His feelings toward Keyakizaka46 (TAKAHIRO, B.L.T June 2020)

“His feelings toward Keyakizaka46”

“Always from the same point of view…”

Without him, Keyakizaka46’s worldview would not exist.
Keyaki’s mentor, who is also respected by the fans calling him “Sensei”, his words, filled with passionate heart and soul, will soak into you. 


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“I want them to take a step toward a new scenery!”

Entering 2020, Keyakizaka46 is welcoming a major turning point. How does Takahiro-san, who has walked together with Keyakizaka46 in the past 4 years, see this situation?

Takahiro: We are expecting new developments for Keyakizaka46 in the future. Six new members have joined, and the number of 1st generation leaving the group has increased. Hirate Yurina, who has been entrusted as the Center so far, has taken a step towards a new path, and last year, an unheard of senbatsu system was introduced, and it seems that a reform is inevitable.

Each Keyakizaka46 member has made their own story there. The girls have experienced many unexpected events in the past 4 years that they've walked so far. Overcoming both joy and sadness, all members, both those who are still active and graduated, have dedicated their youthful days, the feelings of those who support them are intertwined. They have grown up.

One day, a person called “I (僕 / Boku)” had come alive in Keyakizaka46, and ran through from “Silent Majority” to “Kuroi Hitsuji”. And in 2020, a new step. Whether it will be the story so far, the beginning of a new story, a continuation or a turning point… What will be made, is up to the members and the fans who support them. And the word “epoch” comes to mind.

Since when did you know about Hirate-san’s withdrawal?

Takahiro: I knew about it from the Internet, but personally I already had a feeling about Hirate-san’s withdrawal ever since the first “Republic of Keyaki”. And then, from about a year ago, around the time of “3rd Anniversary Live”, I felt that that time was finally approaching. I wondered if she was looking for the last place for “I (僕 / Boku)”. I had this "Is this what she is thinking of?" kind of feeling when she performed the “Kado wo Magaru” in Tokyo Dome’s double encore. This must be her strong determination.

Then, at the end of last year, they performed two songs for “Music Station SUPER LIVE” which was “Kuroi Hitsuji” and “Kado wo Magaru”. During that day’s “Kuroi Hitsuji”, there is a special production in which the song’s “I (僕 / Boku)” passed the higanbana (red spider lily) (to Kobayashi Yui), and it’s connected to “Kado wo Magaru”. It was a song order where you would think,  “I (僕 / Boku)” may have taken another path. “I’ll turn this corner on my own”... That is the final line in “Kado wo Magaru”. I think that Hirate-san was the person who watched over Keyakizaka46’s “I (僕 / Boku)” closer than anyone else.

And in addition, in the big event “70th Kouhaku Uta Gassen”, they performed “Fukyouwaon”. Keyakizaka46's live performance in general doesn’t look back, and always takes an aggressive stance no matter what they do. However, at the end of last year, it was decided that they should challenge “Fukyouwaon” for the 2nd time in Kouhaku. There were also a lot of members who felt frustrated with the 1st “Fukyouwaon” performance in Kouhaku. That is why, they accepted that this was a way to face the past and settle it. And in that song too, “I (僕 / Boku)” was also “passed” to someone. In “Music Station”, they entrusted the flower to 1st generation (Kobayashi), in Kouhaku they hold the hand of the 2nd generation (Tamura Hono), who was behind them, to which it can be read as them entrusting their feelings to her.

Once again they come to the feelings of “I (僕 / Boku)”, and if you chase after the world view of the lyrics and the setlist of Keyakizaka46, I think you could see the genealogy of it. However, although I had sensed some of her will, I didn’t know about the day when she will leave the group, so when I learned of her decision from the Internet…I was like,“Oh, I see” and I couldn’t help but to feel lonely.

Did the series of choreography, especially the act in the song that means “to entrust”, is done after communicating with Hirate-san?

Takahiro: We did talk about “I (僕 / Boku)”s feelings, and the situation of the movements. However, if you put choreography into words, the meaning becomes limited, and will be nothing but a form. Movements will become unrealistic if they do not have the will of the artists expressing it. But in production, there was an expression that transcended the world of choreography.

I see. 2019 just finished with “Kouhaku” and then Morita Hikaru played the role of “Kuroi Hitsuji”s “I (僕 / Boku)” in the “CDTV Special New Year’s Premier Live 2019 - 2020” that airs in the eve of New Year’s. I assume the approach to the choreography didn't change that time too.

Takahiro: After “Fukyouwaon” in Kouhaku, Morita Hikaru-san’s “Kuroi Hitsuji” that performed over the year, should be different too. Um… The choreography has different “types”, however it is all drawn by the atmosphere of a single lyric. The atmosphere and scent of “I (僕 / Boku)” changed little by little depending on the person who is performing. For example, Kabuki actors gradually make their own colors or make bold arrangements when performing a performance that has been handed down from generation to generation. While following the basic pattern, it is necessary to search for an expression that can be conveyed depending on the person performing it, so in that sense, perhaps you could say that Morita-san’s centered “Kuroi Hitsuji” has become her own original version.

In other words, it's the same song and has the same world-view, you can interpret is as the story of a different “I (僕 / Boku)”...?

Takahiro: That’s right. The concept “I (僕 / Boku)” is used as the axis of the song, but it may also change depending on the person who plays “I (僕 / Boku)”. I think that there are members who have a stronger connection to the song, thus enabling it to become ‘another story’. An easy to understand example would be how in the same song which is “Futari Sezon”, Hirate-san and Koike Minami-san expressed different emotional movements. Both performed it like a farewell song, and like the moment when they lost something they treasured. One time, they look back to what they have lost, and from there look forward. At that time, what kind of expression will the protagonist have when they turn around, and look back? Hirate-san and Koike-san have different answers to that but both can make you feel the depth of their emotions. When you read the lyrics, both of their expressions are correct. Each member finds their own answers in the basic pattern of each song. I think that that is one of the uniqueness of Keyakizaka46’s choreography.

Takahiro-san also choreographs various different artists such as Hinatazaka46 and male groups, but among these, how do you perceive the uniqueness of Keyakizaka46?

Takahiro: First, it all depends on the qualities and characters of each group, and the choreography is changed depending on the tone and lyrics. Each group is not the same, and the way how they want to show it depends on what they want to express and to convey. In the case of Hinatazaka46, communication with those who are watching and listening to their live performance is important. For example, the song “Dare Yori wo Takaku Tobe!" and "NO WAR in the future” is choreographed with concert venues in mind, and the number of times in which the audience could participate in the song with their penlight until the very end increased.

In “NO WAR~” there are places where two members came to the front together, and that is to have the chance to appeal to the venue's camera and for the audience to feel a sense of closeness. I choreographed it while being conscious of those . On the other hand, Keyakizaka46 also does express while facing the audience, but sometimes they are facing sideways, so they are focusing on “seeing” in a more of a stage-wise manner. However, what I always keep in mind is “When, In what timing, Who, Why, and Why do they do that?”. What does the group want to convey now? And how to make it more felt, those are the things I need to figure out. To whether show the expression of “I (僕 / Boku)”, or the feeling of “Us”. There’s an image in my head as I'm talking about it (laughs). Depending on the song, the stories that the group have are very different, so even in the same group, having the thought of “This is the right one” will make it rigid. I think it’s very important to determine that.”

I see. Well then, let us return to basic questions. Is there anything that you try to do in establishing a relationship of trust with the members of Keyakizaka46?

Takahiro: I, myself, want to count myself as a fan. If you go to a live venue, you would take a somewhat uplifting stance.

Um… In “Republic of Keyaki 2019”, I could see Takahiro-san watching over the stage from your seat. You objectively analyzed it and you looked very passionate about it. Particularly, when the stage and the venue were united as one in the “Abunakkashi Keikaku” collaborating with a brass band, you were pumping your fist as if encouraging a player who scored a goal, and unknowingly, it too raised my spirit…

Takahiro: Yes. During the live, while frantically taking notes, I too, was enjoying it. In addition to Shinguu (Director Shinguu Ryouhei), the people involved in production are all passionate. There are those who are so passionate, they lose their voice (from shouting too much). When we make something, we are able to see the same direction… I am this old now, but it feels like I'm still in my youth, when we are doing our activities or look back to it, being able to think, “It was a passionate day” brings great happiness from it. Looking at Keyakizaka46 members, I'd think “So a person could change this much”. I learned a lot from them. As a person as well,  there were a lot of things that also made me realize how I face things. Also, they weren’t Idols from the very beginning, they were on the side who received the light. When they became members of Keyakizaka46, they became the ones who transmit, the ones who deliver the light.

Of course they received the support of the fans, but if they keep delivering for the past 4 years, surely there are times when the feeling is not “clear”. And yet when I go to the rehearsals, they greet me cheerfully, and always face me. They have truly taken expressing seriously. To be able to be involved with a group of people I could respect so much, it made me think that I have received a gift for life. And because it was those girls I am involved in, they made me feel passionate over and over again. There is a fountain of passion in them, and the directors I meet have told me “I want to shoot every side of Keyakizaka46!”. They said “If I clash with Keyakizaka46 over what I want to express, I feel that they will properly hit back. That’s why, I want to shoot them!”. I too, passionately answered, “Yeah!”. It’s as if this is the feeling of the second coming of youth for adults.

So it feels like you’ve come around again (laughs).

Takahiro: I might have said this somewhere before, I think that Keyakizaka46 is like a season. The first season is spring, they sprout. Without knowing where it is good to go to, they get carried away and they lose themselves in their hard work. In other words, they could do whatever they wanted to do.They still don't have the self consciousness of “How are people going to see us?”, and so, for the meantime, they will just try it. Technique wise, they cannot convey it yet, but the period of exciting situations of “What will happen next?” continues on for several songs forward.

After a while, it became summer. Somehow their skills and sensibilities have grown, with a thinking of “Right now, we can do this. I want to express even more”, they have a passionate warrior-like spirit and continue on.

After that, come autumn. They cooled down, and became more objective. What kind of lighting do we have? What kind of direction do the cameras have? Are the audience happy about it? What did the audience think about it? Was it better if I looked back here, their skills to look at things from a third person perspective is polished. Their techniques also improved, and they head toward the time of fulfillment.

And then, winter. One culmination. They have entered a mature stage, and entered the world where it is polished. They move from advantages and disadvantages, and gain the pursuit of expressions. It is also the time when they move from looking at things as a group, to individually.

Now, after a while, I feel that new buds will sprout come spring. It is also symbolized by the existence of the new 2nd generation members. The 2nd generation members who entered a bit in advance had a slightly different season, with the momentum they have from moving from spring to summer, the 1st generation members who reached their 2nd season should also feel the budding of sprouts, and could see the next season. After seeing themselves objectively, releasing the thoughts of “What should we do?”, a passionate season should surely come… And that is where the 6 new members come in. What kind of Keyakizaka46 will we see next? I am truly excited for their new stage… (With an excited tone) Here it comes, the season of ripeness!, that is my expectation.

The more experience they gain, the wider their range of expression will be, and I think that they may have the energy as if they are at the start line once again. In “winter”, the one work by the name of “Kuroi Hitsuji” was polished over and over again for a year… And in that sense, they have entered an extreme zone, and carry the goal of bringing it to new heights with the one cut live performance in “Music Station”. Keyakizaka from now on, in 2020, well, well, how will they be!... I can’t help but to look forward to it as well.

It feels reassuring if Takahiro-san says so. However, the team’s formation has changed a lot since early days, but what kind of feelings did you send off from the graduated members?

Takahiro: Every single time, it felt shocking, and while muttering “I see… So that’s how it is” inside my heart, I digest it little by little. As expected, it feels lonely to see them off to start a journey. But as long as they are happy in the end, that’s fine. That is what I wish.

When I talked to the members, they said the same thing. “As long as everyone in Keyaki is happy, that’ll be fine”, so they said. I’m interested to know how such resonance is born.

Takahiro: I want us to face each other. If you have a little more life experience or are just a little more skilled, you tend to look at it from above, and if you're too careful, you end up looking up from below, so, if possible, I want to face it with them from the same height perspective. On the stage, I think of each of them as an artist, and we treat each other with respect, but sometimes we collide.

When they come up with a great idea, we also include it in our choreography. Above all, if they cannot give it, then they don’t want to be the one who takes it away. Keyakizaka members always deliver a performance or something for the fans, even on difficult days they keep on thinking about someone, and always seek to release something. As for the choreography, I want to get the best out of the members, and have time to face each other as individuals. Such dedications are still too difficult for me, so I aim to be this kind of person.

I’m once again impressed by your wonderful personality. Finally, please do give your message for the 28 members of Keyakizaka46 who “will live in a new season”.

Takahiro: Keyakizaka46 is a group shaped by the road the members walked in. The scenery that is one step ahead is written in letters, and conveyed to people. I wish that what they see would be a new scenery. If possible, I want it to be produced from the place where they are stepping on. I look forward to Keyakizaka46’s new world.

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Translation: toomuchidea

QC: ariadne32391

Raw: karl_k46