Today, over the next few days, I’d like to talk about the songs I worked on for NEEDY.
First up is the very first one: Purple Lollipop’s character song, “Crime and Punishment,” which debuted in Episode 5 and was also used for the special ending sequence within the episode.
She really is cute in this state, isn’t she?
Episode 5 centered on Lollipop, and since she also had a live performance, a vocal song played over the ED. The director had one specific request here: “make it retro pop.” Haraguchi Sasuke, our beloved composer, created an instrumental with a distinctive nostalgic quality. A genre I never expected! I then added the lyrics on top of that, and combined with the state of mind I was in at the time, which heavily influenced my writing, the result was something miraculous. Nobody had planned for her to end up with such a full-on Nostalgic Japanese pop song with a denpa sensibility.
Perhaps because it was actually used in the anime itself, it became a song that the entire staff loved and still listens to.
The cheap shoes Mama gave me（ママがくれた安い靴は）
Became guides through painful days（苦しい日々の案内役で）
The cramped little box Papa gave me（パパがくれた狭い箱は）
Committed every sin there was（すべての罪を侵してた）
If there was a day I abandoned my childish self,（幼い自我捨てた時が）
It was the day I put on lipstick.（あるとすれば 口紅塗った日）
People make a fuss when someone dies,（人が死んだら騒ぐくせに）
Yet everyone’s killing themselves.（誰も自分を殺してる）
The theme is that gloomy adolescence before Karamazov was formed—or just after it—when KAngel's streams, tokusatsu, and anime were her only salvation during those years of school refusal. So I wanted the song to complement the melancholy side of her character that only barely appeared in the show, while also carrying that girlish feeling of instability that everyone goes through in adolescence.
Compared to the punk and rock ’n’ roll she champions, this is more like plain old teenage rebellion.
I asked Tabun Ningen, an artist I personally adore and have worked with several times, to do the illustration. With lyrics like these, I wanted someone who could capture every shadowy side of Lollipop’s personality.
What a great piece!
With heels whose tips have broken off,（踵の折れたヒールじゃ）
I can’t dance here anymore.（ダンスはもうここで踊れないけど）
Purple bullets,（紫 銃弾が）
My bursting brains—（はじけた脳漿が）
If I could go with you.（アナタとイケたら）
Ever since “Cubism,” where I slipped Cezanne’s name into the lyrics, I’ve occasionally included painters’ names because I think they help listeners form visual images. So in the second verse, I wanted to evoke something youthful, like dancing ballet inside a Degas painting.
Like a Degas painting,（ドガの絵みたいな）
I can’t dance ballet here anymore.（バレエはもうここで踊れないけど）
Her colored contacts and nails really stand out in close-ups, don’t they? Under different circumstances, this could have become a much louder, more explosive character song, but that contrast is what gives it such wonderful balance.
Of course, that’s also thanks to Kawaguchi’s vocals. Her voice stretches beautifully, and her characteristic growl is so powerful that, with this kind of Nostalgic Japanese pop-style tempo, her sheer singing ability shines through and makes all the finer details fade away.
Rooftops or sleeping pills—which one?（屋上と睡眠薬ならどっち？）
Kill me, my heart’s already over there.（殺して 心はもう そっち）
Alone with only the you in the mirror,（鏡のアナタだけとぼっち）
Hold me tight enough to die.（死んじゃうくらい抱きしめて）
Even during the production of the NEEDY anime, rights issues and legal disputes were still ongoing, and despite that everyone was doing their utmost just to see the anime through. Between that and my current visits to the psychiatrist, my mind remained dark. Bright lyrics simply wouldn’t come to me, and somehow this melody happened to make it work, so I let the lyrics become completely bleak. I imagine quite a few people can relate to some of the phrases in the chorus. Overall, I consciously tried to evoke Jun Togawa’s style in my own way.
I’m rather proud of coming up with “panorama” for those four notes before the final chorus. Lollipop shouts it and then crashes into the ending, creating a sense of final scenery.
Panorama.（パノラマ）
Once we’ve lined up our indoor shoes,（うわばき揃えたなら）
Let’s dance on purple medicine.（ムラサキ クスリで踊ろうよ）
See? We can fly, if I’m with you.（ほら飛べるよ アナタとなら）
Hold me tight enough to die.（死んじゃうくらいに抱きしめて）
By the way, because I’ve previously attempted to jump during particularly bad episodes, I wouldn’t actually choose the rooftop. I still live on a low floor, and I’ve spoken with my psychiatrist about that danger. No matter how many pills you take, the best you can expect is stomach pumping—and that leaves you in a state that’s arguably worse than death for a month or two, so don’t do it. If I ever truly resolved to die, I suppose it would be rope after all. The towel didn’t work.
I wanted to show that everyone—and especially streamers who survive by selling pieces of their bodies, souls, and private lives—carry immense pain. KAngel doesn’t have to bear it all alone. This was the song in which Karamazov’s leader made that clear.
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