There was a chat session featuring Iida Kazutaka i.e. producer of TBS Winter 2025 drama "Mikami-sensei" and Taka i.e. vocalist of ONE OK ROCK which sings the theme song "Puppets Can't Control You".
In the two-part article, they talked about various things such as the story leading to their collaboration and the message they want to convey in the theme song. Given the length, I have extracted some highlights pertaining to the drama and theme song as shared below:
- Iida first came into contact with ONE OK ROCK's music in 2013, thanks to Sato Takeru's recommendation. He watched the 2016 concert "18 sai" during the COVID-19 pandemic and was deeply moved by the embedded messages of respect and encouragement which transcended the boundaries between adults and youngsters at the age of 18. With the intention to showcase a similar story like this, "Mikami-sensei" materialised after 5 years.
- Iida already had the intention to get ONE OK ROCK to sing the theme song although he wasn't confident that the band would accept his offer.
- In response, Taka said that it was rare for such an offer to come to them. He explained that the band tends to touch on supposedly taboo or controversial themes in their music so there is this perception of dealing with them can be troublesome, whether it is justified or not. As such, they were really happy to have received this offer.
- Taka revealed that on a personal level, he is not so receptive to the idea of working with TV since young. As such, under normal circumstances, he would have said no to such an offer especially since his utmost priority is to uphold the band's policy.
- In the US, it is common for them to bring in several staff members for music playing sessions with the band when making music. Through this process, it allows the band to bring in fresh ideas from different people through a trial-and-error process and identify those whose values and ideals are in sync with them vs. those who just want to make use of and tap on the power of their brand. However, this is not something that's usually practiced in Japan and the system can only work if there is mutual respect between both parties and a relationship that's geared towards making the best stuff.
- Iida shared that in the world of making dramas, there is also a difference in practices between the US and Japan. In the US, it is common to have multiple scriptwriters work on a single drama and the story is crafted through feedback along the way. However, in Japan, the standard practice is to have one scriptwriter be responsible for the entire drama. While Iida said that he hopes to bring in a more consultative process in making Japanese dramas going forward, he felt that he can also learn from the band's experience but acknowledged that it does take courage to adopt the input of others and be receptive to change.
- Both of them highlighted the importance of communication and how it can foster understanding and convey thoughts accurately. Even through a fictitious work like this drama or music, viewers can draw parallels between the story/lyrics and their lives which will give rise to new energy and create opportunities for discussion.
- At the time when ONE OK ROCK received the proposal for the theme song, they were in the midst of making their album "DETOX" and felt that the drama matched its theme. However, they were worried initially about how far they could go for the song to portray the drama's key theme.
- The word "puppets" in the title does not refer to just its literal meaning but also those who step up to take responsibility whenever things happen such as the president of a country or company. The thing is, there are usually bigger and stronger powers behind these figures. As such, the meaning that they want to convey through this song is that, "no matter how many puppets you change to make the public's anger go away whenever there's a crisis, we will no longer be deceived by this rigged system and listen to these puppets put up by the larger powers". Taka joked that this might come across very strongly in Japanese but the interpretation of the message should differ to a certain extent since the lyrics are in English.
- The song was written entirely in English at first. Since there was feedback that there should be some Japanese lyrics given that this is still a theme song for a Japanese drama, they wrote the lyrics in Japanese for the opening verse in the Japanese version while keeping to all-English lyrics in the original version. Taka said that it's rare for the band's recent songs to begin with Japanese and felt that it was a good idea to do this after all.
- Taka also revealed a funny anecdote about the song which he let close friends hear before the tie-up with the drama was announced. However, the feedback he got was that it was difficult to appreciate what the song was trying to convey if you just heard it on its own. Once the song was played during the ending credits of "Mikami-sensei", those friends came back to tell Taka that they finally understood what the song was about and praised its compatibility with the drama. Taka himself was convinced by what they said when he watched the ending credits and realised that the song turned out to be better than he thought.
- Iida said that it was a deliberate decision to choose a hard rock song for the drama since it is positioned as one which would break stereotypes in the TBS Sunday drama timeslot.
- Taka shared that he doesn't have a TV at home and hasn't watched a TV show in more than 10 years. However, he does watch Netflix at times. This is the first time in a long while that he finds himself "hooked" to a TV drama and is surprised by how unconventional and edgy the story is especially considering that this drama is shown on a terrestrial TV network and not an international OTT platform.
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