The hall, waiting for Hayashi, was so charged that the audience's excitement spread right over to us.

And so, the one who came out last to wrap up the pre-festival event perfectly was Yuki Hayashi. Needless to say, a treasure of Japan and a Kyoto native who's active far and wide as a film score composer, from dramas to anime, took the stage.

He's also the organizer of the Kyoto film score festival that's been running for the past three years.

This year's Kyoban Festival is collaborating with "Blue Miburo," a brand-new anime starting to air in October, for which the catchphrase "a heart-and-soul youth Shinsengumi story for the Reiwa era" fits perfectly. So first he let us hear a track from Blue Miburo called "Mononofu."

A song that really conveys the strength of a samurai. The biggest sound of the day! Set to a slap bass, Japanese melodies and timbres combine with Western instruments, and within that, the wagakki (traditional Japanese instruments) in particular come alive: a masterpiece of a truly Japanese approach. The fact that combining wagakki and Western instruments produces zero sense of mismatch speaks to the composer's superb skill.

The drums, too, had the air of taiko rather than a drum kit, ringing out a powerful sound across Kyoto Station with cymbals and the like kept to a minimum.

And the rap and the backing sound matched perfectly! Wagakki plus rap is something you'd hardly imagine, but this was a wonderful score that, on top of that, also fit the footage. It's as if the souls of the men who chose the way of life of the Shinsengumi dwell within the track.

I felt it was a song carrying the resolve of noble, principled samurai.

The active rapper Ozworld unfortunately couldn't make an appearance in Kyoto due to scheduling, but the coolness wasn't diminished in the slightest.

About this track, Hayashi said that, it being a period piece, he initially tried to pursue an old-fashioned feel, but when he thought about what ideals the young people of that era held toward the Shinsengumi and considered the environment of the time, he figured that their stance as young people probably wasn't all that different from today, and so he made it a mixture that even people living in the present could relate to.

After that, Hayashi explained for beginners what a film score actually is.

It's the Japanese word for "soundtrack," and Japanese anime is made not through film scoring but in a selection style: composing music to fit each scene, which the director then chooses from. This way, it's easy to compose music with a clear narrative arc. He also said there's the merit that, because it's tailored to the scenes, it fits the footage solidly.

Now, the next track was the main theme from the film Haikyu!! The Battle of the Garbage Dump, "The Battle of the Garbage Dump"!

It being the world's first live performance, that alone pushed the audience's energy all the way to the max.

Haikyu!! originally had a main theme song, but this was a piece he wrote when asked to create a new motif for the film. He admitted to wondering, "Won't fans react negatively to something new?" But after watching the live re-dubbing of the scene where Kenma Kozume conveys his gratitude, he shed tears, went straight home, and finished writing this piece.

A quiet, majestic opening. The long-awaited big match, the long-awaited showdown with a rival on the grand stage. The track swells more and more from the opening through the middle to the finale; the drums, again, give a strong taiko impression. The strings ring out powerfully too! A track that swells up all at once and races through all at once! I thought it was a song fitting for the start of a story.

The next track was from My Hero Academia, "You Say Run"!

A magnificent piece that even Hayashi himself calls his signature, the kind where, speaking of MHA, this is THE one!!

Apparently it's a re-arranged version imagining the protagonist Deku, growing steadily stronger, and the question of how he wants to help people.

A masterpiece full of momentum, where resolve, longing, and intensifying battle come through not in the timbres but in the sound pressure, the drive, and the melody. It was a track so powerful you could imagine a villain appearing at Kyoto Station and Deku coming to drive them off.

...And because it's a song that plays in such cool scenes, it's amazing how the scenes flow into your head even without the footage. As before, just imagine how euphoric it would be paired with the visuals.

It makes you want to stand up again, no matter how many times. It makes you want to face the fight!

This too seemed to be a world premiere, and the applause from fans lucky enough to witness the joyful moment just wouldn't stop.

The pre-festival event ended here, but next I'll compile a report on the main event. Thanks for sticking with me!