Arcana Magi Behind the Scenes: Writing through Music

Greetings fellow readers.

 Welcome to Arcana Magi Behind the Scenes.

 Now, it seems kind of weird for me to write a Behind the Scenes discussion about this little niche I do when writing. But I figure if I give you all a little insight on how I write with the music, then maybe reading my stories would give each and everyone of you a much better reading experience.

So I would like to talk about something that makes my time writing fun and enjoyable. That's music. I have CD soundtracks from Video Games, Anime music, Japanese pop and rock albums, a few American songs here and there. The songs featured in most of these soundtracks CD's have allowed me to think out moments of specific scenes thereby capturing the mood and atmosphere of the story.

For example, in the transformation sequence in Arcana Magi Zero, I used the first 1:20 of the song A Wish of a Heart by Gojou Mayumi from the Anime Soundtrack Futari wa Pretty Cure MAX Heart. Yeah, it sounds insane, but I was able to match it up just at the end of the refrain and before the next set of lyrics kicked in.

I even used instrumentals, like the ones used in My-Otome and Mythical Detective Loki Ragnorak. They allowed me to bring out the dramatic moments in Arcana Magi Main Series. For example, I used the entire track, ‘Lilac Utsukushiki Chigiri' from My-Otome during the scene in ‘Chapter 18: Me?', when Alysia and Kyo reunited.

Sometimes the music and scenes could be a span of different songs to capture a moment. One example of that is in Arcana Magi Zero v.2, at the end of the short when Megumi goes with the foxes for a ceremony. I used the Eureka Seven Original Soundtrack 1: Tracks 5, 24, 25, and 26 to capture Megumi's emotions and feelings as well as to set the atmosphere of the fox ceremony.

Other times I usually use certain songs as opening themes to get me into the mood of writing. For instance, in Arcana Magi Memorial I used Shining Dream from MAGIC Project as heard in Keyboardmania 3rd Mix. When I wrote Arcana Magi Rush, I used Just Communication from Mobile Suit Gundam Wing. Since Arcana Magi Rush was about magical giant piloted robots fighting giant dragons, a Gundam song seemed to fit well.

Now of course, I recognize the fact that readers would not be aware, nor be capable of thinking of the song to match up with what they read in Arcana Magi. It's a completely different experience from what I go through when I type versus from what my fans read. Part of what I want to achieve with my stories though, is to enhance my writing prowess with the music, and convey the songs within the text of my writings. To give my characters, my scenes, and my story overall a natural feel of the moment and excitement. Like the world is there, and you the reader feel like you are a part of it. Not just another reader, reading from the outside in, but you are in the inside staring at the heart of the story.

 That is one of my goals that I want to achieve in all my works.

 Until next time…

See ya.