T-ONO: Thank you very much for taking the time to speak with us. The last time you were here was eight years ago and this marks your third time in San Jose. This was your first time performing on Crunchyroll Expo's stage; what was different from your past events?
KEIGO: We are very happy to come back after eight years, and since this is our third time here, San Jose has become our most visited location in the US. Even though this was our first time performing at Crunchyroll Expo, we noticed there were people who had attended our concerts eight years ago and it made us very happy to see them again. Of course, there were people seeing us for the first time which also makes us very happy.
T: The concert was sold out yesterday. How was the view from the stage?
TAKE: We were really surprised and greatly appreciate it. There were fans that waited eight years for us plus fans seeing us for the first time. We were glad we could perform in front of such a big crowd.
T: The setlist was composed of all anime songs this time. How was the setlist created and why did you specifically choose all anime songs? In past events, you have sung "Answer" and "Surfin’ USA."
GOT’S: We sold our souls to anime songs.
KEIGO: What the heck are you saying? *laughs*
KOHSHI: The setting was “we sold our souls” *laughs*
KEIGO: We did try to choose just anime songs but there were also songs that we didn’t have eight years ago. For example, “Kaze no Uta” from the Tales of Zestiria series, and since it is our third time here we definitely wanted to add that in. Of course, since it is our first time at Crunchyroll Expo we tried adding songs that fans would know from past animes. They’re very important songs that we perform at our concerts regularly so we included them in the setlist.
T: Even though it was your third time here in San Jose, were you able to experience anything new or go to new places?
GOT’S: We actually didn’t do any sightseeing this year.
T: Then were you able to go shopping or eat at places that you have previously visited and wanted to visit again?
KOHSHI: The electric scooters?
TAKE: Yes, we really want to try out those scooters.
KOHSHI: We heard they were really popular so we wanted to try them out.
KEIGO: We see a lot of people using them.
T: I have never tried riding one of those, but I always fall on just regular scooters, so please try them out for me as well.
TAKE: Then you definitely shouldn’t ride on them.
KOHSHI: IWASAKI-san downloaded the app so I think he was planning to ride it soon.
IWASAKI: I’m trying to find some time to ride one before we leave and maybe post videos if possible.
GOT’S: He’s going to break a couple of bones and go home.
KEIGO: Don’t do that. We have a concert in Germany in four days!
T: During your Q&A session, your collaboration music video with the Naruto voice actors was brought up. Could you tell us more details about the story behind it?
KEIGO: We had already met Junko Takeuchi-san (voice actress for Naruto Uzumaki) during Naruto events. As for the other actors we had been invited to their radio shows in the past so it wasn’t our first time meeting them at the recording. “GO!!!” was our first anime song and it is a very special song for us. Just having the voice actors participating in this was a very special opportunity. For them to come out and represent their series like Code Geass, Tales of Zestiria, Eureka Seven, it was a very precious moment.
TAKE: Please add Samurai Flamenco, Durarara!!, and Durarara!! X2 Ketsu.
KEIGO: We were given the opportunity to watch them record as well. We even made some requests to have them say lines from their anime.
TAKE: We took advantage of our position. *laughs* We asked Renton to say “I can fly!” and we asked Sakura-chan to say “Shaan Narou!”
T: You have now entered your 17th year. Do you have any new goals or anything you would like to do this year or achieve in your future years? Maybe KOHSHI-san can answer this for us?
KOHSHI: Wait, me?! I really don’t have anything. Let’s have Goto-san (GOT’S) answer this for us.
GOT’S: Eh? Okay, I would love to challenge new things. I would like to learn the perfect way to communicate with other people.
KEIGO: Is it okay for me to answer then? *laughs*
We have been working as a team for 17 years now and have not changed members or lost anyone. We've come this far and would like to continue as long as possible. This is our third time in San Jose but there are still many places that we have not visited yet and would love to go. We are going to Germany for the first time in a few days. We would like to keep the main focus on our concerts and be able to go to many new places and sing in front of many new faces.
T: In April you just released a new album, TRIBALYTHM, and it has a different type of tempo and rhythm than your past songs. Why did you choose to have a “tribal” type of sound for this album?
TAKE: Our inspiration actually came from Burn, the first piece we worked on from the Tales of Zestiria. This continued with the next Tales series and that is where this piece came to be. And because of the fantasy taste the series has, we tried using bagpipes and banjos to create something different.
T: So do you have a new album theme you would like to do for new projects? If you can, any details?
TAKE: Anime is usually what inspires us and opens new doors for us. If any new projects come up then maybe there will be a new type of piece that will be put into place.
T: Last but not least, could you give a message to the fans that were not able to make it here today?
KEIGO: We are really focusing on our lives and concerts so we would love to come back here to San Jose again. If there are any fans out there who were not able to make it to our concerts we will definitely come back someday. Thank you very much and we hope to see you then!
