Kyoto Animation's TV anime Nijusseiki Denki Mokuroku -Eureka Everika- (Twentieth Century Electric Catalogue) wrapped up with its 13th episode on September 27. Now that it's over, it's the sound that keeps lingering. A conversation published on September 30 by Lis-Ani! between composer Hitomi Koto and Luna Goami, who wrote the lyrics for and sang the opening theme, finally explains where that distinctive texture came from. In short, this score was built around a British-style brass band, with string instruments deliberately left out.
Early-20th-Century Kyoto, Where Pipes Rule
The series is based on Hiroshi Yuuki's novel from KA Esuma Bunko, directed by Minoru Ota, with series composition by Tatsuhiko Urahata and sound direction by Yota Tsuruoka. It's set in Kyoto at the dawn of the 20th century, in a world where steam holds more sway than electricity. It aired from July 5 on ABC TV, TOKYO MX and other channels, and streamed on Netflix.
In the conversation, Koto explains that the score centers on a "British-style brass band (an ensemble made up only of brass and percussion)." Her reasoning: the feeling of the tube in brass and wind instruments seemed to suit this world. A city criss-crossed by steam pipes, and instruments that sing when you blow air through tubes. Once you hear it put that way, the pairing feels inevitable.
As for strings, she said that using them in this world would make it feel too lofty, placing the viewpoint too high. Dropping strings from an anime score is a bold decision; strings are usually the quickest route to emotional lift. Read as a choice to stay at eye level with the characters and keep the humid air of the town intact, it explains the unpretentious warmth that runs through the show.
The Warmth of Cornets and Flugelhorns
Unlike a typical concert band, a British brass band contains no woodwinds and puts cornets, rather than trumpets, at its center, layered with mellow, rounded instruments such as the flugelhorn, tenor horn, euphonium and tuba. Koto mentioned the cornet and flugelhorn in the conversation, saying she hoped listeners might become curious about instruments they rarely get to hear.
It's brass that doesn't pierce; if anything, it wraps around you. That, I think, is what gave the show its "retro but never stale" feel. It's neither the grandeur of an orchestra nor the swagger of a jazz big band, but the intimacy of a town band. And next to Kyoto Animation's dense, meticulous backgrounds, it's a timbre that never crowds the image.
Another striking point was Koto's reflection, after watching the finished episodes, on treating "silence as one more sound." Because the line between scoring and not scoring was drawn so sharply, the moments when the brass enters feel like the whole world suddenly brightens.
A Design Where the Score Composer Also Writes the Opening
The opening theme "Eureka Everika" was composed and arranged by Koto, with lyrics and vocals by Luna Goami. According to the conversation, the director wanted from the start for the score composer to write the opening theme as well. Koto said she valued keeping the opening, the score and the story close and tightly connected, and revealed that some score cues make use of the opening's theme.
The two don't share an instrumentation, though: the score settled on a brass-centered lineup slightly different from the opening. The theme song's brilliance serves as a backbone, while the episodes land on the humbler sound of a town band. Sharing motifs while varying timbral distance to separate "festive days" from "everyday life" is a remarkably deliberate design. The ending theme, meanwhile, is Ginger Root's "Soarin'," blowing in a completely different breeze, which is very much in the playful spirit of this show.
A True Starting Point
According to her profile at her agency Heart Company, Koto studied violin from childhood, devoted herself to choir in her teens, and graduated at the top of the Music and Sound Design course at Senzoku Gakuen College of Music. She studied under Kosuke Yamashita and others, and has written for television, musicals, opera, film and games, as well as arranging for concerts. The profile describes this series as the work that marked her full-fledged start as a score composer. A violinist-turned-composer sealing away strings for her score: doesn't that make you even more curious?
The opening theme single came out on September 30 (regular edition 1,430 yen; limited edition with T-shirt 7,700 yen). The Blu-ray and DVD sets arrive on October 28 (Part 1) and November 25 (Part 2), and a special event is scheduled for January 24, 2027. As of this writing, we have not been able to confirm any announcement of a release collecting the score itself. Until there's news, we recommend rewatching the series, this time listening closely for the sound of those tubes.
