＞"5TELLA" is a collaboration with the arcade card game Mobile Suit Gundam: Arsenal Base WAVECHOES series—how was it working on the project?

TAKE：　Since it’s a 5-versus-5 battle game, we were asked to create a feeling of teamwork in battle that only FLOW’s twin vocals can bring out particularly well. We thought FLOW’s recognizable passionate message would match perfectly. 

＞Were there any unique sounds or arrangements specific to it being a Gundam song?

TAKE：　The vocal exchange was, of course, important, but what we focused most on was selecting synthesizer tones. We wanted to create music with the feel of that generation of Gundam sound, like Nami Tamaki and Takanori Nishikawa, where synth sounds create a sense of speed, and express that in the present day. At the mixing stage, we upped the synth sound and made sure the sound had a distinctive color, expressing “This is what Gundam is!

＞What impression did you get when you heard the demo that came in?

KEIGO：　I feel that by collaborating with a new project, it always brings out a new side of FLOW. This time too, by working with the “Mobile Suit Gundam” series, it became a song with many vocal exchanges, and there is a color to “Mobile Suit Gundam” that only twin vocals can express.

＞How about the lyrics?

KOHSHI：　Because it’s a battle game, we infused the world of "Mobile Suit Gundam". We wanted to write the lyrics based on the idea that there is no ultimate justice and that people fight according to their personal sense of justice. Since this is the fifth installment (the original, the LINXTAGE series, the UNITRIBE series, and the FASQUAD series), and with ‘5 vs 5’ as a keyword, I naturally thought about featuring the number 5 in the title while writing the lyrics.

＞Were there any series you used as a motif when writing the lyrics?

KOHSHI：　Without a doubt, it’s the One Year War depicted in "Mobile Suit Gundam". I’ve also watched the follow-up stories, "Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam", "Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ", "Mobile Suit Gundam F91", and "Mobile Suit Gundam: Char’s Counterattack", but the "Mobile Suit Gundam" series story is all bittersweet and quite sad. There are moments of saying goodbye to important people, as well as the emotions of the youth. I wanted to write something expressing those serious aspects.

＞Can you tell us how you feel now that it’s finished?

TAKE：　The song has that kind of drive, just like the protagonists of "Mobile Suit Gundam". We got a Gundam illustration for the cover, and having ‘FLOW’ written under a Gundam is really meaningful. There are robots in both "Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion" and "Eureka Seven". We just hadn’t crossed paths with the "Mobile Suit Gundam" series until now, so we are very happy that FLOW can finally be part of that path. 2026 is the year of 26 (FLOW), so it’s truly an honor to begin our once-in-a-century FLOW year with "Mobile Suit Gundam".

Stream "5TELLA" here!


【"LIVING DEAD" Release Interview】

＞LIVING DEAD is a collaboration with the comic BASTARD!! -Heavy Metal, Dark Fantasy- by Kazushi Hagiwara, which started in 1988. What did you focus on when creating the song?

TAKE：　The theme was “The battle of the dark wizard never ends,” and the request was very clear: to create something with a battle-type image of the protagonist, Dark Schneider, defeating strong enemies one after another, and to also include an over-the-top cool feel in the lyrics.

KOHSHI：　 Because the client had a solid concept, we were just building on top of that, which made it easier to create. I was especially happy that an ‘over-the-top cool feel’ was okay to use (laughs.)

TAKE：　That element vividly reflects the world of the work, and I remember it was easy to form a clear image while creating the song. 

＞How did the production go, such as the song’s theme and sound selection?

TAKE：　As intense guitar riffs were also built into the theme, we focused on the work’s core color while creating them. Since the protagonist is a sorcerer and a magic user,  I thought it’d be interesting to start the A-melody like a spell. So, I created the A-melody with the image of a flat, spell-like sequence of words, and from there, I developed the framework, envisioning spells being triggered, and that ‘over-the-top cool feel’ was also added to the lyrics. But I created it so that the strings’ graceful tone fit the world of the work, and the unique mood created by the guitar riffs was made to blend with it closely, and it came together nicely. Because the visuals are so impactful, I think there’s a hard rock and heavy metal vibe to that dramatic, realistic manga style. I think the power of the visuals helped me develop an understanding of the aesthetic form within myself.

＞Could you also tell us about the lyrics?

KOHSHI：　We got a clear vision when they gave us the order, and it was easy to visualize all the complex wording, the ‘over-the-top cool feel,’ and Dark Schneider’s self-centered, hyped-up personality, so that made lyric writing easier. By exploring and writing four-character idioms that matched the image of Dark Schneider, I feel that FLOW’s lyrics were brought to a new stage. It led us to express with words we don’t normally use, and there was a discovery when searching for and writing the meanings of words. It was really fun to write it.

＞What did you do to create the image?

KOHSHI：　We watched the anime while feeling Kishō Taniyama within its world. Since it’s an anime with someone who feels like family in the cast, it was easy to picture the image. The character stayed the same, and it was a very Kishō Taniyama–like Dark Schneider. The rhythmic flow in the A-melody was also there, and I really had fun writing the lyrics. I was able to express a contrast between the title ‘LIVING DEAD’ and the line ‘live, live, and live on’ within the lyrics, and I felt deep satisfaction with it. Also, phrases like ‘kakusei goza o okasu’ (a lesser person trying to take the emperor’s throne) and ‘kagerou oseiran no sora’ (a deep indigo sky in wavering heat), I found out there are so many of these four-character terms as I looked them up. These are dark and intense color palette words that wouldn’t have been born if we hadn’t encountered a dark fantasy work

＞What were your impressions of the finished song?

KEIGO：　 While KOHSHI’s lyrics clearly express the world of the work, there are also words unique to us, so my first impression was that it turned out to be a song strongly synchronized with the work. Furthermore, I felt it was a song with a dark fantasy atmosphere, featuring a new structure and lyrical world that FLOW hasn’t had before.

TAKE：　That’s the fun part. Themes that we wouldn’t have picked up on our own, and the work intersect, open up new doors, and as a result, create a great chemical reaction.

KOHSHI：　It’s surprising that the group that sings "GO!!!" also sings "LIVING DEAD," isn’t it?  For this song, I really wanted to express a sense of sensuality through the words used in the chorus. It is made with images of night, the moon, and magic, so I hope we can convey this worldview at live performances too.  I’d be happy if we could show a different side of FLOW from our usual high-energy image.

Stream "LIVING DEAD" here!