The voice of ‘ONE PIECE’: Hiroshi Kitadani on how ‘We Are!’ changed his life

In 1999, a caller tv anime adaptation of ONE PIECE began airing connected Japanese broadcaster Fuji TV, bringing Eiichiro Oda’s bestselling pirate manga to the surface done animation produced by Toei Animation. The bid would spell connected to go 1 of the longest-running and astir internationally palmy anime franchises ever made, yet Hiroshi Kitadani, the vocalist chosen to execute its archetypal opening theme, had small crushed to expect that the duty would specify the adjacent quarter-century of his career. 

Looking backmost connected “We Are!”, the opus released successful October 1999 arsenic the anime’s archetypal iconic opening theme, Kitadani inactive speaks astir it with the enthusiasm of idiosyncratic encountering it for the archetypal clip each implicit again. “We Are! is simply a opus that changed my life,” helium tells The Hindu. “It is inactive a precious treasure. I’ve sung it tens of thousands of times, but it’s inactive a large song.”

The timing of that signaling proved important for some creator and franchise. Kitadani debuted arsenic a nonrecreational instrumentalist during the 1990s and was inactive comparatively aboriginal successful his solo vocation erstwhile helium was approached to sing “We Are!”, a creation by seasoned anime composer Kohei Tanaka with lyrics by Shoko Fujibayashi. The opus accompanied the anime’s earliest episodes and became inseparable from the series’ instauration to tv audiences.

Even so, Kitadani entered the task with constricted familiarity with Oda’s story. “It was the archetypal clip I sang an anime song,” helium recalls. “To beryllium honest, I hadn’t work ONE PIECE before.” At the time, helium knew the manga was already fashionable successful Japan, which made the merchandise exciting, yet the standard of what followed remained unimaginable. “I ne'er thought it would beryllium loved by truthful galore radical astir the world.”

That planetary scope yet transformed Kitadani from a vocalist associated with a palmy tv taxable into 1 of the astir recognisable voices successful anime music. Twenty-five years aft its debut, “We Are!” remains cardinal to authoritative day celebrations and milestone broadcasts, including the anime’s 1,000th-episode commemorative opening sequence. The opus continues to pull millions of listeners done authoritative releases and performances, giving it antithetic longevity adjacent wrong a mean known for memorable taxable songs.

One crushed the narration endured is that Kitadani ne'er became frozen successful a azygous epoch of the franchise. After “We Are!” came “We Go!” successful 2011, followed by “Over the Top” successful 2019 and “Uuuuus!” successful 2024, allowing him to instrumentality repeatedly arsenic the anime entered caller stages of its story. He describes those aboriginal songs arsenic fundamentally antithetic originative experiences due to the fact that the accumulation squad present wrote with his dependable and show benignant successful mind. “We Are! was the lone opus that wasn’t written for me,” helium explains done a translator. “We Go!, Over the Top, and Uuuuus! are the songs that focused connected maine specifically to execute and constitute the song.” 

That continuity created challenges. By the clip ONE PIECE entered its 2nd decennary connected television, assemblage expectations had go portion of the process. “During the We Go! Time period, I had a batch of pressure,” helium says. “I was truly disquieted if We Go!, arsenic the 2nd follow-up opus to We Are! would marque ONE PIECE fans conscionable arsenic happy.”

The unit emerged due to the fact that the franchise itself had grown acold beyond Japan. Kitadani vividly remembers discovering that enlargement first-hand during an quality successful São Paulo, Brazil. Internet fandom was inactive processing astatine the time, which made the reception harder to anticipate. “I wondered if anyone from adjacent the farthest portion of Japan knew the song,” helium says humbly. But erstwhile the opening notes began, helium recovered himself facing a assemblage of astir 10,000 radical who already knew each word. “When I saw the country unfold, I was truthful elated that I was moved to tears.”

That planetary effect continues to fascinate him due to the fact that overmuch of the assemblage sings successful a connection they bash not talk fluently. Kitadani believes the process resembles however Japanese listeners embraced Western stone euphony decades earlier. “When we similar stone music, we don’t cognize English, but we retrieve overseas artists’ songs successful English,” helium says. “I deliberation it’s due to the fact that they person an involvement oregon affection for Japanese music.” Fans larn choruses done repetition, creating moments during overseas concerts wherever thousands of voices articulation unneurotic successful Japanese. “It’s touching that everyone sings successful Japanese,” helium says.

But adjacent aft decades of performing the song, Kitadani places “We Are!” among a tiny radical of anime themes that person retained a taste beingness acold beyond their archetypal broadcasts. Asked which openings from that epoch helium inactive admires, helium points to “CHA-LA HEAD-CHA-LA,” the taxable from Dragon Ball Z performed by Hironobu Kageyama, Yoko Takahashi’s “A Cruel Angel’s Thesis” from Neon Genesis Evangelion, and Koji Wada’s “Butter-Fly” from Digimon Adventure. 

Throughout those years, Kitadani maintained a transportation with Oda himself, whose manga has sold hundreds of millions of copies worldwide. Although helium says the creator ne'er offered nonstop creator instructions, their meetings near an impression. “When I archetypal met him, helium was truly young,” Kitadani remembers. Seeing idiosyncratic of that property liable for specified an expansive satellite filled him with admiration. “Such a young idiosyncratic was penning this. [It was] specified an inspiration.”

Asked which subordinate of the Straw Hat unit resonates with him astir aft Luffy, Kitadani points to Brook, saying helium enjoys imagining the skeletal instrumentalist shifting betwixt the violin-playing subordinate of the Straw Hat unit and the flamboyant signifier beingness of his change ego, Soul King, performing stone euphony inspired by bands specified arsenic Queen.

And erstwhile asked what acquisition helium carries from ONE PIECE aft much than 2 decades attached to the franchise, Kitadani answers with a operation acquainted to the longtime fans: “Nakama wa daiji na koto desu” — “friends are important”.

ONE PIECE is presently streaming connected Crunchyroll, with the anime having precocious moved from the Egghead storyline into the ongoing Elbaph Arc, the latest section successful Eiichiro Oda’s long-running pirate saga