact with DiGiMONMUSiC, and how it led to where I am now.
At the beginning, I was given a vaguely-worded offer of “singing an insert song for an anime”, and to be honest, I was very confused and shocked.
This was like a completely unknown world for me, and I was thinking, “I’m not sure I’m a good fit for this…” with all kinds of nervousness.
But everything ended up going surprisingly quickly.
The moment I heard the song, it was as if I was picked up by my slightly future self and dragged over to the studio, sitting there nervously before I knew it.
I was in worse physical shape than ever, and my voice was croaking like I was a frog (well, in some sense, it was like that to begin with).
Somehow, in such terrible condition (!?), that was how my experience with DiGiMONMUSiC got off the ground.
Normally, I shut myself in a room to compose, because if I go to the studio, sometimes all the stuff in my head ends up ruinin my mood.
But by some stroke of luck, whenever I step into the world of DiGiMONMUSiC, I’m mysteriously able to snap out of it.
Of course, I think the biggest reason for this is that all of the fans are so vocal and warm about all of their support.
I cannot emphasize enough that it’s been thanks to all of those warm voices of support that I can keep putting out music as consistently as I am now.
So as a result, I think it was the second series’ insert songs that were able to best show off how I was able to take that to the next step.
This went for the first series as well, but the lyrics having things like “you” and “we” were able to inspire a sense of my goals and direction in regards to “singing” = “creating it myself” = “what I wanted to sing”, and clarified where it was my soul wanted to be.
It wasn’t a song made just to satisfy myself, but a song that would connect me to others. As long as I kept that as my guide, the power of my music wouldn’t be able to stop anymore, and I could go anywhere I wanted.
It was an entire chain reaction for me, so I naturally ended up looking forward to Sunday every week.
I’d be sitting in front of the TV, just as excited as the kids were, and when the evolutions got going I’d get all excited myself, and then I’d realize, “wait, I forgot to actually listen to my song.”
So that’s how I realized that being away from DiGiMONMUSiC felt like being taken far away from the Digimon themselves.
But I’m going to take the time to evolve myself.
My time with Digimon was so long and yet so short, so I’m grateful that I got to do more for it again like this.
And at the same time, getting to have this encounter, as well as meeting so many people and discovering so many things about myself, has been an irreplaceable form of happiness.
So with those feelings in mind, while I’m at this turning point of considering how I’m going to continue evolving, I’d like to treasure this opportunity deeply.
Thank you very much.

Shihomi Mizowaki (voice of Palmon; Moana Factory)

It’s me, Palmon, who listens to Butter-Fly at home, puts on a costume, and tries to do a Taichi dance like an idiot

You guys may not believe this, but when I was a kid, I hated singing and wouldn’t even dream of singing in front of other people.
But as much as I hated singing, I looked up to all those ladies who can sing, so I was a kid full of contradictions.
Maybe I just really hated the kind of music that was popular at the time and preferred children’s songs.
So instead of becoming one of those lady singers, I ended up becoming a “singing monster”.
You never really know what’ll happen with humans. So please listen to this CD, everyone. Maybe next time, you, too, will get to be a monster who sings.
Heh heh heh heh heh heh…

(I’m going to be a little greedy and talk about what it was like singing for “Pinkie Fantasy ~This Plant Won’t Give Up~”)

I did it with the idea that Li*da Yamamoto³ had become a monster and was singing.
There’s about 30% smartness (maybe?), 30% cutesiness (read: words nobody uses anymore), 30% desperation (read: crudeness), and 10% guts (just a little) in my singing.
I was probably making super weird faces when I was singing (I mean, I have a weird face even when I’m not singing), so it’s not something any kind of human can sing at all (any human who wants to sing it will need to be ready to throw out their humanity).

So keep the above in mind as you sing!

P.S.: To Chiba-san, Miura-san, Cher-san, and Matsu-niisan, thank you for the very fun song.
I didn’t think it’d be possible to have so much fun playing around while singing. It’s all thanks to that song.
And to Ai-chan…thank you for watching over me as I sang.

Yuuko Mizutani (voice of Sora Takenouchi; Production Baobab)

Congratulations on 100 Digimon CD releases!
Post-recording sessions for Digimon Adventure were always so lively.
We had the Chosen Children, we had their Digimon partners, and we had guest characters every week…
You don’t usually see TV shows with so many dozens of regulars.
At first, we had issues getting ourselves in front of the mic, and we were scrambling all over them like a game of musical chairs.
I recorded some songs for Digimon a few times, but among them, I will particularly never be able to forget “Our Digital World”, a bonus CD that all of the regulars from Digimon Adventure and Digimon Adventure 02 gathered to record.
We could have easily recorded all of our parts separately, but we ended up all singing together at once, and that strangely felt just right in terms of what kind of power Digimon has.
Also, when my Digimon partner Piyomon-chan and I were doing a CD together, they let us play around a lot, and I really enjoyed it.
It was a fun, fluffy, and warm recording session.
I played a character named Sora in both Digimon Adventure and Digimon Adventure 02, and now that Digimon’s been getting more and more popular and fixed in the public eye, I’m very glad I got to be in its pioneer series (I hear the fans apparently refer to it as “the unmarked series”⁴).
I really look forward to even more and more happening after this.
And I’d like to be in Digimon again.
That’s my dream.

Masashi Monbetsu/”Tailmon Other” (Monthly V-Jump/Kisousha)

Huh, we’ve meow-ed it to 100 releases!?
That’s a-meow-zing!
Con-meow-tulations!!
Meow-hey!!!
Tailmon Other here is only good at card games, so I don’t have anything else good to say that comes to meow-nd (haha)!
Um, anyway, whenever Tail here feels sad, Digimon songs always cheer me up and keep me meowing!
I have so many feelings of gratitude to Kouji Wada-san and AiM-san and all the others!
So you should all listen to this and let Digimon songs heal you!!
Digimon’s the best ☆

Toshiyuki Morikawa (voice of Yukio Oikawa; Arts Vision)

Congratulations on 100 releases.
I’m Toshiyuki Morikawa, who played Mummymon and Yukio Oikawa for the Digimon series.
I remember how lively and fun the studio was every week during our post-recording.
It’s a series that really was full of dreams and hope.
Naturally, the collection of music that’s brought the series to this point is also incredible.
When it comes to animation, we voice actors can’t bring it to life all by ourselves.
The BGM and theme songs give us an impression to work with, and as they play, we follow up on it.
So now that the music has come all the way up to this point, I want to take this chance to let everyone know how dearly all of these people worked on it.
Everyone worked so hard to create this together, so it’s really like an ensemble, isn’t it?
Everyone does everything they can together…that’s a big theme with Digimon indeed.
So to all of you who have been watching Digimon, I hope you can keep on singing these wonderful Digimon songs.
Just like my generation, who heard the theme songs of all of the anime we got absorbed in as kids, and can still sing it at karaoke now without even looking at the lyrics (laughs).

Translator's notes

Kaneki plays on the phrase “songs follow the world, and the world follows songs” (歌は世につれ世は歌につれ, “uta wa yo ni tsure yo wa uta ni tsure“), an idiom that refers to music being made to align with the world’s trends while the world itself follows trends set by music. [↩]
“Ikeda and Yoshimura” = Referring to executive producer Masashi Ikeda and supervisor Hitoshi Yoshimura, both from NEC Interchannel. [↩]
“Li*da Yamamoto” likely refers to Linda Yamamoto, a singer, actress, and model who was especially popular in the 70s. [↩]
Mizutani refers to the term “mujirushi” (無印), a word that literally means “unmarked”. The word is generally used as a catch-all term used for the originating work in a series where future entries use the same title with a subtitle; in Digimon contexts, it’s usually understood as referring to the original Adventure (since Adventure 02 has the “mark” of “02”, Adventure is “unmarked”). Because typing out or saying the full word “Adventure” (アドベンチャー) can be a handful in Japanese, “mujirushi” is widely used by fans and staff alike. However, it’s only ever used informally, and at the time this album collection released in 2002, it was only just starting to enter widespread usage. [↩]