Let me share some honest thoughts: If they truly want to make a name for themselves overseas and gain recognition in the international market, there’s more to it than just excelling in conce rts. For instance, increasing their presence in INTERNATIONAL MAGAZINES and TV SHOWS is crucial. Their choice of mainstream pop music style isn’t the issue ; the challenge lies in establishing themselves as a band in this market and m aintaining long-term attention. To do so, they’ll need even more staying powe r compared to bands from Western countries. Because they come from Asia, many might project their understanding of Japan o r their love for anime culture onto them. However, as I see it, they were once known for their rebellious attitude in Japan’s rock music scene—an attitude that contrasts sharply with how most people perceive them now. They were neve r fond of being compared to Japan’s mainstream music; rather, they preferred to create the kind of music they truly wanted and pursue their own path. This is my take on their collaboration with Sonic. It’s not that there’s anything wrong with liking anime, but I’m still looking forward to seeing what their next collaboration with other anime characters will look like. Therefore, their frequency and choice of appearances in international media wi ll greatly influence the direction of their overseas market strategy and their ability to gain attention. The scariest shortcut is undoubtedly the MEDIA. I believe this was a crucial resource their previous label failed to provide, wh ich hindered their ability to establish a stronger foothold in the U.S. market . As a label representing an Asian band, they should have had better resources and knowledge to support them, rather than comparing them to bands under othe r labels and downplaying their uniqueness. Moreover, there might have been communication issues during the album producti on process. For example, members who are less fluent in English may not have b een able to fully showcase their talents in the production. This is why the ra w groove we heard in Deeper Deeper (a song written by Tomoya and Ryota) is som ething we rarely hear in their albums anymore—even though the live performanc es give a completely different auditory experience. From my understanding, anyone who listens to ONE OK ROCK likely has some level of appreciation for Japanese bands. In their history, it was undoubtedly the Japanese audience that brought them to the Budokan, which is why we can still buy that DVD today. Back then, their listeners must have also had some knowled ge of Japan’s entertainment scene to choose and support them, leading to thei r rise to the Yokohama Arena and becoming one of Japan’s most popular bands a t the time. Because of their hard work and talent, they kept breaking barriers, even with many senior bands ahead of them (e.g., Pay Money to My Pain, ELLEGARDEN). They managed to earn recognition from these pioneers in the music scene. This jour ney wasn’t just about expanding their market through overseas performances; i t proved that they aren’t just J-ROCK—they are ONE OK ROCK. Sometimes I wonder what “overseas” really means to them. Ten years ago, the music they made had already achieved international success, so I don’t unders tand why they didn’t continue making that kind of music. If “overseas” to t hem simply means collaborating with foreign artists, then in this day and age, everyone is essentially an international artist. I feel like this question is n’t something I could ask Taka—maybe asking Toru would make more sense. I ju st wanted to highlight that Toru’s role in music production is just as signif icant as Taka’s, but there are rarely opportunities to interview him, whether in Japanese or English. Considering Japanese TV programs, I think that in the past, when they appeared on shows like band-related variety programs or radio shows, it was always abo ut the interaction of the whole band. It wasn’t like now, where only Taka doe s all the explaining and speaking on programs. This is one of the reasons I be lieve the changes in the industry have silently influenced them. Well, the rea son I’m saying all this is because they’re about to establish their own LABE L in JAPAN, and all of this will likely become part of their plan. It’s a bra nd-new and completely different challenge for them. Plus, maybe their past approach of collaborating with many different people he lped them expand their market, but I think they now need a completely new dire ction in their production. Previously, they held the VS concert with My First Story at Tokyo Dome under the name of their independent label, 10969inc. I bel ieve this series of new projects will give us an entirely different experience compared to everything they’ve done with other companies and labels, the exc iting part is that all these experiences will be condensed into their brand-ne w venture. Naturally, we won’t have to question anymore whether they are stil l themselves. --

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