Why The Music In Suzume No Tojimari Might Sound Familiar
It won't be long until anime devotees get to see Makoto Shinkai's upcoming movie "Suzume no Tojimari." Fans in Japan will see the film in theaters on November 11, while Western fans may have to wait until early next year to learn about young Suzume's door-closing journey (via Anime News Network).
In the meantime, some details have emerged about the film, including the latest "Suzume no Tojimari" trailer, which had fans speculating about an unlikely romance. The trailer also allowed fans to listen to some lines spoken by the talented voice-acting newcomers Nanoka Hara and Hokuto Matsumura as Suzume Iwato and Sōta Munakata, respectively. Through snippets of scenes, fans can see how vividly Shinkai-like the animation is. For anime newbies and aficionados, the film's beautiful and whimsical theme song, "Suzume," has been a sonic treat.
Despite its undeniable originality, to some fans, "Suzume" may be reminiscent of other scores and songs they've heard. But where?
Makoto Shinkai also worked with RADWIMPS on two of his other movies
The theme song for "Suzume no Tojimari" results from a collaboration between popular Japanese rock band RADWIMPS and U.S.-based film and videogame composer Kazuma Jinnouchi. In addition, the enchanting vocals for the theme song are courtesy of TikTok star Toaka. This is not RADWIMPS' first contribution to a Shinkai feature film; the band also worked with Makoto Shinkai on the soundtrack for "Your Name" and "Weathering with You."
Shinkai stated in an interview just how closely he worked with the band in the early stages of the creative process for "Your Name": "Recently, the part that's most fun is how to intertwine the music and the images. In ['Your Name''s] case, there was music from RADWIMPS and I listened to it over and over and then storyboarded the images that came to mind. But there were also parts in the music I wanted them to change, so I had RADWIMPS change it a little and rethought the storyboards while listening to the new version."
Jinnouchi, who is collaborating with RADWIMPS and Shinkai for the first time, has contributed to other film scores like "Jumanji: The Next Level" and "Pokémon Detective Pikachu." His other credits include "Star Wars Visions – The Ninth Jedi," "Ghost In The Shell SAC_2045," and "ULTRAMAN," which he worked on along with long-time collaborator Nobuko Toda. Jinnouchi has also worked on the scores for video games such as "Halo 5: Guardians" and "Metal Gear Solid 4 Guns of the Patriots."
According to RADWIMPS' official website, the original soundtrack for "Suzume no Tojimari" will be released concurrently with the movie's theatrical premiere in November.