Kenshi Yonezu & Tsuruma Ikada - BOW AND ARROW
Medalist Official, March 6th, 2025 (Original Article)
Special Interview Between Original Author Tsuruma Ikada and Opening Theme Writer Kenshi Yonezu
— Tsuruma-san, what did you think when you heard that Kenshi Yonezu would be doing the theme song?
Tsuruma Ikada: This is getting into some pretty old memories, but I was into Vocaloid music back in the day, and first came to know Hachi-san from there. The first song of his I heard was Persona Alice. There was this thing called the "weekly Vocaloid ranking"... It's through that that I became a fan of Hachi-san.
Kenshi Yonezu: That's some incredibly nostalgic stuff.
Tsuruma: When I was an adolescent, I had a desire to like things that were "mine alone," that most around me didn't know about. My fondness for Hachi-san's songs served as a core element giving form to my unstable identity.
Even now as an adult, I think dearly of my unstable self from back then, and partly to not forget the way I felt, I've always listened to Yonezu-san's new songs as soon as they come out without fail. So while getting an anime made felt like enough of a dream come true already, when it was decided Yonezu-san would sing the main theme as well, I almost couldn't believe it was really happening. But I was like "no, why shouldn't I rejoice at this?", and celebrated with my editor like "It's amazing, he's the gold medalist of the music industry!" There are as many people who love Hachi-san as there are stars in the sky, and I'm truly just one of them, but even if it's mere coincidence, I was really happy, and felt it was a great honor.
Yonezu: I honestly had no idea you'd been listening since that early on. I'm very glad.
— Yonezu-san, in making the theme song BOW AND ARROW, what aspects of Medalist did you pull from?
Yonezu: My first impression of the work was that the relationship between the two protagonists is something really sacred. Being an adult man myself, I suppose a big part of it is empathizing with Tsukasa. Although it's an inherent part of his relationship with Inori, their ages are far apart, so I pondered and imagined about how I would work with a girl that age as an adult if it were me. I'm not as honest of a person as Tsukasa, so I figure I couldn't do it as skillfully as he does. That's basically what led me to thinking I could make a song both for the work and for me.
— Where did the title BOW AND ARROW come from?
Yonezu: It's not like I decided on the motif from the start - after I finished making the opening-length version, I had to decide on a title for it, and I wasn't sure what to do. All I had were the words "I let my hand go," as a symbol of that relationship between "the one pushing" and "the one being pushed," so I wondered how I might draw a conclusion from that. Circling that idea of "the pusher and the pushed," I considered metaphors like aircraft catapults, or hammer-throwing, and ultimately settled on "a bow and arrow." At this point, I'm glad that's what I went with.
— What did you think when you heard BOW AND ARROW, Tsuruma-san?
Tsuruma: It has a one-of-a-kind melody line that makes it crystal clear from just one listen "it's Yonezu-san!", with lyrics on top that unmistakably represent Medalist, so it made me so emotional I took hours to fully digest it. (laughs) The "let my hand go" Yonezu-san mentioned was the phrase that struck me the most, too. Holding a child's hand is an essential action to create a place of safety in their heart, but for them to gain the strength to live as an individual, it's also necessary for them to venture out and set off on their own. I've wanted to depict that affection between "the one seeing off" and "the one being seen off" in Medalist, so for that to be expressed with such a warm and powerful phrase as "I let my hand go" left a deep mark upon my heart. Like, ah, so that's called "letting your hand go."
Yonezu: I'm grateful. Whenever I'm making a theme song, I'm indeed an outsider, so I always have that uncertainty of whether what I offer is okay. So getting to hear words like that puts me at ease, and makes me really happy.
Tsuruma: It sort of feels like you vividly painted Medalist with specially-mixed paints that only you can create, or like you gave the work a new name. Talking about this world with fresh words that wouldn't have come from me... I'd never have come up with "soiree." I found it so cool, and it made me so glad. I first learned the title "BOW AND ARROW" when watching the end credits after episode 1 was done, and the moment I saw it, I was deeply moved. "I see... It is like a bow and arrow, huh..."
— When the full-length version of BOW AND ARROW was released, Yonezu-san, you brought up on social media how it got a new arrangement.
Yonezu: I feel a pretty strong sense of "I'm real sorry" about it. Basically, after making the single chorus and handing in the 89-second anime-length version, there was a bit of a gap in my work. By the time I went to make the full version after that, what I wanted to do had already changed, so I thought "now, I kinda want it to be like this." Having that thought ultimately meant having to make it all over again. I'm well aware that viewers of the anime would want to hear a full version of that, but I'm sorry to say I couldn't provide it. But there's sort of nothing I could do about it.
Tsuruma: I got to hear the full version as well, and I found the new melody coming in during the intro really cool. This is all just my own feeling, but I feel like Yonezu-san is constantly in places we can't even imagine, opening up doors that no one knows what lies behind. So while the moment-to-moment feelings when you're racking your brain to make a song are really important, if your feelings toward a song change from what they were in the past after opening a new door, then it's also inevitable that would be reflected. That surely something that takes courage. I'm also the type who changes things a bunch between serialized releases and volume releases, so I think I get it. I make a ton of corrections, and even change dialogue. So I sympathize with those feelings - in fact, I feel like changing form is approaching being an artist with more sincerity.
Yonezu: I'm grateful you feel that way. Sometimes you just feel like changing things. Like "why did I make it that way?" You do have to consider how the listeners will feel, so I don't think it's good to be too awkwardly controlling on my end, but I still feel that urge to make changes. That sort of feeling's always there.
The author Kenji Miyazawa was always changing his works after the fact too, rewriting Night on the Galactic Railroad over and over, and I think that's great. I remember thinking, rather than having something be set in stone the moment it's released to the world, it's more beautiful if it changes shape as there are changes in the person who made it, so maybe that influenced me. Still, in entertainment where there are a lot of people involved and listeners, I also feel I shouldn't do anything too reckless.
Tsuruma: I do think it's a really difficult thing to balance.
— The cover art for BOW AND ARROW is an Inori illustration drawn by Yonezu-san. Tell us about the process of creating that.
Yonezu: I was thinking I'd draw Inori-chan, but I have a sense of her being "someone else's child," so I feel like I have to be respectful when drawing her. I had this notion like "I'll just look after her this once." I have hardly any experience drawing a cute grade-school girl, and considering I'm drawing it as an adult man, I felt nervous at first and had to ensure there were no shortcomings. In addition, with her being in a dress, I had to keep looking back over the manga to figure out how it was assembled.
I did briefly consider putting her in plain clothes since drawing dresses is a weakness for me, but I felt she should be depicted dressed to the nines, and above all, I had to overwhelmingly affirm Inori-chan. Feeling that sort of duty, it was fun, but pretty nerve-wracking.
Tsuruma: To think that's how you felt tackling it... From the moment it was decided Yonezu-san would do the theme, I was restless wondering what sort of cover he'd draw. Based on the content of the lyrics, I was thinking it'd be Tsukasa on his own or Tsukasa and Inori together, so I didn't even consider Inori on her own. So seeing Inori appear before me with her cuteness highlighted honestly startled me with how adorable it was. It was just totally different from the mood of what I'd seen in Yonezu-san's art before. I simultaneously felt the catharsis of finally being shown the cover art, and a deep emotion over her cuteness.
Yonezu: When I draw just following habit, the people usually end up with mean looks, yeah. Faces that seem like they loathe this world. But I figured I couldn't have that this time. I had a strong awareness that I had to draw something properly cute, and overwhelmingly affirming.
Tsuruma: You use the word "affirming" - when I saw this picture, I felt like I was being affirmed too. Though my publisher has put forth a lot of effort for Medalist, it hasn't especially resulted in sales picking up, and I felt like it was my art style to blame. I had a deep complex about my art style, but seeing your illustration, I was so glad to feel like I was being affirmed. I was able to think "this art will do fine," driven to continue making Inori sparkle.
— So then, what was it like first seeing the opening video for the anime?
Yonezu: I was initially shown a work-in-progress video like "it'll be like this," and I thought it was great even then. I've been well-acquainted with anime since childhood, and still vividly remember the excitement of certain openings, so I fondly remember some deep emotions from back then. Getting to write a song for a manga I like, and for it to be put over animation matching the music, truly just feels like an otaku's dream. (laughs) There's nothing else to call it but blessed. It makes me glad I've been going this long.
Tsuruma: I got to see it during the storyboarding stages, and the emotion of seeing it finished was incredible. In the final version, when Inori and Tsukasa face each other in the intro, the clouds flow toward the viewer to the music - it made me happy that even things like that were picked up. It's truly fantastic quality, with wonderful art and animation, and I've paused the part leading into the chorus over and over! The opening is packed full of the incredible love and passion ENGI is bringing to this anime. I've even cried a little thinking how much time and effort the staff must have put into it... Coupled with Yonezu-san's song, it made me feel like "Take a look... That's my ENGI." (laughs) [Reference to a line from the manga: "Take a look... That's my Tsukasa."] Everyone's love truly gathered together into the video, so it's a very special opening to me.
— Does the opening incorporate ideas from you too, Tsuruma-sensei?
Tsuruma: That's right. It's amazing that the team was able to do that. It's not often all the people involved get to offer ideas as equals to create a single thing, so I feel grateful. At first I was afraid that any opinions presented by the original author would be taken as a heavy burden, but I came to realize it was an environment where everyone respected each other's individuality, so I was able to give my opinions without hesitation. In that sense too, I believe this opening is of the highest grade, filled with the desires of the entire anime team and Yonezu-san's love.
Yonezu: That's really great. Even hearing about it as an observer, it sounds fun; I can sense that even if there were things that were tough, you were able to create a nice breezy mood. I think that's a really good thing.
Tsuruma: Thank you very much.
— Yonezu-san, you've made theme songs for numerous shows and movies. Is there anything you always keep in mind when working on a collab song?
Yonezu: As a general rule, if it's an anime with an opening and an ending, I at least establish that the opening should be a "summary" of the story, and the ending should be the "reverberation." But things differ from work to work, so while I have established that, I don't count on it that much. I also see theme songs as strictly a supplement; what with them not taking part in the main story, you might even describe it negatively as "it doesn't matter whether it's there or not." So in that way, I suppose you could say I feel at ease.
Still, whenever I suddenly recall anime I watched a kid, often the theme song is faintly playing behind the fragmented images in my mind. Conversely, if on some occasion I happen to hear just the theme song, I often have sudden flashbacks to scenes from that anime. Although theme songs are external things that the work could do without, I believe that's exactly what makes them so capable of carrying the viewer's "experience" of the story and characters. Thinking about it that way, I put in a lot of consideration, and feel that I can't mess it up. Indeed, if it ends up being a weird song, then it'll be a weird song playing in people's heads whenever they remember it, so I want the viewers' memories to be beautiful and long-lasting. I think maybe that's a strong motivation I have.
— This is your first interview together, so to close, tell us if there's anything that struck you getting to talk like this.
Yonezu: Though you came to one of my concerts once, making this our second time meeting, I felt you were exactly the sort of person your manga gave me the impression of, in the best way. You have the passion I felt from reading the manga, while also having a calm and intellectual side. Including your emotional expressiveness, it's fun how often I've thought "yep, as I expected."
Tsuruma: Thank you very much. I've actually been worrying ever since this interview was decided on. That when faced with someone so wonderful whose name resounds worldwide as Yonezu-san, I wouldn't be able to be myself. (laughs) But you've talked to me in such a way to put those feelings at ease, so I'm glad I was able to think "it's okay, it's just Yonezu-san" today and talk lots like my usual self. I hope to be a little more like you as a creator and as a person, and while maybe all of humanity's already heard it, I want more and more people to hear BOW AND ARROW. Like the "kiss and cry," I want that moment when the skaters are sent out to become known as the "bow and arrow"! I'll do my best, too!