Entertainment
14 December 2021
Link copied to clipboardWhen it comes to penning an original song for a show, songwriters are typically given the whole storyline so that the lyrics can match the plot. But when SEKAI NO OWARI, one of Japan’s top pop bands, received the brief for The Future Diary, the ending was left out.
In this reboot of a popular Japanese romance reality show, two strangers live out a love story that is outlined in a diary that they are given. Maai, 19, hails from Okinawa and is a college sophomore who works part-time in apparel. Takuto, 24, is from Hokkaido but lives in Tokyo and has been a cook for four years. As the couple follows the instructions in the diary, viewers are left wondering if their lived experience will lead to real romance.
And that uncertainty was what Saori found most challenging when the four-member band had an internal competition to come up with the song, and her lyrics and music were eventually selected.
“At first the materials I got didn’t say what happens at the end. How should I tie the lyrics together to conclude the story? That was the tough part,” she explained.
After writing down several ideas and going back and forth on the lyrics, she finally arrived at the words “until then”. To her, those words encapsulated the essence of the series, and the rest of the lyrics just flowed from there.
The band had big shoes to fill. The original version of The Future Diary by leading Japanese television network Tokyo Broadcasting System Television was a hit when it came out 20 years ago. It was subsequently made into a movie, an event, and even a game. The theme songs, TSUNAMI and SAKURAZAKA, also became chart-toppers then.
But when the band saw the new trailer with their song, Diary, they knew they had made the song their own. “It gave me goosebumps,” said DJ Love. Band leader Nakajin added: “It was so overwhelming, I could have cried.”
Even the unusually long piano interlude by Saori fit in perfectly, said the rest of the band playfully during a group interview.
“All the unwritten feelings were packed in there,” lead vocalist Fukase teased.
“Well, I had an image in mind. Like…” Saori trailed off.
“Like the lyrics became the musical notes.” Fukase laughed as he completed the sentence of his childhood friend.
For Saori, the song will always have a special place in her heart. “It’s the first love song I’ve written that is so straightforward and with such a clear message, so I hope our fans will also listen to it with an open heart.”
Check out the full interview with the band here:
The Future Diary is available globally from today.