WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.600 Imagine like a pristine chart -topping pop group, 00:00:03.839 --> 00:00:06.080 right? They're releasing this highly anticipated 00:00:06.080 --> 00:00:09.820 new music video. Right. The budget is huge. Everyone 00:00:09.820 --> 00:00:11.779 is watching. Exactly. The production value is 00:00:11.779 --> 00:00:14.220 just completely off the charts. The choreography 00:00:14.220 --> 00:00:16.980 is flawless. The fan base is going wild. Yeah. 00:00:17.300 --> 00:00:19.879 But then instead of the video ending with, you 00:00:19.879 --> 00:00:22.059 know, that glamorous, heroic pose you'd normally 00:00:22.059 --> 00:00:24.339 expect... That standard pop star finish. Right. 00:00:24.719 --> 00:00:27.739 Instead of that, the entire group suddenly mutates 00:00:27.739 --> 00:00:32.070 into a psychotic... purple alien warlord, which 00:00:32.070 --> 00:00:34.710 honestly sounds like a complete career ending 00:00:34.710 --> 00:00:37.409 malfunction. It really does. But it was actually, 00:00:37.409 --> 00:00:39.469 um, it was one of the smartest things a pop group 00:00:39.469 --> 00:00:42.250 has ever done. Oh, absolutely. So welcome to 00:00:42.250 --> 00:00:45.060 the deep dives today. We have a really fun mission 00:00:45.060 --> 00:00:46.899 for you. We're pulling apart this fascinating 00:00:46.899 --> 00:00:49.159 piece of source material. Yeah, a really deep 00:00:49.159 --> 00:00:51.740 look into a single song that just completely 00:00:51.740 --> 00:00:54.560 tore up the traditional marketing playbook. We're 00:00:54.560 --> 00:00:56.719 looking at the ultimate collision of J -pop, 00:00:57.280 --> 00:01:00.380 global anime fandom, and honestly, just a master 00:01:00.380 --> 00:01:02.649 class in psychological marketing. Because usually 00:01:02.649 --> 00:01:04.590 when you think about a movie tie -in song, the 00:01:04.590 --> 00:01:07.450 formula is painfully predictable. Oh yeah. A 00:01:07.450 --> 00:01:09.890 pop star records a catchy track, they splice 00:01:09.890 --> 00:01:11.950 some movie footage into the video, and that's 00:01:11.950 --> 00:01:14.230 it. Right. Transaction over. You buy the single, 00:01:14.250 --> 00:01:17.030 you watch the movie. The two worlds touch for 00:01:17.030 --> 00:01:18.950 a second, but they stay completely separate. 00:01:19.409 --> 00:01:21.290 Because the boundaries between the musician and 00:01:21.290 --> 00:01:24.530 the movie are, like, really clearly defined. 00:01:24.650 --> 00:01:26.750 And heavily guarded. I mean, neither side wants 00:01:26.750 --> 00:01:29.609 to risk alienating their core audience by blending 00:01:29.609 --> 00:01:33.530 the brands too much. But in Japan, in the spring 00:01:33.530 --> 00:01:37.109 of 2015, that standard playbook was just completely 00:01:37.109 --> 00:01:39.769 shredded. It really was. We are looking at a 00:01:39.769 --> 00:01:42.790 track called Zee No Chikai, which translates 00:01:42.790 --> 00:01:45.989 to Pledge of Zee. Right. This was the 15th single 00:01:45.989 --> 00:01:48.909 released by the massive Japanese idol group, 00:01:49.150 --> 00:01:53.069 Momoro Clover Z. It dropped on April 29, 2015. 00:01:53.349 --> 00:01:55.329 But this wasn't just some ordinary pop release. 00:01:55.670 --> 00:01:57.969 No, not at all. This track was engineered from 00:01:57.969 --> 00:02:00.469 the ground up to be the theme song for the theatrical 00:02:00.469 --> 00:02:03.650 anime film, Dragon Ball Z Resurrection F. Which 00:02:03.650 --> 00:02:07.879 is a huge deal. Huge. We're going to show you 00:02:07.879 --> 00:02:10.699 how this one musical release was architected 00:02:10.699 --> 00:02:14.099 to bridge entirely distinct pop culture universes. 00:02:14.099 --> 00:02:16.740 Yeah, crossing physical, visual, and linguistic 00:02:16.740 --> 00:02:20.240 borders. To really understand how groundbreaking 00:02:20.240 --> 00:02:23.080 this was, we kind of have to look past the song 00:02:23.080 --> 00:02:25.060 itself for a minute. Right. We have to look at 00:02:25.060 --> 00:02:28.740 how deeply the band was integrated into the anime's 00:02:28.740 --> 00:02:30.620 universe. Because the creators didn't just, you 00:02:30.620 --> 00:02:33.419 know, ask Memorial Clover Z for an audio file. 00:02:33.680 --> 00:02:36.080 No, they didn't. The members of the group actually 00:02:36.080 --> 00:02:39.159 participated in the film itself. Wait, like in 00:02:39.159 --> 00:02:41.590 the actual movie? Yeah. They provided the voices 00:02:41.590 --> 00:02:43.849 for characters that the source material literally 00:02:43.849 --> 00:02:46.270 describes as angels from hell. Which is such 00:02:46.270 --> 00:02:48.969 a bizarre and specific role for a pop group. 00:02:49.129 --> 00:02:51.169 Totally. And it didn't stop there. The lyrics 00:02:51.169 --> 00:02:53.870 for Pledge of Z were written by Yukino Jomori. 00:02:53.990 --> 00:02:56.810 Oh, wow. Yeah. And they were explicitly inspired 00:02:56.810 --> 00:03:00.250 by the lore of Akira Toriyama's Dragon Ball universe. 00:03:00.409 --> 00:03:02.150 OK, but I kind of have to push back on this a 00:03:02.150 --> 00:03:04.710 little bit. Sure. If you have this massive movie 00:03:04.710 --> 00:03:08.030 franchise and the pop stars who sing the theme 00:03:08.030 --> 00:03:11.229 song. suddenly show up on screen as like obscure 00:03:11.229 --> 00:03:14.139 background characters. Doesn't that just feel 00:03:14.139 --> 00:03:16.939 like a cheap promotional gimmick? Like, is it 00:03:16.939 --> 00:03:19.259 actually making the song more authentic to the 00:03:19.259 --> 00:03:21.300 film's universe? I see what you're saying. Or 00:03:21.300 --> 00:03:23.680 is it just a cynical trick to force the idol 00:03:23.680 --> 00:03:26.099 group's fans to go buy movie tickets? Well, it 00:03:26.099 --> 00:03:28.840 is definitely a tactic to mobilize the fan base, 00:03:29.300 --> 00:03:32.439 but dismissing it as just a gimmick misses the 00:03:32.439 --> 00:03:35.379 underlying psychology of hardcore fandoms. How 00:03:35.379 --> 00:03:38.080 so? Think about anime fans, specifically Dragon 00:03:38.080 --> 00:03:41.159 Ball fans. This is a franchise with decades of 00:03:41.159 --> 00:03:44.819 history. Right. is fiercely protective of its 00:03:44.819 --> 00:03:48.080 lore. If you just slap a trendy J -pop song over 00:03:48.080 --> 00:03:50.379 the end credits of their highly anticipated movie, 00:03:50.759 --> 00:03:53.080 there's a massive risk of rejection. Like they'll 00:03:53.080 --> 00:03:55.939 just resent it. Exactly. The fans will view the 00:03:55.939 --> 00:03:58.439 pop group as tourists who are just there to siphon 00:03:58.439 --> 00:04:01.000 off the franchise's clout. Oh, they act like 00:04:01.000 --> 00:04:03.300 antibodies attacking a foreign virus. That is 00:04:03.300 --> 00:04:05.520 a perfect way to put it. So how do you prevent 00:04:05.520 --> 00:04:07.659 that immune response? You have to actually weave 00:04:07.659 --> 00:04:11.020 them into it. Right. You weave the pop group 00:04:11.020 --> 00:04:15.340 into the actual DNA of the property. By bringing 00:04:15.340 --> 00:04:18.720 a Mamoru Clover Z into the recording booth to 00:04:18.720 --> 00:04:21.620 voice these angels from hell. Yeah. And by having 00:04:21.620 --> 00:04:24.420 a veteran like Yukino Jomori write lyrics steeped 00:04:24.420 --> 00:04:27.259 in Akira Toriyama's world, you transform the 00:04:27.259 --> 00:04:29.439 song. It's not just a song anymore. Exactly. 00:04:29.560 --> 00:04:32.379 It becomes a thematic living extension of the 00:04:32.379 --> 00:04:35.439 movie. It proves to the anime purists that the 00:04:35.439 --> 00:04:37.720 band is willing to do the homework. They aren't 00:04:37.720 --> 00:04:40.889 tourists. They're active, authenticated participants 00:04:40.889 --> 00:04:43.009 in the universe. Spot on. Okay, that makes sense 00:04:43.009 --> 00:04:44.850 for the movie itself, but how does that actually 00:04:44.850 --> 00:04:46.670 translate to the real world? That's where the 00:04:46.670 --> 00:04:48.569 physical media comes in. Right, because this 00:04:48.569 --> 00:04:52.029 deep thematic integration didn't just stay in 00:04:52.029 --> 00:04:54.310 the voice acting booth or the recording studio. 00:04:54.470 --> 00:04:57.069 No, it dictated the entire physical marketing 00:04:57.069 --> 00:04:59.829 strategy for the single. And this is where I 00:04:59.829 --> 00:05:02.560 think this story gets... Truly brilliant. The 00:05:02.560 --> 00:05:05.019 physical media strategy here is just a perfect 00:05:05.019 --> 00:05:07.639 case study in solving one of the oldest business 00:05:07.639 --> 00:05:09.660 problems in entertainment. Which is audience 00:05:09.660 --> 00:05:11.980 alienation. Let me break down what they did for 00:05:11.980 --> 00:05:14.560 you because it's staggering. They didn't just 00:05:14.560 --> 00:05:18.019 release one CD. Right. They released two completely 00:05:18.019 --> 00:05:20.339 distinct versions of the Zeno Chikai single. 00:05:20.839 --> 00:05:23.259 First, you have the F edition. The F edition. 00:05:23.360 --> 00:05:29.779 Yeah, and the F edition. The cover art depicts 00:05:29.779 --> 00:05:32.459 the group's members dressed up in live -action 00:05:32.459 --> 00:05:36.279 cosplay as the iconic Dragon Ball villain, Frieza. 00:05:36.439 --> 00:05:39.600 Wow! And the back cover features a similar image, 00:05:40.120 --> 00:05:42.339 but it's designed to look exactly like the view. 00:05:42.620 --> 00:05:45.500 through one of the series' scouter devices. Oh, 00:05:45.500 --> 00:05:47.899 those futuristic eyepieces that calculate power 00:05:47.899 --> 00:05:50.579 levels. Yes, exactly. So the visual language 00:05:50.579 --> 00:05:53.360 of the F edition is entirely focused on the physical 00:05:53.360 --> 00:05:56.360 presence and the actual faces of the band members. 00:05:56.480 --> 00:05:58.639 Right, but then you look at the Z edition. And 00:05:58.639 --> 00:06:00.579 it's completely different. Totally different. 00:06:00.800 --> 00:06:03.000 The Z edition includes the same title track, 00:06:03.240 --> 00:06:06.120 but instead of a Blu -ray, it features a B -side 00:06:06.120 --> 00:06:08.620 cover of the original Dragon Ball Z opening theme 00:06:08.620 --> 00:06:12.449 song. Wait, Chala had Chala? Yes. Chala Hachala 00:06:12.449 --> 00:06:16.230 by Hurtabu Kageyama. Oh, that's huge! And the 00:06:16.230 --> 00:06:19.750 artwork is a total departure. The front and back 00:06:19.750 --> 00:06:22.730 covers feature the members of Mamoru Clover Z, 00:06:23.209 --> 00:06:25.449 but they aren't in live -action cosplay anymore. 00:06:25.709 --> 00:06:29.350 They're drawn. Yes, drawn in the classic Dragon 00:06:29.350 --> 00:06:32.610 Ball animation style by Toei Animation itself. 00:06:32.910 --> 00:06:35.870 That is so smart. Now, both editions share the 00:06:35.870 --> 00:06:38.089 new song, and they both feature another B -side 00:06:38.089 --> 00:06:42.089 called Romantiku Kangaregadaru, which means romantically 00:06:42.089 --> 00:06:44.310 entangled. Right, right. But other than that, 00:06:44.610 --> 00:06:46.769 they're radically different products. They're 00:06:46.769 --> 00:06:49.189 completely different propositions for the consumer 00:06:49.189 --> 00:06:52.930 engineered to solve... The crossover problem. 00:06:52.970 --> 00:06:54.790 The crossover problem. Yeah. When you try to 00:06:54.790 --> 00:06:57.189 cross over between two wildly different demographics, 00:06:57.389 --> 00:07:01.129 in this case, J -pop idol fans and hyper -masculine 00:07:01.129 --> 00:07:03.889 martial arts anime fans, the usual strategy is 00:07:03.889 --> 00:07:06.410 to water the product down. Just to make it vaguely 00:07:06.410 --> 00:07:08.610 appeal to everyone. Exactly. But when you do 00:07:08.610 --> 00:07:10.870 that, you usually end up pleasing no one. But 00:07:10.870 --> 00:07:13.389 wait, if I'm just a casual music fan walking 00:07:13.389 --> 00:07:16.120 into a record store in Tokyo... and I see two 00:07:16.120 --> 00:07:17.959 totally different album covers with different 00:07:17.959 --> 00:07:20.600 track lists and different pack -ins. I just get 00:07:20.600 --> 00:07:23.040 confused and walk away. Splitting the product 00:07:23.040 --> 00:07:25.319 that aggressively feels like a massive risk, 00:07:25.560 --> 00:07:27.480 it feels like you're dividing your own sales 00:07:27.480 --> 00:07:29.579 momentum. You would think so if you were looking 00:07:29.579 --> 00:07:32.240 at this through the lens of a casual Western 00:07:32.240 --> 00:07:34.800 mass market. Okay, so what am I missing? You 00:07:34.800 --> 00:07:37.180 have to view this through the specific mechanics 00:07:37.180 --> 00:07:40.019 of the Japanese music industry and idol culture. 00:07:40.180 --> 00:07:44.120 Right. In Japan, physical media is still a massive 00:07:44.120 --> 00:07:47.639 driver of success, and the consumers aren't casual. 00:07:48.000 --> 00:07:50.939 They are highly motivated and deeply invested. 00:07:51.060 --> 00:07:53.279 So it's not about dividing the audience? No, 00:07:53.420 --> 00:07:56.579 it's about hypersegmentation. Segmentation preserves 00:07:56.579 --> 00:07:58.949 purity. Walk me through how that actually works 00:07:58.949 --> 00:08:01.189 for these two specific groups. Well, think about 00:08:01.189 --> 00:08:03.610 what an idol group is. Yeah. The appeal isn't 00:08:03.610 --> 00:08:06.310 just the music. It's the personalities. Exactly. 00:08:06.509 --> 00:08:08.990 It's the approachability and that parasocial 00:08:08.990 --> 00:08:10.790 relationship the fans have with the members. 00:08:10.889 --> 00:08:14.250 OK. So the F edition caters entirely to that 00:08:14.250 --> 00:08:16.889 idol fan base. It gives them physical video media 00:08:16.889 --> 00:08:19.730 with the Blu -ray and live action cosplay showing 00:08:19.730 --> 00:08:22.250 the actual faces of the girls they follow. It 00:08:22.250 --> 00:08:24.870 gives the idle fans exactly what they want without 00:08:24.870 --> 00:08:27.689 diluting it. Precisely. And then the Z edition 00:08:27.689 --> 00:08:30.250 completely ignores the live -action element to 00:08:30.250 --> 00:08:33.230 protect the anime fans. Yes. The Z edition caters 00:08:33.230 --> 00:08:36.470 perfectly to the anime purists. By using authentic 00:08:36.470 --> 00:08:39.470 Toei illustration, it bypasses the live -action 00:08:39.470 --> 00:08:42.879 G -pop element entirely. It cements the band's 00:08:42.879 --> 00:08:45.340 place in the visual canon of the show. Right. 00:08:45.539 --> 00:08:47.799 It looks like a piece of Dragon Ball merchandise, 00:08:48.220 --> 00:08:51.820 not a pop album. Wow. And including a cover of 00:08:51.820 --> 00:08:55.659 Chala Hed Chala by Hironobu Kageyama that is 00:08:55.659 --> 00:08:58.700 weaponized nostalgia. Seriously, that song is 00:08:58.700 --> 00:09:01.539 practically a sacred text in anime history. By 00:09:01.539 --> 00:09:03.840 splitting the release, neither fan base feels 00:09:03.840 --> 00:09:06.259 like their specific interests were compromised 00:09:06.259 --> 00:09:08.480 for the sake of the other. The product remains 00:09:08.480 --> 00:09:11.340 pure for both distinct consumer bases. And of 00:09:11.340 --> 00:09:12.860 course, the super fans and completionists are 00:09:12.860 --> 00:09:14.720 going to buy both versions anyway. Oh, absolutely. 00:09:14.919 --> 00:09:16.860 Which manipulates the sales charts, but we'll 00:09:16.860 --> 00:09:19.000 get to those numbers later. Yeah, I want to transition 00:09:19.000 --> 00:09:21.240 to how they actually executed this visually. 00:09:21.440 --> 00:09:23.600 It's one thing to draw the band in the style 00:09:23.600 --> 00:09:26.320 of the anime on a CD cover. Right, but how do 00:09:26.320 --> 00:09:30.220 you physically merge? pristine pop idols with 00:09:30.220 --> 00:09:33.500 a hyper -masculine martial arts universe without 00:09:33.500 --> 00:09:36.080 it looking like a cheap parody. That falls entirely 00:09:36.080 --> 00:09:38.179 on the execution of the music video, which was 00:09:38.179 --> 00:09:41.200 directed by Masatsugu Nagaso. He had to walk 00:09:41.200 --> 00:09:43.399 an incredible tightrope. And the way he walked 00:09:43.399 --> 00:09:45.539 that tightrope was by completely committing to 00:09:45.539 --> 00:09:47.879 the bit. Full commitment. The visual component 00:09:47.879 --> 00:09:51.139 of this release was wildly ambitious. The members 00:09:51.139 --> 00:09:53.639 of Memorial Clover Z didn't just sing the track 00:09:53.639 --> 00:09:55.940 in front of some movie posters. No, they fully 00:09:55.940 --> 00:09:58.500 cosplayed as iconic characters from the universe. 00:09:58.639 --> 00:10:01.460 Yeah, you had Kanaka Momota as Son Goku, Shiori 00:10:01.460 --> 00:10:04.539 Tamaya as Vegeta, Ayaka Sasaki as this Bulma 00:10:04.539 --> 00:10:06.980 Trunks hybrid. Which is awesome. Moboka Ariyasu 00:10:06.980 --> 00:10:09.919 as Chaozu. and Reddy Takagi is Piccolo. They're 00:10:09.919 --> 00:10:11.259 wearing the martial arts ease, they're doing 00:10:11.259 --> 00:10:14.139 the poses. It feels like a surreal, incredibly 00:10:14.139 --> 00:10:16.879 high -budget Halloween party that somehow managed 00:10:16.879 --> 00:10:19.559 to become official studio -sanctioned canon. 00:10:19.799 --> 00:10:22.740 It really does. It's such a striking visual clash. 00:10:23.340 --> 00:10:25.740 You have the inherent cuteness and polish of 00:10:25.740 --> 00:10:28.139 a J -pop idol group slammed right up against 00:10:28.139 --> 00:10:30.620 the aggressive, stylized aesthetic of a fighting 00:10:30.620 --> 00:10:33.740 anime. But there's a specific detail about the 00:10:33.740 --> 00:10:37.399 end of this video that completely subverts everything 00:10:37.399 --> 00:10:39.980 we know about pop star branding. Yes. Towards 00:10:39.980 --> 00:10:43.019 the end of the video, all the members who have 00:10:43.019 --> 00:10:45.279 been dressed as these beloved heroes the entire 00:10:45.279 --> 00:10:49.320 time suddenly transform into the villain, Frieza. 00:10:49.639 --> 00:10:53.360 The purple alien warlord. Why? Why would you 00:10:53.360 --> 00:10:55.980 take a highly manicured pop group whose entire 00:10:55.980 --> 00:10:58.080 business model relies on them looking glamorous 00:10:58.080 --> 00:11:01.059 and heroic and have them transformed to a grotesque 00:11:01.059 --> 00:11:03.879 antagonist at the climax of their own music video? 00:11:04.320 --> 00:11:06.240 It's a brilliant question and it really speaks 00:11:06.240 --> 00:11:09.039 to the core difference between vanity and artistic 00:11:09.039 --> 00:11:11.399 surrender. Okay, unpack that. In traditional 00:11:11.399 --> 00:11:14.559 pop music, image is everything. Artists fiercely 00:11:14.559 --> 00:11:16.240 protect their brand and they want to be seen 00:11:16.240 --> 00:11:19.080 as flawless. Right. But Masatsugu Nagaso and 00:11:19.080 --> 00:11:21.419 the group understood the specific film they were 00:11:21.419 --> 00:11:24.860 promoting. Resurrection F, the F stands for Frieza. 00:11:25.100 --> 00:11:26.980 He's the central antagonist returning to the 00:11:26.980 --> 00:11:29.419 story. Exactly. If the idol group had just stayed 00:11:29.419 --> 00:11:31.379 as the heroes, it would have been a fun, safe 00:11:31.379 --> 00:11:34.159 cosplay video. But by transforming into Frieza 00:11:34.159 --> 00:11:36.679 at the end, they are actively embracing the weird 00:11:36.679 --> 00:11:39.779 antagonistic elements of the lore. They are completely 00:11:39.779 --> 00:11:42.399 sub - subverting their own pristine image. And 00:11:42.399 --> 00:11:44.480 that subversion is what earns them credibility. 00:11:45.019 --> 00:11:46.740 It proves to the audience that they aren't taking 00:11:46.740 --> 00:11:48.860 themselves too seriously. They're willing to 00:11:48.860 --> 00:11:52.029 look bizarre. They're willing to become the monster 00:11:52.029 --> 00:11:55.129 to fully surrender their polished idol image 00:11:55.129 --> 00:11:57.570 to serve the narrative demands of the Dragon 00:11:57.570 --> 00:12:00.029 Ball franchise. It's an act of deep commitment 00:12:00.029 --> 00:12:03.889 that basically tells the fans, we care more about 00:12:03.889 --> 00:12:06.370 honoring this story than we do about looking 00:12:06.370 --> 00:12:08.889 pretty. That level of dedication to the source 00:12:08.889 --> 00:12:11.269 material clearly worked for domestic fans in 00:12:11.269 --> 00:12:14.049 Japan. But the source material highlights another 00:12:14.049 --> 00:12:17.210 massive hurdle. Adapting this highly specific, 00:12:17.509 --> 00:12:19.889 culturally ingrained crossover for the rest of 00:12:19.889 --> 00:12:22.149 the world required a completely different kind 00:12:22.149 --> 00:12:25.309 of effort. And frankly, a massive leap of faith. 00:12:25.450 --> 00:12:27.730 Yeah. The international market presents a unique 00:12:27.730 --> 00:12:30.570 challenge, especially for a property as globally 00:12:30.570 --> 00:12:33.610 massive as Dragon Ball. Right. How do you localize 00:12:33.610 --> 00:12:36.870 a J -pop tie -in for audiences in North America 00:12:36.870 --> 00:12:39.690 or Europe without losing the energy of the original 00:12:39.690 --> 00:12:42.100 performance? Well, according to our sources, 00:12:42.460 --> 00:12:45.740 the distributors didn't just subtitle the Japanese 00:12:45.740 --> 00:12:48.279 track for the international versions of the Resurrection 00:12:48.279 --> 00:12:51.259 F film. No, an English language version of the 00:12:51.259 --> 00:12:54.899 song titled Pledge of Z was specially recorded. 00:12:55.120 --> 00:12:57.220 But here's the mechanical catch that just blew 00:12:57.220 --> 00:13:00.279 my mind. The members of Memorial Clover Z do 00:13:00.279 --> 00:13:02.980 not fluently speak English. Exactly. Remember, 00:13:03.159 --> 00:13:05.759 Kanako Momota actually admitted that the English 00:13:05.759 --> 00:13:08.879 lyrics had to be transliterated into katakana. 00:13:09.019 --> 00:13:12.159 which is a Japanese syllabary used for foreign 00:13:12.159 --> 00:13:14.299 words. Right. They transliterated the English 00:13:14.299 --> 00:13:16.720 lyrics into katakana just so the members could 00:13:16.720 --> 00:13:18.899 physically sound out the words in the studio. 00:13:19.049 --> 00:13:21.850 It's a fascinating mechanical detail. It reveals 00:13:21.850 --> 00:13:24.710 so much about the globalization of pop culture. 00:13:24.970 --> 00:13:27.049 Yeah, and just as a quick side note to show how 00:13:27.049 --> 00:13:29.629 enduring this effort was, the group actually 00:13:29.629 --> 00:13:31.429 released a new arrangement of the track later 00:13:31.429 --> 00:13:35.250 on. Right, the one subtitled ZZ Dever, arranged 00:13:35.250 --> 00:13:38.210 by Tomoki Hasegawa, which came out on their self 00:13:38.210 --> 00:13:41.809 -titled album four years later in 2019. So this 00:13:41.809 --> 00:13:44.100 wasn't just a throwaway track. It became a core 00:13:44.100 --> 00:13:47.019 part of their legacy. But I want to go back to 00:13:47.019 --> 00:13:50.399 that English recording process because I'm struggling 00:13:50.399 --> 00:13:52.240 to understand the emotional mechanics of it. 00:13:52.340 --> 00:13:55.240 OK, what do you mean? It's like an actor. memorizing 00:13:55.240 --> 00:13:58.879 the exact keystrokes of a piano piece for a movie 00:13:58.879 --> 00:14:01.820 scene without actually knowing how to read music. 00:14:01.899 --> 00:14:04.159 That's a great analogy. If you're just reading 00:14:04.159 --> 00:14:07.240 phonetic syllables off a katakana sheet, how 00:14:07.240 --> 00:14:09.700 can you possibly infuse the song with the correct 00:14:09.700 --> 00:14:11.860 emotion? It seems like it would be impossible. 00:14:12.019 --> 00:14:14.539 Right. Doesn't an English version lose its soul 00:14:14.539 --> 00:14:16.639 if the singers are just mechanically sounding 00:14:16.639 --> 00:14:19.419 out syllables? Why not just hire an English speaking 00:14:19.419 --> 00:14:21.360 singer to cover the track for the international 00:14:21.360 --> 00:14:23.740 release? Because if you hired a different singer, 00:14:23.720 --> 00:14:26.100 you would lose the fundamental identity of the 00:14:26.100 --> 00:14:29.159 crossover. Okay, fair. The tension here is between 00:14:29.159 --> 00:14:32.500 linguistic fluency and emotional authenticity. 00:14:32.960 --> 00:14:35.220 Interesting. You might assume that sounding out 00:14:35.220 --> 00:14:37.600 transliterated lyrics strips away the emotional 00:14:37.600 --> 00:14:40.820 nuance, but in the context of global anime fandom, 00:14:41.460 --> 00:14:44.259 the effort itself is the emotional hook. The 00:14:44.259 --> 00:14:46.879 effort of trying to speak the language. Exactly, 00:14:47.139 --> 00:14:50.330 the sheer friction of the attempt. Anime is a 00:14:50.330 --> 00:14:52.649 global phenomenon, and the distributors wanted 00:14:52.649 --> 00:14:55.429 international audiences to experience the specific 00:14:55.429 --> 00:14:59.090 high -octane energy of Mamoru Okover Z. So the 00:14:59.090 --> 00:15:02.250 transliteration into katakana prioritizes the 00:15:02.250 --> 00:15:04.889 feeling and the inclusivity of the experience 00:15:04.889 --> 00:15:08.590 over perfect grammar. Yes. It is the group essentially 00:15:08.590 --> 00:15:11.289 saying, we might not speak your language natively, 00:15:11.450 --> 00:15:13.309 but we are going to learn the phonetic sounds 00:15:13.309 --> 00:15:15.570 of it, syllable by syllable, so we can share 00:15:15.570 --> 00:15:17.909 the specific piece of Dragon Ball history with 00:15:17.909 --> 00:15:20.269 you directly. It strips away the barrier of the 00:15:20.269 --> 00:15:22.669 translator. Right, and creates a direct, albeit 00:15:22.669 --> 00:15:25.669 imperfect, connection with the global fan. So 00:15:25.669 --> 00:15:27.570 when we pull all of these separate threads together, 00:15:27.669 --> 00:15:30.029 what do we actually have? We have a lot. You've 00:15:30.029 --> 00:15:32.730 gone from a pop group voicing angels from hell 00:15:32.730 --> 00:15:35.570 to embed themselves in the lore. We've seen them 00:15:35.570 --> 00:15:38.779 split their identity. across two incredibly detailed 00:15:38.779 --> 00:15:42.100 physical CD releases to avoid alienating distinct 00:15:42.100 --> 00:15:44.860 fan bases. We've seen them surrender their pristine 00:15:44.860 --> 00:15:48.259 idol image to cosplay as the villain Frieza under 00:15:48.259 --> 00:15:51.240 Masatsugu Nagaso's direction. And finally, we've 00:15:51.240 --> 00:15:53.940 seen them literally sanding out English syllables 00:15:53.940 --> 00:15:57.340 in a recording booth to reach a global audience. 00:15:57.460 --> 00:16:00.480 The ultimate question is, did this massive multi 00:16:00.480 --> 00:16:03.960 -layered strategy actually work? The chart performance 00:16:03.960 --> 00:16:07.470 proves that it was an overwhelming success. You 00:16:07.470 --> 00:16:09.830 have to remember, the Oricon charts are essentially 00:16:09.830 --> 00:16:12.389 Japan's equivalent to the Billboard charts, and 00:16:12.389 --> 00:16:15.070 the metrics there dictate the entire industry. 00:16:15.149 --> 00:16:18.870 OK. In 2015, the single hit number two on the 00:16:18.870 --> 00:16:21.629 Oricon Daily Singles chart and number four on 00:16:21.629 --> 00:16:24.269 the Oricon Weekly Singles chart. It's huge. And 00:16:24.269 --> 00:16:26.049 over on Billboard Japan, it peaked at number 00:16:26.049 --> 00:16:28.730 five on the Hot 100, number three for hot single 00:16:28.730 --> 00:16:31.870 sales, and crucially hit number two on the Billboard 00:16:31.870 --> 00:16:34.750 Japan Hot Animation chart. It was an undeniable 00:16:34.750 --> 00:16:37.250 smash hit across every possible measure. Truly. 00:16:37.450 --> 00:16:39.429 Think about the marketing campaigns you see today 00:16:39.429 --> 00:16:42.250 for the Marvel Cinematic Universe or massive 00:16:42.250 --> 00:16:45.190 event films. Yeah. The playbook they use, where 00:16:45.190 --> 00:16:47.250 artists become deeply entrenched in the lore, 00:16:47.610 --> 00:16:49.990 where physical media is weaponized for distinct 00:16:49.990 --> 00:16:52.950 fan bases, was being perfected years ago in Japan 00:16:52.950 --> 00:16:55.789 by groups like Moira Clover Z. They didn't just 00:16:55.789 --> 00:16:57.769 write a catchy tune to play over the credits. 00:16:57.889 --> 00:17:00.830 No, they built a structural bridge that let idol 00:17:00.830 --> 00:17:04.069 fans walk safely into the anime world and anime 00:17:04.069 --> 00:17:06.640 fans walk safely into the idol world. And that 00:17:06.640 --> 00:17:08.799 leaves us with a critical thought to ponder as 00:17:08.799 --> 00:17:11.519 the entertainment landscape continues to evolve. 00:17:11.700 --> 00:17:14.759 What's that? We are living in an era of global 00:17:14.759 --> 00:17:18.039 mega franchises that consume everything in their 00:17:18.039 --> 00:17:21.220 path. As these cinematic universes continue to 00:17:21.220 --> 00:17:24.059 expand their footprints, will we see more musicians 00:17:24.059 --> 00:17:27.720 having to literally cosplay and transliterate 00:17:27.720 --> 00:17:30.900 their artistic identities to fit into pre -existing 00:17:30.900 --> 00:17:33.859 worlds? Wow. It fundamentally blurs the line 00:17:33.859 --> 00:17:37.160 between being an independent pop star and functioning 00:17:37.160 --> 00:17:39.640 as a fictional character within a corporate franchise. 00:17:39.960 --> 00:17:41.859 It really does make you look at every soundtrack 00:17:41.859 --> 00:17:43.859 released differently. It does. You start off 00:17:43.859 --> 00:17:45.720 thinking it's just a simple transaction. Yeah. 00:17:45.759 --> 00:17:48.200 A pop star records a track. You watch the movie. 00:17:48.440 --> 00:17:50.500 The worlds touch for a second and separate. Right. 00:17:50.740 --> 00:17:53.220 But then you realize sometimes the walls between 00:17:53.220 --> 00:17:55.500 those worlds don't exist at all. The boundaries 00:17:55.500 --> 00:17:58.519 are completely gone. And suddenly the pop star 00:17:58.519 --> 00:18:00.680 is the one wearing the scouter staring right 00:18:00.680 --> 00:18:01.259 back at you.