Mumei (song): Difference between revisions

* The lyrics contain a lot of wordplay around the name "Mumei", which in Japanese can mean "without a name", "not famous", "obscure", or "anonymous".

** This is the main reason the song is in Japanese, and also why the song is named "mumei" despite potentially causing confusion with Mumei's VTuber name. She says that if she hadn't named herself "Mumei" she would still think the song should be called "mumei", which was the deciding factor for why she ultimately settled on that name.<ref>(Oct. 10, 2023). Retrieved from https://youtu.be/0pkv5gh5Dhg?t=2957</ref>

** Mumei studied the lyrics of the song very closely because she wanted to understand exactly what she was singing despite being a non-native speaker of Japanese.<ref>(Oct. 10, 2023). Retrieved from https://youtu.be/0pkv5gh5Dhg?t=1808</ref>

* When Ootori presented Mumei with potential concepts for the cover art, Mumei asked if she could use all three of them: one for the music video, one for the cover art, and another that she wasn't sure what to do with but which she asked for anyway because she really wanted to see the art finished.<ref>(Oct. 10, 2023). Retrieved from https://youtu.be/0pkv5gh5Dhg?t=647</ref> It was later tweeted as promotional art.<ref>(Oct. 10, 2023). Retrieved from https://twitter.com/hololive_En/status/1711652790429225410</ref>

** Mumei actually forgot to use the third drawing at all, and the promotional tweet from hololive English's official twitter was not planned by her. However, she was happy that the artwork ended up being used.<ref>(Oct. 10, 2023). Retrieved from https://youtu.be/0pkv5gh5Dhg?t=688</ref>

* Mumei was initially overwhelmed by the sheer creative freedom she had in Hololive. When developing her first original song [[A New Start]], the demos brought back to her by Cover were not quite what she envisioned, but she did like them and decided to move forward with them anyway. After the song was released, she realized she could reach out directly to specific producers that were closer to the style of music she enjoyed rather than relying on Cover's interpretation of her requests. This inspired her to reach out to TKN for her second original song.<ref>(Oct. 10, 2023). Retrieved from https://youtu.be/0pkv5gh5Dhg?t=1028</ref>

** Mumei has been a fan of TKN's work for a while, discovering him during a time where she got really into Vocaloid EDM. She has a strong appreciation for many of the niche artists she discovered at that time, and was grateful for the opportunity to give him more exposure through Hololive.<ref>(Oct. 10, 2023). Retrieved from https://youtu.be/0pkv5gh5Dhg?t=909</ref>

* Mumei decided to make the song Japanese because she felt having TKN write and compose the song in his native language would be more natural for him. She also felt it would suit the subgenre of electronic music better.<ref>(Oct. 10, 2023). Retrieved from https://youtu.be/0pkv5gh5Dhg?t=1413</ref>

* The first draft of the lyrics and the melody were very different from what would become the final song (although they did already contain the wordplay around the name "Mumei"). However, they surprised Mumei with how deep they were, and the themes present had a major influence on the direction the song would ultimately take.<ref>(Oct. 10, 2023). Retrieved from https://youtu.be/0pkv5gh5Dhg?t=1446</ref>

* The song's development took a year.<ref>(Oct. 10, 2023). Retrieved from https://youtu.be/0pkv5gh5Dhg?t=1355</ref> She cited her lack of confidence singing in Japanese and health issues with a persistent cough as being the major reasons for the delay. This was exacerbated by the song becoming more and more important to her over the course of its development, which caused her to become anxious that her Japanese wasn't good enough to do it justice.<ref>(Oct. 10, 2023). Retrieved from https://youtu.be/0pkv5gh5Dhg?t=1551</ref>

** However, the delays due to her health also gave TKN more time to develop the lyrics and the melody of the song, which resulted in the finished version that was ultimately released.

* When asked why she decided to include a whale in the music video, Mumei said that she felt the void being depicted felt a little too empty, so she requested a whale to fill the space.<ref>(Oct. 10, 2023). Retrieved from https://youtu.be/0pkv5gh5Dhg?t=2401</ref>