Re: Japan | 日本 | WV111: Jun Maeda - The Place Where Wishes Come True II
WV111: Jun Maeda - The Place Where Wishes Come True II
I'd been meaning to finally update my green room thread for this edition's entry anyway, but... this really isn't the kind of post I'd wanted to make.
My entry for this edition, Jun Maeda's
The Place Where Wishes Come True II, is something I've loved for many years now. As perhaps one of the most iconic anime soundtracks out there – coming from the famous climax of one of my favourite series – it's meant a lot to me for a long time. Unfortunately, a couple of days after I submitted the entry, it's taken on a lot more meaning for me in the light of recent news events: namely,
the recent arson attack in Kyoto.
The Place Where Wishes Come True II plays towards the end of
Clannad: After Story, a much-loved 2008 anime series from Kyoto Animation. Just this Thursday, however, the studio's main building was hit with an arson attack that left 33 staff dead – almost half of all who were there – and most others injured. It's the worst mass killing in Japan in around 20 years, and I'm... kind of at a loss for words about the whole thing.
I've been sort of in shock for the last few days, just angry and sad and frustrated and so much more that someone would not only carry out something so terrible in the first place, but that they'd target one of the most-loved creators in an entire medium. Kyoto Animation is perhaps Japan's most well-regarded animation studio outside of Ghibli, and they've built up a reputation over the years both for their shows – memorable, iconic and perfectly polished – and for their business practices, being famous for treating their workers better than any other studio in what's known to be a tough industry.
Like many other people, I've grown up with Kyoto Animation's shows. And while clearly the biggest tragedy here is the loss of life, regardless of anyone's profession (in a sense I feel kind of guilty for thinking about their work at a time like this), it does make it hurt all the more when those being targeted in this attack were all innocent, creative, mostly young people at the top of their craft, and who've spent years putting out content to make people smile. It's just... urgh.
I know that this is all pretty unusual and dark as far as WV green room posts go; I just felt I should write something, given how closely my memories of this entry are tied in with my memories of the victims in this attack. (On which note, the composer himself, Jun Maeda, is safe, as he isn't a part of the targeted studio itself; past that, I don't yet know the status of the rest of the staff who worked on the series that this soundtrack is from).
On one hand, the fact that I've got this entry representing me right now feels like a very fitting tribute of sorts, albeit an accidental one (seeing as the incident happened after I sent in the entry). On the other, it's rather awkward, and absolutely not the circumstances I'd hoped to have as the backdrop for this post. More than anything WV-related or anime-related, though, I'm just desperately hoping that all of the injured manage to recover.
For a short bit on the entry itself,
The Place Where Wishes Come True II has been near the top of my shortlist since I first joined the contest back in WV65. I've always been a huge fan of the stories and music made by KEY, and this is song is another one in that vein: as part of the Clannad: After Story soundtrack, it actually plays directly after
Distant Years (another Jun Maeda song that I sent back in WV76) in what's probably the show's most memorable episode.
Past just this and
Distant Years (WV76), Jun Maeda is in a sense my most-sent artist in WV, having also been the composer behind
Aozora (WV72),
Haruka Kanata (WV96) and
Last Regrets (WV108), as well as a major stylistic influence for the composers of
Sanka (WV67) and
Scene Shifts There (WV81) at the very least. This latest entry is perhaps better-known in the broader fandom than all of those, though.
As for the story that this serves as the soundtrack for, Clannad: After Story is one of my all-time favourite shows, sitting somewhere in my top 10 out of the 700-ish series I've tried out. Even setting aside all of the recent tragedy, it's something I'd absolutely recommend to anyone with an interest in anime and/or well-written drama, albeit with a few caveats (i.e. the character designs can take some getting used to; and reaching the real meat of the show requires first watching the original Clannad, which is great but with a slightly different tone, as well as the earlier few episodes of After Story, which are mostly little side-stories before the main plot gets rolling).
I've always particularly appreciated how the show's animation and music worked together to heighten its emotional impact. And with this song in particular – I don't want to spoil anything specific in case somebody intends to watch the series, but there's a certain scene (link
here, if you're curious and don't mind major spoilers for the whole series) in which the narrative build-up just fits so perfectly with the way in which the soundtrack's violins come in at around 0:53 in the song. While it might sound cheesy, and likely won't have the same impact without watching all of the lead-up in previous episodes, that scene might just be the most emotional I've ever gotten watching media of any sort.
Anyway, I should probably stop soon before I ramble on for too much longer. Apologies if this has all been rather off-topic; I just thought it would've been wrong to ignore the recent news in my green room post, or to be particularly late on the post if I'd spent time writing up thoughts on previous editions instead. Thanks for reading.
!), so it's time for some mention-spam. I might delay the NF and just go with another internal choice if I can't get some more voters, but hopefully it doesn't come to that. Anyways:
