_KUMOSHIBA-SENSEI'S_Q AND A_

All translated from a thread of Kumoshiba-sensei's Q&A on twitter/X (@ak00_team) -- Currently incomplete.

Kuboshima Sensei

Thank you all for sending in questions so quickly!



There are some really interesting ones, so I thought I’d answer them here! (They’re so wonderful that I was moved by quite a few…)




Q: About the Stellaworth bonus featuring Akane, does it have anything to do with the cosmetics collab he was in alongside Koharu in Break Time 3?



A: It does not! (Sorry if you were hoping it was..) 
For BT3, the idea was that it was a collaboration with the entire cosmetic brand, rather then being tied to a specific product.



It was more like Akane and Koharu would be plastered around the cosmetics section near the collab brand as advertisement. Something where they’d use eyeshadow and lipstick and whatever else to create the desired visual, or something like that… (I hope that makes sense!)



Q: About Mashiro’s lyrics, Akane’s lyrics are described as being “brutally honest and with overwhelming vocal power, imbuing Rubire’s music with a powerful and straightforward passion.”

If we take that to mean Akane’s lyrics are [100% honest], how honest would you say Mashiro’s lyrics are?

When you talked about the lyrics for Halation in the past for the fanclub, it got me curious how much of the lyrics was reality, and how much was fiction.

Mashiro himself would probably just dodge the question, so I thought I’d sneakily ask his mama instead lol



A: This is a really interesting question, isn’t it? (When I received it, I was like, ‘Of course~~’)


Akane getting Mashiro to write his own song “as homework” is just one of the things Ryoko-sensei has come up with (along with the scripts for the livestream mini-dramas)

I think, in his own way, Mashiro does have a certain honesty to him, but…. since the work was assigned to him especially, I think he’s the type who simply wouldn’t (or couldn’t) write anything completely untrue.



When the lyrics were finalised, both me and Ryoko-sensei had the same expression (one of sheer excitement)

Q: For all the bands, do you have particular songs you really like, or have an emotional attachment to? Please tell us~! 😭💗


A: Hmm… If I could, I would say all of them, but that’d be pretty boring, so I’ll just say the ones that come to mind. But I definitely have an emotional attachment to every song!



🐤 Impish Crow／Sky is the limit



When we finished planning the script for BLUE, I kept getting all greedy and going “We should definitely add a bonus CD!” “I want to hear (younger) Tobikura singing it!” and “The band (SKYRIUM, I mean) should re-record it!”

It was selfish of me, but I kept at it, so it’s a song I’m really attached to. I fondly remember saying “We should take a student-like approach! Full of youthful passion!”

I was really impressed with all of the musicians’ abilities. I loved the difference in lyrics between the Inkuro and SKYRIUM versions, as if they were passing the baton. I think this was the first time I cried hearing the final mastering for a song I worked on.



👑 RUBIA Leopard／EXISTER



Around this time, I had been thinking I wanted to give Rubire more English lyrics, but I wasn’t sure when or how to do that, but I ended up deciding to give it a go for this album. I remember being pleasantly surprised it made it onto the setlist for the FLASH live. I think it ended up being a memorable song for Rubire. 

Though, those guys are always cool. I’d like to try making something similar some other time.



🐶 HOUND ROAR／可惜夜 (Atarayo)

As our vocalists always like to say, DIG-ROCK’s songs are pretty mercilessly difficult, so much so that they almost feel like giving up, but HOUND ROAR is always ~especially~ impressive to me.

I think the one that impressed me most just by sheer difficulty is Atarayo. The vocals are fantastic, of course, but the band going crazy in the instrumental is just as amazing. I think all three of the songs in the 5th Anniversary album really show how far we’ve come. 


Q: I get the impression Mashiro probably wears perfume, but I’m also curious how the other members feel about perfume or cologne!


Finally, please let me just say:

DIG-ROCK rules‼️‼️ I’ll continue following the project wherever it goes‼️



A: When I had considered the idea of making character perfumes before, I thought about which members would be the type to wear it.

Out of everyone, Akane and Mashiro are the ones who perfume heavily enough you’d go “He was just here, I know he was!” Their scents definitely leave behind an impression. (The staff can probably tell whether or not they’ve arrived at the studio yet)



On the other hand, Toki, Kurono, Haiji and Shion… probably don’t really wear it. They probably smell like fabric softener. And I feel like Shion’s put off by the smell of perfume…



Also, thank you very much for your kinds works! I hope you continue coming along with us!

Q: Aside from ‘Answer’, are there any other songs that have twin guitars in the instrumental?



A: I’m not entirely sure of the specifics, but I think almost all of the songs have some layering and mixing, so in some there’s almost certainly more than 2 guitar parts…

(This is more about the band's recording process, but) Akane can also play guitar very well, but I think he’d leave that stuff up to Kurono and stick to directing~



Q: Since the topic of hair salons was mentioned, I have a question about the characters’ natural hair that’s been on my mind for a while…!



It pretty easy to tell which characters are brothers or blood related (like the Hayama and Higurashi siblings), but is that their natural hair color, or has it is been dyed? I need to know!



A: I had decided this for some of them, but not all of them. As you said, it’s pretty easy to spot which characters are related, like the Hayama brothers, and for Akane with his brothers and his dad, he has that iconic “madder red” but also has some darker coloured hair at the nape. For whether that’s natural or not… if I start thinking about that I’ll go off on a tangent about his maintenance routine I mentioned earlier, so I’ll leave it there. Mashiro’s hair is almost certainly bleached.

Q: Kuboshima-san, thank you for everything.

I’m so obsessed with DIG-ROCK’s music that basically hallucinate (?) the bands performing live, but I wanted to ask if the 3 bands have any stand-out characteristics for their concerts? (like the things they’ll never compromise on) or a certain type of live show they’re particularly strong in (concept tours, album tours etc.) that you’ve established?



I’d be so happy if you could answer.
Thank you as always.

A: It’s been a pleasure working with you (so formal….)



▼ Characteristics of each band’s lives (that they won’t compromise on)



🐤 Inkuro



Just as in the story, I think they’re always absolutely sweeping the fans off their feet. Their lives definitely have a lot of potential. They move all around the stage, jumping around, and just having a great time performing, with a ton of ad-libs in there too! For Tsugumi, I think really personalised fan service is his speciality (unlike Akane). He probably remembers the faces of people who come to their lives.



👑 Rubire

They’re the veterans in this story, so they have a very powerful, weighted energy to their performances, definitely a sight to behold. It might be obvious, but Akane places great importance in putting together a setlist to create a story and direct the emotional journey for the audience. For the live itself, I think they all work with Gan-chan to decide on the concepts and branding to make sure everything’s perfect.

🐶 Hauro



Hauro haven’t performed live that many times, so I still think they have room for growth, but I think their ability to take that uniqueness and their worldview and put it all into creating atmosphere is stronger than any of the other bands. Inkuro and Rubire both have a very boastful image, but in contrast, Hauro have create this feeling of being enveloped by the music. This is a strange metaphor, but it’s almost like being in a swamp.


▼ Live types they’re particularly strong in

We never really got so far as to decide the form each live takes. That could become a problem for Ryoko-sensei as they continue to write the story, so I think it’s a good idea to play it by ear as we go.