Wait and Hope

<A fusion of classical music and punk>

The reason I decided to use classical music in this The Count of Monte Cristo project was because I wanted to try a “fusion of punk and classical music”. Also, this is just my opinion, but since recent pop music is mainly street-style, I thought I’d try to do the opposite. Of course, it would also be fine to build the musical world of tCoMC in line with that trend, but it seemed like a pretty ordinary match, so I wanted to be a little unconventional and go in a different direction. JJ Burnel of the Stranglers, who handled the music for the project, is a representative artist of the later period of the 70s punk movement. When you think about punk, you tend to picture a wild, unruly atmosphere where the band members get immersed with the audience, but he's actually someone who writes very delicate and beautiful melodies. I believed he would understand the concept of fusing classical and punk music.

I believe we were able to create the unique musical world of tCoMC by mixing JJ's own "quintessential punk" sound with contrasting, beautiful chamber music-like sounds (included in the gankutsou’s OST) and the weighty sounds of classical music.

<Reason for song selection>

In early television animation films, one of the standard directorial techniques was to synchronize orchestral music with classical music, showcasing its universality, unwavering nature, gravitas, and the resulting sense of ecstasy.

This time, in that sense, I deliberately wanted to go for something straightforward. I wanted to make it look overly dramatic, and I incorporated classical music because I thought that the matching of those elements with the film would feel fresh in today's world. Luckily, I was able to borrow classical music from Naxos, and I was able to use almost all the songs I thought were perfect. In the actual production, I consulted with sound designer Kasamatsu, and we decided that just because it was classical music doesn't mean we had to stick to the original form. We tried various things, such as arranging it to brighten things up, and deliberately deviating from the characters' emotions instead of making them perfectly match.

Well, in the end, it's like, "Good things are good," and "If you like something, you like it," and "Isn't it okay to just be honest about it?" (laughs)

I chose Tchaikovsky's "Manfred Symphony" based on the image of the original work (Alexandre Dumas' "The Count of Monte Cristo"). In particular, the image of the Count of Monte Cristo in the original work was influenced by Byron (1788-1824, an English poet who was a hero of the Parisian literary world at the time and wrote the poetic drama "Manfred" (1817)).I read Byron's "Manfred," and I felt that the protagonist's "twisted loneliness" depicted there had something in common with what I had read before, which led me to Tchaikovsky's "Manfred Symphony."

Donizetti (1797-1818/Lucia di Lammermoor)

"Giacomo Meyerbeer (1791-1664) / Robert the Devil"

These two pieces appear in the original work as part of the program. They must have been popular in Paris at the time, when Dumas was a popular writer. So I thought I’d trace the trends of that era.

Of course, the animated version of "The Demon King" is an updated version of the original work with my own interpretation added, but I wanted to be mindful of the atmosphere of the original work in terms of details.

I think the "pure love that reaches the point of madness" symbolized by "Lucia" reflects the longing for the sea. However, in the original story, "Lucia" was the opera that was performed when Mercedes and the Count met at the opera house, but in the project it is replaced with the story of Albert and the Count, so it is not used in that way. On the other hand, "Robert the Wicked" has a similar image to a man who was thought to be dead but returns as a vengeful demon, which overlaps with the image of selling one's soul to the devil.

Personally, German songs like "Robert the Devil" give me a brave impression, like a blood-stopping attack.

Italian songs like "Ode to Lucia" have a very romantic feel, and the scene in episode 20 where Cavalcanti is bathing in a rose petal bath matches Lucia's aria perfectly. It might even work in a fight scene.

I've always wanted to use Debussy (1862-1918) and Rachmaninoff (1873-1943) in a film someday, so I used them this time. However, these pieces are much newer than the era of the original source material, so I expect people will question the historical accuracy.

While some works have the mission of faithfully conveying historical facts, this reinterpretation work reconstructs a classic as modern entertainment.

Therefore, this setting is based on a concept of “not the present, the past, not the future”

Well, there are spaceships too.

<Synchronizing classical music with painting>

It took some time to synchronize Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2 with the film in episode 12.

Playing the same song throughout a long scene is an extremely difficult task, including coordinating the timing of cuts.

After much trial and error with Mr. Kasamatsu from Zain, we finally settled on that form. It would have been easier if we could have created a long scene without dialogue, but there were many scenes that had to be handled from a script perspective, and I was always working with the ultimate choice of either "ignoring the slightly unnatural parts and going with it," "cutting up the music," or "giving up."

Nowadays, with digital technology, it's possible to change the tempo without raising or lowering the pitch, but if I really want to capture the weight of the original song, I don't want to easily chop it up or mess with the tempo, and I often end up giving up during the overdubbing process. "Another defeat today!" (laughs).

So, even though I had decided that the Manfred Symphony would be the Count's theme, I haven't been able to use it in the film as much as I'd hoped. For example, in episode 18, I wanted to express the Count's unwavering strong will, and I was given the opportunity to work on it, but the expression of the music and the rhythm of the film didn't quite match. In Tchaikovsky's music, the overall flow is important, and if you just use the attack in a way that cuts off abruptly, what makes it good is lost. I tried various things with Kasamatsu-san, but in the end it didn't work out. In episode 15, from the storyboard stage, I really wanted to use the third movement of the Manfred Symphony, the scene of Manfred and Astarte's spirits saying goodbye, so I tried time-counting string phrase and creating the storyboard but it didn’t work out.

I realized that simply matching the hits of the music wasn't enough; I also had to consider the flow of the music from before and after to get it to fit properly.

Also, in the last scene of episode 2, when the Count is in a carriage and gazing at Albert, I wanted to use Manferd’s "Da-da-da!" attack after the Count's famous line to represent a premonition of revenge, but the scene was too short, so I gave up.

Initially, the plan was to portray this project as a complete revenge story from the Count's perspective, and the "Manfred Symphony" was chosen to match that. However, the film took a complete turn, shifting to the perspective of a young boy named Albert, which made the drama more naive. Naturally, in that case, the weighty, "da-da-DUM" phrases of classical music became less fitting.

In terms of using the "Manfred Symphony," I can say that I haven't achieved victory in that sense yet. I definitely want to get revenge in the confrontation between Fernand and the Count in episode 23! I want to express the Count's suffering and pain not through words, but through music.

It's either go for it or not, it'll be used extensively or not used at all.

If, in episode 23, "At the time of the interview, the music for episode 23 hadn't been added yet. If it wasn't used, then it would mean another defeat." (laughs)

February 17, 2005, Director Maeda Mahiro's Commentary