A Hundred Scenes of AWAJIMA from Madhouse stands out as one of this season’s most refreshing new IPs and emotionally moving anime. Through multiple perspectives, the series not only portrays the challenges of earning a place on the grand stage, but also explores the fragile friendships among the students of the Awajima Opera School as they navigate both internal and external conflicts — a theme that is beautifully complemented by its opening theme, “blue hour” by Hana Hope.
The name might ring a bell for some, as Hana has previously contributed theme songs to Ruri Rocks and Spice and Wolf, among other anime. With this project, the 2006-born musician’s name has reached an even wider audience within both the community and the industry. We had the opportunity to speak with Hana about “blue hour,” her songwriting process, her career background, and more!
Interview by Rakha Alif
Edited by Isabelle Lee
Anime Trending: First of all, congrats on the release of “blue hour”! How did you find the listeners’ reception so far?
Hana Hope: I’ve been so grateful for the response in “blue hour.” I poured so much of my heart and the realities of pursuing a creative path into this song, so the fact that people resonate with the lyrics means so much. Through this song, I wanted to give people the strength to pursue their passions and let go of any external expectations.
How and when were you first approached about contributing a theme song for A Hundred Scenes of AWAJIMA, and what was your first impression of the manga?
Hana Hope: I was approached around a year ago for this production. I was very excited as the storyline was one that I deeply related to. I also really liked that the manga showed perspectives of individuals across generations. All the sacrifices and dreams that people carry in order to get to where they are now—it shows the reality of the creative industry. But it really inspired me to make a song that felt uplifting, giving people the strength to carry on, even when the end seems to slip away.
Did the anime production team share any particular inputs for the song?
Hana Hope: Yeah, they really wanted to make it very organic, centered around live instruments. I feel one of the most distinctive things about the song is the guitar sound running throughout the background. We also worked together on the melody to make it very powerful.
A Hundred Scenes of AWAJIMA focuses on several characters from the Awajima Opera School rather than one main character. Did this multi-character perspective somewhat influence how you approached the lyrics for “blue hour”?
Hana Hope: For sure. I think one of the things I really love about this storyline is that it focuses on multiple generations. There’s a common denominator where even the teachers and the students all had to lose something or deal with some type of sacrifice in order to get there. I feel that’s the beauty of the connection between the generations—they’re all really brought together by their love for creating art.
But it also shows this kind of difficult sadness. I really wanted to [express] that in the song. In the pre-chorus part—“I’ve got you, you’ve got me”—I wrote it as the older generation talking to the newer generation, offering a word of support. I wanted to show that connection, and that felt very important.
In your comment on the anime’s official website, you mentioned feeling a strong emotional connection to the girls of Awajima. How did you personally relate to their journeys in the story?
Hana Hope: A lot of them have dealt with a lot of loss, especially in terms of friendship. For me, something I really struggled with was being around musicians, especially around my age—I find it difficult because there’s always this element of competition. Comparison has always been inside me, and that’s something I’ve constantly dealt with, comparing myself all the time and feeling a bit insecure about it. But I think a lot of the students in the anime also go through really difficult, complicated emotions. You want to feel happy for others, but it’s also human nature to wonder, “What if I’m not good enough? What if I can’t give my best?” And that’s something I really related to.
You also wrote, “sometimes carrying the dreams of others.” Could you share what that idea means to you personally?
Hana Hope: There are so many people who want to pursue the arts creatively. In the story, there’s a rigorous audition process to get into the school, and you have to go through very intense training that really tests you. Unfortunately, some people don’t make it through, but that doesn’t mean it’s lost. One of the beautiful things is that their passion is carried on by others. Even if their journey ends before they make it to the school, their passion lives on through other people.
At the same time, there’s added pressure for those who do get in, because they’re carrying the weight of so many people’s expectations and dreams. They have to prove to themselves that they can make it through and that it will all be worth it. There’s a lot of difficulty in that. I’ve felt that as well—the pressure to perform and to create something, while also carrying the weight of other people’s dreams.
I personally feel that the song carries themes of both hope and uncertainty. How did you strike the perfect balance between those two contrasting emotions?
Hana Hope: For me, it was a process. Throughout the song, I focused on making it a storyline. I began with “ume ga yonderu for the big stage, I sing through the heartbreak shinjite.” Initially, there’s a lot of ambivalence about the path, along with feelings of unworthiness.
Then in the pre-chorus, I wanted a self-reassuring message. The internal conflict is mainly portrayed in the verses, while the chorus was designed as a message of hope—almost like the older generation telling the younger one, “You’ve got this.” The verses reflect that ambivalence, the internal conflict, and uneasiness.
By the outro, I really like the line “for another song, another day.” It’s about the ability to keep creating, to make another song, and to take things one day at a time. That’s the message I wanted to leave people with—a hopeful one in the end.
Could you talk about the meaning behind the title “blue hour”?
Hana Hope: I’ve gotten so many questions about this. The title “blue hour” actually took me a very long time to come up with. I’m so bad with titles (laughs). I’ll sit on them and stress over different phrases for the longest time. It took me about a month to get “blue hour.”
I came to Japan and was heavily jet-lagged, so I woke up at 5 a.m. and couldn’t go back to sleep. I decided to take a walk, and it was this perfect, beautiful time right before the sun rose, with these waves of blue. I thought that was so beautiful.
It described the students and my own situation perfectly—it’s like before the sun rises, where there isn’t a clear path yet, but you’re one step away from reaching your dreams. There’s still that sense of conflict. I thought that was really beautiful, so I decided to name it “blue hour.”
“blue hour” ticks two boxes for you—it’s acoustic, which is the sound that you’re really drawn to, and it’s about a relatable story. So did that make the process of creating “blue hour” feel more natural for you?
Hana Hope: Yeah, it actually came together very quickly. At the time, I was being chased down by all the deadlines and was in Korea with my mom, and I was like, “Shoot, the deadline is in two days!”
I remember being very open-minded about everything and just letting everything flow out of me. So what I did was just repeatedly listen to the melody, the track, and see what words came out. It flowed really well. I just hit a state where I could just naturally get everything out.
I’ve written so many songs while on planes. I remember I wrote this song called “Afraid to Love”—that was on a plane back from San Francisco. I did so many laps along the plane, saying, “What do I do?” (laughs).
As a bilingual artist, you often blend Japanese and English lyrics throughout your discography, including in “blue hour.” How are you even able to combine them so seamlessly while keeping the melody, rhythm, and meaning intact?
Hana Hope: Honestly, when songwriting or simply making melodies, I always just sing a really random tune and say random words that just pop up in my head. Most of the time, those words stick because they come naturally with the melody, and it’s usually English that comes out—like the “hey” part.
Most of the time, I write in English first, then fill in sections in Japanese or rewrite parts in Japanese. The beauty of having both languages is that their vocabularies are so different and varied. Some things are best said in English, and some in Japanese, so I pick and choose between the two. I think that’s so interesting.
This is not your first time performing an anime theme song. How does writing for an adaptation differ from creating your own music?
Hana Hope: I think I actually really enjoy making music for adaptations. There’s a lot of creative freedom in combining the anime’s storyline with what I want to express, and sometimes those messages really collide and intersect. I especially like when it all comes together in a way that feels organic and natural
With adaptations, there’s also the added element of an existing fanbase. I want to respect their thoughts and feelings toward the story. So there’s that aspect of me just really reflecting on what this story means to other people as well and how to express that in my music.
When writing my own songs, I always focus on what kind of message I want to spread to everyone. I usually keep a notebook with me. I’ll just jot down little ideas all the time, and I take things from there and see where things go.
You’ve said that you see music as a way to express yourself while also being drawn to a storytelling approach in your lyrics. How do you fuse that sense of rawness with narrative?
Hana Hope: That’s a good question. I think it’s just nice to get out of your own head a bit and just focus on something else. When working on my own music, there’s often a back-and-forth between questions like “Is this really how I’m feeling?” or “Is this the message I want to spread from my perspective?” It takes the pressure off when you can focus on another person and another world, and you can just get lost in it and write from what comes from there.
I like to really dive into the story and just see what it’s about. But I think, ultimately, anything that I create will always have an essence of myself in it. It’s not something I have to think about and hold myself accountable for. I feel it’s just something that comes, even when I’m not focusing on it.
The song “sixteen” is your first self-written and composed track, and it took three years for you to finish. Looking back, how has your musical approach changed or evolved as you’ve grown over the years?
Hana Hope: Yes, completely. The funny thing is that I actually used to not be able to finish songs. Honestly, I would only write until verse and chorus, and that would be my limit—I’d be like, “Okay, I’m done.” (laughs).
“sixteen” was the same thing. When I first wrote it at 13, I only had the verse and chorus. But I remember it really stuck with me because the first line reads, “What the hell are we fighting for? I’d give it my all but who knows what the future holds?” It’s just such a cynical phrase to come out from a 13-year-old (laughs). I remember just feeling so angsty and having something to say to the world.
Later, when I had the chance to create a song I wrote by myself, I said to myself, “I need to finish this song.” So when I finally finished it at 16, I did so from a different perspective. As the song goes on, even after I did a lot of editing, it just became a lot more optimistic.
My songwriting has changed a lot since then. When I write songs, there’s always going to be a moment where I just hit a wall. The difference between 13-year-old me and who I am now is that I’ll leave it for a day or even a couple of hours. I’ll just go on a walk and then just re-approach it. How I view the creation of music has become more fluid and way more forgiving.
I imagine you love both English and Japanese songs. As someone who sings in both languages, do you notice any differences in songwriting style between them?
Hana Hope: I think it’s very varied between different artists. I feel rhyming is a big element in English, and it’s much more lyrical. But at the same time, Fujii Kaze does the whole rhyming thing in Japanese very seamlessly, and there are artists who manage to do it effectively as well.
I grew up listening to a lot of English music. I love Joni Mitchell, The Beatles, and pop artists like Justin Bieber and Taylor Swift. That sense of rhythm and melody has really stuck with me and comes to the forefront when I start making music.
So this is kind of weird to say, but Japanese music is kind of new for me. I feel like I’m still discovering songs and artists that feel really refreshingly new. Right now, I’m at this stage where I really love exploring how to express my Japanese side and lyricism. I’ve started writing a lot of lyrics in Japanese, and it’s just come more naturally now. That’s been really fun to see what comes out.
Aside from singing, you’ve also voice-acted in Mamoru Hosoda’s Belle and acted in Renoir by Chie Hayakawa. Are these avenues you’re seriously considering for your future going forward?
Hana Hope: I’ve been asked this many times, and I am going to give you an honest answer—I have no idea. I did really enjoy it, though. Voice acting, for me, was so new, and I was so nervous in the booth, but it was also very fun.
It was something so different because it’s vulnerable in a different way, because you’re memorizing a phrase, and you have to turn yourself into someone else. For me, it’s so different from singing or putting yourself out on stage. When I did Renoir, it was so scary for me to just become a different person. It felt very different, but it was also very exciting.
Right now though, I really want to focus on music. My real passion really lies in singing and making music. If there’s an opportunity that presents itself somewhere down the line, I’m open to it.
You’re famously known for having your career kick-started and catapulted after being recognized by Yukihiro Takahashi, the drummer and vocalist of Yellow Magic Orchestra. Could you tell me the full story behind that?
Hana Hope: It’s probably the longest story you’ll ever hear, but I will do my best (laughs). My mom had a small gallery where she showcased her artwork, and sometimes musicians would use it as a venue. That was the first time I really experienced live music—I would sit there in awe.
One night after a show, I was sitting with a guitarist, and I said, “Hey, I sing too!” So I brought my ukulele and just started playing. They were probably thinking, “What is this little kid doing?” After that, we started looking for small venues nearby where I could perform, and I began playing at little live houses around my area.
This guitarist was connected with the folk singer Keiko Kobayashi—I love her so much; she’s one of my favorite people. She actually knew Takahashi-san’s agency’s manager. Long story short, one night, she just brought them to one of my shows, and that was how I got connected. The rest is history.
For me, it was a bunch of lucky coincidences. But I think that’s true for a lot of musicians and artists there. Being in the right place at the right time and putting yourself out there is really important.
You’ve been interested in ballet and reading since you were very young. So what is it about music specifically that resonated with you the most compared to other art forms?
Hana Hope: Growing up, I did dabble in a lot of art forms, especially ballet. I was into it for such a long time. I think I was trying to find some ways of expressing myself truly—ballet was one of them. I used to dance so often and just do modern dancing, and I would just put on music. Everything was very intrinsically tied to music.
I really was drawn to the idea of expressing myself through—whether it was dancing, instruments, or reading books. Storytelling was something that I was really drawn toward, and I think these two art forms very much influenced me. When I started playing the ukulele around 11 or 12, I was finally able to start singing, and that felt like the realest version of myself, where I didn’t really have to perform for something—I could just perform for myself and just make what I wanted. That’s what made me really gravitate towards instruments in general when I hit a certain point.
So it’s fair to say that you were a very creative kid. Was that something your family or surrounding environment actively supported, or did it come to you more naturally on your own?
Hana Hope: It might be both. My dad is the most serious person you’ll ever meet, and no matter how much he tries, creativity just isn’t in his blood. But my mom is my spirit. I love her to bits.
Growing up in Japan, it sometimes felt like I had to perform for someone, and I couldn’t fully express myself. Being Japanese-American with a bilingual background, I often felt like I didn’t really fit in anywhere.
My mother, being very creative, doesn’t care what anyone thinks. I really look up to her—she’s one of my biggest inspirations. Just having someone pushing you creatively and helping you find outlets where you can perform makes a huge difference. Then, once I was 10 or 11, I started looking for what kind of music I was into. I would go on YouTube and just search for different forms of music. That was how I pursued my creativity on my own.
Since we’ve been talking about music, I have to ask—who are your favorite artists, or ones who influence and inspire you?
Hana Hope: I love Hitsujibungaku! I think they’re the coolest band ever. I love their lyrics so much—I look up to them so much in terms of songwriting. They sound really casual, but it’s also vulnerable and so poetic. I saw them perform at Fuji Rock about a year ago, and I thought, “This is who I want to aspire to be.”
In terms of English music, I’m really into Olivia Dean. I’ve been following her music since 2019. It’s so crazy to see how big she’s gotten, especially this year! She got a Grammy for Best New Artist—I thought it was so deserved. She killed it.
In the era of AI where a lot of music can feel disconnected, she brings a lot of soulfulness and rawness in the way she brings about her melodies and singing—it feels very real and relatable. I really love her jazz soul influence—that’s something I want to keep putting into my music. That was such a fun thing to explore there. Going forward, I’d like to follow in her footsteps.
What’s next for you? Any projects on the horizon that we should be excited about?
Hana Hope: I’m actually performing in Jakarta this August. I don’t know if I can say this, but I’m also performing in Malaysia this summer, along with a lot of performances and festivals this year, this summer specifically, which I’m so excited about.
I started university this year, and it felt so weird transitioning from a year of just doing music to going into academics as well. I’m really excited for this summer, especially to get back into music and get back into a rhythm.
I have some releases coming up, possibly an album. I’m very excited about that; I think it’s going to be awesome. We’re going to just make a lot of music. I think my biggest thing for this year is to continue making lots of songs. I’m going to Woodstock, upstate New York, in a couple of weeks to work with this folk-pop producer, and I’m so excited for that. I just want to explore different avenues of music and create more songs.
So yeah, a year of creating lots of songs, a lot of performing, and hopefully a lot of growth.
Before we sign off, do you have any messages for your fans?
Hana Hope: The main thing I would like to say is thank you so much for listening to my music. My music is how I express myself very organically and originally, so the fact that people can relate to that means so much to me. I hope you continue to support me, and I hope I can see you at one of my shows someday.
We would like to thank Hana for kindly taking the time to talk with us. Our special thanks also go to Sony Music Entertainment Japan and Hanako Tabata for making this interview possible.
You can keep up with Hana via Instagram, X, TikTok, and YouTube. “blue hour” is available for streaming on multiple platforms now.
