INDEX
Cross-culture between illustration and music is unique to Japan
Takano: I would like to ask you about vocaloid culture.
Amano: In terms of music and visuals, MTV-style music videos with musicians performing have been the mainstream, and there have always been works using animation, such as the collaboration between BUMP and Matsumoto. Apart from such projects, at some point it became easier for grassroots, creative people using the Internet to present their works. There, I think that because it was originally Vocaloid that sang, there was a feeling that it would be better to create a character for the work or ask an illustrator to draw a visual for it, rather than having myself appear and play in the video, so that the world of the song could be conveyed more. In Japan, the culture of manga, anime, and illustrations is very prevalent, so I wanted to express the worldview of the song through images featuring such characters. I thought it would be possible to embody the world of the song more faithfully than my own image. I think this trend has continued to develop in the Vocaloid culture, which is why we are where we are today.
Although Mafumafu showed up himself and even participated in the Kohaku Uta Gassen, he still ask Chachagoma to do his illustrations, and that relationship has continued for a long time. Chachagoma will be holding an exhibition in October, and many people have come to know Chachagoma’s art from the music. Perhaps the idea that the characters can represent the world of the music is connected to the current trend of VTubers, where the characters act as avatars.
Celeina：Because illustrators and people doing music have connected and created a bridge between the two, fans can come and go in either direction, so it seems like the field is getting bigger and bigger.
Amano: That’s right. Since the fans of both parties are combined, that’s another big thing.
