Osamu Tezuka created many classic and influential works throughout his career, works whose influence is difficult to comprehend and works that will likely never be forgotten. Had Tezuka been alive today, the legendary creator would currently be 90 years old, and in celebration of this, just before his 91st birthday, record label Evil Line Records plans to release a tribute album of music inspired by his manga, Phoenix, with the album bringing together TeddyLoid and Kizuna AI for a special collaborative tune alongside a slew of other talented musicians.
While it’s easy to point to the phenomenal success of Astro Boy, a phenomenally popular manga whose anime transformed TV anime production, the influence and fond remembrance of his other works shouldn’t be overlooked. Phoenix was a more experimental and mature work within Tezuka’s extensive library of work, telling its stories throughout multiple eras of history and even the future. If an experimental manga such as Phoenix were to be celebrated with an album such as this, it makes sense to bring together artists from a multitude of genres and even dimensions, making a collaborative tune between TeddyLoid and virtual YouTuber Kizuna AI perhaps a fitting choice for a tribute album to Phoenix.
Unfortunately, what direction such a song would take remains a mystery with us, with the album’s announcement and artist list being the extent of the information released about this intriguing upcoming musical release (although perhaps an idea for how this song will turn out can be inferred from their previous collaboration). While for international audiences it would be fair to note that this TeddyLoid and Kizuna AI collaboration is the biggest draw of this Phoenix tribute album, the other artists confirmed to be involved in this release shouldn’t be ignored either. For example, Dresscodes are a group which I recently had the chance to see perform live as part of the Evil a Live concert which Evil Line Records held in celebration of the sub-label’s 5th anniversary and who impressed me with their performance, so I look forward to seeing what song they produce for this album.
The entire artist list can be found over on the album’s official website, with the album set for a release on October 30 for 3,000 yen. With the artists involved, I’m very excited to see how this album turns out once its complete.