[OWV] KELLY 221118

https://kelly-net.jp/enjoytoday/2022111822002272299.html

OWV are here! An interview in celebration of the release of their awaited new song “Let Go” and their first live in Nagoya

OWV, who celebrated their second anniversary in September, released their 7th single “Let Go” on 2nd November.
As the creative concept is “holding close”, the 3 featured sounds portray various situations of holding people close.
As the final show of their fall tour “OWV LIVE TOUR 2022 -STRANGE-, they performed at Nagoya Shimin Hall in Aichi on the 3rd November 2022.
We held in interview in which the 4 members, Honda Kosuke, Nakagawa Katsunari, Urano Shuta and Sano Fumiya talked a lot about “Let Go”, their memories of Nagoya and the changes in themselves and the other members.

“OWV and Nagoya” Each one’s memories

Welcome to Nagoya! I heard it is the first time for you as OWV to come to Nagoya, but have you come here before?
Katsunari: I am from the prefecture Hyogo and back when I was a student I went on a drive with 4-5 friends that brought us up to Nagoya. Back then we just felt like going to Nagoya and no plan at all, but I heard from a friend that “Yabaton is delicious”, So I ate Miso-Katsu at ‘Yabaton’ there.
Fumiya: Like “Yabaton, it’s insanely good?”
Katsunari: Right (laughs). Because of that I went home, thinking “So Nagoya is this kind of place”. There are so many delicious things. This time I also want to go home after eating lots of things!
Fumiya: I came to Nagoya for a Karate tournament when I was in the later years of elementary school.
Katsunari: So cool! My story was lame (laughs).
Fumiya: So for me, Nagoya is “place where I went to to punch people’s bodies”.
Katsunari: It is better to say, it is “the place where you came to deliver your fists”.
Fumiya: I remember eating Ten-musu in the bus on the way home. I am interested in the food specialities of Nagoya, but I want to visit Nagoya castle.
TN: Ten-musu is a rice ball wrapped in nori and filled with deep-fried shrimp. A speciality of Nagoya.
Katsunari: I also want to visit Nagoya castle!
Shuta: I passed Nagoya on the way to a shooting. Since I just passed it, I had no chance to eat anything delicious there. This time I want to eat a lot of Nagoya’s specialties!
Kosuke: I have gone to Nagoya in the past when I was still active in another group.
Shuta: And you ate something in Nagoya back then? So nice! What did you eat?
Kosuke: It is just something banal, but the Onigiri from ____ (a certain conbini).
Shuta: Eh! Tell me about a speciality of Nagoya.
Kosuke: And there was ____ (a certain conveyor-belt sushi chain). Maybe this was because it was in Nagoya. But it was really delicious.
Shuta: I guess you haven’t eaten any specialities of Nagoya, have you? I thought you had tried Miso-Katsu.
Kosuke: Oh, I did. The Miso-Katsu was delicious.
Shuta: Eat it for real! (Laughs)

Deciphering the feelings in the dance and the lyrics of “Let Go”

The main track “Let Go” has a different atmosphere than before. Please tell us your favorite parts of it.
Katsunari: “Let Go” is a beautiful ballad, a heartbreak song, that holds close to people who experience a breakup with their loved one, as in the lyrics “You who used to laugh beside me is not here anymore”.
I like the clean transition from the verses to the chorus: The verses are sung in a sad and tranquil way, bringing some gloom to everyone while the chorus expresses a strength in the sadness. The transition makes the song pleasant.
My favorite lyrics are, when talking about my own parts, “Even when I try to forget I can’t erase it”. The choreography changes in the verses there, so I think it is an impressive part.
Fumiya: I will talk about the dance. This time, we express the concept of “holding close” and the feelings of parting, sadness and melancholy through the dance. Until the chorus, each one of us is a different person and we just perform as we should. But in the chorus, we send a positive message that we as OWV “are holding the fans close” in the nuance of holding our hands up to the sky, gasping the light that lies beyond.
Kosuke: I like the lyrics “Since the day we untied our fingers, the love I felt for you still calls to you.”
Shuta: What do those lyrics mean?
Kosuke: You used to hold hands with the other one, but after that day it is not possible anymore. It’s that there still love left?
Shuta: !?
Kosuke: So, you are singing that you are still thinking of the day you broke up. The title “Let Go” means “to let go (of the hand of the other one)” and the lyrics here fully express that feeling of “I want to let go but I can’t”. Just as the lyrics say, you are left behind with those feelings.
Shuta: It is a part I sing, but it’s “I don’t want you to laugh in someone else’s arms”. Just as these lyrics are, they straightly reveal the feelings of the heart, which is heartbreaking. I can picture this scene and I feel many others can do so, too.
Kosuke: If you think of ”Let Go” as a contemporary writing question, where would you find the right answer? It’s a question like “Think about what the author wants to express”.
Shuta: If it was such a question… (thinks) It is either “Even if I tried to forget I can’t erase it” or “I don’t want you to laugh in someone else’s arms”.
Kosuke: The right answer is… “I cannot let go”.
Shuta: This one! I overlooked that part.
Kosuke: These lyrics are about wanting to let go but being unable to. Actually, the song is not about “Let Go” but “I cannot let go”. But well, I’m not the one who wrote it.
Shuta: Right. We were not involved, were we?
Kosuke: Yes. I just read the lyrics we received.
Shuta: That’s how many emotions are into it.

A glimpse of their actors’ sides are shown in the acting scenes of the MV, where they challenge being emotionally invested into it♡

I watched the MV which was full of emotions! It was your first MV with acting scenes, right?
Kosuke: Since two of us have been acting.
Shuta: You are talking like an actor! (Laughs)
Kosuke: Shuta, you have appeared in a drama before, right?
Shuta: I played a young doctor in a New Year’s special..
Kosuke: Oh! That’s so cool!
Shuta: … It was just a reenactment-VTR.
Kosuke: A reenactment-VTR!
Shuta: But I did it properly! This is also my experience as an actor (laughs). But Honda-kun, well…
Kosuke: It is a terrestrial one and my role got a proper name.
Shuta: Amazing!
Kosuke: I am appearing in a serial drama! It is the TBS drama “Watashi no shite kurenai feromon kareshi”. There is some pressure, but I’m doing my best at acting.
Shuta: I have to watch it!
Kosuke: I’m still pretty much a beginner, so I worked hard on the acting in the MV, too.
Shuta: I expressed the lyrics by letting them possess me. OWV has a lot of concepts with intense dancing and flames, but this time it is a sad song, so I tried to put that into my expressions. Honda-kun filmed his scenes in a car, right?
Kosuke: When I pictured the lyrics in my mind, I acted those or rather it was just happening. I was so immersed into those memories, so it didn’t feel like acting to me.
Shuta: You are probably just joking right now (laughs),

I have no idea whether it was a joke or not!
Shuta: Was it the side of us being signed to Yoshimoto or the side of being an artist? I said something good now (laughs).
Kosuke: I also thought I was saying something good in the middle of it (laughs).

It was refreshing to see a MV with all of you acting.
Shuta: This time there were people other than OWV appearing there, too, and the other two (Nakagawa & Sano) had person-to-person expressions, so I think we were able to show a new side in the MV and as OWV as a whole.
Kosuke: Everytime we release a dance performance video, but exactly because the dance performance of “Let Go” is really beautiful, I hope you will both watch the MV and the performance video. The ratio of lip scenes and dance scenes is different for each MV. So far it was always about 50% each, but in this MV the dance scenes are only 30%, so I hope you watch the performance video and feel “Let Go” in the dance, too.

What OWV, who are committed in everything they do, want to challenge next I was impressed by the way you discussed your standing positions and such during the filming!
Katsunari: It depends on the situation on the set, but we often discuss the finer details ourselves and check the cuts as we film.
Fumiya: It ends up with us pushing the time. What should we do… They might think “They are too particular, it’s annoying”? (Laughs)
Katsunari: That would be the worst (laughs).

You showed a new side of yourself in the new song, but what would you like to challenge in the future?
Kosuke: Playing a doctor in a Special…
Shuta: You will play my role in the reenactment-VTR! (Laughs)
Kosuke: I watched that show with my family and even through it was just a reenactment, it was just cool!
Shuta: You sent me a message back then. Well, I will teach you how to play a doctor.
Kosuke: But being honest, I hope to have a concert in Nagoya each year. This was our first time coming to Nagoya and I am really happy about it. We want to come more often as we finally made it possible!
Shuta: We want to hype up Nagoya!
Kosuke: The time you need to go to Nagoya by Shinkansen is also just right. You just nap a bit and then you are already there. I feel it’s also easy to have fun here in private. I will take KELLY along and do some sightseeing. I will just take KELLY with me.
Shuta: Right. KELLY is all you need.

If you compared the coupling tracks to certain characters…

Thank you very much!! Please tell us also about the other two songs.
Shuta: “Tararam” is an uptempo song that holds close those who want to raise their mood. It is a song that has two sides.
Katsunari: If it was a human, it would have a dual personality that entertains people.
Kosuke: It is like H-san from the manga that takes place at a police station in front of a park.
Fumiya: And when he rides a motorbike, his personality changes.
Katsunari: Like L-san in the anime which is about collecting seven balls?
Kosuke: Yes yes! Like changing your appearance and personality when you sneeze.
Shuta: (laughs) The sound changes completely between the verses and chorus.
Katsunari: The verses are like a fresh pop-song, but in the chorus there is a heavy bass sound. This change is the key point.

How about “Gonna Getcha”?
Shuta: “Gonna Getcha” holds close those who don’t feel well, a song that raises your self esteem. A song that pushes you forward.
Kosuke: It is a song that gives you hope that you can get up from there again when you feel down and listen to it! Out of the three songs, this one is the easiest to get into someone’s ears and the refrain sticks in your mind. I hope people will feel better after listening to it.
Katsunari: The melody line is also very clear, so please sing it, everyone ♪

Congratulations on reaching your second debut anniversary in September. Do you feel like something about the members has changed?
Kosuke: Katsu had a cool impression in the beginning, but recently he is like a character who came from a “pirates manga” and he really laughs like “gahahaha”, making me worried “Is he okay?” (Laughs).
Shuta: Didn’t he say he has a wall around his heart in the beginning? This wall broke down by now (laughs).
Katsunari: Even the walls that were not supposed to be taken down, were taken down!
Kosuke: Even the walls you should protect as a human were broken down (laughs).
Fumiya: If you were a building, it would be difficult to get rid of you. You cannot be repaired anymore.
Katsunari: I’m a lot like my father when it comes to the way I laugh.
Fumiya: In this context, you must feel sorry for your father (laughs).
Katsunari: Well, in a way, this is just how he is.
Shuta: Everyone is now able to show their true selves.
Katsunari: Rather than being able to, it just comes out, at least in my case.
Everyone: (laughs)
Kosuke: Everyone also has unchanging sides in a good way, and I like this. The distance between the members was always close.
Shuta: Sometimes for the MCs at our concerts we just decide only on the general things beforehand and the details just happen. I like this because it shows the normal OWV which makes the fans happy.
Fumiya: It always feels fresh.
Katsunari: I feel the tempo sense has improved in the last two years. It’s always like this even when there is no camera.
Speaking of this, I discovered a hidden side of a member recently. Urano, whose member color is yellow, is cheerful during MCs and such, fitting perfectly to his member color, but after work, he doesn’t talk at all.
Fumiya: Even when he doesn’t talk right now, he adds a bit of coolness (laughs).
Shuta: You are all talking so much, so I have to do it properly! Be grateful. I want to actually talk!! (Laughs)
Fumiya: In my case, I want you to outdo me. “Oh that’s just as I expected it. I can’t keep up with Shuta’s talking” (laughs).
Shuta: Everyone wants attention so much, so you are talking too much! (Laughs)
Fumiya: Then, I will be silent from now on.
Shuta: Too late! (Laughs)

Other than the change of Nakagawa-san, is there anything else that makes you think a member has changed in this regard?
Fumiya: I will analyze myself. I think I was really determined. I went from being an ordinary person to suddenly joining an audition to debuting, so I was ignorant about this world and I met the people around me for the first time, too, so I was clueless about a lot of things. But now I am gradually getting the hang on how far I should go.
Katsunari: You came to understand a lot of things.
Shuta: I was really quiet during the audition and played cool. After it ended and I was with the other OWV members, they told me "Shuta, that’s not your position” and got my current member color yellow.
Kosuke: What is your actual color?
Shuta: My true member color happens to be red.
Fumiya: So you are the type to take the lead in the front?
Shuta: Yes. But thanks to the members I got yellow and my character changed. How about Honda-kun who is red?
Kosuke: In my case the red became a bit pink. Fumiya: White got mixed into it so it became lighter (laughs). Kosuke: In a good way, I started being pampered by everyone. If there is anything, they will say “Try it.” Or “Can I ask you to do it for me?”. OWV is getting bigger and we have more things to do. I do what I have to do, but to broaden the scope of what we do, I often have to rely on everyone.
Shuta: It means you trust us, right?

Lastly, please send a message to QWV.
Shuta: Then, let our leader do it.
Kosuke: We will always “hold you close”.

Perfect! Thank you very much for this interview with those well-matched reponses!