The story so far.
"I" came to love scores through working on them.
Having barely ever been to a live show, and tasked with the secret mission of writing an article, I attended the Tokyo Banmatsuri live.
During the first act, Kato's set, my voltage hit MAX and I forgot all about work and just had a blast.
...But after having such an amazing time, won't the energy fizzle out when it's the next performer, Yasuharu Takanashi's, turn?
The result: needless worry. Carrying over Kato's energy, it got insanely hyped.
You know, the one thing I regret is not having watched Fairy Tail beforehand.
I started watching after Tokyo Banmatsuri ended and got completely hooked, but when I searched it up, I learned it ran for an unimaginable 328 episodes total.
So I'm frantically chasing it down while writing this, desperate to at least see the scenes featuring Erza, Takanashi's favorite character!
With Kato I listed Dr. STONE as a must-check anime, but in Takanashi's case, it was Fairy Tail.
"Dragon Force" and "Three Dragon Forces" were performed alongside footage from the new Fairy Tail series 100 Years Quest, and the venue heated up all at once!
The low end of the drums and guitar feels so good! The crowd completely forgot there had even been an intermission and got hyped right back up.
But there was a little trouble at this point. Apparently Takanashi's digital guitar had a bad connection, requiring emergency maintenance.
In the meantime, Takanashi filled the gap with some MC banter.
"Yeah, stuff like this is just a live-show thing. I'm totally used to it by now. Not flustered at all!"
As you'd expect from a world-recognized composer. As I touched on briefly in my piece on the NARUTO soundtrack,
Takanashi won the JASRAC Award "International Award" in 2013 for Naruto Shippuden.
He's also won in 2014 and from 2020 through 2024 (seven times total), making him the composer with the most International Award wins ever.
He apparently jets around the world as a matter of course, mentioning he'd been abroad until just recently.
He told us how he'd hit it off with Hayashi at Tokyo Banmatsuri and dreamed of growing this Gekiban festival into a world tour.
"I want you to be a witness to that history," Takanashi said.
So fiery... so fiery. When someone says that to you, how can you not cheer them on?!
And while he was talking, the digital guitar got fixed and returned to Takanashi's hands. And then...?
"Oh, it's fixed... that was a close one."
...is what he seemed to mutter under his breath. (Or was I imagining it?)
Now, the Fairy Tail corner was far from over, moving on this time to Erza's theme.
As I wrote earlier, Takanashi is an Erza fan. The penlights turned the deep red of Erza's color, and footage of Erza's iconic scenes played.
I'd known from the earlier Kyo-Banmatsuri report that Erza was Takanashi's favorite character, but this was the first time I'd actually learned who Erza was.
A tough-looking female swordsman with long red hair. ...I see, so this is the kind of woman Takanashi goes for.
Fairy Tail kept right on going.
"Fairy Tail Theme 2016,"
and to close out the Fairy Tail set, "BEYOND THE QUEST," performed with a guest female vocalist named JUNO.
JUNO's voice is so powerful, so cool! On the way home after Tokyo Banmatsuri ended, I played it over and over on YouTube.
Find her on X here ↓
@juno__official
And from here, the taiko drums came out and I thought NARUTO was finally about to begin, but...
"This one—I made it deliberately easy to remember... the Kinnikuman theme!"
HERE IT COOOOOOOMES!!!
From Kinnikuman: Perfect Origin Arc, "–Amazing Muscle– Kinnikuman's Theme"!!
I was watching it! I recorded and watched every episode! I can't wait for season 2!!
"Sing it with me~!!"
Even I, who until now had been too shy to do more than clap, found myself shouting out loud.
On screen, Kinnikuman cuts loose with his swagger, legs trembling.
And then, the Justice Supermen gathering to rescue Kinnikuman and his fellow Justice Supermen in their hour of crisis. Robin Mask, Ramenman, Brocken Jr.
The life-or-death duel between Terryman and Max Radial, who bears the nickname "Kanretsu," first assassin of the Perfect Large Numbers!
Devil Supermen who once waged deadly battles with the Justice Supermen, appearing at each of their venues.
And then Buffaloman, arriving at the venue a step ahead of the rest!! (This time in a mysterious position—a Justice Superman participating as a Devil Superman.)
Ever since the anime started, I've also been following the web-serialized manga version, and I'm right in the thick of agonizing over whether to buy the volumes or wait for the anime!
I've decided! From here on, I'll watch it all through the anime!
I found out afterward on X that, amazingly, the original creators Yudetamago had come to the venue, and took a commemorative photo with Takanashi.
And to finish, of course, NARUTO! The drums and taiko carve a pleasant rhythm into my gut.
And on screen, the scene where Naruto unravels his own jutsu and fights Kurama, the Nine-Tails!
And then "Rinkai" (Critical). With Naruto's signature shamisen rhythm added in, and the footage on top of that, the crowd's—no, my own voltage broke through critical mass!
The footage shows the fierce battle of the final showdown against Kaguya Otsutsuki! It's so freaking fiery!
Next came "Goji ni Tatsu" (Rising Thunder).
In Naruto's case, maybe because it's such a long-running show, I think there's a good chance everyone knows the score that keeps playing unchanged more than they know some half-baked theme song.
After "Goji ni Tatsu," it went back to basics with an arrangement of Shippuden's very first "Main Theme."
That's the famous one—"Soiya! Yo! Torya!"
The footage shows Naruto, who set out on a training journey out of the regret of not being able to save Sasuke, returning to the village three years later as a fine young man.
And Takanashi's final song was "Keisei Gyakuten" (Turning the Tide)! It's a masterpiece you could call NARUTO's execution-grade BGM, no exaggeration!
On screen—Master Guy! The Ino-Shika-Cho trio! Hinata, who overcame her brother's death and grew!
Man, NARUTO is just the best, dattebayo!
And so Takanashi's set came to an end, capped off with an interview.
"I think everyone in Japan had great energy, but how was it?"
"Honestly, compared to people around the world, I think we've still got more in us! See you at next year's Gekiban festival!"
I thought it was pretty fiery, but compared to the world, we've still got a long way to go.
Well then, we can't afford to lose~!!
