KISS A dialogue

MIYA

Choreographer.
Choreographed all dances from KISS works such as in [Custom Maid 3D], [Custom Maid 3D2], [Custom Order Maid 3D2].
Actively does verity of works, has been running KISS events lately. Her existence became crucial to KISS. Usually outside of choreographing, he is active as a dancer as well.

Yamato

Representative of KISS.
He is the only person who has been here since the brand was made, and is the god father of the "Custom" series.
He is known to be a techno DJ, and to have very characteristic hair styles and hair colors. He is really keen about his music, and you can see that in the songs and dances after "Custom Maid 3D".

Known between some fans who are in the know!?
We are introducing MIYA for the first time, a choreographer/dancer who has been choreographing the dance movies and also dancing as the characters in Custom Series!
We talked about our memories of the beginning process that involved awkward communication between two people who knew nothing about each other’s works, stories associated with the most memorable songs, and what we would like to try out in the future, etc.
You will definitely see MIYA’s warm personality in this interview. Enjoy!!

Yamato

Thank you for coming, MIYA. You’ve been choreographing the dance movies.

MIYA

My pleasure. But, does anyone know someone like me exist?

Yamato

I think some of the hard core fans do. We sometimes talk about you in talk shows addressing you as “our choreographer.”

MIYA

Oh really… I thought no one knew I existed. I wish no one did. (LOL)

Yamato

Oh, why is that?

MIYA

Don’t you think it’s kind of nice to keep that part ambiguous?

Yamato

Ah yes, you’re right.

MIYA

I thought people wouldn’t like to imagine how it was shot and stuff.

Yamato

You don't need to be so mysterious. (LOL) Some performers have been showing their faces out in public anyways, like Ms. Misonoo and Ms. nao.

MIYA

Oh yeah, right. I think I’ve been overthinking about this. (LOL)

Yamato

You certainly did. Let’s take a look back on the time we’ve met for the first time. The first one we’ve worked together was the unmarked “Custom Maid 3D” wasn't it? We were introduced to you by the studio when we asked if they knew any choreographer, if I remember correctly.

MIYA

The studio and I had a mutual acquaintance who was a composer. That acquaintance told me that you were looking for a choreographer, and then they introduced me to you. But I had no idea why you chose me. What was your judgement based on?

Yamato

No no, we didn’t have any criteria or anything. When they introduced you to us, they just told us “hey we found someone perfect for the spot.”

MIYA

Really. (LOL)

Yamato

I mean, we had no clue about the quality and stuff. We had never done anything like this before, so.

MIYA

I see. I bet our mutual acquaintance worked really hard to get us together.

Yamato

When we first met for [entrance to you] (hereafter [entrance]), I felt like we both had no idea about each other’s work.

MIYA

Right, mmhm.

Yamato

Did anything bother you that you were choreographing an adult game?

MIYA

I didn’t mind at all that it was Rated-R. I was rather excited that I got to work on Motion Capture, I was like “yes!!”

Yamato

Ah, I see. (LOL)

MIYA

Yes. Until then, I had been performing on stage or working on TV shows and commercials. I had never done Motion Capture before that. So I thought, “I have to do this!” (LOL). Since it was a job as a choreographer, I even wanted to do it more if I get to see the shooting process.

Yamato

Oh, that’s how you were feeling when you took the job.

MIYA

Mmhm, yes. But you know how we were doing everything for the first time back then. It was my first Motion Capture project, and KISS had never worked with a choreographer before either.

Yamato

Yes, yes.

MIYA

So we couldn't communicate very well at the beginning. (LOL)

Yamato

We didn’t understand each other at all. (LOL)

MIYA

I was shocked. But I thought, “I see, people who's never done this before wouldn’t know what certain things are.” Like it started out with asking you to give me the printout of the lyrics, and you were like “why do you want the printout of the lyrics?” Also, sometimes we checked the dances over and over until we finally shot it.

Yamato

Right, right. Because we didn't know where we were, how to process or anything. So at the beginning it was pretty crazy.

MIYA

But that made it so fascinating. That I was getting to work with someone from a different industry.

Yamato

I agree, we were getting inspired off of each other at the end. What did you think when you watched the final edit of [entrance] dance movie, the fruit of our effort?

MIYA

I thought, “ah, that’s me.” (LOL)

Yamato

Oh, I see! That was your thought!!

MIYA

I really thought, “ah, that’s me who’s dancing.” The fans don't know I’m one of the people who danced right?

Yamato

Of course not. We’ve never let that information out.

MIYA

Actually, that was me who danced in it. I got to perform as a dancer along with choreographing the dance. So when I saw the movie, I was like “I can see my habits.”

Yamato

You thought you were seeing yourself?

MIYA

Yep. But, I was disappointed a little, actually.

Yamato

What? Why?

MIYA

When I watched it, I could see that the Motion Captured movements were different than the actual body movements.

Yamato

Ah, because the movements change a little?

MIYA

Yes, there were some tiny nuance differences from how I imagined. Like the number of bones in spinal column. It wasn't too realistic back then, like how it is now.

Yamato

Some things were different from today’s version, I think.

MIYA

Yeah. There were some small differences in the recordings of myself dancing and the characters dancing, that’s why I was shocked and disappointed!

Yamato

I didn't know that.

MIYA

I said it for the first time, really. (LOL) I decided to dance with 30 to 40% more movements from the second time.

Yamato

What do you mean by 30 to 40% more movements?

MIYA

I exaggerated the movements and the details as much as possible. I twisted my hips to the point where it couldn't go any further. (LOL) Do you have any memories about this, Yamato?

Yamato

What I remember the most is that we only shot [entrance] just once. I can never even think about doing that now. (LOL)

MIYA

Right, we can’t do that now. We were young back then. (LOL)

Yamato

I don’t know if we were young or godlike, but we finished it with one shoot. It’s really hard to tell if it’s good or bad when we finish with one shoot. We had no idea if we were supposed to say NO or OK to that, at that time.

MIYA

Mmhm. (LOL)

Yamato

So we were like “let’s shoot one more time just in case.” It was completed, but we didn't know if it was. We couldn't judge on our own.

MIYA

Yeah.

Yamato

That’s why we were so worried. We were like, “can’t tell if this is ok or not!” (LOL) We were wondering if we had to fix something when we were asked, “is this ok?”

MIYA

I feel ya. (LOL) Plus, we were already done with thoroughly discussing about choreography before the shoot. We just had to do it without making any mistakes, correct?

Yamato

Certainly. So it only took us 15 minutes to shoot. That’s unbelievably short. We can’t do that now.

MIYA

I practiced the dance so many times before the shoot, too.

Yamato

Ah, thought you did. It was a 15 minute shoot because we practiced so hard. That’s why it is so memorable.

MIYA

I agree, seriously.

Yamato

You’ve been choreographing all of our dance number though, is there anything you keep in your mind when you work on them?

MIYA

When I’m choreographing, I sometimes get a request to follow the meanings of the lyrics, and it causes me headaches not to make those movements similar to the other ones.

Yamato

Ah, I know what you mean.

MIYA

When they tell me to express emotions through lyrics like “you,” “heart,” “heartbeat,” and stuff like that, I usually do simple movements like tapping my chest or pointing out.

Yamato

Right, it’s direct and easy to understand.

MIYA

But I also do that with other songs, so they all become similar. I’m getting out of all the ideas. (LOL)

Yamato

You can’t help it, you’ve been choreographing so many songs.

MIYA

So I wish that there were less requests to go along with meanings of lyrics that express emotions. (LOL)

Yamato

I personally think lyrics aren't too important./div>

MIYA

You say that all the time!

Yamato

I do. (LOL) I value impressions of music more than lyrics. So I like choreography to match the music. But you know, project managers mostly think songs exist for the sake of lyrics.

MIYA

Mmhm.

Yamato

That's why they tend to ask choreography to correspond with lyrics. But I don't do that.

MIYA

Whenever you directly requested me to do something in choreography, you never said “go along with the lyrics.” If anything, you would say “don’t go along with it.”

Yamato

Right, I’d rather like to do that.

MIYA

That makes me go “woohoo!” Because I can do anything I want. (LOL)

Yamato

The other project manager makes the games. He knows exactly what he wants, but me, not really.

MIYA

You follow your instincts.

Yamato

Yes, I do. I’m a person who wants people to exactly create the world that they like.

MIYA

You’re like a crazy genius. (LOL) I know how music gives us specific visions though.

Yamato

Right. So I can’t help it but I insist on it. It’s fun for me to do that too. And that’s how [Love to you delicious] happened. (LOL)

MIYA

Yes, right!

Yamato

When we were working on this song, the working process went the other way around from the usual, because of the schedules. You choreographed the song before we wrote the lyrics.

MIYA

Yup. I was like “I’m just gonna do it myself” and choreographed it.

Yamato

You choreographed it before the lyrics were written, based on the impression you had, and I just loved it so much. I thought “this is cute, we don't need any lyrics.” (LOL)

MIYA

Now I know why you were so crazy about this song at that time. (LOL)

Yamato

Yup. Sometimes it’s nice to have lyrics as restrictions, since we often start repeating the same pattern. So I thought it might be nice to change things up by switching the order of our work process.

MIYA

We might be able to create something interesting if we don't have any rules.

Yamato

Yes, I think that’s all it matters. Well, we got sidetracked though, do you have anything else in your mind that you consider when you choreograph? I think the dances lately are getting so complicated to the point where no one can dance.

MIYA

Like “try dancing this if you think you can.” (LOL)

Yamato

Tempo of music is so fast too, nowadays.

MIYA

It’s absolutely a pain in the butt for dancers.

Yamato

I thought so.

MIYA

When I usually choreograph a dance, I directly place my hands on my body when I’m striking a pose, like on my hips and chest.

Yamato

But you have all the dots marked on your body, when shooting a Motion Capture.

MIYA

Right. Plus it’s a customizable system. Not one player makes the same exact character from the other, so I can’t make a movement such as touching anyone or putting my hand on someone’s shoulder, nor tapping my body. I can’t even blow a kiss for my own lips. Sometimes when I’m dancing and I accidentally touch my body, I’m like “oops, can I try that again?” (LOL) So I keep my hands off of my body the entire time.

Yamato

If it's not customizable, it’s not a problem. However, it is a customizable system so we’ve got lots of restrictions.

MIYA

We do. Tempo of music is also getting faster, so the difficulty is getting higher too.

Yamato

You also have been helping with our real event, MIYA. Thank you so much.

MIYA

Not at all, I appreciate that I get to do a lot. (LOL)

Yamato

You really do a lot for us. We did our first real event last year, and you’ve been helping us since the beginning. People usually leave it to an event planning company, but we tried to do everything on our own.

MIYA

Yeah, you guys are really reckless. But then, you accomplished it. (LOL)

Yamato

Sorry we got you into it. (LOL) Really, you did everything!

MIYA

I don’t know how many jobs I had, for real.

Yamato

Not only you choreographed, you also did stage directing, made costumes for the event, got us hair and makeup artists, etc. You even negotiated with the venue.

MIYA

I’m sorry I’m intrusive. I should’ve taken a few steps back. (LOL)

Yamato

We actually wanted you to dance on stage since you are a dancer, but it never happened.

MIYA

No it didn’t. I don't think I would in the future. So, I just want the fans to enjoy it in the movie. One of the people in the dance movie is me, so. (LOL)

Yamato

We’re almost at the end of the interview though, is there anything you would like to try with KISS in the future?

MIYA

Hmm. Do you have anything?

Yamato

I’d personally want to create more characters if there weren't any restrictions of specs, of course. But for now with the specs we have, we can have 3 or 4 at most. In the future, I want to have a few more characters dancing.

MIYA

Right.

Yamato

As for the sets, I want to try letting them dance on an elevated stage, instead of a flat one. We don't necessarily need to build the sets when we shoot, but I want it to look like that on screen.

MIYA

That would be a realistic stage setting. I would like to see that too.

Yamato

I wanna do it. But it’s a collaborative work, so I can’t just do what I want. (LOL)

MIYA

I'm getting excited listening to you. I would want the fans to enjoy realistic staging.

Yamato

Yeah, exactly. I really want to try creating a stage setting that’s dome-shaped or arena.

MIYA

I know. It’s a VR, but if they’d be able to virtually experience it.

Yamato

Absolutely. It’s huge.

MIYA

I think, if the fans could see that the characters were really trying hard to develop and the stage settings were also getting bigger, they would be able to immerse themselves into the story with more reality. I hope we’d be able to keep creating an entertainment like that for them to enjoy.

Yamato

That’d be nice.

MIYA

I really do think so.

Yamato

Okay, finally, what would you like to say to the fans who's reading this?

MIYA

Sorry I’m so intrusive!

Yamato

No! I don’t think you are intrusive. (LOL)

MIYA

No? No!?

Yamato

No no. (LOL)

MIYA

Okay then… I’m happy that I got this opportunity to let you guys to know that a choreographer existed. Thank you for your continuous support.

Yamato

Yes, thank you very much.