“’Irodori’ sounded as THE ONE from the beginning”
-“Irodori” is the theme song of the drama “Boyfriend Korin” which Kaito Takahashi played the lead, could you share us its making process?
Kaito: At first, there were 2 to 3 choices of the songs, and we chose “Irodori” as “this is the one!”. Right from the start, the melody had the power within and the lyrics had the impact as well. We thought it shined and stood out from the others.
Jin: We’ve had some special feeling from the right start. It depends on times whether we all agree on the songs right away, but for this time, we agreed for both “Tsukiyomi” and “Irodori”.
Sho: Yeah, both songs were brilliant.
Kishi; “Irodori” is a medium ballad, as well as some hints of pops and has fugacity in tune, and that’s what I like about this song. It really sticks to your head so I find myself humming it now and then.
Ren: The vibes are mild, which is also shown in the MV, and is the song which gives you a heart-warming feeling. It matches well with the drama Kaito stars, so I believe it was good that we’ve succeeded of making a totally different yet amazing piece to “Tsukiyomi”.
The natural looks that express “the loving feeling towards the members” as the theme
-the MV looks as though the members are relaxing in Kaito’s studio, and you all seem to enjoy the atmosphere of just being your natural selves.
Kaito: We’d like to thank the director for that. It was his first suggestion to film the “bond and friendship among each other”. But it really was a controversy within us because “Irodori” sings about “love”, and wasn’t really sure if it was okay to film the MV in the suggested way.
Jin: We didn’t want it to look differently. We didn’t want it to be like “affection towards other members”, but wanted it as “love of humanity”.
Kaito: Yeah, we were having some talks about it, but the director strongly recommended it to us and turned out really well as a MV. It made me cry.
Sho: Kaito, the MV itself looks as it’s your usual perspective, but is it really so? Is it anywhere close to how you usually see us?
Kaito: Actually, it was our first time to work with the director, but I wondered why he knows so much about the way I feel inside.
Sho: That’s good news, the MV was really good! Knowing that it’s the way you see us makes our heart warm as well.
Jin: It’s especially good that you see it through the camera lens.
Ren: Yeah, that’s right!
Kaito: This time, the MV also includes the part where the members tried the shooting.
Sho: Since Kaito regularly takes our photo, the scenes were quite natural for us that we couldn’t really tell the difference between the shooting and our private selves.
Jin: Our fans also like the photo that Kaito takes, so I want Kaito to take more of our photos.
Kaito: …right. *Lol
“Some expressions of the members which Kaito could only capture”
Kaito: Ren was playing with the Rubik’s cube throughout the shooting, remember? I think I was the one filming that scene.
Ren: I was able to get one side right after Kaito taught me the tips. That’s when it all became unstoppable. The director told me it was “Nice” to play with it too, so I just kept on going.
Kaito: Did he say “Nice” to the Rubik’s cube? *Lol
Ren: Yep. *Lol That’s why I had fun with it all the way.
Sho: Jin and Kishi dropped some really good vibes too. *Lol
Kishi: Ah, the rap part, right? We were just having fun and didn’t expect that to be on the MV. Although the rapping scene is not shown on YouTube, it really shows how we are enjoying the time as our usual selves.
Jin: The glasses which we wore while rapping was chosen by us too.
Kishi: We were having fun as usual and didn’t really recognise the camera.
Sho: Were you a little nervous when the director said “OK!”?
Kishi: I was like “don’t tell me he’ll use it…”.
Sho: Hahaha! But I really like that part because it kind of shows how we really are.
Kishi: It turned out as the MV that we all wanted to film. It was the one which got the best out of our natural selves.
Kaito: It also has the part where we are just fooling around thinking the camera is not on. Add to it, the special clip includes the MV and its making-of film which the members filmed each other, and also the scene where we selected the pics for the photobook.
Jin: That’s right! We selected the photos ourselves!
Kaito: Well…You see, your smiles look different when I take the photos. There is definitely an expression which I could only take.
Jin: Yeah, I truly believe so. So again, I want you to take more of our photos.
Kaito: …right. *Lol
Sho: What’s that all about? *Lol
Ren: But those photos were truly awesome.
Kaito: This clip became an epic memory within us, and we’re glad that we could share this with our fans.
“There are many of the favourites among the B sides”
-Please note more about the others; B sides.
Kishi: “Ashita wa Ashita no Kaze ga Fuku (Tomorrow is another day)” listed on the first-run limited edition “A” has a pop tune and is a song that makes you feel positive.
Jin: Yeah, the pop tune sounds good.
Kishi: Meanwhile, the first-run limited edition “B” includes the ballad called “Omokage (Remnants)”.
Kaito: That song had all started from the conversation of “how awesome the J-POP songs were in the past”, and so ended up trying some like the “old J-POPs”.
Ren: It’s a good song, don’t you think?
Sho: Yeah. We had the chance to recreate how they expanded the voice in the J-POPs in the past.
Jin: “Kimi to Merry Christmas (Merry Christmas with you)” is a song inspired by “Jingle Bells”, and it really sounds as THE “Christmas song”. Hope you’ll enjoy your Christmas party!
Sho: I LOVE that song!
Jin: The song of our gift exchange for this Christmas will definitely be that one.
Ren: That’ll be it. *Lol We always exchange gifts on Christmas every year.
Sho: Can’t wait for Christmas! I really love the song!
Kishi: The normal edition also includes “Misbehave”, our fans were thrilled that we’ve included it.
Sho: It was the song sang in the first tour after our debut. We were quite surprised when we heard our voice after 4 years, since the quality of our voice and how we sang totally differed to the one now.
Kishi: I’ve noticed that too. This time, we’ve rerecorded the song.
Sho: For those who came to our first concert might notice the small changes.
Ren: The “Dear Tiara” edition, sold via our Fan club, includes “Romantic”. This is one of my favourites too.
Sho: I also like it. Don’t you want to listen to it while going on shopping? I think it matches well when you have some spare time and decide to go out.
Kaito: Well said! It’s one of my favourites too!
Sho: We had many talks on the B sides as well, and many of our favourites are included.
“The theme is always ‘the King & Prince that you’ve never seen before’”
-The CD, including the B side, expresses the depth of King & Prince’s sounds.
Kaito: I believe the asset of King & Prince is the attracting performance and dance as well as the straightforwardness as the idol group. Those 2 aspects are maximised in this single, and with the quality of the B sides pretty high, I am indeed very satisfied with it. I hope you’ll enjoy it and be happy every day.
Sho: Every year, we’ve concentrated on what we have in front of us, and made our pieces that exceeds the quality of the past. We thought it was quite difficult to continue to update what we already have; however, it’ll certainly be grateful if you’ll take the piece as “cool”, “enjoyable”, or maybe “moved” when it reaches you. It’ll be great if this art piece could make some slight change to how you see us.
Kishi: We hope to go against your expectation in a good way. Every time, we try to make the piece with the theme of ‘the King & Prince that you’ve never seen before’, so we truly hope that you’ll be surprised with our latest too!
【King & Prince】11th Single “Tukiyomi / Irodori” SPECIAL INTERVIEW:
https://sp.universal-music.co.jp/king-and-prince/11thsg/